Foster,2 in a row Page 4 - Old Swinford Hospital

Page 2 - £1250 Raised Page 3 - Foster, 2 in a row Page 4 - Cup Winners
O LDSWINFORD
HOSPITAL
NEWS
J UNE 2008
25
TH
4 out of the 5 Witley Housemasters, Richard Maclean,
Andrew Rigby, Peter Morris, Simon Wilson
ANNIVERSARY
PARTY
FOR
WITLEY
HOUSE
Nearly 200 past and present pupils and staff enjoyed a truly historic evening
in April to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Witley House.
Amongst the guests were Maurice Evans (President of the Old Foleyan
Association), Headmaster Peter Jones, formerly a tutor in Witley for 13 years;
4 of the 5 Housemasters who have served Witley since 1983: Matrons Liz
Evans and Linda Smith: current Head Boy of the school and 6 of the last 8
Heads of House; and a host of Old Boys spanning all years since 1983.
Guest of honour David Dewar painted a humorous, but informative
picture of life in Witley as House Tutor from 1983 to 2007 before he retired
as Head of History.
After-dinner entertainment was provided by Marguerite Maclean and Sonya
Ishtiaq; Ian Kemp and his band playing a Hendrix tribute; and the
Inter-House dance troop performing a Michael Jackson dance routine.
Throughout the evening, current pupils and guests enjoyed the
opportunity to catch up and reminisce about their time in Witley House.
The function was a great success and special thanks must go to Matron
Linda Smith.
ACHIEVEMENTS
RECOGNISED
AND CELEBRATED
Ken Hames presenting Matthew Bradley with the
Evans Cricket Cup
The achievements of students were
recognised at Old Swinford’s 2008
Prizegiving Ceremony in June. Cups,
trophies and prizes were presented by
guest of honour and parent Ken Hames,
better known as a TV presenter, expedition
leader and a real life action man.
Drawing on his impressive military
career from Sandhurst to the SAS, Ken
gave an inspiring speech on motivation,
leadership and teamwork.
Peter Jones gave his report as
Headmaster following a successful and
eventful first year in the role. Guests
were then given an insight into student
school life by excellent speeches from
Aran Humphries, Nina Best and
Christopher Penny.

The latest News from
£1250 for raised
for African School
L to R standing: Ben Kynaston, Izzy Butler,
Will Taylor, Tom Simm. Centre: Hans Laud-
Anderson Front: Amelia Villiers-Stuart
School
Production
raises £260
for St John’s
A two night performance by
students of “Our Country’s Good”
by British playwright Timberlake
Wertenbaker raised £260 for St
John’s School, Nandere, Uganda.
The play tells the story of a group
of convicts and Royal Marines,
sent to Australia in the late 1700s
as part of the first penal colony.
It follows attempts by one of the
officers to put on the Restoration
Comedy “The Recruiting Officer”
with a cast of convicts and
explores the class system in the
convict camp and issues such as
punishment, love, the judiciary
system and the idea that ‘art’ can
act as an ennobling force.
Students aged between 13 and
18 took part, taking on a gruelling
series of rehearsals under the auspices
of James Knapp, Actor in
Residence, a seasoned performer
himself. “I was exceptionally
proud of my cast’s dedication,
enthusiasm and work ethic. They
showed great maturity in dealing
with some very challenging
material and their performances
were of an extremely high
quality” said Mr Knapp.
‘Africa Day’ at OSH raised over £1250 for Ugandan
school, St John’s Nandere.
Everyone entered into the spirit of the occasion.
For a small donation, students and staff replaced
their suits and uniforms to wear the Ugandan
colours of red, yellow and black. During lunch
break, Y10 students offered a car wash service and
a cake stall, both of which proved popular and
lucrative. Catering staff prepared a typical African
meal of maize and beans for students to try.
James Parker, Subject Leader for Geography and
the Schools’ co-ordinator with St John’s said “this
money is desperately needed by the Ugandan
school. It will help fund new dormitories and
assist with the completion of the library. A group
of ten students from Old Swinford will be working
at St John’s during a two week period in the
Summer to start the refurbishment programme”.
Students ‘Compose’ Themselves!
OSH Music Students had the privilege of being taught by
some of the region’s finest musicians during a series of
workshops and concerts by the CBSO ‘Leo’ String
Quartet, whose members are drawn from The City of
Birmingham Chamber Orchestra.
During the composing workshop, students had the
unique experience of having their own compositions
played by the professional musicians on violin, cello and
viola. At the end of their visit, a concert in the Great Hall by the CBSO ‘Leo’ String Quartet was
enjoyed by school students, parents and staff. Director of Music Tony Bridgewater said “We have a
very talented group of GCSE and A level music students at Old Swinford Hospital and the opportunity
to work with the CBSO 'Leo' String Quartet challenged them to create music for the finest
professional musicians and hear it played to the highest possible standard.”
