OUR FRENSHAM
SUMMER 2022
OUR FRENSHAM SUMMER 2022
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FROM THE OLD FRENSHAMIAN OFFICE It has been a wonderful year getting to know a lot of OFs and hearing your stories and memories of your time at Frensham, both old students and teachers alike. I feel that the community is really growing and reconnecting and I want to be able to continue to facilitate this in many ways going forward. We are always open to visits from OFs, so if you are ever in Frensham or just have a pang of nostalgia and want to come and relive some childhood memories, please do get in touch. Whilst the Old Frenshamian Office is focussed on the past and the history of the school and its alumni, we are now also turning to the future. To 2025 to be specific. Frensham Heights will be celebrating its centenary and we intend to spend the academic year of 2025 to 2026 celebrating in a number of ways, looking both backwards to its inception and forwards to the next hundred years. We are putting together what we hope will be a relevant and exciting programme of events to draw as many of you back to the school over the year. I have already engaged the help of a number of OFs of various eras to give me their thoughts and opinions on what they think their years groups would like, but if you have any ideas, please let me know. At this point, nothing is set in stone and the year will only be a success if we can develop something to attract all. I hope you enjoy this magazine and please get in touch if you want to be in the next one. I look forward to meeting many more of you in the next year.
Lexi
Best wishes Lexi Pepperday Alumni and Development Office lexipepperday@frensham.org
FROM THE HEAD After two years of disruption and uncertainty, it is wonderful to have life returning to normal within the Frensham community. With performances back in front of live audiences in the Aldridge Theatre, trips back on and sports fixtures running several times a week, it has been great to be able to offer a full range of opportunities to our students again. But just as importantly, the general hubbub and happy atmosphere of the school are back with year groups able to mix and social events back in the calendar.
Oscar, Andy & Oscar Kimmy & Amy
I need to pay tribute to my staff who jumped straight into online learning seamlessly and continued to support the students under difficult circumstances. I am hugely proud of both staff and students, they took on an incredibly steep learning curve and came out of it much stronger. Last year, on what would have been Founders’ Day, I launched the new school values and aims which were developed with input from staff, students and parents. You can find these in full later in the magazine and I hope you will agree that these reflect the ethos of the school as it has always been. In January of this year, we had our ISI inspection which was an overwhelming success. We achieved “excellent” in both the quality of students’ academic achievement and the quality of students’ personal development. This is proof that not only do we provide our students with a fantastic pastoral environment, but we are also enabling them all to achieve their academic potential. I hope you enjoy this magazine and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the next year. Our doors are always open to Old Frenshamians.
Rick Clarke Head of Frensham Heights School 4
Rick
Nick & Ted
“...BY THE TIME STUDENTS LEAVE, THEY DEVELOP A SKILLSSET THAT PREPARES THEM EXTREMELY WELL FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF THEIR LIVES.”
“THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS’ ACADEMIC AND OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS IS EXCELLENT.” “THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS’ PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT IS EXCELLENT.”
“STUDENTS EXHIBIT A HEIGHTENED CAPACITY TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS IN A WIDE RANGE OF SITUATIONS...” “IN THE ABSENCE OF HIERARCHICAL PREFECT STRUCTURES, STUDENTS NATURALLY DEVELOP STRONG LEADERSHIP SKILLS...”
Jann, Flic & Gemma
“STUDENTS’ EXCELLENT ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS DEVELOP FROM AN OUTSTANDING ABILITY TO LISTEN TO OTHERS.”
OUR MISSION, AIMS AND VALUES OUR MISSION WE CONTINUE TO PIONEER A BETTER EDUCATION. ONE WHICH: Celebrates the individual as part of a nurturing and supportive community; Amplifies the voices of our community, encouraging selfexpression and sharing of ideas; Brims with inspiration from strong relationships with outstanding educators in a stimulating environment.
OUR AIMS WE WILL: Provide a nurturing and supportive community that allows all individuals to flourish, with equity, mutual respect and generosity of spirit at its heart; Inspire our students’ creativity, intellectual curiosity and passion for learning with a rich progressive curriculum that develops resilient and self-reliant learners, prepared for the modern world; Promote education in its widest sense, with stimulating and unique enrichment opportunities; Instil and support collaboration, ethical responsibility and community engagement, encouraging our community to make a positive and lasting contribution to the world around them; Thrive by securing the future of our school and its communities.
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OUR VALUES ORIGINALITY OF THOUGHT FRENSHAM EMBRACES CREATIVITY We encourage everyone to foster their boldness and innovation, seeking opportunities locally and globally to discover and bring fresh thinking to our community.
SPIRIT OF TOGETHERNESS FRENSHAM NURTURES COMMUNITY SPIRIT Relationships are the foundation of our school and our success, built on genuine mutual respect, compassion and kindness. We embrace freedom with a firm understanding of our responsibility towards our community.
RESPECT OF INDIVIDUALITY FRENSHAM CELEBRATES AUTHENTICITY This is a place where you can be the true you; we pride ourselves on that. We support all to have the confidence to stand for something and be the person you truly want to be.
COURAGE TO TRY FRENSHAM FUELS PERSONAL DEDICATION We aspire to be the very best we can be, fully committing to our learning, proactively seeking improvement and working collaboratively for the benefit of the whole community.
Peter Pan
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Dance Concert
Rock & Pop Gig
A Night at the West End
Hadrian’s Wall Trip
Regency Day
Climate Coalition
Staff v Students Hockey Match
Science Fair
8 Yrs 7 & 9 Creative Arts Exhibition
Greenpower
MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL UPDATE There has been a lot happening within the Middle and Senior Schools this academic year. Here is an overview of some of the highlights of what has been going on: We have been able to put on a wide variety of Performing Arts shows, from Dance Concerts to Music Recitals. Our Drama department has been incredibly busy, with a Years 7 & 8 performance of Peter Pan and A Midsummer Nights Dream performed by our older students. On the Music and Dance side, we hosted a Festive Dance & Music Extravaganza, a spring Dance Concert, several informal acoustic concerts and the Rock and Pop gig. We also had an entirely student led musical extravaganza, A Night At The West End, which came out of a lunchtime club and turned into one of the best events that has been performed in a number of years. In more academic subjects, we held a Maths Feast with a number of other schools coming to compete against each other, and our busy Science Week culminated in a live pig dissection in the Aldridge - one of the best attended lunchtime events and the children were fascinated. Students in Years 7 up were treated to a wonder of Regency revels to celebrate World Book Day in a crossfaculty celebration. The PE department have also had an incredibly busy year. After not much competitive sport happening for a couple of years, it was great to have our sports seasons back up and running. We had a record number of fixtures and have started playing competitive matches with an end of season staff v student hockey fixture hosted by Head of Hockey David Lloyd. Many recent OFs returned to either play or support which was wonderful to see, and it ended in an honourable but very competitive 2-2 draw! Like many galleries and museums, we were thrilled to be open again to celebrate the Art and Design work of our talented and imaginative students after such a long Covid induced absence. The Aldridge Theatre served as the gallery space for the Years 7 & 9 Creative Arts Exhibitions,
this year coinciding with our annual Science Fair. We were also able to reopen the doors to our Art and Design Centre for our GCSE and A-Level exhibitions, with the Aldridge foyer lending its space this time for the photography exhibits. As many of you are aware, the school now takes part in Greenpower racing. This year at Frensham, Year 7s have designed and built the car (it gets stripped down every year) and the children learn skills that are hard to achieve in other environments. On Sunday 8th May our Greenpower team entered their first race of the season at Goodwood Motor Circuit and came in an amazing 2nd in their class and 9th overall! Frensham students remain passionate as always. Studentrun EcoHeights have forged a school environmental plan, supported Eco Days for Years 7 to 9 and one student represented the school at COP26 in Glasgow. We also took part in the Climate Coalition campaign to ‘show the love’ to the natural world and inspire decision makers to make green choices in their policies. They have raised their voices in support of Ukraine with a student-led peaceful protest at the beginning of the war and since then have been busy collecting and sorting donations to create a free shop to support Ukrainian families in the area. Extracurricular life continues to flourish at Frensham with 150 separate clubs on offer covering poetry to juggling and everything in between. Trips have restarted with the usual huge range of cultural and active options. Worth noting is the unique progression of cross-curricular adventures starting with Year 7’s interdisciplinary trip to Hadrian’s Wall, Year 8’s onsite survival week, Year 9’s expedition to the Peak District and culminating in Year 12’s challenging trip to Knoydart.
A MESSAGE FROM NICK ORAM-TOOLEY HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL
Wellbeing Express Yourself Day
I was delighted to have been appointed as Head of the Junior School. I took over this role at the beginning of the summer term after having been at Frensham as a teacher since 2010. I love this school and everything that it stands for. The premise of allowing our very young people to explore an open and progressive curriculum whilst in the safe confines of a school like Frensham is wonderful. To watch a child learn and grow in confidence without the strict confines of the national curriculum is a special thing. To be able to lead the school and direct the way the curriculum progresses is something that I feel extremely privileged and passionate about. We are really proud of our students in the Junior School and whether they go on to the Senior School or whether they move off elsewhere, they do so having had the best start possible.
Taiko Drumming Workshops
Here are some of the things the school has been doing this academic year: We held a fantastic concert in the ballroom, where parents were invited in for the first time in a long time to watch their children perform and our Book Day as usual was full of all sorts of characters from many books. Year 5 flew kestrels and had a Tudor banquet whilst Year 6 created their own Evolution museum, where they created prehistoric animals from different mediums including ceramics and wood and invited the rest of the school to come and see. And then a highlight for many of our littlest children was a visit from a couple of hedgehogs, not to mention the Queen!
Flying Kestrels
10 Tutor Banquet
Jubilee Visit from the Queen
OTHER EXCITING NEWS COP26 Costa in Year 12 was very fortunate to be chosen as a student representative at the Glasgow COP26 event in November. Despite strong competition, Costa gained a place with UKSSN (UK Schools’ Sustainability Network) to attend the conference and be a student voice - representing all Surrey schools. These connections have come about thanks to SEAS (Surrey Environmental Action Schools), of which Frensham is a founding member. In Glasgow, Costa connected with many likeminded climatarians and innovators and spoke on a live-streamed webinar panel alongside a nuclear expert discussing innovation with energy, education and the student experience at COP26.
