Bedales Eckersley Lecture – from 1966 to present

By Dr Harry Pearson (staff, 1977-2006), former Head of Science and Houseparent

In my own personal history 1966 is a key year that I always remember and use as a reference point: it is the year, age 18, I left school in the July and started university at UCL in September. Also, all football aficionados remember 1966, as the only year England won the World Cup. I can remember the day as if it were yesterday. (One hundred years before, 1866, was one of those annus mirabilis years in science where so much was happening that would change the world, we live in. Darwin was advancing his work on natural selection while unbeknown to him, an Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel, was carefully collecting data on peas which would lay the foundation of what we now call genetics.) Eleven years on, I left the university world of chemistry and arrived at Bedales in September 1977.  It was then I discovered that 1966 is also an important year in the history of Bedales, as it was the year of the inaugural Eckersley Lecture.

Thomas and Peter Eckersley were students at Bedales shortly after the school’s foundation. Thomas, 1886-1959, was a student here between 1897 and 1904. Peter, 1892-1963, was at Bedales between 1902 and 1911. They enjoyed science tremendously and the teaching they received engendered a sense of discovery and investigation in both of them. While here they became interested in the emerging field of radio transmission and carried out some amazing experiments. The photographs below show them at ‘Wavy Lodge’ (a hut near the present-day Music School) where they carried out some of their experiments on radio transmission. Their great friend in this enterprise was Bob Best whom I was pleased to meet at the lectures of the late seventies, still as enthusiastic as ever.

Both Eckersley brothers went on to have distinguished careers: Peter became Chief Engineer when the BBC started in 1922. Thomas, who went to University College London, where he studied engineering, then went on to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics. He then joined the Marconi Company where he stayed most of his career where he carried out important research in the field of Radio waves becoming FRS. His work was concerned with how atmospheric effects affected the transmission of the waves. He went on to win the prestigious Faraday medal in 1951. To give an idea of the importance of this award it can be noted that the winners in 1950 and 1952 were Sir James Chadwick, discoverer of the neutron and Nobel Laureate, and Berkeley physicist Ernest. O Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron and Nobel Laureate, respectively, two of the better-known Nobel Prize winners. The contribution by the brothers in the field of Radio transmission is extraordinarily significant, and something that Bedales can feel very proud about.

The lectures were set up by a group of Old Bedalians as a memorial and tribute to the outstanding contribution to scientific progress and thinking made by the Eckersley brothers. They are meant to have a broad appeal and stimulate interest in, and appreciation of science, rather than just record scientific research. It was always hoped that non-scientists would find them of interest. It seems appropriate that several directors of the Royal Institution have delivered the lecture as one of the aims of the ‘discourses’ at the institution seem very similar to the aims of the Eckersley Lecture.

The first lecture was given in 1966 by Professor Sir Lawrence Bragg who won a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work using X Rays in the elucidation of chemical structure. Indeed Bragg’s father also demonstrated the use of X rays in medicine. It is hard to overstate the significance of this first lecture.

In 1966 it would have been difficult to find a more senior, or more famous, scientist in this country, or indeed the world, than Lawrence Bragg, the first person to deliver the Eckersley lecture. Not only was Bragg a Nobel laureate but at the time he was the only person to have won the prize with his father, William Henry Bragg. What is more, since their discovery, the use of X rays, in structure determination, is one of those things that has changed all our lives. He won the prize as far back as 1923 as a member of the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, a location that was virtually rewriting science for the twentieth century. Like his father, the younger Bragg went on to head the Cavendish, and become director of the Royal Institution.

To further emphasise Bragg’s pre-eminence, it is important to realize what point his use of X rays in structure determination had reached at that time. Several people in the Cavendish were working on the elucidation of enzyme structure, most notably Max Perutz and John Kendrew. Both went on to win the Nobel Prize for their work on the structure and function of Haemoglobin, the vital oxygen carrying protein in blood. At this time their work represented the cutting edge of science. Another duo in Bragg’s sphere were the pair Watson and Crick who were working on the structure of DNA. Their eventual publication of the structure, which marked the advent of Molecular Biology, is seen as the greatest discovery of the century. It was Bragg who proposed them for the Nobel Prize.

Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work in Bragg’s laboratory in 1962. Their work would throw dramatic new light on the fields set up by Darwin and Mendel in 1866. The work in Bragg’s team was reaching towards the very heart of life itself.

