PRIZE GIVING SPEECH October 17th, 2013

Honourable guests, Mr.Cash, Mrs Berry, Chair of our Board of Governors, fellow Board members, staff,

parents, students and friends.

Welcome to our annual Prize Giving.

It is my honour and pleasure to highlight for you the many achievements of the Warwick Academy

students over the 2012/13 academic yea.

It has certainly been quite a year filled with exceptional highlights as we continued to celebrate the 350th

birthday of our school. In the first very busy term we had Random Acts of Kindness, Rhodes House won

the Swim Meet for the first time since 2002, we held our Annual Golf Tournament at Riddell’s Bay Golf

and Country Club with a record number of teams, we sold paintings at our Art Auction assisted by the

incredible talents of the local artistic community. I would like to thank them all for their support.

We enjoyed the talents of our drama students at the Shakespeare Festival and our major production

Cabaret – more about those later, we dined with much entertainment at our 350th Gala Dinner at the

Southampton Fairmont, we enjoyed the WAPTA Christmas Fair, the Winter Music Concert, the Walk and

Run for Warwick, Open Day and in our quest of becoming an “International Centre of Educational

Excellence” and exposing students to global issues and perspectives we became the first school in

Bermuda to be a Human Rights Friendly School entering into a partnership with Amnesty International

Bermuda We will be piloting this project for three years and will serve as a model for other interested

schools in Bermuda. In the process, we join a network of 21 Human Rights Friendly schools from around

the world.

In December we ended our 350 celebrations with our final assembly when we buried our Time Capsule

which will be reopened in 2062 when the 400th anniversary is celebrated. And that was only the first term!

In January 2013 we all gave a sigh that the 350 year was over but there was also a feeling of excitement

as we moved into the next chapter of our school’s life. Mock examinations in January paved the way for

what were our best examinations results in the history of the school leading to a double celebration that

started in July with record breaking International Baccalaureate results and then the Year 11 students

followed up in late August with our best ever IGCSE results.

The IB results included Matthew Wedlich’s 44 and Anna Dobson’s 41 out of a possible 45 point total and

a 92% pass rate overall for the Diploma – our best ever. On top of the excellent results were a wonderful

selection of outstanding Universities - in the UK: Cambridge University, University College London,

Warwick, and Exeter; and in Canada: McGill, Guelph, Waterloo, Toronto, Western Ontario, and British

Colombia. 100% of our graduates gained entry into their first choice university and Anna Dobson became

the first Bermuda educated student to directly enter Cambridge at undergraduate level. All these factors

are a real measure of our success.

In terms of the I/GCSE results 100% of our students passed in 8 and more subjects. Fiona Dobson and

Daniel Hetzel each achieved 9 passes at A*. This is the first time in the school’s history that any students

have achieved all A* grades at I/GCSE.

93.22 % of the students passed with grades A* - C in 5 and more subjects which included English &

Mathematics, a science, a humanity and a foreign language. Of special note is that 36% of all the grades

were at the A* and A grade.

You will hear more about these wonderful students and their achievements as the evening continues. I

would like to mention that these results do not just happen – they are the outcome of hard work from both

staff and students and the level of trust and respect that is built up between them.

We welcomed 9 new staff to the school last year and continued with our two sport and club sessions on

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, where in addition to the usual school sports we also offer everything

from kayaking , to golf, salsa and horse riding. We continued to expand the use of our Frog Virtual

Learning Environment and we changed our school data base system.

The past year was also a very successful one for our Music Department. Under the guidance of Mr.

Hayward and Mr. Swan in the senior dept. and Mr. Bishop in the primary section our musicians were very

busy. We had very enjoyable Winter and Spring concerts, and our jazz band produced yet another CD this

one featuring the vocals of Year 11 student Christa Wright. We hosted a concert with Duke University

Concert Chorale and played at City Hall as part of the Bermuda Festival Series of Events as well as

attending workshops with festival performers.

Mr. Hayward, Mr. Bishop and students Owen Siese, Anna Dobson and Dylan Hollis played with the

Bermuda Philharmonic.

