The RonianISSUE 62 - Spring 2016

w w w . s a i n t r o n a n s . c o . u k

Inside: How to be a Ronian • Musical News • Alumni • Sports Reports 

The Headmaster writes...

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We have had an especially busy and fruitful term.

Our 100% Cranbrook pass rate and the twenty scholarships won by Year 8 are

mentioned elsewhere in the magazine. The Senior School destinations of our leavers

are broad and varied and include Battle Abbey, Bedes, Bethany, Benenden, Brighton,

Claremont, Cranbrook, Eton, Harrow, Highworth, Judd, King’s, Lancing, Mayfield,

Sedbergh, Sutton Valence, Tonbridge Girls and Uppingham. Three children have

gained entry to Grammar Schools via the 11+.

Boarding is gaining in popularity and 84 children regularly spend part of the week with

us. 70% of the music grades awarded at Christmas were Merits or Distinctions. We

look forward to the breakfast concerts next term and to the Founder’s Day

performances. The musicians are delighted with the gift of a brand new grand piano for

the Great Space, which had its debut in the terrific production of ‘Into the Woods’.

Next term will see an exhibition of the children’s work in Art and DT, themed to

celebrate the 150th anniversary of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Work is progressing well on

the replica Fokker Eindecker which, I hope, will take to the skies before long!

It has been a highly successful term in sport and our most successful cross-country

season, culminating in a silver medal at the National Prep Schools Championships in

Malvern. The U11A netball team lost only one match and the U11Bs were unbeaten,

as were the U9A and U8B girls’ hockey teams. The best of boys’ hockey was in the

Colts, which augurs well for the future. Finally, congratulations to the five children

chosen to represent the County, be it in cricket or cross-country. Barney Hall has been

chosen to play for SE England in U12 football and his team will represent England in

Gothenburg in July.

Since I joined Saint Ronan’s, the School community has raised £112,113 for charities

other than the School itself. This term further funds have been gifted to Great Ormond

Street and in April Matthew Bryan is running the London Marathon for Whizz Kids, a

charity which helps disabled children.

I hope that everyone has a restful Easter break and that those going to Naples have

the best of times.

With kind regards,

William Trelawny-Vernon

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In this issue...

Leavers already doing us proud 4

We’re playing flute, sax, and all that jazz! 4

‘Into the Woods’ 5

How to be a Ronian 5

Class Four trip to the George 6

Roman Funeral Procession 6

Chapel Choir 6

This term in Bicton 7

Scottish Reels 7

Visiting Speakers 8

Musical Breakfasts 8

Class 3 in the woods 9

Sevenoaks Innovation Week 9

Having fun raising money 9

From Farm to Fork 10

Chicks for Easter 10

Shell visit Penshurst Place 11

The Roman Painted House 11

Environmental Issues 12

World Book Day 13

Prizes 16

Sport 18-20

Coming up... Next Term

Term begins 21st April

FOR meeting 26th April

Art & DT Exhibition 29th April

Class 4 to Harry Potter World 3rd May

Upper to Canterbury & Dover 10th May

Sizzling Strings 13th May

Year 1 to Dungeness 17th May

Class 3 to Matilda 18th May

Shell to Ashford Solar Farm 24th May

Half term begins 27th May

Half term ends 6th June

Common Entrance Exams 6th-9th June

FOR meeting 7th June

School Exams (Years 3-7) 13th-17th June

Informal Concert 17th June

ABRSM Exams 20th-22nd June

Leavers trip to Bude 26th June

Upper trip to France 27th June

Sponsored Walk 1st July

Term ends 8th July

Leavers’ Day 9th July

The mountain biking club!

Budding mime artists entertained us with

their pop-up living statues demonstration.

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Leavers already doing us proud

This is a busy time of year, especially for the 44 children in

Year 8. So far this talented cohort has amassed twenty

scholarships to senior schools and all our Cranbrook

applicants once again gained their places for September. We

have three further candidates sitting for academic awards

early next term and then all will progress to Common Entrance

in June. As in previous years, CE marks the end of the various

courses they have been studying.

The expected destinations of this year’s leavers are broad and

varied: Battle Abbey, Bedes, Bennett Memorial, Bethany,

Benenden, Brighton, Claremont, Cranbrook, Eton, Harrow,

Highworth, Judd, King’s, Lancing, Mayfield, Sedbergh, Sutton

Valence, Tonbridge Girls, Uplands and Uppingham.

Congratulations to the following who have won awards so far

this year: India Black (Academic & Art, Mayfield), Issy Bolton

Ferret (Academic, Art Exhibition & Sports Exhibition), Ella

Brady (Drama, Battle Abbey), Orlando Copplestone (Music,

King’s), Aisling Cotter (Performing Arts, Bedes), James

Crawley (Sports Exhibition, King’s), James Crombie

(Academic, Sutton Valence), Caspar Cubitt (Music, Battle

Abbey), Joe Dale (Music, Sutton Valence), Luc Doane

(Music, Cranbrook), Barney Hall (Sport, Lancing), Megan

Hopper (Art, Battle Abbey), Dizzy Loxton-Barnard (Sport,

Sutton Valence), James Mason (Academic, Battle Abbey),

Ruairi Pringle (Music, Harrow), Ollie Skeet (Academic &

Music, Battle Abbey).

