A review of student life and activities at Sibford School 2019/2020
www.sibfordschool.co.uk
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uncertain times we find ourselves in. When I reflect back on ‘life before lockdown’ I recall the wonder that was the production of Les Misérables – a true tour de force from our creative community. I remember with fondness and some pride the opening day of the Rugby 7’s tournament, so long in the planning and with only one day of play which happened to be the girls who acquitted themselves so well against esteemed competition. I recounted how well the girls performed to the recent AGM of our Old Scholar’s and one wise soul reminded me that, ‘Sibford has always produced some formidable girls’.
On the last day of term, I asked my Year 7 historians how they felt the Autumn term had gone for them and the first answer was, ‘Quickly’. This raised a smile.
My final reflection of our pre-lockdown life is of the Meeting for Worship that was held in an impromptu manner with our Year 11 and Year 13 examination groups and many staff on the day before our Prime Minister asked us to stay at home for the first time. Pupils can often feel self-conscious, maybe even embarrassed when speaking in Meeting for Worship and yet the voices, tears, joy tinged with sadness, singing, stories and love for the Sibford community simply shone from that moment in time. It was, as it so often is, a privilege to be part of this very special community.
Time does pass by in an unusual way at Sibford. Ordinarily I put this down to the richness of the environment and the educational experience. Time flies by when you’re having fun and all that. However, I would not call the Autumn term 2020 ‘fun’. On the contrary, I would put it down as the toughest term I have ever lived through – both as a school boy or as an educator. At times it has felt like a grind as we have needed to draw upon every ounce of what Sibford does well to sustain us through the
And it is our Quaker heritage which has both sustained us at this time and indeed given us values set upon which we have leant heavily and upon which we will build for the future. Many parents made the decision to move their children to Sibford School at short notice over the summer term, this pushed our school roll over 450 for the first time in the history of the School. They came primarily as word of mouth had spread regarding our approach to education – with fabulous teachers and an education which places outstanding pastoral
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care at the heart of what we do. The values which have coursed through the veins of Sibford School community since 1842 such as respect, responsibility, resilience, equality, peace, stewardship and community are more relevant than ever as we find our way in these times of uncertainty. As I write these words, at the end of this challenging term, I reflect that we are all conscious that we are some distance from being ‘out of the woods’ – despite the flickers of light at the end of the tunnel. The obstacles ahead are myriad – economic uncertainty, a growing mental health crisis across the ages, an educational landscape which has shifted and blurred to the point where it is very hard to give pupils (let alone staff and parents) any of the certainty that is craved, political and geopolitical shifts which may well be far reaching, a growing clamor for action upon climate change and social inequality. It might be easy to despair at times. But here I fall back on the great privilege it is to be part of the Sibford community. There is nothing like looking into the eyes of a group of Sibford students, filled with imagination, creativity, energy and compassion that I am constantly reminded that we can have faith in humanity. Our approach to education will give us the framework to look ahead and give space to listen, support and nurture the voices that must be heard both today and tomorrow. It’s never all about exams at Sibford – it’s about values, it’s about people, it’s about the future.
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HEAD’S WELCOME KEEP UP TO DATE NEW STAFF JUNIOR OUTDOOR LEARNING IMPROVING OUR OUTDOOR AREA JS GARDENING JS STEM FORTNIGHT MENTAL HEALTH VLM SAILING TRIP JS SPORTS EQUESTRIAN SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS ENGINEERING FUN GOLDCREST SUCCESS MOCK ELECTION 2019 MODEL UNITED NATIONS GLOWING REVIEWS FOR LES MISÉRABLES JS GALLERY SIBFORD GALLERY RSC VISIT TEXTILES TRIP TO OXFORD NOTE FROM THE ARCHIVIST FROM THE ARCHIVES CHARITY UPDATE ACHIEVING ECO SCHOOL STATUS JS ECO COUNCIL SHOWCASING SIBFORD RESILIENCE CAROLINE MILLS REPORTS ON EDUCATION DURING LOCKDOWN VIRTUAL ANNUAL SPORTS AWARDS RESULTS 2020 RECENT LEAVERS’ DESTINATIONS BOARDING ROUNDUP
Toby Spence Head The Sibfordian 2020
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If you want to keep up to date with the daily goings on from inside the classroom, then make sure you are following some of the many Sibford School Twitter accounts. Each subject area and department has it’s own dedicated Twitter account to showcase the exciting lesson content taking place. Here is a directory of all our current twitter accounts: Key accounts
Year Groups
Main School – @SibfordOxon
Eary Years – @SibfordEYFS
Toby Spence – @SibfordHead
Junior School – @SibfordJunior
Boarding – @SibfordBoarding
Sixth Form – @SibfordSixth
Subjects Sports – @SibfordSport
DT – @SibfordDT
Geography – @SibfordGeography
Creative Arts – @SibfordCreative
Outdoors – @SibfordOutdoors
Maths – @SibfordMaths
History – @SibfordHistory
Modern Foreign Languages – @SibfordMFL
English – @SibfordEnglish
Religious Studies – @SibfordRS
Science – @SibfordScience
Food and Nutrition – @SibfordFood
Departments Grounds – @SibfordGrounds
Pastoral – @SibfordPastoral
Catering – @SibfordCatering
Library – @SibfordLibrary
Trips and Adventures – @SibfordTrips
Community and Leisure – @SibfordCommLeis
Support for Learning – @SibfordSfL
Gifted and Talented – @SibfordGifted
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Introducing the new faces who joined Sibford School in the last academic year.
