Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School

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Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
Homefield Preparatory School
    FOUNDED IN 1870

  Old Boys’ Newletter
  Summer 2021

                                                                                                       Sketch by Mrs M Jeans

Dear Old Boys and Friends of Homefield

From the day that they join Homefield       Whether you have just left or it has been   Additionally, we  plan to invite our
                                                                                                        FOUNDED IN 1870
Prep, boys become part of a unique          over fifty years since you were last at     Old Boys to a programme of social
community, which includes not only          Homefield, we would love to hear your       events and a tour of the new building
their peers, but those who have gone        news.                                       project as soon as we can.
before and those who will come after.       As we progress with our impressive          Why not take a look at our website to
We invite Old Boys of every generation      school redevelopment, offering a wealth     catch up on what is going on with our
to keep in touch and be a continuing part   of opportunities and state of the art       exciting building redevelopment
of the Homefield family legacy by           facilities, we are mindful of the rich      works:
sending us updates of their latest          heritage of the school, which celebrated    https://www.homefield.sutton.sch.uk/
exploits and adventures, ensuring that      its 150th Anniversary in 2020. Our Grand    about-homefield/school-development
they reconnect with each other and the      Ball to mark this momentous event could
                                                                                        Scanned archive material can be
School. Friendships forged at Homefield     not go ahead, as planned, last year but
                                                                                        viewed at:
can last a lifetime!                        we anticipate hosting a Summer Ball in
                                                                                        http://homefieldprepschool.cook.webs
                                            2022 and further details will follow.
Upon leaving the school, you become a                                                   ds.net/Authenticated/Browse.aspx
valued part of our alumni community.
Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
Homefield Preparatory School

Recollections of Homefield – by the          Revd George Coppen (1946 – 1952)            Good memories even if seemingly
artist Graham Sutherland (early 1900s)                                                   small are there, memories of .22 target
                                             I have just been looking at the
Homefield preparatory School, unique in      Homefield website and was amazed            shooting, of stag beetles on the fence,
the minds of many of us in having the        at how the school has not only grown        of playing cricket after breakfast in
FOUNDED IN 1870
marks of a miniature Public School – and     in size but also in excellence in           the playground, of military style PE
one of the better Public Schools at that,    teaching and in nurture. It is so           classes from Mr Cornford, of Walford
was intimate and friendly. Yet its           different to the school of the late         shouting from the touch-line, of one
structure and working was of an order to     forties and early fifties of the previous   bath a week or was it two, and the
prepare us for sterner things to come.       century.                                    smell of coffee being roasted in a
                                                                                         shop in Grove Road.
This was very largely due to the             I with my twin brother Pete (and
Headmaster of that time, Mr Walford, a       elder brother David who left in 1950),      With rationing, I am not quite sure
man at once awesome and yet tender, and      were at the school from 1946 to 1952        how Olive the cook, a lovely person,
one of the founders of the School. He        when Charles Walford was owner              managed to provide meals for day
created an atmosphere and a tradition        and Headmaster. It was a formidable         and full-time boarders but she did,
which I believe exists to this day.          school in those days and for the most       even if the suet puddings were quite
Surrounding himself was an excellent         part housed in what seemed to be in         inedible. After such food and that of
staff, he created a closely knit unity of    pine walled buildings clad in               Marlborough afterwards, army food
staff and pupils and there was no facet of   corrugated iron, the exceptions being       was a banquet fit for kings even if not
this entity of which he was ignorant.        Grove House and The Limes. The              appreciated by all my fellow soldiers.
                                             classrooms and boarding                     Olive’s real redemption was her
I was hardly aware of it at the time, I                                                  battered fried slices of marmite
                                             accommodation were spartan but this
believe we were subtly fitted with an                                                    bread.
                                             is not surprising as these were
eagerness to learn and compete, not only
                                             immediate post-war years. They were         After leaving the army and after
in school but in sport – a great feature
                                             inefficiently heated by single coke         university, I settled and married in
and excellently organized.