In January the Great Space was transformed into an

impromptu jazz club for our first ever Jazz concert. The Flute

Choir, Brass Band and Guitar Ensemble had all been

exploring the funkier areas of their repertoire and contributed

some lively numbers that had the school tapping their toes in

appreciation. The Chamber Choir sang two swingy

arrangements of spirituals to the accompaniment of a trio of

drums bass and keys, and the Jazz band contributed two

punchy numbers characterised by some commendably tight

ensemble playing.

The ensembles were supported by excellent solos from

songbird Louisa Hudson, covering Vance Joy, and

improvisation guru Joe Dale playing alto sax with a pro band

formed from among the Peris. Hot stuff, and very cool!

We’re playing flute and sax... and all that Jazz!

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Surrounded by woods, Saint Ronan’s has a magnificent

setting and this year we were able to harness its unique

landscape for our production. The woods really did come to

the Great Space, with three silver birches brought in as set

dressing from outside. Lynne Page helping us with

choreography was a highlight and Juliet came to rehearse the

chorus in the lead-up to the performance.

The cast tackled a very tricky score and carried it off with such

style and assurance that audiences were very impressed by

the quality of the show. Hidden talents were given a chance

to shine and, though I wondered at times during rehearsals if

we had bitten off more than we could chew, I was thrilled by

the way everyone, on stage and off, gave their best for the

performances. Now the tricky task of choosing the next one!

Into the Woods - a very special production

This term, as part of our ‘Intellectual Character’ programme,

we launched a new initiative in the Pupil Planners. When the

pupils show one of the six characteristics we are looking for,

they can have it signed off and thus work towards

a Show or a Show Up. The idea is to keep

reminding the children to show the qualities of

Curiosity, Cooperation, Empathy, Perseverance,

Awareness and Imagination so that they build up

a resilience for when life becomes difficult (and the

wherewithal to support others when the same happens to

them). It is hard for us to predict what the pupils will be in the

future, but with a resilient attitude, built on these six bases,

whatever they are - be it a father, mother, doctor, banker or

author – they will be better for it. To reinforce this we also had

an Assembly, with the six characteristics championed by six

members of staff. It is important to be able to

allocate time to something like this: we are good

at the ‘bread and butter’ side of getting pupils

through their exams but we still make sure we

concentrate on the whole child. Being kind, gentle,

honest, hardworking and respectful (the qualities

listed on the ‘what really matters’ page of the Blue Book) are

also key to being a successful Ronian; there will be more of

this to come in the future.

How to be a Ronian - building resilience

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What a wonderful opportunity for Class Four to sample French

delicacies such as snails, frogs’ legs, chocolate pancakes and

the traditional French Epiphany cake called La Galette des

Rois.

The warmth of the welcome that we receive every year at the

George in Rye matches the amazing taste! Merci infiniment!

Sacré bleu! Class 4 eat snails

In February the Chapel Choir presented a concert for parents and friends drawn from the repertoire sung so far at this year’s

Friday Evensong services. Two works by the popular Cambridge tunesmith John Rutter provided the prelude and postlude to

the programme, namely All Things Bright and Beautiful and the wonderfully weepy Gaelic Blessing, which had the required

effect on a number of the mums present. Another contemporary composer, Peter Aston, was represented by his setting of I Give

You a New Commandment and the moving They Gave Their Bodies to the Commonwealth, a version of Pericles’s stirring

funeral oration of 431BC, which was sung at the Armistice Service. Luc Doane sang the treble solo in William Byrd’s Teach Me

O Lord, which was accompanied on a chamber organ designed to recreate the sounds of a sixteenth century instrument. Other

solos were beautifully presented by Olive Clarke, Ben Bonner-Davies and Aisling Cotter. The biggest cheer of the evening,

however, was reserved for the wonderful Arran Keith, who accompanies our rehearsals and services with such sensitivity and

dedication.

Remove pupils treated the Prep School to a surprise re-

enactment of a Roman funeral procession on Thursday

morning, complete with musicians, singers, professional

mourners, slaves, flaming torches and litter bearers (to carry

the body!). Inspired by our study of the CE background topic

Death and Burial, we paraded along the academic corridor in

full costume, with drums, musical accompaniments, mournful

wailing and the customary beating of breasts.

The reception we received from the Prep School was so

wonderful that we continued the procession onto the Terrace

and down to the tennis courts at Little Break (dodging footballs

and curious onlookers!). We concluded with a ‘laudatio’ (a

speech in praise of the dead person), delivered passionately

in Latin and English by Fraser.

Well done everyone for pulling it off! Mrs Morrell was

extremely proud! Take a look at our Facebook page to see a

video of the event.

Roman Funeral Procession

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Each house takes a turn to showcase what they’ve been up

during the course of a term.

The term in...

BICTON

This term has gone so quickly and much has happened. We

have been lucky to have had fascinating assemblies,

incredible achievements and exciting competitions and done

well in many sporting events.

We had a talk on ‘Imagination’, where we played John

Lennon’s song, ‘Imagine’ and spoke about people who

showed imagination, especially David Bowie. We also had

talks on Pancake Day (Shrove

Tuesday or Mardi Gras),

Archimedes and his inventions

and Orlando spoke to us

about Phillip Petit, the man

that crossed the Twin Towers

on a tightrope.

