17 January 2014 Dear Parents/Carers, Students, Governors and Old Olavians Headmasters Newsletter 102

It is the season of offers of university places and, following the pre-Christmas round of interviews, I am delighted to confirm that the following Year 13 students have now received Oxbridge offers: Alexandros Adamoulas Timothy Adelani Bumade Agbaje Georges Audish Lucas Bertholdi-Saad Fraser Boistelle Keir Bowater Fintan Calpin Sebastian Cook Angus Dalgleish Tomas Dean Jordan Fisher Mitchel Fruin David Giles Izabella Inzani Peter Leigh Aiyan Maharasingam Annabel Nash Sinead OConnor Skanda Rajasundaram Alexandar Ristic-Smith Larissa Schymyck Musab Shamekh Benjamin Shotness Shrishti Suresh Shunta Takino Oscar Wilkins Elizabeth Wilson Jenni Visuri Biological Sciences Classics Law Mathematics History & Economics Biochemistry Engineering English Music Land Economy Mathematics Land Economy Biological Sciences Engineering Natural Sciences Classics History Geography Asian/Middle Eastern Studies Medicine Engineering MFL(German & Italian) Economics Geography Law PPE Natural Sciences Biomedical Sciences Natural Sciences Merton College Peterhouse St Catherines College Magdelen College Wadham College New College Jesus College Wadham College Trinity College Trinity Hall Christs College Gonville & Caius College Hertford College St Catharines College Sydney Sussex College New College Hertford College Fitzwilliam College Queens College Lincoln College Mansfield College Emmanuel College Emmanuel College Robinson College Queens College New College Churchill College Lincoln College Murray Edwards Oxford Cambridge Oxford Oxford Oxford Oxford Oxford Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Cambridge Cambridge Oxford Oxford Cambridge Oxford Cambridge

We take a great pride in their successes, just as we do for all of our students, who are receiving offers from top universities such as Imperial, Bristol, UCL, Durham, etc., and we are still awaiting many of the Medical school offers which tend to come through a little later. What is particularly pleasing is to see the variety of Arts, Humanities, Languages and Science subjects represented, as well as the full range of colleges. I hope that many of you have booked your tickets to hear Professor Sir Richard Friend, the next speaker in our Olavian Lecture Series. His talk on: Tuesday 28 January at 7.00pm Electronics from Molecules. The next-generation electronic flexible screens and solar cells should be fascinating. Sir Richard is the Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge University, a position originally occupied by Ernest Lord Rutherford. He was knighted for services to physics in 2003, and in 2010 was made a laureate of the Millennium Technology Prize for the development of plastic electronics. His talk will take us from the basic research on plastic semiconductors and the realm of quantum mechanics through to the commercialisation of ideas. Bring your friends, bring your family and enjoy the evening! The 1st XV Rugby squad had a very physical encounter with the Robert Clack team in their Round 6 (last 32) match in the Nat West Vase competition. On a muddy, wet pitch at the Dagenham Rugby Club, our lads came through a very exciting match to draw 3-3. By the competition rules this means that we progress to Round 7 (last 16) as the away team. Congratulations to the team and watch out for the next match! You may be interested to know that St Olaves has been awarded a special role within Boris Johnsons London Schools Excellence Fund (LSEF). The school will be running a project called PLASMA-T, Putting London ahead through Mathematics, Science and Technology, designed to support colleagues across London schools in developing subject excellence, with a particular focus on programming and robotics. As part of this, the DT department, in conjunction with STEMNET, hosted a 3D printer workshop to share expertise about this dynamic new process with teachers from the Bromley area. Each attendee was able to build, test and programme a 3D printer to create unique product outcomes and, best of all, each took away their own 3D printer as a free gift to get them started with the new technology. Last night Kent Universitys Gulbenkian Theatre hosted the County final of a poetry recital competition - Poetry by Heart. After 3 rounds of intense competition of a very high standard, including a pre-1914 poem, a post-1914 poem and one from a World War 1 anthology, Richard Decker, the only boy, emerged as the winner. He was presented with a beautiful poetry anthology, with a further copy for the school library, and has an all-expenses-paid 'poetry' weekend in London in March where he will progress to the regional final.

Year 9 and 10 students have been taking part in public speaking workshops over the last two weeks. Led by professional trainers, students started by making simple introductions but quickly progressed to selling unusual, quirky products and offering inventive definitions to extraordinary words in a round of Call My Bluff. They then moved on to structuring a speech; where to start and finish; how to leave a lasting impression. The boys all enjoyed the day and rose admirably to the challenge. Congratulations to the four finalists - Tommaso Candita Simpkins, Henry Rennolls, Martin Senior and Tanay Vankayalapati - who will take part in a speak-off next week, when one will be selected to represent St Olaves at the borough wide competition. On Thursday the Sixth Form Culture Club went to see the revival of Matthew Bournes Swan Lake at Sadlers Wells. After hearing so much hype about the show there was some doubt that it could match the high praise it had received, but it did! Bournes inspired use of the male ensemble of swans was incredible; the choreography was beautiful and striking, focusing on the grace of the swans, but also on their violence and strength, dispelling any idea that ballet is stuffy and boring! For many of the students this was their first ballet, and it certainly provided a perfect introduction, with all agreeing it had been a wonderful evening. Also on Thursday, Morgan Stanley gave a presentation on careers within Investment Banking to Sixth Form students. Last year a number of our students took part in their Step in, Step up programme and the company was thoroughly impressed with their calibre, particularly their mathematical and problem solving skills, coupled with their interest in financial markets and Economics. Consequently Morgan Stanley have returned to promote opportunities within the firm, including: financial elements, legal work, ICT and research opportunities. Yours sincerely

Headmaster