                                             stoves and the dormitories, not at all.     what is now Zimbabwe, taught at
I will spare those who may read this, my     Discipline was in the spirit of Sparta      Thornhill High School, Gweru and
strong nostalgia for the place, except to    which made good preparation for             then became an officer of the then
say that as I think back, I am conscious     public school and military service          Rhodesian Parliament. On return to
that my days at Homefield gave me a          afterwards where stoicism was a pre-        this country in 1975, I taught at
warm complex of emotions: that one was       condition of success.                       Durham School, became an Anglican
looked after, that one mattered, that one                                                priest working in the Oxford Diocese
                                             On the sports field, Walford or
was encouraged and that one could make                                                   and also a sessional psychotherapist
                                             ‘Wally’ as we knew him, was happy if
friends, could learn and want to learn.                                                  at HMP Grendon. I have fond
                                             we won but if we lost, he made it
For this, I shall always be grateful.                                                    memories of Homefield and am
                                             clear that we had let him down. I still
                                             think back with a certain pride in that     delighted to see it move from
                                             I was the last Homefield boy to be          strength to strength…
                                             awarded football colours by him in
                                             December of 1952 just before he died
                                             in 1953. Thank goodness the ethos of
                                             schooling has changed since these
                                             days as the only way of coping with it
                                             all was by developing a sort of
                                             masochism which made it all rather
                                             fun when it most decidedly wasn’t.
                                             Perhaps Rudyard Kipling expresses
                                             all of this in his poem ‘If’.
                                             Walford had a kind heart. During the
                                             winter, we used to put water down
                                             on the small playground to create an
                                             ice slide. At the morning break, he
Homefield Old Boy; Graham Sutherland         would stand at one end acting as a
                                             buffer for us sliders whereas other
                                             members of staff would lay ashes on
                                             it.
Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
Homefield Preparatory School
FOUNDED IN 1870

“That is how my life at Homefield Prep         Sadly, for Mr Walford, I never quite      The water ran off the playing field,
began . . . . “ Some recollections of an Old   emulated the illustrious feats of Don     across the tarmac playground and into
Boy                                                                                      the rear of the school where the
                                               Bradman who had toured in England
Being deposited by my parents as a new         in 1948 but my lifelong love of cricket   doorstep was worn. A ‘causeway’ of
boy boarder at Homefield Preparatory           certainly took root at Homefield          benches enabled us to move round
School in 1949 was a daunting                  where cricket was then the religion.      without getting our feet wet. I guess
experience for a 9-year old boy from                                                     today everyone would have been sent
Australia and one which I shall never                                                    home but there were no snowflakes
forget.                                                                                  then!
I recall that I was determined to deal                                                   Life on the estate was, with hindsight,
with the occasion manfully and                                                           rather unusual. The majority of
accordingly any inclination to show                                                      residents were widows mainly those
emotion or any sign of tears was to be                                                   whose husbands had been killed in
rigorously resisted – if I failed, Mother                                                WW1 but a few from WW2. Such men
would be reduced to floods and,                                                          as there were, were all disabled, almost
whatever else, that had to be avoided at                                                 all wheelchair users although there was
all costs!                                                                               one very skilled blind carpenter,
                                                                                         Captain Luckman. In The Sanctuary,
It soon became apparent that I had set
                                                                                         where we lived, there were two other
the bar very high for myself and I was
                                                                                         boys of our age. The grounds were and
on a razor’s edge. As we arrived at the
                                                                                         are extensive so there was plenty of
school, speech was becoming
                                                                                         space for adventures. I think I must
increasingly difficult. Time seemed to
                                                Jonathan Bell - Dressed for his first    have left Homefield at Easter 1951 to go
be flying past faster than ever before.
                                                     day at Homefield - 1949             boarding at Southey Hall in Great
My dread of being left alone in foreign
                                                                                         Bookham. When that closed in 1954, I
surroundings with no friends was
                                               David Frost (1951)                        went to the junior school at
swiftly becoming a reality.
                                               I am still in intermittent contact with   Hurstpierpoint before getting an
It was then that I first met Matron, a                                                   exhibition to the senior school in 1955. I
                                               one of my Homefield chums who has
most kind and motherly woman of                                                          left aged 17, in December 1959 and
                                               lived in Belfast for many years. We
whom I would become very fond                                                            joined the Royal Navy at Dartmouth in
                                               both lived on the Haigh Housing
during my time at Homefield. Matron’s                                                    January 1960.
