Radley Newsletter 17

2 T H E R A D L E Y N E W S L E T T E R

Amnesty International

Animals

Archaeology

Architecture

Beagles

Big Band

Biology

Caledonian

Chapel Choir

Chess

Christian Forum

Chronicle

Classical

Radley Clerkes

Creative Writing

Crowson

Debating

Economics

Fifth Form

French

General Knowledge

Geographical

German

Grapevine

Societies at RadleyThere are a number of subjects which are not taught at A Level, but which several boys each year go on to study at university. One of these is archaeology. Among many other applications, contemporary archaeology provides primary evidence for climate change, land use and coastal development, and has an increasing role in forensic assessments for war crimes, as well as more traditional excavation.

The Archaeology Society made its debut this year. The primary aim of the Society is to introduce its members to the breadth and variety of the subject as an academic discipline, and to explore the rich, ancient heritage which surrounds us at Radley. The Society is led by Clare Sargent, an Assyriologist by training, and her husband, professional archaeologist and former English Heritage officer, Dr Andrew Sargent. It draws its members from all years and from the wider Radley community. Over the course of the last year, the Society has explored the Neolithic landscape around Avebury, visited the stunning Palaeolithic art exhibition at the British Museum and spent an informative evening examining ancient artefacts and coins.

The highlight of the year was an invitation from Durham University to join their excavations at the Roman cavalry fort at

Binchester. Some Fifths were able to take up this opportunity and spent a few days digging at Binchester for their post-GCSE work experience. They impressed the University so much that the group has been invited back for the 2014 season.

The Fifths set off for Durham within minutes of completing their Class Civ GCSE. They travelled to the site each day in the company of Dr Mike Petts, director of the excavation. They were also treated to a tour of Durham and saw the impressive labs of the Archaeology Department.

At the dig they worked under the supervision of undergraduates currently studying archaeology at the university. They were allocated a section of roadside in the area of the civilian settlement, just at the edge of the cavalry camp. Within twenty minutes, one of them, Matt Budd (b), had discovered the second piece of gold ever to be found at the site – a small glass bead with a core of gold. Other finds included a jet spindle whorl and numerous animal bones.

The boys were trained in site surveying, finds recording, and in assessing the surrounding landscape. They presented their findings at a talk to the Society later in the year.

RADLEY SOCIETIESThe Archaeology Society

T H E R A D L E Y N E W S L E T T E R 3

Harris

History

Hudson

International Relations

Junior Debating

Literary

Mathematics

Medics & Vets

Model Flying

Orchestra

Perplexed

Photographic

Philosophy

Politics

Psychology

The Radleian

Radley Video

Röck Söc

Shakespeare

Shell

Spanish

Sub Aqua

Symposium

Tattersalls

Upper Sixth

Societies at Radley

RADLEY SOCIETIESThe Classics Department has numerous contacts at Oxford and Cambridge, and ‘Oxbridge’ speakers are frequent visitors.

We have, in addition, been visited by several researchers: most recently Erica Rowan, a DPhil archaeobotanist from St Cross College, who entertained a large audience of pupils, Common Room and families in Clock Tower Court, with a fascinating lecture on what we can learn from the sewers of Herculaneum. She has first-hand experience of digging in a communal latrine, and left nothing unexamined in her coprolitic treasure trove.

The Department’s own members have also given talks on areas of interest: from Epicurean philosophy and the poetry of Horace, to Satire and to lectures on the current vogue area of Classics ‘Reception’ (or how the Classical world has influenced more recent culture). Recent presentations have examined the impact of the Classics on Great War Poetry and, indeed, on Heavy Metal music. There are plans for boys to present lectures and seminar-style events on areas of their own interest, in combination with a ‘Symposium’ meal.

The Society also organises trips: the most enjoyable, perhaps, being our triennial outing to the Cambridge Greek Play. This October, a double production of ‘Prometheus Bound’ and ‘The Frogs’ met with universal acclaim. Other Greek plays have been attended in Oxford and at UCL. In addition, generations of Classicists, particularly sixth formers, have seen numerous plays in translation.

The highlight of the year is the Lent Term Reading Competition, where Shells compete in teams with a piece of drama from the Cambridge Latin Course, and older boys deliver extracts from Greek and Latin verse set texts: impressively and with some verve and theatricality. We have hosted well-known adjudicators (at least within the Classical World): most notably John Taylor, Head of Classics at Tonbridge School and author of the ‘Essential’ Latin and Greek series of texts. Numerous copies of these were signed by the author.

