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Recent Leavers' Lunch
On Saturday 12th September the Head Master opened the doors to his home and welcomed leavers from 2010 - 2015 for a barbecue and drinks in his garden. The afternoon was a great success with over 160 OMTs in attendance. All those who attended enjoyed the late summer sun and a catch up with old school friends and teachers. Many went to look around the new Design Centre, impressed with the new facilities and the opportunities it would present to the current pupils. To read more about the event, please click here.
Old Boys' Reunion Day
On Saturday 27th June the Development and Alumni Relations Office welcomed OMTs back to the School for their year-group reunions. Large numbers of OMTs came back to Sandy Lodge for a day catching up with old friends and reminiscing about their Schooldays. This inaugural event was for OMTs who left the School in a year ending with a zero or five. The biggest turnout was from the Class of 1990 for their 25-year reunion.
To read the full article, please click here.
Merchant Taylors' and St Helen's City Network
The third annual Merchant Taylors' City Network took place on Wednesday 3rd June at the Oriental Club. This event was the first City Network that was hosted jointly with St Helen’s, and it was extremely well attended by OMTs, Old Girls, parents and parents of OMTs and OGs.
To read the full article, please click here.
An Evening with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
‘Britain’s most prophetic voice’ (Daily Telegraph) spoke to a packed Great Hall on Monday 22nd June. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks enthralled and inspired his audience to think deeply and profoundly about the issues surrounding human conflict and religion. Firmly, he rebuked, “those who kill in the name of the God of life, wage war in the name of the God of peace, hate in the name of the God of love, and practise cruelty in the name of the God of compassion”. Using arguments drawn from psychology, philosophy and theology, Rabbi Sacks successfully explored how violence infected religious communities and how throughout history, religious communities have responded to this danger.
To read the full article, please click here.
To view more Recent Events, please click here.
Merchant Taylors' Prep
Merchant Taylors' and Northwood Prep unite to create a new Prep School: Merchant Taylors' Prep. From September 2015, the two schools will be formally brought together to establish a 'through school' experience for our pupils for the first time.
From September, Northwood Prep will become Merchant Taylors' Prep. The exciting move, which will further enhance the Merchant Taylors' Educational Trust, will offer pupils and parents a richer, broader, and more personalised learning experience, which encourages curiosity and excellence in equal measure. Northwood Prep will join St John's School as another member of the Merchant Taylors' Educational Trust.
Speaking on behalf of Northwood Prep, Head of School Dr Karen McNerney said, 'We are delighted about this alliance. We believe it will offer our boys and their parents significant academic, extracurricular and pastoral benefits. In providing a through school experience, we will be able to offer a much more personalised learning experience to pupils and improve our ability to meet the needs to the brightest and best pupils in both schools'.
To read more about this exciting new venture within the Merchant Taylors community, please click here.
Junior School Play - Kes
Congratulations to the cast and crew of ‘Kes’: the story of 15-year-old Billy Casper, his struggles with bullying and a difficult home environment, and ultimately his desire to transcend the mundane frustrations of his life. The play is so named because of a poem found in the Boke of St Albans. In medieval England, the only bird a “knave” was legally allowed to keep was a kestrel, and Billy is a modern-day knave.
To read the full article, please click here.
St Barnabas Day 
Saturday 13th June was St Barnabas Day, the school’s traditional Speech Day. It was a wonderful occasion as we recognised the academic achievements of the boys. There are, historically, several highlights of the year featured at the beginning and this year was no different. We heard from Andrew Thomas about representing the England U17 cricket team against Pakistan in Dubai and from Ishmael Levy about a particularly entertaining (and political) enrichment activity.
To read the full article, please click here.
Summer Serenade
This year’s Summer Serenade took place outside in the Inner Quad, for the first time in a good few years.
As ever, the programme was a varied mixture of vocal and instrumental music performed by orchestras, bands and choirs. It included the Theme from ‘Superman’ played by the Concert Band, ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ performed by the Dixieland Band, and some upbeat numbers from the choir, including the theme from ‘The Sound of Music’, which was taken on tour to Austria during the Summer Holidays.
To read the full article, please click here.
