The Muse, Issue 5, Spring 2013

the

SPRING ~ 2013 THE MUSE ISSUE 5

MUSE

A SHARED PURPOSE AND IDENTITY Moving ahead confidently and assuredly

Visits & Voyages This list is by no means

Visitors In

exhaustive, but offers a flavour of guests in and visits out during the Spring Term.

Ann Atkins, Shakespeare Day Workshop, Year 5 Burns Night, Celebration with Friends and Family of Bedford Girls’ School and Bedford School Damien Dibben, Children’s Author Dr Paddy Brock, Imperial College, Harpur Science Forum Dr Martin Griffiths, Mathematics Lecturer at Oxford University, Year 10 Jo and Steve Parish from ‘Past Alive’, Living Education in History, Year 9 John Harris, Professional Storyteller Julia Jarman Book Launch, ‘Make friends, Break friends’ Mr Hawkins, Religious Studies Talk, Year 12 Mr Creed, Talk on War in Bedford, Junior School Nadine Dorries, Local MP, Q&A with Sixth Form

Professor John Drew, Buckingham University, Development of the Novel Lecture Richard Denton, Bedfordshire Police Children and Young People Development Officer, Safer Internet Day Talk Richard Gill, Harpur Trust English Society Lecture Roman Re-enactor, Year 7 Roman Day ‘Scene Productions’ Theatre Company ‘Take Me Out’ Parody , Year 13 Evening with Bedford School World War II Tea Party, Grandparents and Neighbours from Rays Close, Year 5 Year 5 Community Dance Workshop with Harrold Priory Middle School Years 7 & 8 General Knowledge Quiz with Bedford Prep School

Voyages Out St Albans, Doctors’ Show, Year 11 St Paul’s Church, Religious Art Exhibition Apollo Theatre, London, Year 8 Theatre Trip, Wicked Bedford Academy, Bedford Climate Challenge, Year 8 Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama British Schools Museum, Hitchin, Junior School Bury Farm Equestrian Centre, Buckinghamshire, Equestrian Team Show jumping Competition Cambridge Ethics Conference, The Puzzle of Ethics, Year 12

Milton Keynes Theatre, Dance Trip, Sleeping Beauty Milton Keynes Theatre, Psychic Sally, Year 13 Psychology Trip Milton Keynes Theatre, Year 7 English Trip, Goodnight Mr Tom Milton Keynes, BASE Business and Accounting Competition Milton Keynes, Network Rail Headquarters, Go4SET Science, Engineering, Technology Project Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, Junior Music Trip

Cambridge Union, European Youth Parliament Trip

Open University, Milton Keynes, BASE Competition

Cambridge, Spelling Bee Regional Competition

Paris, Year 12 French Students

Chicksands, CCF Field Weekend

The City Temple, English Literature Conference, ‘Love through the ages’

Duxford Imperial War Museum, Year 5 Hampton Head, Hampton School Hazard Alley Trip, Year 6 Imperial College, London, National Schools Lacrosse Tournament

The Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Year 11 Theatre Trip, Romeo and Juliet, Vue Star City Cinema complex, Birmingham, A/AS Level Business/Economics Conference

London, Keynote History Conference, Year 10

West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village and Museum, Year 3

London, Schools’ Head of the River

Year 5 Cultural Trip, London

Bedford Girls’ School | www.bedfordgirlsschool.co.uk Bedford Girls’ School is part of The Harpur Trust. Company no. 3475202 / Charity no. 1066861

Editor’s Insight

T

he first day of every new term is

always special but the Summer

Term brings with it a particular

sense of excitement as the girls

begin to anticipate the next stage in their journey through the school. For many, the season brings the challenge and reward of revision and examinations while all are expectantly contemplating the added maturity and responsibility associated with moving up a school year. Returning to school enables everyone to share their hopes, aspirations and concerns both with their immediate peers and with older pupils whose own experience ideally qualifies them to listen and counsel in a constructive, supportive and pragmatic way.

We have also welcomed a wide variety of guests including authors, actors and historians, as well as hosting an important countywide library conference in our acclaimed Learning Resources Centre. These shared activities, and the collective and collaborative experiences we enjoy every day, enrich all of our lives and create an affinity that will last a lifetime.

This type of sharing and collaboration is central to the ethos of Bedford Girls’ School.

Though we are individuals, each with our own characters and opinions, we are closely tied by a collective sense of belonging, equipping us with the strength to overcome challenges and to move ahead confidently and assuredly.

It cements our unity and enables us to share not just our experiences but also our success and achievements and in coming together to support each other and to celebrate our collective talents and abilities we can achieve extraordinary things.

This is very much evidenced by the kinship we enjoy both with the Alumnae of Bedford High School for Girls and that of Dame Alice Harpur School. At the end of the Summer Term, when our current Year 13s leave us for the next stage of their academic career, they too will become part of our growing family of former pupils, a new generation of young women whose legacy of leadership and innovation will be enjoyed by the younger girls as they move through the school in their footsteps. In this issue of The Muse we are fortunate enough to be able to share the reflections and memories of some very important members of our Alumnae, each of whom has helped shape our school’s ethos and our vision for the future. For me, reading it underlined how each and every girl, past and present, leaves a vital stitch in the fabric of our school community as well as moving forward with their recollections of school imbedded in their hearts.

During the Spring Term alone, we have achieved astonishing results at the Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama, entertained with our production of the musical Hairspray and impressed on the sports field at county and national level.

I am delighted to begin the term in the knowledge that we have many more activities to enjoy together throughout the summer months and look forward to sharing them with parents and pupils past and present as the weeks unfold.

“ Coming together and celebrating the warmth and trust we enjoy is central to the ethos of

”

Bedford Girls’ School.

Jo MacKenzie Head

The Muse | 02

Inspired by

A Capital Adventure

I

starting to imagine how they might steer their academic and co-curricular pathways after they transfer to the Senior School at the end of Year 6.

