SENIOR SCHOOL Natural History Society

Ackworth school is rumoured to have if not the oldest, one of the oldest Natural History Societies in the country. Our archivist suggests a date in the 1860s. While rummaging through the Natural History cupboard I have managed to find a record book detailing species dating back to 1846. The Natural History Society was originally run as two separate societies: one for girls and another for boys. In 1937 the girls’ society voted to hold joint meetings with the boys’ society but retain their autonomy; today there is just one society and it is open to all and is referred to as the NHS.

One thing is certain, the experiences associated with this institution are often held very fondly in the memory of its members. The majority of information gleaned for this article is taken from records, kept by generations of NHS members, from minute books to bird books, trip reports to editions of Brock (the NHS magazine), with members keen to share their new-found knowledge and insights at the time, as well as reminiscences of members. One member remembers wandering through an empty school to the Natural History Room during the holidays to feed the terrapins and various fish only to discover that one of the piranhas had taken a bite out of its tank mate. Others recall waiting in the dark at the aptly named Brockadale to catch a glimpse of badgers with varying degrees of success.

Ackworth is ideally situated, surrounded by acres of land, providing rich habitats for those interested in the natural world to explore. Over the years there have been quite comprehensive studies of the local flora and fauna, all meticulously detailed by hand in various log books. Today kestrels nest and fledge in the grounds and badgers and otters make their home here. That said, the society has not been reluctant to travel further afield. In 1935 the girls, NHS visited Walker and Hall in Sheffield, learning about the process of electroplating and also made a visit to Howley brickworks. On other occasions lectures were given in house aided by the technology of the day (well not quite) – in the 1940s the Victorian epidiascope, which projected opaque objects onto the wall, a great aid to illustrate a talk, was frequently used. Even then technology, it seemed at times, did not always run smoothly.

The members have in many ways been quite intrepid. Numerous expeditions have been made, from relatively local trips to Norfolk to ring birds where members stayed in a windmill or camping in Kielder before it was flooded, to further afield. Islands seem to have been quite popular, be it heading up to Fair Isle in 1959 with “thick saturating fog and carnivorous midges”, “birdy bods” ringing birds and recording sighting while others attempted to compile a list of the island’s plants. Southward to Alderney where the weather held challenges although it also benefited from the opportunity to bathe in the sea on sunny hot days. One member was so captivated by their visit to the Scilly Isles that they have visited every year since.

From the outset, the society has had a very practical aspect whether scouring the local area measuring O2 levels in the Went, cataloguing plant and animal species, logging soil types, recording meteorological conditions or viewing constellation’s, running the pet club, or keeping various specimens of their own hasn’t always gone without a hitch. In 1967 it is reported that two Xenopus toads escaped the Natural History room and one was found alive two days later two floors down in the Andrews wing.

Over the years members of the society have gone on to have careers in the natural sciences. Theodore Payne, a member in the 1880s, set up the Theodore Payne foundation for wild flowers and native plants; a non-profit organisation to perpetuate California’s native flora and was instrumental in setting up 320 acres in Antelope Valley near Llano as a wildlife sanctuary in the 1960s. More recently N Robin Liley, who wrote reports for the NHS on “Plant and animal life of Ackworth House pond” and “Elementary experiments on genetics in fruit flies”, is a professor of zoology at the University of British Columbia carrying out extensive research in fish, and Martin Barker has travelled the world studying plant biology I am sure there are many more.

Things have not however always run smoothly. In the 1990s a special meeting was held where several members resigned due to “lack of interest in the programme” and this seems to have triggered a hiatus in activity. Thankfully later that year the society reconvened and some of the activities planned such as “taxidermy with a competitive aspect” must have reignited interest!

Today the society is still going, made up of a small but keen group. They no longer breed mice for sale as pets but instead monitor the local wildlife with trail cams, investigate residents of the school pond and care for a range of small creatures in the Natural History room, doing their bit for future generations by growing trees from acorns collected on site. Aquaria and vivaria line the benches housing axolotls and geckos, some hatched from eggs. The taxidermy, many prepared by previous members from years past looks on as they have for generations. Reassuringly, in a way we have come full circle – the society’s publication, Brock – November 1965 –details catching long-tailed field mice and reports that “the female has been putting weight on steadily for a fortnight and is suspected to be pregnant”, while today as I write this article the present members are releasing their own young harvest mice (a priority species under the post 2010 biodiversity framework) into the local environment, perhaps future generations will discover their decendents whilst exploring.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the many members of staff over the years who have shared their enthusiasm and expertise, gladly giving up their time to facilitate the running of this unique Ackworth society.

Joan McCulloch, Science Technician

Art

“Miss Rose invited a group of talented KS3 art students to be a part of creating a whole school display based on our Quaker Testimonies: Simplicity, Truth, Equality, Peace and Sustainability. We were tasked with creating a visual representation of each of the testimonies, in any materials we wanted to use. Jasmine and I chose to do Equality. When researching the theme for inspiration, we decided to focus on the topics of gender equality, equality between different races, as well as sexual orientation. Each response took quite a long time to complete, however it was an amazing opportunity and we are really glad to be a part of the work.” Persia

In addition to the wonderful art work students produced, we created additional displays based on our thoughts about Quakerism. As an inclusive all-through school, we felt it important to ask all of our school community, including Coram and our Autism Resource.

Inspired by the artist Gillian Wearing, who is predominantly known for her method of documenting aspects of everyday life through photography and video, we recreated a piece of her work entitled ‘Signs That Say What You Want Them To Say And Not Signs That Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say’, which were a series of photographic portraits. Wearing approached strangers in the street, and asked them to write what they were thinking about on a placard, before capturing the moment on camera. Wearing felt that through this exercise, people of different backgrounds, religions, ages and social statuses became unified through the art practice.

As a direct influence, we asked pupils to think about what Quakerism meant to them and to write this down, which we then photographed and displayed alongside the Quaker Testimonies.

Gillian Wearing CBE, RA (born 10 December 1963) is an English conceptual artist, one of the Young British Artists, and winner of the 1997 Turner Prize. In 2007 Wearing was elected as lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

A very big thank you to all of our school community who contributed to this amazing display!

Theatre trips

This year Ackworth School’s drama department has been lucky enough to travel across the country see some fabulous theatre such as:

Barnsley (Lamproom Theatre) – Legally Blonde

Bradford (Light Cinema) – Life of Pi

Leeds Grand – The Commitments, Les Miserables, South Pacific

Leeds Playhouse – Henry V, Nine Night

London (Woolwich) – The Burnt City

Manchester Edge Theatre – Learning To Fly

Manchester Palace Theatre – Lion King

Salford (Lowry) – The Island, Nature of Forgetting, Othello

Scissett (Scissett Middle School) – Mary Poppins Jr

Sheffield Lyceum – The Ocean At The End Of The Lane