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ALSO INSIDE:

WHO HAS BEEN REUNITED IN 2016, JOE PEAKE REFLECTS ON HIS 21

YEARS AT ST GEORGE’S AND 10 YEARS ON FOR THE CLASS OF 2006

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Re-uniting the Georgian Family with each other and the School in order to strengthen our community and enhance education provision for the future through charitable giving

CONTACT US:THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE Mrs Caroline Long Development DirectorMrs Janice Rodrigues-MendesDevelopment Manager Mr Oliver Robinson Development Office Assistant

Mrs Laura Botha Capietti Alumni-Relations Officer (Maternity Cover)

T: 01932 839352 E: development@ stgeorgesweybridge.comwww.stgeorgesreunite.com

Office hours: 8.30am–5pm Monday to Friday all year (except Public/Bank Holidays)

The Development Office, St George’s Weybridge, Weybridge Road, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 2QS, UK

THE CONGREGATION OF JOSEPHITESFor information about the Josephites and their work in Belgium, England, Africa and the USA. www.josephiteweb.org

OLD GEORGIANS’ ASSOCIATIONE: oldgeorgiansassociation@gmail.com

ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE (11-18)T: 01932 839300 F: 01932 839301 E: contact@stgeorgesweybridge.com www.stgeorgesweybridge.com

St George’s College, Weybridge Road, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 2QS, UK

ST GEORGE’S JUNIOR SCHOOL (3-11)T: 01932 839400 F: 01932 839401 E: contact@stgeorgesweybridge.com www.stgeorgesweybridge.com

St George’s Junior School, Thames Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8NL, UK

St George’s Weybridge is a Registered Educational Charity no. 1017853

INSIDE THIS ISSUE –

LinkedInLinkedIn is a great business networking social site. Follow St George’s, Weybridge Alumni today!

FacebookKeep up to date with Reunite news and events. Follow us on St George’s College Reunite.

Twitter@stgeorgesru

Our Class of 2016 heading off to pastures new!

St George’s History at your fingertips!We are pleased to now be able to share a large proportion of the School’s archive material with you which is now available to view digitally online. Users can access copies of the Georgian magazine, St Maur’s magazine as well as school photographs and other records of the Schools history.

We welcome donations in their original form from our community and would love to hear from you if you have in particular; diaries, correspondence, photographs, uniform items and other artefacts.

Such items will add greater interest and depth to our archive. If you have anything which you feel would be a valuable addition to the school collections we would like to hear from you.

To access the archives please visit the Reunite website – www.stgeorgesreunite.com

WelcomeTo the 2016 Autumn edition of Reunite

2016 has been a year of change in many ways; in the Development Office and across the wider School Community as a whole. Change, and the movement of students into and through St George’s, is an integral part of School life. This progression is very positive as we see students join the Nursery then progress through to the Junior School and the College before we bid them farewell at their Leaver’s Mass in their final weeks of study for their A Levels. Staff also come and go, but all adding their knowledge, enthusiasm and contributions to school life.

St George’s is a place of change and our vision for the future ensures we provide an excellent learning environment for our boys and girls. Many of the Georgian Family joined us in thinking about and contributing to our exciting plans to develop both School sites.

We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who took part in the Celebrate 150 Consultations in which we shared our ideas for the 150th Anniversary in 2019 and, in particular, our proposed plans to build a new activity centre – to transform our current sport and activity facilities and leave a lasting legacy. Learn more about the project later in the magazine.

We also say farewell, and give our thanks, to Joe Peake, our College Headmaster of 21 years, who retired at the end of the Summer Term. In his article, Joe talks about being an Old Georgian. Joe has been the driving force, leading St George’s College forward to become the UKs leading independent Catholic Day School.

With our best wishes

Pictured below (L-R): Caroline Long, Laura Botha Capietti, Janice Rodrigues-Mendes, Oliver Robinson

Development Team

2 A fond farewell from Mr Joe Peake 8 Who has been reunited?16 Dates for your diary 18 Careers24 10 years on28 Anthony Watson: coming of age for England 30 OG news40 Josephite community news 42 OGA sports 46 School news52 Births, deaths and marriages 54 Little pieces of history56 Celebrate 15064 Supporting SGW

A FOND FAREWELL

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It was probably after I had been at the College for about 2 years, so sometime in 1997, when Fr Francis declared that I could have the title ‘honorary OG’. By that time I must have persuaded enough people that I wasn’t all bad news for the school and somehow Fr Francis appeared to have the authority to exercise such decisions. Only now, having done over 21 years do I think I probably deserve the descriptor.

I have always been impressed and often moved by the warmth and gratitude shown by many OGs towards St George’s. As I leave I can now share in that emotional bond. It has changed me and my family. This is a wonderful and very special school whose ethos and culture has permeated and changed so many of us, and I want to join all OGs in continuing to feel a part of it.

For me and OGs my early days were not easy. To survive, the school desperately needed to

change and many OGs felt that the removal of boarding two years before I arrived had already been a step too far. When I took the photographs off the Red House and Kean Block corridor walls, the outcry from OGs was incessant.

Yet it wasn’t just the College which was struggling but the mechanisms by which the OG Community was running, its self-confidence and its relations with the College were also ossified in a perception of what it had been many years previously. Fr Francis, the stalwart who held it all together, was ageing and so much needed to be done.

All of this seems such a long time ago, as indeed it is and in the meantime the College has produced another 2000 OGs. Everything began to change when the College decided to fund the establishment of a Development Office which had alumni relations as a central objective.

An Old Georgian at Last

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As he retires, Joe Peake reflects upon the relationship between the College and Old Georgians, both over his 21 years of headship and for the future.

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ELLWe have also been so fortunate to have had the constancy of Caroline Long’s (OG) expert and devoted leadership so that we now have an exciting and pro-active set-up which allows contact and input with and from, all sectors of the OG community.

Notwithstanding my comments above, relations between the College and the OGs over the years have been excellent and mutually supportive. I have had the pleasure of getting to know so many OGs who were at the College before my time and been afforded the opportunity to keep in touch with many who came through St George’s during my tenure. Not a small number of people have done so much to work for the OGs over that time and the College should always be grateful for what they have done. The increasing contact of OGs with the College through social media is outstanding and in turn has allowed the College to seek financial support from OGs for the work we are doing.

There are differences between us and other schools. We still have a separate organisation, the mainly sports orientated OGA which works increasingly closely with the Development Office. In addition, the OGs’ Clubhouse is on the College site; separate facilities never having been purchased elsewhere.

These differences will continue to bring both positives and occasionally tensions between the College and the OGA which is based in the Clubhouse. The OGA faces ongoing pressures to ensure issues such as child safeguarding, the wear and tear on school sports facilities and encouraging more OGs to play for their association are all addressed.

I must congratulate the OGRFC which in just a few years has developed a model which we can use for the future to benefit both the College and OGs.

It is not just in sport where contacts between the College and OGs are thriving. Much praise has been given to the Development Office in using OG contacts to help support present Georgians in the College in everything from talks, interviews and careers.

This area will continue to grow and has allowed many OGs to keep in touch with their alma mater. There is a real respect between OGs for each other across the different generations which is tangible and very special. The generation of Old Georgians who have come through in my time at the College are increasingly in touch with each other and the number of OGs returning to the College as teachers is also increasing.

With the College thriving on so many fronts I look forward to hearing of yet more increasing links with our old boys and girls.

I wish you all well and in a short while look forward to seeing you at OG reunions, wearing my OG tie.

Joe Peake

Headmaster 1995 – 2016

(L-R) Joe Peake, Nigel Pearson, Fredrick Logan, Brian O’Gorman

Joe’s final official event was as father of the bride as his daughter Alex (OG) married James Bowman in the College Chapel. The reception was held by the cricket pavilion – what a wonderful way to end the school year.

OUR REUNITE HISTORY

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CELEBRATE 150

We’re looking ahead to St George’s 150th anniversary in 2019 and we would like to invite you to help us celebrate it.

These 150 years are a major achievement, possible only through the generations of support given by our Georgian Community. We’ve come a long way since 1869 and we’re proud of our progress over the years, so there is much to celebrate.

As we look to our future, the Board of Governors is proposing to mark this special anniversary with an exciting new architectural development for the College. It’s a development that will transform our current sports facilities and leave a lasting legacy for both current and future generations of Georgians.

For further details or to comment on the proposals please emaildevelopment@stgeorgesweybridge.com

01932 839352

1990s Reunion Dinner Saturday 20thNovember 2010From 7.30pmSt George’s College

I ❤the 1990s

CU L8R ;-)

ORIGINALLY FOUNDED IN CROYDON IN 1869St George’s College moved to its present location in 1884. Fast forward to 2003 and a lot has changed since the school was first established.

ESTABLISHED IN 2003 to reunite former students from St George’s College and St Maur’s School

THE FIRST EVER REUNITE EVENT WAS HELD ON THE 20TH MARCH 2004. All Old Georgian’s and Old Marians up until 1972 were invited.

THE FIRST ISSUE OF OUTLOOK MAGAZINE WAS PUBLISHEDHighlighting stories and events of Alumni. Outlook was later renamed to Reunite Magazine.

FIRST REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTSouth West Region, held in Bristol on the 15th June.

THE FIRST OVERSEAS REUNITE EVENTS (SYDNEY)were held in Sydney, Australia on 14th August, New York on 11th October and Chicago on the 14th October 2005.

FIFTH CITY NETWORKING EVENTHeld in London on the 4th May

“CLASS OF” REUNIONS HELD FOR:Class of 1991, 22nd AprilClass of 1986, 30 Year Anniversary, 20st MayClass of 1974, 26th JuneClass of 1981, 2nd OctoberClass of 2006, 10 Year Anniversary, 7th October

WE NOW LOOK TO THE FUTURE AND THE NEXT 150 YEARS. JOIN THE CELEBRATION!

REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTSHeld in Oxford, 7th May and in Bournemouth, 15th October

“CLASS OF” REUNIONS HELD FOR:Class of 1987, 6th FebruaryClass of 1994, 26th AprilClass of 1979, 20th SeptemberClass of 2004, 10 Year Anniversary, 21st November

CLASS OF 1976 CHRISTMAS DRINKS

“CLASS OF” REUNIONS HELD FOR:Class of 1990, 23rd AprilClass of 1985, 30 Year Anniversary, 21st MayClass of 1975, 13th JuneClass of 1970, 21st JuneClass of 1980, 13th SeptemberClass of 2005, 10 Year Anniversary, 19th November

OVERSEAS REUNIONS (NEW YORK & HONG KONG)Held in New York on 28th March and Hong Kong on 6th November.

REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTSHeld in Essex, Exeter, Oxfordshire, Salisbury and Cornwall throughout the year.

CLASS OF 2012 CHRISTMAS DRINKS

FIRST CITY NETWORKING EVENTHeld in London on the 14th November

OVERSEAS REUNION (NEW YORK)Held in New York on 25th March.

REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTHeld in Fernhurst, West Sussex, 14th March.

CLASS OF 1989 REUNION

ST MAUR’S TEA REUNIONHeld on 16th October

1990’S TO 2000’S REUNIONHeld at St George’s College on 20 November

REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTSHeld in Southampton on 10th March and in Bristol on 18th May.

CLASS OF 1980 REUNIONCelebrating 30 years since leaving the College

CLASS OF 1981 REUNIONCelebrating 30 years since leaving the College

OVERSEAS REUNITE EVENT (SYDNEY)Held in Sydney on 7th August.

4TH ANNUAL OVER 60’S LONDON LUNCHHeld at the Royal Over-Seas League

THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE INTRODUCES A NEW LOGO FOR REUNITE PROGRAMME.

FIRST OVER 60’S LUNCHHeld at the Cricketers Club in London on 22nd May

REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTSHeld in West Sussex 3rd June and in Buckinghamshire on 11th November

THE FIRST “CLASS OF” REUNIONHeld for the Class of 1968, to celebrate 40 years

REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTHeld in Warwickshire on 3rd February

CLASS OF 1979 REUNIONCelebrating 30 years since leaving the College

SECOND OVER 60’S LUNCHHeld at the East India Club near Pall Mall on 10th June

SECOND REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTHeld in Petworth, West Sussex on the 16th May 2006

50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR THE YEAR OF 1974Held in the OGA Clubhouse on the 10th June 2006

THIRD REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTHeld in Winchester, Hampshire on the 28th September 2006

THREE OF OUR BIGGEST REGIONAL REUNITE EVENTS HELDKent on 28th March, Oxfordshire on 5th June and Devon on 20th November 2007

THE FOURTH OVERSEAS REUNITE EVENT (NEW YORK)Held on the 22nd October 2007 in New York, USA

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WHO HAS BEEN REUNITED?

AttendeesStephanie Tresch (1990); Stephen Hart (1985); Malcolm Pratt (1992); Jason Ford; James Regan (1990); Claire Smyth (née McDonald) (1979); David Vincent (1992); Liv Conroy (2011); Charles Pratt (1990); Mark Green (1979); Geoff Stitt (1975); Sean Lynch (1988); Anthony Wong (1989); Caroline Basham (1985); Nick Thorpe (1998); Mike Ford (2005); Antonia Peuleve (2003); Ben Williams (2003); Gus Henderson (1990); Gareth Hart (1989) and Robert Soden (1981).

“ I had a fantastic time at the reunion and it was well worth ‘braving’ the M25 on a Friday night! It took a couple of minutes when I arrived to get my bearings as the school has changed enormously over the past 25 years but, clearly, a lot of my friends hadn’t. I am convinced that Toby Watkin and Justin Holder looked exactly the same as they did in 1991 but I am not so sure time has been quite so kind to me!

I was struck by how well I remembered individual mannerisms and rhythms of

speech which I had got to know so well over, in some cases, ten years. It didn’t take long to catch up with twenty-five years of news, hear about shared friends whom couldn’t make it and reminisce about our times at the College. Unfortunately, it was over all too quickly but I now have twenty ‘new friends’ on Facebook. Afterwards, I went for a drink in Weybridge with Simon Best, Pete Kosmider & Phil Beglan and it was as if we had never left.”

Dr Julian Barwell MRCP (UK) PhD

Class of 1991 ReunionWe had a good turnout in April to the 1991 reunion drinks held at the OGA Clubhouse at the College. Thank you to Juan-Luis Sanchez for initiating the reunion, from his home in Spain, and encouraging everyone to come. Thanks also to Paul Stubbs (OG ’80) for running the bar.

Photos courtesy of Juan-Luis Sanchez.

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Class of 1986 ReunionThe OGA Clubhouse has proven a popular venue this year for reunions and it was lovely to welcome the Class of 1986 back to College in May. It is not surprising that the Clubhouse was the obvious choice of venue as back when St George’s was still boarding, until 1992, there was a social night held for Sixth Formers each week down at the Clubhouse.

AttendeesAnthony Adolph, Ian Boardman-Hirst, Robert

Bushell, Marcus Cauchi, Patrick Childs, Peta

Clifton, Louise Cuninghame, Nigel Edwards,

Stephen Green, Bruce Jobling, Daniel

Johnson, John Newey, Lisa Oldman, Glenn

Reynolds, Stephen Saise, Taiwo Salami, Ken

Salami, Paul Sonvico, Guy Sutton, Korstiaan

Van Wyngaarden, Edward Winfield

left to right: Bruce Jobling, Lisa Oldman, Paddy Childs, Peta Clifton, Glenn Reynolds

L – R: Nigel Edwards and Stephen Saise

Year Group Reps If you would like to act as a class representative and assist with organising your 10 year reunion please get in touch – we would love to hear your suggestions.

“It was lovely to be able to go back to the Clubhouse again, just like we did 30 years ago with over £6.50 pocket money freshly tingling in our pocket. Unlike in the 80’s, I noticed only Broadman-Hurst still smokes, but we all still enjoyed a drink.

I think we all enjoyed seeing each other – not necessarily our oldest and closest friends (I tried to persuade mine but none of them were free, they claimed) – but we all have so much in common; our age, the grounds, school, geography.

We reminded each other of forgotten conversations and events, both good and bad, but all seen through the rose-tinted eyes of middle age. It was a truly memorable and enjoyable event and thank you very much indeed”.

Anthony Adolph (pictured right)

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The Headmaster and Development Team welcomed back over 300 guests from Old Georgians to current and past parents, current and former staff together with their friends and families. We were blessed by good weather as the sun shone for a while and it was a beautiful warm and dry day, despite a few ominous looking clouds.

The event started with a Mass in the Chapel followed by the Headmaster’s farewell drinks on the Orchard Pitch. OGA President, Brian O’Gorman, thanked Joe Peake for the enormous amount he had done for the College over 21 years. It was an emotional moment when Joe Peake welcomed the Georgian community for the last time to Georgian Family Day and

wished everyone farewell. It was also a chance for guests to welcome new Headmistress, Mrs Rachel Owens, together with her family, to the Georgian Family.

The farewell drinks were followed by an abundance of food and the Hog Roast proved to be very popular! It has been wonderful to see our community coming together and enjoying what everyone would agree was a memorable day!

Annual Georgian Family Day and the Class of 1974 Reunion

We would like to thank everyone in the Georgian community who came along to our Annual Georgian Family Day on Sunday 26th June.

It was also lovely to welcome a group from 1974 who enjoyed the day together.

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ITED?Attendees

Fr Jude (Peter) McHugo 1949, Peter Adolph 1953, John Bartley 1953, John Murray 1953,Michael Gooley 1954, Frederick Logan 1954,Brian O’Gorman 1954, Nigel Pearson 1954, Fr Adrian Cadwallader 1955, David Copp 1955, John Padovan 1955, Sean Cotter1956,Brian Leahy 1956, Robert McCarthy 1956,Joseph Connor 1957, John Macdonald 1957, Michael Sharkey 1958, David Cadwallader 1959, Aidan Cotter 1959, Ken Marsh 1959, John Mottram 1959, Sean Aylett 1960, Richard Brooker 1961, John Beedham 1962, Jack Carty 1962, Neil Twist 1962, Ian Coxon 1963, Andrew Marsh 1963, Richard Tanner 1963, Anthony Aylett 1964, Neil Carty 1964, Michael McAlister 1964,William Newton 1964, Robert Pearson 1964,John Rapacioli 1964, Tony Davison 1965, Peter Lawes 1965, Peter Marron 1965, Bernard Style 1965, John Woodward 1965, Adrian Berry 1966, Richard Coffey 1966, Ben McDonnell 1966, Ian Miller-Hall 1966, Philip Parker 1966, John Scott-Cree 1966, Paul Hutchinson 1967, Ed Newton 1967, Kevin Cheney 1968, Ralph Childs 1968, Joseph Dwyer 1968, Michael Gelardi 1968, Martin Knops 1968, Paul Marley 1968, Jim McCarthy 1968, John Ryan 1968, Paul Fairbairn-Tennant 1968, Fr Martin Ashcroft 1969, Maurice Buckingham 1969, Glen Cawdeary 1969, Derek Davidson 1969,Jack Frost 1969, Christopher Marsh 1969,Anthony Paine 1969, James Dwyer 1970,Gerard Johnson 1970, Paul Robigo 1973,Mark Willis 1973, Simon Cockshutt1974

Over 60s London Lunch

On Wednesday 15th June, the ninth annual Over 60s London Lunch took place at everyone’s favourite venue, the Royal Overseas League – conveniently located in St James’s. It’s a comfortable and familiar venue where guests seem comfortable to settle in for the afternoon, or into the evening in some cases!

Lunch is lovely and the wine always good but the company is what makes this event so special every year. With a slightly later date in June, we lost some regular attendees (you were missed!) but gained others who often cannot attend earlier in the month.

Everyone is always eager to arrive on time, so we never have to worry about lunch being served on time, such is the excitement of the day. This year, we again welcomed our Headmaster, Joe Peake, who took the opportunity to say farewell to the group just before he retired. Joe enjoys the event and we are sure to see him at future lunches.

Thank you Over 60s for your fabulous support of the event and for those very organised or very keen, or both, the date has been set for next year! Next year’s lunch will be held on Wednesday 7th June from 12.30pm so please save the date.

“ This year was my first attendance as I am recently retired and so I met folk that I had not seen in perhaps 40+ years. Someone who has been before said to me beforehand

that I would see folk that I perhaps would not recognise first time, but when you speak to each other, somehow the older memories of how they looked and sounded enabled one to rediscover them as you knew them. I found this to be true and after lunch spent a happy few hours catching up in the pleasant surroundings of the club and gardens overlooking Green Park. Despite the time spent, I still did not manage to get round everybody as I would have liked, so I am already looking forward to attending next year”.