School trips provide an excellent opportunity for girls to experience a genuine sense of independence in a safe and supportive environment, helping them develop positive responses to new situations and contributing significantly to their personal development.

As Marisa Mistry discovered during Year 5s Cultural Trip to London during the Spring Term, they are also invaluable in building selfconfidence, resilience and relationships with staff and fellow pupils.

“

n an increasingly risk adverse society,

one of the biggest challenges facing

parents is how best to equip their

daughters with the skills to overcome life’s challenges without compromising on the level of supervision they require to stay safe.

“This was my very first residential school trip and my first stay away from home so I was very excited. There was much teamwork and cooperation required, especially when sharing a room with other friends, and I feel proud of the independence and organisation we showed throughout the experience,” she said. “The first stop on the trip was the Sea Life Aquarium where we faced the challenge of the amazing shark walk! Crossing the glass path with sharks swarming underneath your feet was frightening and exciting all at the same time and I don’t think I would have dared to do it without my friends”.

Perhaps surprisingly for such a young group, the experience also helped the girls start placing their career aspirations in context, assisting them in

03 | The Muse

Katherine Hammond explains: “I have always dreamt of becoming an archeologist so my favourite part of the trip was the Natural History Museum. In the Discovery Room, everything including the bones, fossils, bugs and even a

“This was my very first

residential school trip and

my first stay away from home so I was very excited

”

Dorothy Chandler

tarantula was real. I had so many questions in my head I thought it was going to explode! We are learning about sound in Science and I was chosen to try and find an ear from a selection of three bones. The first one I chose had joints, so it wasn’t that, but then I noticed one was like a shell and picked that. It was a whale’s ear bone and I would never have got to touch it if we hadn’t been on the trip.

“Investigating the bones has inspired me even more and I might even want to be a palaeontologist,” she said. “I’m going to keep trying really hard with science so I can take my

ambitions even further and go to places like Africa and Mexico”.

Marisa, also a keen scientist, agrees, “The dedication, research, and knowledge demonstrated by the scientists were deeply inspiring. I hope that I find a profession one day that I will be so dedicated to. I can see these people love their occupation and I hope I am able to follow my dream of becoming a dentist.”

Everyone enjoyed the theatre visit to watch Matilda. While all were struck by Matilda’s determination to reach her goals, without compromising on her desire to have a positive impact upon others, the production held particular significance for budding actress, Eloise Toon.

“I know lots of girls want to be involved in show business but I am determined to make my dream a reality. Matilda is my favourite musical and I once looked up how to audition for a part but my mum said I wasn’t ready,” she explained.

“Having seen how much work the cast put into the two and a half hour performance, I now understand what she meant. If there’s one thing I came away with it’s that anything is possible if you set your mind to it and I’m more determined than ever to work really hard at my acting and singing at Bedford Girls’ School so, one day, a group of Year 5 girls can come and see me on the stage and be inspired to always try their best too!”

Christina Lugsden Head of Art

Welcome to the 60s When John Waters wrote the screenplay for his 1988 comedy Hairspray, he didn’t set out to make a film specifically about racism. He wanted to produce a memoir of his own childhood growing up in 1960’s Baltimore where, behind the bubblegum idyll of immaculately backcombed coiffures and white picket fences, something simply wasn’t right.

F

ifteen years later and the

tale of Tracy Tumblad and

friends’ battle to overcome

prejudice and fight racial segregation has become an internationally acclaimed musical - synonymous with the virtues of looking beyond the façade and challenging discrimination. It also offers a window on a period when literature, art, dance, and theatre experienced a fascinating period of growth and development helping to change the cultural fabric of British and American life.

When the Drama Department announced its intention to stage Hairspray in February 2013, the Art and Technology Faculty

spotted an excellent opportunity to work collaboratively to introduce the girls to an era of revolutionary thinking - where young people’s creativity helped the world shake off the shackles of 1950’s conservatism, sculpting a more progressive world where anything seemed possible.

Head of Art, Christina Lugsden explained: “At Bedford Girls’ School, all departments work closely together to ensure that girls get the most out of every learning experience. When Drama stages a production we always work with pupils to create the set and other pieces to be used in the performance. This helps everyone understand that theatre isn’t just about acting, singing and choreography - a successful production needs a myriad of people and skills.

“Being able to work on a production across subject departments also enables the girls to explore and develop their understanding of the context of the production through different perspectives and knowledge strands. When we sat down to discuss making pieces for Hairspray it soon became clear that we were ideally placed to do some really exciting work and decided that by making the 1960s our theme for our Art and Technology Faculty Day we could give the girls a true flavour of a decade where

artistic expression and innovation came to the fore.”

When the Year 8 pupils were first told about the day during a special assembly, one of the first things to spark their imaginations was the work they would be producing in Textiles. In response to demands from newly affluent 1960’s teenagers, designers began to make affordable garments with looser lines and shorter skirts for the first time. Influenced by the British and American pop music scene, they also began to experiment with bright colours and modern fabrics such as PVC, Perspex and even metal links.

During Faculty Day, girls working in Textiles were challenged to design and produce a number of large scale wall hangings inspired directly by the work of iconic 1960’s designer Mary Quant. In just one day, they had to research Quant’s work, examine materials and explore production techniques before creating a finished item to be used in the show. In the same way that Quant herself drew on multiple influences to develop new and unique pieces, the girls soon discovered that their increasing understanding of the spirit of the decade took their work in a new direction while still retaining an authentic sixties feel.

The Muse | 04

Welcome to the 60s Continued

“Like John Waters working on Hairspray, the girls set out to create something that was simply functional, beautiful and to their taste but, as they became increasingly aware of the significance of Quant’s designs, their work found a greater purpose. While Mary Quant set out originally just to make clothes she wanted to wear she ended up creating a whole new visual identity for young women who wanted an equal footing and voice in society. Her fashion and fabrics signified a new era of liberation for women and girls, one that is still evolving today.