                                               estate for officers’ widows on the
many years before the mast clearly left
                                               south side of Green Lane in               I had a very enjoyable career as a
her in no doubt about the demons that I
                                               Morden. Donald’s father had been in       seaman officer before retiring in the
was then confronting.
                                               the Indian Army Service Corps and         summer of 1987. Initially I worked for
My parents reassured me that they              was killed during the retreat from        BBC TV and then the World Service at
would visit me at the very first available     Burma; mine was killed when his           Caversham before becoming the bursar
opportunity, bid me farewell and then          submarine HMS P33 was sunk in late        of St Hilda’s College from 1992-2001,
clopped off into oblivion down the             August 1941, months before I was          when it was still all women. I have
linoleum covered floor of the main             born.                                     many fond memories of Homefield!
entrance hall.
                                               We travelled by bus each day into
Matron slid her hand into mine and             Cheam Village or into Sutton and the
drew me towards another equally bereft         fare for us at 6 years old was 5d. No
youth. “Here’s someone you might               doubt, these days, our parents would
know” she trilled brightly, “- he’s from       be arrested for child neglect and we’d
New Zealand.” The naivety of Matron’s          be taken into care for being allowed to
‘helpful’ remark amused me greatly and         travel alone on public transport at
I began to smile. It was the tonic I           such a young age! We thought it
needed.                                        perfectly normal and just part of our
That is how my life at Homefield Prep          everyday life! At that time, the school
began – and a very happy chapter of my         was on the old Grove Road site. I
life it proved to be.                          remember the day when torrential
                                               rainfall caused flooding inside the
                                               school buildings.
Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
Homefield Preparatory School
 FOUNDED IN 1870

Sir Nicholas Young (1960 – 1965)               Lindsay Walton (1960)                   I have played guitar in bands on and
                                                                                       off throughout my life after it all
I loved my Homefield years. The school         I went through the Junior and Senior
                                                                                       started at Homefield with a skiffle
had some great teachers when I was             Departments and left in the summer
                                                                                       group, encouraged by the carpentry
there (1960-1965), and they introduced         of 1960 with onward progression to
                                                                                       master, comprised of myself, Simon
me to cricket, books, acting, travel,          KCS, Wimbledon. It was nostalgic to
                                                                                       Thomas, Simon Prudden and Tim
carpentry - and responsibility. I made         see some of those old pictures on the
                                                                                       Hayes. I still play to this day in a trio
some friendships which have lasted a           school website from my era,
                                                                                       - not skiffle any more !!!
lifetime. I arrived, I think, as quite a       especially those of all the teachers
nervous little chap - and left feeling         that I remember so well - some          I live with my wife, Rosemary, in
confident, happy, and grateful to the          good, some bad and some in the          Cambridgeshire having built my own
school for the start it had given me.          middle!!!! I remember Mr Chubb          house in 2005. I even called it
                                               who taught at Homefield from his        Homefield! Good health is still
I attach a couple of pics - the cast of Toad
                                               student days until his retirement       hanging in there even after open heart
of Toad Hall (I was the Washerwoman!),
                                               and even deputised as Headmaster        surgery in 2013 (faulty valve). This
and the 1st XI team with Colin Cowdrey,
                                               for a short while. The photo of the     gave me a new lease of life!
who captained the Old Boys in 1964, and
                                               whole school from around 1957 was
cruised to an easy 77 with one of the
                                               amazing as I could still name well
famous cut-down bats, on the school’s
                                               over 25% of the pupils and all the
beautiful cricket ground in Grove Road.
                                               staff!!! My time there obviously had
                                               a great effect on me.
