Mick Pack, John Miles, Dave Carey, Peter Taylor…..Barry Roberts, Steve Goodhew, Peter Lusted

Nick Verrall, Alan Snelling, Barry Roberts……Mick Pack, John Miles, Martyn Calder, Dave Carey, Peter Taylor, Phil Bromwich

Barry Gilbert, John Faulkner …………..Ian Hazell

Clive Eglinton, Rick Harris, …….., Ken West

(if you can fill in the gaps, please email the Webmaster)

Not easy to identify from the small picture – click to expand!  I’ll attempt to describe who is where!  From the back of the picture, underneath the left hand honours board, scratching his head – Andy Bushell; to the left of the right hand honours board, back to the camera, is Bob Field, with Nigel Dickson just under the bottom left corner of the Board; Cliff Cork is facing the camera, adjusting his tie.  On the next table nearer the camera (and facing the camera) from right to left is Bryan Short, Marc Stewart, Ken Sears and Stanley Evans.  In the foreground on the far right is Graham Barnes; seated at the table nearest the camera on the right is Greg Pope; standing on the far left, back to the camera, hands clasped behind his back is the Headmaster, Harold Vafeas.  All others either unclear or unknown.  Happy to add names if anyone can fill the gaps!

Having feasted on roast beef, apple pie and cheese and biscuits Chris Laming, our new vice president, made a presentation to Rick Harris for all his hard work as Membership Secretary, a post from which he had now retired.

Our guest speaker, Robert Dammers, then spoke of the influences on his life from before Borden through to his current role at Shell. His Dutch parents had introduced him to the world of music (his mother) and the world of Shell (his father). He went to Tunstall school which was fed by many a “Shell” child and then joined Borden in form 1X, a new class due to the growing school intake. He had taken part in many musical productions, many in conjunction with Highsted, and had recently visited Frank Nichols, a former English master at Borden who was now 92. Having joined Shell in their agri-chemical research at Sittingbourne, he moved to Amsterdam and Aberdeen with them before being nominally based in London for the last 10 years. In concluding he asked everyone to raise their glasses to Borden for the important influences it had made on all our lives.

In response Harold Vafeas, our President, said that Sittingbourne had benefited from the presence of Shell which had brought a mix of people to the town as well as many with a university education. In school life it continued to be difficult to convince 15 and 16 year olds that an academic education was important, but the 2009 “A” level results showed Borden 7th out of 39 for average points gained. There was now the green shoots of a music/drama revival in the school, an annual panto and the Battle of the Bands event where he felt there were too many bands now taking part. The Old Boys Association was an important part of the school community and invited 6th formers had especially been grateful for the privilege of attending the Memorial Service in September. He was grateful for the donation of funds from the Old Boys and mentioned the examples of the new play area, the library and the 6th form common room to which they had contributed. With the recent introduction of seating contemporaries of the speaker on the top table he had the opportunity to meet more Old Boys, and was pleased to also see a former Head and three governors of the school present.

Thanks as always are due to Tim, our caretaker, for all his hard work, Barry Gilbert for his help in the morning, Cliff Cork for organising the bar and Graham Barnes for being our MC. Photos of the evening can be seen on the site.

Next year’s Dinner is on 14 May 2011 – make a note and spread the word!

Alan Snelling, Mike Pack and Peter Lusted

At the Dinner were:-

Harold Vafeas, President

Robert Dammers, Guest Speaker

Phil Bromwich, Nick Verrall, School Governors

1940ʼs - Bob Doucy, John Bishop, Brian Tyler, Denis Jarrett, Ken Heaver, Ray Hill, Derek Munson, Graham Barnes, Ken Sears, Stanley Evans, Frank Cassell, Peter Bedelle

1950ʼs - Andrew Edney, Alan Hill, Barry Gilbert, John Faulkner, Brian Pope, Will Cassell, Ian Hazell, Terry Saunders, Ivor Jones, Neil Hancock

