Year 12 is the year of “building blocks”, where boys learn the practical realities of running a business. With topics as useful
normal way for part of the year, and I want to acknowledge its effect on our community and pray that our country will continue to enjoy safety and protection. I want to particularly acknowledge the great work of our international students in keeping up with course content while working overseas. I want to congratulate the rest of the boys for keeping a high standard with their work throughout the year, in case they needed to rely on derived grades for their final results. Our students also needed to have a mobile operation, in case they needed to pack up their gear at the drop of a hat and move their studio home. All these things have been difficulties they have managed with understanding and maturity. Having highlighted the challenges, I also want to highlight the great positives of this year. The lockdown process allowed the art students more time to create at home. Instead of students setting up and packing up gear for short periods of time, they had the opportunity to work on paintings, photographs and designs for longer periods. With this, we noticed that the students’ ideas became more resolved and the crafting that went into the works improved. The senior students came back to school after lockdown with great bodies of work that was assured and confident. Interestingly, there was an individuality very evident this year in the submissions. This is a good thing. There are a few boys I want to highlight, as they produced high quality bodies of work. First, Year 10 student Finn Melhuish. His drawing and painting work was of a very high standard. He also demonstrated a great conceptual ability to develop his ideas, and his work was thoughtfully planned and skilfully executed. Congratulations, Finn. Of the Year 11 group, Thimeth Wijesinghe produced an outstanding portfolio. His work referenced Covid-19, politics and global anxiety.
The paintings were innovative and compositionally complex. Oli Aikawa also produced a portfolio that was outstanding. His use of media, paint texture and colour was of an incredibly high level. His drawing skills and paint handling was excellent. The personal interests that are woven throughout the portfolio give Oli’s work a real individual flavour. Jake Abbiss is to be commended for producing a portfolio that combined a number of different styles and imagery, to make rich layered paintings. Benji Ward submitted work that was incredibly labour intensive and was also layered and beautiful. Kevin Chiang consistently made very strong work throughout the year, in both painting and sculpture. The textures and colours in his paintings were excellent. Alex Lloyd’s work was historical in its content and again innovative and glorious. Further, Steven Zhang, George Hudson and Jack Coles need to be mentioned here for superb submissions. The list could go on for this year level, as they all thrived and created a culture of healthy ambition. The Year 12 boys also presented strong portfolios. Rory Doull produced a great portfolio that demonstrated technical skill and was beautiful in presentation. His photographs were abstract in style and could easily grace the walls of any contemporary art gallery and hold their own. Reis Azlan created an outstanding portfolio that was based on indigenous architecture of Southeast Asia. As the portfolio progressed it became a visual explosion of Southeast Asian culture. The drawing skill and colour in these works is very special. Archie Batchelor’s work was based on portraits but then grew into a mixture of street culture and contemporary life. His paintings were a great demonstration of the variety of ways one can apply paint. Tim Stewart also made strong work. His paintings evolved beautifully to blend 80s inspired illustration with graffiti style and layered textures.
and relevant as learning about the various business structures, how to manage cashflow, how to do market research and how to futureproof your business, the boys are well set up for the following year when they put those skills to good use by actually setting up a business. Year 13 is the year where the boys start up a business through the Young Enterprise Scheme. They become shareholders and directors of real businesses, producing and selling real products, and making real profits and losses. Unfortunately in 2020, due to the interruptions associated with the lockdown, only four of our Year 13 businesses were able to go on to complete this aspect of the course. All four groups have the ability to go on and continue trading into next year, however, which will help the boys supplement their incomes, continue to learn about business, and even perhaps become the main occupation into the future for the boys involved. Next year, due to continued expansion, we have had to employ an additional, experienced teacher to assist with the programme. The course will continue to be dynamic, relevant and interesting for the boys, and will continue to provide opportunities for the boys to grow and develop their entrepreneurial and business management skills. Thank you to teacher Neil Porter, HoD Commerce Katie Southworth, Claire Sparks, and everyone who contributed to the programme over the course of 2020.
Dr Mike Field TiC Agribusiness
ART Probably like every subject providing a report for this year’s Register, there will be a reference to Covid-19. It has been a difficult year in that we have not been able to meet in the
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Register 2020 Academic
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