The high-quality discussion that follows such lectures is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding moments of the Society’s activities; we remain hungry for more visiting speakers.

The Classical Society



Re-inaugurated in 2009, the Geographical Society was the result of a new desire amongst dons and boys to engage with dynamic geographers and their knowledge and ideas.

The wide lens of Geography as a discipline has allowed a diverse range of speakers to be invited to Radley over the past four years: these have included an Atlantic rower; Hounds for Heroes representative and expedition leader (Lloyd Figgins); an Oxford University postdoctoral researcher on vulcanology (Jeannie Scott); a critically acclaimed international investigative journalist and BBC broadcaster (Olly Steeds); an Emeritus Professor from UCL on population and reproductive health (John Guillebaud) and even a colleague of U.S. politician, Al Gore (Alan Lovell).

Writing is a curious hybrid of an activity: it is on one level an intensely private thing, carried out largely within the consciousness of the writer, drawing on the deep well of his or her own experience. But there is a long history of writing as a collaborative enterprise, a group activity, which depends on the infectious vitality of like-minded people inspiring and being inspired by the work of others close to them – the Bloomsbury Group, or the Scriblerus Club, for example.

The Radley Creative Writing Group has always been a ‘Group’ in this sense – a loose collection of young minds gathering in the congenial atmosphere of the Singleton Library on Wednesday evenings to talk about their work, to write, to read out and share their work, and to support each other. The termly anthologies continue to offer a testament to their togetherness, and their commitment to the writing life.

Last year saw a special event, however, that proved an even more powerful bond, and showed that the mutual support and respect that artists offer each other crosses generic boundaries. Amanda Jewell, whose Radley brief encompasses both the English and Art Departments, forged a liaison between the Radley Creative Writing Group and an association of local calligraphic artists known as the Oxford Scribes. The Scribes invited us to submit poems, which they would then turn into artwork that would form the basis for a full-scale exhibition.

The prospect was tantalising and exhilarating, and the Writing Group set to work. They got together for an intensive few weeks of writing and drafting, at the end of which they submitted 27 poems to the Scribes, and let them go at it. We had no contact with the individual artists, and no idea what they were going to produce, and for four months of near-radio silence, we sat and wondered, and anticipated, and tried to think of something else.

On March 1st, the Exhibition opened in the Theatre Foyer. The poems we had written had been transformed into an extraordinary array of different media and styles – there were printed canvases hanging from the ceiling, tiny and exquisite hand-made painted books, canvases large and small, prints, and a centrepiece consisting of the lines of one poem beautifully painted on a four-foot strip of tree trunk. Many of the Scribes themselves attended, as well as a couple of Writing Group alumni, and a large number of works were sold very quickly. An anthology of the work was also published to commemorate the event, and a number of pieces remain on display in the foyer of the English Department, where we are proudly reminded on a daily basis not only of the very high calibre of work which the Writing Group produces, but also of the immensely fruitful possibilities that exist for collaboration, even within the sometimes isolated world of the creative artist.

The Geographical Society

The Creative Writing Group


Front Cover: ‘Rheum Extract’, by Tom Saunders

Below: ‘At the End of the Day’ by Josh Rencher


The Geographical Society

On the evening of Tuesday 21st January, Lord Hurd of Westwell visited Radley to address the International Relations Society.

Lord Hurd, former Cabinet Minister and Home and Foreign Secretary under Mrs Thatcher, had been invited to visit by Jack Daniel (Twyford, h), President of the Society. He gave a truly fascinating talk to an audience of sixth form Politics students and dons in the Blue Room.

It was a great privilege to listen to his insights upon key figures and events in the making of modern Britain: including Tony Blair, John Major (“a very nice man to work for”) and Mrs Thatcher herself (“a formidable person”).

He spoke too about his career as a novelist and historian: discussing his biographies of Victorian Prime Ministers, Sir Robert Peel (“a great man”) and Benjamin Disraeli .

Lord Hurd also spoke of his enduring interest in our Prison System (“If you have a chance to visit a prison take it. There you see human nature.”), and his continuing support of the EU (“a

means of bringing countries together for the common good”). In addition, he reiterated his long-held view that Britain should only intervene in overseas conflict, “If we were absolutely certain the results were going to be for the good of the people concerned.”

