No . 131 The Trusty Servant
Wiccamica
Sad news
Victòria Hebron died peacefully on 26 th April after a short but wellfought battle with cancer . Victòria joined the College in 1993 as the Curator of the College Treasury , before becoming the school ’ s Modern Languages Assistant in 2001 . Fiercely intelligent and a proud Catalan , she translated The Canterbury Tales and Gulliver ’ s Travels into her native tongue while teaching at the school . She was also the founding member of the Hispanic Society , where she supported regular trips to the theatre . She was instrumental in preparing boys for Oxbridge interviews , particularly in literary analysis . She was known among boys for taking classes in her house over cups of tea while her elderly cat revelled in their attention . She will be sorely missed . Our thoughts and prayers are with Malcolm ( English , since 1992 ) and their daughter Julia .
Ave atque Vale : Co Ro
ShenZhen Newman ( Maths , since 2020 ) left at the end of Short Half for a post at Brighton College . We wish him well . We are very grateful to Chris Berry ( Co Ro , 10-20 ), who returned to provide cover during Common Time . Richard Freeland ( Coll , 09-11 ) joined as a Maths Intern and Jonathan Percival arrived as a fully fledged Mathmā don after Leaveout .
At the end of Cloister Time we shall say goodbye to : Cai Chun ( Chinese , since 1994 ; retirement ); Julian Spencer ( Classics , since 2009 ; retirement ); David Thomas ( Music , since 2015 ; semi-retirement ); Sally Pearson ( English , since 2018 ; Housemistress at Shrewsbury ); Jack Tait-Westwell ( Music , since 2019 ; PGCE ); Roberta Berardi ( Classics , since 2020 ; completing a book for publication ); and Vishnu Satkunabalan ( Economics , since 2020 ; new career in finance ).
Other Comings and Goings
Hannah Fletcher joined the College as Head of Educational Partnerships at the beginning of Cloister Time . She will coordinate our work with other schools in the local area .
At the end of Short Half Go Bo welcomed Laura Sanderson as a Fellow . She specialises in effective governance , individual performance and development , and remuneration structures . At the end of Common Time Peggy Frith departed after ten years of immense service as a Fellow . We thank her for all her hard work , particularly in her responsibility for safeguarding and health and safety . And just as we went to print in Cloister Time Alison Mayne was announced as a new Fellow . She has experience of teaching and school governance , most recently as Chair of the Governors at Perins in Alresford and will succeed Dr Frith in her responsibilities . She is also a former Win Coll parent ( Charles Mayne ( A , 08-13 )).
Live-in , Live-out
It has been an anxious time on Kingsgate St since Her Majesty ’ s Revenue and Customs announced the withdrawal of the representativeoccupier concession which allowed dons to live tax-free in school accommodation . ‘ We ’ ve done it like this since the 70s ’ will no longer be sufficient justification to avoid a benefit-in-kind tax charge , so the school has developed two new contracts for all teaching staff . Live-in dons will be accommodated on the basis of increased pastoral responsibilities ( five dons per house , in addition to the HoDo , doing two duty-nights each per week ). Over the course of the next round of refurbishments , accommodation will be provided in each house for one of these live-in dons to become a Resident Tutor , a process which has already begun . Pupils will therefore have a lot more adult company on an average evening up to house . Liveout dons will not be accommodated , but will be paid an allowance to reflect their level of extra-curricular contribution .
Vale , Pre-U
This year ’ s VI Book 1 will be the final cohort to sit for the Pre-U qualification . ( Of course , when I write ‘ sit ’, I mean ‘ provide robust evidence under exam conditions to enable the school to generate Teacher Assessed Grades ’). The Pre-U was developed by Cambridge International Examinations ( CIE ) with significant input from Win Coll dons to provide ‘ a proper challenge for academically able pupils ’ ( TS 104 ). Such pupils were no longer being stretched by A levels as they then stood , fragmented into modular units and devalued by the possibility of repeated retakes . The Pre-U has done its job well from 2008 until now . VI Book 2 could be devoted to a broader , richer course rather than immediately cramming for the AS exam ; teaching could explore topics at greater depth rather than memorising model answers to obvious questions ; and the best pupils were able to distinguish themselves . The A level has since been reformed again , essentially back into its old guise with academic rigour foremost . So the announcement from CIE that the Pre-U would no longer be offered simply means a shift to a very similar qualification . That shift brings some benefits : resources can be
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