The pupils in Bicton have

worked extremely well as

individuals and as a team. Some of the Year 8s have won

scholarships to their senior schools and everyone got into

Cranbrook. Barney represented the house in the debate: ‘This

house believes that Britain doesn’t need nuclear weapons’.

Barney argued that they were justifiable, and a good

protection from other countries, and was placed 2nd. We

mustn’t forget the Brodie, especially the Years 3 and 4 race,

when we came first, second and third. Well done to Archie

McDonald, Jack Kirkland and Billy Bolton-Ferret.

Mr Bright led the Location Knowledge competition and many

people were proud of their score. The U11 Rugby team went

to Ashdown House and made it to the quarter finals. We’ve

had a very successful cross-country season, including the

Kent College Run, and in the Nationals the U13 boys’ team

was placed 2nd.

Emma Beart and Bertie Lambert went up to London for the

Leon Paul Fencing competition and did very well. The U9s

had a hockey tournament at Ashford where they only lost one

match and beat the hosts twice.

We’ve had a magnificent term due to all of you: thank you and

I hope we have an equally good summer term.

Matilda Clarke and Barney Hall

On Saturday 6th February, The Friends of Saint Ronan’s

hosted a fabulous Evening of Scottish Reels. Guests arrived

wearing a hint of tartan and were piped into the school by

Angus Hay’s grandfather, Mark Tennant, who kindly travelled

down from Scotland especially for the event.

The Great Space

looked beautiful,

thanks to the

creative flair of

Camilla

Macdonald. The

evening was a

great success,

with dancing to The George Buchanan Scottish Dance Band.

The dancing appealed to all levels of experience:

accomplished, complete beginners and nervous alike. Miranda

Hay kindly and patiently talked the guests through the dances

so all abilities could join in the fun. There was a delicious

supper of kedgeree and chocolate brownies supplied by the

brilliant Peter in the kitchen. This was accompanied by ‘The

Haggis’ which was magnificently and dramatically “addressed”

by Neil McConachie, sword in hand. A hugely successful and

fun evening was had by all and we look forward to dusting off

our dance shoes for next year’s frivolities! A massive thank

you to all involved.

Scottish Reels

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Our first speaker of the term was our Chaplin, Iori Price, who

christened Anya and George Rasalingham in the Chapel and

spoke about Baptism. This was lovely service and all the

children enjoyed it (as did the grown ups!).

Following him came Dr Betts from Lancing College, who

talked about inspirational people. The Chapel Choir anthem

was ‘Brother James’ Air’.

Ben Figgis, the Headmaster of Ardingly, came to talk about

‘Questioning’ and the Anthem for this was ‘A New

Commandment I give unto you’ by Peter Aston.

James Shone came to deliver his message of ‘I can and I am’.

His recovery from an operation to remove a brain tumour led

him to found his eponymous charity which aims to inspire

confidence in every individual to help them reach their

potential and, as James does, inspire others.

We also had Hugo Chittenden, aka ‘The Volunteer’. Hugo,

pictured above, ran successful businesses until his life was

changed by illness. Hugo re-dedicated his life to work as a

volunteer. He has worked on many projects including building

a school in Kenya. Hugo aims to inspire a spirit of

volunteering and has definitely planted a seed here.

Finally Chris Parkinson came to the Chapel to talk about Love

and Kindness to all. He based his sermon around 1,

Corinthians, ch 13, verses 1-7 and 13. The Anthem sung by

the Chapel Choir on this occasion was ‘A Gaelic Blessing’ by

Rutter. We had extra sound effects courtesy of the Norovirus,

which were not so pleasant!

Visiting Speakers discuss

inspiration and love

Eight of the peripatetic music staff presented Breakfasts

featuring the ongoing work of their pupils this term. With tea,

coffee, bacon rolls and croissants on offer as a culinary

incentive, we were delighted by the splendid support shown by

the many parents who came along to see their offspring in

action. Annie Chesters used the opportunity to educate the

parents on how best to support their children in their practice,

and Richard Lakin demonstrated the benefits of duet work with

pianists. Rob Leake’s clarinet and sax session included some

excellent ensemble pieces, and Ingrid Sellschop focused on

just how much pupils in the early stages of learning the violin

can achieve. Sophie Williamson and Jane Dawson showcased

violinists at a more advanced stage, working on interpretation

and presentation, and Effie Sparkhall’s flautists provided

examples of the wonderfully varied and characterful repertoire

that she finds for them to explore. The final session was run

by Ed Bingham and his senior guitarists, who filled the Albert

Hall with fine examples of music and demonstrated a wide

variety of styles and techniques.

Music with your cereal...

On Wednesday 3rd February, the children celebrated Burns’

Night. After a few weeks of practising with our patient parent

helpers and superb callers, Miranda Hay and Jamie

Macdonald, the evening finally arrived. The children began

their festivities in a tartan-clad dining room for a hearty supper

of sausage and mash. The haggis was mentioned but

certainly not addressed! They then headed up to The Great

Space, fully fuelled for some energetic dancing.

