FRIDAY FLYER-Issue 150

11 May 2023

Headmaster's Welcome

Happy Friday Dear Reader,

Welcome to Issue 150 of our Epsom Friday Flyer.

We hope that you have enjoyed a productive week. We started ours with an assembly on the theme of leadership. As many of you will undoubtedly know, last weekend saw the coronation of King Charles in London and so we used this historic event to provide context to our reflections on what constitutes a good leader and why good leaders are so important.

I asked the students what kind of leader they would aspire to be…

As a school we are ever mindful of the fact that we are preparing our young people to take up positions of leadership and authority in the future and thus we ensure that they are provided with ample opportunities to work as a team and to lead where appropriate.

Many of our students will go on to occupy leadership positions such as captains of Epsom sports teams, strategic direction positions within our Academic Societies, Heads of House as well as Prefects and Heads of College.

Having reflected on the qualities of good leadership, we then went on to thank our outgoing Prefect Team who have been outstanding.

They have contributed extensively to our College ethos, modelling the qualities and attributes that we aspire for all our students to develop and embrace such as hard work, reliability, resilience, organisation, teamwork, the ability to compromise, adapt, always be kind (even on the bad days and when under pressure) and a solution focused approach.

Our outgoing team has continued the work of those that came before them, organising events and activities that have included fun socials and challenging academic initiatives to enrich our school and the lives of their peers and juniors who live and learn at Epsom…

These impressive students will soon leave us to begin the next stage in their education at university and they are now passing the baton to the Prefect Team of 23/24.

We congratulate the following Year 12 students:

Academic Prefects – Rachel, Shang Jin, Ann Yi

Social Prefects – Xin Ling, Vash, Karishaa

ServicePrefects – Lana, Laekeisya

International Prefects – Diana, Hengchu, Koutatsu

Wellbeing Prefects – Alis, Molly

Admissions Prefects – Yi Shan, Ke Ee, Kyle

These students underwent a rigorous selection process and we are confident that they will build on the successes of the Prefect Team of 22/23. They have set themselves clear goals…

…and we look forward to the projects that they have planned for the term ahead:

Our incoming Heads of College – Jing Yang and Elliot and our Deputy Heads of College – Youngmok and Alicia are excited to lead the team!

Speaking of community, last Friday marked our School Hari Raya celebrations and it was simply wonderful to see our students, their parents and teachers come together to celebrate this special event.

We enjoyed a Malaysian traditional dress ‘fashion show’, with parents and students modelling their beautiful outfits as well as Malaysian drama, dance and a martial art performance.

Epsom is indeed a very special place to live and learn and we thank all those who give of their time to support our work and build our community.

We hope that you enjoy the articles to follow and wish you Happy Reading and a very Happy Friday.

Best wishes,

Mr Matthew Brown.

Headmaster

A Message From Our Higher Education Team

The Class of 2023’s University Offers…

Our Year 13 students are in the process of sitting for their A-level exams but are looking forward to celebrating their graduation at the upcoming Epsom Ball and of course to beginning their undergraduate study at university!

The class of 2023 have made successful applications to Higher Education Institutions all over the world for a very broad range of subjects from Politics to Engineering and Science to Law…

Once again this year, Epsom students targeting the UK have secured offers from some of the most prestigious universities worldwide including, but not limited to, LSE, UCL, Imperial, King’s, Warwick, Edinburgh and Bristol. Chanel, who graduated from Epsom, has an offer of a Master’s at Cambridge University and, as you can imagine, she is delighted!

Other students hold offers from US universities including UC Berkeley, UCLA, Washington, Stonybrook and Michigan State.

One student has secured a place at the prestigious Tsinghua university in China and another at CEU (Central European University) in Hungary.

This year Hong Kong was a popular choice and 2 students have secured full scholarships to study at HKUST.

One of our highest achievers, Ian, who through our Fast Track programme completed 4 A -levels in 6 months achieving an outstanding 4A* grades has secured an unconditional place at NUS.

We are extremely proud of our students’ achievements and we wish them all the very best for their examinations and do not doubt that they will go on to be successful in their chosen field while having a positive impact on their community.