                                               I got my colours in all the sports
                                               teams and was vice captain of the
                                               1st XV. In my last year, I shared the
                                               Victor Ludorum with Richard
                                               Truscott. Academically, I was           Timothy Bridge (1957 – 1965)
                                               middle of the road which didn’t stop    My first teacher was Miss Clements,a
                                               me from having a successful             lovely lady,who at the age of
                                               working life in the Oil Industry,       six,nurtured us all with her gentle
         Toad of Toad Hall 1964                ending up in international oil          kindness. At this point, we were
                                               trading for many years. I retired       housed in Grove Road. Next was a
After I left Homefield, in 1965, and           from the rat race in 1994 and went      move across to “The Limes”, where
qualified as a commercial lawyer, I            into business with my passion for       Miss Holmes and Miss Darling ran 2A
ended up running Macmillan Cancer              antique furniture restoration which I   and 2B respectively. Then, on to ”Big
Support, and then the British Red Cross,       still get involved with and do a fair   School” and Mr Hedges, a wonderful
working in conflict and disaster areas all     amount of work for the Royal            avuncular character who operated in
over the world. Before that I had              Society for Science in London - a far   3B. 3A came next,with Mr Herbert, a
worked, at various times, in a prison, the     cry from oil but extremely              frightening ex rugby player who
kitchens of a mental hospital, a German        satisfying.                             taught Maths and PE. On to 4B and Mr
hospital, and on a yacht in the West
                                               I played rugby for KCS,                 Greer, a very colourful fellow, who
Indies!
                                               Wimbledon’s 1st XV for three            taught singing (in French!) took us
                                               seasons (’63, ‘64 and ‘65) and then     away to Belgium, and generally
                                               went on to the Old Boys’ and from       entertained us. 5B was next and subject
                                               there down to Sussex to play for        teachers suddenly began with different
                                               Hayward’s Heath, East Grinstead         teachers delivering English, Maths,
                                               and Brighton. I retired when I was      French, RE, Latin, History, Geography,
                                               51 (maybe a little too long) after      Art and Science. Amazing times!
                                               playing Vets rugby for Centaurs and     In 1962, three young male teachers
                                               Thamesians. My son and two              arrived, who really made a difference:
                                               grandsons are following in my           Trevor Worton, taught History and
                                               footsteps.                              Cricket,Tony Packwood, Maths and PE
However, forget the knighthood and all
that - my proudest moment is still being                                               and Nick Jones, Science and Rugby.
made Captain of cricket at Homefield!
Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
Homefield Preparatory School

These three, close friends,                 In 1999 I was promoted to                   ‘Chip’ Braulick (1970 - 1973)
revolutionised Homefield, bringing with     Headmaster! Now retired and
                                                                                        My father worked for Esso and he was
them, vitality, energy and panache.         celebrating my 70th birthday in
                                                                                        transferred to the London office from
Tony and Trevor have sadly passed           November, I truly believe that
  FOUNDED
                                                                                        New York, hence my time in England.
away, but IN  1870Jones, who will be 80
           Nick                             everything I ever achieved was
next year, still keeps in touch.            because of spending eight years at          I was very fortunate to go to a traditional
                                            Homefield! Great days!                      English School. My older sisters both
When I started, Michael Hall was
                                                                                        went to the American School in London,
Headmaster. In 1962, Martin Carnes          Hugh van Gennep (1965 – 1973)               so they did not get the same experience as
arrived and took us boys on our first
                                            It is good to know that Homefield           me by any stretch. I was fully immersed
cruise! SS Dunera specialised in taking
                                            goes from strength to strength. I was       and when I returned to the USA,
school boys abroad, a sensation for us.
                                            one of the generation who started at        everyone thought I was English due to
Flying to Venice to meet the boat, we
                                            Homefield in Grove Road and                 my strong accent and my inability to
saw Athens and other wonderful places
                                            finished from the Western Road site.        handle the hot humid summer!
over two magnificent weeks
                                            I can remember the official opening
After school clubs saw us shooting,                                                     Bruce Watston (1973 – 1981)
                                            ceremony by Douglas Bader and
boxing, learning gymnastics,                how new and modern everything               Many moons after leaving Homefield, I
photography, football (George Stafford      was when we moved in compared to            became a French teacher and taught in
ran the famous Under 11 team).              the old Victorian buildings. It is          Walsall, Pakistan and then Kent.