The children embraced the evening wholeheartedly, with much

spinning, swirling and loud counting of steps.

They ended the evening with a rip-roaring rendition of Auld

Lang Syne! Thank you to everyone involved for a magical

evening.

No haggis but great reels

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Class 3 spent a day in Tongswood, led by Phil from Badger

Bushcraft. Under his watchful eye the children learned how to

make a fire, using everything from matches to potassium

permanganate, and were able to toast marshmallows to stay

warm! They also learned about the different flora and fauna

that we have in our wonderful woods: fungi, herbs (important

to tell the difference between delicious sorrel and yucky dock

leaves!) and even a dormant queen bumble bee.

We finished with delicious hotdogs and a story around the

camp circle before returning to School covered in mud and big

smiles.

Class 3 spend a day in the woods

On 1st March two Year groups went to the newly-renamed

‘Innovation Week’ at Sevenoaks School. Although fog

prevented the expected arrival of the Duke of York, Upper did

manage to battle through the elements to attend a talk on

‘Engineering for Life’. Here we were taken though some of the

ways engineers have improved our lives, from pregnancy

tests, nappies (which frankly I’d seen enough of that morning)

to cryogenics. This was shown through a number of

demonstrations and will hopefully have inspired some

engineers of the future. In the afternoon Remove went for a

talk entitled, ‘Beyond the Rainbow’. See Matilda’s report

below. RVS

Sevenoaks Innovation Week

In classic Saint Ronan’s style, we raised lots of money this term and had fun along the way. In total, over £1,700 was raised, not

just for Great Ormond Street through our Bad Hair Day, but also for Sports Relief, where the whole school ran, rolled and

skipped for a mile or more. Year 2 raised funds for Bushbells School in Watamu, Kenya, with their Cake Sale. This brings the

total raised this year to just short of £5000; roll on the Sponsored Walk!

Having fun raising money

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Concert at Lunchtime

The Lunchtime concert is a chance for our younger musicians

to cut their teeth as performers in front of a small audience of

friends and teachers. This term we had some wonderfully well-

prepared performances on piano, violin, cello, trumpet and

voice, all of which were announced with strong, confident

voices and included a big bow to the audience. The Junior

Strings played us a complex round based on Kookaburra

Sings in the Old Gum Tree before joining forces with the Class

Four choir for a performance of Alleluia to finish the concert.

Excellent work from everyone!

As part of our topic, ‘Healthy Eating’, Year 2 visited Furnival’s

Farm to discover more about farming. Kate and Olly Furnival

showed us the range of beef cattle they have, including

Belgian Blue, Hereford, Simmental and Limousin. We were

surprised to learn that each cow drinks 80 litres of water per

day! The cattle eat a varied diet, including grass or silage,

protein supplements and a huge range of fruit, including

apples, pears, melons, and even passion fruit. The farm

receives a delivery of 30 tonnes of imperfect fruit per week for

animal feed. We were lucky enough to see some of the new

born calves, including twins born the previous night. After

that, we took a tractor ride to the other side of the farm to see

some of the machinery and arable crops. The crops grown on

the farm include potatoes, wheat, peas, oil seed rape and also

grass for animal feed. We saw a huge potato harvester which

harvests, washes and grades the potatoes before they go into

the cold store. We saw fields of wheat and the grain store and

learned how the ventilation system keeps the grain at

optimum temperature for storage before it is sold for milling in

flour mills worldwide. On our return we stopped at Jempson’s,

Peasmarsh to see locally-produced food on the shop’s

shelves. A super trip which has grown the children’s

knowledge of the route our food takes from ‘Farm to Fork’.

From Farm to Fork

Reception welcomed nine beautiful Light Sussex chicks this

Spring! The children had an enriching time learning about the

life cycle of the chicken and were broody for 21 days waiting

(patiently) for the eggs to hatch. What fun everybody had

weighing and cuddling chicks. There were a few ‘mistakes’

during cuddling sessions and a little bit of messy manure

found its way on to the carpet! Overall a happy time was had

by all. Cheep cheep!

Chicks for Easter

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On Tuesday 22nd March, Year 3 went to the Roman Painted

House in Dover because we have been learning about the

Romans.

First, Millie, Edward, Bertie and Marcus (George) dressed up

as a wealthy woman, a gladiator, a slave and a senator. They

looked like (funny) Romans.

After that we looked at the five discovered rooms and Brian

told us what the rooms were used for – the Painted House

was a hotel with 96 rooms in the Roman town of Dubris

(Dover). It took 69 days to excavate the five rooms, then they

had a party!

Then we examined and drew the different ‘finds’: oyster shells,

wall plaster, Tudor pottery, cooking pot, Samian (posh) pottery

and tesserae. Next we made mosaics with beautiful coloured

tiles that made pretty patterns. We nearly all finished them,

except Anya and Bertie who did!

Later on we went upstairs to do brass rubbings: some of us

did one and some did two.

Then we listened to a talk and felt lots of old bones.

Meanwhile we took it in turns to go to the shop and choose a

Roman artefact.

Finally we had lunch outside and got back on the coach.

By 3RF

The Roman Painted House

Old Ronian Phoebe Katis (1997-2006) and her band recently

headlined a gig at the Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. The

band also played live on BBC Radio Kent to promote the gig.

