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Editorial Comment: Spring is finally with us. The sun is shining; yet only a week ago, on Easter Monday, it was cold and wet, with the odd flurry of snow. On the Wednesday we decided to brave the weather and take a walk along Hadrian’s wall. It was absolutely tipping it down, but despite this, we did come across a few other like-minded, or should I say crazy, people.

The following day, however, was glorious, and we spent a very enjoyable day at Whitley Bay, Tynemouth. JCB

Chairman’s Report:  Well another year gone by!

I trust that all is well with everyone, and must remember those we have lost during the last 12 months.

The recent weather has been a challenge and has caused a number of my personal social events to be cancelled, unfortunately we have not been able to arrange any events as yet for the Old Bartonians, basically due to lack of support.

I have several other interests; “the grandchildren”, also being on the committee of Arlesford Town Football Club. We generally try to play twice a week in the season (snow and rain permitting!) within the Wessex Premier League plus various cup matches which includes the FA Cup.

Also rewarding is being on the committee of the Friends of Shepherds Down special needs school; 100 teachers to 140 pupils with various mental and physical disabilities. It is heart rendering to see how underfunded they are from the government, and the necessity to raise donations to keep the school running. It is even more upsetting when you experience the absolutely incredible results the dedicated staff manage to achieve with some of the most challenged children in our local society.

As committed to by me, I have tried to introduce “new” or different events but without success, as I mentioned, because of lack of support not making them viable.

Another cause for concern is that we are not attracting younger ex students to our association and naturally, the necessary outcome of that is, we will ultimately become unviable as current members pass on.

If we do not make ourselves attractive to younger members with our website, events and general attitude we will surely be struggling very soon. I encourage all current members to make an effort to consider who might be interested in participating.

We also need to raise our National as well as our local profile opportunities therefore, to seek greater exposure in the media – any suggestions would be most welcome.

I trust we will have a fruitful year and wish you all good health.                                                                                                                                           Sue Davenport

Barton Peveril College Today There is no doubt that the best thing of all about being Principal of Barton Peveril is meeting, talking to, and trying in some small way to further the achievements and plans of students. Put aside budget headaches, staffing challenges, and local and national politics. It is that moment of engagement with young people, their futures all ahead of them that really bring home what an important role the College is playing.

You may have followed ITV’s ‘The Voice’ where the runner up after three months of competition was Donel Mangena, a current Barton Peveril student. He is an extremely talented musician and consummate showman - astonishing for his 16 years, but his warmth, generosity in defeat, and modesty is striking.

In sports we have more students than I could mention competing at national and international level. To pick up on a few; Stephanie Ricketts represented Great Britain in the European Acrobatic Gymnastics; Sally Lorimer represented Great Britain Youth Sailing in Australia, and Izzy Holman is Captain of the Great Britain Horseball squad (look that one up - the sport has its origins 300 years ago!). We have students in national hockey, golf, judo, netball and snooker teams for their age, whilst three of our four football teams topped their leagues in Hampshire.

Other students have had success in film festivals, creative writing competitions, a computational thinking challenge, and a group of dancers won their local heat of ‘Rock Challenge’.

Our success preparing students for Oxford and Cambridge University continues with 14 offers this year, making 48 over three years. We have a group of volunteers acting as mentors for students applying to Oxbridge, including my predecessor, Godfrey Glyn, and former Chair of Governors, Professor Roger Brown. One in four Barton Peveril students who apply are offered a place against one in six nationally. Six of this year’s offers were for students considered to be disadvantaged, perhaps by being the first member of their immediate family to go to university, or having attended a secondary school with low outcomes, or living at a postcode which the government recognises as a low income area.                         

The stories of these outstanding individuals should not take the limelight from the thousands of young people who contribute daily to the College community and the far flung communities when they live. Students support each other with their learning, with health messages, or with their mental health. Only today, in the middle of their Easter vacation, five students volunteered with me to help the Asian Welfare Association to serve free meals to all who wanted them in the town centre.

If you are coming to the AGM this year, as I hope you will, I have a student speaker whose gap year you helped support (2017-18) and another who is completing her course at College and has won a bursary from the Old Bartonians for 2018-19. They are looking forward to meeting and thanking their benefactors! See you there.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Jonathan Prest

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I have just come across the Old Barts page for the first time and had to look at those pictures to see if I recognised anyone.