Natalie Bianchi, Head of Support for Learning
Olivia Cawood, LAMDA and Drama Teacher
Paula Perry, HR Advisor
Miriam Bibb, School Nurse/ Health Advisor
Christopher Lee, Catering Manager
Eleanor Powley, Mathematics Teacher
Alex Caviezel-Cox, Teacher Training
Lynne McArdle, KS2 Teacher
Elisabeth Reeves, Librarian
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From Maasai mud huts to Fibonacci sequence spirals, the sky is the limit when it comes to outdoor learning at the Junior School. We are so fortunate to be situated in the wonderful Oxfordshire countryside, but also that our approach to learning encourages us to venture outside at any opportunity. Children at Sibford are adept and flexible to working in our school landscape come rain or shine; which often presents many spontaneous opportunities for learning, such as welly art! We are so lucky to link all areas of the curriculum to make those learning experiences relevant and purposeful. This is evident in our living willow WW2 Anderson Shelter with Year 6 History to Year 4 using the Junior School orchard to gain inspiration for Autumnal sense haikus, to Year 1 and 2 applying lots of cross curricular skills when making their bug hotel as part of their enchanted woodland topic. Vertical Learning Mornings are also a huge part of our outdoor curriculum and this was apparent for our work on Mental Health Week, but also linking to our Quaker principles. There are many skills or learning powers (known to our Junior School children) which are unmistakeably on display when the children work as part of a team across the age groups.
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At Sibford Junior School, we love to spend as much time outside as possible, using our fantastic grounds to explore the great outdoors. This is especially true in Early Years and Key Stage 1 where access to outdoor and open ended play is essential and built into the daily curriculum. In Early Years, children are given continuous access to the outdoors and spend much for their time building dens, making mud pies and digging. In order to further facilitate this we have been improving the outdoor area over the last year. With the children, we have created our very own wildlife area, complete with bug hotel, hedgehog house and bird feeders. It was officially opened by Toby Spence in October 2019. The sad loss of one of our beautiful trees in the storm became part of the mud kitchen update as a log table and chairs. We have also added a music and maths wall, a natural small world area and a woodwork bench. Linking to our whole school eco status, all of these were built using recycled materials such as palettes and old tyres. Following The Sibfordian 2020
on from this theme, Early Years have been repairing old bikes, fitting them with new tyres, handle bars and pedals and they now look as good as new! The chariot style bike has been a particularly big hit with the children. To help facilitate open ended play, we have also invested in ‘Imagineering blocks’,
lots more crates, planks, tyres, broom handles and some outdoor camouflage netting. This encourages children to be creative, take risks within a safe environment, work as a team, to ‘live adventurously’ and ultimately allows them to become masters of their own learning.
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In the Junior School we have loved getting our hands dirty and mucking in together over the last year! Just like when the school was founded, outdoor learning in the form of gardening is embedded firmly in our curriculum. Back in 1842 it would have been just the boys who were engaged in the preparation of the land, growing the crops, and harvesting them for year-round use in the kitchens. Farming as it was then, formed quite a large part of the pupils’ daily activities as there were 25 acres of land to cultivate.
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Today, using our raised beds, we endeavor to continue this tradition instilling into all of the children an understanding of the value of good food and where it comes from. Our outdoor learning gardening sessions have been lots of fun, the children have been involved in every step of the growing process from preparing the ground, to planting the seeds or bulbs, then setting aside time to weed and maintain
the crop throughout the year until we finally harvested the vegetables in our raised beds. We have also been making our own compost too, reserving the fruit skin waste from our break time snacks, we then spread this all over a bed as part of its preparation for planting. Oddly, carting barrow loads of the black stuff seemed to be one of the most popular jobs!