Phoebe studied music at Leeds University and is now in

London where she is writing, performing and teaching.

We went to Penshurst Place for a school trip. The first place

we saw was the courtyard. Here, some men showed us some

armour and weaponry that would have been used to fight in

the Spanish Armada.

We visited the kitchen where we learnt that the spitboy had to

turn the spit ALL DAY. We also learnt that the peasants didn’t

drink water but they drank BEER! The cutlery was like that

too, wooden plates for peasants, pottery for the rather well off

and silver for people like the Queen!

After that, we climbed the stairs to the Baron’s hall. There we

saw a man play an Elizabethan recorder and bagpipes! He

then taught us how to bow and curtsey.

We visited the barber-surgeon, where a man showed us the

medical procedures that were used - some were very

barbaric!

We then went for an audience with Queen Elizabeth herself.

We bowed or curtsied so low that I almost fell over, before she

rather curtly told us to ‘stand’. She answered our questions

and was really quite strict!

We then went down to where the Queen got dressed. It was

fun seeing the range of clothes.

The last place we visited was the torture house, where a man

talked to us about different types of torture.

Finally we all trundled back to the bus, bundled on and drove

back to school, just in time for lunch!

By Evie Shimmin, Shell LS

Shell visit Penshurst Place

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Aer Lingus has a long tradition of naming planes using saints’ names, thought to be for safe carriage and to honour Ireland as

the land of saints and scholars. On one side of the aircraft is the Irish saint name and on the other is the English translation.

St Ronan came in to service in Feb 2009. Its registration is EI-EAV, or ‘Alpha Victor’ to Aer Lingus staff. It’s one of four Airbus

A330-300 aircraft operated by the airline, with 30 seats in Business Class and 287 seats in economy class.

It predominately flies to the east coast of the United States.

St Ronan takes to the skies with Aer Lingus

During the course of this term, the Prep School children have

been learning more about their environment, both locally and

in the wider world. Class 3 took a trip to Forest School, lead

by Anna Day, where they lovingly created a whole host of

natural treasures made out of forest floor materials for the

Nursery children to discover the following day. Meanwhile,

Class 4 learnt how to appreciate their local countryside with

Sarah Underhill (who used to volunteer for the Forestry

Commission). This involved ageing trees by measuring their

girth, playing games to learn about seed dispersal,

considering man’s influence on the landscape and reflecting

on the use of colour by birds, animals and plants to either

camouflage or display.

During their SHAPE sessions, Shell were visited by

Envionmental Issues

Tradecraft, who shared their expertise on Fair Trade. Midway

learned more about Deforestation and Upper tackled

Recycling. Finally, Remove focused on Conservation, with

guest speaker Angus Wingfield from Africa Wild Trails. Angus

fittingly concluded his session by saying, "Conservation is just

a conversation unless you decide to do something about it. It

is not so much what you learn and know in your head, but

what you feel in your heart, that will inspire you to make a

difference.”

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World Book Day 2016

On a fine Spring morning, Mole decided to leave the spring-

cleaning and head off to the river in search of an adventure.

He found an adventure and a whole set of new friends too!

It was a challenge to judge our Book Fair Character Catwalk

from a boat but the boarding staff were not deterred and did a

marvellous job. The Great Space was packed with familiar

book characters, and some we’d never heard of too, but that is

the pleasure of the day. There were so many prize-winners

that we needed a special wide-angle lens to get them all in

shot. Lots and lots of fun was had by all!

It was an exciting week and the Book Fair was a great

success too, with great feedback from all Year groups about

the range of books on offer.

We created Big Art in the Nursery! The idea was to produce

art in different forms to encourage each child to participate

and feel part of something bigger – but most of all, to have

fun! The picture shown was part of our Nursery Rhyme

project depicting ‘Jack and Jill’.

Big Artin the Nursery

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We are hosting an OR

reunion lunch, for those

who left between 1969

and 1973, at Saint

Ronan’s on Saturday 14th

May 2016.

The idea was suggested

by Dominic Houlder (OR

1966 - 1971) and we

would be delighted to

welcome ORs from that

era.

Please email

clareoconnell@saintronan

s.co.uk if you would like to

come.

ORs from

1969 to 1973

Name the Team Competition

Can you name the members of this Cricket 1st XI? They played 10 matches, winning 1, losing

6 and drawing 3. Submit entries to clareoconnell@saintronans.co.uk - first correct answer wins

a Saint Ronan’s mug.

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A major player in the 19th

Century transatlantic trade in

timber was the Scottish Firm

of Pollok, Gilmour and Co.

Throughout the first few

decades, when the Baltic

was cut off as a source of

timber by Napoleon, the

forests of New Brunswick,

Canada, provided much of

Britain’s timber. By 1838, Pollok, Gilmour owned 130 ships. In

1851 William Strang opened a London office and started to

trade in timber, cotton and anything that paid.

