PRESIDENT’S PREAMBLEIt falls to me to ‘kick start’ our latest news bulletin and to have on this occasion the pleasurable task of welcoming Katie Hill to our ranks as an Honorary Member of the OCA. Katie took up her appointment as Headteacher of Chard School in September at the beginning of the Autumn Term. Graham and I had the opportunity to meet Katie back in June at the Summer Fair and regaled her at some length (!!) on the history of the OCA but in so doing assured her of our ongoing support. I feel sure you would want me, on your behalf, to wish Katie all good fortune in her appointment and we look forward to working with her in the time ahead.

I always read with great interest the school notes contained at the end of our bulletins. Many of us must feel quite envious at the range of activities available to current day pupils. The most we could hope for by way of entertainment was a cross country run in all weathers ‘whipped in’ by the

Headmaster’s dog and a slog in the mud on the ‘’rugger’ field, although perhaps the balmy days of summer were not so bad!

Looking at my Preamble comments this time last year I am at risk of repeating myself for it has been another successful year for the OCA with attendance at our two major events being maintained. Once again we were able to welcome OCs who we hadn’t seen in a while; always good to see new ‘old’ faces at our table. Details of our events for 2018 are included with this bulletin and we look forward to good attendances at both Maidenhead and/or Chard or perhaps both? Hope to see you then.

In the meantime it only remains for me to wish you all and your families, wherever you may be, a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Charles Denman, President - Old Cerdics Association

BulletinNews

Nov 2017 Issue 28

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IN THIS ISSUE:• PRESIDENTS PREAMBLE• FROM THE HEAD’S DESK• SCHOOL GOVERNORS• COLYTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL• FORTHCOMING EVENTS

• LONDON REUNIONS• REMEMBRANCE 2017• NEWS FROM AFAR• OBITUARY• SCHOOLS LATEST NEWS

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FROM THE HEAD’S DESK

My first ten weeks at Chard School have flown by. What a unique, charming school I am fortunate enough to be leading! It is exciting to be working to educate such an eager, enthusiastic school of children in a beautiful setting, steeped in history. My first term has been spent getting to know as many individuals as possible within the school community starting of course with the children, staff and parents, then progressing to other local education providers and I have even been privileged enough to meet some Old Cerdics and their wives at our recent Remembrance Service.

The school itself has had many highlights

during this time from an exciting stream of sports fixtures at Holyrood School, the most notable being the Cross Country Championships where Chard School achieved great success. I am sure you will have read about this in a recent Newsletter. The children celebrated Harvest in style and we were proud to make a huge donation of non-perishable produce to the Lord’s Larder, Chard’s Food Bank. More recently the whole school had great fun at our French Day and of course Remembrance Day with a fitting service. The school is now beginning to prepare for the forthcoming Christmas season with the Pre-Prep Nativity and Prep School Carol Service, both of these events you are of course most welcome to attend.

As a school we are thankful to be supported by such an active group of Old Cerdics. We hope that the weekly Newsletter enables you to achieve some insight into the school’s ongoing education and as I have mentioned to some of you that I have been fortunate enough to meet, you are always welcome to attend our school events.

Katie Hill – Head, Chard School

SCHOOL GOVERNORS -VACANCYThe school governors are currently looking to strengthen the Board. They are particularly interested to recruit new governors with skills in IT, finance and estate management. If you know of anyone who may be interested to join the Board or would like to attend a meeting to find out a little more, school secretary Alison Oliphant, 01460 63234 would love to hear from you. She will then pass their details onto the governing body who will make contact.

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COLYTON GRAMMAR SCHOOLCongratulations Chard School on the news that a record number of seven pupils have achieved an eligible score in the 11+ test

they sat in October at Colyton Grammar School. All seven pupils are now invited to apply for a place for entry in September 2018. This is the highest number of pupils from Chard School at any one time that have received such a score in the test for Colyton. The Grammar School situated in Colyton in Devon is a selective school and has enjoyed great academic success ranking amongst the best schools of its type in the country. This is a great achievement for the children and reflects the hard work and dedication they have applied to their learn-ing throughout their time at Chard School. WELL DONE and MANY CONGRATU-LATIONS.

COLYTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL/ FORTHCOMING EVENTS

FORTHCOMING SCHOOL AND OCA EVENTS

CHRISTMAS FAIR – SATURDAY 2nd DECEMBER 2017The school will be holding its annual Christmas Fair on SATURDAY 2nd DECEMBER in

the chapel and grounds of the school from 11-1pm.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT – TUESDAY 12th DECEMBER 2017The school’s annual Christmas Concert to which all OC s are invited will be held at 5.00pm on TUESDAY 12th DECEMBER at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Furnham Road,

Chard. Always a most enjoyable precursor for the festive season. Please notify school Secretary Alison Oliphant if you are able to attend (see Points of Contact).

