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A High Performing Specialist Academy for Technology & Applied Learning

Alumni

Listed below is a small selection of some of Collingwood's ex-students, giving a flavour of the diverse paths they have taken.

Jason Applin 
Vocalist and Guitarist
Jason is a vocalist and guitarist who was with the band, Bennet.  They had a hit with 'Mum's Gone to Iceland'.

Clare Burrage
Physics Researcher and Lecturer

 Clare Burrage is a researcher and lecturer in theoretical physics at the University of Nottingham.  She obtained her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2008, and held research positions at the University of Geneva and at DESY (German Electron Synchrotron) before arriving in Nottingham in 2011.

She holds a Royal Society University Research fellowship, and in 2015 she was awarded the Maxwell Medal by the Institute of Physics for outstanding contributions to theoretical physics, mathematical or computational physics.  Her research aims to understand the nature of dark energy, the mysterious substance driving the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe.

Matthew Chivers (Stage name Collyer)
Performer
Matthew trained at the Guildford School of Acting and has been in the West End production of We Will Rock You, performed as Eddie in the Blood Brothers UK tour and recently has been part of the international tour of Mamma Mia.

Matt Emberson Drummer/Vocalist with The Stanley Blacks
 

Jon Marshall
Lead Guitarist with The Stanley Blacks

Matt is the Drummer/Vocalist and Jon is the Lead Guitarist with The Stanley Blacks who have toured the US and have had main stage appearances at festivals over the Summer. They have been working with a Grammy award winning producer on a new album.

Dan Frazier
Premiership Rugby Union Player

 

Dan has played for the Harlequins, Doncaster Knights and the Newcastle Falcons.  Following a back injury he has now retired from professional rugby.

Luke Goss
Singer/Actor

Luke Goss along with twin brother Matt Goss, started his career with the hugely successful 1980s band Bros.  In total he has charted with thirteen hit singles in the UK.

When the band broke up in the early 1990s Luke began his acting career by appearing in stage musicals including 'Grease' and 'What a Feeling'.  He is now a full-time actor and has appeared in many films, including Blade II.  Read more about Luke here.

Matt Goss
Singer

Matt was the lead singer of 1980s pop group Bros, which also featured his twin brother Luke Goss as drummer and Craig Logan as bass player.  Matt began his solo career in 1995, and has enjoyed chart success with singles such as 'The Key'.  He was one of the chefs on 'Gordon Ramsay's Hells Kitchen' (ITV).

In June 2009, Matt started playing live shows in Las Vegas.  In January 2010, the show moved to Caesars Palace where he performed on a regular basis until September 2016,  His live show was produced by the creator of The Pussycat Dolls and his manager Robin Antin.  Read more about Matt here.

Deborah Haynes
Journalist

Collingwood gave me my first experience of being a journalist.  I was sent, aged 15 or 16, by my English teacher to do a fortnight of work experience on the Aldershot News.  After leaving Collingwood in 1995, I studied law and Japanese at university.  I went on to work as a journalist in Tokyo, Geneva, Baghdad and London for Agence France-Presse (AFP) and then Reuters, both international news agencies.  I joined The Times in 2007 as their Iraq correspondent before becoming defence editor in 2010.  I moved to Sky News as foreign affairs editor in 2018.

Jessica Henwick
Actress

Jessica Henwick VoicereelJessica trained as an actress at the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  In June 2009 she was cast in the lead role of Bo for the BBC show Spirit Warriors.  The show was nominated for several awards and Jessica was shortlisted for the Best Lead at the Children's BAFTA 2011.

In 2012, she recorded the role of Helen for the second season of the BBC radio play North by Northamptonshire, starring Geoffrey Palmer, Sheila Hancock and Mackenzie Crook.  The show was nominated for a Sony Radio Award in 2012.

In early 2013 Jessica made her professional theatre debut in the international premiere of Running on the Cracks, based on the book by Julia Donaldson.  Allan Radcliffe of The Times praised her "excellent" and "understated" performance, while the Guardian wrote, "with tremendous physical presence, Henwick captures the sense of adolescent righteousness, passion and confusion of a girl trying to create order in an unfair universe."  Theatre critic Joyce McMillan wrote that Henwick was "outstanding as Leo".

Later in 2013 she was cast as Jane Jeong Trenka in the drama Obsession: Dark Desires, which aired in January 2014.  This adaptation details Trenka's stalking in Minnesota which is also detailed in her book The Language of Blood.