Aware of this, the girls were determined to produce something bold, striking yet entirely feminine that spoke not just about the style of the sixties but also about the legacy of freedom the decade has left to them personally.”

In Food Technology pupils also explored the changing role of women as society moved out of the shadow of the Second World War into a brighter age of increased emancipation. Women became increasingly determined to work outside the home and cooking, cleaning and other domestic chores began to follow a model more akin to that of today’s multi-tasking female professionals than that of the traditional fifties housewife.The girls looked at timesaving culinary techniques, such as batch cooking, created popular 1960s’ dishes and discovered how the decade gave rise to the middle class dinner party where women found a forum to express opinions and engage in debate.

In Design Technology pupils began work on designing and building an upscale set of record decks to be used as a major piece of set within the show while those working in Art set about producing a 05 | The Muse

series of canvases to be displayed in the Drama Foyer. They began by researching American pop artists Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, Joe Tilson and Robert Rauschenberg, giving them a broad appreciation of differing styles and techniques from graphic art to painting.

From the outset, the girls demonstrated an appreciation of the work and could understand how it had directly paved the way for the art and media they enjoy and consume today. What many found particularly striking was how contemporary digital art often strives to emulate effects and styles used in the 1960s but is often not as striking or as vivid. They also developed an understanding of how the period made art accessible to an entirely new audience, gave rise to a new generation of artists and opened up hitherto bolted doors of opportunity for creative freedom and integrity.

This collaborative approach to working and developing knowledge not only provides pupils with a fresh and fun experience, but

also a sense of personal empowerment and growth in their skill base that remains in the spotlight long after the final curtain falls.

“Faculty Day is a unique and valuable experience for all the girls and it challenges everyone to think and create in a way they’re not used to,” says Christina Lugsden.

“As a faculty, we often have to embark on lengthy projects where work is completed on a rolling week-by-week basis. On Faculty Day, the girls have to see a whole piece of work through from start to finish in one go. They also need to work to a brief even where that takes them outside their comfort zone or they have to develop something that wouldn’t be their first choice. This really helps them to refine their skills, manage their time effectively and learn how to express themselves creatively within the parameters of a defined task. It’s also valuable experience of what it’s like to be a commercial artist undertaking commissions and delivering an end piece for a specified purpose”.

“ The girls also have to work together and come together at

the end of the day to share their work with the rest of the year.

They come away with the joy of understanding how working collaboratively can achieve outstanding results when everyone is working towards the same goal, which is - of course - one of the most important messages in Hairspray!

”

Gaynor Sayce Head of Food Technology

F O O D f or TH OUGHT For anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 80s, Home Economics lessons all too often meant little more than the indignity of transporting hastily-prepared approximations of wholesome family meals between school and home in flimsy carrier bags and mismatched Tupperware. On the bus or on foot, tell-tale smells and leakage, coupled with the hungry faces and derision of siblings, played a significant part in seducing a generation of embarrassed youth into an

M

unhealthy relationship with ready-meals, hefty restaurant bills and pre-packed sandwiches to go.

ore worryingly, Home

Economics - while teaching

valuable life skills - was

considered to be a ‘soft

subject’, a way of cheating girls out of academic pursuits and subtly steering them towards embracing a bygone idyll of feminine domesticity where ‘economics’ meant nothing more than living within the parameters of an allowance granted by a benevolent husband.

Behind the scenes, however, a new generation of liberal feminists were actively trying to influence the secondary school curriculum by moving cooking and food studies away from gender segregated learning. Some 30 years later and a new wave of thinking has swept away the clichéd phantom of ‘cooking for girls’ and Food Technology has become one of the most vocationally pertinent subjects on offer at Bedford Girls’ School. Here, Head of Food Technology, Gaynor Sayce, explains how the subject has evolved.

Many people still use the term ‘cookery’ when they describe Food Technology because of their own experiences at school. However this limits the subject to a practical learning activity and it is so much more. As well as cooking and nutrition, Food Technology at Bedford Girls’ School involves studying the science of food and examining contemporary trends and cultures. For example, the recent horsemeat scandal is an area the girls will be looking at

closely when they consider the supply chain.

They’ll also be thinking about ethical issues such as whether the provenance of food and the honesty of food producers and retailers is fundamentally more important to people than what we actually chose to consume under certain social and financial circumstances.

The subject also involves a high level of practical research and investigation, helping to develop skills which cross-transfer readily to other subject areas and encourage creative thinking. Girls need to apply their learning in a variety of contexts from social, economic and time management perspectives which really helps them evaluate challenges and to look for the solutions by thinking out of the box and under pressure.

Without always even being aware of it, the girls pick up skills in applied mathematics and in ICT. We have recently starting using iPads which has proved invaluable in accurately recording work where materials are perishable.

Girls use them for taking images and making videos of coursework which they can share for reviews and feedback. They are able to easily type notes in lessons and can readily access creative inspiration and information even during practicals.

The advantage that we have at Bedford Girls’ School is that girls work in a positive fun environment within relatively small groups and are encouraged to discuss and share their ideas. We are extremely well equipped and

have the benefit of supporting examination with the provision of ingredients allowing real creativity and innovation rather than being limited by concerns about the need to take something home. Furthermore, we are able to offer Food Technology experiences right throughout the Junior and Senior School, offering everyone the opportunity to build confidence and test out their enthusiasm for the subject long before they take their Year 9 options. We also offer a number of cocurricular activities, such as Bake Society and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme cooking courses, which opens up the subject to even more girls. We have an ethos whereby girls are encouraged to be experimental and creative rather than fearing failure and this pays dividends in confidence.

Far from being a ‘soft subject’, Food Technology can offer a passport into a career in one of the most lucrative industry sectors in the UK. From working in food production, or in sport, to designing packaging and marketing campaigns, it opens up a range of challenging and rewarding career paths as well as imparting a life-long understanding of the importance of nutrition.