Throughout his talk, Lord Hurd stressed that those present should at least consider becoming involved in Politics – “a worthwhile profession” (he himself came from a family of four generations of MPs). But he advised the Radleians present to do a proper job for ten years first. He stressed the importance of “luck” in Politics. His own career had overlapped with successive Conservative Election victories - emphasizing that the hardest part was that initial step of securing a constituency (“being turned down is wounding”).

There was an extensive Question and Answer session afterwards with a wide range of topics covered, including Syria, the Falklands and the Iraq Wars. Lord Hurd praised the work of the present Coalition and urged his audience occasionally to spare a thought for the dilemmas of politicians doing “the necessary business” of running Britain.

International Relations Society

The topics that have been presented have been equally diverse, including first interactions with indigenous tribal communities in South East Asia; life on an Antarctic polar research vessel; the contemporary and historical geography of warfare; biodiversity conservation and geopolitics in East Africa and even a discussion of whether sex was the most dangerous activity on earth.

Pleasingly, some of our own Radley dons and boys have also spoken at the Geographical Society evening meetings, which have proven to be welcoming and accessible fora for sharing ideas. Last Summer Term’s meeting focused on ‘Rapid Fire’ presentations, with 6.1 boys explaining the geography underlying recent news events. It was a great evening’s entertainment.

This Lent Term, we welcomed one of our most engaging speakers to date, David Edwards, a professional adventurer. He regaled us with wonderful stories, including almost dying at the hands of the infamous 1995 Montserrat volcanic eruptions and rescuing himself from a Scottish mountain after breaking both legs.

With more exciting speakers on the way, the Geographical Society looks to remain a Calendar staple for intellectual stimulation and inspiration.



near the Park’s summit of 2,425m. Getting there involved a challenging and muddy trek in high humidity and temperatures. However it was well worth it, as we got to see a wide variety of insect, bird, bat and small mammal surveys in action, as well as visiting the mountain-top dwarf forest which afforded memorable views of Guatemala and the Caribbean.

Cantilles was a rugged camp with interesting toilet facilities, including makeshift urinals surrounded by sweat bees and the notorious “trench”. Washing was just as basic, involving a bath in a leech-infested and surprisingly cold mountain stream. It was however very refreshing and afterwards we basked on the rocks like reptiles to warm up.

Half way through the expedition, we transferred to the Caribbean island of Utila for a week of diving. The ferry crossing was memorably rough

In July 46 Radleians and Dons embarked on the Biology Department’s Honduras Expedition. This was run with Operation Wallacea, an international research organisation specialising in tropical forest and coral reef ecology and conservation at several sites around the world. In Honduras, it manages a programme of research in Cusuco National Park.

Cusuco Base Camp was 1,616m above sea level; our main purpose there was to help with botanical habitat surveys, designed to help zoologists estimate amphibian distributions. We also saw lots of other research underway. By far the most rewarding were the nocturnal “Herp walks”, where we used small head torches to look for salamanders, lizards and snakes. Much easier to spot was the multitude of fire-flies, moths, beetles, stick insects, leaf insects, crickets, gladiator spiders and other arachnids.

Perhaps the most exciting day at Base Camp was our Canopy Access experience, where we climbed high into the treetops with the team who helped David Attenborough film “Planet Earth”. This was utterly exhausting, but the privileged view across the rainforest canopy made it all worthwhile.

We also spent time at Cantilles camp,

H O N D U R A S


and tested the endurance of many. We stayed at the Coral View resort, which was presided over by Miss Tonya, whose cheery personality was our first introduction to the carefree Caribbean atmosphere of the island.

The group had trained with Radley’s Sub Aqua Club before departure so we completed our PADI Open Water training quickly and most did the Advanced Course as well. This involved deep dives, wreck dives and many opportunities to see the varied reef life: including both hard corals and the softer purple sea fans and sea whips which move gently with the waves.

While these were very colourful, the most dazzling inhabitants of the reef were the fishes. Many, like the porcupine fish, were solitary but some swam in large shoals, the most common being the blue tang, which appeared black at first sight but had a blue iridescence on closer inspection. Some trumpet fish were a metre long and moray eels even bigger. Pelicans would glide over this abundant food source, crashing into the water in search of their prey.

After a hard day’s diving, the evenings in Utila were almost as much of a highlight. We either stayed at the resort bar, spectacularly situated on raised decking over the coral reef, or took tuc-tucs into town to visit the various bars, restaurants and even attend an international football match!