AHOEC Gold Standard Achieving the AHOEC Gold Standard in Outdoor Education is a huge achievement and we have done it again! This award reflects our complete commitment to the values of the AHOEC (Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres) and to Outdoor Learning. We are really proud to be the only school in the UK to hold this award. The Gold Standard process is a serious undertaking and requires a deep look into every process and procedure within the Outdoor Education department. It is unique in that it is built upon detailed self-evaluation, and exposes every piece of our work to evaluation and inspection.
Frensham Heights School Trips To Be Carbon Neutral The school is aware of the impact on the environment of our activities. Student voice in the form of Eco Heights along with many dedicated staff are working on a strategic environmental plan. This is being developed to cover all aspects of the school’s carbon footprint. There are many aspects to this. From April all school trips have included a small charge, in most cases around 1-2% of the cost of the trip, to offset the environmental impact of the trip. In 2021 the Year 7 Hadrian’s Wall trip and the 2022 Iceland trip were both offset. Rather than using a third party the school will be doing the offset itself in the form of tree planting on the school estate. The fund will also be placed in an ethical bank account.
NEW FRENSHAM BRANDING You may have noticed that we have rebranded all of our communications. We want to give you an understanding of what we have done and why we did it. Frensham isn’t a brand. It’s a school, it’s a community. But, we need a way to visually represent ourselves to the outside world, on our website and in the prospectus. It doesn’t mean we’re becoming all corporate or impersonal, we’re just trying to find a creative way to visually celebrate everyone and everything that this school offers. The rebranding project was started four years ago - the decision to rebrand was made because the minimalist brand with glossy photos of childless facilities used in the previous prospectus and website was not expressing the diversity and energy of the Frensham Spirit. During this process, we worked with external design, branding, tone of voice and communication consultants who initially spoke with Andrew and then subsequently with Rick. They were given access to student, staff and parent surveys. It was crucial to get external, impartial viewpoints - as Frensham means something different to each of us - but also that they all understood that Frensham isn’t a navy blue, stand in a line, crest kind of school. And obviously, they understood this as soon as they stepped foot on site. We know that not everyone will like the new brand. After all, we are quite a diverse, passionate and outspoken bunch which is a big part of why this school is very hard to “brand”, but we just ask you to hear us out. None of this was created for any one of us to want to hang on our walls at home. It’s not about any of our personal colour or style preferences, it’s about attempting the impossible task of doing justice to a school with a huge personality and a massive amount of energy. Most schools have a colour, or a couple of colours. We really hope everyone will agree that we can’t possibly agree on one colour that would wholly represent this school. 12
So instead we have a veritable rainbow, with a couple of core colours to use on the more mundane things - forms, stationery etc. The logo is not too different from the previous one. It’s upper case instead of lower case and the letters are made up of different parts. We could come up with wonderful metaphors for Frensham being made up of all of us (which is true) but actually the logo just needed to be simple and strong so that we could be really creative with everything else and still easily identified as Frensham. If we wore name badges, that’s what it would be. There have been lots of discussions about crests. Most schools have a crest. There was an eagle that was used back in Paul Roberts’ day, but we were stretching our imaginations a bit too far to come up with a current day relevance for it. We could have created something new, but again it seemed a bit contrived and just something we needed to have just because everyone else had one. Which didn’t sound very Frensham! So we let the designer go a bit crazy and he came back with a mosaic - inspired by the floor of the Main House reception - made up of loads of different colours and shapes. Just like Frensham. We hope you like it or will grow to like it. It can be used in a million different ways - tiny with loads of shapes to blown up individual tiles. And often not at all. The inspiration for the new brand was the flexible branding systems of places like the Southbank Centre or the Barbican in London. Rather than looking to other schools, it seemed more fitting to look at places filled with creativity which welcomed people of all ages from all walks of life to come together to share ideas, skills, knowledge, performance and innovation. So our strong logo, typography and bold colour palette can sit alongside an infinite number of visual styles (photography, student art, illustration, collage etc) - allowing for individual events, publications, groups to have their own personality within the Frensham visual brand. It will take a while for this new look to settle in, but we hope you’ll grow to love it. If you have any ideas of how we can bring it to life, we’d love to hear them.
Arts University Bournemouth - Animation Production Arts University Bournemouth - Design Bangor University - Marine Biology and Oceanography Bournemouth University - Archaeological, Anthropological and Forensic Sciences Jimmy Choo Academy, London Fashion Academy – Fashion Design King’s College London - Film Studies Lancaster University - Chemistry Lancaster University - Psychology Manchester Metropolitan University - Fashion Marketing Royal Holloway, University of London - Geography University of Bath - Mathematics University of Birmingham - Mathematics and Computer Science University of Bristol - Childhood Studies University of Chichester - Music and Musical Theatre University of East Anglia - Politics and Economics University of Exeter - History University of Exeter - Psychology University of Exeter - Zoology University of Liverpool - Geography University of Liverpool - History and Politics University of Liverpool - Psychology
OF DESTINATIONS We are incredibly proud of our students and care very deeply about where they go following their time at Frensham, not for us to brag, but for them to strive and succeed in the area that they want to. To the right is a list of where our most recent Year 13 leavers went to:
University of Manchester - Arabic and Modern European Language University of Nottingham - Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence University of Sussex - International Relations and Development University of Sussex - Psychology University of Sussex - Anthropology and International Development University of Strathclyde - Scots and English Law
FOCUS ON TEACHERS: BOB When did you start working at Frensham? Ooh, I can’t tell you that, but it was around the time that the dinosaurs were still roaming! Seriously though, I think it was around Christmas 2005. A long long time ago.
hormones are swarming around, but if they can overcome that and learn to love their own skin, then it’s a wonderful thing to see.
Tell us about some stand out memories of working here?
What motivates you as a teacher?
One of the best memories that I have are when I hung some young dancers from the rafters in the Aldridge! I had to get the Head of Outdoor Education to teach these kids how to free abseil and seeing these kids overcome their fears – even the bravest of kids were pretty terrified when they actually got into the rafters, it’s a lot higher than you think. But that was lots of fun.
Creation, the process of creation. I’m being taught by them, we are learning together. I don’t really believe that “teaching” exists, we all learn together.
Also, I remember some really fun times on the music tours to Germany and The Netherlands, Year 6s and Year 9s I think. Three or four days in a bus practicing their orchestra music. Such a joyful and unique experience. What is the best thing about Frensham? I get to do it my way. I’m given the freedom to teach the kids as individuals in the way that I want to, as opposed to trying to teach them in a prescribed manner. I feel like I’m on a journey with them and that I get to forge strong relationships with them. They really get to be themselves, and its championed here and I can really see how powerful that is and how the other kids have to accept it and process it. I love that. What is the best piece of advice you can give one of your students? I would say, learn to be comfortably uncomfortable. Understand the power of being uninhibited. Never be afraid to be yourself – that is what makes you unique. Don’t be a sheep. I see all these fabulous young children arrive with no inhibitions, but as they get older, they get more self-conscious, that’s what I mean by comfortably uncomfortable – it’s difficult, particularly when all these 14
Why did you want to teach? I’ve always taught. Maybe not in a school environment. I started as a performer in Hollyweird, but even then we were all teaching each other. I’ve always wanted to share what I know. By sharing and teaching others, I get better in myself. How did Covid affect the way you taught? Well there were good things and bad things. The good was that when they were online they were more captive and had to listen to the things that maybe they didn’t in class. I got them to focus on the theory of my subject and they started to appreciate that it wasn’t as bad as they thought it was. The bad though is that I feel that all of us, not just the kids, have lost a bit of the resilience that we had before. Because of the emotional strain there seemed to be a loss of how to behave in social situations and the kids are still coming back to those. Were there any positives that you can take away from Covid? We don’t need all this stuff! We don’t need to go to all the places that we thought were so important and we don’t need all these material items. Our comforts that had been a priority were removed and we realised that it was fine. It helped us to prioritise what is important. Bob Keane is Head of Dance and Head of Scholarship and Enrichment.
FOCUS ON TEACHERS: FLIC When did you start working at Frensham? September 2020, right in the middle of the Covid madness! It was a strange time to start because so many of the things that make Frensham ‘Frensham’ just couldn’t happen, so it’s been so lovely to see things start to pick up again this year. Tell us about some stand out memories of working here? The dance shows and music performances will stick with me. I love seeing students that I teach doing something totally different, and some of the talent at Frensham is incredible. The first time I saw so many of my Year 11 PRE students up on the stage singing and dancing I was blown away – they were amazing! Those performances show you a totally different side to students you see all the time. Also, the fantastic Year 7 students who were so passionate about doing something for Ukraine so basically organised a whole school protest themselves in a couple of days. Their enthusiasm, empathy and teamwork was so impressive. What is the best thing about Frensham? Being able to wear jeans to work! But aside from that, the people are hands down the best thing about Frensham. My department are amazing, and it’s so refreshing to work at a school where students and staff are open-minded and where difference is celebrated rather than tolerated. What is the best piece of advice you can give one of your students? Be unapologetically you. Not everyone will like you, and some people will inevitably actively dislike you, but that will be the case whether you’re being yourself or not – so you might as well just go for it. At least you’ll like yourself that way! What motivates you as a teacher? For the academic side of me, seeing students succeed on exam results day, especially when they’ve struggled along the way: knowing that you’ve helped someone to achieve something they didn’t think they were capable of
is a feeling you don’t get in many other careers. But for the human side of me, the motivation comes from knowing that being a teenager can suck sometimes! But also from knowing that, often, all you need is a someone to talk to for it to suck a little bit less. People often think that being a teacher is just about what happens in the classroom, but it’s about so much more than that. A heartfelt ‘thank you’ from a student you’ve helped get through a really tough time is all you ever really need as a teacher. Why did you want to teach? It sounds cliché, but I’ve always wanted to teach: I used to line up and register my teddies as a child! Perhaps it was just a lack of imagination, but I’d like to think that it was because of the impact that some of my teachers had on me. Three of my A-Level teachers, in particular, gave me the push to actually pursue teaching as a career: my two Religious Studies teachers who I absolutely adored and who brought out a passion for PRE in me, and one of my English Literature teachers who was unfalteringly honest, good humoured and reliable. I needed consistency and a confidence boost in my life at 17, and they gave it to me: I never underestimate the difference they made to my life. How did Covid affect the way you taught? Covid made me embrace new forms of technology that I’d never used before, which have changed the way that I teach GCSE and A-Level. But I think the biggest change has been in my appreciation of how important face-to-face contact is and an understanding that nothing can replace being in a classroom. Some students loved working from home, but I don’t think that anyone made as much progress as they would have done had they been in school. Seeing students’ faces when something clicks, or being able to have a conversation with them before or after a lesson where you suddenly understand why they’ve been struggling – these things just couldn’t happen during Covid. I don’t think I’ll take that for granted again. Flic Bains is Head of Faculty of Human Perspectives and a PRE Teacher.
