For All The School Community . Pupils . Staff . Parents . Old Birkonians . Friends . Visitors
We are proud to say, BS is the ONLY school on the Wirral to qualify for the BBC’s list of the top 227 schools where more than 25% of students achieved at least grades AAB in ‘facilitating subjects’ – those needed for entrance to the competitive Russell Group universities. In fact 29% of Birkenhead School students reached this threshold.
Government Tables (A Level)
published Thursday 24th January 2013
A-level grade A* scores 300 points, A = 270, B = 240, C = 210, D = 180, E = 150.
Schools are also ranked by the average points score per entry. This indicates the quality of performance.
Again, one examination graded A* scores 300 points and so on.
*For the first time this year, the tables also include the number of students who gain good grades – at
least two As and a B – in so-called "facilitating subjects". These are subjects that are commonly seen as a
route into leading Russell Group universities. This is shown in the final column.
The measure reflects achievement in Maths and Further Maths, English Literature, Physics, Biology,
Chemistry, Geography, History and Modern and Classical Languages.
School names
Number
of
students
Av point
per
exam
entry
Av total
points per
student
*Percentage
achieving at least
AAB in "academic
A levels"
Birkenhead School 42 237.4 828.2 29%
Wirral Grammar School for
Girls 145 233.8 1054.5 23%
West Kirby Grammar School 164 235.8 1064.9 21%
Birkenhead High School
Academy 66 224.3 823.6 17%
Wirral Grammar School for
Boys 128 223.4 1084 16%
Calday Grange Grammar
School 236 212.8 958.1 14%
Pensby High School for Boys 34 199.1 604.8 13%
St Anselm's College 78 198.1 827.5 13%
Upton Hall School FCJ 96 219.6 967.9 9%
Birkenhead Sixth Form
College 355 203.9 719.4 1%
Well done indeed to the U15 Girls’ Lacrosse team who
won the North of England finals in February, and took
part in the National Championships in London earlier
this month. Unfortunately, though they won all their first
round games, they lost out in the knock-out round of the
competition. Full report in the next issue.
Art - pgs 22,23
Dreaming spires? - p4
HAC - pgs 10,11
Drama - pgs 9, 17
In Focus March 2013 Page 2
This year two Lower Sixth students attended a five-week series of
Nuclear Physics master classes at Liverpool University. Kevin Wong
and Thomas Finch worked on a series of degree level experiments
and attended university lectures. They also worked with Sixth Form
students from other schools to produce a piece of display work
communicating their research into aspects of nuclear physics.
This is the second year that students from Birkenhead School have
attended these master classes. Last year Harry McGee attended the
nuclear physics master classes and scooped second prize for his
work on using nuclear physics in security detectors.
Later on this year Lower 6th Physics students will attend a day of
lectures on Particle Physics at Liverpool University and will take part
in a two-day visit to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in
Switzerland.
P Webster, Head of Physics
WIRRAL’S unsung heroes were in the spotlight at the end of
last year when their hard work was recognised at the first-ever
Wirral's Golden Globes Awards ceremony
held at the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton.
There were many categories but awarded ‘Young Hero of the
Year’ was Oscar Ratnaike in the Upper Sixth. He has stood by
and helped to care for his brother, Alex, who has severe and
complex medical problems.
Oscar walked alongside Alex when the latter was selected to
carry to the Paralympic Torch (featured in the last edition of IF)
and has also raised cash for Claire House where his brother
attends.
Oscar said: “I am so humbled to be here tonight. Loving and
caring for my brother isn’t a hobby or a job – it’s just a way of
life, whether he can walk or not.”
Several local celebrities turned out to pay tribute to all of
Wirral’s ‘heroes’. They included Great British Bake-Off TV star
Paul Hollywood, comedian Stan Boardman, singer Steve
McFarlane, renowned journalist and poet Peter Grant and
Radio Merseyside story-teller/musician Cath Roberts. Former
Brookside actress Suzanne Collins, country singer Charlie
Landsborough and celebrity blogger and star of Desperate
Scouse wives Jaiden Michael also presented awards. Frankie
Goes to Hollywood guitarist/singer Brian “Nasher” Nash
brought the ceremony to a thundering close with his powerful
solo rendition of the band’s 1984 number-one smash hit The
Power of Love. Radio Merseyside presenter Roger Lyon hosted
the event.
In Claire House t-shirts: In the chair Alex, standing
behind Alex, Oscar (R) and their father (centre)
Below l to r: Tom Finch, Harry McGee and Kevin Wong
In Focus March 2013 Page 3
We went to visit new Director of
Music, Mr Philip Robinson, to ask
him a few questions about both
himself and his hopes for the
future of the Music department
here at Birkenhead School. Having
spent the past three and a half
yea r s revo lu t ion i s in g the
department at The King’s School, Chester, he has now ventured
north, to the Wirral, with his wife Krista (also a Music teacher)
and seven month old son Hugo.
With responsibility for Music across the whole school, he hopes
to see existing groups continue to flourish and also give all
students in both Prep and Senior Schools as many opportunities as
possible to make music during their school careers. He decided
that Birkenhead was the place for him as soon as he felt the
school’s friendly and warm atmosphere and saw the great
opportunities that could be developed over time, in the Music
School, the Chapel and in the wider school community.
He has an incredible passion for music and performing, with his
main instruments being the piano and French horn. He would love
to share this passion with as many people as possible as he
believes music is something to be shared with and cherished by all.
He says music is his life beyond his family, but he also loves to
watch (and occasionally play) cricket, although unsurprisingly most
of his free time is now spent with Krista and baby Hugo. His
favourite composer (when forced to choose) is J. S. Bach, however
we couldn’t convince him to pick a favourite piece of music.
Despite this, when asked about his favourite musical, he answered
immediately: ‘Les Misérables’ – which he is massively keen to
produce as one of the first whole school musicals we have seen
here for several years. All we can say is: bring on 2014, Les Mis is
coming!
Hannah Triggs, Rebecca Davies,
Katie Laing and Amy Naylor, L6th
Mark Turner is the new
Bursar at Birkenhead
School. He shadowed
Clive Button, the former
Bursar in December, but
is now officially in office.
Mark grew up in Leicester
and went to Magdalen
College, Oxford, where
he studied Law. During
his time in college, he
played volleyball for East
Midlands, korfball (google
it!), squash, was the only
goalkeeper for the college
(3 teams), the cricket captain and the Christian Union leader. As
you can see Mark thoroughly enjoyed his time at university.
During his undergraduate days at Oxford, he spent two months
gaining work experience with the West Mercia Constabulary.
After leaving university, Mark decided to join the police service
with West Mercia (starting as a constable in Worcester). He
gained a place on the national accelerated promotion scheme
whereby, if he continued to perform well, he would gain
promotion to Sergeant and then Inspector. He continued to
perform and prosper and, at the age of just 34 he was promoted
to Chief Superintendant and ran policing across Herefordshire. He
is proud of the work he did to ensure the community felt safe and
to ensure that his police staff and officers felt valued whilst often
undertaking what might otherwise be thankless tasks.
Mark has kept up his passion for sport and at the age of 40 scored
his first ever century in cricket - then qualified as an umpire. He is
looking forward to the cricket season at Birkenhead School,
especially due to the view of School Field from his office. At the
moment he enjoys playing squash with Mr Edmunds and Mr Rule
most weeks.
Mark is an active Christian and applied for the job at Birkenhead
School because he feels that he had a vocation to change career
path to his current role. He had never before visited the area and
is currently living away from his family who still reside in Hereford,
but he is very much looking forward to them moving here later in
the year. Meanwhile, he is currently travelling down to be with
them at weekends. He said that he hopes they will be settled in by
the start of the summer, and his son David will be starting in the
Prep as well.
Mark is very proud of getting the job here at Birkenhead School,
but he understandably feels that his proudest achievement of all
time is being a husband and father to the best of his ability
Jordan Hart and Tom Green, Year 11
About the Bursar - did you know? … Mark has a number of gaming consoles, and enjoys playing his
Playstation 3 the most (his favourite game is Assassins Creed II). Mark
doesn’t have enough time to get into the online world of gaming, so
don’t start trying to search for his name on Xbox Live or Playstation as
you won’t get a chance to challenge him.
If Mark were on a desert island, alongside the Bible and the works of
Shakespeare, he would like to take his Play Station 3 set up, the book
‘Les Misérables’ and a kite. He has a passion for pinball machines and
in its prime, his collection had a grand total of 5 machines. At the
moment, however, he has only 2. Unlike his predecessor, Mark has no
real preference over cars... as long as they’re big enough to fit a pinball
machine in! His favourite dish is Toad in the Hole. Mr Robinson in a Chapel Choir rehearsal
In Focus March 2013 Page 4
I became interested in applying to The Queen’s College after
attending the Eton Choral Course over the summer that was held
there. I loved the atmosphere of the college and I was attracted by
the Oxford choral tradition. On the Choral Course we sang Howell’s
“St. Paul’s” service in the chapel. The power that the choir produced
made me feel that being part of the musical community in Oxford
would be an incredibly valuable experience.
I was interviewed twice at Queen’s and I also had an interview at
Merton College. The interviews were very intense, and all left me
unsure about whether I had been successful. The students at Queen’s
made me feel very welcome and were very helpful in answering any
questions I had. I also had a music faculty interview in which I
performed a piano piece. I stayed in Oxford for four days, and the
fact that the interviews were very spread out gave me the
opportunity to explore Oxford and parts of the College that I hadn’t
previously seen. The highlight of my experience was coming across
the upper library in Queen’s, which I had never seen before. The
serene atmosphere of this part of the College containing thousands
of ancient volumes really attracted me. I was able to do some work
in this part of the library while I was in Queen’s, which provided a
relief from the stress of the interviews.
Overall, I found applying to Oxford quite stressful as when you are
trying to relax in the college you get the impression that everyone is
constantly assessing you, even outside of interviews. Although the
experience was incredibly testing, studying at an institution such as
Oxford would be a very valuable experience.
Marco Galvani
After what seemed like an age of looking at university courses,
writing and re-writing my personal statement (helped along the way
by a lot of Mr Lindberg’s ‘constructive criticism’) and doing
admissions tests, I finally heard in early December that I had been
invited for an interview at Oxford. I had found it difficult to choose a
college – they all seemed to say they had high academic standards,
good facilities and that I would have a great time there – but
eventually settled on Hertford, applying to study Engineering. The
interview process was challenging but at the same time enjoyable. For
my first interview, at Hertford, the atmosphere was friendly: we sat
on sofas around a fire. The second, at St Peter’s College, was entirely
different – I was given a chair behind a desk in a bare room, sitting
opposite two very serious looking academics.
I was a bit surprised that I was asked barely anything about my
personal statement in either interview. They seemed to be much
more interested in whether I could solve maths and physics
problems, and I came out of the interview unsure of whether I had
impressed or not.
I was delighted to hear in early January that Hertford had made me
an offer of A*AA. Having looked round properly at the time of the
interview, it appeared to be exactly the type of college I wanted - not
too formal, close to the centre of Oxford, cheap bar... The whole
process was long, drawn-out and at times stressful, but definitely
worth it. For anyone thinking about applying to Oxford or
Cambridge, my advice would be to just go for it – there’s no reason
not to.
Harry Sturgess
Harry, Marco and Matthew all have offers and to secure
their place will need A Level grades of A*AA, AAA and
A*AA respectively.