Throughout the trip, the forty Radleians were a credit to themselves. They were the largest group Operation Wallacea had ever taken on and yet they threw themselves into all the activities on offer with aplomb and proved to be a great help to the scientists, whilst also managing to have a great deal of fun in the process. Unsurprisingly, their enthusiasm has spread to the year groups below back in College and, at the time of writing, a second trip planned for July 2015 is already oversubscribed. ¡Honduras aquí vamos otra vez!

Michael Noone

Head of Biology

H O N D U R A S


THE OPENING OF CLOCK TOWER COURT‘Clock Tower Court’ was officially opened by Sandy Nairne CBE FSA OR, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, after Chapel on Friday, 7th March, in front of a large gathering of Council, dons and Radley staff. A plaque revealing the new name on the staircase in the Coffee Shop atrium was unveiled and was the focal point of the occasion.Before introducing Sandy Nairne, Michael Hodgson, Chairman of Council, thanked the various people who had contributed so much to making sure “this wonderful building opened on time and on budget”: including the Bursar, Andrew Ashton, the Estates Bursar, David Anderson, the Architects, Design Engine, Feltham the contractors – and not forgetting of course, Head of Art, IPE, who “worked tirelessly” on this Project. Michael Hodgson remarked that Clock Tower Court had had “a transformational impact on


THE OPENING OF CLOCK TOWER COURTlife at Radley.” It has indeed already regularly been used for events like lunchtime concerts and informal lectures. He revealed that it had been entered for the 55th Civic Trust Awards, held at Blackpool that same evening, to celebrate outstanding architecture projects. News later emerged that it had received a ‘UK Projects Award’ at this ceremony. Clock Tower Court has, in addition, been shortlisted for the 2014 RIBA Awards. Introducing Sandy Nairne, Michael Hodgson observed how fitting it was that he was opening this building, as his father, the late Sir Patrick Nairne KCB MC, had opened the original Sewell Centre in 1979. The plaque from that occasion was indeed also displayed on the atrium staircase.In his speech, Sandy Nairne commented how appropriate it was that the two cultures of ‘History’ and ‘Art’ were now contained together in Clock Tower Court: “Radley’s great ability to think across a broad spectrum of cultural life is reflected in this building – a conjunction of Art and History.” He said how much he appreciated this opportunity, as it completed “the nicest of circles, with my Father having opened the Sewell Centre.” The engraved glass plaque was revealed and Clock Tower Court declared open…


John MouleInterviewed by Bertram Beor-Roberts (Cothill, H Social, Second Prefect).

Firstly, please briefly let us know about yourself.

I am married to Diana and have three children - Emily, Ben and Rachael. I am an Oxford History graduate and taught History and Politics at Dean Close School and Stowe (where I was a Head of Department and also a Housemaster) before moving to Bedford in 2006. I have been Head Master since 2008. In terms of interests, I like theatre – directing and watching – and reading (theology, political biographies, sports writing, crime and P.G. Wodehouse). I am an armchair sports fanatic, watch too much US TV drama and play golf badly. I support Arsenal and Gloucestershire CCC.

Did you always plan on going into teaching?

Far from it. I’d considered law at university then as a career, but changed to history, both for enjoyment and because I was told it was less work than law. Afterwards I intended to do academic research – a PhD on 16th century English history – but funding fell through at the last minute and I was left needing a job in Oxford at short notice. Rather incongruously, I worked for three months in BHS Lighting Department before getting a job in Nuffield College Library. Someone mentioned teaching and told me I could get a job in an independent school without a teaching qualification. It sounded a good idea, so one day I speculated and wrote to a few schools, and it took about two days before I realised that this was what I wanted to do.

What experience or trait has helped you most teaching in the schools you have?

Good question. Part of me wants to say a healthy dose of sarcasm

but I probably overused that early on, and might do still. A sense of humour helps, as does an interest in what students do beyond the classroom. Thinking quickly on my feet, a healthily (I hope) phlegmatic character, being confident in public: all have been key. But, probably, enjoying what I do is the most important trait (and experience). There are few worse jobs than teaching if one does not enjoy it, few better if one does. My first head of department recalled that he realised when he was at Cambridge, that he could continue the subject he loved, watch and coach sport, direct plays, sing in a choir, and call it all work, and that’s the joy of teaching.

Do you still make time to teach?

