Alumni

Student Alumni

We very much wish to keep in touch and celebrate the achievements and different pathways former students have taken. This helps motivate and inspire our current students, but also is an excellent way for your old school to find out how you are and what you are up to!

Please do get in touch with us, telling us the following information;

Name
Year you left school
Form tutor and Head of Year
Anything you would like to share about your academic achievements (optional)
Most memorable moment at school:
How school prepared you for post 16 / post 18 life/ study
What you are doing now – courses studies, place of work and position etc
Further career or life aspirations you may have
Any advice you would give a student at the school?
If you have any relevant photos you would like to share with us – perhaps an old school photo and then a current one – that would be amazing!

Thank you in advance for your support.

We look forward to hearing from as many of you as we can via the following email address – alumni@bayceschool.org

Updates from past students…

Name	Daneen Cowling
Year you left school	2013
Form Tutor and Head of Year	Mrs Bloom
Anything you would like to share about your academic achievements	I enjoyed my academic time at Sandown, I was very engaged in most sports competitions and in my later years I had memorable academic achievements – notably in Geography and History. Since Sandown, I have had the following achievements: 2013-2015 attended Havant Sixth Form College, I achieved the award for Academic Excellence in Geography 2015-2018 attended the University of Exeter and studied BSc Geography – achieved First Class with Hons Achieved 80% in my final year dissertation – for which I collected data from cliffs at Sandown Bay Internship for 2 years with local ecological engineering company Artecology based in Sandown Student-Staff Liaison Committee Geography Chair for 2 years and won 4 awards for student engagement and projects Led various extra-curricular activities such as Missing Maps Worked on University of Exeter Climate Change online courses for 2017-2018 2018-present Assistant Project Manager at ADAS RSK Ltd (Environmental Consultancy) Managed environmental surveys on UK’s biggest infrastructure project (HS2) and other large projects Achieved award for Innovation for work developing a novel survey app 2019-2020 Completed a MSc by Research at the University of Exeter, awarded with no corrections and working towards publication currently Assisted in the creation of more Climate Change online courses, in collaboration with University of Exeter and the Eden Project 2020-2024 Awarded fully funded PhD in Environmental Intelligence at Exeter
Most memorable moment at school	My most memorable moment(s) from school were the many sporting events I was able to participate in, specifically football, which was an inclusive and supportive team space which was a lot of fun to be a part of (especially the other island school rivalry!). I also have very fond memories of Science, Geography and History lessons, which have undeniably contributed greatly to my subsequent academic success since school.
How school prepared you for post 16/18 life/study	Sandown prepared me to be a critical, curious and enthusiastic individual, a skillset I have valued. I was very fortunate to have incredible teachers with infectious passion for their subjects. It was my love for the subject Geography, which was encouraged by my teacher – Mr Harwood, that has given me an unwavering determination and drive to make the world a better place in any means I can.
What are you doing now – courses, studies, place of work and position etc	Assistant Project Manager at ADAS RSK Ltd (Environmental Consultancy) Alongside studying for PhD in Environmental Intelligence
Further career or life aspirations you may have	Going forward, I am hoping to continue climate change engagement alongside my PhD and my job. With my PhD, I hope to further upskill myself and help provide more important knowledge required to understand the Earth and edge closer to feasible climate change solutions. Post my PhD, I am currently hoping to start my own organisation which independently researchers some of the worlds biggest problems, with solutions that directly deliver to those in need the most. A keen aspiration of mine is to also help students from lower income backgrounds, to get more engaged in science, and find ways to make science more accessible to them. Coming from this position, I am very aware how important every single opportunity I had was to get me where I am, and so I hope to give more of them to those who would benefit.
Any advice you would give a student at the school?	To any student at school, my advice would be to always stay curious. In Year 7 my science teacher taught me to always ask ‘why’ when thinking about/writing science results. I’ve taken this advice with me since and it hasn’t failed yet! Something I’ve also benefited from since school is using my own initiative to explore more opportunities available to help something I’m interested in. From taking online courses at Sixth Form to reaching out to and collaborating with Universities in LA – everything ‘extra’ you do will undoubtably lead to something else .. the more you stray from the straight standard path and start exploring new things off your own back, the more doors you will open for yourself. I have benefitted so much off the extra things I’ve tried to feed my curiosity, from getting into University to landing my job!

Name	Timothy Dixon
Year you left school	2015
Form Tutor and Head of Year	Mr Lauder-vale & Mr Watkins
Most memorable moment at school	Duke of Edinburgh being a highlight of my time at Sandown.
How school prepared you for post 16/18 life/study	Engaging with other students.
What are you doing now – courses, studies, place of work and position etc	I attended Warsash Maritime Academy to train as a Deck Officer of the watch in the Merchant Navy passing out in 2018. Having finished I am now a 2nd Officer and within this time some of my highlights have been visiting every continent (excluding Antarctica), circumnavigating the earth, working within the arctic circle and experiencing the northern lights and many other moments. I have worked on various different types of vessels from PSVs supplying oil rigs in the North Atlantic, Ministry of Defence vessels operating around the world to hovercrafts in the solent.
Further career or life aspirations you may have	To become a Master Mariner (Captain of a vessel), continuing to travel the world and obtaining a masters degree in my 30’s.
Any advice you would give a student at the school?	To play to your strengths as there are more options available to you. I struggled in school academically in part due to dyslexia and simply academia not being a strength of mine. There are many options for you to choose, University not always being the best path for success.

Name	Emily Faithfull
Year you left school	2018
Form Tutor/Head of Year	Mr Johnson/Ms Jones
Most memorable moments at school	Taking part in The Baylink Games events and spending time with everyone / signing shirts on leavers day after the final GCSE exam.
How school prepared me for post-16 life	Different aspects of school taught me how to work with others, from being in sports teams to working with a partners in classes.
What am I doing now?	I qualified as a Personal Trainer in May and have since completed a qualification in pre & postnatal exercise. I’m also currently working towards being a Sports Massage Therapist too.
Career or life aspirations	Eventually go on to work with a sports team as S&C coach or Massage Therapist.
My advice to students at school now	Work hard, enjoy seeing your friends each day and take up opportunities given to you!