By the 1850s, however, the days of the ‘windjammer’ were

almost over, replaced by iron ships and steam. The London

partnership, Gilmour, Rankin, Strang bought its first three iron

ships in 1865, and then in 1881 the S.S. Saint Ronans. It was

402 ft long, the length of a large football pitch, and had sixty

crew. It crossed regularly from New York to London, Liverpool

or Antwerp. We have a list of a cargo taken from Liverpool to

New York on January 1st 1882 which lists 314 cattle, 500

sheep, oatmeal, oak wainscot and barrels of lard !! On the

voyage it says ‘Some sheep lost, number uncertain’.

Sadly the Saint Ronan was shipwrecked off Newfoundland in

June 1899, so lasted just 18 years. The firm of Gilmour,

Rankin, Strang was late in its move to steam and slowly

disappeared in the 1920s.

William Strang is the great, great, great grandfather of Max

Strang Taylor-Young, a Frog in the nursery, keeping a family

name alive.

By Simon Taylor-Young (father of Max)

SS Saint Ronans

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We were profoundly saddened to learn of Tom’s death on the

28th December 2015 at the age of just 23. His precocious

musical talent will long be remembered, as will his kind, caring

nature and generous spirit.

Tom started at Saint Ronan’s shortly before his fourth birthday.

He loved the freedom and support he was given to pursue his

music, whilst at the same time also enjoying the best possible

guidance academically.

He started playing the piano at just three. At the age of six,

inspired by Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’, and as a special

tribute to his grandfather, Tom took up the bassoon. Shortly

afterwards he began learning both the descant and treble

recorders and the flute, as well as having singing and organ

lessons

At the age of eleven he performed the solo treble role in

Mendelssohn’s ‘Hear My Prayer’ with the Cranbrook Sinfonia

Orchestra and Choir. With two years still to go at Saint

Ronan’s, Tom achieved Distinctions in all his instrumental and

singing examination results to Grade 8 level. In his last year

here he gained the ATCL Diploma (Associate of Trinity College

London) on the piano, normally awarded at the end of the first

year of undergraduate study at a Music Conservatoire. Some

weeks later he was awarded a Music Scholarship to Eton

College and, in addition, scooped first prize in all twenty

classes he entered at the Hastings Music Festival. He was

further awarded the European Piano Teachers’ Association

Cup for the Most Promising Pianist of Any Age, still aged only

13.

During his time at Eton, Tom continued to flourish, winning the

Advanced Woodwind, Singing and Piano Competitions and

being invited to take lessons with Joan Havill, Senior

Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was

also awarded an Oppidan Scholarship. In his second year at

Eton he was awarded the LTCL (Licentiate of Trinity College of

Music) with Distinction for piano, normally awarded at the end

of a three year graduate course. The following year he was

awarded the ATCL, again with Distinction, for his performance

on the descant and treble recorders and, astonishingly, a

Fellowship of Trinity College London (FTCL) for the piano,

again normally achieved only at post-graduate level. Thomas

sang in the College Chapel Choir under the direction of Ralph

Allwood and studied organ with David Goode, Head of

Keyboard. He played in the Eton School Orchestra, Senior

Wind Band, Senior Flute Group, Wind Quintet and Recorder

Consort.

In February 2010 he made his debut at the Cadogan Hall,

London, in a charity concert, playing Balakirev’s ‘Islamey:

Fantaisie Orientale’. He received a standing ovation from a full

house.

In 2012, he won a Choral Scholarship to Trinity Hall,

Cambridge and went on to study at the Guildhall. During his

gap year he returned to his old school to perform a solo

concert and talk about his music. The audience was spell-

bound by his playing and charmed by his gentle humility.

Tom’s Memorial Service will be held in the School Chapel at

11.30am on Friday 10th June, when we can pay tribute to a

great soul and a phenomenal talent. If you would like to attend

please contact the School Office

(clareoconnell@saintronans.co.uk). The charity concert the

next day, in aid of Riding for the Disabled and at which he was

due to play, will go ahead in his honour.

Thomas Edward Harris (1993-2015)

