THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2020
In front of Trant’ s
All their stories are inspirational, and it’ s been my privilege as Wykeham Correspondent of this year’ s Journal to interview them. schools before he decided without any doubt that Winchester College was the one for him.
In future years we will no doubt record the extraordinary lives of Wykehamist girls. Their characteristics will no doubt be very similar to those of their male counterparts featured in the pages ahead. This year inevitably contains its own unique thread as COVID has woven its way into all their narratives. Three of our interviewees found themselves at the frontline in the fight against the pandemic. Professor Paul Elkington invented an NHS respirator with the help of a Formula 1 racing team. General Sir Nick Carter’ s troops built emergency Nightingale hospitals, each within ten days. And a set of extraordinary circumstances led Undermaster, Dr John Cullerne, to acquire cutting edge COVID-testing machines, which helped the school re-open in November and again this year.
There are exceptional stories too from Oliver Goodall, a budding astrophysicist, and archaeologist Amy Bunce who worked through the first lockdown making an extraordinary discovery during the demolition of the old swimming pool. All their stories are inspirational and it’ s been my privilege as Wykeham Correspondent of this year’ s Wykeham Journal to interview them.
It’ s kept me on my toes to have my son Chris Matthews, a journalist, helping me. COVID has been challenging for young people like him and Oliver. Chris has now secured his first job as a Trainee Reporter at MailOnline, but missed his last months at university and Oliver the last few months of school— they have been studying online, and in Chris’ s case doing exams online as well.
Exams though, are not everything. General Carter explains in his interview he was‘ not academic’ and is a‘ non-graduate’. He believes that the wider Winchester experience has helped him throughout his distinguished military career to think clearly and strategically.
Winchester’ s attitude to exams did at times worry me as a parent. Our son, for example, was not permitted to take the
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