to be Head Master of St Peter’s School, York.  The position attracted an extremely strong field of applicants reflecting the strength of the school and regard in which it is held nationally.

Mr Charles is currently the Second Master (Senior Deputy Head) of The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS), a large independent all-through school from 2½ to 18 with very close ties to Portsmouth Cathedral.  He completed his degree at the University of Exeter before gaining his Post Graduate Certificate of Education from Durham University. He began his teaching career at another King’s School, this time in Peterborough, where he was Assistant Director of Music and a Lay Clerk in the Cathedral. He went on to become Director of Music at two HMC schools – the first at Chigwell School in Essex and later at Millfield School in Somerset. In 2009 he was appointed Deputy Head (Co-Curriculum and Communications) at PGS and was promoted to the Second Master role in January 2016. He is currently a Governor at Amesbury School and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Ben is married to Helen, also a teacher and Deputy Head of Sixth Form at PGS, and between them they have three young children with another on the way. Ben is an experienced choral conductor and singer, but is also a huge sports fan, particularly offering support to teams from his native city of Leicester.

Jeremy Walker leaves King’s in December at the end of the Michaelmas Term and Mr Charles will commence as Principal in April 2019 at the start of the Midsummer Term due to his contractual notice period.  Mr Roger Overend, who retired as Headmaster of King’s Preparatory School in July 2018, has been appointed Acting Principal for the Lent Term.

Miss Jacqueline Shicluna, Chair of Governors said, “Governors were highly impressed with Mr Charles’ experience, his affinity for King’s and vision for the future building on strong foundations.  We all look forward to welcoming him and his family to Rochester and are confident that King’s will continue to thrive and develop under his leadership.  In the meantime, I am delighted that Mr Roger Overend will be Acting Principal for the Lent Term.  His long experience and knowledge of King’s will ensure stability and successful transition to Mr Charles.”

Of his appointment Ben said, “I am thrilled and honoured to have been appointed as Principal of King’s School, Rochester and to be joining such a welcoming and happy community. I look forward to building on the outstanding leadership of Jeremy Walker. 

King’s is renowned for its exceptional pastoral care, the breadth of opportunities it provides across the full age range and its commitment to a Christian ethos, all in an incredible and unique setting. I am excited to lead a school with such a rich heritage, but which also has significant aspirations for the future. My family and I very much look forward to joining the King’s community and to meeting pupils, parents, staff and alumni in the months and years ahead.”

Jeremy Walker said, “I am delighted with Ben’s appointment and couldn’t be happier with the Governors’ decision.  Much as I am excited to be moving to St Peter’s, leaving King’s has been a difficult decision to make and I know that Ben will be an outstanding Principal and that he and his family will be welcomed as warmly as mine.”

engagement is as impressive as all of his previous projects.

Edward, a Music Scholar at King’s Rochester, was approached by British composer Rebecca Dale to attend a recording session for her new release ‘Materna Requiem’. He is one of four vocal soloists featured on this piece in a number of movements, all being accompanied by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

The album has been produced by Jonathan Allen, who earlier this year produced the three worldwide cinema broadcasts for The Royal Opera House in which Edward was involved. Edward’s solo part had a very demanding range and was technically challenging throughout. He approached it with commended professionalism and all involved commented not only on Edward’s musicality and tone, but also the way in which he conducted himself throughout the day. In the words of Jonathan Allen, “I don’t need to tell him what to do – he’s a true professional already.”

Edward said, “I was incredibly humbled to be asked by Rebecca Dale to record for her after she had heard a recording of me on the radio last year. Working on this project with producer Jonathan Allen and Rebecca has been an amazing journey and I am looking forward to the album launch in August”.

Edward will now switch his focus to the trombone as the Junior Royal Academy have requested that he audition for The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. At 14 years of age this is very young and requires a serious amount of work and focus.

the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET).

The testimony was followed by a question and answer session to enable pupils to better understand the nature of the Holocaust and to explore its lessons in more depth. The visit was part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s extensive all year-round Outreach Programme, which is available to schools across the UK.

Mr Jeremy Walker, the Principal of King’s School, said:

“It is a privilege for us to welcome Rudi Oppenheimer to our school and his testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced. We are grateful to the Holocaust Educational Trust for co-ordinating the visit and we hope that by hearing Rudi’s testimony, it will encourage our pupils to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and make a positive difference in their own lives.”

Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust added:

“The Holocaust Educational Trust educates and engages students from across the UK, from all communities about the Holocaust and there can be no better way than through the first-hand testimony of a survivor. Rudi’s story is one of tremendous courage during horrific circumstances and by hearing his testimony, students will have the opportunity to learn where prejudice and racism can ultimately lead.

“At the Trust, we impart the history of the Holocaust to young people, to ensure that we honour the memory of those whose lives were lost and take forward the lessons taught by those who survived.”

Year awards 2018.

A skilled violin player, Carolina performed exceptionally throughout the selection stages and, after a tense semi-final, was offered a place as a finalist alongside five other musicians at the awards ceremony held at The Brook Theatre, Chatham on

Friday 20th April 2018. The judges highly commended Carolina’s performance before placing her third.

Housemistress Miss Catlett said “To get through to the final of the Medway Young Musician of the Year competition is a huge achievement. Carolina played beautifully and was graceful in her approach to the event. Such a great evening.”

Carolina will shortly be performing along with other pupils at the King’s Rochester Summer Concert at Rochester Cathedral in July.

local homelessness charity Porchlight, raising an amazing £585.

£400 was raised from the ticket sales of the matinee and along with donations made at the box office on the day this brought the full total to £585. The cast presented a cheque to Nathan Tough, Community and Corporate Fundraising Officer at Porchlight at the end of the performance.

Head of Drama at King’s Rochester, Steve Mount said “I was delighted that Porchlight were chosen to be the charity that King’s Rochester supports this year. The themes in D.N.A touch on social exclusion, solitude and friendship which highlights the scenarios all too familiar with those who use Porchlight’s services”. As events in the play unfold, one character winds up sleeping rough – seemingly deserted by their friends.

King’s Rochester has been raising money for Porchlight throughout the school year. The matinee of D.N.A is just one of recent events which have included Quiz Nights, a Jazz Night headlined by Austrian band ‘Month of Sunday’s’ and pupils will be shortly holding a sponsored sleep out in May.

applied to.

A dedicated musician, Anna plays both the cello and piano and is a Music Scholar in the Upper Sixth. She has accepted an offer from the Royal College of Music in London and will start in September on their four year Bachelor of Music (Honours) degree course. She will study there with Melissa Phelps, Professor of Cello, a world renowned soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and a highly respected teacher.

Such is Anna’s musicianship that the Royal College of Music have awarded her a Scholarship. John Mountford, Director of Music at King’s Rochester said “Anna truly deserves such a Scholarship. Her commitment to music is inspiring and to study under Melissa Phelps is an outstanding opportunity; well done Anna!”

Anna undoubtedly has a bright future ahead of her. Her Scholarship at the Royal College of Music comes after an exceptional year in which she was selected for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. She performed three concerts over Christmas with them culminating in an exceptional performance at the Barbican in London. Anna has also won the Medway Rotary Young Musician of the Year 2016 and performed as a commended finalist in both the Rotary Young Musician of the Year 2017 and the Woodard Young Musician of the Year 2017

Photo: Anna Crawford performing alongside Director of Music at King’s Rochester John Mountford

Mr Morgan is currently Deputy Head of the Prebendal School in Chichester, a noted Preparatory School which also educates the choristers of Chichester Cathedral.

Previously Mr Morgan has worked in three other Prep Schools, each with a very strong reputation (Swanbourne House, Ashdown House and Chafyn Grove).

Mr Morgan was a cathedral chorister himself in Salisbury and was educated at Salisbury Cathedral Prep School before going on to Canford School.  He is a graduate of the Royal College of Music where he met his wife, Camilla and together they have four children.

Jeremy Walker, Principal of King’s Rochester notes, “We are delighted with Mr Morgan’s appointment and look forward to welcoming him and his family next September.  The position attracted a very large and strong field of applicants and it is clear that Mr Morgan has the skills, experience and personal style to ensure a successful transition from the current Headmaster, Mr Roger Overend, and to lead the Prep School in its future development as a key part of King’s Rochester. There will be many opportunities before Mr Overend retires in July 2018 to mark his outstanding contribution to King’s but I am pleased to put on record now my personal thanks and those of Governors, colleagues, pupils and parents for all he has achieved.” 