Our Higher Education Team is now supporting the new batch of students in Year 12, the class of 2024, with their university applications.

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend.

🙂

Epsom Celebrates Hari Raya

A Special Event in Pictures…

Last week we came together as an Epsom family to celebrate Hatri Raya. Here are some pictures that capture this special day…

Thanks to all who made this event such a success and special thanks to Ms Suhada and Ms Mcleod.

A Message from Holman House

Multicultural & Multitalented:

Our House, Holman House, is a home from home for students from all over Asia and beyond! Epsom’s cultural diversity makes our Boarding Houses very special. Living and learning with students from diverse backgrounds opens their minds to the differences between us – for example in terms of our food preferences, our customs, religious beliefs and traditions while reinforcing the key fact that, as human beings, we are all essentially the same – we love our families, we want to feel accepted and valued, we feel scared and sad at times, and we all want to be treated as equals and with kindness. In this way, our Boarding House contributes extensively to developing global citizens.

To acknowledge and celebrate our diversity, Holman recently purchased flags to represent each of our nationalities and these flags will soon be displayed around our Boarding House! Before we hung our flags, we couldn’t help but take a few photos of our students holding their flags with pride!

Holman boys celebrate their diversity and recognise the uniqueness of our different cultures. A richer and more dynamic community has come about in Holman where our students come together, share their experiences and learn from each other.

Students and staff join Holman from countries including Malaysia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, South Africa and the UK.

We, both staff and students, learn something new from each other everyday. These young people, with their many talents and their willingness to share them with us, make a better boarding experience for us all!

So, until next time, I close by saying 谢谢你，再见。, terima kasih dan selamat tinggal, ありがとうございますさようなら, धन्यवाद् अलविदा , ස්තූතියි සහ සමුගන්න, salamat at paalam, 감사합니다 , cheers and see you soon!

Mr Matt Richardson,

Housemaster, Holman House.

Follow Holman House on Instagram

A Message From Crawfurd House

Good times!

Crawfurd and Rosebery girls ventured on a creative journey for their latest boarding trip.The venue of MyTown KL was perfect for each individual student to be able to explore their own particular interests. Some chose to bake, others tried their hand at pottery and some braved the tufting gun. The results can be seen below.

Some of our girls created gorgeous cakes including cookies and cream chocolate tarts, Japanese cheesecakes and fluffy strawberry victoria sandwich cakes.

Perfect Pottery

Other students chose to learn how to spin a bowl using the pottery wheel or to hand craft a plate. Both techniques were tricky and we look forward to collecting the finished pieces in a few weeks once they have been in the kiln.

Inspiring Tufting

The tufting was a lot of fun. Having sent images to the shop beforehand so that they had an idea of what we wanted to achieve, we arrived and were given the opportunity to choose the colours we wanted to use. After watching a short safety video we were ready to start the process – the girls showed resilience and patience throughout because the tufting was hard to do and it took 2 ½ hours!. Ms Suhada made the Crawfurd logo and we can’t wait to see how all of the other designs come out.

House trips such as this are an opportunity to explore our interests and identify new ones. They are also times when special memories are made! Good times indeed!

Best wishes for the weekend,

Mrs Helen Miller,

Housemistress, Crawfurd House.

Follow Crawfurd House on Instagram

Epsom Prep School Celebrates Raya

A Happy Day…

Last week we enjoyed a special day at Epsom College as we celebrated Hari Raya. As a truly international school, with over 23 different nationalities represented in our student body, we value our diversity and appreciate the richness that it brings to the student experience.

Parents were invited to our Prep Assembly and our Prep School Cultural Ambassadors Paxton, Keith and Jayden along with their friends Suri and Qaim presented information and experiences about Hari Raya so that all students were able to understand and appreciate the significance of this celebration as part of Malaysian culture and heritage

During the day, parents gave generously of their time to prepare traditional Malay food, games and art activities for our students.

Special thanks to The Prep Raya Parent Team:

Who, with Mr Brown, our Headmaster, presented each Prep School student with sampul duit raya.