In January, the Junior School got to grips with all things technical as they carried out a STEM fortnight. During the two weeks, we had presentations from parents who work in science industries, exciting workshops creating fairgrounds, vehicles and looking at AI. There was even a talk from Charlotte, a Sixth Form student who successfully designed,
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created, programmed, and patented her own robots. In amongst all of this, EYFS got friendly with some dinosaurs using green screen technology, Year 5 designed and built cardboard chairs with no fastenings that could hold Toby Spence
and Year 6 created their own marvellous Rube Goldberg machines. We also had the opportunity to work in our Houses during a vertical learning morning. As if all this wasn’t enough, KS2 also took part in a competition to design an ecological school.
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Vertical Learning Mornings (VLMs) are always popular in the Junior School as they give the children an opportunity to mix with other year groups in their house groups. This is all the more exciting for those children who have older siblings within the school. Time and again, the older children demonstrate how caring and considerate they can be as they guide and assist the children from Early Years and Key Stage One. Our VLM in October 2019 fell in Mental Health
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Week, which was our theme for the morning. Everyone became engaged in a series of mindfulness activities, such as willow weaving of Quaker Qs, yoga, and arts and crafts.
The creations from the day adorned the school for many weeks afterwards; a colourful and creative reminder to all, children and staff alike, to always protect our mental health and take time from each day for ourselves.
The instructors at Farmoor Reservoir always tell us that they know we are coming because there is either no wind at all or it is far too blustery for us to sail safely; this year felt no different. However, as luck would have it, the strongest winds were on the first day when the children were learning to rig the boats, which meant the first activities were land based. After a few hours of learning, everyone in Year 6 was an expert at rigging and reefing, a particularly useful skill over the coming days. As usual, the children took to their boats and quickly learnt their port from starboard, but, many found that this was more difficult to remember when their boat was moving quickly through the water. The Sibfordian 2020
Fortunately, learning to right the boat after a capsize is part of the sailing course, and the children seemed happy to practise this skill multiple times. Everyone managed to push themselves further than they thought they could,
fears were overcome, and more reservoir water was drunk than was probably healthy. Sailing was a wonderful opportunity to work together and create the memories and stories that were treasured by the children throughout Year 6.
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Although the sporting year was significantly disrupted by Coronavirus, we did still manage to cram in all sorts of sports fixtures both home and away. Highlights were our U11 girls and boys coming second and third respectively in our own netball and football tournaments. Not to mention reaching the regional finals of the ESSA swimming as County Champions for both the medley and freestyle relays. Elsewhere we had U9 and U11 fixtures in football, hockey, rugby, netball and tag rugby – just a shame we didn’t manage to include rounders and cricket!
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Cross-country has taken off across the Junior School this year. All children have taken part in our Sports Partnership events with some progressing through to the next stages of the district competition. Special mention goes to Jago who finished 3rd in the district U11 competition and qualified for the county finals where he finished a very impressive 9th. All the more impressive when one considers he was racing against children a year older than him. Elsewhere teams have competed successfully in events like the Swanbourne Chase. On top of all of this, Junior School pupils in Years 1-6 took part in Marathon Kids throughout the year. The challenge is to run laps of the field at lunch time to try and complete the 42.2km needed for a full marathon within the year. While most other
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sports were negatively impacted upon by the lockdown, Sibford used it as an opportunity to get their trainers on! Lots of children managed to complete their marathons with many going on to finish further multiples. We finished with an average of 44.7km per runner meaning we finished 9th nationally. Well done to Caleb, Tobin, Oliver and Lotte, all of whom managed over 6 marathons. A special mention to Oliver who raised over £1385 for various charities in three running events – a four-stage Christmas marathon, a 2.6 challenge (6km in under 26 minutes) and a half-marathon.
The full reopening after lockdown of the Junior School on the 15th June meant that we were able to go ahead with our Junior School Sports Day. The pandemic led to us tweaking the normal structure of the day with wider lanes to allow social distancing and reimagined relay races. In the morning, Key Stage 2 moved around the field events, trying their hands at hurdles, triple jump, tennis ball throw and football dribble accumulating points for their Houses before the afternoon saw EYFS and Key Stage 1 join us for the track events. Although we couldn’t have spectators present (and, alas, no parents’ races!) the event ran smoothly,
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and everyone had a good time. It was great to be able to award special certificates for teamwork, determination, honesty, respect, passion, and self-belief throughout the day. Final congratulations though, go to Clark house who emerged victorious once all the totting up of points had been completed.
