Issuu

Issue 02 King’s crowned

The Sunday Times Independent Secondary School of the Year

School musical

How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying a complete triumph

Walls and Bridges

Medics Q&A

Our ten-year Masterplan to renew and reach out: shaping the future of King’s

We talk to three OKs to discover how they started their careers…

King’s Association News King’s awarded coveted title Drama: How to succeed in business without really trying Sports update Development news The Arthur Wellesley Society The Friends of King’s Renewal programme update OKC News

OK News

Simon Watkins OK 2006 Artist

Ross Hutchins OK 2001 Tennis player

After finishing the IB, Simon Watkins (OK 2006) spent a year in Florence, studying drawing under the American artist, Charles C Cecil. He then went on to study History of Art at the University of York, writing his dissertation on portraiture in 18th century Britain. On the completion of his degree, he returned to Florence, eventually becoming an instructor himself, teaching on two intensive month-long drawing courses. Simon works from life, always with his subject in the studio and is now a painter in Wimbledon Art Studios, taking portrait commissions. He has exhibited in various competitions and shows, including the National Open Art Exhibition in which he was a prize winner, with judge Brian Sewell admiring his work. Recently he painted the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a portrait commissioned by the Diocese of Durham.

Having enjoyed great success as a professional tennis player, Ross Hutchins (OK 2001), announced his decision to end his professional career this year. Ross had a busy summer as Tournament Director of the 2014 Aegon Championships at the Queen’s Club. During this competition he participated in the fundraising event “Rally for Bally” which raises money in memory of former British tennis player, Elena Baltacha. Team Ross – consisting of Hitchins, Victoria Azarenka and Heather Watson – beat Team Andy – consisting of Andy Murray, Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis – in a first-to-nine-game set. Then in September, Ross reached the mixed doubles semi-finals in the US Open with his partner, Yung-Jan Chan, and chose to announce his retirement a week later. Known best as a doubles player, Ross’s career spanned more than 10 years and includes five titles in Tour doubles, plus a silver medal from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi to boot! Shortly after his retirement, Ross was appointed as Vice President, ATP Player Relations, so there is no doubt that he will continue to play a significant role in the world of tennis.

Professor James Binney OK 1968 Celebrated Astrophysicist Honorary Fellow and OK, Professor James Binney, has enjoyed a brilliant career as an astrophysicist. Having taught at Oxford for over 30 years, Professor Binney is a Professor of Physics at the university, as well as a Fellow of Merton College and over the years has been the recipient of a host of awards recognising his achievements in the field. In 2013, the illustrious OK was awarded both the Eddington Medal, celebrating investigations of outstanding merit in astrophysics, by the Royal Astronomical Society, and also the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris Medal “for his inspiring contribution to theoretical Galactic and extragalactic astrophysics”. It is fantastic to be able to count such a celebrated scientist amongst our number.

Dan Smith OK 2004 Musician It’s been another great year for Bastille front man and OK Dan Smith. The group scored two nominations at the American Music Awards in November for New Artist of the Year and Favourite Artist – Alternative Rock. Bastille were also involved in Band Aid 30’s rendition of Do They Know It’s Christmas? to raise funds for the fight against Ebola in west Africa.

Marcus Mumford OK 2004 Musician In May this year, Mumford & Sons won a prestigious Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement. Marcus Mumford collaborated with Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Jim James (My Morning Jacket) to create Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes. Released in November, the album consists of a series of tracks that the artists wrote and recorded based on the discovery of never-seen Bob Dylan lyrics written while he was recovering from a motorcycle accident in 1966.

School News

King’s win the coveted title of Sunday Times Independent Secondary School of the Year Alastair McCall, editor of the Sunday Times ‘Parent Power’ said: “KCS has carried off the remarkable achievement of creating a school with outstanding examination results without the atmosphere of an academic hothouse. “Children make an impact across the full spectrum of activities, both inside the classroom and out, and the commitment of those children and the staff of KCS to working with local state schools and sharing their undoubted skills and general excellence is an example to the entire independent sector.” King’s has risen up the league tables in recent years. In the Sunday Times, it has climbed from 17th to 5th, and in other newspapers it regularly features in the top three. King’s also hit the headlines for its decision to take girls in the sixth form after nearly 200 years as an

all-boys school, and to reintroduce A level alongside its successful IB programme. There is little wonder that in 2014 alone King’s has been so frequently praised: • Sunday Times Independent Secondary School of the Year 2014 • Best for the IB, The Week August/Winter 2014 • R anked third for IB and A level results, the Telegraph 2014 • R anked fifth for GCSE results, The Times • Won the Outstanding Progress Award in the Independent Schools’ category of The Education Business Awards sponsored by Rathbones. Head Master, Andrew Halls, is the only head to have steered two schools through to the UK’s Top School Award. In 2004 he was Master of Magdalen College School, Oxford, when it was also made School of the Year.