ANNUAL OLD CERDICS DAY - SATURDAY 9th JUNE 2018Next year’s Annual Old Cerdics Day will be held on SATURDAY 9TH JUNE and will follow the pattern of previous years with the Summer Fair in school from 12.00noon followed by

the Association’s AGM and Annual Reunion Dinner at the Chard Rugby Club in the evening.

MAIDENHEAD SPRING LUNCH - SATURDAY 17th MARCH 2018The traditional spring reunion will take place in Maidenhead from 12.00noon on

SATURDAY 17th MARCH. Full details, confirmation and booking forms will be sent out early in the New Year. In the mean-time some earlier out of Chard events are revisited.

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LONDON REUNIONS REVISITEDWhilst reunion dinners were held in London during the early years of the OCA’s formation in 1929 it is worthy of note that apart from the war years Old Cerdics have been meeting away from Chard every single year without fail for the past 60 years. The forthcoming meeting in Maidenhead on SATURDAY 17TH MARCH 2018 will therefore mark the 60th anniversary for these annual events. The first dinner in London after WW2 was held at The Lotus Restaurant over the Punch Bowl Inn off Piccadilly Circus on Saturday 9th March 1957. 30 OCs attended which by coincidence was the date of the first dinner held in London in 1937. The official proceedings ended at 10.30pm but ‘remember when’ discussions went on into the early hours of Sunday morning; except for one OC travelling back to Chard who was asleep when the train got to Taunton and ended up in Plymouth!

After three years at The Punch Bowl, owned incidentally by the father of an OC, the event moved to a more prestigious venue, the Royal Overseas League off St. James’ Street. By association these proved to be quite ‘posh’ affairs following meticulous and painstaking planning by an ‘ad hoc’ committee, usually conducted at the Public Schools’ Club in Piccadilly. Such is the commitment that the majority members of that committee are still actively supporting the OCA to this very day.

Year on year attendance grew to a regular 50 plus. On these occasions, as of now, it

was customary for the Chair to be taken by successive Presidents and, as well as celebrity Guests the Headmaster of the school accompanied by the Head Prefect were traditionally present as guests of the OCA. In 1961 the school’s eminent benefactor Dr Emanuel Vincent-Harris OBE RA was the principal guest. Two years later it was the turn of The Rt.Revd the Lord Bishop of Bath & Wells, who consecrated the school’s present chapel in January 1959. But in between, in 1962, John Bustard, General Manager of the Atlantic Steam Navigation Co. was the OCA’s guest. This came about by a chance contact. Having decided to name their new ship m/v ‘Cerdic Ferry’ they were completely unaware of the Old Cerdics Association until they noticed an announcement in ‘The Times’ of an earlier OCA dinner. The OCA hierarchy lost no time in offering to present the vessel with the school’s Coat of Arms. Duly accepted, this led to a small coterie of OCs being royally entertained to lunch on board with the Captain and crew at a formal presentation ceremony. As an aside, the ship was in regular service between Tilbury and Antwerp/Rotterdam until quite recently.

Undoubtedly the most significant of all these occasions was the two dinners held at the House of Commons, sponsored by Yeovil MP John Peyton (later Lord Peyton) in 1964 and again in 1968 with some of the largest gatherings of Old Cerdics recorded at any one time. On both occasions those present were given a tour of the House of Commons before sitting down to dinner.

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REMEMBRANCE DAY 2017

Lest we Forget - As the 11th November fell on a Saturday this year the Remembrance Day service in the school chapel was brought forward to Friday 10th November. None the less the significance of this national occasion was not lost by the earlier date and the traditional two minutes silence was observed at the eleventh hour.A full house of staff, families, parents, Old Cerdics, friends and pupils, each with a poppy pinned proudly to their green blazers, were able to share in this most poignant act of remembrance. The children contributed fully to the service from Wyndham with a beautiful poetry recital to the Upper Cerdics who shared their research on both the first and second World Wars.

A particularly moving part of the service involved the Upper Cerdics sharing the roles that their family members had played in the wars and listening to the roll call of the names of Old Cerdics, enshrined in the Roll

of Honour in the chapel, who had paid the ultimate sacrifice. This year the names of the fallen were read out by Fred Eames in a dual role, not only as an Old Cerdic but as a parent with children at the school. After the two minutes silence the Last Post was played by Jasmine Pavey and the service concluded with the Cerdic Band playing a beautiful piece of music entitled ‘Peace’.

It is worthy of note that sadly the OCA no longer has contact with OCs who were at the school before or during WW2. However, there are many post war pupils who will recall vividly the school as it was in the immediate aftermath of the war and the spartan privations that existed at that time, food rationing being not the very least!‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them’

NEWS FROM AFAROBITUARY - BOB BURROUGH

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NEWS FROM AFAROur last news bulletin brought a flurry of interest from overseas:-SIMON ORCHARDSON from Johannesburg, South Africa was intent on renewing contact with TIM BARTON. They managed to meet up back in April 2014 but Simon had lost Tim’s contact details. Apparently he drove through Chard on a wet and damp day in April but no one in the car was keen on stopping. It was during the school holidays so he had to drive past in any event but said the school looked just the same and in good condition. His grown-up daughters were amazed that the school was over 300 years old and that he actually went to school! This is his final year of work as he retires at the end of the year. He has been sitting in the same building since 1994 but expects life to be rather different come 2018, hopefully he will be able to make one more trip to UK. He loves getting the Old Cerdics news bulletin and adds that the school activities seem so much more fun than those when he was at the school in the late sixties/early seventies!