L to R: Harry Sturgess, Matthew Rogers
and Marco Galvani
I was first attracted to Cambridge University after being
captivated by the serene singing and stunning atmosphere of
King’s College Chapel, as depicted on the annual ‘Carols from
King’s’ on the BBC. Up until that moment, an Oxbridge
application had never really entered my mind, due to the image
of supercilious public school boys and upcoming Einsteins often
associated with the two universities. However, the surreal
ambience and beauty of Cambridge, combined with the
opportunity to study a very interesting subject alongside singing
in a chapel choir, encouraged me to apply to the university.
My feisty views and love of debate first drew me towards Law
as a subject. This was confirmed after attending the Cambridge
Law Conference in March and reading a series of books on the
law, written by various Cambridge lecturers. Despite being a
little unsure about which college to apply to, a walk through the
ancient courts, Bridge of Sighs and spectacular chapel of St.
John’s College confirmed my choice. It was the mixture of a
beautiful setting, a world renowned choir and a vibrant
environment that made me apply to one of Cambridge’s finest
establishments.
I was understandably nervous on the day of interview, as I
braced myself for the rigorous assault course of two interviews,
some preparatory reading and a tricky Cambridge Law Test.
The subject specific interview was undoubtedly the hardest
aspect, involving some very thought-provoking discussion that
tested intellect, stamina and out-of-the box thinking. At the end
of the day, I really had very little idea about whether or not I
had done enough to achieve my Cambridge dream.
To receive the offer letter in January was a truly incredible
moment and one that I will never forget. I now hope to get a
choral scholarship in the choir of St. John’s College, potentially
with a gap year at Norwich Cathedral. My advice to any
Oxbridge hopeful would be to absolutely grasp the opportunity
and at least give it your best try. If anyone wants to catch me in
a few years time, I hope that the best places to find me will be
in the Chapel of St. John’s or in the Cambridge Union!
Matthew Rogers
In Focus March 2013 Page 5
On 17th November we opened the
doors for our Diamond Xmas Bazaar.
Once again we were lucky with the
weather which is always a huge boost to
our visiting parents, pupils and friends.
The committee had worked hard to
transform the Sports Hall and Prep Gym
into something a little more festive and
this was made easier as we adorned the
walls with commemorative bunting that
Years 3 to 6 made for the occasion.
We welcomed back many of our regular
franchise stalls and saw some new faces
too. Our school stalls, of course, looked
as good as ever, if not better. The Grand
Raffle, Chinese Raffle and Paper Auction
were a huge success and we would like
to thank all the parents and businesses
who donated prizes, hampers and gift vouchers for these.
One of the most popular stalls is the Mug Stall and this year we
welcomed a new face to our committee who took on the challenge
of running this. Together with a team of helpers they wrapped
hundreds of mugs and made the stall look as fantastic as always.
C a f e N o e l
co n t i n ue d t o
d e l i g h t i t s
customers with
good food and
excellent service. It
is now run with
military precision
and queues are a
thing of the past!
T h e g r o t t o
de l i ghted our
younger visitors
and Santa was kept
busy throughout
the day. We also
had the pleasure of
entertainment from Barline and the Big Band both of whom added
something special to the atmosphere.
The Prep Gym hosted the ever popular Bouncy Castles and Gladiator
Duel as well the games and stalls organised by the Cubs and Scouts
The Bazaar is a huge team effort, from the Committee, who have
been planning since July, to the families who donate toys, cakes, bric-
a-brac and prizes, the parents who turn up during the week to sort
donations and to run the stalls on the day and of course the Scout
Leaders who do so much work behind the scenes. We also had the
services of the First and Second Rugby Teams who helped with all
the lifting and carrying to set up the Bazaar and clear away at the end
of the day.
Our helpers are too numerous to mention individually but every
offer of help, however small, is greatly appreciated,
This year we raised approximately £4700.00 which will be split
between 20th Birkenhead Scout Group and the Parents' Association.
We hope that you enjoyed the day and look forward to the 61st
Bazaar in 2013
Denise Durband
Bazaar Committee Chairman
Well done and what an
achievement for George
Long of 5C who was
awarded his 1st Dan
B l a c k B e l t i n
Taekwondo in October,
2012 at the age of just
10.
George travelled to
Derby three times with
his father where, on
each occasion, he had
to undergo a 2-hour
assessment. Finally, he
had to go to Bristol for
the actual grading.
which consisted of
patterns, sparring and
self defence, together
w i t h a v e r b a l
a s s e s s m e n t i n
Korean. All the hard
work and commitment
to Taekwondo paid off,
though unfortunately
resulted in him missing
the commencement of
his rugby season.
George started his
Taekwondo training at
the age of 5 with the Jason Rodd Academy of Taekwondo in
West Kirby. George's instructor, Jason Rodd, commented that
"nobody works harder than George with his application and
dedication to his training." George’s dedication also resulted in
him getting third place in the English Sparring Championships
earlier last year.
easily in their beds that night knowing that the fine
figures of our cadets were ready to defend this blessed
isle in general and Birkenhead School in particular.
We moved on to the School Library where Mrs Reeve
was waiting to show off the range materials and
sources which are available to assist our studies. In
the Meeting Room above, Mr Davies was busy
conducting the School’s ‘Big Band’ which impressed
not only the parents but me too. They thoroughly
deserved the standing ovation they received, which is
perhaps easier to achieve when there are no seats for
the audience!
The parents I was showing around were interested in
putting their child into Year 7, so Overdale was the
obvious next stop. Ms Smeaton, the Head of Overdale,
and Mr Rimmer, the Assistant Head of Overdale, were
waiting at the top of the steps to the front door to
welcome visitors (how grand, just like something out
of Downton Abbey!). Inside Overdale, there was an
impressive display of work from past and current pupils and lots
of boards with photographs from some of the many trips
available to pupils during their 2 years in Overdale.
From Overdale, we could faintly hear the explosions resonating
from the science block; it appeared someone had let Mr
Hayward near something flammable again! We went to
investigate. Inside the Physics lab, Mr Webster was
demonstrating the solar powered cars which A Level students
have been working on. It’s a shame someone had overlooked the
roofing situation which prevented the sunlight from reaching the
cars! Also being demonstrated were explosive bubbles - visitors
were invited to set fire to bubbles of hydrogen which, of course,
exploded. Fortunately, everybody watching managed to preserve
their eyebrows. To my delight, in the Biology lab, boards of
dissected rats lined the back of the room. I’m not the keenest
biologist, but seeing the dissected rats was truly fascinating!
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed escorting people around the
School, it was a truly eye-opening experience, and I only wish I’d
taken part in an Open Day before! I felt proud to show visitors
the School that I attend and have grown to love, for Birkenhead
School is certainly full of opportunities to take advantage of and
make the best of oneself. Jordan Hart, Yr 11
In Focus March 2013 Page 6
Every year, Birkenhead School holds Open Days in April and
September to show off our wonderful grounds, facilities and
people. This year was my first time as a tour guide and so I was
unsure of what to expect. We arrived before any of the visitors
one Saturday morning in late September. At first, I was a little
apprehensive as to what was expected of me and, even worse,
I’m not the most confident of people, so I was actually rather
nervous about my role during Open Day. Shortly after our
briefing, I was paired up with my first visitors. It was up to me
now to show prospective parents all that the School had to offer.
For a change, it was a gloriously sunny and warm autumn day,
and the family of visitors seemed suitably impressed by what they
saw. We can never be complacent, I know, but I felt a little warm
glow as I escorted them around the campus and felt their liking
for BS grow.. To think, this is MY School!
Everyone had organised a huge range of activities to show off
what our curriculum has to offer both inside and outside the
classroom. The first stop on my tour was the CCF section,
where Mr Hill and Mr Frowe stood firmly to attention, ready to
talk to parents about the CCF. On display, they had an
impressive array of equipment including tents, camping gear,
stoves and more! I know some visitors will have slept more
Last summer Mr Rule encouraged a few Sixth Form Economists to enter the Institute
of Economic Affairs’ Essay Challenge. The main component of the challenge involved
writing a 1,400 word essay on one of a choice of three topics . The title I chose was
“Why do most economists favour free trade and freer immigration when polls suggest
the majority of people are against it?” Happily, on my return to School in September, I
found out that I’d been placed in the top 10% of applicants and was invited down to
the IEA in Westminster for awards and presentations during a day in half term. I was
awarded a Certificate of Distinction in the Dorian Fisher Memorial Prize by Stephen
Davies, the Institute’s Educational Director. The day itself was enjoyable and I hope
this will help me in my university application. I’d like to thank the dynamic Mr Rule for
encouraging me to enter the competition; I think he was more pleased than I was,
given that our School was awarded a selection of learning materials because of our
high number of participants entering the competition!
Nick Gill
Footnote: Congratulations to Nick who was also awarded a Distinction in
his LAMDA Grade 7 last year. He got the Silver Medal for his solo acting
performance. Following his performance in ‘The Infant’ in February, he
has also been selected for the Festival Company as part of the National
Students’ Drama Festival.
In Focus March 2013 Page 7
WOW! A staggering total of
£1,285.80 raised by Prep
children for Children In Need.
Thank you.
The Prep held various events to
celebrate Children In Need on Friday
16th November. Children from Years
1 and 2 up to Year 6 brought in a
mountain of cakes, cookies and
biscuits to sell to friends at break
times. This raised £353.42.
The children also brought in
donations on the day and wore
something spotty, green, yellow, blue
or orange. A FUN day was enjoyed
by all.
The School purchased Children In
Need wristbands and Pudsey Bear
key rings to sell to raise additional
funds for this worthwhile cause.
These proved very popular and
another £300 was added to the
fundraising total.
Several children held various
fundraising events out of school and
brought in the proceeds to add to
the pot. Isabella Heckstall–Smith, 3B,
made over 70 felt waistcoats for the
Pudsey key rings which she sold for
20p each, raising over £14. Well
We arrived at Noctorum Field around 2pm on a Saturday late
last year. It was freezing cold and pouring with rain and, while
some of us arrived on time, others appeared less inclined to
experience Duke of Edinburgh Expedition training days in such
adverse weather conditions. We all gathered around inside the
pavilion where Mr Hill explained why we were here and what
aspects of the expedition we would be covering during training
- the dreaded weekend had begun.
Mr Hill told us that we would be being briefed on each of the
rules of a D of E Expedition and how to go about carrying it out
successfully. The areas we spent time talking about were
clothing, cooking, setting up, taking down and packing away
tents, codes of conduct, health and safety and what we had to
do before, during and after the expedition.
After the briefing, we went off to do our first activities. Pitching
our tents was going well until the hail started, then we all got
soaking wet and cold yet again. Cooking our tea wasn’t much
better either. It was pitch black, apart from the light from a dim
torch held between someone’s teeth, and our hands were
freezing. In addition, we didn’t have the greatest of ingredients
for our meal to choose from, so it wasn’t exactly one of Jamie
Oliver’s amazing 15-minute meals, although, I’m sure he could
have done much better than we did! We did manage to cope,
however, but only just!
After we had finished tea, we went back to the pavilion to work
in groups and do some team-building exercises such as a
memory game, paper towers and bridges and the plank. These
were all extremely fun because most of us weren’t very good at
them. After this we went out to our tents and slept
(surprisingly), only to be awoken by Mr Hill at some unearthly
hour of the morning. Slowly we crawled out of our tents and
began cooking our breakfast. After we had eaten, we attempted
to put our tents away. This took time because the bags seemed
to have shrunk overnight whilst the tents seemed to have
become larger. In the end we managed to get the tents packed
away and the hellish nightmare was finally over. However,
looking back from the comfort of my floral armchair, I realise
that I went there that day as a boy, but I left it as a man ready
for whatever D of E had to throw at me, whether it be another
training day, the expedition itself or even a damsel in distress!
