Members of Schola Cantorum made two trips to Fishmongers’ after term finished to sing at the annual Livery Dinner and the Carol Service. Resplendent in black tie and evening dress the choir sang carols on the impressive staircase as guests gathered to go into dinner on Wednesday 13th December. They then entertained between courses. On Monday 18th December, evening dress was swapped for school uniform and gowns as the choir led the carol service in St Magnus the Martyr.
The annual Gresham’s Girls and Guys singles have been produced and released on Strathmore Records once again this year.
An upbeat version of Tears for Fears, Everybody Wants to Rule the World was recorded by the Gresham’s girls, consisting of Ruby S, Tamsin S, Sophia P, Alma D-R, Tilly R, Jemima T, Reva S, Sophie L, Jemima W, Emily M & Olga B, with the music video recorded in a Boarding House with the girls celebrating Christmas, and decorating the tree.
With a more sincere approach this year, the boys tackled a mature concept taking on ‘Nothing Compares To You’, made famous by the late Sinead O’Connor, with an insert of a boy band Christmas Classic, ‘Stay Another Day’. The boys, Rory R, Jimmy T, Josh K, Milan H, Bruno B, Jude P, Eduvie O, Larkin A, Sergio S, Will B filmed the video, using all of their dramatic energy to convey the meaning of the lyric and to do justice the song and it’s legacy.
The singles are available on the Gresham’s Media YouTube Channel and all other audio platforms, Please download and share with your friends and family and spread the Gresham’s Girls and Guy’s joy!
Paul Marriage has been appointed as the School’s new Chair of Governors from July 2024, taking over from Michael Goff who will step down after a six-year tenure.
Paul is an Old Greshamian (Kenwyn & Tallis 1982-1990), a Liveryman of the Fishmongers’ Company and he became a Governor in 2012. Having read Modern History at University College, Oxford he began his career in the insurance market before entering the investment industry in 1997. Having run leading specialist UK equity funds at Cazenove Capital and Schroders, he founded Tellworth Investments in 2017.
Paul Marriage, said: “I am honoured to be taking over from Michael Goff as Chairman of the Governors, he has done an exceptional job and will be a hard act to follow. Parents, staff, pupils, OGs and my fellow governors can be assured that I will do my utmost to keep the School on its upwards trajectory as we approach our 475th anniversary.”
On the last Saturday of term, the Rifle Club travelled to Bisley for the annual British Schools Winter Open. Gresham’s took two good teams, one of which had a large amount of experience and ability, the other which was made up of several younger, newer members of the Rifle Club looking to gain some valuable experience. Our ‘A’ team went to the match extremely confident and certainly had the ability to win. Numbers were slightly down this year, with 142 competitors at the competition, from 11 different schools, from around the country and with the majority of the ‘big’ shooting schools all represented. Each individual had to shoot four times, to give a total out of 400, in what were particularly unpleasant conditions. The good number of newer shots that we took to the competition all shot very well but it was the senior members of the team however, that really showed their talent. Oliver R was 19th out of the 142 competitors, Marcella B was 17th, Alex S was 14th, Jonny W was 10th and George B was a very respectable 5th in the British Schools Individual Championships with a superb score of 383 (x400). Marcella B and Grace S were 3rd in the Junior Pairs, with Ilana B and Margarethe G just behind them in 4th. In the Senior Pairs, George B and Georgina B finished 3rd with Oliver R and Jonny W just behind them, also in 4th. In the Teams of IV competition, Gresham’s again did very well, with the ‘A’ team finishing in 2nd place and the ‘B’ team finishing in 3rd place. This set the team up for a good win, beating Wellington College into second place (by 11 points), in the Team of VIII competition.
Huge congratulations to all members of the Rifle Club but particularly to George B for being the top individual at last months English Schools competition and then following that up with a 5th place finish at the British Schools Winter Championships.