PETER SMITH (PEDS) also writes from South Africa with a message for CLIVE BURFIED saying he hasn’t changed a bit! Is he still playing cricket? Peter is still playing hockey aged 74!BRYAN THOMAS is in Queensland, Australia and noticed the name of KINGSLEY BECK in the report of the last OCA dinner. As they were ‘best buddies’ during his time at Chard he would like to make contact again and asked for his email to be passed on to Kingsley.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? In the last seven decades many pupils have passed through the school; some are in regular contact but the vast majority seem to have been lost. Those from the 1960s/1970s will almost certainly have retired whereas those from the younger generation are perhaps fresh out of university or embarking on life settling careers. Whatever your age we would like to hear from you so - PLEASE get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.

OBITUARYBOB BURROUGH

News came in July of the death of Bob Burrough on Monday 3rd July at the age of 84. He was a day boy at the school around the early/mid 1940s. The OCA was represented at the funeral on Thursday 13th July at Combe St, Nicholas Parish Church by Mick Farthing who, as a result, was unable to attend the school’s annual Concert & Prize Giving. By all accounts Bob was a well-known and respected member of the local community with a large family. Pat Cleal reported that Combe St. Nicholas was gridlocked on the day of the funeral with traffic and two fields full of cars set aside on the edge of the village.

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FABULOUS FOREST SCHOOLThe Pre-Prep had a wonderful jam-packed morning at Magdalen Farm on Wednesday 26th September. They enjoyed a trip to ‘Cluckingham Palace’ to feed the chickens and collect eggs, a drumming session in the music department, decorated a picture frame in ‘Natures Art’ and then finally created their own clay creatures. The children returned to the ‘Birds Nest’ for lunch before departing for school. With huge smiles on their faces it was lovely to see the children rushing onto the playground at the end of the day keen to tell their parents about their adventures.

SCIENCE GOES WITH A BANG!Science has been going with a bang for Year 5 who have been conducting experiments to understand the differing properties of metal and to explore the process of evaporation. Looks great fun!

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ART EXHIBITION A wonderful selection of art from pupils across all year groups at Chard School was displayed at Chard Library in September.

HISTORY TOPIC WORKYears 4, 5 & 6 have produced some fantastic drawings and 3D models to support their learning in their respective History topic areas; ‘Egypt’, ‘Rome’ and ‘The Victorians’.

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HARVEST FESTIVAL ASSEMBLY At the beginning of October we were treated to a very enjoyable Harvest Festival Assembly! Food donations were placed at the front of the chapel at the beginning of the service and then pupils performed music and read poems on a harvest theme to a delighted audience of parents and family members. Thank you also for the kind food donations which were taken by Upper Cerdic to the Lord’s Larder (at the Forefront Centre) which provides emergency food supplies to those in need.

UPPER CERDICS VISIT THE LORD’S LARDERFollowing our Harvest Festival Assembly, the Upper Cerdics delivered the food donations from to the Lord’s Larder in Chard where they were very gratefully received by the team there. Whilst they were there, one of the volunteers explained how the Lord’s Larder worked and the children were able to help pack a food bag for a family of 4 before learning how the food is stored, organised and distributed. A humbling visit, where the children were a credit to our school and gained a true appreciation of the fantastic support that the centre gives to members of the local community.

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Produced and distributed from Chard School, Fore Street, Chard TA20 1QA.POINTS OF CONTACTChard School Secretary – Alison OliphantEmail: secretary@chardschool.co.ukOld Cerdics Association Secretary – Graham ChamberlainEmail : graham.cartrapen@yahoo.co.uk Chard School/Old Cerdics Association website: www.chardschool.co.uk

ADVENTURER VISITS THE SCHOOLAdventurer Mac Mackenney visited the school in October, to speak to the Cerdic classes about his travels in the Arctic. As well as showing them slides and videos of his journeys, he also brought in a range of equipment and clothing needed to survive extreme conditions which they enjoyed trying out! A highlight was climbing into the multiple layers of sleeping bags that are needed to keep warm at night! It was a fascinating and inspiring afternoon for the children, who have been studying the chemistry of ice and water as well as the polar regions of the earth this term.

SPORTS NEWSThe U9 Football A Team had a brilliant afternoon at the U9 Holyrood Football Tournament at the beginning of October, winning 5 matches and going on to be crowned tournament champions!

Winning Team - Scarlett, William, Isaac, Edward, Oliver, Xavier and James