When Bragg came to give the first lecture in 1966 it would be hard to think of a more eminent person in British intellectual life.

The subsequent list of speakers is very much a who’s who of British science with names like Colin Blakemore, Herman Bondi, Ken Pounds, OB Sebastian Pease, Nobel Laureate Max Perutz, Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell and Sir Roger Penrose among others.

I must say something here about Bas Pease. Bas gave the Eckersley lecture in 1982 entitled Nuclear Energy and the Future. Bas had a glittering scientific career becoming head of the project doing research on nuclear fusion. He may be the leading scientist that Bedales has ever produced. Bas was a powerful supporter of the Bedales Science Department and we were all pleased when he came to the opening of the new science buildings in 2001.

The 2006 lecture was given by one of my previous mentors Professor Brian Johnson FRS, formerly Head of Inorganic Chemistry at Cambridge and Master of Fitzwilliam, and also a governor of Bedales. When I wrote to him thanking him for coming, he said that for him it was an honour to join such a distinguished list of speakers. I think the founders of the lecture can be proud of what they have set up. The Eckersley brothers would also be proud of what goes on in their name and that science thrives at Bedales. 1966 was indeed an important year in the life of the school.

Powell Day – ‘Work of Each for Weal of All’ in practice

Hedge planting on Steep Common, building bat boxes to support bat conservation, designing illustrations for biodiversity boards to be installed on the Bedales estate and forging metal reinforcements for trenches in Ukraine are just some of the projects students and staff at Bedales Senior worked on together for Bedales’ Spring term community day, Powell Day, on Monday.
 
Powell Day, named after Bedales co-founder Oswald Powell, is one of three community days held throughout the year which celebrate key figures in the founding of the school and the current Bedales community with a ‘whole school effort’. The concept of a whole school effort was introduced in 1986 when Bedalians worked together to excavate and landscape the pond alongside the Sotherington Barn and it remains a key feature of community days, when students and staff practise the school motto – ‘Work of Each for Weal of All’ – by collaborating on a range of projects for the greater good.
 
On Monday, projects included cutting back and improving the area around the lake and Theatre, maintaining footpaths (including the footpath constructed on Badley Day 2018 which connects Dunhurst to the A3 footbridge), hedge planting both on-site and at Steep Common, and completing botanical studies for biodiversity boards to be installed around the estate. In the Sotherington Barn, students worked with visiting blacksmith Lucille Scott to forge 55 ‘log dogs’ which will be transported to Ukraine at the end of the month to reinforce trenches.

Old Bedalian Emma Cusworth, Director of Communications at the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, returned to Bedales to talk to students about carbon offsetting, and students also heard from Nik Knight and Carolyn Hargreaves from the Hampshire Bat Group about the conservation of bats. In the Design workshop, students constructed over 50 bat boxes to support conservation. Ten were donated to the Hampshire Bat Group for sale on their charity stands and others will be installed around the Bedales estate to further increase the healthy bat population. Twenty bat boxes will also be available to buy at Bedales Reception for £25 each on a first come, first served basis.

A media team of students captured and edited footage throughout the day and shared a video with students and staff at an assembly which celebrated the achievements of the day.  

See more photos from Powell Day below:

Bedales celebrates World Book Day

By David Anson, Head of Faculty: English

In honour of World Book Day this year, Natasha Ruiz Barrero (Teacher of English, Dunhurst) and David Anson (Head of Faculty, English, Bedales) brought budding authors in Block 2 and Block 4 together to share their own work through readings in the Bedales Library.

We had a fantastic range of narrative forms represented by some really moving Block 2 retrospective pieces and detailed descriptive passages matched by powerful short stories read by the Block 4 who have recently completed their IGCSE imaginative writing coursework. Creative writing in response to works of literature is an incredibly valuable way of accessing not only the challenging themes of some texts but also understanding the many varied methods writers use to communicate.

I have no doubt that our young writers will continue to exercise their art and to feed their imaginations through reading not just on World Book Day but the whole year round and beyond. Let’s also hope we see some first novels published in the not distant future.

With special thanks to the Block 4 students: Iggy Cake, Dexter Mellon, Amelie Knox, Lolo Gaio, Charlie Williams, Olive Festinger and Ella Foster-Hill; and to the Block 2 pupils: Fred Robinson, Felix Cunningham, Marcello Bodrini-Diamond, Annabel Rowell, Rupert Trewby, Alice Rawlence, Tabitha Brighton, Marlowe Smith-Pink and Oscar Heining-Familoe.