Discipline was kept by ”Bessie” and         frightening to think that is over 50
                                                                                        I left teaching about three years ago to be
“Brutus” a pair of size 11 plimsoles,       years ago. I have found a copy of “A
                                                                                        ordained and since June 2019 have
which when wielded by the young             History of Homefield” by David
                                                                                        worked as a Curate in Ashford, Kent.
members of staff, left an impression on     Warren which commemorated the
our behinds.                                centenary and I appear in a photo in        My brother, Phil, was about two years
                                            the inside back cover wearing long          behind me. He also became a languages
A wonderful, comprehensive education,                                                   teacher but favoured German. He also
                                            trousers and carrying a briefcase.
that saw us arrive at our next school                                                   works to promote fostering and adoption
thoroughly prepared. Having failed my       Although I no longer live in Sutton,
                                                                                        in Merseyside and has written a series of
Common Entrance, I was sent to an           West Sussex is not that far, and I
                                                                                        highly entertaining, emotive and
unknown school in Sussex. I was top of      think of Lawrence Jones who taught
                                                                                        informative blogs.
every subject! My education at              me French when I pass Horsham
Homefield was so staggering, that           train station as he used to travel up       Gareth Jones (1989)
suddenly a boy, me, who had                 from Horsham every day. I have
                                            happy memories of my time spent at          As someone who is 'in the business,' I can
floundered at Homefield, was top of the
                                            Homefield.                                  sympathise with the challenges the school
class! I had never been top at anything!
                                                                                        has faced over the last year. Having not
As you can imagine, my self-esteem
                                            Stephen Watson (1971)                       lived in the area for some time, I must
went through the roof and I never
                                                                                        admit I had not seen that the school had
looked back, starring in the school plays   I left Homefield exactly 50 years ago,
                                                                                        so much building development going on
and passing my ‘A’ Levels. All because      seeing which rather takes my breath
                                                                                        at the moment. If I may, quite right too.
of Homefield!                               away as it seems like yesterday. I
                                                                                        The main building was a product of its
                                            will be retiring this year after a career
From 1971 – 1974 I attended King                                                        time and it definitely needed to be
                                            working as an accountant, latterly
Alfred’s College, Winchester and having                                                 modernised!
                                            with a company involved in printing
graduated from their teacher-training
                                            and packaging machines.                     I was a pupil at the school when the
programme, started my teaching career
                                                                                        Sports Hall was built on what was the old
at Slindon College. I joined the Prison     I much enjoyed looking at the old
                                                                                        playground for the Pre-prep. This was
Service in 1977 in my attempt to change     photos in your archive, particularly
                                                                                        circa 1986 and it felt state of the art at the
the system(!). Having failed in my quest    the whole school photo 1974 where I
                                                                                        time. I left in 1989 and from there went on
I returned to Slindon and in 1986 joined    recognized some of the teachers,
                                                                                        to St John's, Leatherhead, before doing a
Barnardos, working at their special         Messrs Jones, Packwood and Colley
                                                                                        gap year at Lichfield Cathedral School
school: each boy the worst in 40,000 in     and Mr Carnes together with Miss
                                                                                        with Rev'd Andrew Walters who had
London.                                     Darling. Wonderful to see the
                                                                                        been Head of Homefield in my latter
                                            memories of Homefield past.
                                                                                        years there.
Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
Homefield Preparatory School
My family's connection to Homefield is      Jonathan Isaby (1982 -1991)                Sameer Zaman (1996 – 2003)
deeper than just my experience
                                            After leaving Homefield, I went on to      After leaving Homefield, I joined KCS,
though. I am the youngest of ten
                                            KCS, Wimbledon, and then read              Wimbledon. I then went on to do my
children and five of my brothers all
                                            Modern Languages and Linguistics at        undergraduate medical studies at
passed
 FOUNDEDthrough
          IN 1870 the school. My two
                                            the University of York. I have spent       King's College and Imperial College,
eldest brothers were in the school
                                            most of the ensuing two decades or so      London, graduating as a doctor in
when it moved to Western Road and
                                            ensconced in or around Westminster         2014. I am currently working as a
the new buildings were opened by
                                            as a journalist or campaigner, working     Cardiologist in the NHS and doing a
Douglas Bader. We have a picture at
                                            variously at the BBC and Daily             PhD in Artificial Intelligence at
home in fact of them meeting him and
                                            Telegraph, editing websites                Imperial College. I live in Wimbledon
also Colin Cowdrey.
                                            ConservativeHome and Brexit Central        with my wife and two boys aged 2
                                            and heading up the national                years and 6 months.