Whole School Walk
FRENSHAM CHARITIES UPDATE Andrew Fisher
At Frensham we have a number of charities that we support each year. This year our chosen charities are the Malawi Schools Trust, Happy Space and Farnham Refugees. We also do other fundraising and charity events for other charities throughout the year.
Malawi Schools Trust Malawi Schools Trust is one of our school charities for 2021/22. We have had a wonderful, collaborative partnership with schools in Malawi for over a decade starting with the All Saints School and the nearby AMAO Orphanage in Mtunthama, Malawi. The partnership has continued ever since and it benefits our students just as much as those in Malawi. Staff and students organise and fund trips to Malawi every other year. This gives our students and staff the opportunity to see not only how different - and hard - life can be for young people in Africa but also that they can make a very real difference to other people’s lives. And if young people believe they can make a positive impact in the world, they’ll grow into adults who do. Malawi Schools Trust was formed in 2019 to continue this work. Their main vision is that every child in Malawi should have an education. To attain this goal they will work carefully in partnership with local communities on projects that make this possible. One school at a time. At Frensham Heights, we continue to visit and support our partner schools in Malawi and have a trip planned for 2023, but as a school charity again this year, Malawi Schools Trust also received donations from our fundraising events such as the Whole School Walk.
2021 Whole School Charity Walk Friday 15th October was our Whole School Walk. We all took part in one way or other with Years 4 and up walking 9K to the beautiful nearby Frensham Pond.
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100 Miles for Malawi While many teachers couldn’t wait to put their feet up for a well-deserved few weeks rest over the summer holidays, Andrew Fisher, previous Head of Frensham Heights and Patron of Malawi Schools Trust, packed his rucksack and walked 100 miles across the South Downs to raise money for the teachers housing in Malawi. “It always strikes me that huge numbers of Malawian children walk 20 km to and from school everyday. If I can raise some funds for our educational change by walking, it recognises their efforts too.” Eight days after he started, Andrew completed his walk on July 17th, raising £2,500 in the process and the teachers’ housing in Malawi has now been completed.
Christmas Cards Maisy Binns, OF 2014-2021, has designed this years school Christmas card which will be available to purchase and all profits go to Malawi Schools Trust. See page 19 for more details.
Happy Space Happy Space is a preventative mental wellbeing organisation set up by a group of OFs to protect, inspire and empower young people nationwide. So many mental health issues are preventable with good wellbeing education. They’re on a mission to get that education into curriculums nationwide. Their vision is a society free of mental health stigma where every young person has access to the basic toolkit they need to help look after their mental health in the transition to adulthood and beyond. Through their guidebooks, toolkits and lesson plans, they are helping educators reach out to children at key points to give them the support and knowledge to improve their mental health for years to come
Sixth Form Outreach
Farnham Help for Refugees
ICT Outreach - Bordon
Rowledge School Frensham Sixth Formers are creating various workshops in Drama, Dance, Languages, Art, Outdoor Ed and Wellbeing to deliver to Reception through Year 6 children at Rowledge School.
Gostrey Brightwell Every week some of our Years 7 and 8 students head to Gostrey Brightwells Social Centre to share activities and socialise with senior citizens in the community.
Farnham Assist
Gostrey Brightwell
Farnham Assist
Twice a month, we take a few students to host lunches and high teas with Farnham Assist. They help with serving and cleaning, but also socialise with the guests. We are looking at developing an entertainment aspect to these events.
Farnham Help For Refugees
OUR OUTREACH PROGRAMME We encourage all of our current students to get involved with our community outreach programme. Over the last year we have done the following outreach activities.
Bordon Junior School Frensham Year 9 and 10 ICT students have been mentoring Year 5 children at Bordon Junior School. They are working with the children to learn coding using robots.
Our school community works together to collect essential donations for Farnham Help for Refugees. Students are also involved in collecting, sorting and delivering the items to the charity.
Farnham Town Council Two of our Year 10 students performed at the Farnham Town Christmas Lights event in 2021. We hope our students will continue to be able to support such community events in the future.
Farnham Foodbank Junior School students collected, sorted and delivered donations for the Farnham Foodbank - specifically food items for local families.
Phyllis Tuckwell Our Years 4 and 5 students designed and wrote Christmas cards for patients and residents of Phyllis Tuckwell.
OF MENTORING
OF SPOTLIGHT
This year we have started a new programme of OFs mentoring the current cohort of Sixth Formers. Where Sixth Formers have identified interest in certain careers, we have facilitated meetings between them and OFs in those fields.
Here we shine a light on some of the OF community, who wanted to tell their story.
The Sixth Formers have found these sessions incredibly useful and the OFs seem to get a lot out of them too. We’ve had eight Zoom meetings between OFs and Sixth Formers so far. We also had a successful day where some OFs came in to the school to speak to the current Year 13 students for their Life After Frensham week. They discussed the course of their own careers, their stumbles and their successes. Before the end of the year (but after this magazine goes to print), we will also be holding an event where OFs come in and speak to our Year 10 students about their careers and will hold mock job interviews and generally give advice in all areas of work life. The plan for the next academic year will be to hold monthly sessions with OFs and current parents, where they will have an informal chat with a number of students in the Drawing Room over tea and coffee. These will be a much more relaxed affair where the students will be encouraged to ask as many questions as possible. If you are interested in doing any one to one mentoring, or being part of a careers event please let Lexi know. Sofia, current Year 12 student “My dream is to work in the film industry. Having OFs that are actively working in film and television is enormously helpful for me, as their experience is very valuable in knowing what to expect and what to look out for in the next stages of my life and career respectively. Plus, knowing that both me and the OFs stem from the same place is indeed very reassuring, understanding that these people who “have made it” have not so long ago been in the same position as me.”
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DAVID BINNS OF 1985-1989 David also sent his two daughters to Frensham. His eldest daughter, Maisy, left last summer after completing her A-Levels and his younger daughter, Phoebe, is currently in Year 11. We caught up with David to chat about his time at Frensham and why he decided to send his daughters here. What years were you at Frensham and did you board or were you a day student? I was a boarder at Frensham from 1985 to 1989. Most students boarded in those days and it was great. What were the best things to happen to you whilst at Frensham? I came to Frensham from an awful private school steeped in pointless tradition and hierarchy. So when I started at Frensham I really thought I was the luckiest kid alive. The immediate sense of freedom was amazing and the friendly attitude of all the teachers and students regardless of year group seemed almost like a dream compared to where I had come from. Even the headmaster, Alan Pattinson, was really friendly and remembered everyone’s names and interests in detail. His morning talks were the stuff of legend! I made some great friendships with some of my teachers over the years I was there which meant a lot to me and I believe is a truly unique part of the Frensham Heights way of life. John A, my housemaster at Hamilton House, was always serenely calm, scrupulously fair and there for anyone no matter what time of day or night... his door was always open even if you just wanted to sit in his lounge and listen to his fantastic record collection; John B, although many were scared of him, was in fact one of the nicest people you could meet with a wicked sense of humour, even though he always confiscated my roller skates; Stuart PHOTO McFarlan, who found us drinking John Smiths in our Sixth
Form study on more than one occasion and would gently suggest we not over do it and then turn a blind eye; Dick Jones, who really should have been a famous bass player in a blues band and a legendary theatre director all rolled up in one; Jonathan H who drove around in a Citroen 2CV which we stole the doors off and hid in near by bush but he still didn’t care and just drove off without doors… the list could go on and on. Did you ever do anything that wasn’t strictly “allowed” whilst you were here? We were never the most competitive sporty school, especially in those days. So when a new PE teacher arrived and mistakenly appointed me and my two best friends, Phil and Sam, to be head of the newly created sports houses there was only one thing to do… see which sports house could lose in the most spectacular way. Our competition was simple, whoever managed to lose the end of term sports house rankings would win a case of John Smiths. It was great fun selecting teams for matches and turned out to be brilliant for those who would not normally get chosen but really wanted to, so was a win win… except for the new PE teacher who didn’t see the funny side I don’t think. Why did you decide on Frensham for you own children? What was it that made you want them to experience the same school that you went to? When it came to the time for my daughters to move to middle school there really could only be one choice. We did look at other schools in the area but they were all so stuffy and cold that we kept coming back to Frensham. We met with Andrew Fisher and within minutes I was 100% convinced it was the right place for them to grow and develop. Andrew embodied everything that in my mind Frensham is all about and when I met John A again whilst on a tour of the art block it was a done deal. What have you been up to since leaving? Since leaving Frensham I have ended up running several of my own businesses, all involving food which I love, importing Far Eastern deliciousness and marketing them through most major supermarkets around Europe. What are your lasting impressions or your time at Frensham? Frensham gives students freedom, responsibility and friendship and the belief that there are no limits to what they can achieve.
Christmas Cards David’s daughter Maisy has designed this year’s Christmas card. The card is available to purchase and all proceeds will go to the Malawi Schools Trust. To purchase a pack of 10 for £6.50, please email OF@frensham.org.
HOLLY BIBBY OF 2002-2007
when I have changed my mind on certain requirements. I have already recommended Holly’s services to my friends and would not hesitate to do so again. I’m also eyeing up my next project for Holly to assist with!”
Holly has founded her own interior design business, we caught up with Holly to hear about what inspired her to set it up and how it’s going.