Tom Green, Year 11
At the beginning of January Daniel Evans in Year 8 ran in the
Merseyside Cross Country Championship with his team, which
won. Daniel came 5th individually in the event. The following week,
running for the School, he finished to tie third overall in the
Merseyside Schools Cross Country League. Well done to Daniel
on his fantastic achievement at this level, where he is competing
against many runners much older than him.
It is remarkable that such a relatively large group of
BS girls play Lacrosse for Cheshire.
Congratulations to:
Victoria Wilkinson, Annabel Saverimutto, Lucy Rogers, Mil-
lie James, India Wild and Phoebe James who play in the
Cheshire U18 and U15 squads
And to Ellie Durband, Rosie Durband, Alice Gollins, Chloe
Hardisty, Sophie Hatherley, Connie Sturgess and Bella Wild
who play in the U15 squad.
done Isabella! Other children
joined in too, bringing in
their own waistcoats. Money
was coming in from all
corners of the playground!
Mrs J Waddell
In Focus March 2013 Page 8
I feel my nerves jumping about It is like I am on a roundabout I walk to the start of the race
In my head I know I will set the pace
Bang goes the starting gun Then we all begin to run
Faster and faster as the race goes on I can feel the line, I am nearly done
I hear cheering as I approach the finishing line If I don't win, I fear I will pay a deadly fine
Pain pulsating through my veins My energy dramatically begins to drain.
Explosions of relief and joy I truly am the golden boy
Now the race is past and done I can say, ‘I am Sam, the boy who won!’
Sam Cross, year 7 Well done to Sam whose poem above has been chosen by Young Writers to appear in a book - a collection of poems written by children all over the country - which come out in August. Then 12 individual finalists will be picked from the anthology and announced on the Young Writers’ website.
Last November, Year 9 went on a history trip to Manchester’s
Science and Industry Museum for the day.
Manchester was the world’s first industrial city and was famous for
its textiles and cotton trade. Cotton cannot be grown in England
and has to be kept at about 30 degrees, so it is normally grown in
countries such as India, the West Indies or the Deep South in the
United States. Goods needed to be transported as quickly as
p o s s i b l e t o
manufacture and sell
them, so when
r a i l w a y s w e r e
invented in the
nineteenth century it
was faster than using
canals.
I found the textile
d e m o n s t r a t i o n ,
which we had at
11:30, particularly
interesting as it
d e m o n s t r a t e d
a c t i v e l y h o w
dangerous and loud
the machines were
whilst showing us
how they worked. I
previously thought
that they would
throw the seeds
away along with the
parts of the cotton
that you can’t use
but I learnt that in
the ginning mill they would take the seeds out of the cotton and
then crush them to make oil which is still used in things like
shampoos. The seed could then be used to make animal feed
called ‘cattle cake’. And obviously the seeds can be planted again
for the next harvest of cotton. Before the demonstration I
understood how dangerous and loud the machines were but it still
came as a shock when they were turned on. And then we were
told that the noise would have even louder as the machines were
three times smaller than normal and in the 19th century there
would have been 50 of those machines all in one open-plan room.
I wasn’t surprised when the guide told us they used sign language
in the factories. Also the Speed Frames used to twist the slivers of
cotton to increase their strength spun incredibly fast and showed
us how easy it was for the children (who were employed for this
job as they had manual dexterity and small fingers) to get their
hands caught and amputated in the machines when sweeping in
between the flyers while they were running as the machines did
not have guards. I also found out that they were paid for how
much work they did, not for how many hours they worked.
We were told how orphans were usually employed as scavengers,
crawling on their hands and knees under the machines picking up
any waste cotton thread discarded in the process. This was
because they only had a few seconds when it was ‘safe’ to be
under the machine during the spinning process. There was a high
mortality rate and the factory owners knew orphans didn’t have
parents who would care if they died. The orphans often tried to
run away from the factories. There was a workhouse owner
nicknamed ‘Bloody’ Douglas who used to make sure they wouldn’t
run away and would tie runaways to the machine with a chain.
We were also told about the diseases that were a common
occurrence. The Blowing Room was nicknamed “The Devil’s
Room” as it got so hot and filled with cotton that you couldn’t see
anything. The cotton got everywhere in your eyes, up your nose
and in your mouth. The cotton the workers or “hands” inhaled
got into their lungs and slowly rotted causing diseases. Lung cancer
was also a common occurrence because of all the dust that built
up from the windows not being opened to provide a hot, damp
atmosphere for the cotton. Kissing shuttles were also unhealthy to
the weavers who used them as the cotton and dust would again be
inhaled many, many times as they sucked the cotton through the
hole. Also if there was blood on the shuttle and saliva it could lead
to diseases such as tuberculosis.
Although I found the textile demonstration very interesting and
informative, I also thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the visit. This
was mainly due to some of the interactive displays and the fact we
had to find the answers we needed in a sewer/basement instead of
being told about it in a classroom!
Ciara Williams 9PMW
In Focus March 2013 Page 9
Germany, 1938: The threat of the Nazis to their race is almost too
much to bear for the Jewish people, and they are desperate to give
their children any chance to escape the inevitable fate that they
are subject to. The Nazis agree that Jewish children may leave the
country to go to England, after an agreement made between the
two countries, but only if a substantial amount of money is paid,
and the children leave without their parents. These trains are
called the Kindertransport, Kinder meaning children. A small child,
Eva Schlessinger, is taken away to Manchester, and slowly strips
herself of her German and Jewish heritage, instead embracing all
that England has to offer. But when, more than forty years later,
Eva (who has by this point changed her name to the Anglicised
Evelyn) and her daughter come across the documents that reveal
her true past, Evelyn is torn... Should she undo all of her work
since having been in this country and accept that she is truly
German, or continue to run from the clutches of her past?
This is the basis of the play Kindertransport by Diane Samuels,
recently performed by Birkenhead School students. As a member
of the AS Level English group, and a keen actress, I was asked
immediately by Mrs McGoldrick if I wanted to take part, along
with Caroline Welsh and Becky Davies. This was the first time
since studying the play in English Literature that the School have
had enough girls to take part in it, as the play calls for a mainly
female cast. Throwing in Sian Round of Year 11 and Year 10’s
Eleanor Hilton, as well as Alex Karus McElvogue, the cast was
chosen and rehearsals started, flurrying past in a blur. Half term
came and with it, Sunday rehearsals. Finally, 22nd November
arrived, and the cast were all petrified. Ready or not, it was show
time...
The play would never have gone anywhere without the help of the
backstage crew; the highlights of both show nights were definitely
musical director, Luca Galvani, being “made over” by Katie Laing,
and Arran Byers trying his hand at putting make up on the cast!
Although we were worried about lines being forgotten and the
sensitivity of the subject not being addressed appropriately, it was
finally too late to care anymore, and the lights came up. Nerves
finally kicked in as the first line of the play, “What’s an abyss,
Mutti?” was uttered, and there was no going back. Making my way
on stage at last, I was shocked to see the sheer amount of people
in the audience: it looked like we had a hit!
Taking the audience on such an emotional journey can be a risk,
and there was a worry that the audience would fail to fully
understand the reasoning behind the simultaneous staging of the
play, or even the full concept of the story. Although fascinating
from a studying point of view, it was a major concern that we
would fail to portray the storyline effectively enough. However,
the play was a huge success! We did not anticipate the audience
size, or even the sheer amount of praise given afterwards. In the
words of Mr Hopkins, “the thing that struck me most was the
intimacy of the production; the audience were close enough to the
stage for the cast to really show their emotion when raising their
voices”. Even Mr Clark stepped in on the act, telling the staff that
he found the play “very moving”! Kindertransport is honestly one
of the best things I have ever decided to take part in – the small,
intimate cast meant that we all made some new, hopefully long-
lasting friends, and it is an experience that none of us will ever
forget!
Amy Naylor, L6th
The Hook of
Holland statue,
dedicated to the
Kindertransport.
Called Channel
Crossing to Life,
commemorates
the role played
by Dutch people
in helping to
save the lives of
Jewish children
fleeing Nazi
oppression.
The cast and crew of Kindertransport
Photo L to R: Adam Wells, Katie Laing, Becky Davies, Caroline Welsh, Chris Morris, Siân Round, Luca Galvani
(Composer & Musical Director), Eleanor Hilton, Amy Naylor, Bella McGoldrick, Mrs McGoldrick (Director), Alex
Karus-McElvogue.
In Focus March 2013 Page 10
Over 20 years ago Mr Lytollis, a youthful and enthusiastic Head of
Sport at Birkenhead School, had a vision that school sports need
not stop at the boundaries of conventional
school terms. No longer would pupils have to
roam the streets looking for mischief or indeed
the occasional game of ‘jumpers for goal posts’
in the park. The idea was simple: four weeks in
the middle of the summer holidays for students
between the ages of 4 and 14 to come and play
a variety of sports. Coaches were recruited
from teaching staff and former pupils and most
of those attending were pupils at the school.
Its popularity grew quickly and, unconstrained
by the current 21st century child safety ratios,
it wasn’t long before School Field was slewing
with hundreds of children from schools across
the Wirral and beyond. Indeed I was one such
pupil and remember fondly, with a certain
degree of rose tinted visual aid, those
scorching summers of the early 90s where
seemingly endless football tournaments were
only occasionally interrupted for Martin
Metcalfe performing karaoke outside the
Sports Hall or the promise of a Thursday
afternoon ‘water-fight’.
As numbers continued to grow and space
around School became scarce (after all there’s
only so many games of rounders you can have
inside the Bushell Hall before a precious
painting gets damaged) it was decided to
extend the courses to a full 7 week schedule
and offer an increasing variety of them. External staff were brought
in to provide specialist dance and drama tuition, with productions
taking place at the close of each week. The sports courses became
more specialised and students were able to book for a week to do
cricket, football, tennis, rugby or even golf. This diversification
meant that parents felt able to send all of their children to
Birkenhead School’s HAC, safe in the knowledge that there was
something for everyone. By this stage I was no longer a participant
of the courses but was working as an assistant, alongside my
brother and countless other OBs. This was something that became
common place and, even as I’m writing this, Charlotte Lytollis, a
current U6th former and formally an attendee of the HAC, is
assisting with a multi-sports week. Who knows, it might go full
circle and in a few years time she’ll be in charge of all the courses
and my kids will be running around. A shocking thought indeed.
The holiday courses have always been run with pupils’ and parents’
needs in mind and so around 7 years ago it was decided to extend
our operations to an ‘Early Morning Drop Off’ session from 8 am –
10 am and a ‘Late Pickup’ session from 4 pm - 6 pm. These were
aimed at helping our many working parents who wanted a full day
of activities for their children. Also, to reduce
the timeless burden of making children’s
packed lunches every morning, we introduced
a sit down lunch in the Dining Hall, which
provided a mixture of hot and cold food in a
bid to meet all requirements. About this time,
the courses were also extended to a 12 week
programme, which ran in every holiday period
excluding Christmas. This gave scope to
introduce new courses that were season
specific, so skiing was run at February half
term and Easter, and water sports courses
were run at the Marine Lake during the
summer. Our climbing wall also saw increasing
use and it is now a staple part of any of our
multi-sports course.
The idea of offering courses that were non-
sport specific flourished and by recruiting
more instructors and tutors from outside and
inside the School we were able to widen our
field of expertise and offer the full spectrum of
activities that the HAC now has. We currently
run over 60 courses during the year, with 17
unique activities taking place. Recent additions
to our course offering are cooking for the
Minis and Juniors and photography, film,
archery, horse riding, design & technology and
an art workshop for our Young Adventurers.
These courses are all run alongside our core
activities of multi-sports and climbing, which remain some of our
most popular courses.