Everyone, staff, parents and children, came dressed for the Malaysian Fashion Parade to show off their outfits and we enjoyed student performances including traditional songs and dance, performances on traditional Malay drums and Bahasa choral speaking.

It was indeed a happy day and one to remember.

Best wishes for a lovely weekend,

Mrs Jane Rouson,

Head of Prep School.

Epsom Prep Big Splash Report

As part of our focus on swimming for Term 3, the Prep School enjoyed a fantastic Big Splash Swimming Gala on 2nd May with 90 students taking part in events to showcase the swimming skills that have been learnt during this academic year. There were 46 races with swimmers competing in Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Fly. EMIP (English Mandarin Immersion Programme) students were also able to take part in a duck gathering race which was enjoyable to watch.

Granville came out overall winners, scoring 197 points, beating Propert who scored 132 points. Crawfurd (140 points) and Rosebery (98 points) finished 3rd and fourth respectively.

We are delighted to announce that we will be introducing a Prep School Attainment Programme for swimming which will enable swimmers to learn the fundamentals of swimming and achieve certificates and awards along the way. The prep swim squad will also be taking part in competitions with other schools in June.

Thank you to parents for coming to spectate and to everyone who helped support the event by recording times or organising swimmers. We are very much looking forward to more swimming events in the future.

Meet Our Sport Staff

This week we meet our Tennis Coaches:

Hello:) We are Yunn Xynn and Angela of Crawfurd House.

This week we wanted to introduce you to our Epsom Mouratoglou Tennis Coaches:

Qnqush Yedigaryan is a successful and experienced tennis coach from Armenia whose love of the sport is evident and commitment to the student athletes in her care is exemplary.

Who is your favourite player?

Roger Federer, He is the example of how to deal with the emotions on court and just do what you have to do.

What is your greatest tennis memory?

Being able to see Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer in person on one court.

Why did you choose to come to Epsom?

After researching I learned that Epsom is the place I want to work due to the environment, professionalism and safety.

What is your greatest achievement?

Being the Junior National Champion of Macedonia for more than 5 years.

What 3 words would you choose to describe yourself

Supportive, easy going, open minded

We would also like to introduce you to brothers Ioannis and Konstantinos (Kostas) Foteinopoulos. Both are both qualified doctors who chose not to pursue a career in Medicine but rather pursue their love of Tennis. Originally from Greece, they have come to Epsom as part of the exciting initiative that is our Tennis Academy…

Kostas:

Who is your favourite player? Why?

My favourite player is Novak Djokovic.One of the characteristics that make him unique is his impressive ability to perform at his best even when he is under intense pressure

What is your greatest tennis memory?

My greatest tennis memory is coming from an ITF Tournament in Bellinzona (Switzerland) last year .The professional player that I was working with back then won the tournament coming from the qualifying draw and nobody expected the win! It was a unique moment for the player’s career and for me as well.

Why did you choose to come to Epsom?

I believe that the most important thing in any organization is the people that work there. At Epsom the working environment is more like a family environment and I like that a lot.

Apart from that, the school has amazing and very modern facilities ,which is very important and helpful if you are a coach in any sport. It makes your daily life easier.

What is your greatest achievement?

As a tennis player, to play for the Junior Greek National Team.

What 3 words would you choose to describe yourself

Disciplined, passionate, hard-working.

Ioannis:

Who is your favourite player? Why?

My favourite tennis player is Novak Djokovic. He grew up in Serbia during the war and yet managed after many years to become the most successful tennis player ever .His competitiveness in combination with his tennis skills make him unbeatable when he plays at his best .

What is your greatest tennis memory?

My greatest tennis memory is representing the national team of my country abroad, playing and winning against countries with a very big tradition in tennis like Great Britain and Spain – this was unbelievable .The feeling of having all the people from your country supporting and cheering for you is something that I will never forget .

Why did you choose to come to Epsom?

Epsom offers a great environment to work in.The facilities are outstanding, the human resources of the school are highly educated and very well picked. In addition, the students of the school are very pleasant.

What is your greatest achievement?

One of my greatest achievements is that I studied medicine. From the exams until I graduated from university, it was a very tough pathway. At the same time I was working as a tennis coach to do what I love the most and in the end hard work pays off.