51 Pupils have met their Oxbridge offer this year

Hitting the high marks again! This summer’s upper sixth and upper fifth have proved to be golden years with the school’s best ever combination of IB and GCSE results. In both The Times and the Telegraph, King’s was ranked second best boys’ or co-ed school in the UK for GCSE results, and the best boys’ or co-ed school for A level/IB results, discounting a sixth form college in Cardiff which has only 18 UK students. Including all schools, King’s finished fifth nationally for GCSE and third for A level/IB. At GCSE, King’s achieved a record-breaking 96.6% of all full-course grades at A* and A, with 75.4% of all results at A* alone. Kai Konishi-Dukes hit the national headlines with a remarkable achievement of 15 top grades. With one of the largest International Baccalaureate cohorts in the world, the King’s upper sixth of 190 pupils achieved outstanding results. With a new school record of 53% of all higher level grades at Level 7 (equivalent to A* at A level), it is no surprise that 92% of the year achieved their first choice university, with 51 pupils winning places to Oxford and Cambridge. This was the third consecutive year that the King’s upper sixth had achieved a school average of over 40 points – and no school in the world with similarly sized cohorts can match this record. Meanwhile, the lower fifth achieved 93% of all grades at A* in their French GCSE, and the first lower sixth AS cohort since 2007 achieved 88% of all grades at A/B, a figure that should provide a strong platform for A level success next year.

Many OKs have written to congratulate the school on its decision to provide an 11+ entry into the senior school. The new lower school opens in September 2016. We would like to widen access to King’s and to develop our bursary funding accordingly. This term, three donors pledged £1.5million as matched funding for 11+ bursaries. If you would also like to contribute, please contact Funda Ozmus on 020 8255 5428 or f.ozmus@kcs.org.uk

“ This is a real tribute to pupils, parents, staff and Governors: we can all be very proud of King’s.” Andrew Halls

True Grit Conference The King’s ‘True Grit’ conference brought together some of the UK’s top researchers and practitioners in the fields of pedagogy, neuroscience and adolescent psychology to discuss ways in which emotional resilience could be better taught in schools. Over 200 delegates from many prominent independent HMC schools attended; the significant interest from these schools, as well as the UK’s media, reflects the current concern for high-quality pastoral care for society’s adolescents. Highlights of the day included Professor Byron’s demand that the ISI insists on ‘outstanding’ pastoral care in all independent schools and that children are encouraged to take risks; Professor Russell Foster’s conclusions on the value of sleep in emotional development and Professor Blakemore’s neurological insights on the ‘mysteries of the teenage brain’. Having said all of this, for many delegates, the most poignant, humbling and memorable call to arms for better development of emotional resilience training in young people was from an ex-King’s College School pupil, Jean–Andre Prager. This young man, who battled with cerebral palsy, related his story of the struggle he faced to find a school. Other schools had rejected him, unwilling to cope with his disability, but he was accepted by King’s which he described as a “community of kindness”. Through sheer grit and resilience, he flourished at King’s and gained a place at Oxford University. His courageous statement, ‘In my family, we have a saying, Aim high, fall hard, get up fast’ will live long in the minds of all who listened.

N ewsl ett er issue 02

How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

The senior school musical “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” completed its triumphant run at the end of November. With direction by Adam Cross and musical direction by Peter Hatch, this was a stunningly vibrant and joyous production of Frank Loesser’s smart satire. The large and accomplished company sang, danced, acted and played with panache and professionalism. Jasper Millard gave a masterfully assured performance in the central role of ambitious window-washer J. Pierrepont Finch.

SPORTS Update

Girls’ Hockey Successes The depth of skill amongst the King’s girls made it highly competitive to get into the 1st XI team this year. With regular training and excellent commitment from the girls, we have achieved the best results to date for girls’ hockey. The 1st XI won nine out of the twelve games they played. They came fourth in the Invitation Trophy tournament, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal. Jenny Long was an outstanding captain and led the team with direction and enthusiasm. The 2nd XI also had a very good season. Their main achievement was winning the Invitation Trophy tournament which was run alongside the main tournament. They played ten matches, winning a total of seven games. Anna Westcott led the team by example and was voted most valuable player of the 2nd XI. Our 3rd VII team also had the chance to play in some fixtures.