So what about the future? Well Birkenhead School remains one of
the largest and most successful activity course providers in the
North West of England and our aim is to keep it that way. We are
currently looking to move our booking and payment systems
online, to reduce the burden of form filling from our parents and
we are always on the lookout for new courses that will give
students an even wider variety of opportunities and experiences.
Our philosophy has always been to employ enthusiastic and
motivated staff, whose priority is to ensure that all students,
regardless of age or ability, will have the best possible time whilst
in our care. This remains the case and I am confident that students
will be having as much fun on the courses now as I did 20 years
ago.
Rupert Rule, i/c HAC
In Focus March 2013 Page 11
Children enjoy our unique campus and
fantastic facilities.
And parents can rest assured
their children are in a
safe environment taking part in a
range of challenging and exciting
activities!
Adventurer and Explorer courses
provide a great range of activities for
boys and girls from 4 to 15 years.
Early drop-off, late pick-up Fun Club
Freshly prepared 2-course lunch
Dates:
Easter 2 - 12 April
May half-term 28 - 31 May
Summer 8 July - 23 August
October half-term 21 - 1 November
For more details,
visit the HAC website:
birkenheadschool.co.uk/
holiday-courses
In Focus March 2013 Page 12
Recently, the Year 9 Ancient Greek class had
the opportunity to take part in a very helpful
interactive workshop. One of the things we did
was to try on some Greek armour and learn
about its origins. I was able to try on the armour
and I have to say I would struggle to run around
wearing it. The set included chainmail, a chest
plate, a helmet, a shield and, of course, a sword.
An optional addition was a pike. We learnt that,
after a battle, soldiers would gather up new
equipment which was better than theirs from
the slain rather than having to pay for new
armour or weapons.
Another activity was to write our name on a
piece of papyrus in Ancient Greek. Mine just
said, ‘Matthew’. It is quite difficult to
transliterate words into Ancient Greek due to
the complexity of the alphabet and the fact that
they had letters we don’t have and we have
letters they didn’t.
The next and most popular activity was the
Tunnel Excavation, which entailed crawling
through a tunnel to find ancient Greek artefacts
such as pottery pieces and coins. Then we had
to put together all the artefacts we found like
the pieces of a puzzle. Even though I didn’t
participate because of my addiction to another
activity, I was told it was good fun.
My favourite activity was an Ancient Greek
version of Dungeons and Dragons. The object of
this game is to find a tunnel (made of card)
which allows you an escape from the labyrinth.
Most students attempted this game but
eventually gave up when they couldn’t find a way
out, whereas I was determined to succeed and
hence missed the excavation tunnel.
Unfortunately, the workshop was only two
periods long, so I didn’t have time to find my out
in the end, but it was good fun anyway.
Other activities included making your own chain
mail (which is incredibly difficult), identifying
different dates pottery was made and gluing
artefacts back together.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and interesting
workshop, which I learnt a lot from, and I think I
can also say that the rest of my class felt the
same.
Matthew Macdonald, Year 9
Year 9 Greek explored Ancient Greece in a hands-on workshop. After a short
introduction by our instructor Tony, we got down to work. There were multiple
activities to try, all interesting and all with something to teach us about Ancient
Greece - it was great fun and really well constructed.
The workshop consisted of activities including fortune telling, pottery work, Greek/
Roman weaponry and armour, writing on Papyrus and an ancient game that the
Greeks used to play.
Personally, my favourite ‘station’ was the one consisting of ancient pottery, some
genuine. I found this particular intriguing because of the amazing craftsmanship of the
pottery so long ago. There were activities based on archaeological digs, which I
thought were cleverly organised.
It was obvious many enjoyed the weaponry and armour, with swords and spears,
breast plates and helmets, shields and chainmail. We were invited to wear the
chainmail, which was heavier than expected and required help to put on. We were
also able to try on the breast plate and helmet, and wield the sword.
An ancient game was confusing and I didn’t fully comprehend it at first, but I gave it a
go. Eventually, I understood; you had to find pieces of connecting tunnel, laying them
from your starting piece until, finally, a chamber connected to the tunnel. Once you
had reached the chamber, the character you were playing had to face an adversary,
usually a demon. Then we rolled a dice in order to acquire cards on which were the
means and devices to defeat the enemy. We never did finish this game!
The fortune-telling was certainly interesting and sparked speculation about some
people’s characters! We picked four stones, or ‘runes’ and turned them over one by
one. The symbol on each corresponded to a personality trait, which was described
in the book we were given. In this area there was also space for a wooden maze
game, which was extremely difficult to solve.
Finally, we wrote on papyrus which had a strange texture and was the material that
the Greeks would have used to record
information on (or wax tablets) but it was
expensive stuff, so they tended to miss out
punctuation and write in continuous letters
to avoid wasting space.
I hope another opportunity for a workshop
arises again this year. It was a great
experience and, although we learned nothing
of Greek grammar or vocabulary, we learned
about Greek culture and civilisation, which is
arguably equally difficult and as important as
our classroom work. My thanks goes out to
everyone who organised this workshop on
behalf of the group too, especially to our
instructor Tony. I know we all had fun and
learnt something.
James Budworth, Year 9
In Focus March 2013 Page 13
Whilst on holiday in Dubai
over half-term, Marcus
Sambucci, Year 8, wasn’t
content just to spend his
days by the pool, so he
decided to try the Scuba
diving course on offer at
t h e n e a r b y P A D I
(Professional Association of
Diving Instructors) centre.
He didn’t just stick with the
basic course, however; instead over the 5 days he completed and
passed the Junior Open Water Divers’ Course.
This involved a series of five confined dives in a swimming pool,
learning how to use the aqualung properly, and three open water
dives. In addition, Marcus had to read and remember five chapters
of the PADI Divers’ Manual for the written test.. The practical
side tested Marcus’s diving techniques and he had to demonstrate
that he had learnt the survival skills he had been taught.
With his PADI certification, Marcus is now eligible to dive up to a
depth of 18 metres. He said that, at first, it felt the most
extraordinary thing to be able to breathe under water. He also
explained that it is sometimes very difficult to see underwater -
debris, wash-up, currents and weather, and even scuffing up the
sea-bed with an ill-judged flipper, can all affect visibility
underwater. Marcus admitted didn’t see much during his open sea
dives, rather he felt the prickles of sea urchins as he swam close
to the rocks to which the were clinging.
On completion of the course, Marcus was allowed to swim with
sharks, though only in a tank at a sea-life centre in the resort.
Marcus says the sharks he encountered there were harmless
varieties - black tipped, white tipped and Angel sharks. In the
same tank Marcus also saw two clown fish which, apparently, are
very rare. He says he was very surprised that they were so small
and that they are brightly coloured because their natural habitats
are coral reefs. Is this another Jacques Cousteau in the making?
We shall look forward to hearing about Marcus’s further diving
adventures in future.
Black tipped shark
Clown fish
White tipped shark
Angel shark
Marcus in the tank
Congratulation to Mr Edmunds who has been appointed by the
RFU to referee one of the U18 Daily Mail Cup Finals at
Twickenham later this month. The annual rugby tournament for
Schools finishes with a Finals Day on Saturday 23rd March.
With over 1000 teams entering the competition at the start of
the academic year, the main competition and vase competition
finals are played out in front of a crowd of just under 10 000.
This year is the first time the finals have been held on a
Saturday. Mr Edmunds said “this is the fifth time I have officiated
at Twickenham, but the first time I have refereed the U18
Schools Final. The refereeing is the easy part. In one of my
recent visits I was appointed as timekeeper. This role involved
being at the highest vantage point in the stadium operating the
large stadium clock keeping time for the game and stopping and
starting the clock on the instruction of the match referee. I
can’t tell you how difficult it is to get this right whilst relaxing
enjoying the game with a beer in your hand!”
Mr Edmunds has been on the RFU National Panel of Referees
for the last 15 years and is stepping down from this role at the
end of this season. He said “ sadly I am now the oldest referee
on the panel and it is time to let those younger than me take
over.”
In Focus March 2013 Page 14
T h e B S
team won through to the Rotary Club’s District final of the
'Youth Speaks' competition, which was held at Theatre
Clwyd on Friday 8 February, presenting Ben Appleby’s well
-written and well-argued piece about the Internet. They
did well and were placed 3rd overall. Each received
certificates and a WH Smith voucher.
Or to put it another way have we become too dependent on the
internet? And are we enslaved to technology?
[Introduction]
To put it bluntly, I believe we’ve been enslaved to technology and
have come to rely so heavily on the internet that our generation is
in danger of being brought up by computers.
Everyone is now able to get instant access to whatever they want,
which has shortened people’s attention spans so they lose the
ability to stick to a job.
Video games provide entertainment but they come with draw
backs.
People have succumbed to the evils of social networking, believing
the idle gossip on Twitter.
And the internet gnaws away at one of our most precious modern
resources, TIME.
[Argument]
Let me explain what I mean.
Life has changed a lot from a couple of decades ago. Back then you
had to go to a library and read a book and actually do a little bit
work to find something out. But now all you need to do is type into
Google what you’re looking for and, in a couple of seconds, an
answer appears that might not even be correct. Because
information is now so easy to access it has meant we don’t need to
work hard to get this information e.g. trawling through a library.
This has shortened our attention spans, so we lose our ability to
stick at a job.
The internet also allows you to copy and paste everything in an act
of mass plagiarism; however, some or all of the content may be
unverified. So you could be handing in a history homework that you
didn’t write, might not have even read and is maybe completely
incorrect. The art of research and writing down your assignment,
leads to an understanding of the topic which cutting and pasting can
never achieve.
The internet is also a prevaricator’s heaven, if you are inclined to
put off doing work or if you work from home, then what harm
could a little surfing or checking your Facebook do? For those with
weak willpower, an application has been developed to self-restrict
your browsing time. You set the clock and feel very virtuous that
you are not spending all day watching funny kitten videos on You
Tube when there is real work to be done. Apparently, it is a big hit
amongst home workers and authors who are trying to meet a
deadline.
I believe children of the next generation are already being brought
up by computer games. There is a product called the Leapster,
aimed at pre-school age, early learners and it is marketed as an
‘educational’ learning tool. But mostly children just use it for playing
games. And would you want little children to learn by pressing
buttons and not from real life experience?
I now want to talk about video games. They offer the player,
normally teenagers or kids quick and easy entertainment which
often shortens their attention span and their tempers. Trust me,
I’ve watched my 8 year old brother get extremely angry about
something which isn’t important in the slightest and it actually
worries me how angry he gets. All video games have a PEGI rating
from age 3 to 18 years and they also show if a game contains
violence, bad language or other inappropriate material. These
ratings provide guidance not about how hard a game is, but how
suitable they are for children. Most of the time people seem to
disregard the guidelines. All of the kids I know at school play
video games which are not in their age range.
When we first discussed having the internet as our topic the
subject of racism in football was all over the news. This issue was
made even more controversial by indiscreet Tweets from
premiership footballers. It seems to be a case of ‘tweet in haste
and repent at leisure’. Their off-the-cuff comments on Twitter
were given a microphone far more powerful than any television or
newspaper broadcast and because their comments were instant, it
was often their ‘tweets’ that made the news or the next day’s
newspaper headlines.
There have been other scandals where people have been wronging
accused of dreadful crimes via Twitter; it’s almost a trial by
Twitter. One such example involved Sally Bercow, the wife of the
Speaker of the House of Commons. She hinted, using her Twitter
account, that Lord McAlpine was a paedophile but this accusation
was completely unfounded. All these unwitting ‘tweeters’,
including Mrs Bercow, are now facing legal action for their
mistaken, slanderous words.