By Clemmie Bevan, Margot Paisnor and Tasch Hertwick, 6.2

Thursday marked the 28th year celebrating World Book Day, and to mark the occasion, the English department and a handful of students dressed up to show their appreciation for literature.

Some of the outfits included characters from plays such as A Streetcar Named Desire and The Crucible, and novels such as The Picture of Dorian Grey, Less than Zero and 1984. We, as students, thoroughly enjoyed taking part in this tradition, and were in admiration of the teachers’ fantastic ensembles.

Dressing up for events like World Book Day has brought joy to Bedales students for many years, and we believe taking part in this tradition has provided a small, yet exciting, glimpse of the traditional Bedalian atmosphere that so many remember. We hope that many others will partake in events like these in future.

See more photos from World Book Day below:

Dalí Immersive Experience for Spanish A Level students

By Kervan Keratas, 6.2

This week, the 6.2. Spanish A Level students had the fantastic opportunity to attend the Dalí Cybernetics Immersive Experience in London.

Salvador Dalí was a Spanish surrealist artist recognised and remembered for his extravagant and innovative artwork, which spread across film, painting, sculpture, and product and set design. Dalí used Impressionism and the Renaissance masters as stimuli for his work, before growing a strong affinity for Cubism. The 1920s saw the birth of his passion for Surrealism, where he joined a surrealist group in 1929 and produced his most notable artwork – ‘The Persistence of Memory’ – in 1931.

The exhibition showcased Dalí’s masterpieces, alongside contextual information that described events that occurred during the production of his works. There were three floors in the exhibition: a floor comprised of rows of his artworks; a 360° immersive room containing holograms and artificial intelligence; and a virtual reality experience of Dalí’s iconic arts. The consensus from the students was complete enjoyment and shock for the visually stunning graphics in the VR experience; we were in his art pieces, able to interact with different objects painted in the art.

We would like to thank Enca Marza Porcar and Mungo Winkley for organising and hosting such an incredible outing. For those seeking an outing with family and friends, I strongly recommend this exhibition. Regardless of whether one is familiar with the work of Dalí, this experience immerses you in a new world – one where you feel as though you are the artwork.

See more photos from the trip below:

Block 5 Art trip to Pitt Rivers and Natural History Museums, Oxford

By Ana Simmons, Head of Lower School and Teacher of Ceramics

The Block 5 BAC Art students visited the Pitt Rivers and Natural History Museums in Oxford on Wednesday to draw artefacts from their collections. An important part of our course is for students to experience works of art and objects in the flesh as reference material, this helps them experience the scale, physicality and subtle intricacies that they cannot always experience on a screen or in a book.

The students enjoyed studying the eclectic mix of objects and have returned to school with a strong collection of observational drawings to support the start of their final projects. We are looking forward to seeing how they explore and develop these studies as they work towards creating their final outcomes in their chose disciplines, be it print, painting, 3D or ceramics.

You can see examples of the students’ work below:

6.2 boarders celebrate end of mock exams

By Julia Bevan, 6.2 Houseparent

To mark the end of mocks, we organised a somewhat alternative sensory event on Tuesday night on 6.2 Flat. For about 45 minutes the welcome area was teeming with students choosing face masks, applying tea-tree nose strips and placing cucumbers on their eyes. Downstairs in the mixed kitchen we served hot chocolate and multicoloured donuts. Jazz music played, fairy lights twinkled and there was an impressive take up from boys!

A huge thank you to Rio, Jamila, Nesta and Arlo who helped apply face masks and gave advice and encouragement. Also to Jayne Rundell who ordered all the products we needed in advance and had the foresight to buy ribbon so people could tie their hair back. Next time we will make sure we have worked out how to use the diffuser so we can enrich the sense of smell as well as touch, taste and sound.

See more photos from the evening below.

Boarding at Bedales Prep

Boarding at Bedales Prep is something that is thoroughly enjoyed by the pupils. From Tuesday treat nights to weekend trips, there are always activities for boarders to enjoy.

To live together and learn from each other has always been a cherished part of our communal boarding life, and it enables pupils to feel fully immersed in the Dunhurst community.

This term, the nights have drawn in and there is a cosy and seasonal feel to the boarding house. As well as relaxing with their friends after a busy school day, boarders have enjoyed a range of activities, from dodgeball and table tennis tournaments, to trips to crazy golf and Flip out.

