Tag Archives: Bedales Sixth Form

Creative final 6.2 English Literature lesson

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By David Anson, Head of Faculty: English

Last Saturday occasioned final lessons with our 6.2 before going on exam leave. In my 6.2 English Literature class we have been revising Keats and Shakespeare in particular and, girded with coffee, orange juice and croissants, we spent the lesson making contextual and critical badges.

Students had to link pictures and criticism in their creations and to establish a clear line of argument to explain their connections. In the Craft of Learning lessons this year, students have been taught the values of interleaving and distilling information and the badges come to symbolise information learnt and knowledge held ready to be used under timed conditions.

If nothing else, it was fun and, hopefully, memorable. Good luck 6.2, you are brilliant, and we wish you all the very best for your final exams. See more photos from the lesson below:

New Academic Dons announced

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By Clare Jarmy, Acting Deputy Head (Academic)

Congratulations to this year’s Academic Dons, who were announced last week.

Dons are student leaders, associated with academic departments and other important areas of the school, such as the Library and Theatre. As student spokespeople for a department, Dons represent the student body’s views to the relevant Head of Department, as well as offer subject specific help and advice to younger students at the senior school.

It is a genuine delight for us to see so many students showing such energy and enthusiasm for the different areas of school life, and we thank them in advance for the work they will do with teachers in supporting the academic life of the school.

The full list of this year’s Dons is as follows:

  • Art – Georgie De Boulay
  • Biology – Nina Jones
  • Business Studies – Maria Timokhina
  • Chemistry – Isabella McGrath
  • Classics – Annie Lawes
  • Dance – Mathilda Douglas
  • Design (Product) – Oskar De Aragues
  • Digital Game Design/Maths – Raef McNaughten
  • Drama – Jessica Asamoa
  • Economics – Harry Hornsby
  • English – Maya Muller
  • Fashion Design – Phoebs Esdaile
  • French – Alisia Leach
  • Geography – Fleur Donovan
  • Global Awareness – Sacha Weisz Brassay
  • History – Taragh Melwani
  • Library – Anton Lucas
  • Maths – Annabelle Snell
  • Music – Tiger Braun-White
  • Music (Contemporary) – Monty Bland
  • Outdoor Work – Lila Levingston
  • Photography – Poppy Kingsley-Pallant
  • Physics – Hux Green
  • Politics – Thomas Figgins
  • Philosophy, Religion and Ethics – Amos Wollen
  • Psychology – Lily Brough
  • Round Square – Amelia Smith, Ben Bradberry, Nina Solovieva
  • Spanish – Anna Sukhikh
  • Sport – Shanklin MacKillop-Hall
  • Theatre (Crew and Wardrobe) – Caelan Edward and Aria Taheri Murphy
  • 3i – Zakhar Gabriadze

New course update: Living with the Land

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By Andrew Martin, Head of Outdoor Work

Living with the Land is our new Sixth Form course, which was written by Feline and me, and introduced to the curriculum this year. The course aims to equip students with the necessary practical skills to live lightly off the land, and enable them to look at the issues surrounding the environment and our impact upon it. It is a natural progression from our Outdoor Work Bedales Assessed Course (BAC), however it goes into far greater depth and includes significant self-directed work, including a portfolio and a ‘major’ project in the final year.

Living with the Land around us means having a greater awareness of our environment, living in rhythm with the seasons, trying to reduce our footprint and applying our new-found knowledge to other aspects of our lives and our community. This term we have been focusing on getting students to really think about their immediate surroundings. We have encouraged them to take a step back and take time to really consider the impact we are having on the natural environment. 

So far this term students have spent time looking at and observing our beautiful estate. This has meant a lot of walking and talking, as well as just sitting in a field, letting our senses tell us more about the land around us. We have been looking at permaculture and how its principles might be applied to ourselves, our community and beyond. We have built wattle and daub walls and started looking at natural building and how empowering and beautiful it is. Bread baking, foraging, making hedgerow preserves and site surveying are just some of the topics we have already touched upon over the past three weeks on this exciting and enriching course.

New ‘Living with the Land’ course launching September 2020

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By Andrew Martin, Head of Outdoor Work, and Feline Charpentier, Teacher of Outdoor Work

From September 2020, students in 6.1 will be able to choose a new Outdoor Work (ODW) course as one of their sixth form options. ‘Living with the Land’ is a two-year course which will equip students with the practical skills to live lightly off the land, enabling them to look at the wider context for the issues surrounding the environment and our impact upon it. Living with the land around us means having a greater awareness of our environment, living with the seasons, trying to reduce our footprint and applying our new-found knowledge to other aspects of our lives and the community.

It is a natural progression from all aspects covered in the ODW BAC, however it goes into far greater depth and includes significant self-directed work, including a portfolio and a ‘major’ project in the final year. There is currently no clear pathway for a student wishing to take a more practical course at sixth form in environmental subjects. The closest comparable courses are Countryside Management, Food Skills, Sustainability or the planned Natural History GCSE. No courses combine traditional building, cooking and craft skills with aspects of ecology, sustainability and community.

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