In 2014 Henwick joined the cast of Silk as new barrister pupil Amy.  During the final episode of Silk, she was accepted to Shoe Lane chambers as a a full barrister, not just a pupil.  She is also due to appear in the spin-off radio series Silk: The Clerks' Room.

Jessica recently gained a cameo role in Star Wars.  She appears as Resistance pilot Jessika “Testor” Pava

She also gained roles in Game of Thrones and Balsa Wood.

Greg Herst
Actor/Singer/Musician

Greg achieved a BA (Hons) in English and Theatre Studies from the University of Warwick and went on to train at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.  He is now a successful actor/singer/musician and has appeared in many productions including the Sound of Music. 
Susan Imgrund
Children's Author

 Susan was a student at Collingwood from 1971 to 1977, after which she studied Psychology at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1981.

Although her main career is in Advertising and Marketing, she has always loved writing and was thrilled to have her first book published in 2012 after winning the Earlyworks Press International ‘Novels for Children or Teens’ competition, with ‘The Bother in Burmeon’.  Her publisher followed this up with a second book in the series, ‘Trouble in Teutonia’, in 2014.  This book has recently been shortlisted for the Children’s section of the Rubery Award.

We were delighted when Susan agreed to visit our Year 7 students in October.  She ran workshops for the Year 7s in the Library where she explained what Collingwood life was like in the 1970s and how things have changed.  In her day, school dinners cost 12p and her school uniform was red.

She introduced her latest book, “Trouble in Teutonia”, which involves time travel back to the 1950s. The students enjoyed acting out scenes involving evil Counts and menacing wolves.  It was great fun travelling back in time, and we look forward to another visit one day.

Miss Jenner – Head of Key Stage 3 English - described the event as "a wonderful experience for the students to learn more about the writing process and a unique opportunity which nurtured the students' love of reading."

Jason Mirchandani
Vocalist and Guitarist

Jason is a Vocalist and Guitarist who was part of the band, Talking Endlessly.  They toured with some major bands.

Gillian Murdoch

 Left Collingwood in 2005 to study Law at Warwick University.  In 2011, Gillian won the national ‘Nigel Asquith Prize’, awarded by Morgan Cole, one of the top law firms in the UK. The Nigel Asquith Prize is for the student who obtains the highest overall mark in the Business Law part of The College of Law’s Legal Practice Course, which all those intending to become solicitors must pass before they can proceed to the next stage of practice.

James Paulding
World Expert on Rides

Recognised World Expert on rides. Creative manager for whole of USA Merlin Entertainment (Madame Tussauds, Alton Towers et al).

Greg Payne
Professional Golfer

 After taking up golf at a young age it was clear that Greg was destined for great things when he arrived at Collingwood already a single handicap golfer.  He was regularly picked to play for the England Junior team and when he turned 18 the England Amateur team.  Greg then attended a golf academy in Spain and on his return to the UK in 2013 Greg turned pro.  After signing up to qualifying school for the PGA Europro Tour, Greg won his very first professional event and qualified for the tour.  In his first season against many seasoned and more experienced professionals, Greg finished in a very creditable 19th in the Order of Merit, with an amazing 6 top 10 finishes from the 14 events he played being a regular on the Sky Sports highlights.  Had it not been for an injury at the end of the season Greg would be a real contender for the Tour Championship which would have meant progression to the European Challenge Tour.   As it remains Greg’s excellent first season means he has exemption from qualification on the Europro Tour for the coming season which tees off on the world famous Ryder Cup Brabazon Course at The Belfry in April.

Jon Pearce
Founding member of rock trio, Reuben

Jon was a founding member, bass guitarist and vocalist in the British alternative rock trio Reuben who had major tours with Biffy Clyro, Fightstar, Billy Talent and Sum 41.

Sarah Regan (nee Gibson)
Practicing Criminal Barrister/Writer

Sarah is a practising criminal barrister at the Albion Chambers in Bristol and also a writer with a published short story (Bristol Short Story Anthology, 2009).

George Saville
Professional Footballer

George plays for Millwall FC and also for Northern Ireland.

Claire Wiseman (now Maytham)
England Women's Basketball Captain

Claire was the England Women's Basketball Captain in the Australian Commonwealth Games 2006.

Graham Wynne
Designer

Graham is probably best remembered as a designer on the BBC television programme, Changing Rooms.  He has also appeared on Channel 4's Party of a Lifetime, Change That on the BBC and The Great House Challenge for Channel 5.

Graham is involved in a wide array of projects outside of television including designs for theatre productions which, for many years, included Collingwood's own productions - he gave up some of his precious time to design our set which we are tremendously grateful for. 

 

Curriculum Information