1960ʼs - Rick Harris, Ken West, Clive Eglinton, Peter Taylor, Dave Carey, Alan Snelling, Martyn Calder, John Miles, Steve Goodhew, Greg Pope, Barry Roberts, Mike Pack, Peter Lusted

1970ʼs – David Highton, Cliff Cork, Lee Harding, Keith Shea, Andy Bushell, Dave Palmer, Dave Spicer, Bob Field, Steve Crick, Robert Kemsley, Nigel Dickson, Chris Laming, Nigel Balm, Ken Beach, Phil Nye, Stuart Gay, Paul Bedelle, Stephen Bedelle, Greg Barry, Peter Vujacovic, Terry Whitehead, Nick Lee, Andrew Newman,

1980ʼs – Trevor Ottoway, Duncan Reed, Chris Terry, Tim Chandler

1990ʼs – Richard Parkin, Peter Parkin

2000ʼs – John Friday, Anthony Eldridge, Matthew Freeman, Sam Barnes, Paul Hayler

To be photographed wearing an Old Boys tie:-

a)   In an alcoholic establishment

b)  In an unusual or bizarre situation (we will exercise censorship controls!)

Have Old Boys drunk in all corners of the world?  Let’s see the evidence.

What:    The current (on the left) or earlier Old Boys tie

Where: Anywhere – the further away the better

Who: Old Bordenians around the world. Young Technos, old non technos.  Will the Facebook crowd put in an appearance? 

How: Send your photo with your name, when you were at school, and what you have been up to since leaving to :-admin@oldbordenians.co.uk 

 

The Annual Reunion Dinner was held at the School on Saturday 15th May 2010

The President of the Association, Harold Vafeas, Headmaster of the School, presided.

The toast to the School and the Association was proposed by Robert Dammers.

Robert left Borden in 1976 to read Physics at Imperial College.  After graduating in 1979, he joined Shell Research, starting at the Sittingbourne Research Centre working on laboratory automation systems, moving into IT systems management.  He then moved into IT Infrastructure consultancy and strategy, working at the laboratory in Amsterdam.  He left Research in 1989, moving to Shell UK Exploration and Production in Aberdeen, during which time he got married and had two sons.  In 1996, he transferred to Shell’s central IT consultancy group, working first for three years in the Hague, and subsequently in London.  For the last couple of years he has telecommuted to London from his home in Pembury.

The usual delicious meal was available.  Lounge suit was required.

The president, Harold Vafeas, said those present wished to record their thanks for Bryan’s 41 years of continuous service to the school and the association and former vice-president Graham Barnes then presented Bryan with a gift of two books on behalf of the OBA. They included A History of Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch.

  

Of course this evening is about you, but I want to spend the next 10-15 minutes offering comment on the world from Briant’s perspective. I have always been taught never to say or write a message that you would not want to appear on the front page of the Sun, and also never to trust a journalist who uses the term ‘off the record’. What I say tonight are my thoughts, I will not get political, and hope not to see myself on the front page of the East Kent Gazette in the morning.

I am in total admiration of you all, and congratulate you on your achievements tonight. I had a difficult time at Borden. I had an elder brother who was blessed with the brains of the family, and I was resigned to follow in his footsteps. It did not take me long to realise that I was an individual, with my own ambitions and my own goals in life. When the Army Schools Liaison Officer visited Borden in 1991, Briant junior believed his hype. I should have known that the Tina Turner ‘Simply the Best’ soundtrack and the armoured vehicle bouncing through the sand dunes were probably too good to be true. The tanks are great fun, but I have not had the pleasure of seeing Tina in Iraq or Afghanistan. Cris also believed the hype, he stayed here for his A levels, took a gap year and then joined the Army. As I constantly remind him, that makes me a year senior to him, and really he should be calling me sir. Some hope. We have remained friends ever since, he was my best man in 2000, and now works with me in Bristol. He will deploy to Afghanistan next year, and my prayers will be with him.

