Annual Dinner

The 112th Annual Dinner was held on 22 November and presided over by out-going President, David Hankin (Spurgeon’s, 1971-78). It was attended by 150 guests. This year, prefects gave guests a guided tour of the new Edward Alleyn Building and all its facilities.

Club President, David Hankin, said: 'if you could bottle the atmosphere of friendship, camaraderie, nostalgia, good humour and sheer fellow feeling in this room this evening, you have a pretty heady mix.... It doesn't matter whether you're approaching 80 or whether you've just turned 18, because everyone has that shared experience of the School as a starting point and as proof of that, I could cite many friendships with old boys and girls of many different generations in the room tonight.'

School Headmaster, Dr Colin Diggory, concluded his speech by saying ‘...the Edward Alleyn Club gets my commendation for another year of unfailing support and encouragement for the School that we all love. My warmest thanks to you all for your continuing and unconditional support throughout the year… To use a well worn phrase but one that I truly believe - "it is a pleasure and an honour" to be Head of this great School, and it is a huge pleasure and a very great honour to be associated with such a wonderful body of former pupils - thank you.'

David handed over the medal of office to in-coming President, Nancy Carroll (Brading’s, 1985-92). The School’s honorary archivist, Neil French (Cribb’s, 1954-61), becomes Deputy President.

David Hankin, Ajay Kakkar, Nancy Carroll	Guests in the foyer to the new Edward Alleyn Building

To see more pictures of the Annual Dinner, click here

Hollywood star a secret war-time agent

Recent research in Spain reveals that Leslie Howard (Tulley’s, 1907-10), best known for his role as Ashley Wilkes in 'Gone with the Wind', was a secret agent in the Second World War.

Howard died in mysterious circumstances in 1943 when the plane he was travelling in was intercepted off Spain by German fighters and went down in the Atlantic, killing all on board. Spanish author, José Rey-Ximena, claims that Howard was on a clandestine mission for Winston Churchill, who wanted to get a secret message to General Franco. This supposed message conveyed by Howard could have been just one of Britain’s attempts to keep Franco from joining the war-time Axis alliance.

Never a scholar at Alleyn's (Howard was bottom of his class of 26 boys when he left), Howard became a junior clerk in the purser’s office on a steamboat on leaving Alleyn’s in 1910. There is no indication in his school reports of his acting (or even diplomatic) future which lay ahead.

Julian Glover in 'Oliver!'

Last year’s Club President, Julian Glover (Roper’s, 1949-52), will be appearing as the kindly Mr Brownlow in Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Lionel Bart’s 'Oliver!' It opens on 12 December and plays at the London Palladium.

Police Commander at show on horseback

Jonathan Kaye QPM (Tulley’s, 1968-74) has been promoted to become Her Majesty's Assistant Inspector of Constabulary. He is currently engaged in a nationwide review of public order and emergency preparedness. Jonathan was also invited [in his words] ‘as the Met's oldest (and grumpiest) commander’ to join the City's chief officers at this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show’. The picture shows him at the Mansion House where the new Lord Mayor of London took the salute. He is riding ‘a lovely horse called Barnaby’. For this parade, the Queen’s Birthday and other formal parades, Jonathan has to wear ‘a very old (ill-fitting) uniform that [is] sort of Sharpe's Rifles in dark blue (it's over 100 years old like its wearer, and the original owner had a significant waist measurement!).’ The Lord Mayor’s Parade began smoothly but ‘just as we arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice the heavens opened.’ Worse was to follow: ‘as we lined up for the return trip, [the rain] was stair rods!’

New vaccine to treat rheumatoid arthritis

Professor John Isaacs (Brading’s, 1970-76) has been in the national news lately with details of a medical trial he is leading. His team have developed a new vaccine, which uses patients' own blood cells, and which they hope will suppress the effects of rheumatoid arthritis. There are more than 350,000 people in the UK with rheumatoid arthritis, a condition in which the body's immune system attacks the joints, unlike osteoarthritis, which is more akin to the wear and tear of the joints.

John is the Professor of Clinical Rheumatology at Newcastle University, Director of the Musculoskeletal Research Group and a consultant rheumatologist at the Freeman Hospital. He says that the work, a 'first-into-man' study, is ‘hugely exciting’ and, if successful, could signal a major breakthrough in treating rheumatoid arthritis. John explained that, ‘the treatment exploits the concept of therapeutic immune tolerance – in which drugs and other treatments are designed to switch off the malfunctioning immune system. This is in contrast to conventional immunosuppressive drugs, which work by dampening down the unwanted immune response'.