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In the autumn of 2019, the Sibford equestrian team was very busy gaining qualifications for championships and events that sadly never went ahead. Sibford qualified to run two teams in the 90 section at the Schools Equestrian Games ODE championships. In October 2019, Sibford came first in an eventer challenge and qualified for the national finals at Hickstead. More success came over the winter with another team 90 and a team 100 qualification for the same national finals. Team 90 also qualified to show jump
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and take part in the Gatcombe Festival of Eventing. There was so much to look forward to, but due to lockdown none of the championships or finals events were able to go ahead. However, our riders tried to make the most of missed competitions and life in lockdown.
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RUGBY CHAMPIONS Last year’s rugby season proved to be very successful. It culminated with both the Year 7 and Year 10 boys teams winning their respective finals. An outstanding performance and strong team defence helped both teams secure their victories!
DISTRICT HOCKEY SUCCESS The U12 hockey teams competed in the North Oxfordshire Sports Partnership Hockey Tournaments in November 2019. The team had a strong semi-final success and showed outstanding determination and focus in the final to take the lead and be crowned North Oxfordshire Hockey Champions 2019!
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CLIMBERS AIM FOR NEW HEIGHTS The Sibford climbing team took part in the MYCS bouldering competition and were by far, the biggest school team present!
KAYAKING In November 2019, Sixth Form students Michael and Harry competed in the National Schools Kayaking Championships. After a lot of training they came third in both their marathon and sprint events. An outstanding and well-deserved achievement. The Sibfordian 2020
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Sibford School were fortunate to host The Institute of Engineering and Technology for a fun afternoon of creative thinking. Two Sibford teams made up of Year 8 students took part, along with teams from Wykham Park and Shipston School. During the day, the students had a number of tasks to complete, including: • Designing and engineering a prototype to help Airbus transport and deliver aid to help people in times of need. • Complete a planning and events log to document how they designed and built their prototype.
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The final task was to present their ideas to the Airbus judge. Teamwork was a major focus for the day and whilst at times both teams had some trying moments in the end the Sibford spirit shone through and both teams performed fantastically.
In January 2019 a team of Sibford Sixth Form students began a project to build a fusor, nicknamed “Star in a Jar�, a device capable of creating and containing a plasma. The design, developed by the team, used electrostatic fields to contain a plasma in a vacuum. The aim of the project was to design, build and test the fusor in order to demonstrate nuclear fusion, a process that is currently being researched as a solution to the energy crisis. The fusor was designed with plans to be presented at the Cambridge Science Fair in March, but this was cancelled due to COVID-19. Although the event was cancelled the students continued the project and, after months of construction and research, the team submitted the project for a CREST
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Award and achieved the Gold Award in July. The team worked together on every element of the project from the design and research to construction. Even during lockdown, the team was able to work together to research the field copiously, from theoretical physics to the history of the device. The main theme considered was the climate crisis, and how nuclear fusion could be a solution to this by providing clean energy.
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Students participated in the mock election run by Frances King and the student debate and MUN leaders, Charlotte, Ethan and Seamus. This was a chance for students to exercise their democratic right and get used to the democratic process in the UK. As in previous years the parties were anonymised to make the students think about the policies of a party rather than voting based on the name or colour of a party. This allowed the students to think more deeply about how they would vote. This followed the question time debate which had been run the previous week. Frances King acted as the polling station manager for the day and worked with student debate and MUN leaders to allow all the students in the school an opportunity to vote. Ethan and Seamus took on the role of guiding younger students to where they could find the information about each party. Ethan also took on the role as chief counter at the end of the day. Charlotte adopted the role of
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returning officer delivering the results and reminding everyone that it is a privilege to exert their democratic rights. The votes once counted were incredibly close in comparison to previous years: • Party S (The Green Party) won overall with 36.3% • Party Y (Liberal Democrats) with 29.2% • Party B (Conservative) with 19.9% • Party F (Labour) with 12.3% . • In addition to this 2.3% of ballots cast were spoilt.
Sibford School hosted its very first interschool Model United Nations event in December 2019. Three schools attended as well as almost 30 Sibford students. The event allowed the students to debate global issues with a health theme culminating with a world epidemic crisis. The two debates looked at vaccinations and prescription drugs with both resolutions voted for by the delegates. Creative solutions to solve the global health problem included, the banning of rhino horn in drugs, compulsory vaccinations globally and education programmes aimed to increase vaccination rates.
Sibford also saw some delegation awards for students working in teams. China, represented by Annabelle, Coco and Ben won the highly commended delegation award for their magnificent teamwork. Iceland, represented by Tom, Oscar, and Maddie won the best delegation award for the crisis for some magnificent speeches and arguments.
Sibford School saw some outstanding performances which merited awards. Highly commended delegates went to Coco, Annabelle, Albie, Rafe and Harry. Catherine was awarded the best delegate award for her committee and Tom won the overall best delegate for the highest score.