I am confident that many of our girls have the capacity to contribute significantly to the food industry and also to make their voices heard in international forums about the wider issues surrounding food and food production in an increasingly globalised economy.

The Muse | 06

Sue Wray LRC Manager

From the Left Samantha Muzanenhamo 5CS I like the LRC because there are loads of fun competitions to do as well as lots of interesting books to read.

Ruby Armstrong 5CS The LRC has any book I want on any subject and it’s a good place to go and work quietly. It’s also really good fun because you can go in The Pit – as long as you haven’t got your shoes on! This term we also had a professional storyteller called John come to visit. He was amazing and really inspiring.

Milly David 5CS There are some really cool books in the LRC but there are lots of other brilliant things to do as well. Relaxing in The Pit with my friends is my absolute favourite thing and I really like other activities like colouring in.

Samantha, Ruby and Milly wear pyjamas to highlight the importance of bedtime stories

Cover Stories I “Perhaps there’s another,

much larger story behind

the printed one, a story that changes just as our own

world does. And the letters on the page tell us only as much as we’d see peering through a keyhole. Perhaps the story in the book is just the lid on a pan: It always stays the same, but underneath there’s a whole world that goes on developing and changing like our own world.”

Cornelia Funke, Inkheart

Cornelia Funke, Inkheart

07 | The Muse

t is 8.30am in the LRC at Bedford Girls’ School and, as Manager Sue

Wray puts the finishing touches to a new display of books for World

Book Day, a steady stream of girls begins to flow through the doors.

Some head for the quiet study area while others, looking for a specific text, make straight for the shelves. The majority, however, throng around the central desk chatting enthusiastically and waiting for their turn to call upon the expertise of Sue and her team.

The array of requests is staggering: A group of Year 9s want to borrow both a video and a stills camera for a project they’re completing in PE, another trio are desperately trying to find information on memory techniques for A Level Psychology research while one girl – a keen writer with a 500 page novel under her belt – wants to discuss the relative merits and pitfalls of self-publishing versus finding a reputable literary agent.

For every enquiry that’s dealt with, another girl joins the growing pool of pupils eagerly awaiting a listening ear and the right level of guidance to point them in the right direction without compromising their independent research skills. When the bell rings, the process is reversed. Lips fall silent and the frenetic cluster begins to dissipate, filtering out into the corridor in an orderly fashion as befits assembly time. At lunch time, the stream will become a deluge as girls arrive in greater numbers all clamouring for advice and assistance on an even broader range of topics or to attend one of the LRC’s many lunchtime clubs. A significant number will also drop in simply to soak up the atmosphere and warmth of one of Bedford Girls’ School’s best loved features.

Over in the Junior School the day starts equally frenetically with girls flitting in and out of the beautifully frescoed LRC to return books and to catch up with friends.

Here, reading is much more of a collaborative activity where girls swap reviews and spoilers as well as finding new material to share. In the Coach House, girls who want a quieter space to read can visit The Hay Loft, a small, light-filled ‘mini-library’ where relative calm creates a more serene and studious

atmosphere. Just as in the Senior School, the LRC plays host to a number of lunchtime clubs and activities as well as being open to classes throughout the day. Today, one group of girls is discussing a recent visit by children’s author Julia Jarman who chose the Junior School as the perfect location to launch her latest book. Clustered around one of the LRC’s round tables each of the five girls expresses an an interest in one day becoming a writer until one starts leafing through a book about digital photography.

The talk quickly turns to taking photos and recording videos on iPads before broadening out into a wider debate about whether eReaders are better than books.

Reflecting on the girls’ conversation, Sue Wray takes advantage of a momentary lull as the first lesson of the day begins to explain how the LRC has succeeded in embracing and promoting new technology while still inspiring a love of books.

a practical reality. Given the lightening advancement of new technology over the last decade alone, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the same people are now predicting that libraries and paper books will become entirely obsolete. In reality, away from such digital zealot notions, libraries will always exist and they will always have books.

They’ll also have eReaders, computers, display screens and other multimedia resources. At Bedford Girls’ School, we don’t see a conflict between print and digital.

Our LRC mantra is ‘the right information to the right people at the right time using the media of their choice’ and, instead, we see an opportunity to ensure they complement each other enriching the girls’ learning experiences and open up new opportunities to engage and interact with a global community of readers, writers and researchers.

“Libraries are magical places. They’re much more than information hubs stacked with dusty tomes. They have always been exciting, intriguing and sometimes controversial places with a rich and diverse history. However, it’s important not to get overly sentimental about them,” she says, straightening a rack of periodicals ranging in titles from Computer Science for Fun to the perennially popular Vogue.

“The girls have access to so much more information these days and to pretend that libraries are the only source of important knowledge is as short-sighted as it is erroneous. By providing girls access to new technology in the LRC, we’re providing an environment where they can discover and explore multiple resources, from books to films to websites, helping them gain a much broader understanding of what constitutes information and the nature of understanding it.”

“Thirty years ago, a small group of people had grave misgivings about the notion of even introducing computers to libraries and this was before even the internet became

During the summer holidays, the Senior School LRC is set for a makeover designed to make the area lighter, airier and more in keeping with the overall look and feel of

Bedford Girls’ School. The Compass Room is already used as an informal reception area during Open Mornings, school productions and special occasions. A more contemporary look within a space with a strong architectural heritage coupled with a forward-thinking sense of purpose will provide the perfect showcase for Bedford Girls’ School’s ethos, values and spirit. It also mirrors the LRC’s commitment to uniting old and new to create the very best of both worlds.

Lifting a terrifyingly old atlas down from a shelf of beautiful antiquarian books, Sue Wray observes: “Digital technology has opened up a whole new world to girls who love exploring information as part of a creative process. It doesn’t, however, serve as a substitute for physical items. Searching for a particular city on google maps is a great way to see its physical location and its proximity to other places but look for the same city in this atlas and a whole new level of understanding about the area’s social, economic and political history opens up before your eyes. Combining that knowledge will always give a more rounded, contextual view and it will always prove the most fascinating food for thought. Applying the same principles to the physical environment itself underlines further our commitment to both innovation and preservation.