This year saw the greatest number of girls play hockey for the school. We were able to field two strong teams and also have a 3rd VII team

1st XV Rugby: First victory over Eton The 1st XV rugby team enjoyed a tough pre-season in Bordeaux in August, training with and then playing against the regional Under 17 team in a game they won by three tries to one. The season was highlighted by wins against Pangbourne, Caterham, Wimbledon College, Tiffin and, for the first time in the schools’ history, King’s defeated Eton 16-0. It was also a season of near misses, with the team losing five games by less than a score. Player of the Year went to Will Lockhart Smith (a member of Harlequins Academy). Most improved players were Winger, Adam Magni, and Prop, Finley Medd. Players' player was Charlie Allen and Young Player of the Year was Stephen Sharpe. Old Boys, Hugo Kelly (OK 2010) (Cambridge) and Matthew Janney (OK 2009) (Oxford) played in the most recent Varsity match, with Oxford winning comfortably by 43-6.

Football

Alumni matches

Last summer the school arranged a football tour of Argentina and Brazil. King’s won six of the nine matches played and spent a great day at their chosen charity, The ABC Trust, to whom the team presented a cheque for £9,700.

Hockey: 15th September saw the first ever girls’ alumni hockey match. Girls from each of the three cohorts to have left the school returned to play the current 1st XI team. The game was outstanding to watch from start to finish. The Alumni team, captained by Alice Durrans (OK 2012), showed that many of the girls had continued to play hockey after leaving school. The end result was a 3-0 win for the Alumni side.

Last season saw some outstanding results with 30 wins, 14 draws and only 12 defeats. The 1st XI and 2nd XI only lost two of their 16 matches each. Our U15s lost only two of their eight matches with the B team unbeaten; and the U14s also started strongly, again with only two defeats from eight games. To date, in excess of 178 goals have been scored by King’s footballers this year and nearly 200 boys are representing the school this year.

Netball: 7th January 2015 saw the second alumni netball match. This year the team was captained by Katy Blake (OK 2012) and we had girls from all three cohorts participating. Our 1st team however, outshone the visitors and demonstrated the standard of netball we are playing now.

National Schools’ Regatta King’s had a fantastically successful national schools’ regatta in May 2014. With finalists in the J14, J15, J16 and the Championship 8s, gold medal to the J14 Bs boat and bronze to the J16, King’s delivered excellent performances across the weekend.

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

N ewsl ett er issue 02

Future of King’s

City & Business networking reception

Mr Halls and Dr Silverlock, in conjunction with the development office, hosted this year’s Future of King’s reception in Great Hall on 16th September 2014.

Our annual City & Business networking reception was held on the evening of Wednesday 7th May at the Headquarters of Barclays Bank in Canary Wharf. The 30th floor atrium afforded splendid views of Canary Wharf, the River Thames and Greenwich, and more than 170 alumni, current and former parents and staff gathered to enjoy drinks and canapés. Current King’s parent Colin Matthews, Chairman, The Highways Agency, gave a talk on his experience of running one of the world’s largest international hub airports, Heathrow.

Mr Halls’ presentation reflected on current projects including the new quadrangle, hard play area, and the beginnings of the new classroom block. Parents also heard the latest news about a possible King’s partnership with schools in China. Following the presentation and a Q&A session, parents enjoyed drinks and canapés and a chance to catch up at the beginning of the new term.

‘One year on’ BBQ

George Saintsbury Society lunch The inaugural lunch of the George Saintsbury Society took place at the In & Out (Naval and Military Club) in St James’s, London SW1 on Thursday 1st May. Forty-five OKs who left the school between 1947 and 1972 met for drinks in the club library, followed by lunch in the King Harald V Room. The head master spoke to guests about recent developments at the school and invoked the memory of George Saintsbury, who attended King’s in the mid-nineteenth century and was famed in Victorian times as a literary scholar, Fleet Street commentator and wine connoisseur.

Around 100 students from the 2013 cohort returned to school in mid-September 2014 for the ‘One Year On’ barbecue, a popular event which looks set to become an annual fixture in the school calendar. On a fine afternoon in the tail end of summer, staff and former pupils enjoyed a barbecue in the Dalziel Room garden and exchanged news of the previous year. It was wonderful to hear from these recent King’s alumni about their first year at university, their varied work experience, and some amazing international travel.

Entrepreneurs and Leadership Seminar In 2012 we ran our first Entrepreneurs and Leadership Seminar for sixth formers, which proved to be so successful that this has become an annual event. On Thursday 5th June, at Kingsway Pavilion, a group of high-achieving entrepreneurs, including three OKs and a former King’s parent, guided sixth formers through the process of developing their own entrepreneurial ideas into business plans, which were later presented to a Dragons’ Den-style panel of judges.

Lifelong Friends drinks reception On Tuesday 3rd June, more than 150 former King’s parents returned to the school for our first Lifelong Friends drinks reception. Held in the new main reception beneath Great Hall, which many former parents were seeing for the first time, the event was a great success and gave an opportunity to reconnect with old friends. The evening brought home the warmth and affection still felt for King’s by parents whose sons and daughters have now left the school, and we plan to hold further Lifelong Friends events in the future.