Our annual Messiah from Scratch took place on Sunday 10th December with a loyal chorus, accompanied by guest orchestra including pupils. As always the solos are performed by pupils and this year once again, we had a very strong field from which to pick. The standard was exceptional, not only from our 6th formers, some of whom have secured places in Music Conservatoires next year, but younger pupils also. Congratulations to Sophie L, Jimmy T, Larkin A, Reva and Ruby S, Sophia P, Sebastian C, Dougie L, Ilana B, Zinny B, Milan H, Naomi H-S, Tamsin S and Rory R and Ilana B and Naomi H-S in the orchestra.
On 27th November, Emma Cole returned to Gresham’s for the twelfth year running to deliver her wonderful ‘Positive Voice’ talk to Year 12. She described her life living with HIV following her diagnosis as a young heterosexual woman in the early 1990s. She spoke about the stigma, the rejection, and her journey to the present day, now that she has become a ‘long term survivor’ (32 years). Her talk is informative and poignant, but with a large pinch of humour, making it highly entertaining and memorable; the pupils loved it. There was then the opportunity to ask questions and Emma answered with honesty and openness.
On 30th November, Year 12 attended a talk and workshops with Will Adolphy from M-Path.
M-Path is an organisation that aims to reframe traditional views of masculinity, helping men and boys engage with their emotional wellbeing and develop their powers of empathy and allyship.
Will gave a fantastic and thought-provoking talk, before then running workshops with smaller groups where pupils had the opportunity to work through and pick apart aspects and expectations surrounding masculinity. There was a great deal of interesting and valuable discussion, with many superb contributions from our pupils.
Parents and staff may already be aware that this year Gresham’s is participating in the Bold Voices Ambassadors’ Programme. This is an online programme for a group of our Year 12 pupils which helps them build the knowledge and skills to run two school-based projects which challenge gender inequality within our school community. It provides a unique opportunity for these pupils to develop a range of key skills beyond the core curriculum and create impact within their school.
Our ‘ambassadors’ decided that their first project would look at gender stereotyping, creating a questionnaire and delivering a Chapel talk in order to begin generating conversations around gender stereotyping and inequality. They did a fantastic job, producing an excellent presentation and involving whole school pupil participation. It was interesting, fun and memorable. We look forward to their next project!
During the month of November, the School once again supported the men’s health charity Movember. Sixth Form boys and male members of staff were encouraged to donate £5 to grow a Mo and there were some interesting results! The aim was to raise awareness of men’s health issues including prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. We were delighted to welcome Chris Wall, a Movember ambassador to talk in Chapel about Movember and all the amazing work it does globally to raise awareness of men’s health issues. He said men die on average 4.5 years earlier than women and for largely preventable reasons and that suicide is the leading cause of death in men aged between 20 and 34 in the UK. He encouraged all members of the School community regardless of gender to ‘Remember ALEC’ – Ask the question, Listen without judgement, Encourage action and Check in.
Following Chris’s presentation, tutors led discussion sessions in tutor time using some excellent Movember resources and encouraged pupils to touch base regularly with their friends and family. There was plenty of other fund raising going on for Movember as well; Woodlands ran in excess of 100km in 30 minutes on a cold and windy night, Oakeley ran 60km around the House and at the end of Movember there was a charity auction to shave off Mr Sharrock’s moustache and Mr Liberman’s beard! However, the most poignant moment of Movember was when 7 members of male staff (Mr Beales, Mr Myres, Mr Majid, Mr Hyatt, Mr Pienaar, Mr Womack and Mr Sharrock) spoke about personal experiences to the Lower and Upper Sixth in Chapel during their Monday afternoon Enrichment slot. These ranged from fatherhood and crying to juggling family life and masculinity. We thank them for their honesty and their talks had a profound impact on the Sixth Form.
Next year, we want to go bigger and better and hope to set up a Movember Ambassador programme. It is not too late to donate, please do support our cause by clicking this link: Gresham’s does Movember or scanning the QR code.
The Senior School ended the term with a series of traditional Christmas Carol services in Chapel. The beautiful Christmas songs and Carols performed by our amazing Chapel Choir provided the perfect end to the term, and a super start to our festive celebrations.