                                            campaign group The Tax Payers’
                                            Alliance, with a brief stint as Director   Alexander (2001 – 2005) and Fergus
                                            of the think-tank Politeia.                (2005 – 2007) Vickery
                                                                                       Both Alexander and Fergus left
                                                                                       Homefield to join KCS, Wimbledon.
                                                                                       Following a Masters in Chemical
                                                                                       Engineering from Pembroke College,
In the 70s, before the school could
                                                                                       Cambridge, Alexander Vickery joined
afford a proper minibus, one of the
                                                                                       BAE systems. He met Amy at
teachers would occasionally come and
                                                                                       university and they are to be married
borrow the comma van that belonged
                                                                                       next June 2022 in the Lake
to my parents (because we were such a
                                                                                       District. They currently live in Putney.
large family) to escort pupils around.
                                                                                       Having completed a Masters in
I loved my time at Homefield and had
                                                                                       History at Jesus College, Cambridge,
very happy memories. Indeed, I was
                                            I have also popped up regularly on         Fergus Vickery joined the Teach First
clearing out my mother's house
                                            TV and radio as a political                programme. He completed his two-
recently and stumbled across many old
                                            commentator.                               year training at Selsdon Primary
sports team photographs and other
                                                                                       School and then accepted a teaching
Homefield memorabilia. My oldest            Married with a son and living in New
                                                                                       position at King’s College School, La
and closest friend is from Homefield        Malden, in 2008 I was also co-author
                                                                                       Moraleja, in Madrid. He met Laura, a
days too so you are right to say that       of the only book published about that
                                                                                       fellow teacher in Madrid and they too
friendships are forged there.               year’s London Mayoral election, Boris
                                                                                       are to be married next year, 2022, in
Right now, I am the Headmaster of St        v Ken: How Boris Johnson Won London. I
                                                                                       July on the island of Solta,
Andrew's Prep School in Eastbourne          wonder what happened to him?!
                                                                                       Croatia. Fergus loves living in Madrid.
but I shall be leaving at the end of this
                                            Toby and Josh Lyndham (1990s)
term to take over at Bilton Grange Prep                                                Freddie Meyers (2000 – 2010)
School in Warwickshire, which has just      Toby now works as an A & E doctor
                                                                                       I left Homefield in 2010, gaining a
joined forces with Rugby School. It has     in New South Wales and lives with
                                                                                       Music/Academic scholarship to Trinity
been a long time since I last walked on     his partner, Alice, in Queensland.
                                                                                       School and it was while at Trinity that
Homefield's hallowed turf but, one          Josh now lives in Maidenhead and is
                                                                                       I started to take composing more
day, when I am next in the area, I hope     Head of Drama at a school in Slough.
                                                                                       seriously. In 2012, I was a winner of
to.                                                                                    the BBC Young Composers’
                                                                                       Competition which lead to a
 Enduring friendships                                                                  commission from the BBC Symphony
                                                                                       Orchestra and a broadcast of my new
 Please do get in contact with us to share your exploits and adventures with the
                                                                                       composition on BBC Radio 3. In 2015, I
 Homefield community and if you are in contact with any Homefield ‘Old Boys’
                                                                                       was offered a place to read Music at St
 who may have missed out on receiving this newsletter, please do encourage
                                                                                       Hilda’s College, University of Oxford.
 them to get in contact with us via: https://www.homefield.sutton.sch.uk/about-
 homefield/old-boys We would be delighted to receive any memorabilia that
 you hold – we could scan any photos and return them safely to you as we try
 to extend what is currently held on the website.
Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
Homefield Preparatory School
There my life was filled with practical    Thomas Gunningham (2001 – 2011)          Some of the challenges I have faced in
music making: I conducted two                                                       my life, which Homefield helped me
                                           After leaving Homefield, I joined St
chamber orchestras, played principal                                                through, have shaped my outlook on
                                           John’s School, Leatherhead. There,
cornet and soprano cornet with the                                                  life. Probably my most significant
                                           academically, I found a passion for
University  Brass Band, and in my last
 FOUNDED IN 1870                                                                    achievement since leaving Homefield
                                           design and maths and beyond the
year I put on a full production: my 90-                                             has been my fundraising activities for
                                           classroom I completed the Gold Duke
minute one act opera, “A Sketch of                                                  charity. I am proud to have raised over
                                           of Edinburgh award, contributed to
Slow Time”.                                                                         £25,000 for the Royal Marsden Trust to
                                           the CCF, becoming an NCO, and
After Oxford, I gained a MMus in                                                    help young children suffering from
                                           proudly represented the school’s 1st
composition, studying with Morgan          team for rugby for a couple of years.    cancer.