Evening drama workshop Theatre company Frantic Assembly gave an evening workshop for King’s parents in October 2014. Part of a programme run by the drama and development departments, this evening of dynamic, physical theatre was an exhilarating experience. ‘Curiosity’ seemed to be the motivating factor for many of the parents attending; ‘liberating’, ‘uplifting’ and ‘amazing’ was some of the five-star feedback by the end of the evening.

Dates For Your Diary City & Business networking reception: 12th March 2015 George Saintsbury lunch 4th June 2015 Entrepreneurs and Leadership seminar for upper sixth leavers 25th June 2015

Online giving With our new online giving platform, it’s easy to make a donation to King’s with the click of a button! Please consider showing your support by making a donation towards our bursary fund or one of our ongoing projects, as part of our renewal programme. Find out more in the Support Us section of the King’s website.

The Arthur Wellesley SOCIETY Arthur Wellesley is perhaps better known as The Duke of Wellington, or ‘The Iron Duke’ who, as Prime Minister, helped found King’s College School in 1829. The Arthur Wellesley Society arranges talks at school, visits to the theatre, exhibition trips, and from time to time, celebratory dinners for the parent body of both the junior and senior schools in addition to former pupils and parents. Here’s a selection of last season’s events... Membership of the Society entitles members to priority booking for all events. Currently, those who would like to do so are invited to make a voluntary family donation of £10 each year. If you would like to suggest a future event, and for further details on becoming a member of the society, please contact the Vice-Chairman Eleanor Sturge at awsociety@kcs.org.uk President: Peter Levelle Chairman: Peter Hatch Vice-Chairman: Eleanor Sturge

Dr Michael Lynch

The Russian Revolution 1917: Why Russia, why 1917? The third season began with an event hosted jointly by the Arthur Wellesley and History societies on the 11th September when we were privileged to hear Dr Michael Lynch share his thought on the

reasons behind on the Russian revolution. Dr Lynch is an eminent historian who has lectured across the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. Furthermore, he has written over 40 books and articles on modern world history.

Christmas at the Charterhouse

Dai Mari ai Monti – A vinous tour of Italy In October, the Arthur Wellesley Society enjoyed two evenings of Italian wine tasting hosted by Mauro Mattiuzzo in the intimate surroundings of the Dalziel Room at King’s. Mauro, who hails from the Veneto, is parent of former King’s pupil, Robbie, who has just begun his studies at Durham University. We were treated to expertly sourced wines accompanied by a carefully chosen selection of cold meats and cheeses.

One hundred members of the King’s community enjoyed a festive afternoon at the Charterhouse, in early December. One of London’s hidden gems and rarely open to the public, the Charterhouse is a fascinating historic complex of buildings founded in 1371 with the establishment of a Carthusian monastery. Later, a fine Tudor mansion was added to the site, this is where Elizabeth I stayed en route to her coronation in 1558. The buildings now operate as an almshouse. The event began in the Great Chamber with a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols given by Cantate accompanied brilliantly on harp by Rosie von Spreckelsen. Guests then enjoyed a talk about the history of the buildings given by the Master, Brig. Charlie Hobson RM, followed by tours led by almshouse residents known as brothers. The second half of the concert followed in the chapel where leading London chamber choir, Pegasus, sang a variety of Christmas music by composers as diverse as William Byrd and John Harle. The afternoon finished with a drinks reception.

Guests enjoyed a tour led by almshouse residents 06

The Friends of King’s

N ewsl ett er issue 02

In 1978 a group of parents came together in their spare time to build the Gibbs Pavilion on Colman’s Field. Today The Friends of King’s College School is a flourishing parent body, led by a Council of twenty and a team of just less than sixty year group representatives.

It organises social, fundraising and community events bringing parents from across the school together. Each year they assist with the careers fair and community tea and run a flower group providing arrangements for public events. The sense of community it creates endures long after parents have left King’s. We recently discovered that one mother was entering her 26th year supporting The Friends! Funds raised by The Friends are used to enhance the education of children at King’s and pupils at other schools in the UK and overseas with which King’s is connected. Recently funded items include: cricket nets; a one year contract for a Director in Residence for the drama department; an iPad classroom; financial support for aspiring Olympians; a new boat for 1st VIII rowing squad; 3D printer and a junior school climbing frame. The sense of community at King’s is strong and many parents wish to stay in touch. The Friends recently launched the ‘Lifelong Friends’, a joint initiative with the school aimed at doing just this. At the inaugural event, 150 guests shared news of their children and it was lovely to hear the fond memories they had of their time as parents at King’s.