The Army has been good to me. My wife says I am a kid who has never grown up, and that I am still playing soldiers. I know that she accepts how dangerous the job now is and I have learnt that the family undoubtedly suffers more when we deploy on operations. We want to go. It is our job, what we joined up for and what we believe we are paid for. My wife and daughter did not sign up, but often have to endure the hardships that I put them through. I must publicly thank them for that. I have been fortunate enough to serve on operations in Iraq, Bosnia and Cyprus, in addition to visiting an array of other countries. I have served on a number of assistance tasks in the UK, from fireman’s strikes through to aiding the police search for the victim of a particularly nasty murder. Currently I work in the executive responsible for providing equipment to our troops. You will have seen us in the papers, any piece of kit will be intrinsically linked to us from submarines to blankets and bullets. We live in exciting times, with troops committed now, overseas, on operations that are both dangerous and politically sensitive, and it is for those men and women who I have the utmost admiration. In fact that is one of the main reasons that I wanted to speak to you this evening. I passionately believe in what I do, not for political reasons, but I am committed to serve my country, and that includes doing what I am told to do, by whoever is in power at that time. I do what I do because I believe it is right, and that is the message that I want you to take away. Whatever you think or hear about what we do, remember that these soldiers are all humans, brothers, sisters, mums and dads, and please support them through their difficult times. There are more and more casualties every day, and we all have friends who will not be coming home. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was knock on a stranger’s door, and tell her that her son had been killed in Afghanistan. It was probably one of the most emotional things I have ever done, but probably one of the most satisfying. Don’t get me wrong, it was far from easy, but I could be there for that family at their most difficult time, and do my utmost to help them. All I could do was treat this family as I would want my own treated if we were to find ourselves in a similar situation. They did not blame me or the Army, they knew that their son had died doing the job that he loved. That brought it home to me and all of my closest colleagues, my friends and my family. It could happen to any of us. I will undoubtedly be deployed to Afghanistan. I am reassured that my daughter’s school in Newcastle supports my family, and understands the difficult position that we are in. All I ask if that you are ever in a similar position, and find yourself in contact with service personnel or their families, that you do the same. Please treat them as humans, and spare a thought for the position that they may be in, and the sacrifices that they may have made. Sorry, that all got a little bit emotional.

When I decided to leave Borden at the age of 16, I had the support of my parents and a number of members of the school staff. I completed my Army entrance exams when I was 15 ½ and was selected to study A levels at Welbeck, the Army sixth form college in Nottinghamshire. Although not a conventional route, I knew it was the right route for me and have not looked back. I remember sitting in the hall on my last day of school, with 5 others boys who had decided to leave at the same time. I often wonder what has happened to them. I hope that they are well. I suppose I am trying to say that you should not worry too much about academia. I almost heard the sudden intake of breath from the staff then. Let me quantify my comment. Academia has its way of catching up with us all at the right time. I am completing a distance learning masters’ degree now, something I never thought I would do, especially having never studied for a degree. You may feel that a year out is the right thing to do, or that it is the right time to find a job, or start an apprenticeship. I can’t tell you that you are right or wrong, but you must pursue your chosen path in life. I thank my parents and those members of staff at the time for helping through one of the most difficult decisions of my life. In particular I would like to publicly thank John Macrae. Many of you will have heard of John, some will have met him. He is a stalwart of this school, a legend who now finds himself fighting his own battle with cancer, and I offer him my thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. John supported me, and we had some very grown up chats about life, the world and everything. We must now support him.