In terms of what’s next for me, I have recently hired my first employee and I am thinking of designing and selling my own line of homeware products alongside vintage items I can source - as well as broadening out my client base abroad given a lot of people are looking for e-design post-pandemic – watch this space!
After leaving Frensham Heights I went on to study Politics and Law and worked in a consultancy firm in London. During the first lockdown, I moved into my first home (an 1870s semi-detached home in London) with my partner and started documenting the renovation process via a new interiors focused Instagram page – as the page grew, I found that people began reaching out to me to ask how much I charged for my interior design services – this gave me the idea that I could turn a real passion of mine into a business. To set things in motion I then enrolled in an interior design and styling course at Central St Martins where I learnt the key skills needed to be an interior designer. During my time at the school and as my skills grew, I decided to take the plunge to launch my own company – Hume Interior Studio - in February 2021. For the launch, I was incredibly excited to be able to secure some well-known brands to be my brand partners including Made.com, Lick Paint and Loaf amongst others. I came up with the idea, branding, design and concept all by myself and decided to launch design services that were accessible to everyone – from a Humeflix subscription model for first time buyers strapped for cash all the way through to Hume Bespoke services for larger projects or full renovations. Since it was founded, I have designed homes for people in Chelsea, Surrey, Clapham, Wandsworth, Hackney and more. Projects have included re-designing a home into two flats, a complete renovation of a listed building and re-imagining a roof terrace space. My style is focused on maximising the light in people’s spaces and creating a calming and stylish setting for people to enjoy their homes. I am a big fan of mid-century modern design and love vintage pieces. A recent client said “Holly is personable and enthusiastic, and her creativity has allowed me to make the most of the spaces which she re-designed. Her work is well presented – clear but very detailed, and she has been flexible in working with quick turnaround times even 20
You can find out more about Holly’s business at: www.humeinteriorstudio.com and @humeinteriorstudio on Instagram or you can email her humeinteriorstudio@ gmail.com for a quote/to discuss your project.
Holly Bibby
ALEXIS WALMSLEY (GARDENER) OF 1967-1973 In August 2019 after 36 wonderful years together, my husband John finally succumbed to multiple myeloma. For anyone that doesn’t know about myeloma, it is a particularly sneaky, pernicious bone marrow/blood cancer and John had faced countless cycles of treatments for over 12 years. I don’t think I was really prepared for widowhood, although I had rehearsed scenarios in my mind about the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘when’ because myeloma whilst treatable is incurable. I felt John’s loss in a myriad of ways I never anticipated, and I wanted to write about this because of the wonderful support my very dear OF friends Fiona (Fone) Lofthouse and Julia Oliver (nee Sturgess). Fiona was the first of my friends to be there for me, dropping everything and getting a train up from Devon almost immediately. Julia was also in constant contact with me. They were there for the funeral and Julia and Fiona came away with me for my (first) birthday after I was widowed. Julia joined me in France for the first anniversary. Milestones such as these have been so much easier because of them. It’s hard to express my gratitude for the care and love they both gave me in the days, weeks, months and now (almost three) years since John died. At Frensham, Julia and I had been close from 1967 onwards and then Fiona joined a few years later as a boarder (Julia and I were both day girls). As always happens, our friendships often rose and fell like the tides and as the years went by after leaving FH, life took us all in very different directions. We could spend months sometimes years out of touch with each other, but when we re-connected we usually picked up where we left off. Our friendship circle has also expanded and embraces another OF, Cherry Kelsey and we all regularly meet online for lengthy Zoom sessions, which was especially wonderful during lockdown.
Life now for me is very different and I’ve had to reinvent myself in ways I’d never imagined. Whilst I will always love and miss my husband, I am making the most of life, because it’s too short not to do so (and John would have wanted me to). All the while, Julia, Fiona and now Cherry, have been there, gently advising me, urging caution, or encouraging me, cheering me on and just being utterly amazing people. We all took away very different experiences from Frensham, but they have helped us forge an incredible bond which will last us a lifetime.
Alexi, Julia and Fiona
TAMSIN WHITE OF 1981-1988 How to Grow a Child So there’s this thing when people ask you what you do. It’s part of chit chat, small talk. A daily occurrence. For years I had to explain myself. ‘Errrr, not a lot.’ or ‘I’m a house manager’ (I then would have to explain) or ‘I work in a shop.’ Or something. I felt I had to justify my existence. Big up my jobs to sound important or swanky or successful. When they really weren’t. When I had my own shop, that was cool. I felt I’d made it. And for a moment I’d imagine having a chain of them all over the world… The fact was, it was a tiny shop which barely broke even and it only lasted a couple of years. But it changed when I became a teacher. I felt important. Like I really had made it. Like I was making a difference and that for the first time I did not have to explain myself. People reacted differently to me. Then the next question was, and still is, ’What age group do you teach?’ Then either, ‘Oh that’s cute.’ or ‘No I couldn’t handle the small ones. How do you do it?’ Then inevitably the conversation turns to when they were at school and their favourite teachers. Because this is the thing isn’t it. All of us have teachers. Every one of us, fortunate enough to be in a country that allows us to go to school for free up until the age 18, has teachers. Ones we love. Ones we hate. And lots in between. From the President to the postman, from the firefighter to the butcher, the dancer to the cameraman, the insurance salesman to the bank clerk, the doctor, beautician, architect. When small talk occurs, this is what happens. And I love it. I love people talking about school and their teachers. It reminds me every day how privileged I am. How I have this huge responsibility to every little person that passes through my care, whom I love over ten months from September to July. Then I see them move on to new teachers, new schools and become the incredible young people I know they are capable of being. Of course this doesn’t always happen. Only recently I read of a child who passed though my school but later got involved in county lines. He died of a drug induced heart attack at 22
19. Some kids have terrible home lives, poverty, neglect, care orders, family in prison, mental health issues. I have taught children that were to me unteachable. I could not get through. I did not have the skill set to inspire them or make them like me. I felt a terrible failure. I wish that five hours a day in my care could fix them. Fortunately, this has been rare and even with the most difficult children who have sworn at me, been violent, shouted and threatened me, there have been moments where just for a minute I broke through. That made me cry more than the anger they showed me. When children are loved at home they come to school to learn. When children are not loved at home, they come to school to be loved. When I was 10, I hated school. My teachers were not good. They laughed at my opinions, they told me to put my hand down when I wanted to speak, they made me sit alone when I cried, they humiliated me and countless other children. They read from text books, rarely marked our books. I don’t remember learning anything. Any hint of nurture, or love was rare indeed. One teacher showed me kindness and I adored her for it. My parents watched me crumble and break. The state system was failing me. They felt they had no option but to put me in the local private school. Frensham Heights. I nearly didn’t make it. I was so destroyed by my middle school that the entrance exam was almost impossible. But in the letter of acceptance, that I still have, it explicitly says that I had potential and I was accepted on a bursary. I cannot even begin to explain how seven years at FH shaped the rest of my life. Immediately in classes of twelve instead of forty. Books were marked. Work was put on walls, with my name on it, subjects taught with passion, no detentions and no corporal punishment. Teachers knew me, loved me, valued my opinions, understood me. They laughed with me, not at me, were interested in me, my work, my effort and my growing mind. Pastoral care was virtually nonexistent in the state system, and quite possibly across the private sector too, but not at FH. Teachers had to be parents to hundreds of children who boarded and didn’t see their parents for months. By default, that filtered and spread to us, the day students. I knew that they wanted me to be the best person I could be. They believed in me and drove me to try my best for
Alison
David & Paul
Kimmy
Stefi
Brendan
them. They knew what I needed. I never wanted to let them down. I loved their dry humour, the way they treated us like grown ups, trusted us, laughed, cracked jokes and messed around. They told stories about their childhoods, their lives before teaching. I had one teacher who I really disliked. I don’t remember why. I wrote hate-filled notes to her that I’d screw up and put in the bin. I filled my diary with scrawls about how awful she was. She must have known how I felt. But she never ever gave up on me. She taught me with patience and kindness and love until I cracked and she became, in the end, one of my favourite teachers ever. For just that reason. Not all of the teachers had such huge impact. You can’t expect that. But there are a few that stand out. And they stand out because they invested in me. I was never going to be famous or on TV or have the handy leg up into my career of choice. For me it was work hard, be average, go to university, travel and then….I wasn’t sure what.
In my late twenties, I was at a cross roads. Still drifting, things not so good. I was hair braiding and henna tattooing around the festivals in England and Ireland and was spending a lot of time with children. I realised that I really enjoyed their company. They are funny, innocent, wide eyed, curious and, quite literally, our future. I was at my friends wedding and she had invited one of our favourite teachers from FH. We were chatting about my drifter lifestyle and what I was up to. She suggested that I become a teacher. ‘The ideal job,’ she said. In the beginning I felt an almost permanent sense of imposter syndrome. What right did I have to be in charge of these little human beings? To show them, tell them stories and teach them? To potentially have this massive influence over the direction of their lives? But now, twenty years on, I am confident. I know I can do it and I am skilled at what I do. There are children that live on in my head. I remember and love them still like I did when they were in my care.
Occasionally I have a parent who recognises me and says how much I influenced their child because I believed in them, and how I must never leave teaching because of what I achieved. Every now and then, I meet a child, sometimes one of the challenging ones, who have grown up into incredible human beings. I am so proud of them and what they have achieved. The letters, notes and handmade gifts from the children and their families mean the world to me. I keep many, reminders that I can do it when the doubt sets in. I am not famous, I don’t get public accolades, I’m not on the telly. I don’t have an audience or a wide reaching fan base. I have no aspiration to management or leadership. The only people who see what I do on a daily basis are the twenty five or so children in my care. They are the entire focus of my day to day working life. Only they can tell you what I actually do. What I hope is that I can give them the confidence to find their voice, to have an option, to be curious, to ask questions and to never ever feel like I did before I went to FH. Bad teaching can be so detrimental. Good teaching can be wondrous. When I mentor student teachers now, I ask them to draw their favourite teacher and why. And then to think of them as they start this incredible and privileged career.