What 3 words would you choose to describe yourself

Open minded ,selfless, hardworking

Troy Teo is a former state and national tennis player, Coach Troy won a number of local tournaments and was ranked top 20 in Malaysia for 16 & Under. He also represented Malaysia several times and competed with top players in South-East Asia, bagging a few bronze medals for both years in 2016 & 2017 in the team event.

Who is your favourite player? Why?

Roger Federer because he is so calm and classy

What is your greatest tennis memory?

Visiting Indonesia in 2017 and exploring the area and being adventurous

Why did you choose to come to Epsom?

Because, thanks to its partnership with Patrick Mouratoglou it is the top tennis academy in the nation.

What is your greatest achievement?

Being a national player at a 16 when I started tennis at 12

What 3 words would you choose to describe yourself

Cool. Funny. Original.

Follow our Epsom Mouratoglou Tennis Programme on Instagram

CCA Updates

Term 3 Co-Curricular activities are well underway…

Despite some Public Holiday disruption, Term 3 CCAs are well underway here at Epsom; we have some exciting new activities on offer as well as some returning favourites.

With the temperatures rising in Malaysia and outdoor activities on hold, this gives us a great opportunity to take a closer look at the CCAs that happen indoors.

Our newest CCA is ‘Drone Pilot Club’. The last two sessions were spent in the classroom, allowing the students to learn the basics with the use of artificial reality; however, this week they upgraded to the real drone! Using the atrium between the admin area, students took control of a drone and learned how to take off and land. They even had time to learn some tricks and flips! Next week students will be choosing their own design of drone and building it from scratch, before testing it and designing some flight plans. Later sessions will be spent practising flying through obstacles and speed tests. Mr Ojomo from SVI solutions has been very impressed with the students potential and progress thus far. He also commended their attentiveness and willingness to learn. A big well done to the participants for their efforts so far (all Carr boys); Mrs Garnett will have a fantastic team of drone pilots in no time.

Vlad, from Hammerfist Gym, returned this week after a few public holidays delayed the start of Monday CCAs. Monday’s session kick started what we hope will become Epsom’s very first Jiu-Jitsu team. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds. Thank you to Mr Murphy (a Mixed Martial Arts super fan himself!) for supervising this CCA and taking the photos below.

Yoga with Ms Soo is always a popular session on a Monday and we have a bumper 20 students signed up this term. This CCA gives students the opportunity to participate in an activity that is good for both their physical and mental health in a relaxed and peaceful environment.

Mr Baloyo has introduced a new Code Breaking CCA this term ‘Cryptography’. Students use ciphers which is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption (codebreaking). Some of the types of ciphers being used are Caeser shift cipher, Affine shift cipher (involves modulo arithmetic) and keyword cipher. Let’s hope they crack them all before the end of term!

Another returning favourite is Chess Club, this term Mr Richardson has taken the reins and will be helping the students sharpen their chess moves. Students challenge each other using both physical boards and online platforms. This term the new chess timers have also added another dimension and allowed students to play ‘Fast Chess’. As you will see from the photos below weekly battles are already taking place amongst the Houses. Get ready for chess to be added to the house competitions next term!

We are hoping to be able to get our students back outside soon but in the meantime there are plenty of great indoor CCAs for them to turn their attention to.

Best wishes for your weekend,

Ms Alice Back

Epsom CCA Coordinator.

Great Golf

Congratulations Adrianna – Year 8 Rosebery

who did exceptionally well during the 2nd Leg of the UUMISM Sportexcel Junior Golf Tour held at A Famosa Golf Club on the 6 and 7 May.

Adrianna was crowned CHAMPION of the Girls B category (13 to 14 years old) where she posted a score of Day 1 – 84 and Day 2 – 81 to win the tournament by 5 strokes!

Adrianna will now be preparing for her upcoming tournament – Srixon Junior Development Tour In Templer Park on 16 to 18 May.

We are all extremely proud of Adrianna’s achievements and wish her all the very best in her upcoming tournament.

