Taylorian 2020

21 Steph McGovern hosted the national final and interviewed the Managing Director of Lifetime, Kaanan Shah. He looked impressive in a crisp shirt and tie, and Steph praised him for his eloquence. The team behind Lifetime are: Kaanan Shah, Aditya Sharma, Alex Mohar Csaky, Ali Mehrfar, Jasper Jobling, Joel Goldie, Neel Thakkar, Niam Vaid, Prishal Radia, Rishil Sodha, Niam Shah, Xavier Diver, Zac Bub, Rohan P Patel and Kiran Hurer. I am the proud owner of one of their water bottles. I think it is fair to say that we have never had a more disrupted year of sport, but it is also true that we have had the best year in living memory, perhaps ever. Time is limited, so I will focus upon the three sports that have seen the greatest success. However, let us never forget that the school continues to provide a vast sports programme, with over twenty different games options for the boys to choose between. In rugby, the 1st XV produced the only unbeaten season in the school’s history, providing us with a lifetime of memories. Oliver Gilbert captained the side, who forged their way through the fixture list, albeit with more than a few nail-biting games. The game under lights against Reading Blue Coat was especially sweet for more than 250 spectators, who cheered the team on to victory. The 16As continue to train with our senior squad, which has proved a hugely beneficial move to their progression to senior rugby. They also had a fantastic season, going undefeated. Rugby Week continues to grow and is the highlight of the term. 26matches are played under lights with every boy on the rugby programme, regardless of which team they are in, given the opportunity to play in this special event. We have eighteen boys with representative academy honours, including Aaron Florestein, who was named in the England U17 training squad. In hockey, the 1 st XI hockey team had gone without defeat and were on excellent form before the season was cut short. Particular highlights were competitive results over Eton, The Perse and Magdalen College. There is some fine talent coming through, with some exciting prospects for the future. The U16 cup team had a very impressive National Cup run, which was sadly cut short in the 5 th round as the restrictions on playing were brought in. The U14A team also had a memorable season and were crowned County Champions. Wins over Eton, Felsted and Magdalen were also highlights for their season. The junior matches against Reed’s in the Autumn term saw every Year 7 pupil have the opportunity to play hockey for the school in a competitive fixture. In Judo, our competitors attended the HMC Independent School Boys Judo Tournament: the climax of the Judo calendar. All our hardwork paid off: Shams Ghaffar gained the best individual result with a silver medal while Imran Zamin Ali, Aman Khawaja and Jaiveer Singh all won bronze in the Senior category. At the Intermediate level Harry Shannon and Amir Nazir achieved bronze medals, and novice Seraj Ali, in his debut fight, finished with a bronze medal. Sadly, the cricket season has been written off by the lockdown on the school, although our plan is to offer summer sports to the pupils in the first months of the autumn term next academic year. On behalf of the pupils, I would like to thank the teaching staff, who commit so many additional hours to provide the boys with these opportunities to represent the school and compete on a highly competitive stage. We are lucky at Merchant Taylors’ to have such a talented group of staff. Those staff have continued to support the academic, pastoral and extracurricular provision, even after the school had to physically close. Indeed, we have offered a seamless continuation to the pupils’ learning, which has been greatly appreciated by parents and pupils. Our pastoral care has been second to none, and has ensured that pupils have weathered this potentially distressing time. In addition, we have developed an extensive range of online extracurricular clubs and societies to allow the pupils to continue to pursue their interests. There are now over 60 activities in which the pupils can participate, and they are doing so with enthusiasm. These opportunities, catering for a wide range of different interests, enthusiasms and skills, have 1856 involved and active participants. Impressive stuff! And now we can all attest that Mrs Hazan’s Roast Chicken Pho and Mrs Stubbs’ Apple Crumble are a match for any TV chef. I hope you will agree that this has been a great year. Certainly it has been extraordinary in terms of the virus which has caused so much trouble, but much more importantly, extraordinary in terms of the range and breadth of the pupils’ achievements. And in this review of the year, I had almost forgotten to celebrate some exceptional exam results. At both GCSE and A level, we exceeded all expectations. At GCSE, pupils delivered an outstandingly successful year of results: A* A B C D 2019 65.6 88.1 96.9 99.7 100 2018 63.2 86.8 97.5 99.8 99.9 Twelve students achieved the highest possible grades in all GCSE subjects, i.e. 9s and A*s. 41.8% of the entries achieved top grade (9s or A* where applicable); 75% (68%) of pupils achieved 5 A* grades or more. Nearly half achieved eight A* grades or more. We also posted our best set ofALevel results for many years; this year has been the most successful since 2012. I am pleased that we have seen a significant improvement in the headline figures. More than three-quarters of exam grades were A* or A. Cumulative Percentages A* A B C D E 2019 32.58 75.28 91.24 97.53 99.33 100 2018 29.25 70.09 92.41 98.44 99.33 99.78 Eight boys got 4 A* grades; twenty boys got 3 A* grades or more and 38 boys got 2 A* grades or more. A further 79 boys got at least 1 A* grade – 56% of the year group. 83 boys, making up 59% (46%) of the year group, got only A* or A grades.