Derek Davidson (OG ’69)

“ Thank you for the most excellent get together yesterday in London. Wonderful to meet up with some contemporaries; in my case two I had not met since I left in 1953. Splendid lunch – everything very well organised”.

Peter Adolph (OG ’53)

“ It was an occasion for nostalgic contrasts – pleasant, but inevitably tinged with poignancy – which were the sincerest of compliments to an eclectic gathering of friends and best exemplified by those with whom I shared a table. Notable among them were Father Jude, with whom I compared Irish antecedents and reminisced about members of the Josephite order; John Bartley, a team mate in arguably the first of the school’s successful 1st XV’s and a close friend since we left SGW 63 years ago; and Peter Adolph, the goalkeeper of our unbeaten (by schools) 2nd XI hockey team in 1953 – of which I was the captain – whom we were both meeting for the first time since. As ever, I was glad to have been able to arrange a visit from South Africa to accommodate attendance and renewed compliments to all concerned with organising a most enjoyable luncheon”.

John Murray (OG ’53)

L - R : Richard Brooker, John Padovan, Michael Gooley

Benefits of the Schools Careers programme Volunteer Old Georgian / Parent

You’ll have an opportunity to:

• Help students explore their careers

• Make a positive contribution to the student experience

• Share information about your job, industry, sector and organisation with Georgian students

• Give back to the student community by giving career advice and guidance in an informal setting.

• Further your own level of engagement with Georgian students

• Find out what is happening at the College today

Current Georgian Student

You’ll have an opportunity to:

• Tap into the real life experience of an Old Georgian / Parent willing to share his / her personal career experiences and knowledge with you and other students.

• Gain inside information about a particular industry, sector or organisation

• Learn how to do an informal interview and find out how to make a good impression

• Get career related information and support

• Build your network of professional contacts within the wider Georgian community

• Be inspired by Old Georgian / Parent career stories

• Learn more about what you can do with your degree from someone who’s been there

If you would like to hear more about our Careers Department; please contact Suzanne Knights, Head of Careers on 01932 839359 or sknights@stgeorgesweybridge.com

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

ANNIVERSARYClass of 81 Reunion

Date: Sunday 2nd October 2016 | 1pm Venue: Old Georgians’ Clubhouse

DINNERClass of 2006

Date: Friday 14th October 2016 Venue: St George’s College

DRINKSClass of 2016

Date: Wednesday 15th December 2016 | 7.30pm Venue: Slug & Lettuce in Weybridge

RACEAlumni Cross-Country

Date: Saturday 17th December 2016 | 2pm Venue: Wimbledon Common

DINNERClass of 1986 30 yearsDate: Friday 21st October April 2016 | 7pm Venue: Brown’s Restaurant in Covent Garden

DRINKSMEET FOR

Date: Wednesday 9th November 2016 | 7pm

Venue: Corney & Barrow in Paternoster Square, London

For more details and how to book any of the events below, please visit the Reunite website to complete an online booking form or contact the office by emailing development@stgeorgesweybridge.com

Miriam Geraghty and Simon Willis would like to invite the Class of 1981, together with their spouse/partner to join them in celebrating your 35th anniversary. The reunion will be held St George’s College, Old Georgians’ Clubhouse.

The Class of 2006 are invited to celebrate their 10 year anniversary at a reunion to be held at St George’s College.

If you are interested in running in this annual school’s race, please contact Simon Ludlam simon@ludlham.com

Annual Christmas

CAROL SERVICEDate: Sunday 11th December 2016 | 7pm - 8.30pm Venue: College Chapel

The annual carol service is one of the calendar highlights of the School year as members of the Georgian Family gather together in the wonderful surroundings of the College Chapel to celebrate Christmas.

Join the Development Team and Sixth Form staff for your first reunion which will be held

at the Slug & Lettuce in Weybridge.

The Class of 1986 are invited to a reunion dinner at Brown’s Restaurant in Covent Garden.

Join us for after work complimentary drinks at Corney & Barrow in Paternoster Square, London from 7pm. A

perfect opportunity to meet other former students, past parents and current parents over a few drinks.

left to right: Frank Dolan, David Clayden, Pete Thomas and Howard Lowe.

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Photo: Soumen Das class of ’81

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On Friday 1st July, Fourth Year students gathered together for the annual GCSE careers convention.

OId Georgians, school friends and parents came to talk to students about career choices as diverse as Media, Business, Marketing, HR, Sales and Training, Advertising, Hospitality, Banking, Accountancy, Fashion, Technology, Earth Sciences and Law. Speakers also gave students an insight into a broad range of companies including Google, BBC, Imperial College, Sandler Training Aimia, Hans Sloane, WSH Limited, Napier Park Global Capital, K&K Consulting, Barlow Robbins, BP, Mundays and Marketing International.

The careers convention was attended by all Fourth Year students and the general feedback was very positive. The students enjoyed speaking directly with our volunteers although many are still exploring their chosen career.

Two students, in particular, were very impressed with the HR speaker saying “I think he made it more interesting than it is but I would like to find out more”.

“ I was at St George’s from 1980-86 and while I didn’t always appreciate how lucky I was at the time, I realised that leaving with 15 O-Levels and 3 A-Levels set me up well in life.

I have been blessed with good fortune all my life and among the greatest gifts I had was a solid education. I have maintained several school friendships over the years and have been rekindling many more in the last 2 years since we had an informal reunion at the Hand and Spear.

Learning how to learn, how to question, how to research a subject and come up with solutions to problems has served me in good stead throughout my career and especially since I set up my own businesses over the last 15 years. I learned how to play nicely in a team without ever feeling that I had to blindly accept the majority position. I still remember a couple of the classes and teachers with fondness because they were integral to establishing my values and delivered life lessons I have drawn on for the last 4 decades.

My hunger for learning was developed at St George’s and continues to this day. I must have read over 500 books, both on my subject area and outside just in the last 3-years. I learned to be curious and ask “why?” an awful lot, and this curiosity has fed my livelihood ever since. I laid the foundations for good writing skills, debating, influencing and realised I had the right to challenge the status quo during my time at St George’s. And, for these and so much more, I will always be grateful. Thanks to all my teachers for setting me up in life for an exciting and varied, successful career.”

Marcus Cauchi (OG ’86)

Careers Convention

The main aim of these sessions is to help students see school as a stepping stone to their future.

Careers VolunteeringScience, Medicine and Engineering Careers Evening – Tuesday 8th November 2016Volunteers are needed from the parent body or Old Georgian community for a couple of hours to come and speak informally to small groups of students about their job. These are very rewarding evenings both for the students who are making some important career decisions but also for volunteers who gain a real insight into the choices our older students are needing to make. Help shape their decisions with your career experiences and your area of work.

Lower Sixth Mock Interviews The Lower Sixth Interview Evenings are held every June to prepare students for life beyond St George’s with a practice interview conducted by professionals from a wide range of fields. The process demanded that each student prepare a CV and cover letter before experiencing an interview lasting 20 minutes. The students really appreciated the opportunity and some were offered work experience having impressed their interviewer so much. They all gained valuable feedback on their CVs and interviewing technique. In all our years of running this event, this year’s group were been given so many compliments so we are extremely proud of them all! If you can spare a couple of hours in the evening next June to help, please let the Development Office know.

Headstart Careers Lunches – can you offer your expertise?Every term we host a lunch in our private dining room for a small group of students to attend and have lunch with a parent or OG who has volunteered their time to tell students about their chosen career. Previous topics have included advice on interviews and applying for medical degrees, working in engineering, being and an entrepreneur, being a CEO and establishing trade in China, the fashion industry and running your own business and most recently, successful e-commerce. The topics are deliberately varied to appeal to the many choices facing our older students as the prepare for university and beyond.

Headstart lunches involve a couple of hours of your time on a Friday lunchtime. If you can help students start to form ideas about their career or degree plans, please get in touch for an initial discussion or email us in the Development Office.

We are delighted to have welcomed back Joel Jeffrey (OG ’06) back in March to talk to a group of students about e-commerce. Joel, his brother Christian (OG ’08) and Joel’s girlfriend Molly have been running Desmond & Dempsey, designing and manufacturing luxury printed pyjamas.

E-Commerce Headstart Lunch – 18th March 2016

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Alex Willis“10 years has absolutely flown by since I left the College. I still remember the final drive out of the school gates as a student and feeling desperately sad to leave. Little did I know, at the time, my close ties with SGC would remain so strong.

After a four-year spell at the University of Exeter, I returned home to the Weybridge bubble and set about starting the Old Georgians Rugby Club with Neil Sweeney, Ciaran Pillay and Daniel Gray.

That has been one incredible journey and is such a great source of enjoyment for me. It has allowed OG’s from not only our year group but across generations to connect through a sporting team. Since inception, we’ve managed to be promoted four years in a row and now find ourselves in the top Surrey division next year. Oh, and I also ended up marrying a current teacher at the College to really secure my long term affiliation with the School!”

“After leaving St George’s (and completing World Challenge with some fellow Georgians) in the summer of 2006, I moved to Dallas, Texas to attend Southern Methodist University. Although my mum is American, I’d never lived in the US and, more importantly, had never been to Dallas beyond a brief visit before. So, when I arrived, I only knew one or two people and was otherwise on my own in a new country.

I ended up having a great time and graduated with distinction in English Literature with a minor in History and Computer Science in 2010. In the aftermath, I thought about returning to the UK for Law school but, given the strange economic environment (and, personally, having no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up), I ended up taking a job at Southwest Airlines corporate office in Dallas as a technical writer (a cross-between a paralegal and a number of other roles). Although it was a great job – where I actually met the woman who just recently became my wife – I ended up leaving after a year-and-a-half to start my first company. I’d been writing online about technology and media in my spare time since November 2011 and it had quickly snowballed into a popular podcast and media outlet with syndication in major publications in the US and

UK. I took that momentum and built a small consultancy shop to help people raise capital, project manage new products, and so on.