Our drama department under the leadership of Mr. Jones had two very successful productions. The first

for the Shakespeare Festival was “The Taming of the Shrew’. They stole the show and really proved what

consummate performers they are with a very slick cast who were always in character, looked to be having

fun on stage and were very, very amusing. My thanks go to Mr. Jones and our guest director Mr. Robbie

Godfrey for their time and talent and innovative production.

This was followed by “Cabaret” which was a total success playing to a full house every night. The

accolades that poured in were just like this example;

Words fail me! The production last night was incredible - the talent, the set, the costumes and the

professionalism of the group was amazing, hard to believe it is just high school.

I would like to thank Mr. Chris Jones our director, the cast ably led by Matthew Wedlich, Christia Wright

and Keiran Hamilton, Russell Conyers, India Wilson, Anna Dobson, Noah Marshall, Damon Rosati,

Morgan Swan, Ben Barnett and Zachary Myers, our student Tech Team – who are just amazing,

choreographer, Deputy Head Girl, Melanie Mendonca, Mr. Kent Hayward, Dylan Hollis and the

musicians, Mr. Shardlow and Mike Kirk for their super set and all involved in making the show so

successful. It is very sad to think that this was the last time we will see Keiran, Matt, Morgan, Melanie

and Anna performing as Warwick Academy students in a Warwick Academy production as they all

graduated in June. I thank them all for the many hours they have devoted to the performing arts at

Warwick Academy and wish them all success in their university lives after WA.

Not to be outdone the Upper Primary production under the direction of Mrs. Amanda Ingham and Mr.

Davidson Bishop, in February was also an outstanding success and we added a new event to the calendar

last year in primary – We had a Ceillidh with Scottish dancing by the students, a piper and a grand time

was had by all. My thanks to Mr. Custodio for implementing what will now be an annual event.

Our artists had similar success. In the Student Art Competition at the Bermuda National Gallery; Liam

Flannery Y5 1st place with Maleia Howard Y6 in 2nd place

For Middle School

Y9 - Hannah Mallon 2nd place

For Senior School

Y13 - Kamryn Minors 1st place

Y10 - Timothy Claude 3rd place

Olivia Moore in Year 11 won her category in the Wattpad an online book competition against hundreds of

entries and in April Hannah Marshall entered a world-wide art contest put on by HarperCollins and the

band One Direction. From thousands of entries she was one of the 42 winners from around the world. The

contest was available to all individuals aged 13 and over (including adults). Entrants had to create a piece

of artwork that included their national flag. Hannah’s piece is featured on the inside cover of One

Directions Biography which has quickly become a best seller.

On October 20th, Mrs. Paula Wight and a team of 15 volunteers from Bermuda Overseas Mission

travelled to the Dominican Republic to build homes for Habitat for Humanity. Several of our students

went along Jasmine Lee (Y12), Morgan Smith (Y12) Daylon Johnston (Y10), Kamryn Minors (Y13) and

Brinae Godwin (Y11)

Russell Conyers had a placement in a hospital in Tanzania where he was able to shadow doctors working

there in all areas of a busy hospital and he was also was one of the winners of the Alliance Française

competition receiving as his prize, a 3 week trip to the South of France

Chas Smith our Deputy Head Boy last year was chosen from thousands of athletes to go to the IAAF

Centenary Gala in Barcelona last November. On the evening of the Denton Hurdle Awards Chas had a

double success when he was the recipient of the Denton Hurdle Award and then he jumped over two

metres in the high jump at the National Championships. He followed this up with Carifta and Island

Games successes. My congratulations are also extended to Kirstin Saltus, who was the runner up in the

girls’ division of the Denton Hurdle awards.

We again had a large number and wide variety of sporting successes and my apologies that due to time

constraints I cannot name everyone who was involved.

In the BSSF Primary School Tag Rugby Tournament the primary boys team won while Johnathon Alves,

Ferdinand Arnold, Peter Calow and Rory Crofts travelled to Canada as part of the U16 Bermuda Rugby

Football team

We had a number of students who travelled to Kingston Jamaica for the CARIFTA championships

Madelyn Moore, Jesse Washington, Shannon Hassell, Emma Harvey, Vaughn Rowse, Alexander Pilgrim

and Shannon Botelho all qualified for the Swimming Championships while Chas Smith for High Jump

and Ethan Philip for Long Jump also qualified.