“These are exciting times,” she adds before ushering a voluble group of girls away from the quiet study area and into their weekly reading club. “The future has arrived and it’s waiting to be discovered”.

From the Left Jess Logan 7EUP The LRC is the best place to read, write and study, whatever age or year. I also love the lunchtime clubs - they’re fun and informative at the same time.

Zahrah Mohabhat 7LFN I love to relax in the LRC and feel very enthusiastic and inspired doing my homework here with my friends. I enjoy finding different books to read and I can concentrate really well in the quiet area.

Anna Keyani 7CEW I like the LRC because it has a wide variety of different types of resources available. It also has great books which help to broaden my vocabulary and inform my work across the curriculum.

The Muse | 08

YOUR SCHOOL, MY SCHOOL, OUR SCHOOL

T

Do you remember your first day at school?

LC: I joined DAHS in Year 7, 2006, and BGS Sixth Form in 2011. When I came back after the summer holidays there had been quite a few changes from when I was last in the building, the most memorable being the reception desk which has clearly been taken straight from Star Trek.

hey say you never forget a good teacher and the same can

JD: My earliest memory of Dame Alice is

certainly be said about a good school. With not one but two

sitting just inside the entrance hall of the

good schools in its heritage, Bedford Girls’ School really is the ideal

came to look round. I must have been 5

environment to spend the best days of your life. The Muse caught up with Jo Dring, Chair of DAHSA, Dorothy Chandler, Chair of the Guild, and outgoing BGS Head Girl, Lucy Charatan, to share memories of their school days.

From the Left Jo Dring Chair of the DAHSA Lucy Charatan, Outgoing BGS Head Girl Dorothy Chandler, Chair of the Guild

Senior School with my parents when we years old. The corridor seemed to go on forever! It was daunting but exciting.

DC: I Joined the High School in 1951 aged 11. Coming from a small village school I was overawed, frightened and shy – that didn’t last! I vividly remember Ann Culpin and Jo Mager who were detailed to look after me.

June Clark, whom I had known from the age of 5 started on the same day. She had moved away when we were 7 but we kept in touch spasmodically. It was great to see her in the hall on that first day.

“

Bedford High taught

me to seek high things and not be intimidated by the world at large and also that one could achieve those high things by hard work and dedication.

Dorothy Chandler

09 | The Muse

”

What was your favourite subject and why?

DC: English and History. They gave me a life-long passion for reading and my pet hobby horse, correct grammar. I became a secretary and then a teacher. I now work with a youth group so I suppose all these have benefited from my love of the English language. I didn’t care much for Latin at school but I have found it very useful and fascinating in later life and I wish I’d studied harder!

LC: I really enjoy all three of my A level subjects Philosophy and Ethics, French and History. My favourite depends on what topic we are studying and whether it is Lesson 5 on a Friday or not. I am a big fan of the philosopher Michael Sandel, whose work overlaps with Law, which I’m hoping to study at university. I think he is a bit of a legend. I didn’t like French at first because I was a complete beginner in Year 7 and thought “Elle” was a person for a few weeks.

However, the more I’ve studied it the more I’ve grown to love it, and I’ve had some great holidays in France.

JD: Drama! I loved it and not because I love being centre of attention. I need to be relatively creative in my role and I think Drama really helps you channel imagination and creativity. I liked to think I hated history, but I didn’t. I think I had a love/ hate relationship with it. The sheer scale of the number of books we had to read for A-Level was daunting, but my teacher, Miss Saunders, was amazing and managed to keep me entertained throughout.

What was your favourite room or feature of the building?

JD: I think my favourite part changed with the year I was in. Each classroom or common room that became my year group’s base, was my favourite. It felt secure, homely and had a sense of belonging. My least favourite was the tunnel cloakrooms. They were so cold!

DC: Definitely the Hall. It was aweinspiring as an 11 year old and remained so throughout my school years and after LC: Over the last year the GLG office has become my second home. There is a 6 month post-it note conversation on one of the walls, a plant that has been watered

on tea and coffee for 12 months, and lots of Christmas decorations that we thought it would be too sad to take down! The glass window has caused many incidents when we’ve been dancing along to music, forgetting that the whole of the rest of the Common Room can see in.

same time as me, stayed in it throughout the rest of school, enjoying hockey tours all over the world such as South Africa. I was in the badminton team though. We enjoyed trips to places such as Harpenden.

LC: I’d learn German because I’m going to Berlin tomorrow and want to be able to order

If you could revisit one moment during your time at school, what would it be and why?

a drink, lemonade of course!

JD: There are so many, it’s difficult to say… and I know that sounds trite. From being awarded a Service to the School award, to representing our Young Enterprise company at the regional finals, through to badminton tournaments, drama performances, school trips….I have so many brilliant memories of my school, it really is impossible to pinpoint one moment.

What specific qualities and values did your

LC: There are so many funny occasions I’d love to relive, some which I would lose friends for if I mentioned here. One of the funny memories that I think the whole of Year 13 share is when one boy came on stage wearing a mankini at our Take Me Out charity event.

DC: Bedford High taught me to seek high

DC: I’d love to go back to the 70th birthday celebrations when the staff gave an entertainment with sketches and scenes of school life from the 1880s to the present.

Miss Spence, the gym mistress, hung upside-down from the balcony at one point!

Miss Harding took a ‘singing class’ with all the staff in school uniform. I can remember today the applause and roars of laughter from us girls. It’s too difficult to pick just one moment so I’d also revisit The Coronation visit to London. The whole school decamped in coaches to tour the decorations and then proceeded to different theatres thus introducing me to professional live theatre. It was very special.

great loyalty to school and staff. I suppose

If you could start school again, what would you do differently?

school instil in you and how have they influenced your life and view of the world?