December also brought the start of advent and resident matron Alex has created plenty of festive fun for the boarders, including tree decorating and a Christmas activities advent which started with a game of ‘Pin the Antlers on the Reindeer’.

We offer flexible boarding options to accommodate the varying needs of our families, with full, half and flexi-boarding available. At weekends, boarders can choose to stay at Dunhurst or return home, with staff accompanying children on the train to London Waterloo or Clapham.

View the Spring term boarding programme here.

Wellbeing workshops for parents at Bedales Prep and Pre-prep

At Bedales Prep and Pre-prep, wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do to ensure we nurture and nourish our pupils so they thrive to be able to be the best version of themselves. We passionately believe that a child will successfully achieve self-actualisation when teachers, pupils and parents work in unison and are on the same team, the team of the child. Our children are not born with a manual, and even if they were, I’m sure it would have been ripped up and thrown out of the window at the first parenting hurdle!

This term, Dunhurst’s Head of Wellbeing Debs Baty has introduced parent workshops. They are a safe space for parents to come together, have a coffee and share thoughts and feelings in a non-judgmental way. They are a supportive space where parents can ask for advice or simply hear other parents who are in the same boat as them. Somehow, it’s quite reassuring to hear that you are not the only one having trouble with a particular area of parenting.

Debs has three teenagers of her own and has worked in boarding schools for the whole of her career, starting as a nursery teacher to three-year-olds and working in a sixth form boarding house. Debs doesn’t have all the answers, but she is passionate about supporting parents on the road to creating happy, healthy children ready for life in the 21st century.

‘Let’s talk about…’ is a series of workshops that covers important stages and common issues in parenting life, whether a first time parent or not. The course aims to give parents information and step-by-step tools to create a happy home life, to manage those every day hotspots, like morning routines and sibling squabbles, and to help their children thrive.

Some of the workshops from the Autumn term include:

Child Development – building an understanding of the developmental drives of childhood and how to use this knowledge to meet the social and emotional needs of your child.

Motivation – learn how to motivate your child in ways which encourage cooperation and, allows them to fulfil their potential and build resilience.

Communication with children – learn how communication can be used to build strong relationships, help children manage difficult feelings, increase cooperation and build a culture of mutual respect.

Boundaries – strategies to help you set effective boundaries, which help children feel safe, and solve recurring problematic behaviour.

Autumn term in Sport at Bedales Prep, Dunhurst

By Will Bray, Head of Sport

The Autumn term has been a busy one for pupils at Dunhurst. For some this kicked off in the summer, as following a tough selection process last year, they represented the Prep School Lions at the Gothia Youth World Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden. Once term started, we were straight into action as our Wednesday afternoon fixture schedule got underway. With so many pupils eager to represent the school this term, just under 150 fixtures have been played, averaging at 13 teams playing each week. In addition to football, hockey and netball fixtures, pupils have impressed in a number of swimming galas and cross-country events.

We are fortunate to have fantastic sports facilities at Bedales and it wasn’t long before we made the most of these with our annual schedule of host tournaments. These began with our U9 and U11 football festivals for local state schools, before the annual ISFA U11 regional qualifier, which sees the top two teams progress to the national finals at St George’s Park. In early October a whopping 24 teams took part in the U13 football tournaments played across the site. The final event hosted by the school was our annual U13 hockey tournament in which we were delighted to see our girls team come home with silver medals.

House sport has taken off over the last two years and we often find pupils eagerly checking the leader board in the PE department to see how their House is faring against the others. This year’s competition began with a number of hotly contested dodgeball tournaments in year groups, before we moved onto football, hockey and netball. The final House event of the term was the Badley Run. Pupils took on the course with energy and determination, knowing that as a whole school event, double points were on offer, which always significantly impacts the running total.

On a personal level, it has been great to see some of our pupils excelling in sport outside of school as well. A huge congratulations to Miles, Leo and Albie in Group 2 (Year 5) for being selected to represent Hampshire at district level in cricket. Congratulations also to Martha for being selected to play for Southampton Football Academy. Finally, a big well done to Evie, Annie, Marlowe and Annabel for their efforts on the hockey pitch this term which has lead to them being put forward for Hampshire’s Junior Development Centre.