After consulting for a few months with the likes of Uber and American Express, in January 2013, I raised capital to build another company, Edition Collective, from investors in the US, UK, and Germany. In the time since, I’ve built a phenomenal team in downtown Dallas, whilst we now own and operate two-to-three concepts in e-commerce and media. I got married in March 2016 and, at the time of writing, just bought my first house, too. Although I’m not sure I’ll be able to make our ten-year reunion, I did just have a lot of my close friends from St George’s come to town for my wedding. Soon, I’m attending others in Brisbane, Los Angeles, and more. Everyone’s scattered, doing very different things, but we all stay in touch

Class of 2006 We asked the Class of 2006 about their lives since they left St George’s 10 years ago

Alex (pictured on the right)

Matt Alexander

We’re now approaching 1,000,000 users, and we’ve just expanded into 44 countries.

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I currently live in Parsons Green, London and attended Bristol University after Sixth Form. I don’t have one memory of the School as there are many – wading through the river Bourne for Geography GCSE coursework, playing netball matches with my dad shouting ‘get the rebound!’ at every opportunity, the Battlefields trip, the history trip to New York and Washington DC, and general school antics throughout the 7 years! I do still keep in contact with friends from St George’s. The teacher who was my biggest inspiration was, Mr Davies – the best form tutor and Geography teacher around. He was the reason I studied Geography at university – the best decision I ever made! I currently work as a Client Director at Given

London. We help brands create business value and brand differentiation through corporate responsibility. We do this through a range of ways – creating robust sustainability strategies, developing programmes to bring their strategies to life, and designing communications and content to make their strategy visible and coherent for everyone – from the most expert stakeholder to their everyday customers. In my spare time, if I’m not exploring London (which I never seem to get tired of), I can be caught at dance rehearsal at the Polish dance group I’m still part of (23 years later and counting!). I look forward to seeing everyone at the 10 year anniversary reunion in October.

I’m currently living in Surbition and work as an Agency Partner at an O2 business called Weve – although I’ve just resigned to go travelling round South America with my husband! I am part of a choir in London, I enjoy cycling and I’m currently studying for a diploma in journalism at the LSJ.

I loved the opportunities we had at St George’s to go to some amazing places, particularly to Lourdes and also to India with World Challenge. The teachers that really inspired me were Mrs Weaver and Mr Von Reibnitz.

Sushila Sathiaraj, OG ’06I currently live in Weybridge and attended Nottingham University. One memory I have of the School is sunbathing on the grounds at lunchtime with my friends in the summer. I do still keep in touch with friends from St George’s and Mr Barham is the teacher who was my biggest inspiration as he got us a school trip to NYC! I currently work as a solicitor and in my spare time I love going out with my St George’s girls! I will be attending the 10 year anniversary reunion in October.

Lauren Stein (née Broderick), OG ’06I currently live in Ashford, Surrey. One memory I have of the School is the tennis lessons with Sandy – I was awful but it was so much fun.

I do still keep in touch with friends from St George’s and Mr von Reibnitz is the teacher who was my biggest inspiration. I currently work as a film producer and in my spare time I love taking my dog on long walks. I will be attending the 10 year anniversary reunion in October.

Steph Haines, OG ’06I currently live in Nottingham. One of my favourite memories I have of the School is the Philosophy classes with Miss George who was my biggest inspiration. I do still keep in touch with friends from St George’s. I work as a Programme Executive for The Prince’s Trust (working with disadvantaged 16-25 year olds and help get them into work). In my spare time I like to go rock climbing. Sadly I won’t be able to attend the anniversary reunion in October.

Julia Giannini

Holly Newberry (née Straughan)

ANTHONY WATSON

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Anthony Watson Coming of Age for England

From humble beginnings as vice-captain of rugby at St George’s, Anthony is carving out a successful International playing career winning 18 Caps for London Irish, 63 Caps for Bath, 21 Caps for England U20 and 24 Caps for England.

As the newcomer to England’s squad for the 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Anthony was subsequently named in Stuart Lancaster’s 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup; picked to start in all four of England’s games, scoring three tries in total.

2016 has proved to be another incredible year for the 22-year-old English rugby union star:

• Scoring a try to help England to the RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam with victory over France

• Helping England to win their first Six Nations title since 2011, with a match to spare

• Scoring a try to help England complete a Six Nations Grand Slam with a 31-21 victory over France – England’s first Grand Slam in 13 years

The Bath and England Rugby Full Back is a force to be reckoned with. We all wait with baited breath to celebrate Anthony’s achievements in 2017 (and beyond).

International tries2016 Six Nations England 21 Ireland 10

2016 Six Nations England 25 Wales 21

2016 Six Nations England 31 France 21

2016 Summer Tour Warm-up England 27 Wales 13

2016 Rugby Union Tour of Australia England 39 Australia 28

2016 Rugby Union Tour of Australia England 23 Australia 7

2016 Rugby Union Tour of Australia England 44 Australia 40

Anthony’s blistering speed has also brought him success as an integral part of the 32-man squad for England’s tour of Australia, in June 2016. England played a three-test series, winning back-to-back tests in Australia for the first time since 2003, before going on to retain the Cook Cup and achieve second place in the World Rugby Rankings. Australia had not lost every match in a home series since being ‘whitewashed’ by South Africa in 1971.

Athleticism and pace are the shining assets of Old Georgian, Anthony Watson’s coming of age for England.

Old Georgian (’09) Marcus Watson, Anthony’s older brother has gone down in St George’s sporting history by winning an Olympic silver medal at Rio 2016 as part of the GB Rugby Sevens team beating Japan 21-19. Marcus follows in the footsteps of OG Olympian James Tindall who represented GB in Hockey.

Marcus plays wing for the Newcastle Falcons who he joined in 2015 after playing Sevens full time for England. Marcus’s rugby career began at St George’s where he played 15s, moving on to London Irish as well as representing England at Under 18s and Under 20s. He went on to play for Saracens before joining England to specialise in

Sevens rugby. His very successful Sevens career has seen him score 49 tries and play in 26 World Series tournaments. In 2015 he decided to return to the 15s game with Newcastle but his past experience and success at Sevens ensured him a place in the GB squad selected for Rio 2016. Congratulations to Marcus on achieving your silver!

Marcus gets the Silver!

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OLD GEORGIAN NEWS

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Old Georgian Dominic Proctor (OG ’75) joins the RFU as a Non-Executive Director

Much loved and respected OGA President, former teacher of 30 years, past parent and Old Georgian (Class of 1954), Brian O’Gorman, celebrated his 80th birthday in July. Brian is known by many generations of Georgian families and has committed so much of his time to the College and in particular to his great love, cricket!

Dominic Proctor, one of the most influential figures in the global media and advertising industry and President of GroupM, became a Non-Executive Director at the Rugby Football Union’s earlier this year.

Dominic has been President of GroupM since January 2012, which is the holding company for all of WPP’s media agencies, employing over 27,500 people and operating in 110 markets worldwide. GroupM is responsible for buying 30% of all the world’s media, accounting for over £75bn of expenditure. In May 2015 they expanded their sports & entertainment offering under their new global brand ESP, dedicated to serving sports and entertainment rights holders and clients. Dominic Proctor previously spent 15 years as CEO of Mindshare Worldwide, a GroupM agency that he founded in 1997, which grew to become one of the world’s leading media agency networks. He began his career with Everett’s, joining J. Walter Thompson in 1986 and becoming their Media Director in London, their

Managing Director in 1991, and then Chief Executive in December 1992; a position he held for five years. At the time he was the youngest Executive ever to be named CEO and also held a seat on the Board of Directors of JWT Worldwide.

After completing his A Levels at St George’s, Dominic went on to study Politics and Sociology at Durham University. He is passionate about sport and a lifelong rugby fan and formerly played for Durham University. Dominic is married to Lindsay and they

have four children – he is also a past parent at the College.

Dominic said, “This is a very interesting role at a very exciting time for rugby. I am a life-long rugby fan and, from a professional perspective, see sport, and rugby in particular, as more and more of a driving force in the media. I hope that I can bring expertise to the RFU Board that will help to optimise what is a hugely popular sport and engaging brand, to ultimately grow participation and involvement at all levels of the game.”

“Last year, having finally passed all three levels of exams to become a charter holder of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), I decided I needed to do something a bit more active and outdoors. I thought back to my St George’s days with fond memories of rowing. Both Gareth and Camilla always encouraging Vickie Nunn (04) and I with the rest of the crew, whatever the weather, to squeeze out that extra stroke.

Walking along the tow path by the Minnow pub one sunny summer day and watching a Weybridge Ladies crew sail past, it was a no

brainer! That was it, I signed up the next day.

Getting back into rowing – a sport that I left behind over 10 years ago – has been like a reawakening and rediscovery. All the happy memories flood back but then you also start to recall why you decided to stop. Early mornings, blistered hands, hard work.

All in all, though, it has been a true delight, particularly because of the wonderful ladies at the club making me feel so welcome.

It has made me appreciate even more the endless opportunities and various activities, especially outside of the classroom, that St George’s offered. We were very fortunate to have access to such a wide variety of exciting possibilities.

Tamryn Reynolds (OG ’04)

If there are any old Georgian lady rowers interested in joining, I have included details below. The club caters for rowers of all levels and abilities. Would love to have you onboard and part of the team

http://weybridgeladies.org.uk/join%20us.html

weybridgeladies1926@gmail.com

Brian and his wife Kathleen

Tamryn and Vicki Nunn in their College

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Tom Wingate (OG ’77)

The Wingate School, Mexico City – by Tom Wingate (Feb. 2016)

As luck would have it, we now are founding the school in two locations. One is in Virreyes, an old residential and, therefore, urban district, not all that far by car from the city centre. It will hold the British Primary years, with a single class in each year group, open in August 2016, and, owing to space issues, never grow to more than 100 pupils.

The larger site we always had planned on opening in 2016 (but now just a year later) is in a semi-rural district called Huixquilucan. It is about 20 minutes by car from a relatively new residential area, closer to the city centre, called Interlomas. When full, the school will be through to the Upper 6th, educating about 650 pupils. Our modern-looking campus has been specially designed for us in brick, steel and glass, and will be built in three phases. Phase A and B (including quite a large library / media centre), will be completed in one go, ready for the 2017-2018 school year. Then, in a few years, and as the school grows, the school will complete Phase C (mostly a secondary school area).

Being a British-international lay school (also with a heavy emphasis on values education),

naturally the aim is that our teaching staff will be native speakers. Happily, our series of parental presentations are attracting a lot of interest and lots of new pupils are signing on, even as this piece is being typed. Thus far, the nationality mix seems to be about 50% Mexican, 50% overseas. That may change: who knows?