[Conclusion]
So the internet looks like it’s here to stay and it is an integral part
of most people’s daily life.
The internet is not all bad; it has brought good to many people’s
lives. It can spread news quickly, there are some jewels of
information just waiting for us to discover and if it hadn’t been for
the internet and Facebook there would have never been an Arab
spring. But on the subject of the internet stealing our time, I can
speak from bitter personal experience: even when I was trying to
write this speech, it was hard to resist the Siren song of online
games, just waiting to entice me to spend a few minutes, which can
oh so easily become a few hours of idle amusement, and is much
less [cerebrally] demanding then actually doing any work.
So my advice is to use your prize wisely, the internet is indeed a
source of boundless information. We must learn to surf safely and
pick out the true nuggets of knowledge from the endless drifts of
dross. We must value our free time and give our attention only to
those who deserve being listened to, otherwise we might risk
becoming Facebook fools or Twitter twits! Ben Appleby, Yr 9
Photo L to R: Sam Keenan - Vote of thanks, Otto
Dawes - Chair, and Ben Appleby - Speaker.
In Focus March 2013 Page 15
As a Greek-Cypriot who has never been to Greece, I believed that
a week-long classics trip to Athens and its surrounding cities
would be something I would easily relate to and have a passion
for. However, this was severely questioned after a comment made
by Mr Hopkins on one of my English Literature essays; “You old
Puritan Nathan, where’s your Mediterranean passion?” With this
in mind, we landed with a great sense of excitement at the home
of Democracy… Athens. However, our arrival included a slight
drizzle along with a chilly wind, accompanied by on-going riots in
the capital which, unfortunately, we were not allowed to
participate in, with the threat of being sent home, if we did.
Moreover, the visit to the cable car which, along with the
Acropolis, has been undergoing reconstruction since the 1970s did
not fulfil my expectations. However, the weather improved during
our visit to the Parthenon, which is still the building most closely
associated with Athens. Our visits to the Theatres of Epidaurus
and Dionysus on the second and third day were thoroughly
enjoyable and intellectually stimulating throughout, particularly
having studied plays such as ‘Oedipus Rex’ and ‘Antigone’, which
were performed there thousands of years ago. This was enhanced
further by Mr Smale, aka ‘The Knowledge Machine’, whose
information regarding Ancient Greece is unrivalled.
Other intellectual visits included the outdoor museum in Olympia,
which involved an in-depth study of the Greek Gods and the
temples that housed them. We also became heavily involved in a
200m sprint inside an ancient Olympic stadium, proposed by Mr
Smale and graced by many would-be Olympians. This was
immensely humorous for his sheer enthusiasm, as well as the
intensity of the sprint, sparking the revival of his long-term
hamstring injury three-quarters into the race and creating a
noticeable limp for the remainder of the trip.
Our final destination was Tolo and the Hotel Minoa. Despite the
hotel itself being positioned on the beach, not even I with my
ancestral history dating back to the ‘300 Spartans’ could battle
against the freezing cold sea. This was also due to our extremely
busy schedule of visiting various ancient sites particularly in Acro-
Corinth, where we studied the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian
artefacts and columns which dominated the various museums we
visited. Plus, our knowledge of the Greek Gods vastly improved
which was a crucial help, especially when taking Classics as an A-
level subject. However, many students who have not studied
Classical Civilisation at any point still participated. One example
was Aarush Sajjad, currently studying Chemistry, Biology and
Maths, who successfully duped his parents into believing that a
classics trip to Greece would enhance his future career in
medicine because it has its roots in
Ancient Greece.
Overal l , the Class ics tr ip
broadened my knowledge of both
Modern and Ancient Greece,
which has enabled me to vigorously
challenge the argument with my
fellow students - that we Greeks
single-handedly caused the downfall
of the world economy. Despite this
deluded opinion, I thoroughly
enjoyed my time in Greece and
strongly recommend this trip to all
pupils.
Nathan Demetrios, U6th
Photo right: Modern Olympian
aka Nathan Demetrios
In the ancient stadium at Olympia
The theatre at Delphi
In Focus March 2013 Page 16
We’ve reached the turning. From here on out it’s an uphill trek
over a path with a surface about as smooth and easy-going as the
moon’s. On and on it goes, higher and higher, the sheer
embankment blanketed in dusky purple heather running to the left
of us seeming steeper and steeper the further we rock and bump
along. To the right, the embankment rises up, littered with sheep
chewing slowly and gazing blankly towards our struggling Land
Rover as it drags itself over pothole after pothole.
Outside, the strangled call of frantic grouse cuts through the
steady hum of bleats and baas, the occasional low from disgruntled
cattle. Inside, within leather and chrome interior, the husky vocals
of Amy Macdonald and Paolo Nutini swell over folk guitar,
narrating our journey with Caledonian lilt. Intertwined, a Scottish
cornucopia.
Suddenly, it’s apparent we have a battle for road space on our
hands as a few brave, brainless sheep find themselves in the path of
a two-and-a-half tonne mass of black metal and glass. There’s a
standoff. The snarling car edges closer and closer in fits and starts
towards the staring stock-still sheep. Five metres. Four metres.
Three. Two. One. The sheep are away, scattered like clouds in a
hurricane. Our journey resumes. Onwards. Upwards. The roads
wind us around the hill, deeper into the grassland, moors and
forests of Kilfinan, further from civilisation, closer to our promised
haven.
Our path is blocked once more. Something bigger, darker, heavier.
A vast mass of burnt orange, long hair that omnipresent rain has
tangled into waves and knots. Magnificent, sweeping horns swerve
outwards from a head hung low, dragged down under its own
weight. A Highland bull. The sheer size of the beast stuns us into
awed silence. We’re passive now; a tin can faced with living,
breathing muscle and bone. We’re close enough to see the clouds
of steamy breath billowing from flaring nostrils, glimpse black eyes
from under a rug of shaggy auburn hair. Had we had the thought
or courage to wind down a window we would have heard the
rumbling timbres of grunts and growls echoing from deep in his
broad chest.
We wait. He watches. Minutes pass as we sit admiring him, his
majesty. Finally he turns, his huge frame carried by stocky legs to
the side of the sloped path. Here he resumes his stance, standing
strong with steady calm. As the car stumbles past, his eyes follow,
and for a fraction of a moment the glass, the metal and machinery
fall away and there is nothing separating us- man and beast, eye to
eye. We drive on.
The view on our left is changing. What was earlier an open view, a
seemingly infinite horizon of dark, hazy hills behind a scattered
patchwork of fields drenched diluted sunlight, mossy greens and
golden browns in haphazard arrangement, had now disappeared.
The ground to either side has levelled and now a forest surrounds
us, armies of trees looming above us. The path is narrowing, the
turns tightening. The remnants of the sundown have trickled away,
replaced with a navy sky blotted by dark charcoal clouds spitting
half-hearted drizzle. Looking ahead, through the trees, we can see
the first flickers of amber light that tells us we’re nearly home.
A cautious left turn and we’re off the treacherous path that
brought us this far and over a bridge that takes us into the
grounds of our new home for the next week or so. In the
gathering darkness, the car glares white light at stone walls, the
ruins of a settlement from another time, another world, throwing
shadows in every direction.
Past the silent ruins and all at once there it is, a great white house,
a country palace, looming above us. All around, nothing but
endless dark fields. Amber light pours from every window,
welcoming and warm. The car slows to a stop and everyone is out
into the frigid, silent air. We walk up to the door, ready to get
inside, get home. Suddenly our eyes are caught. Something white
and wild, flashing against the deep dark sky. An owl, a pure white
owl, sweeps across the sky. We watch it float higher and higher,
disappearing into the night. Sally Boffey, L6th
The ‘Acharrossan’ piece was selected by Liverpool
Athenaeum Literary Competition to be put forward for
their ‘Writer in Residence’ Award. 51 boys and girls
representing 14 schools across Merseyside entered. The
Competition is supported by Liverpool Post, Radio
Merseyside, Liverpool City Council and The English
Speaking Union.
Sally was presented with a beautifully framed certificate.
One Sunday in the lead up to Christmas, five unicyclists still managed
to cut quite a dash on the streets of Liverpool even when they joined
a crowd of 8,000 other Santas on the annual Liverpool Santa Dash for
charity. However, not many people were using this extraordinary
mode of transport; indeed, the vast majority of Santas were on foot.
Mr Guinness, Head of D&T, who began the BS Unicycle Club and led
the Santa group, said it was great fun weaving their way in and
amongst the crowds on the streets. For the skilled rider, unicycles
are wonderfully manoeuvrable in a small space.
In Focus March 2013 Page 17
“Well, that went pretty well didn’t it?”
The above statement from the director of the show, Adam
Wells, could well be classed as understatement of the month.
The play “The Infant” was written by Oliver Lansley and
showcased some of the best acting that Birkenhead School has to
offer, courtesy of the small, but no less incredible cast, made up
of Siân Round, Alex Karus-McElvogue, Nick Gill and Greg Young.
It is a dark comedy, about two detectives, as, in a fictional re-
imagining of Britain under a totalitarian and secret police-based
regime, a man (Greg Young) is brought in for questioning
concerning a picture found in his house which threatens to bring
down the government and to end society as they know it.
The man insists that he is innocent and that the picture was
drawn by his four-year old son (voiced by Sebastien Wilkes). His
wife (Siân Round), meanwhile, is convinced that their child could
not have drawn the picture. Who is telling the truth? What is the
truth? And does the truth even matter?
As Castigan (Alex Karus-McElvogue) and Samedi (Nick Gill)
desperately try to uncover the truth, the audience is taken on a
rip-roaring, laugh-out-loud journey, in which nothing is what it
seems.
The Infant was an exciting new venture for Birkenhead School
because it the first play that has ever been submitted by the
School for consideration buy the prestigious National Student
Drama Festival.
Overall the play was a great success, receiving positive comments
from all who came to see it. I would say it went far more than
“pretty well”, I might even go as far to say that it was one of the
best student performances that I have ever seen!
Congratulations and thanks to all involved on stage and to those
who were backstage and out of sight, including Chris Morris
(Producer and Technical Manager), Caroline Welsh (Stage
Manager), Katie Laing (Hair and Makeup Artist) and Becky Davies
(Publicity).
Rebecca Davies, L6th
It was a long and frustrating wait for the beginning of the Black
Belt sparring competition. After over a thousand or more junior
rounds, the most experienced fighters were called forward to
battle it out for the coveted title of British Tae Kwon Do
Champion. Nervousness had to be quickly conquered as Jack
Smith, a Year 10 student, was called first for a bout against a
second degree martial artist.
After an epic first round, in which no clear winner could be
determined, the fight was extended into extra time - not once,
but twice. Through flying kicks to the head and chest and
crunching punches coming from all angles, Jack finally won
through with a powerful kick to the pelvis. Already exhausted,
Jack passed through to the next round. His next fight was
similarly intense, but this time the outcome was not in doubt - a
win to Jack. With little or no time for recovery, the competitors
were being quickly whittled down and Jack soon found himself
in the semi final. Both opponents were clearly feeling the effects
of earlier bouts as legs and arms began to weigh heavy for the
battling fighters. Yet again, it was only after extra time that a
winner could be named but this time it was Jack whose arms
remained by his side, as the glove of the eventual gold winning
champion was raised.
However, Jack didn't feel too disappointed. After practising his
sport for 10 years, he was now the proud owner of a British
Championship bronze medal. Jack was further honoured this
week, when he was awarded student of the year by his
Taekwondo school. D Smith
Jack in action at the championship and with his instructor
Mr Tony Littlejohns.