In the Senior School Track & Field Championships Chas Smith tied for CHAMPION boy in O16

category and Kirsten Saltus gained an overall second place finish in these championships. Perhaps the

most impressive win was the U16 relay team of Arriek Douglas, Ethan Philip, Tez Terry and Ajani

Tucker surprising everyone with a comprehensive win in the 4 * 100 relay. Warwick Academy came a

very credible third overall.

In the Middle School Track and Field 2013 we saw wonderful results! The girls Over 13 team won

overall as did the U13 boys’ team. We had winning runs from Paige Bruton, Gabby Arnold and Nico

Barclay Jayden Ming, and Alex Pilgrim. Sajan Harvey won ‘Champion Boy’ in the U12 division with a

first place in both the 800m and 1500m finals.

In the Front Street Mile Alex Pilgrim and Nico Barclay were our top performers and we entered students

in all age groups. Nico Barclay then represented Bermuda in Jamaica having earlier medaled at BSSF

high school challenge and in the NACAC Cross Country Championships

In golf Brady Cordeiro, Benjamin Barnett Alex Mason, Daniel Hetzel and Cory DeSilva had a year of

successes both with Junior Golf and competing against adults – as I know to my cost.

In sailing Chase Cooper had a fabulous year with a series of excellent results that included the Dick

Kempe Trophy for the top local sailor in the Gold Cup Regatta. He along with Owen Siese, Joe

Arrowsmith and Tayte Stefaniuk represented Bermuda and Warwick Academy at the Orange Bowl

Regatta in Miami.

We have had outstanding successes in swimming at all age levels and both genders. This year the

primary team won overall at the interschool event while Madelyn Moore, Vaughan Rowse, Shannon

Bothelo, Alex Pilgrim and Emma Harvey had successes in the Trunk Island Swim, the Round the Sound

Race, Carifta and the Island games. Madelyn won 2 gold and a silver medal at the latter

Our Middle School Boys teams really did us proud in volleyball and basketball winning interschool

volleyball for the 6th year in a row and basketball for the 8

th year. The Senior School Girls again won the

inter school volleyball championships.

Riley Correia and Kaleb Tota enjoyed show jumping success both locally and overseas and Gabi Arnold

won the Caribbean Cycling Road Race Cycling Championships. Jude and Brittan Moseley, Alex Pilgrim,

Matthew Oliveira and Emma Harvey were all winners in local triathlons

I am pleased to report that we had representatives on all the Bermuda ALL star teams and Deondre Trott

was selected for the BSSF Football Select Tour College Showcase.

Tabytha Hofheins, Samantha Soares, Trinity Wilson and Gabby Vincent represented the island as part of

the Bermuda Gymnastics Team

We were also well represented in Squash with 4 students on the team that went to the Canadian Junior

Squash Championships in Niagara Falls and at the BCS IBM Squash Championships Dylan Pratt won the

Men's Plate Final. This was a huge achievement for a 12 year old.

Kaylah Ming was selected by the BLTA to represent Bermuda in tennis at the ITF World Junior Tennis

Competition in Santo Domingo in March. Keiran Hamilton and Shannon Botelho travelled to Baltimore

with the Boys National Volleyball team

At both boys and girls sections Warwick Academy once again dominated all levels of badminton

Our Track and Field Sports Day was a great success with Robertson emerging as the overall winners.

There were some super individual performances and the following students were overall winners in their

age categories were :

U13 Sean Tucker and Madelyn Moore

U15 David Darrell, and a tie for girls’ champion - Paige Bruton and Yanni Gibbons

O15 Chas Smith, and a tie for girls’ champion – Sharri Weldon and Kirstin Saltus

35 Students from Warwick Academy received their Bronze Awards and 10 received Silver Duke of

Edinburg's Award . Kyle Trott was our representative in the Alpha Beautillion. Anna Dobson won the top

student award at the intensive environmental Nonsuch Island Natural History Camp. Gabriella Arnold,

Taylor Sousa, Jessica Mihelcic and Lindsay Fisher represented Warwick Academy in New York at the

UN International School’s Conference.