In short, we are educating children for the excitement of the C21st, paying great attention to transferable skills. As a co-founder and headteacher of the school, my principal ‘concern’ is to put well-qualified, highly prepared and enthusiastic teachers in all our classrooms. Ecology-friendly and decidedly pro-children, we aim to create a caring and academically demanding school environment, yet where children are challenged in apt, appropriate and inspiring ways and, significantly, where they can be really happy, too. The latter comment is no add-on.

There are many state and, indeed, a good few private schools in Mexico City, and many do an admirable job. There also is great and growing demand for good education: yet, I would say it probably exceeds what is currently offered. Thus we trust that we, as a new British-international school, also can do a great job in the ‘niche’ in which we have positioned ourselves.

For those who are interested in finding out a bit more, extra details can be seen on our website: www.wingateschool.mx

Training starts a month before the university term begins and we spend something like 4 hours on the ergs and practicing on the water per day. The hardest thing is not all the hours you spend training but how tired you are and you still have to find the time and energy to attend lectures, labs, tutorials and study, and eat and sleep (which are unfortunately very necessary!).

But there are some upsides too – you get to take part in one of the oldest sporting events in the world, but perhaps more importantly you are surrounded by really interesting people and some fantastic rowers, including Olympic and world champions.

I was very fortunate in the early years to have an excellent coach in Miss Hulf, and be part of a very successful St George’s crew which really motivated me in the subsequent years. I also had a set of outstanding teachers without which I would not have gotten the grades I needed for Oxford. I owe them all massively.

I would highly recommend anyone to start rowing. It’s consistently George’s most successful senior level sport with some fantastic coaches and the opportunities it can open up are amazing.

J15 8+ - L-R – Marcus Phillips, Lorenzo Mandolfo, Ed Stracey, Iain Simmons, Will Ewart , Dan Lauber, Jørgen Tveit, Christian Morris, Finn Kristensen, Miss Hulf.

Back row – Juliet (our daughter), Andre Sachariew (husband of Juliet), Thomas Philip (our son), Tom WingateFront row – Bernardo Casas, Elena (our daughter, & wife of Bernardo), my wife Maria Elena Espinosa de los Reyes de Wingate

Being part of Oxford’s Boat Race crew this year was one of the harder experiences of my life. Yet despite the outcome, surprisingly one of the more rewarding.

Jørgen Tveit (OG’14)

Just over two years ago, several members in the Wingate family in Mexico City decided it was a good time to collate our efforts – tapping complementary educational and business skills – and to set up our own school in the capital. Indeed, the idea had been buzzing in our heads long before that. (In my own case, I have been teaching English and an administrator in several schools in the UK, USA and Mexico for some 30 years). The whole process has proved extremely challenging but, in truth, just as rewarding.

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In Search of our Ancient Ancestors Anthony Adolph (OG ’86)

“My latest book is called ‘In Search of our Ancient Ancestors’. This one focusses on our ancestors in Stone Age Britain. The link to it on Youtube is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aHX_0Qtvqg

I hope you will enjoy it, and if you do I’d be immensely grateful if you could tell others.

Next stop... the Neolithic

Monique Roffey (OG ’83)

Monique Roffey was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and educated at St Maur’s and then at St George’s. She worked as a journalist, and for The British Council, Amnesty International, and was the Centre Director for the Arvon Foundation. Monique has an MA in creative writing from Lancaster, and was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Sussex and Chichester Universities.

She is the author of five books, four novels and a memoir. Three of her novels are set in Trinidad and the Caribbean region. The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (2009) was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2010 and the Encore Award in 2011. Archipelago (2012) won the OCM BOCAS award for Caribbean Literature in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Orion Award 2014. House

of Ashes, published in 2014, is a novel drawn from historical events and tells the story of a gunman, a hostage and a child soldier caught up in a botched coup d’etat. It was shortlisted for the COSTA Fiction Award, 2015 and longlisted for the OCM BOCAS Award in 2015. Her memoir, With the Kisses of His Mouth traces a personal journey of mid-life sexual self-discovery and recovery from a love affair. She divides her time between the East end of London, and Port of Spain, where she teaches creative writing.

“Roffey is a masterful writer whose words are subsumed in the pictures they paint and the tales they spin.”

Publishers Weekly.

Never Too Old To Write Zillah (Smith) Williams (OM ’51)

“I’m so pleased to have this opportunity to contribute to Reunite Magazine and to tell you about two books I’ve recently had published. But first, a little background by way of introduction. Looking back over the years (lots of years!) I realise how fortunate I was that my parents sent me to St Maur’s for my education.

I was a second generation St Maurian. My mother had been a pupil there before me. In fact, she and her many sisters were boarders and had a dormitory to themselves. My time at the convent was during the war years and I have great admiration for the nuns who cared for us and who gave us such a great education. However, I confess to feelings of envy when I read of the amazing opportunities now available to Georgian students. My memories of those days include the mouth-watering steamed

puddings the sisters made on limited wartime rations (I never did get the recipe, though I had intended to).

My family moved to Australia in 1948 and I wasn’t able to finish my schooling at the convent,

but I did finish it at St George’s – St George Girls High School in Kogarah, NSW.

Books and reading have always been great interests of mine, and it was this that led me into librarianship as a career. Writing, however, came later. I had always thought that if one wrote a paragraph a day one would eventually end up having written a book. That might be true, but I’ve found that you have to have a great story to tell. Given that, it’s

impossible to limit oneself to one paragraph at a sitting. And with my novel ‘I Only Want to Dance With You’ I did have a great story to tell.

The book is a work of fiction but is based on what happened to a friend of mine over ten years from the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Author News

Those ten years were eventful, to say the least, and included leaving Spain in a hurry; internment in a British camp in Kenya; conscription into Rommel’s Afrika Korps; being imprisoned as a Russian spy, and… well I mustn’t give too much away. He finally arrived in Australia where he married an Australian country girl who happened to be a friend of mine. The book tells of the twists and turns of events which shaped this man’s life, the bitterness of war and its aftermath but also of healing, forgiveness and romance.

The second book I want to tell you about is called Tomodachi: Yesterday’s Enemy. This one tells the story of the Australian wartime incident known as The Cowra Breakout. In 1944 Japanese POWs staged a mass breakout from a camp at the NSW country town of Cowra, and again I have woven

the historical events into a fictional story which involves a boy of sixteen who had a frightening confrontation with one of the escapees. Now in his nineties, he hasn’t forgotten the terrifying incident and the amazing good which came from it.

I used to think that writing fiction involved “making things up” out of thin air, as it were. But I’ve changed my mind. I now believe that writing fiction involves drawing on our experiences of people we have known and of things that have happened.

I’ve enjoyed writing these two books so much. Should anyone like to get copies they are available on Amazon, or can be ordered through bookshops. If anyone does read them I’d really love to have your feedback”.

Ellie has just Graduated from Loughborough University and is looking forward to getting out into the big wide world. She studied Communications and Media, and is continuing to study Mandarin. She is going to travel in Asia for the next month and volunteer for a while in South Africa, rehabilitating monkeys back into the wild. Ellie then hopes to continue playing hockey for a few months in Australia next year.

Maddie has just completed her second year of teaching at Hurstpierpoint having just finished her PGCE whilst working full time as Sports Science teacher to Year 9-U6, amongst all her practical coaching for the prep school and senior school. She’s loves it! From September she becomes a Deputy House Mistress.

Ellie Tait (OG ’13)

Maddie Tait (OG ’11)

OG Charity NewsPeking to ParisJustin Fleming (67) and his son Kristian, aged 24, left Beijing on the 12th June to drive to Paris in a 1972 Ford Capri along with 100 other classic cars to raise money for three charities, including St. Joseph’s African Aid. This small charity is run by Fr. Robert and Br. Michael Powell of the Josephite community and past masters at St George’s Weybridge.

“After a good start I rolled the Capri on day 6 in the Gobi Desert. This made life very difficult for us until we reached Russia where 3 fantastic Russians performed a near miracle in 48 hours making the car into a Capri again, aptly renamed the world’s first Mark 7 model!

From then on, we drove hard to improve our overall position and, in spite of several mechanical problems and setbacks, managed to make the finish and a Silver medal.

The European Cup, that started with a clean sheet for all, was a challenging, exciting and dangerous series of time trials through Europe driven on closed roads/tracks of gravel, sand, potholes and tarmac. Kristian excelled with his driving skills, gaining confidence by the day, while I sat in the passenger seat contemplating the end of my days! We came 9th out of 65 cars and 3rd in the under 2-litre class.

Well. We made it!

On 17th July we crossed the line in Paris after 35 days and just under 9,000 miles of an amazing adventure. We raised a fantastic £21,732 for our three charities including £5,100 for St. Joseph’s African Aid”.

Justin Fleming (OG ’67) and Kristian Fleming

Whether you are an Old Georgian, Old Maurian, current or former parent or staff, the Development Office welcomes you back to St George’s Weybridge. Please contact us to arrange a personalised tour. You are welcome to visit any time of the year (Monday-Friday). We recommend you contact the office beforehand to ensure one of the team is available to meet with you.

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Susan Kennedy-Dooley (OG ’76)

“On June 10th, I visited St George’s with my husband Mike, son Patrick, and daughter Elena. The next day I showed my family what had been St Maur’s Convent. We really enjoyed our tour of St George’s buildings and its beautiful grounds. I attended St Maur’s for four years, and St George’s for Sixth Form, before returning to the US in 1976. Minnesota’s been my home since 1980. The tour brought back some wonderful memories that were fun to share with my family. We were all terribly impressed with St George’s. It was wonderful for me to see how the school has evolved.”

Rick, Chris and Tom’s visit OG’s (1976)

On a wet, rainy June afternoon, all feeling a bit fed up in the office that the MCC Cricket fixture

From L - R; Rory Maguire, Richard Ferrari, Tom Turvey,Jerry Hunting, Richard Martin, Chris Liveing, Conor O’Brien

Visits to the Collegehad to be cancelled and we’d see no OGs for our annual cricket and cream tea reunion, there was a call from reception to say we had some visitors… What a lovely surprise! Three OGs plus Tom’s son who hadn’t got the message we had, had to cancel.