Spring Term PrizesSenior Prefects

Head Prefect B. Hall

Second Prefects E. Hastilow, A. Moore

Heads of Houses

Bicton O. Copplestone

Pembroke A. Cotter

Selden J. Crawley

Tongswood I. Bolton-Ferrett

School Appointments

Captain of Cricket A. Moore

Captain of Rounders O. Hancock

Captain of Athletics J. Crawley

Headmaster’s Special Prizes

M. Macleay, D. McCollum, C. Baker, J. Ellison

Most Shows

Remove H. van Buer

Upper G. Penny

Midway M. Peacock

Shell A. Geens, E. Hues

Class 4 B. Wyatt

Class 3 W. Wood

Term’s Effort

Remove O. Skeet

Upper T. Tweedie

Midway M. Peacock

Shell R. Redmayne

Class 4 F. Shimmin

Class 3 M. Davidson-Houston

Remove Exams

Best average O. Skeet

Most improved O. Bartleet

School Prizes

Sight Reading A. Ramyead

Acting Cup W. Woodhouse

Ross Cup for Performing Arts A. Cotter

Jevons Prize E. Cooper, 2: J. Groom, T. Tweedie

Harris Cup A. Clapp

Rugby Prizes

U13 Player of the Season E. Hastilow

U13 Most Improved W. Woodhouse

U11 Player of the Season K. Bottle

U11 Most Improved J. Whiteley

Boys’ Hockey Prizes

U13 Player of the Season F. Kirkland

U13 Most Improved F. Connell, B. Lambert

U11 Player of the Season A. MacLeod

U11 Most Improved G. Kidd

Netball Prizes

U13 Player of the Season O. Hancock

U13 Most Improved O. de Winton

U11 Player of the Season C. Milborne

U11 Most Improved G. Coulson

Lacrosse Prizes

U13 Player of the Season D. Loxton-Barnard

U13 Most Improved M. Hopper

U11 Player of the Season G. Bartleet

U11 Most Improved N. Zitzelsberger

House and Form Prizes

Senior Form Upper BC

Junior Form 4 RT

House Cup Pembroke

Bicton Prize O. Copplestone

Pembroke Prize M. Peacock

Selden Prize A. Moore

Tongswood Prize C. Redmayne

Form Tutors’ Prizes

Remove EG T. Marsh

Remove KK I. Bolton-Ferrett

Remove PG J. Funnell

Upper DB F. Balcomb-Hellier

Upper BC C. Redmayne

Upper JG C. Nieto-Parr

Midway SC H. Morrell

Midway LL A. Wormington

Midway IP G. Bartleet

Shell RVS A. Braxton

Shell LS A. Taggart

Shell NH M. Routledge

4 DG D. McEvoy-Gould

4 RT L. Allchorne

4 EM J. Simpson

3 RF T. Ure

3 EGJ A. Burrows

3 TT D. Green

16

17

On the last Friday of term, the medieval city of Rochester

thrummed with Midway feet as the children dashed around its

many attractions. First up was the recently-opened Hugenot

Museum, where we listened to Old Ronian Gospatrick Home’s

brilliant talk on the history of the Hugenots, with particular

reference to his own family. Next was the magnificent Castle,

where the children climbed right to the top of the massive

Keep; then the Prison Hulks at the Guildhall Museum and

finally the Cathedral, where we were guided around an

Midway take a trip to Rochester and Chatham

impressive 900 years of history. Revitalised after our packed

lunch we went on to the Historic Dockyard at Chatham and

visited the RNLI Historic Lifeboat collection, HMS Cavalier (a

Second World War destroyer); HMS Gannet (a sail and steam-

powered Victorian warship) and, best of all, HMS Ocelot, the

Cold War submarine built at Chatham in 1962. The children

were amazed by the cramped living conditions on board – no

washing, no clean clothes and a diminutive bunk with a rock-

hard mattress – but only if you were lucky!

Rehearsals for the Pre-Prep

Drama Club ‘Annie’.

S p o r t S a i n t R o n a n ’ s

Cross Country team secure

second place at IAPS nationals

18

The Cross Country season drew to a close with some

sensational performances from the Saint Ronan’s athletes,

many children wearing the blue-hooped vests of the school for

the first time – every one of them to be commended on their

performances.

Bea Wyatt took a bronze medal in the U8/U9 Hilden Grange

Cup in February. The combined scores of the U9 and U11

Boys’ teams resulted in 2nd place overall at the inaugural Kent

College Trophy in March, with Archie McDonald, Barnaby

Dear and Connor Gorman all coming in the top ten; Hope

Rutter and Bea Wyatt placing well in the girls’ races.

March 8th saw the U13 squad travel to Northbourne Park to

defend the Stevens Cup. In a superb afternoon of running, the

six-to-score team of Wilf Wyatt, George Kidd, Dillon Gorman,

Charlie Godden, Archie MacLeod and Kaspar Bottle secured

first place, bringing the trophy proudly back to Saint Ronan’s.

The girls ran equally well, Lizzie Wooff taking the bronze

shield and Maddie McDonald coming eighth, the team placing

second in the Wainman Cup.

Undoubtedly the icing on the cake was the U13 boys’ amazing

performance at the National Prep Schools Cross Country

Championships in Malvern on 13th March. The scoring team

of James Crawley, James Crombie, Carlos Nieto-Parr, and

Dillon Gorman secured second place, James Crawley taking

double silver as he led the team to the end of a superb

season. In only our second appearance at the event, Saint

Ronan’s fielded scoring teams in each of the four races, every

child demonstrating grit, courage and determination to

compete amongst some of the top young athletes in the

country.

Congratulations also to James Crawley and James Crombie

on representing Kent and Sussex at club level; to Lizzie Wooff

and Carlos Nieto-Parr on gaining their Kent vests and

competing at the KSAA inter-counties match, and to Hope

Rutter who was part of a victorious Kent team at the first ever

National Junior Schools’ Cross Country Championships.

A truly successful season!

Once again the Brodie Shield provided an entertaining

morning, with some wonderful performances from the pupils.

