News & Successes
If you have any news or success stories you would like to share with fellow Strathallians please click here.
Jamie Cachia Selected for World Cup Squad
Jamie Cachia (Nicol 06) has been selected for the Scottish Mens Squad for the Hockey World Cup Qualifiers which will be held from 7th to 15th November in Invercargill, New Zealand. Scotland’s schedule includes: China on Saturday, 7th November at 12:00; New Zealand on Sunday, 8th November at 13:00; Austria on Tuesday, 10th November at 14:00; Malaysia on Thursday, 12th November at 14:00 and Wales on Saturday, 14th November at 10:00. All games are played at local UCT time in New Zealand.
Girls Reunion
Thirty years have passed since girls first came to Strathallan and on Sunday 20th September former girl pupils and staff gathered to celebrate this milestone. A champagne reception was held in Glenbrae,the new Girls House, which was formally opened on the day by Margie Burnet Ward; Strathallans first, and initially only, girl pupil.
Everyone then moved on to lunch in the Dining Hall, where a display of photos through the years caused much hilarity as changing hairstyles were tracked!
School tours were then available, with visits to former houses and some ending back in the Masters Common Room to reminisce with staff.
Robert Henneberg (Simpson 2005)
Robert graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an MA in Ecomics with First Class Honours
Matej Janecek (Freeland 2006)
Matej achieved a First at the University of Cambridge following his study of Natural Sciences.
Bryan Tsang (Freeland 2006)
Bryan achieved a First at the University of Cambridge following his study of Architecture.
Helen Louise Smith (Thornbank 2003) -
Helen graduated from Dundee University with 1st class honours with a B.Ed in Primary Education. She was also the recipient of the Scott Memeorial Award for the highest marks in the group. Helen has now been allocatd her first teaching post at Forgandenny Primary School.
Strathallian Day
A sunny day saw a record turnout for Strathallian Day this year.
Lunch was served in the Music Room with some wonderful musical accompaniment from both the Scottish Group and the Big Band. Thereafter an afternoon packed with games and activities followed. The School v Strathallian Cricket match was won by the School by 167 runs. Touch Rugby ended in an honourable draw (!) while the Football was won by the School with a score of 5 : 2. Many were left with aches and pains not felt since last year!
The Clay Pigeon shooting was very popular with lots of people wanting to try their hand and the golf course saw a keenly fought competition for longest drive and target golf which proved most.
Riley Paddock was the place to be if you wanted fun, fun, fun. The inflatable obstacle courses proved to be the undoing of many a parent racing their children, while Riley pupils decorated the faces/arms/legs of anyone standing still for too long!
Many of the School departments also opened for the day and school tours were led by pupils. This allowed many to reminisce of days gone by and marvel at the improvements in the school today – for many the biggest change being the introduction of girls!
Be sure to put Sunday 6th June in your calendar for next years Strathallian Day!
Ruthven House Reunion
Ruthven House welcomed back former pupils in May for the Ruthven Reunion Lunch.
A beautiful day allowed the School to be shown in all its glory as former pupils studied old School photos and School Magazines to find themselves and their achievements listed. A drinks reception in Ruthven House was followed by lunch in the Dining Hall and Mr Kenneth Wingate was presented with a bottle of Strathallan Whiskey by the Headmaster to mark his 50th anniversary of leaving the School.
Stories of times past were swapped, many of which would never have made it to publication in the Strathallian Magazine, and new acquaintances made.
Current Ruthven pupils then led tours of the School, where many ended up watching the inter-house cricket matches.
Rugby
Strathallan and the 2009 IRB U20 Rugby World Cup in Japan
Former Strathallan 1st XV player, Struan Dewar, has been selected to play for Scotland U20 against Samoa in Scotland’s opening fixture in the U20 World Cup in Japan. The match takes place at 9.00am BST on Friday 5th June.
Struan, who plays in the back row, started for Scotland in all five matches in the 2009 U20 Six Nations Championship including the memorable victories over Wales and Ireland at McDiarmid Park in Perth. Struan played for Scotland U18 and U19 as well as for the full national seven-a-side squad in the IRB World Sevens Tournaments in Dubai and South Africa this season.
You can watch Scotland’s progress in the Junior Rugby World Cup live via the official tournament website at www.irb.com/jwc
London Dinner
The Caledonian Club was the splendid location for the Strathallian London Dinner on Thursday 12th March. Over 60 Strathallians gathered from as far afield as Texas for drinks, followed by a delicious three course meal. Club President Graeme Robertson welcomed all those present and the Headmaster presented a round up of the highlights of the School year so far, after which catching up with old friends was the order of the day. Tables, each representing a decade, from the 40’s through to the current decade were lively with conversation. The evening ran on into the ‘wee hours’ of the morning as everyone enjoyed the chance to relive old times and make new connections.
Ishbel McFarlane (04 - Woodlands) If you are to be in London in July, you might like to take the opportunity to see a Strathallian performing in a play in the West End. The Trafalgar Studios (previously the Whitehall Theatre), will be the venue for performances of “Eight”, by Ella Hickson, whose second play, “Precious Little Talent”, can be seen at Edinburgh’s Fringe in August.
“Eight” comprises 8 monologues, one of which is played by Ishbel McFarlane (W,04). In last year’s Fringe, this production by the Edinburgh University Theatre Company won 3 major awards, including a “Scotsman” Fringe First, and the “Carol Tambor Award”, the top prize for new writing. It is the first time a student company has won this prestigious award which provided the cast and crew with an all-expenses-paid transfer of “Eight” to New York to take part in an arts festival in January. There they played to full houses and received excellent reviews, including from “The New York Times”.
For more information, check out the website (www.eight-theatre.co.uk) where tickets can also be booked.
Robert Anderson (04 - Ruthven) has graduated with 1st in Business Accounting and Finance from Newcastle University.
Jamie Cachia (06 - Nicol) was a member of Scotland’s Hockey team in the European U21 Championships in San Sebastian.
Colin Williamson (01 - Nicol) was part of the Leander crew which won the Ladies plate at Henley Royal Regatta.
Laura Kotseroglou (02) who graduated from Cambridge with 1st Class honours took a second medical degree at University College London where she again achieved 1st in June 2008 (with distinction).
Jimmy Gellatly (86 – Freeland) won the Radio Academy's John Peel Award for outstanding contribution to Music Radio.
Suzannah Harvey (00 – Woodlands) was recently appointed as the UK and International Public Relations Manager for De Beers.
Peter Grant (62 – Ruthven) was appointed as the Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh last year. He now holds three doctorates and has received of one of the first four fellowships of the European Association for Signal and Image Processing.
Martin Lightbody (82 – Ruthven) recently sold his firm, Lightbody Celebration Cakes, which he had expanded over the years and has been named ‘Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year’.
Mark Bonington (07 – Nicol) recently joined the company of Tayside Opera and was given the role of Raoul de St. Brioche in their production of 'The Merry Widow'.