The least we could do was a tour round the College, dodging the heavy rain showers to re-visit their school boy haunts. It was an entertaining couple of hours and a real pleasure to see you all. The following weekend a few of the ’76 leavers all met up at the nearby Hand & Spear pub for the evening. We have promised the Class of 1976 a “one year on from your 40 year anniversary reunion” in 2017! We also look forward to inviting Rick and Tom to the next US reunions as both had travelled over from their homes in the States to visit.

Howard Appleby (OG ’77)

Howard has visited us at the College on a number of occasions over the last couple of years. Howard lives with his wife and three children in Massachusetts in the USA. Howard graduated from Exeter University and settled in the States. He works in the investment business and still loves his sport.

Michael Findlay (OG ’62)

Michael met up with Director of Development, Caroline Long, in London on one of his trips to the UK from his home in Manhattan where he lives with his wife Victoria and daughter Beatrice. Michael is a Director of Aquavella Gallery.

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NEWS FROM ABROAD

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John, an electrical engineer, had found work as a Land Rover mechanic working for Hunt Oil in the Gibson Desert, to the north east of Perth (he had kept our Land Rover going throughout the trip!).

I joined Oil Drilling and Exploration, a drilling contractor company working for oil companies exploring and developing oil and gas fields. My work was romantically called ‘pearl diving’ (washing-up), it was working as a kitchenhand on an oil camp about a thousand miles north of Perth; Exmouth and Onslow were the two nearest towns. The three of us had started to get to know the world of FIFO, fly-in-fly-out working. My work rotation was six months at work and one month back in Perth. The first few weeks were spent in the drilling camp near Learmonth before moving to an offshore location on Barrow Island. That was my introduction to the oil industry, my new career path for the next forty years!

In 2002 I retired, but enjoyed working part-time contracting/consulting for another oil company and picked my time to go fly-fishing and camping in New Zealand during the time I was not working! That company had

operations in the Bass Strait and their offices were in Melbourne. I enjoyed that work until 2007. Local travel, very convenient!

Looking back, it was a most interesting and, at times, exciting career despite the occasional uncertainties of the oil price, however, I must emphasise that it was working with great individuals, and teams of people that made it the best of times. Enjoyment and satisfaction in achievements came from a team effort and a reliance on the capabilities and skills of those teams. A coincidence! It is sixty years since the Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition and I notice that Tim Slessor’s book “First Overland” has been re-issued as a Kindle version. The book had been printed again in 2005 (in time for the fiftieth anniversary) and the Foreword written by Sir Richard Attenborough is well worth reading! Perhaps a good book for the St George’s library?”

“In the Sixth Form, in 1959, I applied for entry into the RAF. Subsequently, after a three-day selection course at the Aircrew Selection Centre, Hornchurch in Essex I was informed that I had been successful in my application. At the end of the 1959 school year, I entered the RAF in November. However, I was unsuccessful in pursuing that chosen career and in 1961 I was looking around to see what other career path I would like to follow!

While looking around, I was working part-time at the Ship Hotel, and later at the Lincoln Arms in Weybridge. This interest, and the enjoyable interaction with people, led me into commencing a possible career in hotel management and I worked at Claridge’s Hotel in various roles learning the business during 1962 and part of 1963. While working there I also applied for a position in Paris at the Hotel Plaza Athenee but, unfortunately, they did not have a vacancy to take me at that time.

After leaving the RAF and working and living in a shared flat in London I had a desire to travel and see more of the world so, I started to think more about how I would see more of that world! A book titled “First Overland” by Tim Slessor caught my interest; it was published in 1957 and told the story of the Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition from London to Singapore overland. I read the book and their journey fascinated me. I thought that it would be a good challenge and a great way to see the world, well half of it anyway!

In 1963, I left with two friends in our 1950 short wheelbase Land Rover that we had spotted derelict in a field in Chertsey, and bought for 40 pounds. Luckily my two friends, John and David, were both electrically and mechanically very skilled and the vehicle was given a complete makeover before we headed off! When we set off, our vehicle was painted grey

and on each side we had stencilled London – Calcutta – Sydney. We intended working in Australia before returning to the UK. John and I had met and enjoyed Scouting together for a few years, and John and David had worked together. We were unable to obtain visas or permission to travel through Burma who, at that time, was undergoing rebel disturbances across the country. Our original intention was to enter the Malay Peninsula from Burma and then to travel to Singapore. The Oxford/Cambridge team obviously had more political clout than we had!

We would think later about how we might make it to Singapore while by-passing Burma. Meanwhile, we decided to name the Land Rover ‘Matilda’, and stencilled that name on each side. We checked our gear, loaded and headed off for Sydney. After a cross channel ferry, we passed through France, Monaco, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and to Ceylon. In Colombo, Ceylon, we transferred the vehicle to a new owner, then flew by BOAC Comet to Singapore and a few days later flew to Perth, Western Australia on a Qantas 707. It was a most interesting journey, I kept a detailed daily log of that journey with accompanying photos, later typed out and copied to my companions.

On arriving in Perth on the 21st December 1963, it was difficult to find work due to the holiday season and we were low on cash and needed to find work. We stayed with the Salvation Army for a couple of weeks and enjoyed the hospitality of many friendly families we got to know in Perth.

The three of us found work in the third week of January 1964. David started as an electrician on an iron ore camp at Yampi Sound in the north-west of WA.

Whatever Happened To……..Mac? Frank E McKeon (OG ’59)

May 2016, Melbourne.

Enjoy the full version on the Reunite website www.stgeorgesreunite.com

Pictured L-R; Fr Jude, Fr Adrian, Fr Richard, Br Pat, Fr Martin & Fr Andrew

JOSEPHITE COMMUNITY NEWS

The one major event on the Josephite Calendar in July was the convening of the General Chapter in Belgium to elect a new Superior General and his team to lead the Congregation over the next five years.

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Fr Jacob, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was elected as the new Superior General, the first African Superior General in the history of the Congregation, with Fr Aidan Rossiter as the Vicar general. Br Michael Powell was also elected to the team.

Fr Robert Hamilton earns our heartfelt thanks for his hard work and service as Superior General over the last fifteen years, and will now be taking a well earned rest.

Fr Adrian continues to be kept active with his work as Superior of the Community, Bursar to the Josephite Trust, and member of the Chaplaincy team at St Peter’s Hospital. He helps to keep himself fit by playing for the Woodham Table Tennis Club.

Fr Jude is often at work on the computers in the school library working and researching on further aspects of St George’s College history. He often attends local parish events including a four month scriptural course. He keeps in contact with his sister in Southend.

Fr Richard is a very welcome addition to our Community. He takes a keen ecological interest in the grounds around St George’s and loves walking and bird watching.

Fr Andrew is now finding it more difficult to walk, but shows great determination and courage to remain in the Community. He still has a love of the Times crossword ablely abetted by Br Patrick.

Br Patrick is good at providing the music liturgy for the Sunday mass at St Augustine’s Care home and at the Junior School. He is a great help with the community administration.

Fr Martin works very hard as College Chaplain for St George’s. He gives invaluable induction courses for new staff on the vision and values for as Josephite School. He runs a very active chaplaincy team with two assistants covering retreats, school masses, prayer groups, pilgrimage to Lourdes, help with Assemblies and availability to parents and staff.

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OGA SPORTS NEWS

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A big thank you to departing captain and current teacher at the College, Luke Buckingham, who will stand down as skipper ahead of next season (although thankfully will continue playing) and, in the same vein, a massive congratulations to new captain Chris Hanson (OG ’11), as well as vice captains Harry Samuels (OG ’13) and Ali Stanley (OG ’11).

Being in Surrey Division 1, for the first time this season, will be yet another challenge, as each year the standard of rugby has been increasing dramatically. Preparations began in mid-June with the squad working hard to be ready for September.

Every year we are excited to welcome new faces to the club and, as I write this message in July, we have already welcomed a host of ‘new’ Old Georgians to the club; for me that’s the most rewarding part of the rugby club.

One of our key aims this year is to have more fixtures for under 21s and more social games.

The 2016/17 fixtures can be found on the club website at http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/oldgeorgiansrfc. Support is always hugely appreciated.

The club are extremely grateful for all the support that they receive from all supporters, Mike Gooley (OG ’54) and Trailfinders, our principal sponsor, and the College.

RugbyOGRFC enjoyed another successful season in 2015/16, securing promotion for the fourth time in as many years.

If anyone would like to join the rugby club or receive updates, please email alexwillis88@gmail.com

Alex Willis

Tim O’Gorman (OG ’85)

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Cricket News

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Brian and Nick Bissessar (OG ’08)

As the Celebrated Lord Harris wrote “You will do well to love Cricket and cherish it” which has certainly been done this year with interesting unfoldings of play, with the residual moisture causing the patterns of play to be varied and scores lower.

Old Georgians and visitors greatly appreciate the chance to play on the unrivalled St George’s pitch. The organisation of the day has been vastly helped by the thoughtful, unwavering and so thorough help of Claire Reed, Paul Robigo, Paul Stubbs, Tom Athayde, Miriam Geraghty (Hon Sec OGA) building on the input of the Groundsman Rob Deacock, and Catering Manager, Claire Lynch.

These efforts are visible evidence of the love of the Game.

My congratulations to the team (pictured below) who won the Final of the Cricketer Trophy against the Old Boys of St Joseph’s, Ipswich played at Gerrards Cross CC on Sun 7th August. A fantastic result!

Finally, there is the special occasion of our match at Arundel Castle vs The Sussex Martlets on Tuesday 6th Sept.

Brian O’Gorman

This dinner was not only a chance to celebrate 20 years of OGHC hockey but also a chance to look back over the past season which is arguably the best the Club has ever had. The season saw the Men’s 1st team promoted back to National League, 6 of the 7 adult teams finishing within promotion zones, and over 300 ‘Dragons’ in the junior section of the Club.

Under the leadership of Chairman, Noel Doran, and Director of Hockey, Royce Waters, the Club is in the best position possible to ensure it continues to grow and has a sustainable

and successful future. Although the Club is made up of over 75% Old Georgians, we are an open community Club, as required by England Hockey. We are always looking to expand our membership, so please feel free to come down with your friends and join a Club where winning is the norm and become part of the Old Georgians’ hockey family!

Contact: noel07798678910@aol.com

roycewatershockey@hotmail.com

Hockey NewsThis year saw Old Georgians’ Hockey Club celebrate its 20th Anniversary and the promotion of 3 teams.