All Sibford students did a brilliant job representing their country’s policies and all gained valuable public speaking skills. Charlotte, Ethan and Emily did an incredible job leading the debates and allowing each student time to practice their debating skills. Seamus, Emily and Jamie did an excellent job scoring the debates.
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The Sibford School production of Les MisĂŠrables School Edition opened to audiences in March 2020. The show was enjoyed by over 1,000 people and received standing ovations from its sold out audiences. Directed by Head of Drama, Neil Madden, the show was a real collaboration between staff and pupils with many getting involved with costume design,
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lighting, props and the orchestra. The show got glowing reviews from all those that saw the performance:
“There was clearly so much work involved to produce such a complex show. Our Year 5 classes were amazed at how many students were involved and how mature
their performances were.” Head of Drama, The Croft School “Wow what a performance! A huge well done to all who have clearly been working incredibly hard. The acting and performing were brilliant and the musicians were incredible - all against a wonderful backdrop of a clever set and costumes.” Year 5 teacher The Sibfordian 2020
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ART Year 7 created colourful polyprints inspired by the work of Andy Warhol. Year 8 created wire 3D bottles and collagraphs inspired by landscapes. Year 9 created lino cuts of animals.
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TEXTILES Year 7 used zentangle patterns to create batik pieces inspired by the artist Dean Russo. Year 8 used heat transfer painting and hand embroidery to produce pieces inspired by the artist Yoni Alter. Year 9 used wet and needle felting techniques to produce pieces inspired by the artist Gustav Klimt.
POTTERY Year 8 created geometric inspired tea pots using slab building techniques.
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Year 9 used press moulding and sculpting techniques to create their animal inspired pots.
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To help inspire their designs for costumes for the school production of Les Misérables School Edition, KS5 students visited the costume department at the Royal Shakespeare Company in StratfordUpon-Avon. Here they were able to look at a range of costumes from different productions and see how they showed the use of different techniques to make
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them look distressed. “The amazing experience of going to the RSC costume department gave me the valuable insight into the intricate techniques needed to make a dramatic dishevelled costume for the stage. This trip helped me develop my Les Misérables costume to a professional level”. Freya, Year 13.
As part of their GCSE coursework on the theme of Architecture, Year 10 Textiles students visited the Natural History Museum in Oxford. Whilst there, they drew elements of the architectural features inside the building and took images of interesting buildings around Oxford to help inspire their design ideas. They have since developed their research into a range of practical pieces using different techniques including batik and felt making for their GCSE coursework.
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In 2013, I retired from full-time teaching, having spent the previous 32 years on the staff at Sibford School. In Summer 2019, I was appointed by Toby Spence to take on the role of official School Archivist. Since that time, I have been busy continuing the work which Wendy Finch and Di Howes had started creating a comprehensive computerised catalogue of the school archive, building on the extraordinary amount of work put in by Mike Finch over many years.
Please let me know if there is anything you would like to know, or if you would like to donate something to the archive. I can be contacted on archivist@sibfordschool.co.uk.
My task is to gather contemporary items which will extend the archive into the 2020s, saving and recording anything which might be of value or interest to future generations of Sibfordians. At the same time, I intend to make the archive more accessible to staff, students, old scholars or anyone who has an interest in the history of the school. Whilst I am making this the principal thrust of my work, a member of the Sibford Old Scholars Association will be responsible for gathering material from the annual SOSA gatherings, including the reunion and the committee meetings. This will continue to form an important resource which will be stored in the SOSA section of the archive. My long-term plan is to make the archive a digital collection, but in the meantime, I am creating hard copies of any photograph or document as they are requested, in order to make items available without risking damage to, or loss of, valuable and irreplaceable items.