NEWS IN
BRIEF
Brenda
Lamb,
Cleaning
Supervisor,
hangs up
her mop
and apron
after 21
years at
OSH.
Anthony Aderogba (Maybury) and David
Ball, Mathematics Subject Leader
Car Wash with Adam Bracey, Henry
Goodman, Ollie Swift, Elliot Hobbs
INSTRUMENTALISTS’ COMPETITION
Joint winners for 2008 were Frances
Bridgewater & Tom Simm who both gave a
vocal recital. The competition is intended to
give OSH’s most experienced and skilled
musicians an opportunity to demonstrate
their solo performing skills. L to R: Dr Mike
Smith, Frances Bridgewater and Tom Simm

Old Swinford Hospital
OSH takes over Town Hall
The popularity of music at OSH resulted in the need
to move to a larger venue for the Spring Concert featuring
all the largest ensembles. In May, Stourbridge
Town Hall was packed to capacity to enjoy a
culmination of a year’s work for the school’s music
ensembles - Concert Band, Symphony Orchestra,
Chamber Orchestra, Swingband, Choir and Chamber
Choir. The extensive repertoire included scores from
films and musicals, as well as classical and jazz.
Students Lay Down the Law!
OSH was invited to nominate two students to attend
an Open Day at the Faculty of Law, Oxford
University, to find out what life would be like as an
undergraduate. Edward Radford and Natalie Bate
who both gained 10 A* grades at GCSE, are keen to
go to Oxford and hopeful of completing degrees in
Classics and French, followed by a law conversion
course. After enjoying lunch at Wadham College,
Edward and Natalie were exposed to the pressures
of a mock interview!
2nd year in a row for Foster
All six houses took part in the
House Music Competition and
under the leadership of a House
Music Captain, put together a
programme including voices
and instruments, solos and
ensembles, lasting no longer
than 20 minutes.
Judges Louise Jones and Ian
Chamberlain, senior members of
the Dudley Performing Arts team
were very enthusiastic about the
high standard of achievement in
this extremely successful event.
First prize of a silver cup went to
Foster House for the second
year in a row. Individual prizes
were awarded to Aron Jurisson
(Foster), Edward Beech
(Dudley), Stephen Swindells
(Maybury), Sam Hollick (Foley),
Ben Kynaston (Baxter) and
Dominic Bright (Witley).
L to R: Harry Jennings (Propect/Foster),
Frances Bridgewater (Harris/Foster)
Congratulations to all who took
part in the competition. The
standard was even higher than
last year, thanks both to the skill
and hard work of the Team
Captains and also to the practice
and preparation of the
performers.
Annual Art exhibition
This year’s Annual Art Exhibition was held across the school campus and once again
broke new boundaries. Sixth form art groups curated the exhibition which had
different themes in each location - ‘Light’ in
the Eric Moody Room, ‘CSI’ (Crime Scene
Investigation) in the great hall, ‘Country
House’ in the library and ‘Summer Party’ in
the Base Lounge. Artwork was shown by
Upper and Lower Sixth A level students and
year 11 GCSE pupils. The exhibition was a
resounding success and the quality and
range of work was staggering.
Will Biddell’s A level ‘CSI’ exam piece, starring Jamie
Isles, curated by Georgia Thomas-Locke.
A group of Y10 students took part in an "Oxford
Aspiration" visit to Jesus College, Oxford. The trip was
designed to raise awareness of OSH students and other
local schools about the country’s oldest university.
Picture Shows: Howard Coase, Harry Radford, Tim Joyce,
Ross Williamson, Gavin Tse and Ben Bridgewater.
Picture Shows: Director of Business and
Enterprise David Butler with Stourbridge
Primary School pupils Joe Smith, Jack Sykes,
Megan Schlanker, Sam Thomas and
Emma Griffin who attend Gifted and Talented
Maths classes at OSH and were placed in the
top 0.5% of pupils in the Primary Mathematics
Challenge.
Mr Andrew Hannah, accompanied
by 12 politics
students, spent a busy day at
the Palace of West minster,
discussing a range of diverse
topics with Stourbridge MP
Lynda Waltho and observing
a Commons debate
featuring Secretary of State
for Health, Alan Johnson.

The latest News from Old Swinford Hospital
BAXTER DO IT
AGAIN……
GO GREEN!