A Message from our English Department

“But Teacher, I don’t know how to revise for English!”

This week, our Key Stage 4 students have been hard at work studying for their upcoming English IGCSEs in Literature and Language.

As English teachers, we are often asked for advice on how best to revise for our subject. The beauty (and the difficulty) of English is that it is nuanced; our curriculum is vast and our texts are open to interpretation and discussion. Perceptive, thorough engagement and discussion are required to achieve top marks and students need to know their texts inside out.

Frequently asked questions from students:

Q) How many times do I have to read my set texts before I know it to the required level?
A) You should read a text at least three times in order to fully comprehend and remember it. Did you know that famous actor Christopher Lee re-read J.R.R Tolkien’s ‘ The Lord of The Rings’ at least once every year?
Q) Is it ok if I just re-write my notes?
A) Merely copying out your notes is not the most useful and effective use of your time. You should ensure that you are summarising your notes and actively using the information to test your knowledge.
Q) Should I be doing past paper questions?
A) Completing practice questions is a useful way to familiarise yourself with the time pressures of the exam. The material/ideas developed can be adapted to suit whatever question you face in the exam. We recommend that you look at the mark scheme and the examiners reports online for each past paper when completing them at home.
Q) Are mind maps useful?
A) Reformatting your knowledge in a visual way can help you to retain and recall that knowledge. Mind-maps, for example, are great for forming the links in your brain which will help you bring ideas together to answer text questions. You could even include pictures prompts to help you remember key information.
Q) Is it ok to just re-read the text?
A) No, just re-reading the text is also not sufficient for revision. Instead, you should quiz yourself on what you have read and practise a past paper based on the chapter. You could also read the text alongside a study guide to aid your understanding.
Q) Mind maps, flashcards or bullet points?
A) The simple answer is…whatever works best for you! No one student is the same and our minds work and process information in different ways. If you are a visual learner, you may find the process of creating a mind map and using this for your revision useful. If you are a kinaesthetic learner, you may find that being actively quizzed on your flash notes is easier.

The English Department’s Top Tips for Remembering Quotations

Memorising quotations for your English Literature exams is a daunting prospect, here are a few suggested strategies to approach memorising:

Be specific– You will struggle to recall huge amounts of text or long quotations. Cut your key quotations down into the best words. Focus on getting your most multi-purpose quotations committed to memory, this way you’ve hopefully got something to apply to any possible question.

Repetition– Write & re-write your quotations out. Read them aloud to yourself or others.

Make your learning bright and visual – Apply images to your top quotations (you can draw theses) Having an image to associate with a quotation might just help you to remember it in an exam.

Be Imaginative – Find unique ways to draw questions which are interesting and engage your mind to make your quotation revision memorable.

Read, say, cover, write. – Read the quotation, say the quotation, cover the quotation, re-write the quotation.

Fill in the blanks – Make a quotation bank. Start taking words away as you get confident with them and challenge yourself to fill the gaps as you read. Slowly take more away so you only need a 1 word clue.
Ask family/friends to test you – You could create flash cards and ask your family and friends to test you.

Some Words of Wisdom from the Fast Track Students:

Crystal Ann (Year 12)- The exams are as stressful as any other but in my case, I think it helped me a lot to become friends with my questions; read the questions properly, analyse them and explain your answers, in the context of the question, the very best you can. All the best, Year 11s!

Jia Xix (Year 12)-

Study with friends: Studying with a small group of friends has helped me to stay focused and engaged. I always try teaching my friends to improve my active recall.
Using summaries: Avoid spending too much time reading through textbooks by utilizing summaries. They can help you grasp key concepts and information more efficiently. Normally I would use SaveMyExams, Physics and Math Tutor etc.
Learn from past mistakes: Reviewing past exam papers and mistakes can help prevent repeating them during the actual exam. Normally I would not try to do any past year papers during the day of the actual exam (so that I can prevent myself from panicking), so, I would refer back the mistakes that I have made previously that I’ve saved into my device.
Maintain a healthy revision schedule: Overworking yourself can lead to burnout, so I would take regular breaks and prioritise a good sleep schedule. By doing so, you can improve your focus and retention during revision. Good luck to all Year 11 Students! You’ve got this !!