Friends’ Achievements In the last year The Friends achieved an incredible milestone, exceeding £1m raised since its formation. At a reception hosted by the head master, The Friends was presented with an award for outstanding effort and achievement recognising the role played by so many generations of King’s parents. The scale of parental support is staggering.

£1m

raised since its formation

3,000 hrs dedicated by volunteers in 2014

8,000

guests attended our events last year

Fireworks Night 2014

Autumn saw The Friends annual fireworks display, now one of the most eagerly anticipated events in south west London, with 200 parent volunteers and an array of school bands to entertain guests. Despite the torrential rain, people turned up in their thousands, damp but undeterred! OK Toby Alloway and his firm Titanium Fireworks staged a stunning display. Toby recently described his favourite career moment as being “Firing the Tower Bridge Display at London 2012 and watching David Beckham pass under the waterfall en route to the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony.”

Christmas Fair success

Each year a team of parents creates a festive family day out. Over 100 food stalls and gift companies offer everything from selfie sticks to smoked salmon. Perfect weather saw thousands of visitors join The Friends and Santa was on hand for the younger guests! The mothers from the craft and jewellery group sold goods made during the course of the year raising thousands of pounds for The Friends.

Supporting communities Open Doors is a charitable initiative run by the school, which The Friends is delighted to support. It brings children from local schools to King’s for a week of sports and arts activities co-ordinated by pupils and staff from King’s. This year’s project ended with a sports tournament and theatre performance to a packed audience of parents and staff.

The Friends also recently purchased internet equipment, solar panels and tools for our partner school in Zambia. The school team who visited Fiwila this summer worked on two large-scale projects using the equipment to build a dam and lay pipes to provide running water to the students’ dormitories.

Renewal programme Update

State-of-the-art Classrooms & a new Multi-purpose hall Construction of the new teaching building and hard play area began in July 2014. The new development will provide a range of excellent teaching facilities in the form of six classrooms, meeting rooms and a 150-seat hall. The project is due for completion in January 2016.

Walls and bridges: Buildings and bursaries for King’s Our ten-year renewal programme is well underway; the new teaching building work started in July last year and the new Quadrangle opened in February this year. Forthcoming projects include a new music school, enhancing the drama facilities, refurbishing the junior school library, transforming the 1960s buildings that face the Common and creating an additional sports complex including six all-weather tennis courts and a six-lane swimming pool. Our Masterplan not only encompasses the physical environment of King’s, it also extends to two critically important areas, each equally important to the future of the school: widening access through increased bursary provision and securing the long-term future of the school by encouraging support through our Legacy programme. We are looking for support from the King’s community to help us with this ten-year plan to secure the future for King’s. If you would like to help there are many ways you can do so, from attending one of our many events, to volunteering your time or making a donation of any size to one of the projects we are working on. For more information on our current campaigns, please get in touch. Development office 020 8255 5428 development@kcs.org.uk

kcs.org.uk/support-us

Landscaping King’s

King’s Obituaries

N ewsl ett er issue 02

FAREWELL TO OLD FRIENDS Richard Edward Pasco (OK 1942) 1926–2014 Actor Described as one of the finest classical actors of his generation, Richard was famed for his Henry V and Hamlet with the Bristol Old Vic, his Thomas Becket in TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral and an RSC production of Richard II in which he and fellow actor Ian Richardson swapped between the roles of the King and Bolingbroke. He passed away on 12th November 2014 aged 88.

By nature an intellectual and by training a theatrical trouper, he could turn the most leaden verse into gold

Richard was educated at King’s, and following his military service from 1944–1948, he trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He went on to work with the Old Vic Company, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He also worked on Broadway and performed in several West End plays. Known almost exclusively as a stage actor, Richard appeared on film with roles in Room at the Top, Yesterday’s Enemy and Mrs Brown, as well as on television in shows such as Drummond, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC. In 1977, he was honoured for his contributions to British theatre with the appointment of CBE. “[He] was one of the most elegant and intelligent exponents of the classics in the post-war British theatre; by nature an intellectual and by training a theatrical trouper, he could turn the most leaden verse into gold.” Telegraph

Richard Pasco and Ian Richardson rehearsing Richard II

We regret to also report the passing of the following friends:

Hugh Bourn (OK 1945) 19 December 1929 – 12 May 2014 Property developer and philanthropist He was honoured with an OBE for recognition of his continuing charitable endeavours and services to the communities of Lincolnshire

Edward Lewis Blake (OK 1938) Gerald Boxall (OK 1954) Alastair Clark (GOVERNOR) John Cecil Cloake (OK 1943) Richard F Diacon (OK 1938) John Clifford Duckworth (OK 1935) Neil W Entwistle (OK 1968) Mervyn Evans (OK 1937) Oliver Benjamin Gobat (OK 1994) Robert Gooch (OK 1941) Photo courtesy of Lincolnshire Echo