In the Teen Awards Anna Dobson won in the Category of Outstanding Academics and Courtney Clay

won in the Category of Visual Arts

We also took part in the Youth Harvesting Conference at XL and Lindsay Fisher won the top prize, while

Khaleb Tota and Jesse Washington received Junior Athlete Sponsorship Awards to support their sporting

ambitions in equestrianism and swimming. We were represented at the Universal Day of the Child

Awards by Kylah Hall, Hayley Dill and Lindsay Fisher.

We were also very active with our Community involvement. Year 12 & 13 students entered the 2013

Island Challenge, and we had large numbers in the National High School Challenge, the Argus Crime

Stoppers 5k walk and road race, we entered the Friends of Hospice Walk, and had numerous students take

part in the St. John’s Youth Choir Christmas Concert, the 2013 Green Day video competition, the

Butterfield Student Challenge and the Earth Hour Essay Competition as well as the Partner Re Dollars for

Hours project. We supported the Salvation Army Age Concern, Médecins sans frontiers, The Coalition

for the Protection of Children, Marine Science day, Red Cross, Eliza Doolittle society, Making Hunger

History, the Kirf School in India, Ocean Support foundation, Argus Walks the Walk, St Baldricks, the

Caitlin End to End, Bermuda National Trust, PALS and established a relationship with BUEI where

students assist with the Lionfish exhibit and also work with younger children in their education section.

Students were successful in the Math Olympiad, the KPMG Challenge. The Year 8 Science fair was a

great success with an exceptional quality of displays on show and we had a very enjoyable International

Day organized by the MFL Dept.

Our school’s parent /teacher association, WAPTA, had another very busy and successful year under the

leadership of Jennifer Frias. This hard working group of parents and teachers held a Bingo night, a

Christmas Fair, sponsored students to attend the United Nations School’s Conference in New York,

organized a raffle and very successful Quiz Night and Movie Night as well as selling Christmas trees and

having a stall at the Agricultural Exhibition. They also sponsored an excellent presentation for parents

about gangs in Bermuda, financially supported 5 primary staff to pursue professional development in the

UK and raised the funds to renovate one of our science labs. We are indeed indebted to the hard work of

all our parents on this committee whose support enables us to provide resources for our students and

teachers we would not otherwise have.

I would also like to recognize the work of Caroline Mullholland and her team of parents for running our

second hand clothes store, my head boy, girl and deputies last year, Matthew Wedlich, Anna Dobson,

Melanie Mendonca, Azaria Smith, Keiran Hamilton and Chas Smith, as well as Jane Vickers and Terri

McDowell in our Development office, the ladies of the Clothing Mart, Gary McCullough and his facilities

team.

The commitment of our teachers and support staff is what enables the school to have the diverse

successes that it enjoys. The staff always willingly gave their time to run extra-curricular activities in the

afternoons, evenings and weekends, not to mention the overseas trips that staff organized during their

vacation time when the school was closed – ski trips, a soccer trip, trips to Iceland, Washington DC, and 2

Year 6 trips to name just a few.

I would personally like to thank the staff and our hard working Board of Governors, my very committed

management team, parents, friends and alumni who help us with every aspect of school life from forward

planning and fund raising to coaching our sports teams. My sincere thanks to you all.

Warwick Academy is a school that expects high levels of achievement in all areas from its teachers and

students. Tonight we honour the many achievements of our student body but especially the academic

honours they have achieved. It is a time honoured tradition that we announce the Principals’ list and First

Honours students at our Prize Giving ceremony. Principal’s list and first honours students - when I call

your name I would ask you and your parents to stand and remain standing until I have read all the names

in each group.

Principal’s List

1st Honour Students

Ladies and gentlemen, we will continue to work together to uphold the strong academic standing, the

tradition of social growth, the development of an international perspective and the nurturing of personal

and team skills and abilities as well as mutual respect as we strive to live up to the motto of our school

Quo Non Ascendam.

Students of WA– you are the very best marketing tool I have ever seen – you are our very best

ambassadors. Thank you and enjoy the rest of the evening.