If I can give back a fraction of the love and kindness that I was shown at FH then I will have succeeded. Everything I got out of the private sector I now put back into the state system. So much so, that when I started training twenty years ago, and was subsequently employed, it was at the very same middle school that had broken me. So thank you. You know who you are. I’ve drawn you all.
Tamsin White
Amanda & Karen
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Barry & Kate
JANE READ OF 1958-1963 It is a long time since the last OF News, which appeared in the first summer of Rick Clarke’s headship (2019). What a turbulent three years! It is, of course, to be hoped that Frensham thrives – looking at its website and Facebook pages, it seems to have come through the pandemic broadly unscathed, but undoubtedly with some stumbles, bruises and scars along the way. It is good to know that the school is starting to focus on the Centenary – 2025 seemed a very long way off at one time; now of course, it’s effectively just around the corner. And I will be 80 that year, which is utterly unbelievable. In 2019, we had two of the most memorable holidays we’ve ever had: a tour of Bach’s haunts round Leipzig and Weimar (singing in almost every church where he worked) and a trip to St Petersburg. How glad we are that we managed both those trips before Covid struck. I definitely never intended to spend two years of my retirement limited to being home-based and socially distanced or isolated. We coped, of course, because there was very little choice. I learned that taking photographs was a good way to combat the pain and boredom of Going For Walks. We are very lucky indeed to live in a beautiful part of England, the Cotswolds I missed singing, hugely – choral singing has long been my main spare time activity (belonging to three local choirs, Fairford, Burford and Cirencester). I owe that passion almost entirely to Frensham, and never cease to thank Teddy Rice and Christopher Latham for the enthusiasm they kindled and the skills they taught. When choirs started up again, very cautiously, in September 2021 I was of course not the only one who raised hearty cheers, albeit behind masks to begin with. The joy of managing to put on concerts last December in spite of everything, and the nail-biting suspense of doing so this Easter in the face of the very contagious Omicron variant! Truly triumph over adversity. During the two years’ virtual incarceration, my time was mostly spent writing. A weekly newsletter for Fairford’s choir ensured that when we re-convened, everyone still
felt connected to it. I wrote weekly letters to close family (I have a very large one) and continue with that still, at their request, although not on a weekly basis. And I wrote a weekly letter to the very large number of friends we have who for one reason and another live alone and might therefore have felt very isolated during the various lockdowns. Finally, I wrote weekly to all those in the Class of 63 whose email addresses I knew, and who wanted to be back in touch. When the first lockdown ended, the letters were monthly for a time but have now more or less stopped. This was not, however, how I intended to spend those two years – walking and writing! In December 2021, I was obliged to have a fourth retroperitoneal liposarcoma removed, after ten years cancer free. This has changed my life in an unwelcome (but not unexpected) way: I have very impaired mobility owing to the sacrifice of my left femoral nerve round which the tumour was growing. Coming to terms with the consequences of the operation is tough, but I’m hoping that I will eventually be able to get round with one crutch although at the time of writing, I’m still more or less stuck with a zimmer – or a wheelchair for any distances. I am, however, here to tell the tale. And with luck and a fair wind – I’ll make it to the centenary celebrations.
DUNCAN WATTS OF 1988-1995
OF EVENTS
2021 was the year I finally answered my calling. A calling that has its origins at Frensham, when I saw my first ghost in the Flottage Quadrangle, one dark night in 1992.
2011/12 Leavers Ten Year Reunion – 26th March 2022
As a ghost hunter and exorcist, I do my business mostly in London but a recent stint alongside Yvette Fielding on ‘Most Haunted’ has seen demand for my services increase with recent assignments as far afield as Bhutan where a colony of Buddhist monks called on me to see off a particularly boisterous spirit! Turns out it was a jilted Samanera (or novice monk) that hadn’t been admitted to the monastery on account of his dreadful conduct. As a departure from hunting down ectoplasm spirits, I am the immensely proud Dad to Isaac and India (yep, Halloween’s a WHOLE lot of fun in our house) and husband to my ever patient and wonderful wife, Angie who doesn’t believe in ghosts. Duncan Watts
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On a gloriously sunny day in late March, we welcomed to Frensham Heights around 30 OFs who left in either 2011 or 2012. A number of them nervously came in, having not been back since their last day of school all those years ago. The afternoon kicked off with an impressive afternoon tea in the Long Gallery, after which they were taken en masse down to Roberts House. Comments such us “it still smells the same!” and “I spent hours playing on the pool table, that exact pool table, it’s still here” and then “is the loo still down there?”. They then went off wandering the grounds, quenching their thirst for nostalgia. Trips down to the arts block, the sports hall and Hamilton House. The theatre was unfortunately out of bounds due to an external performance, but that didn’t seem to cause any upset. After a satisfying hour of wandering, they returned for a drinks reception in the Long Gallery which spilled out on to the Front Lawn. The Grand Piano was also host to an impromptu concert. The evening continued at a local pub and we have been assured that the festivities continued throughout the evening.
THROWBACK THURSDAYS We have had some incredibly positive responses to the new Throwback Thursdays we have been running on our OF Facebook Groups. Each Thursday, a photo from the archives is posted to all the OF Facebook groups asking for information on those that are in the photos. Often there is no context to a photo and within hours we have the names of the majority of those in the photos. If you are not a member of one of the OF Facebook groups, please do request to join. There are three – Frensham Heights School - Old Frenshamians; Old Frenshamians from the 70s and 80s and Old Frenshamians from the 50s and 60s.
LINKEDIN We have changed our LinkedIn page to an Education Institution. This means that you can now list Frensham Heights as your school rather than just a business page to follow. This means that you will be connected to others who do the same automatically.
FUTURE EVENTS
Founders Day – 2nd July 2022 An OF mixed tournament in the morning followed by the usual drinks reception but this time the reception will be hosted within Main House. We will also be having a videographer on Founder’s Day who will be wanting to capture your memories of your time at school. 21st Birthday Party – 17th September 2022 For all OFs who turned 21 in the academic year of 2021/2022. Class of 2008 reunion – October 2022 At Frensham Heights. Classes of 1991 and 1992 – November 2022 At Frensham Heights.
FROM THE ARCHIVE Lexi Pepperday, Alumni and Development Manager When I first arrived at Frensham back in September, I was told about “the cellar” and how it was now my responsibility as it fell under the remit of “alumni”. It took a few weeks before I ventured down to this largely unused suite of rooms, where no one but Gordon (Estates Bursar) and catering seemed to venture. These rooms, what I can only imagine were designed to be wine cellars, soon became my favourite place in the school. I now find myself wandering down there on a frequent basis to delve into the treasure trove of things that had been placed in (mostly) plastic boxes and then left alone. The smell of dust and abandonment was purveying, but it was easy to lose a number of hours down there. There are boxes that contain the purchasing agreement for the school, indeed we have all the correspondence between Mrs Ensor and the solicitors detailing the purchase of the building and the setting up of the educational trust that was to fund the running of the school for the first five years. We have a significant amount of old photos going back to before the First World War that at first I couldn’t place, they didn’t appear to be set at Frensham, but after some digging I realised that these were in fact the school photos of a teenage Paul Roberts and were taken at Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire. There are old year books from the 80s, old magazines and whole school photos (including the infamous photo from 1971 where one child, Paul Robertson I have since found out, appears on both ends of the top row). Photos of children doing all kinds of activities, some of which would be questionable now, and even some swimming photos where students wore only swimming hats and nothing else – how times have changed! We have boxes and boxes of school reports dating back to the very first years of the school, which I’m certain have not been opened in many decades, which I intend to take a closer look at in due course. Of all the treasures that I am attempting to archive in a 28
sensible fashion, the most interesting and moving belong to an OF called Guy Warbuton. There was a box devoted to him and it is a puzzle. Guy was born in 1918 and attended Frensham from 1926 to 1936. In this box were his service medals from World War Two along with the documentation from the War Office of the circumstance of his death in the Pacific. There is also a fabulous caricature of him dressed in his uniform. I became fascinated with this man and his story and why we have these things buried in our cellar rather than with a family member. So I did some digging along with a fabulous Year 7 Student called Olly who has a really keen interest in all things Second World War… Guy joined Frensham Heights in 1926 as an eight year old boarder. He had a brother and a sister, neither of whom I can find any clue to whether they came here or not. Guy’s family lived in Croydon but his father had recently passed away. Perhaps that was the reason for him to be at a boarding school. We have a surviving letter to him from his mother on black rimmed mourning paper. In it she tells him to be brave and not to cry. He left Frensham in 1936 and went straight into the RAF at the age of 19. After a number of years in the RAF war began. Guy was a very distinguished flyer and obtained the following medals: •
1939-1945 Star - Awarded to someone who served through the entire conflict
•
Pacific Star - Awarded to someone that served in the Pacific Campaign in 1941-1945
•
France and Germany Star - Awarded to someone who served in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany and adjacent sea areas between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945
•
Defense Medal - Awarded to someone non-operational military and certain types of civilian war service during the Second World War
•
War Medal 1939-45 - Awarded to someone who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945.
Guy was also awarded the Long Service Award Medal which was usually awarded after ten years of service, however service on flying duties with the Royal Air Force or any
other Commonwealth Air Force during the Second World War between 3rd September 1939 and 2nd September 1945 was reckoned as treble time. Once the war was over, Guy was stationed in Hong Kong as it was the nearest British Territory in the Pacific region. In March 1946, Guy’s aircraft took off from Kai Tak airfield at 10:26 to carry out Homing and Let Down practice. At 11:15am, whilst approaching the airfield from the South-West, all wireless telegraphy and Radio-Telephone communication, which is almost continuous between the aircraft and the airfield during the exercise, ceased and the airfield received no further signal or message. Overdue action resulted in the wreckage of the aircraft being discovered on Lantau Island, at a point of 1,800 feet above sea level. The exact time of the crash and the weather conditions at that particular place when the crash occurred, could not be established. It can only be assumed that weather conditions over the Lantau Islands were more adverse than could have been anticipated from the conditions existing over the base and from the local forecast. Guy was buried initially at the site of the accident, then re-buried at the Colonial Cemetery, Happy Valley, Hong Kong in April 1946. In October 1947, Guy was exhumed and reburied at grave number 7, Plot 1, Row F of the Sai Wan Military Cemetery in Hong Kong which is where he still lies today. One question I was not able to successfully answer was why his medals and all this information about him is held in our archive. We have no records of when it was gifted to us or why or by whom. These are further questions that I will try to find answers to. But his story will now be told to students, and over the next Armistice Day, we will create an exhibition at the school about him.
