The Darwen Lecture: Two Passions, Burma Journeys and other encounters, Another Country, British Society in the 1980’s by Homer Sykes

Thursday 24th May at 7pm in the Drama studio – admission is free.

Photographer, photo journalist and old scholar of Sidcot, Homer Sykes, who has recently had his work on display in the Old Scholars Art Exhibition, will be talking about two of his great passions at this year’s Darwen Lecture – “ Two Passions, Burma Journey and other encounters, Another Country, British society in the 1980’s”. Homer travelled extensively around Burma over the past six years, documenting his travels with photographs of the journey. These are not the normal gilded Buddha’s and splendid Pagodas, but the way the country really looks. The second part of the lecture focuses on his other great passion, Another Country – a series of images of British Society in the 1980’s. He is one of a very few photographers who has had their work on display at the Tate gallery and has a wealth of experiences from his forty year career. See more at http://homersykes.photoshelter.com. There will be a chance to ask questions after the 40 minute lecture which will take place in the Drama Studio. Refreshments will be served so please let us know if you are coming – contact Kim Lane in Reception or Naomi Box via email

Head Boy, Jason Pallari and Head Girl, Rosa Brandon

 We are delighted to announce our new office holders for the 2012/13 academic year. They have already begun to take on responsibilities so that outgoing officers can focus on exams. We wish all the new office holders the best of luck and look forward to working with this dynamic team.

 We’d like to thank all of the outgoing officers especially Head Boy Alexander Zamaev and Head Girl Kloe Cooper.

The new team

Office Holders 2012/13

Head Girl: Rosa Brandon

Head Boy: Jason Pallari

Deputy Head Girl: Chloe White

Deputy Head Boy: Alfie Cunningham

International Officer:  Darwin Li

Charity Officers: Michael Eyermann, Alex Michael, Ottilie Yerbury, Emily Sullivan

Head of School House Girls: Askild Winkelmann,

Deputies: Sharon Lin and Kate Semjannikova

Head of School House Boys: Jackie Wu

Deputies: Sebastian Dietzel and Nathan Wang

Head of Newcombe : Helena Ring            

Deputy: Alicia Zahedi de Wolfe

Head of Combe: Nicolas Gampierakis

Deputy: Tom Kirrage

Alfie, Jason, Rosa, Chloe and Darwin

Sidcot celebrates its very own National Champion, Year 8 student Jack Slingsby. Jack was selected for the North Somerset Indoor Athletics Squad after Sidcot came second in the District Championships.

 He went on to represent Avon in the South West Championships where his team qualified for the National finals held recently at The NEC, Birmingham. The team was again triumphant, being crowned National Champions. Jack improved his personal best in the triple jump by nearly half metre with a jump of 7m 5cms. We would like to congratulate Jack and his team mates for this fabulous achievement.

In the Spring term, eighteen Year 9 students took part in the Sidcot French Exchange, staying with French families in St. Pol de Léon, Brittany for six days. The exchange was an incredibly rewarding experience for the students involved as they were able to put their French to good use and learnt considerably more language while staying with their host families. The exchange was also a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn about French culture first hand.

 The French students have just spent a week in England, staying with their English partners and taking part in a variety of excursions to local areas of interest. The group enjoyed a traditional English breakfast at Sidcot School and very much enjoyed taking part in our Quaker Meeting for Worship. The co-ordinator of the exchange and Head of Languages Faculty, Stephanie Byrne, said;

 “We have enjoyed welcoming our exchange school to Sidcot this term. While the weather could have been kinder, the students have gained an enormous amount from the experience and we hope that they have begun to forge long-lasting friendships with their exchange partners. We already know that a number of our students have organised return visits to their host families in the near future, demonstrating a real sign of success for the exchange.”