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Mike Spring Sibford School Archivist
In a year punctuated with so much uncertainty, I thought it would be interesting to look back at some of those early events which launched us, as a school and a community, on the journey to today. In 1839, a need was identified, by Quaker industrialist John Pease, to support the education of children who were connected with, but not necessarily members of, the Society of Friends. Some children had been disowned because a parent had married outside the Society. By December of that year, a group of Friends had been set up, and the search began to find a site for an ‘agricultural school’. By 1841, an appeal to members of the Society raised £1650 to purchase a suitable property and to establish a school. The Manor in Sibford Ferris, together with 25 acres, was bought from local Quaker Joseph Harris for £1200. It was to accommodate 50 children and to “lessen the costs of maintenance” they should “undertake household work and outdoor employment combined with a religious moral and useful education in accordance with the Christian Doctrines and Testimonies of Friends.” The fees ranged from £6 to £16 per year, depending on the means of the parents. A Headmaster, Richard Routh and a Governess, The Sibfordian 2020
Rebecca Thompson, were appointed, and the school officially opened on 1st January 1842. On 16th the first pupil was registered – Lucy Endall, aged 9 years. By the end of the year there were 26 boys and 22 girls. Richard and Rebecca would later marry. In the early years, the children would be regularly taken to swim in the mill pond at Temple Mill. In 1853, Sibford pupils helped to dig the footings for a swimming pool beside the Manor and in 1862 it was roofed over. It has been suggested that it was one of the first covered pools in the country. Holidays at home only occurred once every year, and occasionally only every two years! So much has changed in the intervening years. The school has lived through two world wars as well as two global epidemics, but the values of its founding fathers have remained central to its ethos that the school should help to develop children’s individual talents for the service of God and their fellow human beings. Mike Spring Sibford School Archivist
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MOVEMBER BAKE SALE RAISED MONEY FOR MENS HEALTH In November 2019, Alex Caviezel Cox, trainee teacher, organised a break time bake sale in aid of Movember and it was a huge hit with our students, raising a total of £157.87 in just 20 minutes. The deal of ‘buy a cake, get a free moustache’ was extremely popular with students!
REVERSE ADVENT CALENDAR FOR FOOD BANK After a seasonal appeal for the ‘reverse advent calendar’ the Sibford community came together to provide all sorts of non-perishable food for the Banbury Food Bank. The box was packed full and Sally Ward delivered the food straight to the warehouse in Banbury alongside Sixth Form helpers.
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FSCI CHRISTMAS BOX APPEAL Staff and students from across Sibford School filled and wrapped boxes with an assortment of gifts for those less fortunate as part of the FSCI (Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion) Christmas box appeal. The 42 wrapped boxes donated by the Sibford community were sent and distributed to South Europe to children in need.
SUPPORT FOR HELEN AND DOUGLAS HOUSE Zoë Simms’s tutor group have been busy raising money in support of Helen and Douglas House across the last year. Throughout lockdown, the entire tutor group took part in the 2.6 challenge, pledging to take part in various activities related to 2.6 or 26 to fundraise for their chosen charity. These included growing 26 sunflowers, making a 26 ingredient pizza and riding a horse for 2.6 kilometres for each day of the challenge! In total, the tutor group have raised an impressive £800 from their various fundraising activities! Alison Hooker from Helen and Douglas House said “The support we provided to families with terminally ill children during lockdown was a lifeline for some, and without wonderful supporters like Sibford School this would not be possible so a massive thank you to Zoë and her tutor group for raising money for our charity.” Zoë herself has even signed up to do a parachute jump that is due to take place in March 2021.
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Eco-Schools awarded Sibford School their green flag status in June 2020, after working on a number of initiatives. The Eco-Schools programme encourages schools to embark on a meaningful path towards improving the environment in both the school and the local community while at the same time having a life-long positive impact on the lives of young people and their families. To achieve the green award from Eco-Schools, Sibford School had to focus on five areas in depth and continue to monitor them over time. This saw the school reporting on their activities, both evaluating what had been done and creating an action plan for the future.
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Rachel Bee, Eco Group Coordinator explained “The Eco group has been meeting half termly for the last couple of years to try to make our school as environmentally friendly and aware as we can. We have created our ornithology group, further developed our food waste and composting. We have designed and sold reusable water bottles making a huge cost saving to both the monetary and physical cost of using plastic water bottles in school. “ Our Junior school have continued to develop the pond and forest school
area as well as building a bug hotel of Hilton-esque proportions! Other initiatives at Sibford include collecting ink cartridges, batteries and crisp packets to be recycled.” Toby Spence added ‘I’m delighted that after a lot of hard work, we have been awarded our ‘green flag’. This has very much been a whole school project and I would like to pass on a huge ‘Well done’ to all involved. Maintaining sustainability and climate change awareness and action is at the heart of the Sibford community.”
David Attenborough has made us ever more aware of the need to protect our environment and in the Junior School we are trying our best to do just that, but also embody our Quaker values along the way too. A major global issue is that of the need to reduce plastic, so the Junior School made ‘Eco Bricks’ their mission to help support this over the course of the year. With the help of all the children, work started on making Eco Brick walls to insulate our raised bed area. However, Covid-19 has temporarily stopped us in our tracks but be sure that this is a project which will be completed! The Junior School councillors have taken their role very seriously this year, being keen to present the views of all pupils to improve their
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school. Through talking to their classmates and the use of suggestion boxes, they have arranged: the purchase of a new friendship bench, a football pitch to be marked out on the playing field and a meeting with the catering manager to discuss food choices in school. As well as this they have helped plan and promote several events and decided on charities to support. Over the year we donated money raised to several worthy causes, including: Age UK, Make a Wish, RSPCA and Young Dementia UK.