I have taught a little in recent years of a new PPE course we run in the Removes at Bedford: a lesson a week for all boys on politics, philosophy, ethics, aesthetics etc. I am not quite sure yet how to approach it at Radley, but I certainly believe in regular interaction with boys . . . I will not be a distant office-based Warden.

You’ve taught your whole life: are there any particular moments that stick out to you as poignant?

Nothing especially, there are many to choose from. Many of my favourite moments have come from directing plays, which I’ve loved, and also watching Bedford, where I’d just started, complete a miraculous comeback to beat Stowe - where I’d just left - in a 1st XI cricket match in 2006.

So can we expect to see a Warden’s play?

Well, the drama here’s fantastic, so I certainly don’t have much to add. But if there’s an opportunity I’d love to do it. Although the two plays on my list are ‘Sweeney Todd’, which you’ve just done here, and ‘Journey’s End’, which you’re staging this term, and which I’m looking forward to coming to watch. If there’s one indulgence I’d like to continue with it’s directing.

What appealed to you about being Warden here?

Lots of things. You start such a process being attracted by the prestige and reputation of a school and a position becoming available at the right time for you and your family. In some ways, in this case, it was not the right time as I had expected to be at Bedford for a little longer but when we looked at it more closely, the history, ethos, and

THE NEW WARDEN


sense of direction appealed and that was then reinforced on visits, and through meeting staff and Council and talking to those who know the College well. And, happily, the impression has continued after appointment too! Of course, another factor is what one feels one might be able to bring to the job and whether that fits with the vision of those making the appointment. I think (I hope!) it does.

Each Warden will inevitably bring something new to the school. What will you bring?

I don’t necessarily think that Radley is in any way in need of fundamental change; much will be about maintaining and driving forward what is already good. But there should always be a debate about what we can do differently and better; there is a series of questions I’d ask, and then I’d try to find a route from there. Are Radleians aware of the world in which they live? Do they think for themselves? Are they prepared for the world they are going into?

Over the last few weeks you’ve been visiting Radley – what have been your foremost impressions?

It seems a happy place, and it has been hugely important for me to get a feel for the place, meet people, put names to faces, begin to get under the skin – but that’s the challenge I can start to tackle when I’m living here. But in a few words, happy, purposeful, and I have to say the dons have been very complimentary about the boys, and the relationship between boys and dons is very good. That is always going to be more intensely good in an environment where all boys and dons live on site. It also interests me that when I ask what the concerns are, they are the same as face every other school, which is reassuring!

Have you had a chance to meet many boys?

Not yet; although I was preaching at Summerfields one Sunday, and a Radleian brother thought it would be a good excuse to steal in ahead of everyone else in meeting the new Warden, and he brought three of his friends as well, so I thought that was a clever move on their part to be ahead of the game! I met a few when Bedford played Radley last term, although I tried to stay out of the way – at least until we knew who’d won!

What about the challenge of learning 700 names?

It’s a very important one, and one I take very seriously: the idea of getting into Socials to meet people, and through other methods. I’d ask people to be patient with me! Apparently you can load pictures and names into a programme to create quizzes, and I’m quite competitive at quizzes, so I’ll try that! That would be useful and enjoyable.

Radley has young partnerships with Desborough in the UK, and Gehandu School in Tanzania. Where would you like to see the most emphasis for Radley in its partnerships?

Partnerships need to be genuine rather than token and that would be my rule of thumb to measure effectiveness. Long-term projects with real traction and impact are what we should be looking for. And what would we try to achieve? Philanthropically, one wants to have partnerships where one can genuinely make a difference and not just salve some element of guilty conscience. Selfishly, such partnerships need to open the eyes of Radleians, take them ‘out of their comfort zone’ and offer real experiences of lasting value. Good partnerships combine all the above. Not always easy.

The Warden traditionally gives a Sunday sermon early in the Michaelmas term. Have you any ideas what you would like to focus on in your first message to Radley as an Anglican community?

Anyone who knows me at all well will tell you that I will think about any sermon or talk at most 48 hours before delivery so I cannot help you much! What I can say is how important Chapel is as a place to meet together collectively and reflectively and be challenged to think about things that matter . . . when I am involved directly, that is what I will try to encourage. That culture already seems alive and well and, as a committed Christian myself, it is good to see the spiritual side of College life taken seriously. Radleians have to decide for themselves what they believe; but I hope that in and beyond Chapel, they will always be prepared to think.