Keith Anthony Hern (OK 1976) Michael RWC Holmes (OK 1935)

We in the King’s community were saddened to hear of the passing of property developer and philanthropist Hugh Bourn OBE, aged 84. Educated at King’s, Hugh then moved to Lincolnshire to pursue a career in farming. After two decades, he started his hugely successful company, Hugh Bourn Developments. Hugh was known to many for his enormous generosity and numerous contributions to charities. In 2011, he was honoured with an OBE for recognition of his continuing charitable endeavours and services to the communities of Lincolnshire. Hugh owned one of the largest private collections of Winston Churchill memorabilia, which included the original waxwork figure of Winston Churchill from Madame Tussauds. He often opened up the collection to local schools for educational activities, and money raised went to charities. A special service of celebration was held in Lincoln Cathedral and several hundred people attended to share their condolences.

Francis Philip Horne (OK 1975) Peter London (OK 1939) John S Mennell (OK 1933) Elinor Needham (Former Bursar’s Secretary) Michael Onwood (OK 1964) Mishal S Patel (OK 2007) Chris L Rashbrook (OK 1955) Colin Patrick Bryan Smith (OK 1966) Keith Leonard Soothill (1958) Richard J Teakle (OK 1948) Keith James Whitehead (OK 1954) Peter Richard Wilson (OK 1953) Ian A Woolsey (OK 1961)

Feature Medicine

Q&A With OKs Chris and Xand van Tulleken, And Rob Staruch

Chris & Xand van Tulleken (OK 1996 / OK 1996)

Doctors Age: 36

As doctors, you have both worked in some of the most extreme environments in the world, could you tell us a little bit about your journeys after leaving King’s and what led you down this path? We dragged each other in different directions. We left King’s as scientists rather than artists and then wandered into the arts via television programs about the Arctic and hallucinogenic drugs. I suppose I dragged Xand toward TV and he dragged me away from surgery.

You also teamed up for Horizon: Fat v Sugar, tackling the ‘hottest question in nutrition’. How did you find this experience and what did you learn from the journey? We learned that fads are seldom underpinned by robust science. Sugar is not a toxin and nor is fat. There are only three macronutrients and you shouldn’t eliminate any of them from your diet. Ultimately of course they will kill you as surely as the oxygen you breathe will.

How did you decide on your specialist area of work in such a vast profession? Where do you find the level of commitment required for such a long and intense training period? Neither of us is particularly interested in or talented at procedural work like surgery. Infection is a speciality where the social aspects of disease collide with ever more sophisticated models of how humans and their parasites compete and conflict. Xand has become an anthropologist of sorts whilst I have retreated into a mechanistic understanding of disease, removing myself at least intellectually from even studying whole cells, much less humans. I work in a lab trying to figure out how viral proteins manipulate human proteins. Much of the time I have as little understanding of my own work as I do of Xand’s.

How do you deal with working in emergency medicine? I don’t think either of us have any coping strategies that anyone with a stressful job wouldn’t have developed themselves.

What would you say most interests you professionally? Almost everything – which is a very great problem.

Given the current Ebola crisis, have you considered taking your research to the heart of the emergency in West Africa? No. My research is extremely focused and I am not a senior enough scientist to be able to turn my hand to broader virology problems. We both work closely with one of the charities who are running a treatment centre in Sierra Leone and I am on the team in London that takes care of category 4 patients here.

Congratulations on your hugely successful CBBC series Operation Ouch and for winning a Children’s Bafta for Best Factual in 2013. Could you tell us a little bit about the series and how you came to be involved in the project? Why did you decide to do a programme aimed at children? Operation Ouch was the only thing we have ever screen tested for. I put an intravenous line in Xand and made a horrible mess of it and him. He got angry and upset and the production team thought it was all deliberate. Making television for children is liberating because the imperative to entertain is so much greater than when you make stuff for grown-ups.

of the 20th century only became significant decades later. You can never know what’s going to end up being important. Xand, you completed a diploma in tropical medicine and went on to conduct aid work in Darfur, Russia, Peru and the Congo – how did you find being at the forefront of a medical crisis? It forces everyone involved to consider what we would want done if we, by accident of birth, found ourselves in those situations. The poorest people in the world are poor because they’re unlucky and because oppressive regimes make them poor. They’re not poor because they are less able than the rest of us.

Making television for children is liberating because the imperative to entertain is so much greater than when you make stuff for grown-ups.