LC: I think from being at an all girls’ school I’ve seen that women can be influential in all areas of life. I’ve also been encouraged to see that with some determination, there is every chance of achieving my ambitions.

things and not be intimidated by the world at large and also that one could achieve those high things by hard work and dedication.

The women who taught me – there were no men in those days - and members of The Guild who returned to the school inspired giving us self- worth was paramount in the ethos of the school. I’m now known as being a bit of a ‘bossy-boots’ and not afraid to speak my mind – but not arrogant I hope – and I do get things done. On a practical level, Miss Chalk and Miss Harvey, who taught English and Mathematics respectively, were inspiring women both of whom had time to listen as well as to teach as was my Headmistress, Gwendoline Watkins. Miss Ruby Prosser, from whom I learned office skills in Sixth Form really set me on my career path. I owe my organisational skills to Miss Prosser and BHS. JD: My Mum always says you can spot a Dame Alice girl by the way they hold themselves and conduct themselves. And

DC: I would definitely work harder! I like to think I’d also appreciate more the opportunities given to me whilst at school.

I think that’s absolutely true. Dame Alice

JD: Stay in the hockey team. When I moved from the Prep Department to the Main School I decided to leave the hockey team to ‘concentrate’ on my work. Annoyingly, everyone who was in hockey team at the

purpose in my life, underpinned by an ethos

taught me confidence, a belief in what I can and am capable of doing, a sense of of being a good citizen by helping others.

I am so proud to have gone to Dame Alice and am really pleased to still have a link with Bedford Girls’ School.

The Muse | 10

Sports Report

Edward Castro Swimming Coach & Pool Manager

Swimming In 2008, 19 year old Rebecca Adlington became the most successful Great British swimmer in 100 years, winning double gold at the Beijing Olympics. As well as skyrocketing her into the public consciousness, her prowess in the pool made her a role-model for a new generation of young female swimmers. Here, Swimming Coach and Pool Manager, Edward Castro explains how Bedford Girls’ School is building on Adlington’s legacy in

S

ensuring every BGS girl reaches and exceeds her potential in the pool.

wimming is about much more

than keeping safe in the water.

It is a lifelong passport to health,

fitness and wellbeing irrespective

times a week and we provide two lunchtime technical skills sessions so we can be fully accommodating of the girls’ academic commitments and other pursuits as well as supporting their interest in the sport. We currently have 150 pupils who regularly take part in co-curricular swimming and this number is growing. As a specialist swimming coach, it is my responsibility to make sure the girls can swim for safety, enjoyment and self-empowerment but also to spot and harness potential, delivering bespoke training to bring our elite swimmers through to the next level.

of an individual’s level of ability. At Bedford Girls’ School swimming lessons are timetabled for Years 3 to 8 and girls in Year 9 and above can take it as an option.

Having our own pool not only means we can maximise the amount of time dedicated to timetabled swimming lessons and to co-curricular sessions, but that everyone has access to swimming lessons all year round.

This enables the girls to spend more time training and learning to swim to the best of their ability. Small classes mean strokes can be broken down and built back up step by step to ensure a good understanding to the stroke technique.

Swimming in our all-girls’ environment can be great for confidence and self-esteem.

The absence of boys minimises worries about personal appearance and frees girls to concentrate on setting targets and on

“

We understand what

it requires to become a high

feeling proud when they reach them. Making

performing swimmer and can

a commitment to achieve a target in the

share first-hand experience

pool and taking small manageable steps to achieve it often helps girls improve their approach to time management and planning in all areas of their lives. For some it also provides a valuable break from the pressures of the classroom, offering time and space for reflection and an opportunity to mentally regroup while boosting endorphin levels.

Co-curricular swimming takes place after school between Monday and Thursday and two sessions are available to each year group.

There is a lot of flexibility so girls can attend on different days and there is even scope for them to come to all or several of the sessions.

Morning training is available three 11 | The Muse

of how to overcome challenges and prevail

”

I have been swimming competitively since I was 13 and am a GB bronze medallist. In 2006, I was selected to join the GB Open Water Development Squad and, more recently, I joined the British Swimming Intensive Training Centre in Bath. Zoe Gray, who teaches timetabled and co-curricular lessons, is an experienced swimming coach who has also enjoyed competing at a high level. Together we are adept at spotting potential and can bring the very best coaching, support and encouragement to our swimmers. We understand what it requires to become a high performing swimmer and can share first-hand experience of how to overcome challenges and prevail. Having competed at international level recently, we are right up to date with the latest swimming techniques and coaching innovations. For example, iPads are used in our lunchtime technique session for video analysis and feedback in a way that’s interactive and easy to follow. Over the next 12 months we are investigating the possibility of BGS becoming its own affiliated swimming club. This will be a very exciting and transformative phase for BGS swimmers, enabling our girls to rise through the ranks and perhaps in time will see us discover the next Rebecca Adlington!”

Helen Gould Director of Music

Note Perfect

T

wo terms into her role as Director of Music at Bedford Girls’ School and Helen Gould’s

feet have barely touched the ground. A whirlwind of concerts, rehearsals and events,

including the school’s most successful Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama,

have ensured that Helen’s induction has been exciting and hugely rewarding. As the girls left for the Easter break, we caught up with her to hear how music sharpens the girls’ creativity and plays a vital role in ensuring participation in the arts continues to grow and flourish.

What have been the highlights of your year so far?

Music lies at the heart of an annual programme of more than 60 events at Bedford Girls’ School so the girls are always rehearsing and honing their techniques in addition to regular music lessons and co-curricular clubs. The atmosphere in Trinity House is always vibrant and the girls apply themselves 100% to each and every performance. During the Spring Term alone, the girls have performed at our Spring Concert, participated in the St John’s Passion with Bedford School, played and sung at our Easter Service and taken part in an informal concert and harp soiree for parents. We also took part in the Bedfordshire Festival of Speech, Music and Drama where we were entered into 36 competitive categories and won 19, including the Hans Freyhan Salver for best pianist. In the remaining categories we achieved either second or third place and were highly commended in the noncompetitive Open Singing Duet Class.