Whilst many core sports have seen some real successes this term, it has also been wonderful to see so many pupils taking up the opportunity to progress their skills in some more specialist sports such as fencing and karate, offered as part of our activities programme. We eagerly await the start of roller hockey and cheerleading in the Spring term!

Projects referendum: Should the UK government make a legally-binding commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions to net-zero by 2032?

By Nick Gregory, Teacher of History & Politics

On Monday 12 December, the Bedales community will once again go to the polls to have their say in the latest Block 3 Projects referendum. This term, the issue on the (digital) ballot paper is climate change, with voters being asked the question: Should the UK government make a legally-binding commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions to net-zero by 2032?

Representatives from both campaigns will be pitching to the voters at whole school assembly in the Quad at 5.30pm on Monday. Voting will open immediately afterwards, from 6pm on Monday  and will remain open until 2pm on Tuesday 13 December.

Taking place exactly three years to the day since the last UK General Election, the vote comes at a particularly important and relevant time – both domestically and globally – in the context of this debate. Just this week, the UK government approved plans for the UK’s first new coal mine for 30 years. Internationally, last month saw the much-hyped COP27 summit take place in Egypt, with governments from across the world keen to show they are making progress on tackling Climate Change; however, COP27 convened against the backdrop of a new global poll that found that concern about climate change is actually shrinking, with fewer than half of those questioned believing it poses a ‘very serious threat’. Here in the UK, however, voters seem to want more action on the environment from their government, with 63% of those surveyed in November saying that the government is not doing enough to tackle climate change.

Our two campaign teams have been working hard – allocating campaign jobs, researching their arguments, and planning their strategy to win over the voters. We challenged representatives from each campaign to put forward their argument to the Saturday Bulletin readers in less than 300 words!

The ‘No to 32’ campaign
By Flora Meyrick, Block 3

The ‘No to 32’ campaign believes that the date specified in the referendum question itself is too restrictive.  
 
Given that much of our economy relies heavily on non-electric vehicles and carbon exports, if we truly wish to become net-zero we should set a more realistic date that is actually achievable, such as 2050, rather than setting – and missing – yet another deadline that we cannot possibly hope to reach.
 
The UK government has already made a legal commitment to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Our priority should be ensuring that this existing target is actually met, rather than setting a new one that will not be.
 
If we wish to succeed in finding a way to reach net-zero, we also need to find better alternatives to provide energy for our nation. For many, the answer is nuclear; however, nuclear radiation can cause lung cancer as people may inhale radiation particles. We believe that the future lies in hydropower.
 
Hydropower is the cheapest form of renewable energy, and the most obvious choice for an island nation. The government should invest heavily in making progress in this area in order to reach its 2050 target.
 
Clearly, 2032 – now just a decade away – is too soon to get our country to net-zero in any kind of practical or affordable way. However, finding a renewable source to slowly make the switch from carbon to hydropower by 2050 is the sensible, affordable and achievable route to making the UK net-zero.
 
Vote ‘No to 32’ to help our country.
 

The ‘Zero Now’ campaign
By Emily Cullen and Lily Maughan, Block 3

The ‘Zero-Now’ campaign believes that unless we start reducing greenhouse emissions immediately, then climate change – with all its damaging effects – will be irreversible. The UK government should make a legally-binding commitment to become a net-zero nation by 2032. The earlier we start, the more time we have left.  
 
10 years may seem too soon, but the UK needs to set an example. It was the first country in the world to create a legally-binding national commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions via the Climate Change Act of 2008. This gives us a powerful voice and influence with the rest of the world. A reduction in greenhouse gases simply must happen very soon, and a legally-binding agreement commits both government and businesses to this aim, which makes progress much more likely.
 
Some key policies to reach this target include:

  • Funding more electric vehicle charging stations, and converting them to be sustainably powered (e.g. solar panelled)
  • Identifying, prioritising and adapting government investments in infrastructure and innovating technology to address climate change risks effectively
  • Assist businesses and large emitters in transitioning to being carbon neutral
  • Financial incentives for improved water and wastewater management
  • Construction of new sustainable power stations around the UK, made by carbon neutral companies

These are some of the many ways we can reach net-zero by 2032. Achieving net-zero urgently is vital, as it’s the best way we can tackle climate change and reduce global warming. What we do in the next decade to limit emissions will be critical to our future, and currently our target of 2050 is too far off. If we want future generations to thrive then we must act now.
 
Do it now; we must be Zero-Now.