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Back in March 2020 when we had to close our school buildings, the Sibford resilience that we so often talk about shone through like never before. Here is a selection of just some of the photos we were sent of our pupils and staff embracing virtual learning at home!
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Greg, our Head of DT was busy during lockdown, using the schools 3D printer to make protective face shields to send to 3dcrowduk, ready for distribution around the UK to NHS Trusts. It was an excellent team effort, with his children getting involved by helping to use the printer, packing up the completed shields and even adding thank you notes for those who coordinated their distribution.
HELPING KATHARINE HOUSE HOSPICE During lockdown, one of our international boarders, Yve kindly sent 1,000 masks all the way from China for use at Katharine House Hospice. Katharine was a former Sibford student and we proudly continue to support this charity as a school. Maggie, our former Head of Boarding dropped the PPE off along with this note. We were exceptionally proud to see the Sibford spirit live on, and even when apart, the Sibford community continued to support others!
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THOMAS FRANKS FEEDING COMMUNITIES During lockdown, Thomas Franks who supply the fantastic catering here at Sibford, started the Feeding Communities initiative to deliver food to NHS and front line staff, and those in need. Christopher Lee, Catering Manager and his team at Sibford were on hand to help and using the Sibford kitchens created over 4000 meals and desserts.
POSTIVE FEEDBACK Our supportive parents and guardians continued to send their kind words of gratitude and thanks throughout lockdown, praising our teachers amazing efforts with virtual learning. “I have consistently felt that the school has gone above and beyond expectations in terms of work provision, feedback and support for the children. We feel so
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happy that our children have been so well looked after and I as the parent providing the support at home ALSO feel like you’ve got my back too. Testament to this is two children who are enjoying their home learning and feeling safe and are mentally healthy too.” “Everyone at Sibford is doing an amazing job. It can’t be easy trying to look after your own families whilst looking after our
child’s educational needs, and more. I feel my child is getting the best continued education and pastoral care possible during these trying times. The amount of work is spot on and the human interaction my child is experiencing being able to speak to classmates and teachers with daily video calls for all lessons is perfect. Well done everyone at Sibford! Outstanding!”
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Sibford, the small, rural school bucked the national trend to record its highest ever pupil roll as it continued education and pastoral care during lockdown. Back in June, parent and freelance writer Caroline Mills, visited Sibford to learn more about how we navigated virtual learning during lockdown, and reopened the school safely and successfully. Her full article follows. The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact upon the independent education sector with a number of highprofile closures including the prime minister’s former prep school, Ashdown House. However, a number of schools have gone from strength to strength with high numbers of admissions enquiries and indeed growth in numbers at this time. One rural school in north Oxfordshire has bucked the national trend and has grown to it’s highest pupil roll on record during this time of lockdown. Caroline Mills visited the school to find out more.
meeting at Sibford School, a co-educational independent school in north Oxfordshire. I am watching via YouTube, and Finlay, who in early March was singing in the ambitious school production of Les Misérables, is taking part in the meeting somewhere, but not on school premises. For it is lockdown and the school buildings are closed to all pupils with the exception of a handful of children from key worker families. There are, indeed, empty chairs at empty tables. But a sense of normality, in whatever format, is of great significance to the school and the music meeting is one of those shows that must go on.
Finlay’s voice rises to a crescendo, assured, forceful in an instant before softening to a delicately wistful pause. His words, ‘empty chairs at empty tables’ resonate deeply, ‘where my friends will meet no more’.
