THE ALLEYNIAN no .704 | 2016
T he Alleynian is no ordinary school magazine. As readers can tell from the number above, it has had a long history; not all will be aware, though, of the very different incarnations seen during this time. About 20 years ago, what seems like every aspect of College life was meticulously recorded in a hardback book. Looking even further back, The Alleynian was more of a student newspaper, packed with thoughts and opinions that must have seemed ephemeral it the time, but which now provide fascinating insights into the experiences of Dulwich boys. Now, in an era of electronic media and repositories of information, what should The Alleynian look like? What should it aspire to document? Well, we think it should look something like this – the publication that you are holding in your hands. The changes that you see to this issue are the result of thinking by the Editorial Committee about The Alleynian ’s purpose, size and format. We are all keen that it reflects the experience of Alleynians, of both life at the College and in the world beyond. It must also document – or attempt, at least, to record – something of the extraordinary variety of activities boys undertake at Dulwich, and that give this school its uniquely rich and stimulating environment. We arrived at a publication that feels more like a journal, perhaps a reflection rather than a record, but one that hopes to represent the Dulwich experience both broadly and in depth and that, above all, communicates what it is like to work, explore and learn at Dulwich College in 2016. The cover, and with it our main articles, rightly focuses on Dulwich Inventive: a week where boys’ imagination was fired by scientific understanding and experiment; where the whole College was involved in myriad workshops, seminars, practicals and events. But we also explore something that has dominated in and beyond the College this year: politics. The Editorial Committee was struck by how much events around the world have inspired debate amongst Alleynians – in the Upper School Common Room; in the lunch hall; on social media. ‘The Alleynian Politics Debate’, a discussion between several boys, all in their final year Dulwich, all of whom have varying political views that are well known to their peers, mirrors the conversations that have been going on informally around the campus. Also included are important reflections by pupils who have been undertaking work in foodbanks as part of the College’s Community Service programme; a report on the significant work of this year’s Senior Prefects; an interview with an OA (something we hope to replicate every issue); an insight into some of the expeditions that have taken place in the past year; reviews of art, music and drama; a feature on the continued success of Dulwich’s debaters; some opinion pieces by up-and-coming student journalists and writers; even a timely investigation into the mysterious contents of the DC Clock Tower. On behalf of everyone who has been involved in producing it, we hope you enjoy this issue of The Alleynian and that it gives you some of the insights we claim above. We would welcome any feedback and thoughts on how the magazine can continue to evolve.
Staff editor Rory Fisher Staff team
Nathalie Coppin Colm Ó Siochrú Mary Jo Doherty Senior Prefects for the Creative Arts and student editors Hamish Lloyd Barnes Zach Fox Editorial Committee Charlie Scoular Dan Norton-Smith
Shehzore Adil Matthew Verri Ben Tudor Marko Marsenic Barnaby Mills Aidan Williams Staff Section editors Art: Robert Mills Drama: Kathryn Norton-Smith
Music: Jemima Lofts Sport: Phil Greenaway Photography Efforts have been made to credit photographers where possible; The Alleynian team would like to thank anyone whose photographs have not been specifically credited, particularly Maggie Jarman, Deborah Field and Mary Jo Doherty Design and Layout Nicholas Wood
Proofreader Zoë Folbigg
Printing Cantate
With thanks to: Joseph Spence, for his continuing encouragement and support; Simon Northcote-Green; Richard Sutton; Maggie Jarman; Deborah Field; Sally Gatley and Kate Bridgman; Victoria Joseph; and all our contributors, particularly our section editors Cover The covers show images generated during Dulwich Inventive. On the front cover is an image derived from a petri dish containing bacteria. Several of these were created in an experiment by Year 9 pupils, who grew the bacteria from swabs taken in different locations across the College, and each copy of The Alleynian features one of four different dishes. The back cover shows an installation inspired by cells, and on the inside covers are versions of ‘spin paintings’ created by pupils at DUCKS
Rory Fisher, Hamish Lloyd Barnes and Zach Fox
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