Teachers are a funny breed, I speak with some authority, my mother was a teacher in this area. It can be a thankless task, but equally gratifying when you see the fruits of your labour such as we do tonight. As public servants who have dedicated their lives to others, I associate with them, and would again like to publicly thank those around this room, please do not forget that without them you would not be here tonight. For all of us, it is immensely satisfying seeing you all sat here. I have trained 16 year old soldiers, and seeing a confident soldier marching off the square after a period of training, is one of the best feelings in the world. For us all to be sat here watching you, your parents, the staff and those of us looking in from the outside, it is refreshing to see young adults who strive to excel in their work, and who can be publicly recognised for it. Between you and the soldiers I have trained and those who I fight next to, I can be reassured that the world is in good hands for the future. We are all living in difficult, unpredictable times. Is this something to worry about, I think not. Ask your parents, your grandparents and their friends and they will all be able to tell you of difficult times. What must endure is your enthusiasm and positive attitude to succeed in whatever you decide to do. I chose to leave this school early and join the Army. Maybe green just suits me. It is not wrong to make your own choices in life, you may not decide to join the Army and you may have your own life plans. Don’t try to be someone else, just be you. All I ask is that whatever you do apply yourself to the task fully, strive to be the best, and always do what you believe and in your heart know to be right. Listen to the people around you; they have amassed a lot of experience, will always have your best interests at heart. Make sure you enjoy yourself; too many people forget life is meant to be fun.

I will come to a close soon. I know that I have failed in my task to be funny, and I can but apologise for that. I hope that I have portrayed the Armed Forces in a positive light, and that my message has been passed. Please support our troops, knowing that we have support in our actions does mean a great deal to us all. Our deal is to support you. You all deserve that support this evening, well done.

As soldiers we are taught to live by what we call the Values and Standards of the British Army. These should not come as a shock to anyone; they are Selfless Commitment, Respect for Others, Loyalty, Integrity, Discipline and Courage. Why do I raise these? Because I do not think they are a million miles away from the values and standards that we as Bordenians are also encouraged to adopt. You would not go far wrong if you understood these and applied them in your own lives.

I will stop, I am even boring myself. Thank you again for allowing me to bore you, and I hope that you enjoy this evening and all that it represents. It is for you, and is our opportunity to tell you how good you have been, and to encourage you to do even better in the future. I know that you will not let us down.

 The Services were represented by Denis Jarrett (RAF), Brian Reynolds (Navy), and Bill Wellard (Army); and other veterans attending were Garth Doubleday, and Geoff Hattie.

 Bryan Short took the Service which was followed by one minute silence after which the names of the Fallen were read by Bill Wellard.

Full details of the Service are on the Programme below (click on individual pages to expand). Details of next year’s Service will be announced in due course.

Some photos of the event are reproduced below.

From left to right: Graham Barnes, Bryan Short, and Denis Jarrett.

From left to right: Brian Reynolds, Bill Wellard, Denis Jarrett, Garth Doubleday and Geoff Hattie.

From left to right: Karl Willson, Conor Pavitt, Sam Holyoake (School Vice-Captain) and Denis Jarrett. 

From left to right: Garry Mulligan (Assistant Headteacher, Head of Sixth Form),  Graham Barnes (Vice-President OBA), Sam Holyoake, Conor Pavitt, Denis Jarrett, Karl Willson, Brian Tyler, Yvonne Herbert (Governor), Alan Snelling (OBA Governor), Bryan Short,  Christian Collins, Bill Wellard, Brian Reynolds, Garth Doubleday and Geoff Hattie.

(Thanks to Tim Hewett, Staff Governor, who also attended and took the photos.)

We come together this evening to congratulate students on their progress and achievement and to thank many for their contributions to the wider life of the school.

Last month, Year 13 students celebrated their A level results. There were outstanding individual and departmental achievements with a total of 47% of grades at A or B. This made results day a relaxed and joyous day for students and staff.

A number of Year 12 students achieved encouraging results at AS level. They have the talent to achieve outstanding results and now need to be ambitious and disciplined in seeking to achieve this. It will, at the same time, need consistent good effort from many in the year group to achieve potential in 2010.

In Year 11 excellent GCSE results were achieved by a number of boys. 23 attained 8 or more *A/As while 40 achieved 5 or more. This resulted in 37% of all grades at A*/A, the best return to date. We expect great things from this year group. The challenge for current Year 11 is to be the first year group to reach 40% A*/As. I do believe that you can achieve this, and by doing so provide an excellent basis for your progress at A level and beyond.

