Overseas OVs back in Blighty!

Many OVs make a long journey to come back to King’s for a visit and re-trace their steps, enjoying seeing both the familiar and new sights around the School. However, over the past few weeks we have been fortunate enough to welcome back two OVs who had both made the journey all the way from Australia!

OV Mike Coley (Ch 57-64 and Old St Alban’s) emigrated to Australia shortly after finishing his time at King’s. Despite the distance, Mike has kept in touch with both King’s and his school friends, returning to King’s a handful of time over the years for reunions and events, and joining the inaugural OV Overseas Reunion in Sydney in 2023.

For Mike, 2024 is particularly special as it marks the 60th anniversary of both leaving School and the UK, which definitely called for a return to his alma mater. On this visit, Mike was joined by Alumni Relations Co-ordinator, Amanda Sutcliffe, for a walk around the school. Mike was kind enough to share some of his incredibly detailed memories of his time at school with Amanda, vividly bringing the King’s of the 1960s back to life. The Geography/Fourth Form block held particularly special memories for Mike, as did College Hall. Visiting his former boarding house, Choir, Mike found it greatly changed internally as it is now the English Block but enjoyed seeing how it had evolved.

The two also headed over to King’s St Alban’s, where Mike had begun his life at King’s, for a short walk around – as the visit was during the school holidays, unfortunately they were unable to access the buildings, but still gave Mike a chance to reminisce and share some more fabulous memories.

The visit was also a great opportunity for Amanda to learn more about Mike’s current life, including his impressive volunteer role as a snake catcher! We’re delighted that Mike will be returning again for September’s OV Dinner to join with some of his cohort for their 60th celebrations.

Speaking about his visit, Mike added, “I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to King’s and St Alban’s, but an unexpected highlight was seeing the Peregrine Falcon’s nest in one of the smaller Cathedral towers while walking from College Hall to Choir House!”

Another attendee at the OV Overseas Reunion in Sydney, and similarly a former member of Choir House, was OV John Sear (Ch 72-82 and Old St Alban’s). John had emigrated to Australia during his career, but regularly returns to the UK to visit family, and Head of Alumni, Hannah Sparrey, was delighted to welcome him back to King’s, with his partner Kristen, on this occasion.

When John, Kristen and Hannah retraced steps to Choir House, the current layout meant that John wasn’t able to see his former study, which had been in the cellar and is now used for storage, but he could point out where the dormitories had been, all of which are now classrooms. The library and Latin lessons were recalled on a trip up the spiral staircase in Edgar Tower, with a visit to College Hall reminding John of not only assemblies but also vaccinations!

Re-visiting the Biology and Chemistry labs were of particular interest to John, who had gone onto study Biochemistry at Imperial College, especially as they had changed very little since his day. John clearly remembered his first Chemistry lesson with Mr Day when they were shown how different chemicals react with each other, filling the lab with bright lights and thick smoke. Possibly something that wouldn’t happen today! While in the Chemistry block, they saw Hon OV Dr Mark Poole, and had a chat about some of the teachers John remembered. Their final stop was the Art School, where John and Kirsten spoke with Hon OV Jenny Hewitt and were especially impressed by the U6 artwork on display.

John added, “With both us still having kids at school it was great fun to share some of my stories and the history behind King’s School and compare with the experience our kids have in Australia. Whilst many aspects of the school remain unchanged, the facilities available to the students are fabulous now. I definitely feel a sense of pride having spent so many formative years there and to see the great work that current Headmaster, Gareth, and his team continue to do to improve the school was wonderful.”

We hope to welcome John back again soon.

If you would like to return to King’s for a visit, please do get in touch with the team via alumni@ksw.org.uk to make arrangements.