These results were unprecedented and are testament to the incredible motivation of all the girls whether they are skilled instrumentalists or taking part for the sheer joy and excitement of performing to an audience.

Why is it important to study Music?

The Expressive Arts are a vital part of any child’s development, allowing creative impulses to have free reign but with structured and productive outcomes.

Appreciation of beauty in all its forms is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced, as with learning algebra. The ability to understand the aesthetic intentions of a composer, or an artist or architect, is one of the most rewarding that anyone can learn. Self-discipline, working with others, analytical skills and confidence in performing in front of people are just a few things on an endless list of skills and experience gained in Music that help the girls across all areas of the curriculum.

“

The Expressive Arts are

a vital part of any child’s development, allowing creative impulses to have free reign but with structured and productive outcomes

”

Is music open to everyone?

At Bedford Girls’ School, we are committed to ensuring that every girl benefits from timetabled lessons as well as the opportunity to be involved in co-curricular music. We encourage everyone to get involved and have such a wide variety of groups and clubs that there’s truly something for everyone.

Even Mozart had to start somewhere and I would encourage anyone who might be nervous about trying something new just to give it a go. You don’t need any previous experience or training and you don’t have to pass exams. Whether you want to take up the drums or the harp, sing in Glee Club or learn music production, we’ll help you along the way towards a really rewarding experience that’s also a lot of fun.

Do all years benefit from timetabled music lessons?

From Year 3 to Year 9, all the girls have regular music lessons as part of the curriculum. This is very different from many The Muse | 12

Note Perfect Continued

schools where music is only studied for part of the year under the umbrella of PSHE. After Year 9, those who take music at GCSE have 90 hours of study time per school year and those who pursue Music into the Sixth Form enjoy 126 hours of tuition and theory. Happily, we find that girls who aren’t taking music to examination level often remain actively involved in co-curricular music activities and still take part enthusiastically in concerts and performances. As well as GCSE and A level, we also offer singing lessons for every year group and enter girls for their ABRSM and Trinity Examinations. In March this year, we were delighted to achieve a 100% pass rate in the Trinity Examinations, all with Merit or Distinction which really is outstanding.

How do Music lessons differ for girls in the Junior School and Senior School?

In the Junior School the focus is on building strong foundations in understanding notation, pitch and composition skills, as well as working in groups and alone for performance tasks. There’s also a heavy accent on fun and confidence building.

From these foundations the girls move to the Senior School possessing the musical vocabulary to better express their creative ideas, becoming - if you will - the conductors of their own learning experience and active proponents in the creative world of music. In both the Junior and Senior Schools, we aim to cover all varieties and genres of music.

Listening to such a wide variety of pieces encourages open minds and courageous thinking as well as opening up new experiences for the girls to explore their own notions of musical taste.

13 | The Muse

How many co-curricular clubs do we offer at Bedford Girls’ School?

Music clubs run five days a week during term time and there is often more than one club on each day. It is a very busy programme but the girls really benefit from the regularity of lessons and learning as well as from working together collaboratively and achieving set targets as a group. Our team of full-time staff and visiting music teachers means we are able to offer expert tuition in 15 instruments (bassoon, cello, clarinet, drums, flute, guitar, harp, oboe, piano - jazz and classical, recorder, trombone, trumpet, viola and violin), plus in singing, so the girls really do benefit from experiences and opportunities that open up every aspect and type of music and really enrich their knowledge and appreciation of the subject.

What makes music lessons and participation special at Bedford Girls’ School?

By continuing to provide numerous opportunities for performance, emphasising the creative nature of the subject and also its importance in everyday life as well as the vital skills that can be learnt we can enrich the girls’ lives significantly and they respond brilliantly to it. Having Trinity House as a base for Music furnishes us with an ideal environment in which to promote the girls’ love of Music as well as providing ample space for rehearsal and composition work.

There is also a greater sense of safety in an all-girls setting and it helps build the girls self-confidence. The support offered by the rest of the class when it’s time for a student to perform is tangible, encouraging everyone to get involved and feel valued for their contribution. As teachers, we’re

supportive too and we are always here to listen. Learning an instrument or vocal technique is demanding and it would be remiss to pretend otherwise. We understand that girls want to explore new opportunities and develop a broad range of interests and we work with them to ensure they maintain a regular practice routine without compromising on their other academic or co-curricular commitments. ‘Little and often’ is what we aim for and girls are often surprised to learn that twenty minutes a night is enough to see results. What makes it so special to be Director of Music is that the girls are, without exception, fabulous!

What is your vision for the next 12 months?

I want to help every girl benefit from the cultural, social, emotional and psychological benefits it offers us all and to be creative and bold in pursuing her own tastes and interests. For example, if girls like Adele, I want them to feel empowered to try to find some music arranged for their instrument and to feel engaged in making something a little different work. We also want to open up even more opportunities for the girls to showcase their work and are currently discussing the possibilities for a choir tour next summer, as well as exciting new material for our existing groups such as building links with local charities and creating further performance opportunities in the community. Above all, I want the growth of pupils joining us to enjoy music to continue and for those who already play to remember that you’ll never meet an adult who expresses regret at ever learning an instrument but you’ll always hear from plenty who regret giving one up!

HARD TIMES FOR HISTORY GIRLS Between 1950 and 1990, hundreds of thousands of medieval remains were excavated from a remote valley on the Yorkshire Wolds. Surrounding a tiny rural church, the site is all that remains of Wharram Percy - a village abandoned after the Black Death in the 14th century.