Shooting Stars
Y10 100m – Thomas Holland (Foster)
Joint team Captains Jonathan Higgins (Foster) and
Louis Stelling (Baxter) accepting the Relay Team
Cup from Mrs Christine Jones
Baxter House Relay Team, John Mockett, Kyle
Huggins, Harry Harness, Max Stelling
Another year and another impressive victory
for Baxter! The House also carried away the
victor ludorum trophies with Louis Stelling
winning the Senior (held jointly with Kat
Harris of Witley), James Hill the Intermediate,
and Esse Attah the Junior trophy. Even the
prestigious Senior 1500m cup went their way
thanks to the incredible stamina of Adam Nixon.
A brief downpour failed to douse the
enthusiasm of the competitors. Matthew Aihie
(Foster) pushed the year 9 Long Jump record
up to 5m 52cm while Anthony Aderogba
(Maybury) set a new record of 12m 40cm in
the Shot Putt. In the girls competition only
Lauren Brain (Dudley) could challenge the
superb athleticism of Kat Harris, with victories
in the 800m, Long Jump and part of the
Dudley 4x100m relay team. Simon Bill’s
(Prospect/Foley) awesome victory in the Year
7 100m showed that the school’s athletics
future is in very safe hands.
Finally, after an exciting and successful
afternoon, the prizes were presented by the
Headmaster and Mrs Christine Jones, Old
Foleyans and ex-members of staff.
L to R: Baxter Housemaster Andrew
Hannah, Director of Estates & Facilities Phil
Coyle, Headmaster Peter Jones and students
Liam Brown, Dominic Luxton, Howard
Coarse, Matthew Priddy, Tom Blakeway
A tree planting ceremony, litter pick,
themed assembly and online questionnaire
were just some of the activities
organised by the Environmental Action
Group on ‘World Environment Day’ to
encourage environmental awareness.
U14 Rugby Team win the cup!
OSH’s U14 Rugby team lifted the 2008
Midlands Rugby State Cup at the Leicester
Tigers’ Welford Road ground in March.
They defeated Lady Manners School,
Bakewell 39-19 in an exciting and tense
final.
The triumphant under-14 team fought their
way through the tournament of 88 teams
from all over the Midlands to win the
trophy for the first time.
A hat-trick of tries from Matthew Aihie set
the tone for an impressive victory, with
Max Stelling, Ese Attah and Dev Surae
scoring one try apiece.
Lady Manners took an early lead, with a
converted try in the fourth minute but
OSH replied instantly with the first of
Matthew Aihie’s three tries, to make it 7-5
after 8 minutes of play.
The second half saw a resurgent Lady
Manners, but OSH forced a lineout
The Highs and Lows!
Old Swinford Hospital has worked with South
Dudley Sports Partnership to secure £15,000
from ‘The Big Lottery’ to promote climbing in
schools. Students from local primary and secondary
schools in Stourbridge and Halesowen
were invited to test out the new indoor
climbing wall at OSH earlier in the year.
Students benefit from climbing activities in
many ways. It is a good team building exercise,
helping to increase confidence and
Jeremy Dalton, Tom Baldi-Turner, Jonathan
Cowell, Julie Comerford (Webley & Scott)
Seated: Josh Burke, Chris Mason
OSH shooting team collected their
prize of a Webley & Scott 900 12
bore shotgun worth £700 after
winning the senior category of the
2008 Schools’ Challenge.
In a close competition, their winning
score of 210 was enough to
place them first, above Wellington
College and Bradfield College.
from which Surae drove over for a forward
try, with Stelling converting. From the
kick-off, OSH launched another attack from
their own half in which Aihie outpaced his
opposite number to take the score to 27-14.
Aihie’s third try sealed the win, despite a
Lady Manners score near the end.
Player of the match was awarded to Old
Swinford Hospital’s Will Harris.
Old Swinford Hospital U14 Rugby team lifting
the Midlands U14 Rugby State Schools Cup
morale. It can lead to a lifestyle activity in
later life and appeals to students who are disengaged
or disaffected by traditional sports.
Climbing also scores highly in the GCSE
Physical Education syllabus and by offering it
from Y5 enables students to gain the necessary
skills before embarking on their GCSEs.
Additional funds were raised by OSH to support
the initiative. A motivational event took
place featuring guest speaker Steve Venables,
the first Briton to ascend to the summit of
Everest without supplementary oxygen.
On Wall (front to back):Owen Williams (Pedmore Cof E), Francesca Thomas (Hagley RC), Lauren Rhodes (Amblecote)
On Floor (left to right): Liam Willets (Peters Hill), Leo Thompson (Hagley RC), Leon Davies (Greenfield), Caroline
Tarnowski (Windsor High School), Rebecca Link (Oldswinford C of E), Elena Romano (St James C of E)
OLD SWINFORD HOSPITAL, HEATH LANE, STOURBRIDGE DY8 1QX TELEPHONE : 01384 817300 FACSIMILE : 01384 441686 e-mail : reception@oshsch.com website : www.oshsch.com