Society makes History at AGM 2021

On Saturday 11th September, the annual Old Brentwoods Day 2021 took place once again after having to miss last year’s event due to covid restrictions. Old Brentwoods of all ages returned to School for the day and it was fantastic to see so many new faces there.

The day encompassed many traditional events with new aspects. The usual sports matches against the current School teams which for the first time this year included Tennis were played and for the most part won by the OB teams. School tours were led by our Sixth Form praepostors for OBs who wanted to explore their alma mater and the new developments across both the Prep and Senior sites. A new drinks reunion at the end of the day was a great hit with sports players and OBs who enjoyed the new social with ‘cheaper than Spoons’ prices! Most notably however, history was made at the OB Society AGM where the first female President took the helm.

Karen Semple, née Crane (OB 1988-95) was passed the Presidential responsibilities by John Hubbard (OB 1963-74), who had served an extra year due to the pandemic. Karen attended the School as one of the first girls to be introduced at Brentwood School from First Year, an initiative started by former Headmaster John Evans and his team. For several years now, Karen has been Head of KS2-KS3 transition, building relationships with local Primary Schools and ensuring the journey from Primary to Secondary School is as smooth as possible for the pupils.

Now that ‘normal life’ is beginning to resume, Karen is especially looking forward to kickstarting the programme of social, sporting and fundraising events for Old Brentwoods. Her two main objectives are:

“Firstly, to increase the numbers of active female members within the Society and encourage greater gender diversity whether on the Committee, attending events, participating in sports teams or simply joining the Society on leaving School. Secondly, I hope to further strengthen the links between the Society and the School, broadening our range of opportunities for OBs to engage with current pupils and vice versa.”

The Development Office has met with Karen already to put together an exciting and engaging social calendar for 2021-22, which will be communicated to OBs in the October e-newsletter. We are very excited to have Karen as our first ‘Lady President’; her passion and enthusiasm is exactly what is needed as we return to staging events and reconnecting with OBs as well as the School.

The Headmaster Michael Bond recorded his School update at the AGM to the Society and you can watch it here.