Beyond King’s

Our first former pupil of the week of 2019 is Nick Clark (H 88-90) who is not only an OV but a current King’s parent and member of the OV Club Committee. As a pupil, Nick threw himself into everything, was involved in athletics, rowing and fencing and was also a House Monitor.

Following King’s Nick went to study Civil/Structural Engineering at the University of Bath after being awarded a position at RMA Sandhurst. Nick then chose a civilian career pathway and has had many exciting roles including running his own energy savings business before establishing and directing an ESCo, Energy Works Investment, on behalf of investors. Nick is now Global Strategic Development Director for electronic manufacturing company Feilo Sylvania.

It is a busy time at King’s with a range of productions, concerts and services to organise, and one OV with plenty of experience of managing lots of people is Tim Boswell (W 85-92).

Tim has always had an interest in the broadcasting industry and, while at school, was very interested in radio and music as well as representing King’s at cricket. He began his broadcasting career as a broadcast assistant for BBC Hereford and Worcester; he then held a number of management, production and presentation roles in the BBC and commercial radio and led BBC Radio Cornwall for a short period. In December 2017 Tim was appointed Managing Editor of BBC Radio Oxford and, as editor, Tim is responsible for the editorial and creative leadership of the radio station’s programmes and news, managing a team of presenters, producers, journalists and administrative staff.

Music is a vital and wonderful element of school life and throughout her time at King’s Imogen Schofield (Ch 01-08) was actively involved in the music scene as a music scholar and leader of the orchestra. Imogen says, ‘I am still grateful for the opportunities given to me by the music department. Even though music is not my chosen career path, it is still an important part of my life.’

After leaving King’s Imogen qualified as a veterinary surgeon in 2013 from the University of Bristol and has worked as a small animal vet since. With an interest in research and internal medicine, Imogen recently undertook a Master’s degree at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in veterinary epidemiology, while also continuing her practice work. Currently Imogen is undertaking a doctorate at The Royal Veterinary College, investigating the methods of diagnosis and management of hyperadrenocorticism in dogs. This latest step in Imogen’s career has provided the opportunity to present her findings at European conferences as well as the chance to teach on the veterinary degree course.

With netball, hockey and rugby fixtures this week taking place against Malvern St James, King’s High, Warwick and Bishop Vesey’s, there has been a sporting buzz around the school over the last few days. OV Nev Davies (nee. Clifford) (S 83-93) enjoyed an active time while he was at King’s, playing for the First XV and First VII at rugby and for the First XI at cricket, as well as being part of the CCF.

On leaving school Nev initially took a gap year which was sponsored by the Rank foundation. He worked on a youth and community placement on a housing estate in inner city Plymouth. Later that summer he returned to King’s to coach cricket under the wing of Peter Iddon (Hon OV). The following year, he went on to study medicine at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 2000. Nev now works as a trauma and orthopaedic consultant in Reading, Berkshire. He has a specialist interest in adult knee surgery and children’s orthopaedics and is a keen blogger, writing openly and honestly about his practice. Nev’s latest project is the GoSetGo programme, an innovative sports enhancement and injury prevention programme for children and adolescents.

This week has been a busy one for drama and music and our former pupil this week is Rebecca Linfoot (S 05-12) who was hugely involved in drama while a student here playing the White Witch in the Fourth Form performance of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2007. At King’s, Rebecca was a monitor and a very enthusiastic pupil getting involved in everything including Charity Committee, Himalayan Club and Choir.

After school, Rebecca studied Drama: Theatre, Film and Television at University of Bristol and has since launched a career in film production. Rebecca has worked for major companies in the film industry including NBCUniversal, Marvel Studios and Heyday TV where she recently worked on ‘The Long Song’; a three-part TV drama for BBC One. Rebecca has just begun an exciting role as Assistant to the Executive Producer of a new film by The Walt Disney Company.

Today we observe Remembrance at King’s and we began with a special service in College Hall addressed by this week’s former pupil, Commander Durham Hirons (K 83-93). As a pupil, Durham was in the CCF and played 1st XI Hockey and 2nd XV Rugby, as well as being appointed Prefect in his final year.

Durham studied Geography at Reading University and upon gaining his degree in 1997, he joined the Royal Navy. Durham is a Commander in the Royal Navy and has served predominantly at sea in ships ranging from patrol vessels through frigates and destroyers to large amphibious ships and an aircraft carrier.

He has commanded a patrol vessel in the UK, a multi-national training team and patrol vessel in Iraq, been the second in command of a Frigate and worked on the Royal Navy’s Amphibious Battle Staff, leading the staff planning effort for major operations. He was deployed in 2016 to Saudi Arabia as a liaison officer to the Royal Saudi Navy with a particular emphasis on the conflict in Yemen.

You can listen to Durham’s address from the Remembrance Service here.

Recently some of the Lower Fourth went to the Malvern Festival of Innovation and had a great time being inspired by creative science, technology and entrepreneurship. One former pupil who works at the heart of this industry is Ken Magowan (Cl 66-75) who is now solution consultant and master enterprise architect at DXC Technology. At King’s, Ken had a variety of interests and was involved in the CCF RAF Section, which inspired his recent acquisition of a private pilot’s licence, as well as choir and orchestra.

Ken then went to the University of York where he read biology and computer science. After university Ken worked for nearly seventeen years as a principal engineer at Smiths Industries/Kelvin Hughes Ltd, becoming their Head of Naval Systems & Software Engineering before moving to QinetiQ Ltd (formerly DERA) where he was a principal scientist within the defence and security domain, also for nearly seventeen years. Following this he moved to HP Enterprise Services, now known as DXC Technology, where he has been for the last seven years.

This week the Lower Removes are on a geography field trip exploring Weston Super Mare and our former pupil Becky Leach (Cr 01-08) knows a thing or two about organising trips as she is now Marketing Executive of Swoop Patagonia, Antarctica and Arctic, a company that helps plan adventures to the world’s wilderness regions. Becky was very involved at King’s, taking part in D of E, Orchestra as well as LAMDA. After leaving King’s with 3 A’s at A-Level, Becky went on to gain a BTEC in Art Foundation, Textiles and Fashion and a National Diploma in Music before studying Commercial Music at Bath Spa University.

Becky is now an established marketing professional with experience within the festival production, property management, travel and hospitality industries. Her roles have included Marketing and Venue Manager at The Ethical Property Company and Marketing Executive at Kaleidoscope Collection before starting in her current position.

Tom Kolodotschko (Ch 96-03) is the founder of OlO Creative, a visual communication agency based in Hoxton, London. Tom has always had an interest in both the creative and business worlds, designing a cookbook at King’s for a successful Young Enterprise company who reached the national finals, Editor for the award-winning school newspaper as well as both a keen basketball and rugby player.

After King’s, Tom went to study a four-year course in Industrial Product Design at Aston University where he formed the Aston Design Committee tasked with creating their first ever final year show. After University, Tom formed his design company and began his career within the Advertising industry working with brands and agencies such as J. Walter Thompson, InterContinental Hotels, Aston Martin and Canon to name a few. King’s was a huge part of Tom’s formative years and to this day he is in daily contact with many old school friends.