If you are a contemporary of John’s and are in the north-east, John would be very happy to hear from you – contact me for details.

Two Saddlers’ Scholars help UK’s growth businesses

Knowledge Peers, a new web-based service for people who run growth businesses, was launched with the help of two Alleyn’s Old Boys and Saddlers’ Scholars, Frank Joshi (Dutton’s, 1974-81) and Michael Ekaette (Tyson’s, 1974-81).

Knowledge Peers offers guidance to people who run growth businesses in the UK, via a members-only website. It focuses on the critical practical issues related to running a business, such as financing, selling, managing people and performance. Members gain access to a comprehensive research programme, the expertise of their peer group and a network of over 100 respected experts in a wide range of fields.

The service was launched to meet the needs of businesses and not-for-profit organisations that are facing times of rapid change.

Frank Joshi is a successful businessman and investor in the technology sector whose company, Mvine, has built the software platform underpinning Knowledge Peers.

Michael Ekaette, an independent equity analyst and private investor, is Director of Knowledge Peers’ Corporate Finance research programme.

For more information about Knowledge Peers, including details of how to become a member, visit http://www.knowledgepeers.com

Lotus Elise racing

Peter Trott (Dutton’s, 1975-82)  has been racing in the Lotus Elise Trophy Series. His first race was in November at Brands Hatch, where he was competing against such drivers as Martin Donelly, who is an ex- Formula 1 Grand Prix driver. Unfortunately, on the day Peter's car suffered an electrical failure during the qualifying session. Many of the races support events such as the A1GP, Britcar and Touring Cars, and are shown on Motors TV, Sky channel 413.
 

'Billy Elliot' opens on Broadway

Peter Darling (left Alleyn’s in 1982), choreographer behind the film and the West End production of 'Billy Elliot', has just seen the show open to rave reviews on Broadway. The New York Times credits 'Peter Darling's inspired scene-melding choreography as giving a new spin to the idea of the integrated musical.' It went on: 'Mr Darling's surreal blending of Mrs Wilkinson's dance class with a clash between miners and police is one of the freshest, most exciting uses of narrative dance I've seen in years. And until the finale he rations his big, knock-em-dead sequences. "Billy Elliot", you see, isn't a dance show; it's about why people need dance.' For the West End production of 'Billy Elliot', Peter won the best choreographer Laurence Olivier Award, Critics Circle Award, and a Whatsonstage.com award.

World Champion Schools Debating Team trained by alumna

In September England’s Schools Debate Team was coached to victory at the World Schools Debating Championships by former Alleyn’s pupil, Debbie Newman (Dutton’s, 1990-95).

Debbie has been a debater since school, where she reached the final of the world schools debating championships for England. At university she went on to become the President of the Cambridge Union, and was the England & Wales National Debating Champion. After graduation, Debbie went to work for the English-Speaking Union where she became the Head of the Centre for Speech and Debate. She is also a qualified teacher and education consultant. She has taught and judged debates around the globe.

Dr Colin Niven judges award for Children’s Literature in Translation

Former Headmaster, Dr Colin Niven (1992-2002), is on the judging panel for The Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation, 2009. The award is administered by the English-Speaking Union and sponsored by the Marsh Christian Trust.

Anthony Horowitz will present the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation 2009, at a ceremony at the English-Speaking Union, on 20 January 2009. The award of £2,000 will go to the winning translator.

The Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation was designed to spotlight the high quality and diversity of translated fiction for young readers and is presented biennially.

The judging panel was excited by the high quality of submissions and, after animated discussion, has selected six excellent stories, all beautifully told. Borders UK has agreed to work with publishers to promote the shortlist throughout all their stores in January 2009.

Four alumnae trustees of Trust in Children

During this academic year, Spurgeon’s House is raising money for Trust in Children (TiC), which enables deprived children to access education and non-academic skills by giving grants and running their own projects in the UK and abroad.

In 2004, responsibility for the charity was handed to a new board of energetic trustees which today includes Alleyn’s alumnae: Helen Borg (Roper’s, 1993-98), Leonora Borg (Roper’s, 1994-96), Siân Horgan, née Dockray, (Spurgeon’s, 1996-98) and Kim Walker, née Waite, (Cribb’s, 1991-98).