Mr Morgan comments, “I am very pleased indeed to be joining such a vibrant and welcoming community. King’s Rochester has an outstanding reputation and it is clear that the nurturing and caring ethos is ingrained.  I am looking forward to continuing all that has been achieved and helping the school develop into the future.”

Photo: Mr Tom Morgan, Headmaster-elect of King’s Rochester Preparatory School

for the squad in summer 2018.

Aspen currently has ten international caps for Scotland, following a successful season playing for Scotland Women’s U18s and is set to build on this experience when the training sessions for the U21s begin in early 2018.

During her time playing with the U18s, the coaches were impressed with her performance and nominated her for the U21 Squad. Aspen’s selection was confirmed on 25th November.

Both Aspen’s parents are Scottish and she is delighted to represent Scotland at International Level. Aspen is a regular player in the King’s Rochester 1^st XI School team and is currently playing in the English Premier League for her local club, Holcombe, who have recently qualified for the European competition which will be held next May in Dublin.

Dominic Taylor, Head of Hockey at King’s Rochester says “This is an amazing achievement and truly well-deserved for Aspen. She is an outstanding player on the pitch and her professionalism and dedication to her sport is inspirational”.

Away from the hockey pitch, Aspen is in the Upper Sixth at King’s Rochester where she is Head Girl and busy studying for four A levels in addition to being a Music Scholar, playing Violin at Grade VIII and Piano at Grade VI standard.

McVicar’s production of Die Zaberflote at the Royal Opera House just the week before, Edward gave a “a moving and impressive performance” for The Friends of Cathedral Music at Mansion House.

Edward who is in Year 9 at King’s Rochester, was given the honour of being invited to perform at a fundraising Gala event for The Friends of Cathedral Music held in the magnificent splendour of Mansion House and hosted by HRH The Duchess of Gloucester and the Lord Mayor of London.

Edward who is also an ambassador for the Diamond Fund for Choristers was invited to sing a specially arranged version of John Rutter’s Gaelic Blessing arranged for him by John Rutter CBE himself.

The prestigious event was in aid of raising funds and awareness for the importance of maintaining the tradition of Choral Music within this country for future generations. Amongst those present at the sold out event were international soprano Dame Felicity Lott, Andrew Carwood, Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral, composer Roxanna Panufnik, Dr Stephen Cleobury, Director of Music at Kings College Cambridge, Countess of Limmerick, Baroness Neville – Rolfe, Baroness Perry, actor Simon Beale and His Honour Judge The Lord Meston QC to list just a few.

The evening was a great success and the Friends of Cathedral Music and guests were impressed with Edward’s professionalism.

Edward received many congratulatory comments during the evening including “an immense credit to both Rochester Cathedral and King’s School Rochester,” as well as receiving a personal message from John Rutter congratulating him on his performance.

Photo:  Edward being introduced to HRH Duchess of Gloucester by The Lord Mayor of London

A* and 48% at A* or A.

Just under half of all pupils attained at least five A* or A grade GCSEs, 30% achieved straight A* to B grades and 69% of all grades were at A* to B level.

Top performers were Giselle Harris attaining ten A* grades, Molly Luckhurst with 10A* and 1A, Leonidas Neubauer with 9A*s and 2As, Nour Kourbeh with 9A*s and 1A, Tom Jones with 8A*s and 2As and Isobel Gilbert with 7A*s and 3As.

Such successful grades were achieved across all subjects with notable performances coming from English, German and Design & Technology with more than 90% A* to B grades.  Biology, Chemistry and Physics all achieved over 80% A* to B grades among the two thirds of pupils who sat the more rigorous Triple Science course.  Music and Art have always been strong subjects at King’s Rochester, and this year Art celebrated 100% A*/A grade success with Music gaining 100% A* to B.

Jeremy Walker, Principal of King’s Rochester, commented,

“These fantastic results represent a huge amount of hard work and dedication by both the pupils and their teachers.  King’s thrives on the rapport between staff and pupils both in and out of the classroom and we pride ourselves on knowing the pupils and their families very well.  I am particularly pleased that these results have been achieved across all subjects and that they have come alongside the benefits of the much wider education at King’s.  Our pupils excel in sport, drama and music among many other enterprises and it is the personal qualities they develop alongside their academic performance which makes them such engaging young men and women with bright futures ahead.  Coming on the back of last week’s excellent A level results it has been a highly pleasing year and I congratulate all of my colleagues and pupils on their success.”