Well-Wishes from Years 7-10:

Leah (Year 8)- Good luck to everYearone! I hope all the hard work and time you all put in was worth it! I hope everyone gets the grades they all wished for! It will all be worth it in the end.
Soi (Year 8) – Good luck, Year 11! Try your best and don’t succumb to the pressure. If you fail so be it, the future probably has something better.
Halima (Year 10)- Dear IGCSE students, I am prettYear sure that you aren’t having the best time of your life right now, but I can assure you that the relief you will feel after exams will be as rewarding as receiving your duit raya or ang pao. Just know that you have supporters who support you so don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve got this!
Kaegan (Year 8)- Good luck, I hope that Yearou get the best grades ever!
Rania (Year 9)- Don’t leave it to the last minute!
Atiqah (Year 10) – Hello to all taking their IGCSEs; I wanted to say YOU GUYS GOT THIS! I am wishing you every success in your exams. Stay positive, work hard and never give up. Everything may seem impossible at first but time will pass by fast so don’t worry. Also, anyone who is a K-POP stan, use your bias as a motivation to study!
Kanato (Year 7)- To Y11, I hope that you guys get good grades and try hard for your exam.
Sawa (Year 9)- Good luck, I feel sorry for you and I am not looking forward to it being my turn!

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best of luck!

Epsom English Department

Marvelous Music - Anna Ruth

I am really excited to share that I will be performing in a few cities with 50 talented young musicians in a national tour led by three conductors! Please do come support me and my friends!

Here is my video for you to learn more: LINK

The concert theme is entitled “From The New World”, a metaphor of “significant discovery” as the concert’s showcase the discovery of our nation’s talents. “From The New World” is also the popular title for Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, which is one of the highlights of the concert programme.

Here is the LINK to purchase tickets:

The CONCERT DATES & VENUES are:

3 June 2023 (Saturday) 8pm at Auditorium, Soka Gakkai Malaysia (Perak Branch), Ipoh, Perak | RM42.00 – Buy 10 free 2 tickets

18 June 2023 (Sunday) 4pm at Auditorium, St. Joseph’s Institution International School Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor | RM52.50 – Buy 10 free 2 tickets

27 August 2023 (Sunday) 4pm at Auditorium, Chung Hwa High School, Muar, Johor – Free admission, with reservation

The CONCERT PROGRAMME is:

1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky

Orpheus in the Underworld Overture by Offenbach

Slavonic Dance No. 8 by Dvorak

In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg

Bacchanale (from Samson and Delilah) by Saint-Saëns

Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Tchaikovsky

Bugler’s Holiday by Leroy Anderson

Symphony No. 9 “From The New World” by Dvorak

Salut D’amour by Elgar

Heal The World by Michael Jackson (perform with the Estee Pook Academy卜小婷歌唱艺术学院, in Ipoh only)

A Millions Dreams (from The Greatest Showman) by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (perform with the Estee Pook Academy卜小婷歌唱艺术学院, in Ipoh only).

For more info click HERE and HERE

Regards,

Anna Ruth, Year 7 Crawfurd.

More Marvelous Music

Instrumental Music Competition – The Winners’ Concert…

Last Wednesday, we held our Instrumental Music Competition. I am delighted to announce the full results from the competition in addition to some pictures from the Winners’ Concert which was held on Wednesday evening.

All our category winners, highly commended and special award winners were invited to perform in front of friends and family, the piece which they had played during the competition. Thank you once again to Ms Amanina Alwani from the College of Creative Arts at UiTM for adjudicating the competition and thank you to Mr Azmi for organising the competition and evening concert.

Winners

Beginner Strings – Yuqin, Cello
Intermediate Strings – Angela, Classical Guitar
Advanced Strings – Kaith, Violin

Beginner Wind – Evan, Flute
Intermediate Wind – Yusi, Flute

Intermediate Piano – Christabelle
Advanced Piano – Yuren

Modern and Electric Beginner – Paxton, Drumkit
Modern and Electric Intermediate – Khai Zhe, Electone

Highly Commended

Intermediate Strings – Charlotte, Violin
Advanced Strings – Anna Ruth

Beginner Wind – Sora, Flute
Intermediate Piano – Paxton

Advanced Piano – Nicholas
Modern and Electric – Jaden, Guitar

Special Judges Awards

Advanced Piano – Soichiro
Advanced Piano – Anna Ruth

Mr Russell Crann,
Director of Music.