REFUGEES AT FRENSHAM Frensham has a long and established history when it comes to supporting refugees. Frensham took in a significant number of Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in the 1930s, and once again the school welcomed refugees in the 1990s during the Bosnian conflict. This is such an important part of our heritage as a school and we are committed to ensuring that we bring our values to life by doing what we can to help. As this magazine goes to print, we have already welcomed our first three Ukrainian students who are being hosted by a local family. The intention is to welcome more children over the coming weeks. We are also providing our grounds and facilities on regular weekends as a hub for local Ukrainian families to get together, regardless of whether they attend the school, as a haven and place to relax with each other. The below is an edited excerpt taken from Frensham Heights, 1925-49: A Study in Progressive Education by Peter Daniel which talks about the experiences of some of our first refugees and how Frensham quite literally changed their lives: The influx in the later 1930s of a number of German and Austrian Jewish refugees from Nazi tyranny greatly enriched the life of the school. Mostly boys of thirteen and over, they approached ten per cent of the school’s numbers in 1935 -1939. Frensham was one of the few schools that would accept children who initially knew no English. Many of these children had a background of family tragedy, with one or both of their parents killed or left behind. In most cases their only ‘crime’ was their Jewish descent, though the father of the Braun brothers (Richard and Werner) was an active member of the German Confessional Church, in opposition to the Nazi regime. Their pre-Frenshamian histories were varied. Peter Tischler (later Terry) had been taken at the age of twelve or thirteen with other Jewish children down to the frozen Danube and told he would be drowned in it. He had an exciting cliff hanger escape
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from Austria after the Anschluss with Germany, flown by a Swiss pilot from Vienna to Switzerland and hotly pursued all the way to the Swiss frontier by a German fighter. He had the distinction of having as his sponsors Sigmund Freud and the Duke of Windsor! George Merzbach came from Kurt Hahn’s (founder of Gordonstoun in Scotland) school at Salem, where he was a contemporary of Prince Philip, who remembered Salem with affection, although it had a military tinge, with storming of castles and taking of prisoners. Walter Elkan was also more fortunate than most – he had been at a Rudolf Steiner school in Hamburg, one of the few still left that would take Jewish students and had been treated well by the ‘kindly and in their way heroic’ teachers there. One girl, Gertrude Marx, was to disappear after the fall of France, almost certainly to a concentration camp. Several of the boys recorded “what an absolute haven of rationality and kindness Frensham was after the German schools”. Wolf Rilla recalls the day of his arrival: ‘It was one of those golden September days when the school and grounds look their best. Everything was deceptively quiet and peaceful and beautiful. But I wasn’t deceived. I was an old hand at being a “new boy” – in many countries and at many schools. I was terrified and I braced myself for what I knew was to come. The musty smell of stone corridors which stuck with loathing in my nose. The cold and hostile stare of many eyes. The quiet sarcasm of the masters. The many small but sharp cruelties which I knew had to be the lot of a new boy for weeks. And this was going to be even worse. I had never been to a boarding school. Moreover, my command of the language reduced my fourteen years for all practical purposes to four. It was with a considerable shock that I realised that none of this was forthcoming. Nobody stared at me particularly. There was no musty smell, no stone passages. Nobody thought I was odd – or, if they thought it, they didn’t show it. I was accepted with a naturalness that was unbelievable. And, because I didn’t trust it, I was still prepared to burst into tears when during my first lesson the next day a terrifying character with a long chin and a shock of black hair put a copy of Macbeth in English in front of me and curtly commanded me to read it. Only much later did I realise that it was shock-tactics which made it possible for the English language to be so injected into my system that it became my language and the very reverse of shock-tactics – that easy-going, tolerant acceptance of myself – which
injected the love and admiration for the country of that language into my system. And I would not have dreamt then that this terrifying black-haired character was going to be, ten years later, an old and intimate friend. Such a relationship between master and student, even old master and old student, was unthinkable in the countries of my previous experience.’ I have never forgotten those first few days. No other space of time so short has had so profound an influence upon my life and character. My four years at Frensham make the old cliché about the best years of one’s life almost a truth. What is certain is that there I learned – in rudimentary form, of course – to love and hate most of the things that I love and hate now, though I learned very little indeed of hatred. What is equally certain is that those years prevented me from becoming one the unhappy pieces of neurotic driftwood which has been the fate of many of my contemporaries uprooted as I had been uprooted.’ Similar testimony is given by Claus Moser, who like Wolf was at Frensham for four years. ‘I came to the school in 1936 straight from Berlin, where I was just one of thousands of students who were the objects of discipline and regimentation. What a contrast to come to Frensham! I still remember my first days there for the spirit of friendliness and happiness which seemed to pervade the school atmosphere, at no time did I find my complete ignorance of the English language the slightest handicap to making friends or being accepted into the general community. The secret of Frensham’s unquestioned success as a school lay in the co-operation rather than mere obedience and which consequently created real respect, the thing that counted at the school was not whether you were a Jew or a Gentile, a German or an Englishman; but whether you were a good member of the community…’ Peter Tischler came from the ‘drab Public schools of Austria, with their badly whitewashed walls and the smell of carbolic which prevailed in every classroom and corridor’. The teachers ‘knew nothing about us, and even after a year or two know only a few of us by name. They had nothing to do but determine the mistakes we made in our last lesson. They questioned us and we had to reply and there was no other relation between us. The idea of talking to them about some personal trouble never occurred to one and tone made it one’s business to ease them and play spiteful tricks on them’. He delighted in writing to his school friends in Vienna to tell them that ‘Masters here are actually human beings and talk not only of the subjects they teach’.
Susan Jacob, herself a student at the school, married Walter Elkan, who as we have seen was one of the refugees. She comments that ‘They seemed to learn English very quickly, and soon the features which had made them distinguishable as a group faded in importance beside the differences of personality which appeared.’ She goes on however to point out that Paul Roberts believed that German boys were ‘much more interested in girls at an early age that the others… gallantry in the romantic sense never got English schoolboys much credit’. If you would like to read the above book, please get in contact with the Development Office and they can loan you a copy.
BURSARY FUND As economic and social inequality continues to grow in the UK, the role of education as a catalyst for change has become ever more critical. Since our inception in 1925, we have provided financial support through bursaries for students. Over its long existence it has, through a combination of generous giving and legacies, been able to award a significant number of bursaries for students in need of fee support during their time at Frensham. We provide first-class, free or supported education to a small number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, helping them to reach their full potential and transforming lives in a way that no other educational establishment in the UK can match. With your help we can make a real difference. The generosity of our supporters is essential for us to continue to provide a transformative education to more disadvantaged young people. Transformational bursaries have a lifelong impact on students and their families. We are committed to expanding the number of bursaries we offer through our bursary programme and whilst we do not have an active fundraising programme at the moment, any help will always be welcome. We usually receive many more applications for bursaries than we can support. You can support our bursary programme by donating to a bursary in a number of ways: •
Make a regular or single gift to the bursary programme
•
Fund a Sixth Form bursary
•
Fund a full seven year bursary
•
Leave a legacy gift in your will
If you would like to make a gift to our bursary programme please contact Lexi in our Development Team lexipepperday@frensham.org. 32
Whilst we have an ongoing bursary fund, we also have a temporary bursary fund to support the Ukrainian children that we have welcomed this term. The school has immediately funded these children, but in order to be able to continue to support them, we have reached out to the Frensham Community to help us. One current Frensham parent said: “Our contribution feels like a drop in the ocean but together with other Frensham families, we hope to make a difference for future students who don’t have the choices our children are given. To gift an education and encourage a future of possibilities and opportunities is the least we can do.”
LEGACY Pledging a gift through your will is an effective way to leave a gift free of tax if you are a UK taxpayer and potentially reducing Inheritance Tax, whilst leaving an enduring legacy for a cause that is meaningful to you. All legacies, of any size, are greatly appreciated. Every gift counts, whether it is a fixed sum or a share of your estate. If you would like more information about leaving a legacy to our 1925 Bursary Fund please contact Lexi in our Development Team - lexipepperday@frensham.org.
BIRTHS AND MARRIAGES Polina Bakh (OF 2001-2008) and Will Burgess – wedding on 21st August 2021 at Frensham Heights.
Polina & Will
Lauren Self (OF 1999 – 2013) and James Weller (OF 2008-2012) met at Frensham when they were 14 and 15, got married on 26 October 2021. Their little girl, Margot was born in January of this year.
Lauren & James
Johnny Goddard (OF 2003-2010) had a civil ceremony with Barbara Tasch – 2nd Feb 2022 in Luxembourg with the church wedding and reception taking place later on this year. Averil Goddard (OF 1999- 2006) married Dominic Curtis – 30th April 2022 in Dorset.
WEDDINGS AT FRENSHAM HEIGHTS
Lauren, James & Margot
Averil & Dominic
If any OFs want to take advantage of getting married at Frensham Heights then we will give you your first reception drink. The weddings take place within Main House using six stunning, interconnected internal spaces including the Long Gallery, the Drawing Room, the Staff Dining Room, The Ballroom and The Orangery and the main reception or outside with the use of the Walled Garden, the Front Lawn, the Treehouse and Courtyard are all at your disposal. Please do let us know if you are getting married or having a baby over the following year as we would love to feature you in our next edition.
Johnny & Barbara
IN MEMORIAM Because there has been no OF magazine since 2019, here are those that have passed since that time that we know about.
Susan Pomeroy, née Tod - OF 1945-1952 January 2020 Susan passed away on 24th January 2020. She was within a week of her 85th birthday and she died peacefully in a care home where she had been living for the past 14 months. She was a student at Frensham Heights during the 40s and early 50s. She registered her intention to have her body donated for medical science and King’s College London agreed to accept her. Here is a short quote of her speaking about her memories from VE day at Frensham: ‘we were allowed to stay up later than usual...we came back and this is my big memory and I shall never forget it... it makes me quite weepy, even now.... Remember, I was only 10 and had grown up in the black out...And they had turned on all the lights in the building. And it was the first time I’d ever seen a building lit up. And as we walked up [towards Main House], it was really magical; I’ve never forgotten it.’