In the one from 1962 I spotted my name, but the picture was not me! then I checked and realised that some of the numbers on the key are doubled!

The correct names are the 680s on the left of the picture, the 680s on the right are incorrect. [I’m grateful to Pat for pointing this out. I have since corrected the key and tried to amend the list of names]

These are the pictures I recognise of people I remember, all on the left!

673 Kathy Alderton , 674 Jean Griggs, 681 Pat McKechnie (that's me!) , 682 Madeleine Toms ,

683 Linda Herriot , 685 Vivian ....... , 691 Lynn .........

I saw my sister Joan McKechnie on the 1962 photo. She was a veterinarian, died in 2002.

My story in brief -

I was a bit of a disaster at Barton Peveril, but left to train as a music teacher at Goldsmiths College London 1966-69.

(Mr Black the music teacher was never very impressed by me - Jane Parker-Smith, now a famous organist, was in the class with me and was very, very good!)

I taught for a year in London then went with the British Forces as a teacher to Germany.

Having been a hopeless foreign language learner (useless at Latin with the teacher called Bud, worse at French with Mr Cox and a disaster at German) - I met and married a German and have been here ever since! My German is fluent!

I taught in a German secondary modern school, had 3 children who grew up bilingually, changed my focus to language acquisition taught ESL or 20 years at the International School of Düsseldorf during which time I went back to Goldsmiths to write my PhD!!!

I am now retired but still write books for teachers and text books for English as a second language learners and I do school accreditation visits all over the world for the Council of International Schools, all of which just shows how things can change!

Best wishes,

Patricia Mertin (née McKechnie)

Dr Patricia Mertin

Independent Educational Consultant

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Its February 2^nd and the magazine has just dropped through my letterbox here in the outpost of the former empire and convict colony, Tasmania. Congratulations on producing another interesting edition and a very belated happy new year to you. It always brings me pleasure to remember my days at Barton Peveril and the many friends I had there.

In this latest edition is an article by Graham Rogers who was one of those friends until he left suddenly during the fifth form. We lost touch and only now do I know this was because he moved to a new school. In the school photo of 1958 he mentions, I am standing between Graham and John Thompson. I keep in contact with John and also his wife Pauline, who was also a Barton Peveril scholar and meet up on the occasions I return to the UK on a holiday. I am hoping you have an email address for Graham Rogers and would be grateful, subject to his permission, to send it to me as I would like to contact him again. Alternatively, you could send him my email address, bruce.englefield@westnet.com.au, and invite him to contact me, ask him if he remembers our fishing trips in Twyford and making our own rods, or the flying dart game we made for the school fete.

Thanks for any help you can give and keep up the good work with the magazine. I must send you a few names for the photos, particularly the 1958 one. This is an important one for my family because it contains my older brother Brian and my younger sister Wendy. Not many families had three children at Barton Peveril at the same time.

Next week I am off to watch Australia play England in a T20 cricket match at the Bellerive Oval, it’s just up the road from where I live, so it is very convenient. Don’t ask me which team I will be supporting as I hold dual citizenship.

Time to get back to my university work now, I am studying at Sydney Uni for a PhD in veterinary science, which at the age of 75 is challenging my neurons fairly hard.

Best wishes

Bruce.

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Do you recognise anyone in this photograph which was taken in the 1950s?

(Photo supplied by Sylvia Bondsfield (née Brew) 1948-53)

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Couple of names for the 1967 senior school photo. Number 354 is Catherine Triffitt and 557 is Sharon Triffitt her sister. 595 is Jean Russell, my sister.

I had a crush (un-requited) on Catherine, and the odd thing is that she, and I (no. 33, next to you) are almost the only ones being terribly rebellious and non-conformist in the photo, by not wearing our ties!

I am now Director of Treborth Botanic Garden at Bangor University in North Wales, a career path upon which I was set by Mr William “Pop” Salter, botany teacher and Deputy Head (no. 475 in the photo).

My culture shock after coming into the third form from a small, boys-only cathedral school (Exeter), where no science was taught.

Every morning having to catch a bus from home in Whitenap to Romsey station, the train to Eastleigh and then the bus from Eastleigh station to the school (and back again at the end of the day).

Plummeting from 3L1 (languages) to 3T2 (woodwork and metalwork)