On 21 March, thirty-two Year 10 history students and their teachers left for the annual trip to the First World War battlefields in Belgium and Northern France, led by Head of History Karen Lovett. Visits included preserved trenches, cemeteries and memorials. For the first time, Sidcot participated in the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, laying a wreath in memory of all those who died in the war, which was felt to be particularly important as the students came from a number of different countries representing both sides of the conflict. The trip culminated in a visit to Talbot House the ‘Everyman’s Club’, where officers and men mixed as equals and this was particularly poignant for students from a Quaker school.

 Sixth Form students are able to exercise their initiative and entrepreneurial skills through involvement in two activities currently on offer at Sidcot. Students can get involved in the Young Enterprise Scheme where they can set up and run their own company whilst experiencing the trials and tribulations of budding entrepreneurs. Students experience the problems of coming up with marketable ideas, raising money to launch the business and then putting their ideas into action with a view to making a profit, which is then distributed to shareholders. Supported by a business adviser and link teachers, the students run their own business meetings, organise production and sales, and can learn as much from failure as from success.

The Fairtrade Cooperative, on the other hand, offers a different opportunity for students to involve themselves in promoting the Fairtrade cause through the running of a Fairtrade tuck shop during break on Tuesday and Friday mornings as well as during Quaker week and Fairtrade fortnight. The tuck shop is very popular with students and not only enables the promotion of the cause, including presenting an assembly to the whole school, but also raises a small surplus for donation to charity. At the end of the year the students can decide to which charity they will donate the surplus, which over recent years has amounted to about £300 each year.

Philip Perkins

Alas, this tale of love and war is over – after a fantastically successful run last week, the scenery, props and costumes have been cleared away and the Meeting House looks itself once more.  In the words of Jude Owen, reporting in the Cheddar Valley News, ‘This was not only a musical masterpiece, but also a visual virtuoso.’  Many congratulations to all involved. 

Paul and Linda McCartney were extensively photographed during their Wings Tour in 1975 by photographer Homer Sykes, an old scholar of Sidcot School. Four of these images will be on display at the Sidcot Community Arts Centre in the Old Scholars Arts Exhibition. Other influential and talented old scholars displaying their work include film producer Tim Bevan (Working Title Films) who has produced films including “Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy”, “Hot Fuzz” and “Atonement”; Documentary film-maker Nick Broomfield whose many films include “Kurt and Courtney”, “Aileen: The Life and Death  of a Serial Killer” and “Sarah Palin: You Betcha!”. Other disciplines on display include furniture maker Garth Reynolds, textile designer Theo Sykes, sculptor/potter/painter Sophia Hughes, painter Katherine Bryan-Merrett and many more. Sidcot has a long reputation for helping students realise their artistic potential and this exhibition demonstrates the wealth of talent that has grown from here. The exhibition is open to the public from 10 April to 8 May on Tuesday and Thursday between 2pm – 6pm and on Saturday between 11am – 4pm; viewings at other times by appointment, tel: 01934 845228. We do hope that you will be able to join us in enjoying these extraordinary works.

homersykes.photoshelter.com

This week, Sidcot School took part in ‘National Waste Week’ in association with EDF.  Focusing on food waste, students and staff were encouraged during Monday’s assembly to be vigilant about the amount of food they threw away. At mealtimes students were asked to only put on their tray what they were confident they would eat, so as to reduce unnecessary leftovers.

 Year 8 students produced and displayed a board about waste week in the refectory. The housekeeping staff displayed the waste collected from the day before in transparent plastic bins to highlight just how much waste we produce.

 The results were immediate and positive with mealtime food waste decreasing significantly. We would like to thank Mr Bufton, SAGE (Sidcot Action for a Greener Environment) and everyone who has contributed to this project and hope that the Sidcot students and staff will continue their efforts moving forward.

This week sees the biggest production that Sidcot Music Department has ever attempted. Performances start at 7.00 pm in the Meeting House on Wednesday, 14 March and run through to Saturday, 17 March. We still have a few tickets available for each performance. Please phone or call into the Front Office if you would like tickets.

These photos are from Monday’s dress rehearsal