Carol Gardiner - OF 1930s March 2020 Carol died at her Richmond Home, Painswick on Thursday 12th March. Carol was Head Girl at Frensham with Timothy Cracroft as Head Boy and throughout her long life she was tireless in keeping up with her school friends.
Roderick Standing – OF 1945-1947 April 2020 By his friend, Lillian Dewar
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If anyone asked Roderick where he was born he would normally reply truthfully “Salisbury”, only revealing
some time later that is was probably not the place they were thinking of. He was actually born in Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia, now Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. His parents were both Oxford graduates and, on his mother’s side, he had some illustrious ancestors, including Thomas Fremantle, one of Nelson’s Trafalgar captains and Sir Charles Barry, the architect who redesigned the Houses of Parliament in the 19th Century. So his prospects seemed to be very favourable. However, at a young age, Roderick had to cope with a lot of unhappiness. When he was ten years old, the father, whom he loved very much, died on war service in Madagascar. His mother was anxious to get him and his two younger brothers back to England, so, in June 1944, the family embarked on a risky voyage from Capetown to Liverpool on board R.M.S. Andes. In 1945 Roddy started at Frensham Heights as a boarder. He did not shine academically, but enjoyed the Woodwork lessons, thankfully doing extra Woodwork instead of Maths. The Headmaster, Paul Roberts, had enlightened ideas on education, stressing fairness, encouragement and high moral standards – values which remained with Roddy throughout his life. While at Frensham Heights Roddy developed a love of the countryside, exploring hills and heathland on long walks and cycle rides. Over the years a day-trip to that area from his home in Reading was a favourite outing. At 15 Roddy left school to serve a printing apprenticeship with the Oxford University Press and the last 15 years of his career were spent as a proof-reader with the Newbury Weekly News, an independent, respected newspaper. After school-days Roddy was determined to broaden his education, gaining GCE ‘O’ levels in French, German and Spanish and dipping into Esperanto (a universal language intended to bring about world peace.) His wide range of interests, which he could discuss in depth, included steam trains, railways, bears (both real and fictional), ancient ruins, traditional folk music and European travel. It hadn’t occurred to Roddy to make contact with his old school until 2015 when we attended Frensham Heights’ 90th birthday celebrations, a most enjoyable occasion. Every year after that we came to Founder’s Day and in September 2019 to a summer picnic in the grounds when we were pleased to meet Rick Clarke, the new Headmaster who was walking with his dog – recognised by Roddy as a Rhodesian ridgeback cross, similar to the pet his family had once owned. Then, unexpectedly, a youthful “Old
Girl” came along to say hello. We soon learnt that her name was Pasha, a portrait artist by profession, and she introduced us to her convivial group of friends. This led to some lively conversation and Roddy was delighted that they were genuinely interested in his reminiscences. It proved to be the last time he would visit Frensham Heights and, thanks to Pasha, we had a specially happy day to look back on. Many people had a high regard for Roddy and, after his passing, I received a number of letters and phone calls mentioning his kind-heartedness and courtesy. When he’d had a really good day out, his parting words would often be: “Thank you for the pleasure of your company.” – But his company gave pleasure to others in equal measure.
Jenny Hytner Marriot – OF 1971-1973 2020 Obituary written by Natasha Maddison (OF 1969-1974) Jenny rocked up at Frensham Heights - and I mean “rocked up” if that description applies anywhere it is to her- aged 14 and was always herself, and never veered from that. She was as Sally (one of my still FH girlfriends) remarked: “fully formed” and as I discussed with Ama she never changed not because of being childish or childlike but that she was so very much more grown up than the rest of us in the first place. “Gutsy and authentic” said Ama, pointing out how refreshing that was in our FH world back then. She was possibly my first real Jewish friend. From a completely different background - her Dad a QC - mine were poor Jewish immigrants from the East End, but she said out loud I’m Jewish and it gave me a kind of courage to say it too. Neither of us came from practising families - but I was always part of that enclave of fear to speak my origins and she was always bold, and helped me feel fearless too. I stayed with her one half-term in Altrincham. What kindness I experienced from her parents and brothers. We drove back to school with Sister Scott (our nursing sister at FH who was the only person in my time there, staff or student to wear a full blown uniform cap and all). For the main part of her life she ran what the press called a luxury dog hotel. It was a place of joy, her social media accounts simply full of dogs dancing and jumping, I would turn to it in my travels for the sheer exuberance of those of
photos capturing a moment which always made me smile. She had worked for BAFTA in London and Los Angeles, worked for people as mad and high up in the entertainment as Harvey Goldsmith - who had the temerity to phone her once in the middle of Coronation Street, and that was his worst move, she would never go back to work for anyone who would interrupt her Corrie. She had a flare and style which was unmatched, was so damn funny I just smile thinking of her. Latterly I could listen to her for hours, to any story she wanted to tell. She leaves a lovely daughter Sarah, a partner, and a lovely family. She leaves us all bereft.
Tom Koralek - OF 1939-1941, OF Governor 1976-1990 November 2020 Tom died on Saturday 28th November 2020 just a few weeks short of his 96th birthday. In 1939, when he was 13, Tom and his sister, Elisabeth joined Frensham Heights having fled Czechoslovakia. They stayed at Frensham for four terms before leaving for Mexico so they could be reunited with their parents who had been unable to leave France. During his life, Tom split his time between Mexico and London and was a university lecturer in Business. He also served as a Governor at Frensham from 1976 to 1990 and was Treasurer of the Board of Governors for a number of years during that time and his daughter Ivana, was a student at Frensham. Tom and his wife, Marie-Claire latterly lived in France. We were delighted to welcome him to school in 2013 to talk about his experience of Frensham, the welcome he received and the friendships he made.
Jon Lambe - OF staff – 1998-2003 2020 Jon (or ‘Lambie’ as he was affectionately known) was Head of History at Frensham between 1998 and 2003 and will be very fondly remembered by his colleagues and students alike. A lover of the great outdoors, Jon led many of our Outdoor Education activities - surfing trips, Duke of
Edinburgh expeditions, numerous camps and mountain hikes. His form outings were incredibly popular - trips to London and punting in both Oxford and Cambridge to name a few. Jon left Frensham to lead the History Department at St. Edward’s, Oxford where he continued to teach until very recently. Jon was a true inspiration to those he worked with and taught; an amazing man of great character and humour who will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
Johnnie Rutter - OF 1960s 2021 Johnnie died of lung cancer in 2021. Johnnie was one of four siblings who went to Frensham between 1954 and 1968. He leaves behind his wife Julie, two children Megan and Ashley, four grandchildren and his three sisters Jenny, Lindy and Annabel.
Sasha Wernberg-Moller (nee Shibley) - OF 1930s, OF Staff 1940s 2021 Sasha was a student at Frensham in the late 1930’s, who returned to Frensham in 1942, age just 17, as a new member of staff. Sasha often spoke about Frensham Heights with huge fondness, and met some of her closest friends during this time. After the war Sasha worked at the main Public Library in the centre of Oxford, before being offered a job in the Bodleian Library in 1948. Working at the Bodleian enabled Sasha to study at the same time for an Oxford degree at St Anne’s College. The Bodleian paid both her tuition fees and college dues, thus making her the first ‘Bodley girl’. Many years later, in a happy marriage and with five young children, she became the Librarian at St Edmund Hall, which was a position that she kept for 17 years. She was a truly remarkable person, with a deep love especially for her family and for her closest friends, but also for people, travel, poetry, music, gardening, and for so much more. She will be greatly missed by so many
Keith Ramsay - OF staff 1962-1973
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students at Aberdeen University, completing their final year as a married couple. Keith came to Frensham Heights in 1962 as an English teacher and directed the school productions. Frensham Heights at that time presented a particular challenge to new teachers. Expectations were high amongst the students, boredom thresholds low, and little respect was paid to the notion that discipline was the answer. Keith succeeded in part through sheer force of personality. He brought a fierce brain and great knowledge of his subject, and a love of theatre. Theatre was the right term, because his sense of drama did not focus on modern understatement. He brought Milton, Donne and Tolkein to blazing life for his students, often through his own reading. And in the holidays he started the Farnham Youth Theatre. He moved from Frensham Heights to Bishop Grosseteste College (in Lincoln, to train teachers) and worked there till he retired. Keith remained life long friends with fellow teachers from Frensham Heights: Alan Matthews, Michael Lee and Richard Weeks. Richard is now sadly the last man standing. The families are still close. Keith died peacefully in his own bed on 14th March 2021, 5 months exactly after his beloved Tazza.
Erica Segre - OF 1980-1982 April 2021 Erica passed away at the age of 57 after a three year battle with brain cancer. She was an outstanding academic, a fellow at Trinity College Cambridge University, accomplished writer, poet and painter who dedicated her life to the pursuit of knowledge and excellence. She continued to publish and write and translate as a way to normalise what was happening and which was integral in enabling her to beat the six month diagnosis to two and a half years. She left behind a husband Simon and two children Aurora and Gabriel.
March 2021
Jonno Suart – OF 1971-1975
Keith died on 14th March 2021 aged 87. Keith was born in South Africa, his family returning to the UK six months later. He lived in Hampstead and Highgate as a child. He attended Michael Hall Rudolph Steiner School aged 11 in 1944 and met Tazza. They started dating aged 14 and married in 1957, July 13th in West Wittering, whilst still
April 2021 Jonno sadly died after a short illness, he attended Frensham Heights between 1971 and 1975. He was known to all who knew him as very charming, witty and a maverick, being very independently minded he did things very much his way.
He wrote and played music. His eloquent and witty writings were often seen on the Frensham Heights website as well as his written and sometimes “risky” video recordings of Founders’ Days which he always attended. He felt very strongly that Frensham Heights was “his school”. Jonno will be very much missed, he had large groups of friends where he was always middle and centre. Jonno leaves two children, Hope and Theo.