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Everyone cheered for their team and the College team won the race at the end. Well done to all!

Congratulations to next year’s new captain, Michael Dalton, and Vice-captains Amy Bates and Ryan Notter. Headmaster Mr Joe Peake was also thanked for all his support to the Boat Club over the past 21 years.

School Regatta On Monday 4th July at the Boat Club, the College’s First Eight raced against an OG’s Team.

Chamber Choir Success as runners up in BBC Songs of Praise Senior School Choir of the Year 2016 Competition.

Hearty congratulations to the St George’s College Chamber Choir which appeared on BBC1 Songs of Praise on Sunday 24 April, performing Ev’ry time I feel the spirit (arr. Chilcott) to critical acclaim as a finalist in the BBC Songs of Praise Senior School Choir of the Year Competition 2016. It was clear from judges’ comments that the choir was a very highly regarded competitor, giving a “technically amazing performance”, singing with a beautiful sound.

Described as cool customers, who had performed with passion and confidence, the students’ sense of cohesion and inherent musicianship was clear to both see and hear.

The College Chamber Choir is an ensemble which participates in the many facets of school life through singing at Masses and services, giving concerts, and touring, and the choir was thrilled to receive a trophy as runners-up, in this long established competition. Celebrating at their post competition party, the children commented that they had enjoyed the experience immensely and were thrilled to have achieved so highly in the competition.

With children ranging in ages from 13-18 across all voice parts, Director of Music at St George’s College, Tansy Castledine, congratulated the choir on its outstanding achievement, impressive ability to demonstrate such a breadth of styles both within the competition and beyond, and for its commitment and unity as a team representing the school at the very highest national and international levels. RU

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A wonderful evening concert took place in the College Chapel on Saturday 25th June.

The performance showcased some of our current pupils, a number of past OGs musicians (2005-2015), the St George’s Sinfonia and the Choral Society members, conducted by Director of Music, Tansy Castledine. It has been a huge community event and a great way to musically say goodbye to Headmaster Mr Joe Peake. The repertoire included Vivaldi’s much-loved Gloria, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 and Tippett’s Five Negro Spirituals.

List of attendees:Nina Abadzis, (OG 2013), Catherine Bawtree, (OG 2010), Eden Bodkin, (OG 2015),Catherine Buchanan, Sarah Burston, Megan Campbell, (OG 2015), Saskia Campbell, (OG 2015), Sue Castledine, Helen Curtis, Sonia Duggan, Chris Dunning, Jenny Field, Patricia Field, Dorothea Fox, Hannah Garty, (OG 2011), Venus Hassoun, Dom Hudson, (OG 2013), Jack Hudson, (OG 2015), Alex Mather, Steve Mather, Alison Moody, (OG 2010), Andrew Miller, (OG 2014),Tim Muggeridge, (OG 2013), Jaysie Nichols, Andrew Noble, (OG 2013), Jayne Parkin, Megan Penney, (OG 2012), Becca Powell, (OG 2015), David Robinson, (OG 2015), Tarun Shah, Matthew Sharrock, Anthony Smith, Fred Stanford, (OG 2013), Ann Sweeney, Mary Sweeney, (OG 2004), Catherine Tarnopolski, Judith Whitfield, Marie Wratten

Summer Serenade– 10 years in SGC Music

SCHOOL NEWS

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‘I am very excited to be joining the College and the Georgian family, along with my husband Tom and twin sons, Will and Arthur, who have entered the First Year. We have received a very warm welcome from Georgians past and present already, and look forward to meeting many more of you soon’.

Rachel Owens – Headmistress St George’s College

Welcome to the new Headmistress Mrs Owens

Thank you so much to St George’s. It’s been a great seven years, during which I have developed so much as a person. (Rebecca Muggeridge)

St George’s has been brilliant; I have had such a good time and I have been helped so much here. (Josh Phillips)

I have had the best time in my life here and made the best possible friends. I am really sad to be leaving. Thank you for everything St George’s. (Carys Wright, Head Girl)

I am so happy. I have been accepted into my first choice of university and St George’s has helped me all the way – I am 18 now and have been here since the age of two! (Olly Wiltshire)

A summary of this year’s A Level (A2) results at St George’s College, Weybridge is as follows:

Overall pass rate at A2 grades A* to C– 93.7% Overall pass rate at A2 grades A* to E – 99.4%More information about St George’s Weybridge can be found on our website: www.stgeorgesweybridge.com

Students who received the very highest marks, gaining at least three A* grades include Simona Burchill (Exeter), Tom Cryer (Exeter), Maryam Dorudi (St Andrews), John Grieve (Oxford), Vasileios Karavais (Cambridge), Ben McMillan (Imperial) and Rebecca Muggeridge (Sheffield). In addition, two students gained merits in the Advanced Extension Award (AEA) for Maths Henry Brown (2015) will be studying Dentistry at Leeds.

We are very pleased that our students achieved an increase in the total A* – B grade percentage from last year by 7.2% – giving us a total of 81.4% A* – B grades compared with 74% last year. Twenty five percent of the students gained straight A*/A grades

for all of their subjects at A Level including five who achieved four A Levels and one who achieved five A Levels all at A*/A. Our top 25% of candidates gained the equivalent of three A* at A Level and 1 grade B at AS Level.

With over 75% of the students moving on to prestigious universities, the most popular being Bath usurping Exeter from its top slot as a preferred destination, the Upper Sixth students should be proud of their success.

Jakob Youngblood Costa will be moving to the USA to accept a place at the prestigious Cornell University in the State of New York where he plans to focus on Engineering.

Surge in top grades at A Level

Our A2 students said:

The Junior School’s existing Nursery building has also been refurbished to the most up-to-date standards and opened in September 2016.

In addition, the Junior School’s front car park, facing onto Thames Street, now includes a new coach pick up and drop off zone, which is being put in place to help ease the flow of local road

traffic. Now built, the new, environmentally friendly facilities provide for existing pupil numbers rather than any expansion.

Opening of The Ark at the Junior School and the Nursery‘The ARK’ at St George’s Junior School, Weybridge opened in Autumn 2015. Specifically, for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils, The ARK offers new, modern classrooms and resource areas, a dedicated IT suite, a new assembly room, new outdoor learning areas along with other features.

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“I originally joined St Maur’s School in September 1994 as a part-time member of staff. I was needed to help teach my own subject of Physics, but I also taught some Maths classes, finding it interesting to be involved in teaching a non-practical subject – it feels very different! Having survived the traumatic process of the merger of the two Schools, I was one of a number of teachers who transferred to the College in September 2000, shepherding a significant cohort of our girls who were the pioneers in helping to convert St George’s into a fully co-educational establishment. It was, in a sense, a pioneering moment for me as well, as I had not taught boys before although, having brought up two sons, I was not too worried about this particular departure!

I have remained as a part-time member of a thriving Physics Department at the College ever since, enjoying sharing the teaching of what is, undoubtedly, the best subject in the world with a succession of wonderful colleagues, not least my friend Jackie Fowler (aka Jackie Spenceley) who transferred with me from St Maur’s and retired a few years ago.

I have been lucky enough to teach a range of talented and interesting students over the years, both male and female, and I still love

my subject and find it exciting discovering different ways of imparting my knowledge of it to new generations (although I have been known to lose my patience with modern technology at times!).

One of the many aspects of St George’s that I have much appreciated over the years has been the openness of this particular Catholic community. As a committed Anglican (my husband is actually now a Church of England priest) I have always felt welcomed by the priests and chaplains here and I am very grateful for their supporting presence. There may now only be one of the St Maur’s teachers remaining at the College (the remarkable Madame Hale) but we all, staff and students, brought much with us when we joined St George’s and that legacy lives on.

Being now well past my ‘best before’ date I am finally retiring from teaching and hoping to spend more time with my (very young and exhausting) grandchildren as well as taking advantage of having more freedom to travel at sensible times of the year. Good luck to the College and to all who ‘sail’ in her!”

Jackie Andrew June 2016

Retiring Staff

OBITUARIES

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Olivia Else Louise Gottschalk was born on 24th March 2016 to Anja (née Baynham OG ’01) and Matt Gottschalk (OG ’01) at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford.

Fr Dominic Rolls (OG ’81)Fr Dominic Rolls died in April 2016. Dominic was born in Liverpool and grew up in the same Diocese, attending school in Woking, at St George’s Weybridge and at Worth School in West Sussex.

He died peacefully, fortified by the rites of the Church he loved so dearly, in St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh, on 29 April 2016.

Peter Baynhan-Honri (OG ’41)Passed away after a long illness on Monday 29th August at his home in Stonehouse.

Michael Howitt Wilson Michael Howitt Wilson died on 29th February 2016. He joins his wife, Christine, who passed away in 2010. Father of Old Georgians Francis, Jamie, Damian, Justin and Paul-Jude. Grandfather of fourteen and great-grandfather of three. Michael’s funeral took place on 15th March in Sutton Park.

Ron Churchill-Smith (OG ’59)Ron Churchill-Smith died in April 2016.

Richard White (OG ’75) Richard White died at the end of May in Cardiff. He attended St George’s College between 1970-75.

A former antiques dealer, he started his career as a porter at Bonhams, in Knightsbridge, before working as a cataloguer and starting an antique dealership, with another OG Peter Hewett, in Portabello Road, later moving to a shop in Fulham Road. He then opened a branch in New York.

Ferdie Remedios (OG ’60) Ferdie Remedios died on February 2nd 2016 after a tragic fall. A service was held on Thursday 25th February at Easthampstead Park Crematorium, Wokingham, Berkshire. He will be dearly missed by his wife Vivien, children Louise, Andrew and Carla and all the grandchildren together with many friends and family who attended the service to celebrate Ferdie’s life.

Paul Ceccherini (OG ’99) and Alessandra Chiap

Paul and Alessandra were married on the 25th June 2016 in the village of San Floriano in Italy.

Matt Alexander (OG ’06) and

Emily Matt was married to Emily on 5th March

2016 and they enjoyed a honeymoon in Hawaii.

Alex Peake (OG ’05) Married James Bowman in the Chapel on Saturday 30th July 2016 in the College Chapel. There were 15 Old Georgians there!

Victoria Robyn Cowley (OG ’91) and Philip CowleyVictoria Brough got married to Professor Philip Cowley, at St Vedast in the City of London in 2015. She had a little girl, Maggie, in 2013 and in 2015 had a little boy, Robert.