A

nalysis of 120 female

the sexes and a very slow journey towards

enabled them to better develop empathy and

skeletons recovered from the

female emancipation began.

understanding.

site revealed unprecedented

evidence of the grinding

For Year 8, the transition between medieval

Reflecting on the experience, Year 8 pupil,

poverty and hardship endured by medieval women, particularly those who lived in isolated arable communities. Bone measurements from the Yorkshire dig showed that, alongside exacting domestic work, women were undertaking manual labour in the fields to the extent where it had begun to change their anatomy and physiology.

and 17th century Britain is a core part of the history curriculum and encouraging their understanding of why so little advancement occurred for women between the two is a key component of their study. However, in an age of rapid progress and relative gender egalitarianism, it can be hard for pupils to grasp fully how small shifts in thinking and behaviour can be so impactful not in the immediacy but over time. Without context,

Natasha Phillimore, said: “Women’s lives were hard, restricted and without comfort.

Everything they owned was handmade and the result of very hard work. Handling the artefacts and seeing the reality of all the work they had to do just to survive made me thankful for the freedoms we have today. I have gained a much better understanding of life in the 17th century and when Steve fired the Civil War gun outside I felt like I

Fast-forward 300 years to the advent of

what they have learnt about Medieval

the Age of Enlightenment and depressingly

History in Year 7 can seem far removed from

little had changed. In the 17th century, rural

their studies in Year 8 and it can be difficult

households were entirely self-sufficient

for them to build a timeline between the two.

with much of the gruelling work in and

To help the girls join up the two programmes

outside the home falling to women and

of study, the History Department brought

“What a dreadful choice to make – a short

girls. Just like the Wharram women 300

in historical re-enactment group Past

life on the battlefield, or as a woman in

years before, their lives were arduous and

Alive to dedicate a morning to bringing the

camp, or a poor, hard life at home. I see

their life expectancy low. Then, just prior

17th century alive from an entirely female

now why people were prepared to fight so

to the outbreak of the English Civil War in

perspective. Complete with food, clothing,

hard to make changes even if those changes

1642, something remarkable happened.

weapons and an exploration of sanitation

seem small looking back. It was very brave

After centuries of living under a strictly

methods, the session helped to enrich the

of people to take a stand and I am grateful to

patriarchal regime, radical Protestant sects

girls’ appreciation of the hardships faced

them for the role they played in creating the

began to declare an equality of sorts between

by their 17th century counterparts and

world I live in today”

was with the soldiers and women on the battlefields. It must have been a terrifying and noisy place with gun fire sounding all the time and smoke billowing all around.

The Muse | 14

Living Legend

Claire Hoar English Department

CAROL ANN DUFFY

By Claire Hoar

H

ighly acclaimed writer,

staunch feminist and much

loved by critics and

scholars alike, Carol Ann Duffy is one of the most prolific and significant women in contemporary British poetry.

Scottish born Duffy compiled her first collection of poetry by the age of sixteen and has been writing professionally ever since. She studied philosophy at Liverpool University before becoming writer-inresidence for London’s East End schools.

Here, she quickly became a strong female voice in what she describes as an ‘incredibly patronising’ male orientated genre. Her first collection of poems, 1985’s Standing Female Nude, won a Scottish Arts Council Award, and her second collection, 1987’s Selling Manhattan, won the Somerset Maugham Award.

Since then, Carol Ann Duffy has won several major poetry awards, including the Whitbread and Forward Poetry prizes. Duffy moved to Manchester in 1996 and began lecturing at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she later became Creative Director of the writing school. In 2002, she went on to add a CBE to her 1995 OBE, and, in 2005, won the TS Eliot prize for her collection of linked

love poems, Rapture. Duffy was awarded the highest possible accolade when, after four hundred years of male domination, she was elected as the first female poet laureate in 2009. Accepting the post, in true Duffy feminist style, she insisted that it was a prize for other women, saying, “I look on it as recognition of the great women poets we now have writing.”

With such an impressive history of achievements, it is hard not to find yourself in absolute awe of Carol Ann Duffy. I relish any opportunity to hear Duffy speak; her rich use of language, coupled with a strong feminist wit, is not only inspirational but also completely empowering. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to speak

“ I’m no playwright.

I did once write a play, but my heart was always elsewhere. I wanted to be a poet. ” Carol Ann Duffy

to her in person. Unfortunately, I stood mute like a star-struck teenager before finally managing a fairly incoherent utterance about my love for her work.

Carol Ann smiled patiently while I longed for the ground to open up beneath my trembling feet!

As one of the bestselling poets in the UK, Duffy has managed to combine critical acclaim with popularity: a rare accomplishment in the poetry world. My personal favourite is her 1999 collection The World’s Wife, where every poem is told in the voice of a wife of a great historical figure, from Mrs Aesop to

Queen Herod. Duffy is both serious and humorous, often writing in a mischievous, playful style. Although not overtly political, her poems address issues such as oppression, gender and violence, in an accessible language that has made them popular in schools and universities.

Never one to hide behind conventions, at times Duffy could be considered a controversial writer who is not afraid to confront opposition. When her poem Education for Leisure received three complaints about its violent content and was subsequently removed from the AQA anthology, Duffy took a more measured response and penned a poem in reply.

The verse, entitled Mrs Schofield’s GCSE, is dedicated to the external examiner, Pat Schofield, whose persistent insistence that Education for Leisure incited knife crime, resulted in replacing the poem with a blank page in the AQA anthology.

With tongue firmly in cheek, Duffy’s retort makes reference to acts of violence in Shakespeare’s plays: Othello killing Desdemona, Macbeth’s dagger delusions and Tybalt’s stabbing in Romeo and Juliet.

In contrast to Duffy’s statement, she has written a number of well-received plays and frequently collaborates with renowned directors, adapting traditional fairy stories for a modern audience. Fairy stories appear to be a constant presence in her life and are embedded in her writing for younger children as well as adults. She says that: “Both kinds of writing are like the sea, but writing for children is like splashing and stamping. Writing for adults is like swimming.” Long may Queen Duffy reign in all her literary guises; she really is a living legend. As for me, I will continue to hang on her every word; she epitomises everything that I celebrate in womanhood and who knows, one day I may actually be able to discuss this with her without turning to jelly!