In Focus March 2013 Page 18
After a year of planning and preparation, the 1st and 2nd X1 hockey
teams set off for their tour of South Africa, with a tough schedule
of 16 games (8 per team) to be played over the next two weeks.
This was the fourth time the senior Hockey
teams have toured South Africa in the last 16
years.
The squad was captained by James Knight
(circled in photo above). As the squad set off,
2nd team goalkeeper Rob Chapman (see insert
above) was already acclimatising to the altitude,
having arrived a week earlier with his parents
for a family holiday.
After enduring the tedium usual on long haul
flights and transfers, the team arrived on a
beautiful sunny day in East London, South Africa.
We were met by Craig Goodenough, our Tour
operator from Bundu Bashers Travel, who have
looked after us for the last three tours to South
Africa. After an afternoon spent shopping, we
made our way to Stirling High School, our hosts
for two nights. The following day gave us the
opportunity to practise for a few hours on their
Astro Turf, under the watchful eye of some
Stirling HS students who came out
to cast an eye over the opposition.
The afternoon was spent at the
beach learning to surf in the
Indian Ocean, sand-surfing down
the steep dunes and even a bit of
snorkelling. Whilst it was sunny
and warm on the beach, it was
winter in South Africa and the
ocean was extremely cold.
That evening saw our first
matches and, like all the teams we
would come up against, none of
the games were going to be easy.
The 1st X1 lost 2-1, with our goal
from James Knight, and the 2nd X1
drew 1-1, with the goal from Ian
Loch. Support in the stands from
the Chapman family, who were on holiday in East London, was
most welcome.
After leaving Stirling High School the following morning, we had
arranged a visit to Mpongo Private Game
Reserve. Here the boys got up close to a
Rhino which was 10 metres from the coach
blocking our route. We also spied a hippo in
the water 15 metres away and got even closer
to some 3-month old lion cubs. The
photographs, like many of the things we saw,
do not do justice to the experience!
Our next game against Cambridge High
School was played on an Astro Turf just
outside the local Township on a wet, windy
and chilly day. Our preparations for the match
did not go as we would have liked as Olly Mills
ran headlong into a gate during his pre-match
warm up (the photograph does not reveal
how stupid he felt!). Cambridge were a well-
drilled and very fit side, consisting mostly of
Township boys who really did play a fast-
paced game. The 1st X1 lost 3-0 and the 2nd
X1 drew 2-2, with goals from Josh Bramwell
and Michael Smith.
Saturday came as a
welcome break from
hockey; the team headed
off for an overnight stay
at the Kareiga Game
Reserve. This proved to
be one of the highlights of
the tour. There were
close encounters with
African wildlife during the
game drives on Saturday
afternoon and early
Sunday morning. The
superb chalet lodges also
p r o v i d e d a g o o d
opportunity to relax and
enjoy the great facilities
The squad about to set off!
Hungry Hippo
Surfing in the Indian Ocean
Hungry Hippo
Olly incognito
In Focus March 2013 Page 19
and open log fires. Looking at the tired faces next morning, some
had clearly continued ’relaxing’ into the early hours!
Sunday was a short transfer to Kingswood College in Grahamstown.
This was a School we had played on the 2009 tour and which we
feared would be one of our strongest opponents. The 1st X1 lost 3-
0 and the 2nd X1 lost 4-3 in a really close fought game, with goals
from Olly Mills (2) and Luke Weller. Team moral was a little low at
this point - we had now played six games and not managed a win.
Schoolboy hockey in South Africa is of a high standard. After our
post-match barbeque at Kingswood, we headed back to our
conference centre at Makana where even a team beer did not help
boost moral!
Next morning, we headed off to Port Elizabeth to meet up with Mr
Clark and to transfer to Woodridge College, which would be our
third visit in the last 6 years. Woodridge is a boarding school on the
outskirts of Port Elizabeth. Their hockey has improved each time
we have visited them and they now have their own Astro Turf with
outstanding views of the local mountains. Having beaten them on
our last tours, we knew there was a chance to get a win for both
teams. Sadly, this was not to be the case. The 1st X1 lost 4-3, in a
close game with 2 goals from James Knight and one from Andrew
White who, though he came off the field covered in blood, was none
the worse for it and is to be commended for his hard work and
determination to try to win the game. The 2nd X1 lost 2-1, with a
goal from Olly Mills. Oliver Gilding’s father and grandfather, who had
kindly provided sponsored shirts for the tour, were at the game to
lend support.
We were almost midway through the tour and the next day set off
for the start of our meander along the scenic Garden Route towards
Cape Town. Most of the squad had fun on a high wire zip-line
experience across a gorge near Tsitsikamma. We all watched as
“The Magnificent Seven” got kitted up for their bungee jump from the
Bloukrans Bridge, the highest bungee jump in the world at 216
metres. You have to see it to believe it! Andrew White, Josh
Bramwell, Ian Loch, Alex Davies, Oliver George, Tom Beaumont and
Bruno de Blaquière all jumped. Madness, but great fun to do,
and even better fun to watch! Our accommodation that
evening on the banks of the ocean at Tsitsikamma National
Park was stunning. A team meal, a few beers and the fact we
had not won a match yet seemed to drift from our thoughts.
The next day we headed from Tsitsikamma to Kynsna for a
sedate trip on
the Lagoon to
the Two Heads
of Kynsna, a
dangerous inlet
from the ocean.
Well, the cruise
was sedate on
the outward
journey but less
so on the
return. Andrew
White was given
control of the
boat and opened
full throttle……
what goes on on
tour stays on
tour! Following an enjoyable lunch, we headed on to the
large town of George to meet our hosts from Glenwood
House School. Glenwood is a relatively new School - it was
founded 6 years ago - but already has 600 pupils. Before our
scheduled afternoon match, we set off early for a whale
watching trip off the coast of Mossel Bay. We were rewarded
for our early rise with a close-up of some Southern Right
Whales at play just off the coast. Trying to photograph them
was not easy, as you can see! The games against Glenwood
were played at the Astro Turf of neighbouring York High
School and both teams secured their first wins of the tour.
The 1st X1 won 4-1, with goals from James Knight, Olly Mills,
Andrew White and Tom Beaumont. The 2nd X1 won 5-2 with
goals from Olly Mills, Luke Weller and three from Alex Davies
who was making an unusual appearance up front, rather than
in goal.
Following the game, we headed to Oudtshoorn for a visit to
the Cango Caves with an overnight stay at a hotel, a team
meal and a few drinks to be ready for an early morning
departure heading for Stellenbosch.
We incorporated a quick visit to an Ostrich Farm where a few
brave students rode the ostriches - not an easy thing to do!
Our drive to Stellenbosch was to play our next matches
against Bridge House School, whom we had beaten twice on
previous tours. This encounter did not go to plan because,
after arriving late, the games had to be significantly shortened.
Fortunately, even after a four-hour drive and going straight
A very wet Andrew White
‘captains’ the boat
Whale watching
In Focus March 2013 Page 20
onto the pitch at the end of it, the 1st X1 won 3-1, with goals from Jack Granby, Olly Mills and
Tom Beaumont, and the 2nd X1 drew 1-1 with a goal from Luke Weller (who damaged his
shoulder in the game). Our Sponsors from Trucape South Africa watched the games with our
team playing in their bright orange kit, displaying their business logo.
An early morning departure from Bridge House School saw the squad heading for Cape Town
on the final leg of the tour. Our first day in Cape Town gave us the opportunity to tour Green
Point Stadium, a new football stadium used for the soccer world cup in 2010 and take a trip to
Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent nearly 20 years in harsh prison conditions. The
evening was spent enjoying some good food at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.
Our Sunday morning we visited Langa Township. This was an extraordinary experience for our
students who were given a guided tour and saw first-hand the lifestyle of those living in a
township. The squad visited a house and an art studio. They were entertained and given
lunch. It was the most welcoming of places. The matches against the Township teams saw the
1st X1 draw 3-3, with goals James Knight, Alex Barria-Norton and Tom Beaumont, and the 2nd
X1 win 5-0 with two goals from Michael Smith and Luke Weller and one from Ben Hughes.
The Township side played in a new kit provided by a non-uniform day held at School earlier in
the year.
Our penultimate day was spent on a tour down to Cape Point, Boulders Beach and Hout Bay -
arguably the most scenic part of the Cape Peninsula - prior to meeting our last hosts at
Life in Langa Township
In Focus March 2013 Page 21
Edgemead High School. Both our Hockey and Rugby teams have
played against their teams on previous visits to South Africa. At
this stage of the tour, a number of players were extremely tired
and a few injuries had caught up with us. Despite working hard,
the 1st X1 lost 3-2, with goals from Olly Mills and James Knight,
and the 2nd X1 won 3-0, with goals from Luke Weller.
On our final day in Cape Town our scheduled trip up Table
Mountain was cancelled because the cable car had to be closed
due to the windy conditions. We enjoyed some last minute
shopping instead before the long journey back to School.
Despite losing more matches than we would have liked, the trip
as a great success and many thank are due to those who helped
support the tour - the Ladies Committee, Parents’ Association,
parents, local businesses and friends of the School. The
experience will live long in the memories of the boys who took
part.
D R. Edmunds, Deputy Headmaster
RESULTS 2012
4th BERESFORD
G Sudderick 25 Ave 23 pts
E Bainbridge 23
T Dodds 21
3rd BIDSTON
D Knight 31
C Way 31 Ave 25 pts
J Black 13
2nd SHREWSBURY
D Quinn 26 Ave 27 pts
A Karus-McElvogue 28
1st KINGSMEAD
J Walsh 33 Ave 28.5 pts
G. Kirkby 24
Overall average 25.5 pts
Individual winner Joe Walsh 33pts
1st XV v Langa Township
Advanced Tutorials continue for the 5th year, helping students reach their
full potential in the Sixth Form and beyond.
The Advanced Tutorial Groups are for those students who are aiming for
highly competitive universities and courses, providing advice and
information on how to make the Personal Statement in particular and
university applications in general, the best they can be.
With mock university interviews, extra projects related to chosen subjects
and relevant book lists all provided, the Advanced Tutorial Groups (or the
ATG as the ‘cool kids’ are calling it) are every dedicated pupil’s dream. The
groups are designed to enhance the students’ chances of being accepted at
top universities and on competitive courses, and so it is necessary that their
true passion for the subject comes through and that they can reach beyond
their subject’s ‘exam specs’.
There are two different groups, and each is led by two very experienced
members of staff; Arts students (with some ‘hybrids’!) are tutored by Mr
Hopkins and Mr Smale, whereas Science students are tutored by Mr Britton
and Mr Armstrong this year. Advanced Tutorial groups have a brilliant
success rate within the School, and even if pupils do not reach their
preferred university, ATG allows them to explore their passion further and
enjoy themselves whilst they’re about it!
Amy Naylor and Rebecca Davies (L6th)
In Focus March 2013 Page 22
In Focus March 2013 Page 23
Year 10’s atmospheric landscape
studies from preparatory art
work done at Thurstaston.
Students took photos and made
preliminary sketches on site
which they developed in their
lessons.
Year 10 art students also visited
Tate Liverpool’s ‘Turner, Monet
and Twombly’ exhibition to help
them get ideas about how to be
more expressive and create
mood and atmosphere in their
work.
E. Wilday
In Focus March 2013 Page 24
The Parents’ Association is continuing to work together to
organise events for Pupils, Parents and friends. Our aim is to
enhance the community of the School with social events and use
any funds raised to buy those little extras that can make a
difference.
Events held in 2012.
Discos for pupils Years 3 to Year 6.
Prep Uniform Sale held in April and at the Bazaar. These
are very well organised and parents welcome the
opportunity to buy Uniform, most of which is in excellent
condition and at much reduced prices. We are hoping to
extend the service to include good quality Senior School
Uniform and will write to Parents with details of this.