Chris, you won the coveted Max Perutz Science Writing Award 2014 for your article “How 100-year-old research could help patients with HIV”, can you tell us something about the story behind the article? I’m not sure I would describe it in quite that way but nonetheless, working now as a very junior scientist, it is clear that biological science doesn’t really proceed in a goal-directed way. It’s much more about making very careful measurements and hoping they come in useful. Some very odd experiments done at the early part

What is the greatest challenge you’ve faced or most challenging project with which you have been involved? Working in Darfur. You are both patrons of the medical aid organisation Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin), could you tell us a little bit about the organisation and the work they do? Merlin has now been absorbed by Save and we are now affiliated with Medecins du Monde or Doctors of the World and we will be joining as directors in the Spring. What are your future goals? To complete and publish some decent research. If someone wished to follow in your footsteps, what is the best piece of advice you could give them? That everything you learn may one day be useful. n

N ewsl ett er issue 02

What led you down the path of medicine and the military? Despite having no immediate family in the armed forces I developed an interest in the military. I think I liked the idea of learning how to survive with relatively little. I really enjoyed the CCF at school as well as the Duke of Edinburgh experience. I made the decision to look into it as a medical career after a week trip with the school to Fallingbostel, Germany, where we stayed with 2 RTR. A week of overnight exercise with tanks made me think it was a great way of keeping life interesting. It stuck with me whilst at medical school and seemed like the natural place for me to be a doctor. What support did you get from the army in terms of training? What was their level of involvement? At the time the Army sponsored our tuition through part of medical school and paid a salary. However this no longer exists. I believe it is a bursary after your foundation training. The army required us to work in military associated hospitals within the UK once qualified, but had minimal involvement until we had attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (RMAS) for officer training.

Rob Staruch (OK 2004)

Military Surgical Trainee Age: 28

Rob is a military surgical trainee, hoping to specialise in Burns, Plastics & Reconstructive Surgery. Here he tells us how became an army medic... Could you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your job as a military doctor? I am currently a Military Surgical Trainee based in London, at the Royal Free Hospital, with a view to specialising in Burns, Plastics & Reconstructive Surgery. As I have taken quite a few years out with the Army I still remain relatively junior in my surgical career. Despite being a military doctor I undertake all my training in NHS hospitals. Previously, for around three years, I was a General Duties Medical officer, based in Essex with 16 Medical Regiment, doing primary care and pre-hospital care to military personnel, both in barracks and on exercises. I worked with the United Nations in Cyprus, the Kenyan Red Cross and was assistant Regimental Medical Officer for 2nd Battalion Princess of Wales Royal Regiment when they were undergoing exercises in Kenya. I was a foundation doctor based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham – which at the time was the primary receiving facility for all UK casualties from foreign conflict. I now spend my working day either learning how to operate, being on call or seeing patients in outpatient clinic. I graduated from Cardiff University Medical School in 2009 after five years of rowing, snow sports and some medicine. Outside of work I like triathlons, ultra marathons and spending time in the hills! Medical training courses vary enormously, where did you do your training and what were the advantages of the course and location? I went to Cardiff university which had plenty of dissection and early clinical placements.

Has the fact that you are an army medic led you to have a specific area of interest? I am interested in clinical science and surgery. I worked as a research assistant for a trial, looking at the cellular response of severely injured soldiers. I was required to talk to soldiers’ families when they arrived in Birmingham for entry into the trial. This was a real learning experience. I undertook some work focusing on the pattern of injury in the upper limb from blast in Afghanistan. This involved plotting the pattern of finger injuries to try and identify the pattern of the blast wave. I found research to be a good outlet for ideas generated whilst at work. I also undertook lab research last year at UCL, developing a new wound dressing for the battlefield. This has involved taking well known lab technologies and trying to produce materials for future military healthcare. This was fascinating and has extended into Phd level research. Has the Army offered you areas of professional development for your career that have been of particular value? I have been able to see a unique patient group whilst being a junior doctor in Birmingham. I became quite interested in upper limb injuries and trying to understand the way the mechanism of injury was affecting soldiers. This steered me into an interest in research and development through surgery. Have you been in active service? Ha – depends what you consider active service. I was pulled off deployment to Afghanistan with two weeks of flying out – which was one of the most disappointing and frustrating things in my career. I joined an Army at war and I really wanted to be deployed with an infantry battalion and do the job I trained to do. Unfortunately this was not to be and I sat on high readiness, deploying to Cyprus, Kenya and the USA. What variety is there in your professional life? The surgical training I am currently in exposes me to lots of different specialities. The fact that I am concurrently doing my research means I often spend my afternoons and evenings discussing my lab projects and planning new experiments. My work as GDMO previously involved jumping between work as a junior GP, to providing emergency and pre-hospital care to soldiers whilst on exercise. I was often tasked to do risk and medical planning for large exercises (500 French and British parachutists in rural Scotland for example, or very remote medicine in northern Kenya). Are there any downsides to the route you have chosen in medicine? The army makes all your training much longer as you take three years out to be based with the field army. There is lots of short notice change of plans, and lots of things remain ‘up in the air’, which makes future planning quite difficult. Surgery in itself is competitive and requires long hours (as does research)! It has taken a long time to be based back in London, and geography in the UK isn’t taken for granted. But in reality these are what makes it colourful.