TiC grants are given to worthy projects (usually smaller causes that most organisations overlook). If a need is found that no other charity is filling, TiC instigates and manages its own project. It currently funds projects in the UK, Bosnia, Peru, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.

TiC is unique in encouraging supporters to get actively involved in the development and spending of the charity with a scheme entitled Pick Up a Piece.

For more information, please contact TiC

Teaching English in Japan

Marisa Qualters (Tyson’s, 1995-2002) is now living in Nagoya, Japan, and for the last year has been teaching English to children at an international pre-school. Marissa admits that ‘I can't say I'm utilising or passing on my English A level skills since the kids are only two- and three-years-old but they are so cute and they always try hard! I've learnt so much about different Japanese cultures and traditions – it really is an amazing place to live and a fantastic life experience.’

Fellow of the Royal College of Organists

Tim Harper (Tulley’s, 1997-2004) has become a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) where he won all the College’s top prizes (the Limpus, Shinn & Durrant Prize for the highest mark in the playing, the Baker Prize for the highest aggregate of marks in the summer examinations, and the Dixon Prize for highest marks in improvisation, as well as sharing the Harding Prize for the highest mark in the written papers).
Tim is not new to winning the Royal College’s prizes. When he was in the sixth form at Alleyn’s he gained the College’s top prizes as an ARCO [Associate of the RCO].

After leaving Alleyn’s, Tim went to Clare College, Cambridge where he studied music and was organ scholar. He is currently organ scholar at St Paul’s Cathedral and, prior to that, he was Organ Scholar at Canterbury Cathedral. He features as organist on Canterbury Cathedral's latest CD, 'Ceremony', which was recently reviewed on Radio 3.

Degree results

Following the inclusion of several degree results in the October magazine, I have received news of some more academic successes. Congratulations go to:

• Christopher Ashcroft (Tyson’s, 1998-2005), University College London, Ancient World (2:2)
• Sarah Clark (Brown’s, 1998-2005), University of York, History (2:2)
• Helena Ferreira (Dutton’s, 2000-05), Hatfield College, Durham University, PPE (2:1)
• Theadora Foster (left 2004), University College London, Natural Sciences (2:1)
• Nikolai Hartley (Tulley’s, 1998-2005), Merton College, University of Oxford, PPE (2:1)
• Maiya Pina-Dacier (left 2004), University College London, Archaeology (1st)
• Joseph Surtees (Brown’s, left 2004), University of York, History (2:1)
• Rebecca Szekely (1995-2002) London University, Royal Free and University College Medical School, Medicine (MBBS)

Please keep me posted of your academic successes: the School and Club are always keen to hear how former pupils fare at university.

Past Spurgeon’s House Captain wins Morgan Stanley student prize

David Ronayne (Spurgeon’s, left 2003), currently in his final year reading Economics at Edinburgh University, won a prize for scoring highest marks in his course. Morgan Stanley awards prizes to the 15 students awarded the highest marks in Economics courses across each year of the degree programme at Edinburgh.

Help for architectural placement

Emily Beaumont (Dutton’s, 1997-2004) has just finished her architecture degree and is looking for a year’s placement before she returns to university to do her diploma. If you work as an architect and can help Emily, please get in touch with me and I will pass on any information. As Emily says, ‘it would be great to get some experience with a fellow Alleyn's pupil!’

A possible future leader for our country?

Stefan Baskerville, former Saddlers' Scholar and House Captain of Dutton's (1998-2005), has been elected as this year's President of the Oxford University Student Union. Stefan is already well versed in university politics as he was the JCR President of University College last year.

Dulwich Picture Gallery Friends’ Autumn Exhibition

Harriet Piercy (Tyson’s, 1998-2005) had a picture accepted at the recent Friends’ Exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery (DPG). One hundred and eight works of art were chosen from 444 paintings, photographs, drawings and prints which had been submitted by Friends of the DPG. Harriet’s picture ‘A Portrait of my Grandfather, Judge Evelyn Monier-Williams’ was commended and sold at the exhibition. Joanna Smith, wife to the Headmaster of the Lower School, Steve Smith, also had a picture selected for the exhibition. For more about the exhibition, follow the link to Dulwich OnView, the on-line magazine run by Friends of the Gallery.
 

© Alleyn’s School, Townley Road, London SE22 8SU