Beyond King’s

Given the current worldwide concerns at present it is fitting that our OV of the week is Dr Hishamuddin Badaruddin (S 88-90) whose skills and experience will be very much in demand. While at King’s, Hisham was involved in badminton and sailing.

Following King’s, Hisham studied medicine at The University of Nottingham. After working in emergency medicine in a number of hospitals around the UK he returned to South-East Asia in 2002. In 2003 he was involved in managing the SARS outbreak and after that changed directions and became a public health specialist after completing a Masters in Public Health at Emory University in USA as a Fulbright scholar.

Since then Hisham has worked with Ministry of Health in Singapore in public health, consulted for WHO and UNICEF, and is now a Director with Deloitte Consulting looking after the healthcare space in South-East Asia. He is also a Fellow with the Academy of Medicine Singapore, adjunct Assistant Professor with Penn State University (USA) and also Duke-NUS medical school in Singapore.

On Sunday it was International Women’s Day and we are delighted to feature Rosalind Goodrich (Co 82-84) as our OV of the week. Rosalind was Head of House at King’s and enjoyed sport, singing and Orchestra. She went on to study Law at Cambridge University and did a Masters in Global Governance and Public Policy at Birkbeck, University of London.

She started in legal publishing before going into international development via a UN internship. Since then Rosalind has specialised in strategic communications and has been Head of Research Communications at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) since 2013. She works with institutions in the Global South to influence policy change for sustainable development.

This week we celebrated World Book Day and we are delighted to feature writer Mike Fardon (H62-68). Mike has been interested in books and writing from an early age. While at King’s he was involved in producing a school magazine and also won a Henry Wood Essay prize. He studied English Literature at London University (BA Hons and MPhil) where he edited and contributed to the college magazine.

After graduation, and in need of a regular income, Mike began a career in banking at Midland Bank (now HSBC), initially working for the bank’s International Division in the City. Mike married in 1977 and in 1982 moved back to the Worcester area, eventually taking up a post as lecturer in banking and finance at Worcester Tech. The writing bug remained and Mike started writing banking and business textbooks. In due course he left teaching and established his own textbook publishing company, Osborne Books. Mike retired in 2012, having sold the business to Kaplan Learning but continues his writing and has now embarked on a novel.

King’s has always been important for Mike and he is pleased to say that his five children, Cathy, Rob, Sarah, Tom and Ben, have all studied and flourished at King’s.

We are back after the half-term holidays and lots of pupils are looking forward to taking part in match fixtures including football, rugby, netball and hockey.

This week our OV of the week is Lydia Robinson (K 91-98) who enjoyed spending time in the art department while she was at King’s and was the recipient of the art prize when she was in the upper 6th which sparked her creative passion.

Lydia went on to Edinburgh University where she graduated with a distinction and first class honours degree in Architecture. This led her to work with a number of award-winning practices in both the UK and abroad including Allford Hall Monaghan Morris in London and OMB in Vancouver.

Living in a listed building herself, Lydia has a particular interest in heritage buildings and the creative reuse of historic structures.

Lydia is now Creative Director at Design Storey. Whether a new or existing condition, Lydia believes that creative solutions, backed with a rigorous design process, result in successful projects. This approach enabled Design Storey to be recognised with two RIBA regional awards in 2017 for their first built project. Lydia is a regular contributor in Homebuilding & Renovating magazine where she writes a blog on renovating a listed building.

This week we have been delighted by the Removes Production of ‘Teechers’. It is fitting that our OV of the week this week is Alex Humpage-Versavaud (S 94-03) who was himself involved with drama as student at King’s. During his time here, Alex was a Monitor and enjoyed taking part in Duke of Edinburgh and Young Enterprise.

After King’s, Alex studied Politics and Sociology at the University of Sheffield. After a six-month period researching trees in the rainforests of Belize, Alex embarked on a career in marketing. He worked on the PlayStation Europe account at OMD International and then headed up the Digital team on Universal Pictures at MediaCom, both in London.

More travel followed – 14 months setting foot in all 7 continents with his now wife, Céline, before setting up his own Digital Marketing business in 2017 in her hometown of Lyon, France. Alex continues to be based in the Rhône and in January of this year he started a new role as the first Media Director at Biborg, an agency specialising in Video Game Marketing.

It’s been a busy week at King’s with Orchestral Workshops, the Intermediate Maths Challenge and lots of sporting fixtures too. Our former pupil this week is OV Julius Baghdadi (Br 95-06) who was always involved in school activities and was a lively and involved member of the King’s community, enjoying playing for the 1st XI Football team and being Head of House.

On leaving King’s, Julius went to the University of Bristol to study Environmental Geoscience. During his final year at Bristol, Julius became an Assistant Researcher, particularly focusing on developing new methodologies to understand gas propagation in volcanoes.

Leaving Bristol University in 2011, Julius went on to work at energy supplier OVO Energy, as Trading Analyst, Financial Planning Analyst, and Product Manager. This final role at OVO saw Julius and the team he managed acting as the link between the commercial and technology sides of the business. Since OVO, Julius has founded Octopus Energy Hatchery, an incubator for innovative sustainable and energy related ideas in partnership with Octopus Energy.

This week our former pupil is Rachael Stokes (Cr 94-96) who is a great example of how to continue learning and enjoying hobbies after leaving King’s. As a pupil, Rachael was in the Choir, Young Enterprise and was a Monitor and Head of House. After King’s, Rachael went to study Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh and then an MA in Social Development at the University of East Anglia.

Rachael’s career has been in the charity sector working primarily for international NGO’s including Christian Aid, VSO, Penal Reform International and Unicef UK. She has also served on charity boards and advisory committees including for the Gender and Development Network. Rachael continued her love of singing after leaving King’s as was a member of the London Philharmonic Choir between 2002 and 2014.

In 2014, Rachael was elected as a local Labour Councillor in her home ward of Earlsfield (London Borough of Wandsworth). Rachael now works as an international development consultant and has recently been working with the Mothers’ Union to help them with strategic planning. She balances this alongside her current studies in Horticulture with the RHS and raising a young family.

This week we were delighted to welcome our newest member of the Barnabas group, Kathryn Pugh (W 93-95). At King’s, Kathryn was a keen rower and member of the Boat club as well as enjoying Drama and Theatre.

On leaving King’s, Kathryn went on to Cambridge University gaining a First in English Literature. Kathryn stayed at Cambridge to complete a PGCE in English and Drama. Kathryn has enjoyed a varied teaching career including teaching English and Drama at Riddlestown High School in Croydon.

Kathryn is currently Headteacher at St Marylebone School in London, an outstanding non-selective State School in central London where they place particular value on the positive role the arts play in all young people’s education. On her appointment in this role Kathryn was noted as one of the youngest Headmistresses.

Lots of pupils are interested in entering the health profession and this week we are delighted to feature Paramedic Clinical Mentor, Ben Rean (Os 02-09) as our former pupil. Ben got involved with lots of activities at King’s including cross country and rowing as well as being a house prefect.

After King’s, Ben started a degree in outdoor leadership at Cumbria university but left after 6 months, realising that it was a hobby and not a career. Ben then looked in to the role of the paramedic. Ben completed an FdSc in Paramedic Science at the University of Worcester and registered as a paramedic with the HCPC in 2016.

Ben was based at South Central Ambulance Services’s (SCAS) Adderbury ambulance station, in Oxfordshire until December 2019 when he joined West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and now works at Hollymoor Hub. Ben also worked shifts on the Helicopter support vehicle that runs alongside Thames Valley Air Ambulance.