What do you consider to be the most essential skill needed to be a good military doctor? Robustness and humility. The military is not all about combat and war. We are given quite a lot of responsibility and can be expected to work in very remote conditions, sometimes at short notice. We don’t always know best and we require great insight and humility. How do you deal with the toughest times at work and how do you get through them? Are you able to maintain your composure? I think experience is paramount when dealing with difficult situations. Doctors have the awful habit of receding into medical conversation in large groups, however this is hugely therapeutic as we all realise we’re not alone. Other than that, my family and friends are pretty good support and I find the outdoors very good for the soul. Do you follow the medical progress of injured personnel as they recover? Are you involved at all in the rehabilitation of those returning to civilian life? I had the pleasure of working as a junior doctor at the Royal Centre of Defence Medicine (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) when I was newly qualified which allowed me to work closely with this group of patients. I was a junior doctor in Burns & Plastics, a speciality which had a lot of input in this group. It allowed me to gain a great insight and watch some very good military surgeons at work. I am now based in London for my surgical training and unfortunately have little contact with the military rehabilitative pathway. Do you think public attitudes to injured service personnel have changed over recent years? I think what has changed is that the public have been exposed. We live in a time where conflict has in some way affected all families or friendship groups. This has had a knock-on effect of encouraging people to fund-raise or volunteer, which has improved patient care and rehabilitation. The real challenge is to continue to foster that support from the public and make sure such veterans don’t suddenly lose their support when the conflict is over.

The military is not all about combat and war. We are given quite a lot of responsibility and can be expected to work in very remote conditions, sometimes at short notice. We don’t always know best and we require great insight and humility. How do you see your career progressing? Pretty slowly if I take any more time out. I have another training hurdle to jump through in two years time with the military, as well as completing my PhD at UCL. Long term I would like to be able to see some of the research I’ve done make a bedside difference in treating patients – whether military or civilian. I’d be keen to be part of the surgical team that co-ordinates future casualty care during the next war – as unfortunately there is always another war. If someone wished to follow in your footsteps what is the best piece of advice you could give them? Such a hard question to answer as everyone always says it’s much harder and a completely different landscape now. However, working hard, going the extra mile and taking whatever small opportunity comes your way will mean all doors will remain open to you, whatever you do. Specifically for the military, a penchant and enjoyment of being wet, cold and outdoors (we’ve all been there at some point no matter what the commandos tell you!) probably doesn’t go amiss. To become a military doctor now you need to join after medical school and then go through the relevant military application process for surgical training. n

The Old King’s Club For 130 years, the Old King’s Club has been the principal way for alumni of King’s College School to keep in touch with each other and with their old teachers. The Club is run for and by its members to promote the “honour and well-being” of the whole King’s community. Membership of the Club is open, free of charge, to all former King’s pupils. Find out more...

 oldkingsclub.org.uk



facebook.com/OldKingsClub

2014 OKC Annual Dinner Nadhim Zahawi MP (OK 1985) hosted the Old King’s Club Annual Dinner in the Members’ Dining Room at the House of Commons on 28th November 2014. Of the many OKs present, almost half were leavers from 2000 or later. Dinner was preceded by a tour of Parliament and drinks in the Strangers’ Dining Room. Micky King (OK 1959) presided and there was a warm welcome speech from Nadhim. Alexander Malmaeus (OK 1984) related news from the OKC and toasts were given by Andrew Halls and Sir Paul Beresford.

OKC Remembers

An Act of Remembrance was held at the school on the morning of 7th November. Cadets from all three Forces were on parade and wreaths were laid outside the Cricket Pavilion. Robert Laurence Binyon’s “Ode of Remembrance” was read by Captain Philip Roberts DSO, RFA (RN, OK 1956). Alexander Malmaeus (OK 1984) represented the Club.

host Nadhim Zahawi MP (OK 1985)

The OKC hits the water

September Drinks: a younger crowd

On Saturday 25th October a group of intrepid OKC members went to Queen Mary Sailing Club for the inaugural event of the Old King’s Club Sailing Section. For some this was a new experience while others were returning to their sporting days at King’s. We hope to launch some larger boats in 2015.

At a very successful Old King’s Club drinks reception, around 120 OKs met over a glass of wine at the East India Club. With similar events now taking place three times a year, each has been more popular than the last, with an increasingly strong attendance by recent leavers.

DATE for your diary: Duel Day Dinner at Lambeth Palace 26th March 2015