Hayes at the Royal Academy of Music.
                                           I successfully gained a place at the     Joseph Dean (2010 – 2018)
My last year was rather disrupted by
                                           University of Leeds to study Civil
Science
COVID-19; however, the pandemic                                                     I spent 8 years at Homefield and I have
                                           and Structural Engineering. At Leeds,
lead me to found a new ensemble                                                     many fond memories of my time at the
                                           I achieved a Masters and Bachelor of
“Bandwidth” which explored the                                                      school thanks to the staff and my
                                           Engineering, learning more about
implications of internet delay, on live                                             friends, many of which I am still in
                                           concrete and steel than one could
performance online. I’m currently                                                   contact with!
                                           ever need! At university, I carried on
working as a freelance composer living                                              Following the 3 years since I left
                                           playing rugby and managed to play
in South London and work teaching                                                   Homefield I have continued my
                                           in the varsity game at Headingley
both the piano and trumpet.                                                         passion for piano and art. I am now
                                           Rugby Stadium in front of 10,000
From September 2021, I will be             people.                                  moving forward, starting my GCSE
composer-in-residence at Eton College,                                              courses in Year 10. Here, attached, are
                                           Now I am currently beginning my
and my hope in the future is to study                                               some of my recent artworks.
                                           career in Structural Engineering
for a PhD in Composition, focusing on
                                           Consultancy at Waterman Structures,
the way that new musical practices can
                                           where I’m attempting to make my
develop by performing online between
                                           mark on London’s skyline!
multiple locations. With my dad (Mr
Andy Meyers) still working at              Zain Ahmad (2011 – 2017)
Homefield, it’s lovely to hear what’s
currently happening at the school and      2021, as for so many individuals, was
it is always a highlight when I’m able     such a strange and difficult year but
to play trumpet descants at the school     one of reflection too. It made me
                                           realise how fortunate I was to have      In Memorium
carol concert!
                                           attended Homefield from the ages of      At the start of 2021, we were saddened to
Samuel Warren (2007 – 2018)                7 to 13. The responsibilities given to   hear of the sudden death of one of our
                                           me at Homefield have provided the        Homefield ‘Old Boys’, Mr Peter Franklin,
Sam left Homefeild to join Royal                                                    who has been a passionate supporter of the
                                           confidence to challenge myself as
Grammar School Guildford, and                                                       school over the years, maintaining close ties
                                           well as seeking to help others. I will
graduated with 3A*s and 1A in his                                                   and curating the vast collection of
                                           in September, become School Captain
A levels.                                                                           Homefield memorabilia. His titanic
                                           at Kingston Grammar School (KGS)         knowledge and passion for plants has
He is currently finishing his first year   and I am also one of the two CCF         inspired generations of our boys to take a
at Durham University where he is           Flight Sergeants in the school. I also   keen interest in their environment and to
Reading Mathematics.                       have been enjoying learning how to       hone their ‘green finger skills’. We will be
                                           run a business in a responsible way      commissioning a tree in Peter’s honour,
                                           and am a Young Enterprise                with a commemorative plaque, to ensure
Keep abreast with Homefield
                                           Sustainability Director. Our fledgling   his legacy continues to live on at
news as it happens…                                                                 Homefield. A great friend of the school
Please share and retweet!                  business is actually turning a profit
                                                                                    who will be greatly missed.
                                           much greater than we had hoped! I
                                           remember the many productions
                                           which I took part in at Homefield and
https://twitter.com/HomefieldSchool        I’m sure Ms Cook and Ms Hartle
https://www.facebook.com/homefield.s
                                           would have been delighted to hear
chool/
                                           that I am one of three drama scholars
https://www.instagram.com/homefield
_preparatory_school/                       at KGS.
Old Boys' Newletter Homefield Preparatory School
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