Bonfire Night.
Christmas Bazaar The Diamond Bazaar was organised in
partnership with the 20th Birkenhead Scouts on 17th
November. We were delighted to see many new &
enthusiastic helpers and hope that they will continue to
help next year. The Bazaar was well attended and was
our biggest fundraiser for 2012
Pampered Chef held a Pampered Chef cookery
demonstration in the Mac Field Pavilion in June
Peel 2 Save Vouchers These were sold across school
during March and were well received by those who
bought them. Everybody agreed that it was very easy to
recover the initial price of the card by using just one
saving sticker.
Items bought in 2012
Funds raised by the Parents’ Association are used to purchase
items across the entire school from Prep to Sixth Form and we
try hard to buy a mix of items across the curriculum.
Friday 22 March Prep Uniform Sale 3:30pm Prep Gym
Friday 26th April Drop in Coffee Morning Mac Pavilion 8:30am - 10:30am
Thursday 13th June Ladies Evening Mac Pavilion 7:30pm
Friday 4th October TBC 7:30pm
Bazaar Raffle
In 2012 we have contributed to the following items:
Baritone Sax Stand for Big Band;
3 Large Unicycles;
Green house for Prep Gardening Club
Equipment for Prep Playground (Little School)
Lego Mindstorms for DT department
TV screen for Overdale
Contribution for the Hockey Tour Shirts
We held our AGM in January were delighted to welcome some
new faces and sorry to see some of our team step down due
to other commitments.
We have already been busy planning events for the coming
months. The dates are listed below for your diary and we will
send full details out in due course.
Our next meeting is on 22 April 2013 in the Meeting Room
above Senior School Library.
We would be delighted if you could join us to share your ideas.
Alternatively you can email ([email protected]) me to
share any ideas you may have.
Denise Durband
PA Chair
Photo l to r: Clive Black, Sean Kirkby, Karl Quinn, Graham Sudderick,
Graham Edwards, Stuart Fay, Rupert Rule, Yvonne Sudderick, Jim McGrath,
Gill Bainbridge and Richard Parkinson.
Staff and parents took part recently in a golf match v
pupils for the Danny Garforth (a former BS Bursar)
trophy at Caldy Golf Club. The staff/Parents team
were the winners with best scores from R Parkinson
and G Edwards.
Results:
R Parkinson 35 Ave. 29.9 points
G Bainbridge 26
S Fay 28
G Edwards 35
K Quinn 27
G Sudderick 30
Y Sudderick 30
C Black 27
S Kirkby 30
J McGrath 31
R Rule 30
If any parent, or
even grandparent,
would like to take
p a r t i n t h i s
wonderful event,
please contact:
J McGrath at
School.
In Focus March 2013 Page 25
The 13th annual Target Two Point Zero - the Bank of England
and The Times Interest Rate Challenge - got underway, with 295
teams from across the United Kingdom competing for the
Challenge Trophy and £10,000 for their school or college.
Birkenhead School’s Target 2.0 team won their regional heats
held at EA Technology, Chester, taking them through to the
North of England final held in February, with the National Final
being held in March at the Bank of England. The U6th team,
consisting of Charles McCulloch, Nick Gill, Ashley Williams and
Tom Woollons (who stepped in for original team member,
Alastair Forster, who had fallen ill just days before the
competition) recommended an interest rate of 0.5% compared
with the Bank of England’s official rate of 0.5% set by the
Monetary Policy Committee on 8 November 2012. They also
recommended a total of £375bn of asset purchases under the
Asset Purchase Facility, compared with the £375bn agreed by the
MPC on 8 November 2012.
During the 43 regional heats, teams of four students, aged 16 to
18, analysed UK and global economic data and their possible
impact on inflation and the economic outlook for the UK - just as
the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee does each
month. The teams then decided whether current monetary
policy is appropriate or needs to be adjusted to meet the 2.0 per
cent inflation target set by the Government. In a presentation to
a panel of Bank of England judges, the team explained their
decision and then justified it through their answers to questions
from the panel. The chair of the judging panel, Neil Ashbridge,
said “I have been a judge in this competition for over 12 years,
and I can honestly say that I have been impressed by the standard
of this year’s presentations.”
BS beat Yale College, Wrexham, who were runners-up, Calday
Grange Grammar School, Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, Rydal
Penrhos School, Sale Grammar School and Wirral Grammar
School for Boys.
Unfortunately, the team lost out in the North of England Final
and did not secure one of the top three places to go forward to
the National Final. However, they learned a lot through taking
part in the competition and were a credit to the School.
R Rule, Head of Economics
The Boys’ Hockey Wirral Cup Final was held at Calday
GS. Birkenhead School’s U14 (with some members from
the U13 team) played against Calday for the cup.
The U14 hockey squad has continued where it left off last year,
comprising a group of highly dedicated, enthusiastic and
determined individuals. Competition for places on the team has
been high and, once again, everyone has shown maturity in the
selection policy. With the squad being a combination of Year 8 and
9 pupils, there is a mixture of both ability and size. They have gelled
well and progressed as a group.
For the first time in several years, they reached the Wirral Cup
Final, where they were unfortunately beaten by Calday Grange GS.
However, this entitled them to progress to the Northwest Finals.
Being grouped with two of the strongest schools in the North of
England was always going to be a challenge. Nerves got the better
of them in the first two games, narrowly losing 2-0 to Rossall and
1-0 to Altrincham Grammar. In the final game, the players
performed to the standard they had set all year and comfortably
beat Windermere 4-1. It was a fantastic experience for all involved,
and an opportunity for some boys to experience tournament
hockey for the first time.
Thanks to all parents who turned up to support, and special thanks
to Ed Thomas for umpiring.
We will be back !!!!
A Aldred, Hockey Coach
In the 45th International Chemistry Olympiad 2013, run by the
Royal Society of Chemistry, two BS students submitted papers.
Congratulations to Harry Sturgess (below left), who was awarded
Gold and Jonathan Welsh (below right), who gained Silver in the
UK Round 1 of the competition. These awards denote a very high
standard of achievement.
In Focus March 2013 Page 26
At the end of last year, Reception took part in Children in Need. We came
dressed in something spotty and in the afternoon we took part in a Scooter-
thon. In teams we had to complete 4 laps of the course on a scooter. We had
great fun taking part and raising money for such a good cause.
JQ Mayers
Kian Husseyn, Year 3, was
recently awarded the Stableford
Shield by the Post Sunlight Golf
Society.
Having had golf lessons for the
past year, Kian has been
practising hard and, during a
closely fought “chipping”
competition, was finally the
worthy winner.
As this is the final year of the
competition, Kian is delighted to
be able to keep the shield.
Mrs V Belchier
The Beyond the
Curriculum Science
g r o u p d i d a
workshop at Avalon
School recently.
They amazed the
children with the
pops and bangs and
left Avalon still
standing. No
wonder the BtC
Science group’s
f ( l ) a m e i s
spreading!
In Focus March 2013 Page 27
Steve Parry is our Head of Year 10 and is
also the School Assessment Manager. He is
undertaking a charity sea kayaking
challenge to raise money for the Royal
National Lifeboat Institute and the
Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust. Steve
and his family have lived on the Wirral for
three generations and his father, Dr Gareth
Parry, passed away in May 2012 after a 6-
year illness. During his long working career
in West Kirby, Dr Parry was also the
voluntary lifeboat doctor for Hoylake and
West Kirby crews over a 25 year period. In
2012 he was awarded the Gold Medallion
for service to the RNLI although he was not well enough
to receive this great honour in person. After losing his
father, Steve Parry decided that he wanted to undertake
a charitable challenge to raise £4000 by sea kayaking the
gruelling 30 miles from the lifeboat station in Llandudno
along the Welsh coast and ending at the Hoylake lifeboat
station on the Wirral. To make this challenge even more
impressive Steve had an operation on his back 9 years ago
and his first time in a sea kayak was in November 2012.
Diary of a Sea Kayaker
Since losing my Dad last year, I have found life pretty hard going.
The impact of losing someone that you are so close to is
something that you never get over or indeed should feel that you
have to but, to help me focus on the positive things
in life, I decided that I would set myself a challenge
to raise £2000 for the RNLI and £2000 for the
Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust. My father
supported the RNLI during his life by being the
doctor to the Hoylake and West Kirby crews and he
was also on stand-by in case there was ever a need
to have a doctor on board during any of the
emergency call outs. My father had volunteered
these services for almost 26 years and as a result he
was awarded the gold medallion for length of service
early in 2012 which is something that he was
extremely proud of. In 2006 he was diagnosed with
Myeloma and during his illness the doctors used the
skills and medical techniques that the Anthony Nolan Bone
Marrow Trust have developed: I have also been on their donor
register since my Grandmother died from Leukaemia when I was a
teenager. They are a fantastic charity and save lives every day by
matching voluntary donors with patients suffering from a wide
range of blood disorders.
In November 2012, I and Steve Guinness (Head of Design and
Technology) went to Anglesey to do a sea kayak course with
Adventure Elements. We arrived on Anglesey early in the morning
and only had a short wait before
James Stevenson from Adventure
Elements arrived in his van. His happy
demeanour calmed us both instantly
and the fun was soon to begin. We
got down to business with some
excellent background teaching from
James. Tidal information and kit details
were coming thick and fast. The boats
looked huge, 17 and a half foot to be
exact, much bigger than anything I'd
ever seen before. We loaded up the
van and headed across the island to
Moelfre on the east coast. We kitted
up and got down to the waters edge.
Within minutes we were on the
water. I was extremely glad that the
sea was so calm as it was going to
make things a lot easier for a couple
of novices on our first sea kayaking
outing. Once on the water I was amazed at how wobbly
everything felt. I was twitching like mad to keep things level and
the immensity of the challenge that I had set myself was starting to
sink in. After a quick introduction on the water from James and a
Please remember that Birkenhead School is
a DOG-FREE CAMPUS. Sometimes,
however, parents do accompany their dogs
to watch sports matches at Mac Field and
Noctorum Field over the weekend. If your
dog does enjoy coming to the odd sports
fixture, please ensure any of its deposits are
scooped up and taken away with you .
Thank you.
In Focus March 2013 Page 28
bit of forward paddling technique we were off
along the coast. I was amazed at how quickly
we settled into moving the boats around; I
think it was all down to the expert tuition of
James and not any in built skill on our part. As
we headed along the coast the lifeboat siren
sounded, I took this as a sign of approval to my
challenge to raise money for the RNLI but
there was a full launch of the lifeboat and it
sped off around to the North end of Anglesey.
I hope no one was in serious danger. We
carried on heading South East and stopping in
the bays as we went for pointers on technique
and balance. I loved it and felt at home on the
water. There is something special about
powering yourself along and that feeling of
being on the sea, looking back at the land. I felt
like I had left all my daily stresses and strains
behind, it was simply magical. As we approached lunchtime, Steve
Guinness started looking a bit grey as he was feeling a bit worse
for wear. The undulating tide had not done him any favours so we
headed back in so that he could have a bit of time to recover by
the van. James and I headed back out past the lifeboat station and
around a small island to have a play in the tide. It was very exciting
and with some waves to contend with I could see this was getting
to be very addictive. I was grinning from ear to ear although
starting to feel quite worn out. Lots of trunk rotations and
paddling was starting to show that my swimming and press ups
preparation was no match for the effort needed for kayak fitness.
As we came back into the bay at the end of a great day we were
greeted by a beautiful rainbow which Steve Guinness managed to
snap on his phone. What a way to end the day!
