Alex goes from the East End to Oxford

FROM the window of their Bethnal Green tower block flat, Alex Woolley’s mother could watch her five year old son in the playground of the next door primary school.

Last month, 13 years later, she saw him take his place at Merton College, Oxford where he will be studying classics.

Alex scored four A* grades to secure his place at Oxford University and has told the Advertiser about his plans and expectations and his time atcharitable boarding school Christ’s Hospital in West Sussex.

He said: “As an only child from a single parent family, the move into a house shared with fifty other boys wasn’t easy and I’m sure I lacked a certain social finesse that children with siblings possess.”

The school was founded in London in 1552 by King Edward VI and is supported by its own charitable foundation which provides boarding education for children from all backgrounds, aged 11 to 18 years.

During his seven years at the school, Alex excelled in Maths and Latin and played piano, harp and alto sax.

Past pupils have included Sir Barnes Wallis, who masterminded the ‘bouncing’ bombs which destroyed the Mohne and Eder Dams in the famous Dambusters raid.

The intake of boys and girls is from all cultural, social and religious backgrounds.

Alex said: “As I prepare for my new life at Oxford University, I have many unanswered questions about what is expected of me, how I will fit in, and the way in which universities operate. But I believe my time at Christ’s Hospital has equipped me to meet the many new and exciting challenges that lie ahead.”