At A level, more than 60% of English and Spanish students achieved A or B grades and almost 90% of French and Geography students did so. At GCSE more than 60% of History, Maths and Statistics students achieved A*/As as did 5 of the 6 music candidates.

In July we thanked a number of staff for their work at the school.

Miss Tyler and Mr Collins our Graduate Trainees have taken up posts at Rochester Girls Grammar and the Chaucer school.

Mr Weller who, after A levels became our PE Technician, begins his degree course.

Mrs Williams, who led the Sports Leaders Awards programme is working at Highsted.

Mr Harvey has taken up a post at Invicta Grammar School.

Mrs Holl who was an influential and positive force within the school, not only in languages but also in terms of guidance to students and work with Primary school pupils has retired.

Mrs Preston is now Head of Art at Sir Roger Manwood Grammar School. Throughout her 6 years at Borden she provided inspiration in Art and Sport.

Three long serving members of staff have retired from full time teaching.

Dr Wilcox, who joined the staff in 1983, has worked with enthusiasm and energy in Science and more recently in ICT. He has agreed to come in on a part time basis this year to complete an A level Computing course for which we are very grateful.

Mr Holl, who joined the school in 1979 has developed languages as a real area of strength at Borden. The Year 10 and Sixth Form visits to Spain have provided wonderful experiences for students and five Heads of Modern Foreign Languages at other schools in Kent were trained by Mr Holl. We wish him and Mrs Holl a long and happy retirement.

Mr Smith, who joined Borden in 1971 is noted for his modesty, knowledge and hard work. He too has returned to complete an A level course in Economics this year.

A few weeks after last years Prize Evening the school was inspected. The Ofsted team judged the school to be firmly good in all areas. We were very pleased with the report. The challenge this year and beyond is not only to maintain all that is good but also to address areas where we know we can be better.

One of the highlights earlier this year was the Building Schools for the future day in February. On this day students in all age discussion groups led by members of the Sixth Form discussed what a future school might look like and what could be done to create the best future learning environment for students and staff. It was a very successful day and visitors to the school commented upon the imagination, co operation and positive approach of Borden’s students. Schools in Sittingbourne and Faversham are part of Wave 6 for BSF. Headteachers had been told that preliminary discussions with KCC architects would take place this autumn before meeting began with the architects appointed for the design stage of the project. There has been a delay as one of the main contractors withdrew. Last week a KCC press release announced that Kier Group plc has replaced Telereal Trillium within the scheme and a meeting for Swale Heads would be arranged in due course while work on the proposals for second phase projects in Gravesham and Thanet will immediately commence. When there is firm news regarding Swale I will of course share it with you.

Good learning and positive relationships are at the core of school life. Much has been achieved in the past few years by students, staff, parents and governors working in their different ways for and within the school community. There is still much to be done but we approach the aims of improving learning and strengthening good relationships confident that the foundations for future progress are secure.

Before concluding I wish to register my thanks to the staff of the school for their dedication throughout the past year. Teachers and support staff have worked together to provide an interesting curriculum, support for students, and an exciting programme of educational visits and adventurous activities.

++++++++++++++++++

This year saw the Dinner moved to May as a trial run. Showing a full understanding of modern examination techniques by offering a multi choice (well two!) answer, Graham Barnes, our MC for the evening, asked by a show of hands from the gathered throng their preferred dinner date. May was the undisputed favourite. This was because:-

1. nobody understood the question,
2. Old Boys who preferred March had boycotted the meal,
3. there was a danger that the Dinner would take place on both dates,
4. everyone was keen for Graham to sit down.

Graham firstly said how sad he was that John Macrae could not be with us and asked everyone to send their best wishes on the “Get well” card. Thanks were given to various people for their activities on the Committee – Rick Harris for all his work as Membership secretary, a role from which he was retiring (again!). Volunteers to take over were asked to attend a demanding interview process after the dinner. Mention was also made of Dave Palmer and Ryan Jarrett for bringing the web site to life, and Alan Snelling and Peter Lusted for organising the Dinner.

