NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2014
Friend's of King's in America
Dear friends
School has just
returned from the
new-style twoweek half term
break refreshed
and looking
forward to the
excitement that
lies ahead in the
second half of the
Michaelmas Term.
We had three expeditions heading
off during the holidays. The girls'
netball and hockey tour of Jamaica
was a great success. The girls won
six of their seven netball games and
all three of their hockey matches.
A group of 28 pupils and adults
visited the French and Belgian WWI
battlefields, with a focus on the 82
OAs who had lost their lives in that
war. Further details of the trip are in
this newsletter. A team of pupils went
to Morocco to climb Mt Toubkal, at
13,671ft the highest mountain in North
Africa. They managed to get to the
top, and then repaired to Marrakesh
to recover from their ordeal and to
indulge in three days of shopping.
A large number of pupils have
achieved extraordinary successes in
a range of fields so far this term. Josh
Stickland won a prize in a history
essay competition run by St Hughes
College, Oxford for his essay on the
Russian revolution. Josh was also
invested as a Lord Lieutenant's Cadet
last Sunday at a ceremony in Wells.
Cathy Vicarage won the Phoebe
Rees 'Best Female in a Cameo Role'
prize at the Somerset Fellowship of
Drama awards, held in Ilminster in
October.
The Royal Marines Pringle Trophy
team managed a very creditable
fourth place out of 18 schools in the
annual competition at Lympstone.
Led by Cadet Matthew Duncan, the
team maintained the high standards
the King's boys have set over the
past few years.
James Crocker, Oliver Rees
and Bradley Matthews received
Design and Technology Arkwright
Scholarships at a ceremony in the
Mermaid Conference Centre in
Blackfriars, London in recognition
of their achievements and potential
as future engineers. They are being
sponsored, respectively, by the
Nuclear Institute, Douglas Bomford
(a leading agricultural engineering
trust) and Atkins (one of the world's
top design, engineering and project
management consultancies).
The girls' U18 seven-a-side football
team successfully defended their title
at the national ISFA championships
held at Charterhouse. We can now
reasonably claim to be the top
independent school in the country for
girls' football as we hold both the 7-
and the 11-a-side titles. Three pupils
attended the ISFA National squad
training camp recently and Beth
Barzotelli has been selected for the
South West team and goes forward
for selection for the national U15
squad. In hockey, Tom Pittman and
Rajpal Matharu have gone forward
for England U16 selection.
Ever since I have been Headmaster
we have been considering a trip to
the US to visit our King's community.
I hope that in May 2016 we will finally
put the plans in place to visit New
York, Washington and LA. If you can
help to host a reunion or advise us
on travel and places to stay, please
contact Leisa Lavender. You are also
always welcome to visit us at King's
at any time.
Richard Biggs
Headmaster