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LITTLE PIECES OF HISTORY

The St George’s MosaicCarolyn Lawton nee Skeet World War I

Commemoration of Old Georgians

“I am enquiring as to whether the College still has a large mosaic of St George slaying the dragon. I ask because my father Nigel John Skeet made the mosaic in the 1960’s and was paid £25 for it. I remember watching him cut the tiles and placing them. Below] Attached is the only picture we have, which sadly is in black and white, I believe it was hung in the entrance area. We lived in a bungalow on Woburn Hill and my father worked for the College. Father Peter and Father Aiden were there at the time, sadly my father has now passed away. If the mosaic is still

in existence would it be possible to obtain a colour photo? My mother often mentions the mosaic and the pain staking hours it took my father to complete”.

The First World War affected the College in many ways. Like many other similar schools, St George’s lost many former pupils on the field of battle. Of the 367 Old Georgians who took up arms, 57 of them died, or were killed, in action. The earliest causalities appear to have been Lieutenant Cormac Walshe, who was only 22 when he died from his wounds in Boulogne on 5 November 1914, and Lieutenant George Creagh-Jennings, killed at the age of 29 at Ypres on the following day.

One of the first Old Georgians to give his life was Paul Frachon (OG 1912) on 4 September 1914. Old Georgians serving with the forces sent in countless contributions to the school magazine which also reported those who were wounded and killed. These ranged from the wide-eyed observations of those recently called up to reports from battle-hardened veterans.

Some of the Old Georgians killed as young soldiers in active service during the First World War:

Heberty Barry Husband, who joined the London Scottish Regiment, was wounded in Ypres and killed in Boulogne in 1915.

Donald Husband was a Lieutenant in the Argyll and Southern Highlanders, and fell in France in 1916.

Lieutenant George F. Magrane was part of the Machine Gun Corps when he was killed in 1917, aged 26.

2nd Lieutenant Eric B. Tristram, of the Royal Fusiliers lost his life at 21.

Lieutenant George P. Creagh Jenings

was killed in action near Ypres, while serving under the Shropshire Light Infantry.

Their deaths, together with the death of other Old Georgians, were commemorated by the unveiling of a white Sicilian marble memorial in September 1924.

We were delighted to be able to contact Carolyn to tell her that the mosaic was still in place at the inner entrance to the College Chapel and sent her some colour images.

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• Caters for contemporary physical activity not just traditional SGC sports

• Larger variety of activities which can be utilised by all students

• Provides spacious, light rooms, lots of natural lighting

• Comfortable, clean changing areas• Flexible spaces for future proofing matching the needs of future trends

• Large multi-view spectator areas

• Spacious corridors and areas for classes to change round/wait

• Beautiful social areas with panoramic views• A hub of school activity that will be used by any department to deliver extra-curricular activities

• Well-resourced staff offices and administration• Environmentally sympathetic• Outstanding design • Upgrades indoor hockey to County level venue• Benefit to, and income from, the local community

Please note images are for concept design intent only.

OUR VISION AND IDEAS

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CELEBRATE 150

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CELEBRATE 150

Thank you for joining us in the Celebrate 150 Consultation

Earlier this year, we asked for feedback from the Georgian Family about our proposed plans to celebrate our 150th Anniversary in 2019 by building a new Activity Centre at the heart of the College.

I’d like to thank all of you who have attended one of our consultation evenings, where I shared my vision for the future, and to those who have responded to the various communications about the proposed plans.

There has been great dialogue amongst parents, Old Georgians, staff and students about the transformational plans.

It has been clear that the Georgian community feels that our ideas are in keeping with the long-term aims of the School to provide a broad education to our boys and girls where physical activity is encouraged and teaching is never compromised.

Some of the architectural ideas proposed

by Joe Peake (Headmaster 1995-2016)

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CELEBRATE 150

I would like to share with you some of the comments received:

“ Absolutely brilliant – an activity centre that fits with the sporting heritage of the School and ambitions for the future”

“ Fabulous set of master plans – the design of the building feels flexible, modern and inspiring”

“ Anything that involves making sports facilities available to young people has to be applauded and supported”

“A fabulous legacy to celebrate 150 years!”

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Many of you gave some constructive feedback on considerations for the build which have been fed back to the design team such as:

• Include a physio/treatment room

• Video analysis/coaching

• Provide healthy food and healthy eating education

• Adequate locker space

• Acoustics and sound proofing

• Use of smart technology

• Use of sustainability principles

• Parking

We are currently awaiting a decision on planning, having submitted our plans for the Activity Centre in the Summer, which forms part of a long term master plan for the College. This process is expected to continue until late 2016. In the meantime, we will keep you informed with our progress.

Thank you again for your support and interest in Celebrate 150.

With best wishes,

Joe Peake Headmaster (1995-2016)

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Are there not other building priorities?Of course we have a list of priorities that are continuously under discussion and planning, hence the long-term master plan. This includes further phases to improve teaching areas and replace some of the outdated buildings towards the back of the College site. During the master planning process, it was concluded that the Sports Hall was the first priority and would have a significant positive impact on the College campus and for the broad provision of activity for all students. Marking the 150th Anniversary with such a landmark building seems appropriate.

Will we include a swimming pool?During the consultation phase, it was concluded that a pool, although an aspiration for the future, was not a core priority at this time given the need to upgrade and expand our other indoor facilities. You have seen, however, that we are designing the Activity Centre such that an adjoining pool can be realised in a future phase. We agree that swimming is a priority for Junior School children and improvements to their current pool are envisaged.

What about disruption during the build?We will try to accommodate as many PE lessons and clubs as possible in other school buildings such as the Woburn Gym, the Theatre and Foyer (currently used as a dance studio) and the Indoor Tennis Centre. Public examinations will also be re-located to areas such as our Upper Exam Room, the Chapel or Theatre. In terms of the building works, a detailed Construction Management Plan will be agreed before work begins. This will set out the contractor’s approach to these issues and how they will be mitigated.

Will the Activity Centre be open to the public?Our priority is for St George’s students to reap the benefits of such a fantastic facility. We will additionally continue to offer local state schools use of the facilities for some aspects of their sports provision where possible. We are currently investigating how much time will be available for members of the Georgian Community to utilise the facility on a membership basis, as feedback has suggested this would be a popular offering.

Some of the discussion points have included:

Scholars will each have a mentor within the sports department, with whom they will have regular meetings to monitor their progress and provide them with extra support across all areas. They will also attend a series of education lectures and workshops and continue to undertake strength and conditioning sessions at Locker 27. Parents are also invited to attend a workshop on High Performance Parenting with Eira Parry.

Dan Shingles joined the College in September 2016 as Head of Girls’ Hockey. Dan plays for Reading Hockey Club, England and Great Britain, with 75 caps to date and was selected as part of the squad to represent Great Britain in the 2016 Rio Olympics. He is a qualified PE teacher and former Head of Hockey at Langley Park

School for Boys, and has a degree in Sport and Exercise Sciences from Brunel University. Aside from hockey, he is a keen sportsman and enjoys playing and coaching a variety of sports including cricket, football and rugby”

Laura Gibson (Acting Director of Sport)

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“We have recently launched an exciting new programme for Sport Scholars which will commence in September 2016.

The programme is based on 3 core principles:

Support Education Recognition

The Future of Sport at St George’s

SUPPORTING SGW

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921 have generously shown their support to St George’s in the last academic year.We are grateful for the incredible sustained support you have shown over the years. The volunteer hours and financial gifts you so generously share have an immediate impact on our students at the Junior School and at the College.

There has been support from across the Georgian Family. Our sincere thanks to Old Georgians who have contributed significantly to future developments; enabling the School to plan for the future. Parents have generously supported on a regular basis via our SGW

Friends’ Fund. Donations have enabled us to provide a wonderful study area for older students in the Library.

Upper Sixth student Ashleigh said “The library extension has been an essential component of my revision for A2 exams. I honestly think that my grades in the summer will have been helped by being able to revise in a room where everyone was so academically driven.”

Ashleigh’s mother has been very impressed with the new addition to the Library, “Ashleigh has benefitted enormously from the silent area that the new library extension provides; the individual study booths are particularly conducive to getting work done.”

Some of the other projects you’ve donated to this year include:

Dance mirrors and bar in the Amanda Smith Theatre Foyer, 30 tablet computers for the Junior School’s ICT Suite and Junior School cricket equipment, a new projector and screen for the Junior School Drama Hall, creation of the Junior School Eco-Garden and a College bowling machine.

Projects to be completed include:

Lighting and control system upgrade to the Junior School Drama Hall, lighting to the Junior School Eco-Garden, Junior School Lower Years playground equipment, mobile touchscreen for the College periodic table display, new College Hockey goals, branded College Rugby post protectors and tennis court banners. We hope now to be able to raise funds towards the significant costs of a new College Chapel organ.

Over the last year gifts have also been secured for a variety of other projects, such as Assisted Places.

We are making some changes to the Friends’ Fund in 2016-17 to ensure that you have more choice in how you would like to support those projects that enhance the Georgian experience for your sons and daughters even further. As a

supporter, you will be able to choose which aspect of

school life you would like to contribute to. You will have a choice

on how you would like to contribute and how often. We will keep you updated over the coming months.

We’re also incredibly grateful to those who are able to Gift Aid their contributions, adding a fantastic 25% to the value of their donation. If you are able to Gift Aid, please do complete a declaration for St George’s so that we increase the value of any donations you make to the School at no extra cost to you. Contact the Development Team for details.

Leave a legacy to help educate minds, expand hearts and empower lives

After protecting the interests of family and friends, many choose to remember St George’s with a gift in their Will, reflecting their support and affection and their wish for the School to continue to flourish and provide the very best preparation for life for future generations.

If the time is ever right to include a gift in your Will to St George’s Weybridge, please add a codicil to your latest Will or contact the Development Team for further information. Whatever support you can give, small or large, will make a difference.

Thank you

We recognise that saying thank you to our donors is extremely important. Thank you for helping to build on excellence, from us all at St George’s!

If you would like to find out more about any of the funds or how you can help, please contact

Caroline or Janice in the Development Office at giving@stgeorgesweybridge.com or on

01932 839352

Our wonderful new library extension which provides a study area for the Sixth Form students, including the handmade wooden study carrels.

Thank you!We couldn’t have done it without you!

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