Block 4 visit to Avebury, West Kennett and Stonehenge

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By Chris Grocock, Teacher of Classics

To complement what we can learn in class and from books and the internet, the ‘Famous Five’ who make up this year’s Ancient Civilisations BAC cohort visited the neolithic – and now World Heritage – sites of Avebury Stone Circle, West Kennett Long Barrow and Stonehenge itself.

The weather held fair – well, mostly – but the opportunities to ‘connect’ with these extraordinary monuments constructed 4,500 years ago were seized to the full! All the sites provoked thought and deep reaction – one student commented “I found it interesting that people put the rocks there and we don’t know why”. Stonehenge itself provoked mixed reactions, from “smaller than I thought” to “bigger than I expected”!

At Avebury, there were several expressions of making a ‘spiritual connection’ with the place, especially at a tree marked with ribbons by New Age devotees. Perhaps the most memorable experience was ‘being spooked’ by going into a 5,000-year-old tomb at West Kennett, and then eating lunch on top of it, with vistas spreading all around and fine views of Silbury Hill.

 

‘Beyond Bedales’ Media Careers Event

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By Cheryl Osborne, Teacher of Biology and Careers Advisor and Alex Beckmann, Alumni Relations Manager

We are very lucky to have four Old Bedalians with successful media careers coming to Bedales to talk to students about how they got into the industry, what their current job entails and share experiences and advice with interested students.

The event will focus on TV careers (producing, editing, pitching ideas, presenting, setting up your own business) and possibly cover scriptwriting and writing. Visitors include Kirstie Allsopp (pictured above), Peter Grimsdale, William Miller and Claire Whalley and students will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with the OBs. 

We are excited to launch this as the first ‘Beyond Bedales’ careers event and hope to be able to offer more in the future, focused on different industries throughout the year.

The event is predominantly aimed at students in Block 5, 6.1 and 6.2 if they are interested in this as a future career field, but all students are welcome to attend if they would like to learn about what it’s like to work in the media.

Old Bedalian returns for hockey coaching day

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By Kevin Boniface, Head of Hockey

On Monday, we had the pleasure of welcoming back former Dunhurst and Bedales student Pippa Lock. Pippa is a member of the England Hockey U21 side, Great Britain Elite Development Squad and will be playing in the top flight of the English National League for the University of Birmingham.

Pippa started the day with a talk at Dunhurst, and it was lovely to hear her talk about her hockey journey and how it began exactly where the Dunhurst students were now sat.

The day then moved onto a packed timetable of pitch sessions on the Astro. Students from Group 3 all the way up to 6.2 were given an insight of some of the coaching and ideology that Pippa has experienced through the England Hockey Single System and within international squad sessions.

The day culminated in a presentation from Pippa in the Quad, where she talked about perseverance and setting goals. Already, there has been a tremendous amount of feedback about the impact Pippa had. We look forward to welcoming her back to Bedales soon, having achieved her goal of representing Great Britain at the 2024 Olympics.

Julia Copus gives inspiring poetry reading at Bedales

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By Thomasina Rowntree, 6.2 and English Don

On Tuesday evening the renowned poet Julia Copus came to Bedales to give a reading of her poems in the Theatre. The evening began with a drinks reception for sixth form students, which gave them the opportunity to ask Julia for creative advice. Julia engaged with all the students, taking note of their individual interests – such as songwriting – to make the experience a very rewarding one.

The reading started with an incredibly moving and poignant performance of her collection of poems, Ghost Lines. Using sound and recorded text to enhance the poems, Julia told the story of her experiences of IVF treatment. It was an emotive experience to hear poetry performed in a way that many of us had never experienced.

Julia’s poem, An Easy Passage, is a text that we study for English Literature A Level. Hearing Julia read the poem gave a very personal insight into the piece, transforming the way I perceived it. We were privileged enough to be given a copy of some of the drafts of the poem, stressing the creative process, rather than the poem as a finished piece.

Hearing Julia read and having the chance to speak to her was a fantastic opportunity for all those who attended. The evening ended with a delicious supper for a few students and teachers. Many thanks to the catering team for such amazing food!

Bedales competes at Alresford Show

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By Gala Pearson, Block 5

For part of our Outdoor Work BAC, a group of four of us – Etty Bratley, Lila Levingston, Sasha Arney and me – are doing sheep husbandry. As part of this, we have been looking at a year in the life of a sheep, which includes worming, feeding, breeding and shearing them.

One of the highlights so far has been preparing for the Alresford Show, which was held on the first Saturday in September. In preparation for the show, we spent a lot of time halter training the sheep. We also had to bathe, trim, dag and brush them to get them ready for the ring.

On 7 September, we woke up early to load the sheep into the trailer and set off for Alresford. When we arrived, we herded them into their pens and did the final touch-ups, brushing off any excess dirt.

First up was Etty, who was entered in the ewe lamb class. Competitors were asked to line up and judges went round to each sheep to judge configuration, teeth and wool. After that, the judge wanted to see whether the sheep was tamed on a leash by walking it around the ring.

Following this, we also did a few more classes – shearling ewe, older ewe and a pair of shearling ewes. These didn’t go as well as they could have as the Southdown sheep were very stubborn. However, the pair of ewes (the Herdwicks) went very well, and Sasha and Gala came in fourth place. After all these classes, Etty entered the young handlers, which went really well – she came second!

By this point, we had been there for nearly ten hours, so decided to finish the day with the grand parade. This involved most cattle, cows, goats and sheep. We all got into one big line and walked around the main ring a couple of times, showing off to the public. This was everyone’s favourite part of the day because we led the parade. Even with all the ups and downs over the last year, the Alresford Show was a fantastic experience.