Harold Vafeas, our President, then reminded everyone of the changes to the Maroon – it would in future be an ever evolving magazine on the internet. This was necessary not only due to costs but was also the way forward to reach more Old Boys. He made special mention of our former maroon Editors, three of whom were with us that evening – Denis Jarrett, Chris Laming and Graham Barnes. In a slight change from tradition he asked Bill Usher to introduce the guest speaker, his nephew.

Roger Usher said how good it was to see some of his old mates at the dinner who were with him on the top table. He felt the school had both changed and yet remained unchanged. He had come to the school after the 11+ from Milton – this was an unusual and dangerous progression. He always ensured for his own safety that he removed his school cap when in Milton. He enjoyed sport at school and showed he learnt the art of delegation early by just passing the ball to Dave Parsons when playing football. He avoided hockey as he would otherwise have lost all street credibility in Milton.

With many amusing stories he recounted his life after BGS. He thanked Terry Veal and John Macrae for coaching him through Maths and Physics “A” level, from which he moved onto Physics at university, concentrating on cosmology. He found he was not suited to academia where you learn more and more about less and less. He joined Whitehall during the cold war where training courses concentrated on the need to avoid blond Russian females. He spent 15 years in the Civil Service as a private secretary and confirmed the accuracy of “Yes Minister”.

He then joined Cooper Lybrand where he worked with another Old Boy, Peter Allen, before moving on in 2001 to the Adams Institute (International) as MD. The institute works with developing countries especially on financial aspects. Democracy means different things in different countries and often although elections are free tribal majorities dictate results. Roger is now Chairman at the Institute. Finally in time honoured tradition he toasted the OBA.

Old Boys present were (alphabetically):-

Tony Akehurst, Peter Allen, Neville Amos, P J Baker, Roger Barber, Graham Barnes, Robert Barnes, Sam Barnes, Ian Baron, Terry Barry, Greg Barry, Peter Bedelle, Paul Bedelle, John Bishop, Michael Briant, Phillip Bromwich, Roy Brunsden, Phil Bryant, Andy Bushell, Martyn Calder, David Carey, Frank Cassell, Shaun Caveney, Tony Clayton, James Cole, Cliff Cork, Peter Cotton, Jim Cox, Steve Crick, Robert Dammers, Bob Doucy, Alexander Earl, Andrew Edney, Keith Fairbrass, David Feaver, Bob Field, Giles Ford, Tim Ford, Matthew Freeman, John Friday, Barry Gilbert, Ian Goddard, John Godfrey, Neil Hancock, Nick Hannon, Lee Harding, Paul Hayler, Ian Hazell, Ken Heaver, Ray H ill, Alan Hill, Dave Holmes, Alexander Holton, Crispin Humm, Denis Jarrett, Stewart Jarrett, Ivor Jones, Rob Kemsley, Francis Knox, Chris Laming, Peter Lusted, Richard Mills, Marion Minhall, Ruth Minhall, Andrew Newman, Mike Pack, William Paine, Dave Palmer, Charlie Parkinson, Dave Parsons, Greg Pope, Will Pretty, Barry Roberts, Sean Roche, Terry Saunders, Ken Sears, Keith Shea, Bryan Short, Alan Snelling, Dave Spicer, Marc Stewart, Dave Sutton, Michael Symons, Peter Taylor, Brian Tyler, Bill Usher, Roger Usher, Harold Vafeas, Terry Veal, John Watson, Bill Wellard, Andy White, Terry Whitehead, Les Wilding, Tony Young.

We still have a great void during the 1980’s (none present) and 1990’s (2 present), and what a shame that our successful Hockey Club is noticeably absent. For those wanting to know who ate all the pies, a Pie chart is shown below:

Next year’s Dinner has been fixed for 15 May 2010

A further report on the Dinner will be available later; in the meantime, if you have any more photos please send them in.

L-R: Bill Usher, Roger Usher, Harold Vafeas