If you were able to bring in any living person to speak to the 6.2s, who would it be?

I don’t know how politically aware 6.2s are, but I think something to really challenge them out of their ways. Socialism is dead in people’s minds, so I think a good old-fashioned socialist to come and speak to them would be great: Dennis Skinner, or Frank Field, who spoke at the HMC conference a few years ago, and presented us with quite interesting challenges. So one of them, to challenge us over our orthodoxy.

Were you to start a new Society at Radley what would it be?

There is already a lot of choice! Anything that encourages boys to question assumptions and argue their point of view. Or perhaps a group to indulge some specific passion: The West Wing, Baseball or P.G. Wodehouse?

When do you consider that you have done something successful as a teacher?

Well, one example was when I was teaching at Stowe, and there was a boy who had arrived into my house with quite severe social and academic problems. There was a moment in the final year, at a big dinner, when I was opposite him and watching him interact with those around him, and I reflected how far he had come since he had arrived, the progress he had made, and being someone who can contribute to that kind of change is very positive. We also once had a famous speaker and atheist come to speak, and I was later told that this talk had caused the entire bus to an away match to argue together about what he’d said. That is when we know we’ve been successful.

What aspects are you most looking forward to, and what do you expect to be the biggest challenges?

Diana and I are both looking forward to life in a full boarding community again with the particular ethos and opportunities that brings. We have been made to feel very welcome and simply to join such an obviously happy and thriving place is in itself exciting. Getting under the skin quickly is the first challenge – never easy – and then working together with boys, parents, staff and Council to ensure that we maintain what is good and drive forward at the same time: we can always be better. Balancing all that is the real challenge: it is an exciting one.


PHYSICS IN JAPAN

On the 8th August 1945, an atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima; standing at the point on the ground directly below where this occurred was a very powerful and moving experience for the three Radleians: Alex Budd (Bedford Prep, b), Charles Larminie (Elstree, h) and Jack Woollett (Cheam, b), with whom I travelled to Japan. The ideas for the exchange had all begun about eighteen months before, when a chance conversation at St. Paul’s School in London, led to contact being established with Ichinomiya High School in the central part of Japan, about 150 miles west of Tokyo. As one of the top academic schools in the area, with a great variety of extra-curricular activities on offer, it was the ideal venue for what proved to be an amazing and fascinating visit. A school assembly, with welcoming speeches (to which Charles Larminie responded, at ten minutes’ notice), set the tone for a week in which we were lavished with kindness and hospitality. On the days spent in school, the Radleians sampled a variety of lessons, but most often found themselves helping out in English lessons, where the boys proved to be particularly popular, especially with the girls.

The exchange gave the boys plenty of opportunity to see how Japanese family life works and to develop a taste for Japanese food. A sense of adventure was useful at times, but we all came away with a taste for Japanese cuisine and the variety of different foods we experienced was one of the highlights of the trip. Senior high schools in Japan don’t have kitchens and so the lunchtime ‘bento box’ (almost always involving fish and rice), provided by the host families and eaten in a form room with forty others, never failed to provide an interesting culinary experience. What will stay with us all, is the overwhelming generosity of our hosts and of everyone else we encountered during our stay. Nothing was too much trouble: fitting in all the gifts with which we were presented was a struggle as we packed to come home. What was also very striking was just how hard the Ichinomiya students worked. Their ‘long vacation’ in the summer still entails going to school every day (albeit for a reduced timetable) and the idea of many weeks without school was as surprising to them as their system was to us. So as a cultural exchange, it worked on just about every level. Ichinomiya students returned to Radley in March and a second trip is scheduled for October 2014, I hope this is the first of many visits to Japan by Radleians.

Kevin Mosedale

Head of Science

We also tried a number of after-school clubs, including Kendo, Japanese Archery and the Tea Ceremony Club, which gave us a wonderful insight into Japanese culture. What made the real difference when it came to understanding more about Japan, however, was the fact that we were all staying with families; it was this as much as anything that made the trip so memorable. This was also quite a daunting experience for the boys, as they headed off to different parts of the city with their host families, just a few hours after arriving in Japan. The tears from the host mothers at the airport on the final day left me in no doubt that they had enjoyed the experience as much as we had.

Website: www.radley.org.uk . Admissions enquiries: 01235 543174 . [email protected]

Radley Newsletter 17

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Transcript of Radley Newsletter 17