Merry Evening kicks off exciting year of Bedales Music

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By Neil Hornsby, Head of Contemporary Music
Photos by Sashia Monnier, Block 4

This Thursday saw the first big musical event of the year with Merry Evening in the Lupton Hall, a night of original songs, pop covers, classical music and magic! A wide range of great performances from budding rock stars in Block 3 to a rousing finale by The Upstanding Gents, our dynamic band of sixth form rockers. There were ten debuts out of 24 performances, roared on by an extremely enthusiastic audience. A memorable evening for all involved got what promises to be a great year for music at Bedales off to an exciting start!

Match report: U16 Girls’ Hockey in the Ballard School Hockey Tournament

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By Mariela Walton, Teacher of Girls’ PE & Games

On Thursday, the U16 hockey team travelled to the New Forest to participate in the Ballard School Hockey Tournament.

The tournament kicked off with a game against Hampshire Collegiate School, who managed to sneak an early goal, giving them a lead of 1-0. Despite our best efforts, the girls couldn’t quite finish it, and we lost the first game 1-0.

Never a team to give up however, the girls fought back in the second match against Priestlands, and with a beautiful ball into the D from Alisia Leach – which was converted by Mathilda Douglas – we were able to finish the second match 1-0 up.

For our final pool match, we came up against Ballard School. Having watched them comfortably beat both of our previous opponents, we were well aware that this game would be tough.

The Bedales team played with a high intensity and demonstrated some excellent hockey, but despite numerous spectacular saves from Tyler Staring in goal, Ballard were able to take a 1-0 victory.

We then entered the plate competition and our first match was again against a strong Ballard side. The Bedales team went out hard and were rewarded with three superb goals, two from Mabel Watson (with an excellent ball in from Emma Nelson in defence) and one from Nell Freeborough.

This victory saw us face Priestlands in the final of the plate competition, and again we were able to walk away with a win after a third goal from Mabel Watson. A great day with some outstanding hockey on display from the Bedales team. Well done all!

Rural Refugee Network Art Sale

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Home from Home is a solo exhibition of British painter Alex Rennie’s work at The Frestonian Gallery in London inspired by and in aid of Bedales-supported charity the Rural Refugee Network.

The exhibition explores the theme of a British welcome in relation to the Syrian migrant crisis. A percentage of sales proceeds will be donated to both the Rural Refugee Network and it’s partner charity Children on the Edge. The charities rehouse Syrian refugees in the UK as well as educating displaced Syrian refugee children residing in the Lebanese refugee camps.

Rather than portray explicit scenes of refugee life, Rennie has taken an alternative visual approach. The artist held a number of interviews and workshops with Syrian refugees and children that have been resettled in the UK by the Rural Refugee Network. The resulting artworks are informed by these testimonies as well as discussions with volunteers from the Rural Refugee Network about the successes they have had and the challenges they face.

Among the imagery featured are teacups, sandcastles, flowers and flags. Visual references that are quintessentially British, but also have universal appeal. The paintings were created to reflect the notion of empowerment: that of the refugees themselves, but also empowering the public to take action and to play a part in tackling the worst humanitarian crisis of our generation.

The exhibition runs for two days only, 24 and 25 September 2019 at the Frestonian Gallery in Notting Hill West London.

Please contact Dunhurst parent Julia Thistleton-Smith on julia@waughthistleton.com for further details.

Match report: Girls’ 1st Hockey XI v KES Witley

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By Mariela Walton, Teacher of Girls’ PE & Games

The girls’ first XI hockey season kicked off yesterday with a trip to King Edward’s School (KES) Witley.

The game got off to a strong start, with Alisia Leach scoring her first goal for the first team, pinging it in from the top of the D, straight over the keeper. This early lead gave the girls the confidence they needed to attack the goal, and it wasn’t long before last season’s top goal scorer, Mathilda Douglas, also got her name on the score sheet.

The first half finished with a third goal, scored by Amber Pearson, which gave the girls a strong lead as they entered the second half. In the latter half of the game, the girls remained strong and managed to contain almost the entire game to their own attacking half.

The quality of play in the second half was excellent, with the girls sending the ball flying around the pitch and leading KES on a chase. Bedales continued to have numerous shots on goal, with a number of them missing narrowly; as we progress through the season it will be exciting to see more of these chances converted to goals.

The game finished with a nail biting short corner from Bedales which despite out best efforts was cleared away by the KES Whitley defence. An excellent game to start the season with and some great individual and team performances. Most Valuable Player was awarded to Mathilda Douglas.

Careers education and guidance at Bedales

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Careers-guidance

By Cheryl Osborne, Teacher of Biology and Careers Advisor

The beginning of the new year seems a good opportunity to introduce myself. I am in charge of careers education and guidance at Bedales. This involves taking a careers activity with Block 4, introducing them to the world of work, and supporting Block 5 to make informed A Level choices.

We do this via My Future Careers online tests, which are followed by interviews. Block 5 are currently doing the tests and the interviews take place with external, independent advisors in October. These are then followed up by myself and tutors as Block 5 start to make their A Level choices. I also work with Sixth Form students who are interested in apprenticeships, as well as mentoring potential medics and vets.

This year I am working closely with Alex Beckmann (Alumni Relations Manager) in External Relations. We are hoping to offer students the opportunity to meet Old Bedalians to discuss their career paths.

Our first event is on Friday 11 October, when we have 4 Old Bedalians who work in the field of Media coming in. This event is open to any student at Bedales and we hope that students will take this amazing opportunity to find out about this career field.