To read more articles about 'School Life', please click here.
Australian Test Team train at Taylors'
On the weekend of the 20th-22nd June, the School was privileged to host a visit from the Australian Cricket Test team for a 3-day training camp in preparation for the 2015 Ashes Series. If this wasn’t enough of a coup, the Australian Team Manager gave the school 1st XI the “chance of a lifetime” opportunity to train with the Australian squad. The boys jumped at this incredible opportunity, and prepared to bowl at some of the best players in the world.
To read all about the Australians time at Taylors', please click here.
MTS 1st XI at Lord's
On Wednesday 24th June, Merchant Taylors’ beat Haberdashers’ by 7 wickets in a T20 match at Lord’s.
Haberdashers’ 110 off 20 overs
Merchant Taylors’ 113-3 off 11 overs
It was a wonderful occasion with several hundred spectators made up of current pupils, Old Boys, former teachers, staff, and parents enjoying the cricket in brilliant sunshine. England’s former captain and new Director of Cricket, Andrew Strauss, even dropped by to watch for a bit! The MTS supporters greeted the boys like champions, celebrating long and hard what had been an outstanding spectacle; it was a day that the boys who played will always remember: a great day!
To read a full report of the match, please click here.
Under 15 Regional Champions
Massive congratulations to the MTS U15 boys who in July became South & East of England Regional Cricket Champions. They will play the regional champions of the North, West, and Midlands in September to see who will be All-England champions 2015.
To read the full article, please click here.
Batting Masterclass with Gordon Greenidge
Four very fortunate pupils were given the opportunity to take part in a batting masterclass with the legendary West Indian batsman Gordon Greenidge. The masterclass was based on what the boys would expect to find on a typical pitch in the Caribbean, which included some very fast and hostile bowling on hard, bouncy pitches.
To read the full article, please click here.
OMTs on University Challenge - Anthony Martinelli (OMT, 2008) and Nicholas Bennett (OMT 2013)
Anthony Martinelli (OMT, 2008) who has captained Gonville and Caius, Cambridge to victory in the most recent series of University Challenge. The Gonville and Caius team beat Magdalen College, Oxford, 255-105 in the final. Anthony excelled as a biologist when at Taylors’, representing Great Britain in the International Biology Olympiad in Mumbai where he picked up a silver medal.
Nicholas Bennett (OMT 2013) will be representing Sidney Sussex in the next series of university challenge.
To read the full article, please click here.
OMT Film Success - Bruce Webb (OMT, 1989) and Vaughn Stein (OMT, 2003)
Congratulations to Bruce Webb (OMT, 1989) whose movie Lobster is set for release in 2016. Bruce wrote and directed the feature, which focuses on one man’s struggle to escape an abusive partner and find love.
To read the full article, please click here.
Congratulations to Vaughn Stein whose film 'Yussef Is Complicated', which was shot at Merchant Taylors' and stared several Taylors' boys has won the People's choice Award for best short film at the Toronto International Film Festival, 'TIFF Kids' section.
To read the full article, please click here.
OMTs in Literature - Nikesh Shukla (OMT, 1998) and Tristan Bernays (OMT, 2003)
Meatspace (what non-geek types call “the real world”) – the second novel from Nikesh Shukla was published in paperback in June. The Guardian review of the hardback edition was laudatory (as were all others) ‘Like Douglas Coupland’s Generation X, this novel captures a cultural moment’. A real MTS boy, he launched a lamb chop into outer space to promote the hardback! The film of this event (or Daily Mail coverage of it!) is easily found via Google, while the video-short to launch it was prepared with Nimer Rashed, another creative from the Class of ’98.
To read more about Nikesh's success and his other novels, please click here.
Tristan Bernays, this year's Duologue adjudicator has scored a major hit on the off-West End theatre circuit with his creative mixture of performance piece and musical – Teddy. Virtually every major London paper gave the piece a (much-coveted) “four star” rating and it has played to packed houses at the Southwark Playhouse. The British Theatre review described it as, “a punchy, lyrical ride though the dark and damaged world of 1950s London. Featuring a blistering live performance from Johnny Valentine and The Broken Hearts and an electrifying original score by Dougal Irvine”.