Every racer had to run to the best of their ability because each

finishing place earned vital points for their House. After the

U8/U9 race, Bicton was in first place, but Pembroke followed

by winning the U10/U11 race. This meant that it all rested on

the final race. Selden triumphed but some good grouping by

the Pembroke pupils enabled them to gain second place,

which was enough to turn the Brodie Shield green. In the U8/9

race, Bea Wyatt and Archie McDonald both flew around the

Junior Brodie course to take gold, closely followed by Mathilda

Featherstone and Jack Kirkland (silver), and Lettice Allchorne

and Billy Bolton-Ferrett (bronze). Lily Stewart took gold in the

U11/10 girls’ race, with Hope Rutter just behind in second

place and Kate Lazarides coming home in third. Following a

sprint up the final hill in the boys’ U10/11 race, Kaspar Bottle

just pipped George Kidd into second place and Connor

Gorman into third. The final race of the morning saw Lizzie

Wooff win the Meyer Trophy in the U13 girls’, with Maddie

McDonald and Catherine Redmayne taking the other two top

spots. The boys’ race was a very quick run, with James

Crawley taking the honours just in front of James Crombie and

Carlos Nieto-Parr. Well done to all the runners.

Sports Newsletter

Don’t forget our weekly Sport Saint Ronan’sNewsletter. Check the Extranet for back

issues.

The Brodie Shield

19

S p o r t S a i n t R o n a n ’ s

An exciting season for our flourishing teams, who recorded 42

wins and scored 419 goals! The U11A team continued their

success this year and almost went unbeaten for a second

season running, only losing one match 10-11. So close! The

U11B team also performed superbly and were unbeaten,

winning all 9 matches. Both teams demonstrate excellent

team work and strategic awareness; certainly a key to their

success. The U11C team also put in a strong performance,

winning 4 of their 7 matches, often against B team sides. The

U13 and U12 teams have endured some gruelling matches.

Although often vertically challenged by much taller opposition,

the girls never lost their spirit and should be thoroughly

commended for their perseverance, excellent sportsmanship

and gritty determination, constantly finding ways to reinvent

their game to work around towering opponents. The U10 girls

have thrived this season. The U10Bs, in particular, have

proved a lot to themselves, winning all but one of their

matches.

With such a short season in which to embrace this exciting

game, it is always a frustration when the weather doesn’t quite

play its part! Persistent rainfall resulted in waterlogged pitches

and many matches being cancelled. However the girls

continue to embrace the sport, despite the boggy conditions

and mud flying around with every pick up! It has certainly

encouraged us to improve the quality of our passing game!

Despite the brief encounter, the girls still managed to win 21

and draw 5 of the 39 matches played, scoring 222 goals! The

Senior girls enjoyed several victories and competed in the U13

and U12 Kent tournaments. Lower down the School, the girls

in Years 3-6 also enjoyed much success on the pitch, in local

triangular fixtures. They continue to develop their skills and

tactical understanding at a very encouraging level. The girls had a fantastic season, recording 15 wins and 2

draws out of 23 matches played. The girls all-round

confidence and ability has improved dramatically, thanks to

the Astro. This has been particularly evident in our assertive

attacking play, with the girls hitting a total of 60 balls into the

back of the goal, compared to 28 last year. The U9A and U8B

teams were unbeaten. The U9B and U8A teams only lost one

match a piece, and the C teams won half of their games. An

exciting improvement on so many levels. Well done!

Netball

Lacrosse

U8/9 Hockey

Breaking News

Breaking news: Guy Kennedy, OR 2005-13, has been

invited to train with the Harlequins Junior squads.

20

S p o r t S a i n t R o n a n ’ s

Sports photography © Sarah Clark Photography 2016. © Saint Ronan’s School 2016. Editor: Ben Clarke.

With a small and inexperienced 1st XV, this season was

always going to be a tough one. If this is to be the case you

need players who will battle and play with their hearts and

characters and this team was a real credit to Saint Ronan’s.

Bear Hastilow, the captain, led by example, taking the game to

the opposition and being fortunate enough to have Archie

Plugge, Anik Moore, Ed Watson and Ruairi Pringle close

behind him. Joe Dale was on hand to whip the ball away, and

outside him Barney Hall, James Crombie, Freddie Cutler and

James Crawley looked to take advantage of any holes in the

opposing defence. The boys managed to put together some

very good phases of play and now need to be more clinical

when the try line is in sight. The new continuum Rugby rules

for all player U11 have created a very open, fast and flowing

game which all the boys have enjoyed. Our lines of running

are getting smarter and we are learning to move the ball more

effectively. The new game puts much emphasis on one v one

tackling and there is no room to hide. Fortunately all the boys

have displayed good technique and been prepared to go for

their opposite man. Well done to all the boys who have

represented the school this season.

This season the boys were able to use the new Astro straight

after Christmas to start their hockey training and what a

difference it made. During their matches all the boys have

looked so much more comfortable in possession, allowing

them to move the ball onto their strong side, pass effectively

and, best of all, to create lots of scoring opportunities. The 1st

VII have played some very good attacking hockey. Finn

Kirkland has been a wonderful outlet on the right hand side

and has learnt to drive effectively along the base line, before

pulling the ball back to Wilf Wyatt, who has been hungry for

goals. It’s a simple but very effective tactic. Sam Holden-

Craufurd, at centre-midfield, and Anik Moore, at right back,

have won a lot of possession and it is their willingness to

utilise the right hand side that has been instrumental in our

attacking play. James Crombie stretches play out on the left

and is quick to attack the back post when the ball is fired

across the goal. In defence, Barney Hall anticipates well and

Roddy McDonald has been outstanding in goal. This style of

play has been reflected by all the teams, even the U8s in the

final matches of the season. Well done to all the boys.

Rugby Hockey