The next morning the planning could begin. I needed a boat, a set
of paddles and some kit. I had been given some contacts by James
from Adventure Elements and quickly managed to source a boat
on long term loan from Liz at P&H Sea Kayaks in Runcorn. They
manufacture plastic and composite boats that are truly stunning in
design and visual appearance. I was also put in touch with Lance
Mitchell who runs a family business in Chester called Mitchell
Blades. After a few emails and phone calls I met up with Lance and
he has made me a custom set of carbon fibre paddles. They are
truly exquisite in design and are as light as a feather too which will
make life a bit easier when I am out paddling. I quickly realised that
the kayaking world is a very friendly place with people bending
over backwards to help me out. After a bit of grovelling with a
company called Peak UK I have also managed
to get some discount kit to wear in the boat,
so I am good to go and will be out and about
on the water training as much as possible over
the coming months.
I have set up a web blog at:
www.charitypaddler.co.uk
I also have a Just Giving site at:
www.justgiving.com/teams/charitypaddler
If you would like to follow my progress or
would like to sponsor one of my causes, I
would be extremely grateful. It is also possible
to text a donation to one of my 2 charities if
you would like to support me on my challenge.
If you text the code:
CHPA88 £5 or CHPA88 £10
To 70070 you can donate to my RNLI target
If you text the code:
CHPA99 £5 or CHPA99 £10
To 70070 you can donate to my Anthony Nolan target
In Focus March 2013 Page 29
At the end of 2012, with some reluctance, we allowed Clive Button,
our Bursar for more than twelve years, to retire.
He joined us in 2000 from a career with British Nuclear Fuels and
bravely offered to bring his business experience to bear on the
challenges of an independent school. From the start he has
supported the Governors and guided the Headmaster to keep their
eyes on the strategic issues for the business of the School – indeed,
within weeks of his arrival, he was writing memoranda to the then
Chairman highlighting things which needed guidance from the top!
Clive has a passion for older cars – a recent issue of In Focus told of
one of his adventures in his Wolseley – and he set to work to ‘tune
the engine’ of Birkenhead School so that we kept cash flow under
control and could plan for a succession of capital projects.
In addition to seeing through a rationalisation of the School’s legal
structure, he oversaw the sale of land in the northeast corner of the
site and, amongst other things, the building of Little School, the
upgrade of the class rooms in Big School, the modernisation of the
McAllester building, the Sixth Form Centre and the pavilion at Mac
Field as well as the construction of the new classrooms of the Prep
Extension and the installation of the photovoltaic array on the
Sports Hall roof.
The Bursar has
direct responsibility
for the estate, for
catering and for the
f i n a n c e a n d
administration in
the School. Clive
has worked closely
with his lieutenants
who lead these vital
departments. A
smart and safe
campus does not
look after itself,
lunch does not
appear from nowhere and bills, bursaries and contracts certainly
need professional supervision. Clive watched over all his empire with
an engaging style and a quiet competence which we will miss.
Over time Clive ventured over the line into some quasi-academic
duties. He enjoyed running regular courses for Year 7s on useful
aspects of social etiquette and good manners; his Business Clubs for
the Lower Sixth explored business administration, executed
small commercial ventures and had contact with the ‘outside
wor l d ’ an d l a t e r
developed into the
Bursar’s Apprentice.
We are most grateful to
him for his many
contributions to the
School and particularly
for leaving the business
stable and without debt –
ready to plan for the
next phase of its
development.
Knowing that he wanted
to take up bee-keeping,
the governors presented
Clive with a new hive and
all sorts of equipment to
start him off – and await
an invitation to taste an
early bottle of honey
from the Button-bees.
Clive was keen to have
completed the hand-
over to his successor by
the end of 2012 as he
knew that his next
career was imminent.
Indeed, as with many of
his projects, the timing
was perfect and his and
D e b b i e ’ s f i r s t
grandchild, Wilfred,
arrived on 1 January to
initiate a new and
rewarding phase in their
services to the next
generation.
Andrew Sutton,
Chair of Governors
Clive’s Pride and Joy - his 75-year old Wolseley which once
belonged to Lord Nuffield. Last summer, Clive went on a
fund raising tour to help the National Trust in its fund-
raising for Nuffield Place, a recently acquired property and
once the home of Lord Nuffield.
Sports Hall roof solar panel array
Grandpa and grandson
The Headmaster straps Mr
B u t t o n i n t o h i s n e w
beekeeper’s kit.
Cub Scouts from Birkenhead, Meols and Hoylake, with
parents in tow, attended Birkenhead School recently to
work towards their Science badges. BS students from
the 6th Form Beyond the Curriculum Science Research
Group, the Solar Group and Junior Science Club helped
the cubs who have to complete 6 activities from a range
of scientific experiments. For example, they must be able
to demonstrate that hot air rises, or recover dissolved
substances from a water solution, or identify
constellations or perhaps set up and observe a wormery.
The session was great fun and it was good to see
everyone working together.
M Hayward, Head of Science
In Focus March 2013 Page 30
On a cold but dry day, the senior rugby squad gathered at McAllester
Field in anticipation of the eagerly awaited House Sevens competition.
Shrewsbury were the bookies’ favourites and began strongly with a
victory over Beresford. Kingsmead made hard work of beating Bidston,
eventually winning 34 – 14.
In the second round of matches Shrewsbury made short work of
Bidston, winning 47 – 0, and Kingsmead also beat Beresford.
So Beresford and Bidston played off for third place and in a very
competitive match Bidston beat Beresford, who struggled, having lost
their paceman Alex Watkins early on in the competition.
The final brought together the two unbeaten teams but Shrewsbury
were just too strong for Kingsmead and took the trophy with an
impressive victory.
Many thanks to Mr Rule and Mr Hayward for their sterling efforts with
the whistle and to the small crowd that turned up to watch.
D Hendry, i/c 1st XV
In Focus March 2013 Page 31
On 5 February, our U10 and U11 athletic teams made their way to
Robin Park in Wigan. It seemed a long journey but we finally
arrived ready to race and try to win some medals. There were
approximately 30 schools there that we would be competing
against.
Our events started off with Block One, the U10 girls’ field events
and the U11 boys’ track events. The field events were made up of:
the balance, vertical jump, speed bounce, long jump, triple jump,
javelin and chest push. The track events consisted of one- lap and
three-lap races. Shortly following these events, we moved onto
Block Two, the U10 boys’ field events and the U11 girls’ track
events.
The results from the first block were then announced, and we won
two medals. Matthew Diaz-Rainey won the U10 boys’ speed
bounce, breaking the record from last year, and Jaime Stanton
gained third place in the U11 girls’ one-lap.
We still had two more blocks to go, with the opportunity to win
more medals, but we couldn’t have done it without having our
lunch first. After this energy boost, we carried on with Block
Three, the U10 girls’ track events and the U11 boys’ field events.
Following on from these events, we moved smoothly onto the final
block, the U10 boys’ track events and the U11 girls’ field events.
To finish the day’s athletic activities, there were the U10 and U11
boys’ and girls’ obstacle relays and the parlauf race.
Our day was now almost over but we still had to keep our
heads up and remain focused because the results for the
afternoon were yet to be announced and we were full of
anticipation and excitement.
In the U10 girls’ track events, Abi Saverimutto was first and
broke the record in the one-lap race and Emmelline Barry
came third in the three-lap race. Unfortunately, the U10 boys
didn’t win any individual medals in the track events but, with a
display of great determination, managed to take 3rd place in
the obstacle relay. The successful members of the team were
Matthew Diaz-Rainey, Luca Infante, Samarth Kumar and Timur
Alcock. In the U11 girls’ field events, we gathered two more
medals. Molly Rogerson-Bevan took third place in the soft
javelin and Jaime Stanton came first, breaking last year’s record,
in the chest push. Just as successful as the girls, the U11 boys
won two medals in their field events. Adam Dutton came third
in the chest push and Miles Morton came first in the vertical
jump,, breaking last year’s record.
All in all we had a fantastic day. We had four first places, all
gaining records in the process, and came home with nine
medals overall. A very well done to everyone who took part.
We had an amazing day and on behalf of the athletics team, I
would like to thank Mr Corran for making this event possible
and also Mr Stockdale for helping us get there and supporting
us. Jaime Stanton, 6H
Birkenhead School thanks all those involved on the committees and in the
organisation of the former School Bus Clubs for their dedication and hard
work. For many, many years they were responsible for organising the
transport of children from all areas of Wirral to both Birkenhead School and
Birkenhead High School. Since the latter became an Academy and alternative
transport arranged, the Bus Clubs have been wound up. The Bus Club
Committee decided to donate half of the Bus Club’s operational funds (over
£7,500) to the School to help with its transport costs. This will be a
tremendous boost when BS needs to purchase a new minibus and the School
is most grateful.
In Focus March 2013 Page 32
After a very good season, with the only disappointment being the
number of games cancelled due to the weather, the 1st XV approached
their Cheshire Cup semi-final with real confidence but also respect for
the opposition, Lymm, last year’s runners-up.
We kicked off on a beautiful sunny day but after a brisk start Lymm
scored under the posts. After this, we put our heads down and took
control of the game and the ball, and after 20 minutes we were 17 – 7
up, with tries from Walker, Crosby, and Maddox. Then came a period of
heroic defence, as Lymm pounded away on our try line, until the referee
blew his whistle for half-time.
A low scoring second half, dominated by defence, saw Lymm score wide
out, to take a 19 – 17 lead. A penalty by Crosby put us back in front 20
– 19, with only 13 minutes left.
Lymm had looked dangerous every time their backs got the ball and they
could quickly turn defence into attack. It was after some fine handling
that they scored another try to take a 24 – 20 lead.
However, the School picked themselves up and attacked from their own
tryline. Two minutes later, with full-time nearly up, Patrick Cannon wriggled over the tryline at the bottom of a ruck, 25 – 24… BUT
… the referee could not see the grounding and the ‘try’ was not allowed! Then followed the final whistle.
Both teams had given everything and contributed to a fantastic game of rugby. We wish Lymm well in the final and now we move on to
the Sevens season, a report of which will appear in the next In Focus. D Hendry, i/c 1st XV rugby
On Friday and Saturday, 1 and 2 March, competitors from BPS took part in
the Wirral Festival of Music, Speech and Drama.
Competitions everyone took part in were: Sight reading, Prose reading,
Character study, and Poem and Bible reading. The adjudicators all had
different views on how the set pieces should be performed.
Everyone tried their hardest and some won trophies, including: Harrison
Brodbelt in Year 2 for his Prose reading and Poetry reading; Shannon High
for Year 4 Bible reading; Ted Ford, Year 5 Bible reading; Grace Harvey, Year
5 Prose reading; and Shuban Kumar for Year 4 Prose reading.
We would like to thank our drama teacher, Mrs Gwynn, for all the teaching
and support she gave us and we would also like to thank all the competitors
for taking part.
We think that the whole competition was a great success.
Grace Harvey and Jessica Brodbelt, Yr 5
Photo above:
Back Row L to R: Adam Aly 4R, Emmeline
Barry 5B, Grace Harvey 5C, Jessica Brodbelt
5C, Edward Ford 5C
2nd row from back L to R: Shannon High 4C,
Shuban Kumar 4W, Aoife Moore 4C, Freya
Hannan-Mills 4C, Cerys Evans 5B
3rd row from back L to R: Eoin Moore 2A, Na-
thaniel Ford 2A, Ethan Brown 2H, Oliver
Brennan 3B, Suzy Aly 3B
Front row L to R: Jacob Williams 2M, Hayden
Collins 2A, Luca Dawson 2M, Harrison Brod-
belt 2H
Top Related