To read the full article, please click here.
OMTs in Business - Ryan Kohn (OMT, 2001)
Congratulations to Ryan Kohn OMT whose company Propercorn is now valued at £12 million. After listening to the grumbles of hungry work colleagues, his friend Cassandra Stavrou developed a healthy snack that doesn’t taste too much like a health product - seasoned popcorn. Cassandra approached Ryan and they decided to work together to develop and market the product.
To read more about Propercorn, please click here.
Destinations
The Class of 2015 have done extremely well as 81% will be attending their first choice university in September and 97% attending their insurance or first choice.
The most popular destinations for this year's leavers are the following:
17 will be attending Warwick University
12 will be attending The University of Birmingham
12 will be attending Cambridge University
10 will be attending Nottingham University
8 will be attending Bristol University
6 will be attending Durham University
Economics proved to be the most popular course, with 25 leavers choosing to study this from September.
To see a full list of where each Class of 2015 leaver will be attending, please click here.
A Level Results
Congratulations to the Class of 2015 on their fantastic A Level Results! 72 (52%) achieved 3 or more A grades and 22 (16%) achieved 3 or more A* grades. They all deserve a great deal of praise for their hard work.
9 candidates achieved 4 A* grades
Ankit Chadha, Thomas Compton, Cameron Conn, Anish Kerjiwal, Nikhil Mehta, Dillon Nathwani, Amar Shah, Sajan Shah and Elliot Tebboth.
13 candidates achieved 3 A* grades
Dylan Amin, Samuel Baumal, Luke Chouhan, Freddie Collings, Daniel Feeney, Daniel MacKinnon, Prahalad Prasad, Edmund Richmonds, Jay Shah, Jonah Surkes, Hanish Sutaria, Archie Vaughan and Pranav Virani.
15 candidates achieved 2 A* grades
Hassan Alnaher, Erk Bayar, Matthew Henderson, Maurice Hewins, Julian Man, Vishal Mehta, Neerev Nagda, Alistair Parker, Rishi Patel, Benjamin Seabrook, Rishav Shah, Harjot Singh, James Vogel, Callum Willis and Daniel Yehuda.
Birmingham Drinks - 1st October
All OMTs who live, work or study in the Midlands are invited to a drinks reception in the centre of Birmingham on 1st October. We have reserved an area of the Pitcher and Piano, Brindley Place between 6pm and 9pm. Tickets can be booked by clicking here. There is a charge of £5 per ticket which will go straight behind bar!
Design Your Future: Networking - 10th October
The inaugural networking and careers event for those who work in Design, Engineering, Science or Technological industries will take place at the beginning of the School’s Design Week and will coincide with the opening of the new Design Centre. The event is free of charge, but please register for a ticket as places are limited. To book your ticket, please click here.
North American OMT Dinner - 16th October
Following a successful dinner in Australia, the School and Society are planning to hold a dinner in New York City at the New York Athletic Club, where a private room has been reserved. The cost of the evening is £150 or $225. If you would like to pay in dollars, please make a bank transfer to Tony Barrons, using the following information: Bank: Chase, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Account name: Anthony Barrons Account type: Checking account Account number: 711818117 Routing number: 021000021 Swift code: CHASUS33 Dress Code: 'Members and guests are expected to dress, at all times, in a refined and appropriate manner using "Professional/Corporate or Evening Wear" as the standard'. You can also pay for tickets in sterling by clicking here.
OMT Society Annual Dinner - 20th November
The OMT Society Annual Dinner is the Society's showpiece event. This year's black tie dinner is being held in The Underglobe at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and it promises to be a spectacular event. The keynote speech will be delivered by Lord Jock Stirrup, President of the Old Merchant Taylors' Society. The event begins at 6.45pm, with guests enjoying private access to the Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition during the champagne reception, before the delicious three course banquet (complete with the usual copious amounts of wine and port) is served at 7.45pm. Dress code is black tie. All tickets are now subsidised.
Please click here to book your ticket.
For all upcoming events, please click here for our events calendar.
To register for any upcoming events, please click here.