Meet our Heads of College

Pictured below are Youngmok, Elliot, Jing Yan and Alicia:

We asked them to share their thoughts on their appointments:

Becoming the Head Girl / Head of College not only recognises me for my work but also motivates me to strive further personally as well as to enhance the school’s environment in terms of academic progression and physical, social and mental well-being.

It will provide opportunities for me to make decisions that shape our school community, and while this is a huge responsibility, I appreciate the trust placed in me and this motivates me to give my best. I am most excited to host events and ensure that we, as Prefects, work together effectively. I know that I will be required to handle pressure and this will be an invaluable skill for my future success. Last and foremost, public speaking opportunities are what I will embrace the most as the Head Girl of Epsom College. This is not to say that I am undaunted when standing in front of an audience, but because I will be required to become increasingly organised, constructive, confident, professional and consider the event from the audience’s perspective.

Kind regards,

Jing Yan, Head of College 2023/24

I applied for the Head Of College role as I wanted to give back to Epsom. When I applied I was still a relatively new student and many thought that this would give me a disadvantage but as I went through the school year thanks to Epsom’s culture of always providing students with the most opportunities possible I was able to prove myself and thus submit a competitive application. Coming from my old school where opportunities were only available to the top scorers, Epsom has been a completely different experience. Hence I wanted to give back to Epsom by applying to a role where I would be able to have a say in the student life and the community, finding ways to improve it and offer up new ideas from my new perspective to the Epsom experience.

I look forward to working with my new Prefect Team the most, as I know that they are all the best fit for their roles. I look forward to teaching and learning from them as each person has their own experiences and we will inevitably make mistakes that everyone can learn from. Furthermore, our Prefect Team is a multinational group – everyone has grown up with different backgrounds and has learned from different teachers and cultures.

Elliot, Head of College 2023/24

Since joining Epsom, I’ve been afforded countless opportunities to grow as an individual and as a student – applying for a leadership role was my chance to give back to the community that provided me with so much support. For me, being Deputy requires leadership, but more importantly, emphasises the relevance of compromise, communication and perspective. With this new role, I want to be able to connect more with my peers (especially in other year groups) as I believe we should be more cohesive as a student body in order to achieve our full capabilities. To add to that, I’d like to be a figure that others can come to for support, advice or guidance – someone they can confide in – as academics can take a toll on a young person when not handled with balance and care.

Personally, I look forward to working with the rest of the Prefect Team to carry out our personal projects – to be able to implement and leave behind a part of us that will develop Epsom one-Prefect-at-a-time. I’m incredibly excited to bond more with the Prefects and see what our cohort can achieve; we’re grateful to the previous cohort for being such exceptional examples of what it takes to be a Prefect.

Alicia, Deputy Head of College 2023/24

Since joining Epsom College, I have received so many opportunities and so much support from the school and its community. I sought opportunities to give back to the Epsom community and thought that applying for a Prefect role would enable me to do this. Furthermore, I have applied for this role because I have always looked up to the Heads of College in previous years and I have always wanted to occupy a leadership role to be able to inspire the other international students and show that they can achieve their ambitions if they are truly passionate.

I look forward to working with the new Prefect Team to create an environment where all Epsom students will get the same amount of support as I did. Lastly, I hope to see more international students initiating and getting involved in leadership positions.

Youngmok, Deputy Head of College 2023/24

The Upcoming Epsom Ball

Yes, it is indeed time to prepare to get glam, to dress up and get down at the Epsom Ball!

This special annual event, an Epsom tradition, marks the end of our Year 13 students’ Epsom school journey and their debut as Old Epsomians! We look forward to sharing a memorable evening together with parents and students and enjoy a delicious meal, music and dancing.