Photo: Molly Luckhurst and Giselle Harris both achieved ten A*s

students achieved new record A level results.

13% of all grades were at A* and 34% were at A*/A – both being the highest ever at King’s and far higher than the national A*/A average of 26.3%.  A record 24% of the year achieved two or more A*/A grades and the top 40% of the year (comparable to a grammar school cohort), achieved a whopping A*/A grade tally of 68%!  The overall average UCAS points were equivalent to three B grades per student and well over half of all grades achieved were A* to B.

With such impressive results as these, it is no surprise that the destinations for the nine students with straight A*/A grades are the excellent universities of Birmingham for Isabelle Lane (A*AA) to study Business Management, Lorna Rainey (A*AA and A at EPQ) to study Classical Civilisation and Katherine Towler (A*AA) to study Philosophy, Loughborough for James Carslaw (A*A*A) and Rebecca Titmuss (AAA), both to study Geography, and Manchester for Neve Hinton (A*AA) to study English. Top performer Sam Wong who achieved four A* and one A now goes on to study Medicine in Hong Kong.

Music is a particular strength at King’s where students sit the Cambridge Pre-U as a more rigorous alternative to A Level. This year Amelia Chambers (A*A*A) secured a place at Nottingham, George Hancock takes up his unconditional offer at Birmingham Conservatoire and George Harrington (A*AA and A* in EPQ) will study Music with Philosophy at Southampton.

Other outstanding results came from the Art Department with 86% A* grades and 100% A*/A grades.  In Design and Technology 100% of grades were at A* to B and in English 87% of grades were at A* to B.

Mr Jeremy Walker, Principal of this popular independent school said,

“It has been incredibly pleasing to see this record set of results in the first year of new, more rigorous A Level courses.  We are extremely proud of all our students who each have their own success stories and I thank our inspirational teachers who support and guide the pupils so well. More than that though, I am proud of the broad range of interests and exceptional personal qualities they have developed during their time at King’s.  Their exam results are very important but it is the excellent young men and women they have become that will make the greatest difference as they embark on their adult lives.”

school and a joint singalong the pupils enjoyed a guided tour of the facilities before playing together. As a gesture of community between the schools, both sets of pupils crafted friendship bands. Head of Pre-Preparatory School Languages Katja Neubauer said “It felt like ‘a day in Germany’. Wunderbar!

Below are some write ups by Year 3 pupils.

We had to get up really early to arrive at school for 7.30. It took about two hours to get there, but it only felt like half an hour as we got to play lots of card games and read some books. When we arrived, we had a drink and biscuit. Then we walked through the magnificent playground to the school. We then went to the ‘forum’ where we greeted everyone and sang lots of different songs. It was amazing as German pupils and English pupils sang together. We split up into three groups, but we all did the same things, like making friendship bracelets, which was really cool and interesting. I then went on a tour of the school and visited the cafeteria, the headmaster’s office, reception and the computer room. All the rooms were massive, but my favourite was the computer room because it is shaped like a dome. I enjoyed the trip to the German School. It was a long day, but we had lots of fun. When we left we said goodbye and ‘thank you for allowing us to visit your school’. It was a lot quieter on the way home and a few people fell asleep. I will definitely not forget our trip to the German School.

By Etienne

I left home at 7.30. I went to the coach, it took two hours to get there. It was a very long journey. We had to bring a card game and a book. We had assembly together. It was wonderful. We sang songs to them and they sang songs to us. Then we got into three groups: A, B and C. We went into their classrooms and had a look and we did Art and Crafts and made friendship bands and after that we had a tour. We had two captains joining us on the tour. They had an amazing computer room. Then we had playtime. It was very fun. I played with some of the German friends. Then we had lunch. It was very tasty and delicious. Then it was playtime again. It was fun. After that we got on the coach again at 1.30 and we swapped seats with the front or back. We came back to school at 3.30 and went back home. It was the best trip I ever had. It was very fun and amazing. I loved going to the German School. I wish, I could go again. I loved the trip.

By Visali