Neil McDerment – OF 1996-2002 November 2021 Neil McDerment attended Frensham Heights for the whole of his secondary education, from 1996 to 2002. It was while living in Farnham and attending Frensham that he was diagnosed with epilepsy, when he was about 14 years old and it was during an epileptic seizure that he died in Edinburgh on 18th November, 2021. He was only 37. Neil was born in Chile and had attended British and international schools in Portugal and Belgium before the family came back to the UK in 1991, where he first went to the Bourne Primary School and then William Cobbett Junior School. It would be fair to say that he did not excel in school, at least on paper. His teachers generally agreed that he worked hard and had a thirst for knowledge that did not always transfer itself successfully to the page: struggling with dyspraxia and impaired eyesight, he was notorious for writing only the bare minimum in English and history essays. “Minimalistic” was how he was often described in his reports! He loved drama and pottery and Outdoor Ed and became a stalwart on the rugby pitch but somehow also became a regular with the school nurse. While at Frensham, he assisted the Outdoor Ed staff in organising and supervising both team-building and individual activities, using the rope course and other facilities for groups in younger years. He took part in team expeditions to Dartmoor and the Lake District and on one trip he was praised for helping a panic-
stricken team mate out of a claustrophobic cave tunnel. One of his Frensham highlights was winning the Outdoor Ed Prize. He took up snooker in the Frensham Heights Sixth Form centre and continued to be an enthusiastic player at both Uni and beyond. In 2001 he joined the school’s World Challenge expedition to Kyrgyzstan led by Barry Carr and Lynn Elgy. He suffered an epileptic fit while high in the mountains, but the team was well prepared and he recovered and continued with the rest of the adventure. In 2000, Neil was joined at Frensham Heights by his younger sister, Ailie. His six years at Frensham had served Neil well and he left for Stirling University where he obtained a BSc in Molecular and Cell Biology. That was followed by an MSc in Genomic and Pathway Biology at Edinburgh University, a PhD in Functional Genomics at the famous Roslin Institute, where he became the de facto social events organiser, and a further Master’s in Bioinformatics at Edinburgh. The title of his PhD thesis was “Identification Of Novel Candidate Genes For Regulation Of Follicle Selection In The Avian Ovary”. He was very settled in Edinburgh, having bought a flat there at the beginning of his PhD studies, and had a wide circle of good friends of different backgrounds and nationalities. He enjoyed a full and varied social life with them, of ceilidhs, dinners (many of which he hosted and cooked himself), games and quiz nights and outings to sci-fi films. On his own he continued his study of history, family, Scottish and military history in particular, and his love of many genres of music, most particularly Scottish folk music. Although Neil suffered from occasional seizures from the age of 14 onwards, in general they had been well controlled by medication and he never let the condition hold him back in terms of work or energetic outdoor activities such as skiing. His death from “SUDEP” (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy) while out with friends came as a huge shock to his family and they have set up a memorial fund in his name at Epilepsy Research UK - https:// epilepsyresearch.org.uk/give-in-memory/memorial-funds/ neil-mcderment If any of his old friends find themselves on the island of Mull, a beautiful place he loved to visit, they will find his resting place in Kilpatrick Cemetery on the road to Duart Castle.
Mark Howard – OF 1952-1957 December 2021
Mickie Rose – Former Governor 1981-1993 December 2021 Mickie Rose, a former Governor sadly passed away in December 2021. He was an incredibly supportive Governor and had three children who attending Frensham Emma (1978-1982), Justin (1978-1985) and Sophie (1984-1986).
John Walker – OF 1957-1961 March 2022
Samer died at his home in Arlington Texas on January 4th 2022 of a heart attack. His kind heart & generous personality will be missed by many.
John was born in Wrecclesham and lived in Farnham. He was educated as a day boy at Barfield, Frensham Heights and the Distributive Trades College in London. He had a long career in soft furnishing. He moved to the West Country in 1979 and became a late entrant officer in the Royal Air Force and served in the Royal Observer corps. His abiding interest was military vehicles and commentating at shows in different venues across the country. He leaves his wife Juliet and sons Jason and David.
Judy Woodhouse – OF 1957-1960
Wilfred Cass – OF 1939-1941
January 2022
April 2022
Samer Guirguis – OF 1975-1980 January 2022
Christopher Latham – OF staff 1962-1970 January 2022 Obituary written by David Tutt, former teacher 19651970. The late Christopher Latham (Music Staff 19621965 and Head of Music 1965-’70) came to Frensham Heights from Bedales School, Hampshire, where amongst other things he taught some amazingly talented clarinet students. As it turned out he was ideally suited to continue and enhance the excellent tradition of Music Education at Frensham, being a fine pianist and clarinettist and a competent player of the violin and viola, all skills that he used to enthuse students (and staff)! Indeed it was his enthusiasm for his subject that, as with all good teachers, enabled him to reach out and inspire so many members of the Frensham community. After Christopher left Frensham he went on to head the music staff at Sidcot School, Somerset, where he met and married his wife Jennifer (nee Rowland). The pair emigrated to Australia in 1978 where Christopher headed the music staff at Scotch College in Melbourne and St Hilda’s School in Perth. 38
Many OFs will remember Christopher as a firm but kind member of staff in the school and at Hamilton House, and all will have benefited directly or indirectly from his superb organisational skills. His famous, carefully annotated diary being essential to his ordered way of life.
Wilfred was born Wolfgang Cassirer in Berlin on November 11 1924, the son of Hans Cassirer, a Jewish industrialist who made insulation for electric cables, and his wife, Edith (née Bieber); his grandfather, Paul Cassirer, had been an art dealer and was instrumental in establishing the reputation in Germany of artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. The family fled to Britain in 1935, and while a student at Frensham Heights Wilfred started his first business, a bicycle repair company. He was apprenticed to an electrical repair business in Loughborough, did war service with the Pioneer Corps – where he changed his name to Wilfred – and took a diploma in telecommunications at Regent Street Polytechnic. Wilfred was Chairman and Chief Executive of Moss Bros, guiding the menswear company through turbulent times in the late 1980s; in retirement he and his wife Jeanette founded the Cass Sculpture Foundation, which not only displayed an impressive array of works at their home in West Sussex but also funded public art, including the first three sculptures on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Wilfred, who devoured biographies and art books, was appointed CBE in 2006. He married Jean Forbes in 1957. That marriage didn’t last and in 1983 he married Jeannette Futter. She died in 2020 and he is survived by a son and a daughter from his first marriage. Wilfred Cass, born November 11 1924, died April 19 2022
Lesley Osborn (nee Clough) – OF 1960-1966 May 2022
Hugh Dixon – Former Governor 1990-1999 May 2022 Hugh died peacefully in his sleep on the 9th May 2022. He had been battling numerous ailments for the past few years and fought to the very end. He was a loving husband to Jaye, devoted father and stepfather to Rupert, Giles, Lucy, Vicky and Katie and a doting grandfather to his 12 grandchildren! Hugh was the founding chairman of Farnham Rugby Club – one of his great passions and one of his proudest achievements. He had many different business ventures, which included: manufacturing food containers for the army; Managing Director of a PLC specialising in tea estates in India and Malawi; a successful Property Development Company, which has been running for over 35 years; Golf Club Development where he engineered the takeover of a PLC in the short space of 4 years, finally ending up with a substantial portfolio of clubs when he sold his stake in 2001. Hugh was a governor from 1990 – 1999 after he discovered the school for his daughter, Vicky. During his time, he was involved in the refurbishment of many areas of the school, most of which are still in use today. This included the renovation of the Headmasters House, modernising the Science School, adapting existing buildings for the Junior School and his biggest project was to build and project manage the Performing Arts Centre, now known as The Aldridge Theatre. This last project he was personally involved with and was extremely pleased when it won a national prize for the best school architecture that year.
The headmaster at the time, Peter DeVoil, recalls his contribution: “Hugh was a firm believer in the ethos of the school, he admitted that he was not an expert on education, but always listened carefully to any ideas or proposals that I or others came up with, asked intelligent questions and made helpful suggestions. The school as it is today owes much to his vision, his contribution and his commitment.” Hugh’s last great project was the discovery and the creation, along with a couple of close colleagues, in the development of a piece of scrubland in Grenada in the West Indies into a beautiful beach front complex. It was here where, for the last 20 years, he would annually migrate from the cold and damp English winter for the warmth of the Caribbean. Many a video call would be conducted with him permanently tanned, sipping on a Carib beer, if only to make you feel more jealous! He loved life and everyone who knew him will remember his amazing stories, told with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, as they were often quite rude! He always had a song, limerick or joke to hand and was one of the most positive, caring and charismatic of people. He will be greatly missed by everyone that knew and loved him.
Lost OFs Our database of OFs consists of around 2,000 OFs. We have a missing list of around 4,000 and are always looking for any lost OFs. Here are some of our lost OFs, if you know anyone on this list, please ask them to get in touch, or to sign up to the OF database on oldfrenshamians.org.
1970s
1980s
1990s
2010s
• Walter Gordon
• Ted Tzu-Ping
• Alasdair Duncan
• Joseph Connolly
• Lizzie Bouckley
• Lawrence Jones
• Nicola Moore
• Justin Purefoy
• Antonia Jackson
• Tarquin Henriques
• Marcus Chow
• Helen KnowJohnston
• Caludia Ruane
• Jack Davis
• Mary Nisbet
• Rose Hillson
• Christopher Roxburgh
• Seneo Mwamba
• Angela Green • Ursula Lewis • Cecilia Holmes • Albert Tango • Jane Wilkinson • Kate Britton • Angela Lee
• Victoria Ansell • Jay Raibourn
• Mary Harrison • Nancy Metcalfe
• Alison Vaughan
• Sebastian Bohnenberger
• Zanganini Banda
• Emilia Vaughan
• Tanya Al-Khadra
• Constantin Bomers
• Annabelle Frank • Emilie Irvin
• Kazuki Togase • Hai Wang • Ilona Galieva
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2000s
• Alexandra Starkloff
• Daisy Danziger • Alvaro Dorado
• Maria Lutterbeck
• Ursa Guo
• Fidelia Lutterbeck
• Nickie Stewart
• Michael Dwyer
• Zuleika Band
• Katie Marshall
Frensham Heights Rd, Rowledge, Farnham GU10 4EA.
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