Sibford School, which educates children from Nursery through to Sixth Form over a 50-acre rural campus on the edge of the Cotswolds, was founded by the Society of Friends in 1842. The Quaker ethos of respecting, nurturing and valuing the individual remains fundamental and underpins what is regarded as a Sibford
The Year 11 pupil is performing in a music
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Education today. Toby Spence, Head says, “The school’s rural location (just over an hour from central London), co-educational approach and strong focus upon pastoral care and values are at the heart of why parents are looking closely at a Sibford education at this time. Although we are primarily a day school, our full, weekly and occasional boarding gives further flexibility to many.” Since its inception in 1842, the school has never closed, including during the First and Second World Wars when it remained open to pupils and evacuees eager for a safe and secure education in the countryside. The school was determined not to allow the current COVID-19 pandemic to shut it down, either. On the contrary, perhaps remarkably, the school has simply thrived. In March, prior to any formal government announcement of school closures the school was in preparations to remain open and functioning via online platforms should such measures be necessary. By mid-March, parents and pupils at the school were already receiving notifications of how the school would function in the event of the lockdown that inevitably came. Says Anna Jo Mathers, Assistant Head Learning and Teaching, “We were incredibly fortunate to have a parent that works for Microsoft. The sharing platform Microsoft Teams, which had initially been designed for business use, was suddenly thrust into our world of learning as a useful tool upon which we could continue daily school life.” The use of Teams, together with the school’s existing daily management program, Firefly, has meant that, while the school premises have been shut, the Sibford Education has continued, including the pastoral care for which the school excels. Since lockdown, pupils have been expected to attend registration online within their tutor groups at 8.40, just as they would were they in the school building. Each pupil continues to
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follow their school timetable and routine, with live lessons via Teams. That has included mock examinations for Year 10, internal end-of-year assessments for all lower year groups, and Year 11 GCSE and Year 13 A level pupils who, once the end of formal teaching was complete to submit centreassessed grades and rankings, have been in transition periods to prepare for future academic and life-skills activities. Says Anna Jo Mathers, “Many lessons have been live and every pupil is expected to log on, with cameras and microphones on when necessary. It’s important that teachers can see and hear the pupils, to see their body language and reactions just as we would in a classroom situation. Pupils also value seeing the staff and hearing their voices. “Lessons are recorded for staff and pupil safeguarding. However, recording has proved invaluable for those children that have missed a lesson; they can refer back, to catch-up. “Class work, assignments and homework
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have been set online. Teachers can see who has opened documents, who has handed in work on deadline, who has needed extra time and, if a pupil hasn’t logged in, we can make contact to check they’re ok. It’s an important element of our pastoral care.” It is this pastoral care and the attention to detail to ensure that the school’s deeprooted sense of relationship and community are retained that has been most noticeable throughout the period of lockdown and now, as the school buildings begin to re-open to certain year groups. The whole of the Junior School building, from Early Years to Year Six has now reopened for the remainder of the summer term and, in the Senior School, Years 10 and 12 are in attendance, in tutor-group bubbles, on set days. I visited the school on Year 10’s first day back on site this week, after the school’s dedicated weekly deep-clean day. The individual yeargroup reintroduction in the Senior School is, perhaps, a helpful soft-relaunch to allow the school to see how it will function with all pupils back on site latterly. It was a joy to see these bright and bubbly teenagers have some socially-distanced interaction with one another over break-time (each pupil has their own chair in the main school hall to avoid cross-contamination) having gone through academic assessments, reports and target setting with their tutors. Equally elated to see his pupils back was the Head, Toby Spence. Said Toby, “At the heart of Sibford School is relationships and community. The importance of receiving these year groups back in school now is not to extend the academic work already set online as we move towards the end of term but to have that social interaction and share the moments of community again, for staff to be able to assess the mental wellbeing of our pupils and show face-to-face concern for every pupil.” That, says Anna Jo Mathers, has been one of
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the biggest challenges during the physical closure of the school. “Sibford has the attitude where we feel wholly responsible for the children and their wellbeing; we need each other. However, Head of Pastoral Care, Tracy Knowles, has maintained online ‘drop-in’ sessions for pupils that want to ask questions or simply feel the need to chat. “We’ve had many conversations with pupils about how they are coping with lockdown, particularly during Mental Health Awareness Week at the end of May. The pastoral team has also undertaken the mammoth task of individually telephoning the parents of all 450 pupils on roll for a brief chat to check that families are safe and well. Meanwhile, Ed Rossiter, Head of the Junior School, ensured that all Year 6 parent meetings were carried out, using Microsoft Teams. What manifests itself clearly is the determination by all staff that every aspect of school life will continue regardless of the challenges of physical detachment. Pupils come together online for weekly House Meetings and inter-house competitions. Ed Rossiter delivers his weekly Junior School Celebration Meetings to announce Reader and Learner of the Week; the small boarding community come together weekly, too, and Head Toby Spence addresses the whole school just as he would during Meeting for Worship were all pupils on the premises, only by video link with the gratifyingly scenic views of the Cotswolds in the background. The annual sports awards evening, rather than being cancelled, was conducted via Instagram, with members of the PE staff dressed in tuxedo and bow-tie presenting awards from the school playing field; peripatetic music lessons and LAMDA lessons continue to be delivered via Teams; #FridayFitness strength-and-conditioning sessions are delivered online in addition to timetabled PE lessons, and, for friends to
keep in touch, Year 13 pupils sets the school community a Task Master Challenge every Saturday evening. Curriculum Enrichment Week, which usually involves pupils heading off-campus for exciting, informal learning in the final week of term, will, this year, become Project Week. Pupils will be able to compete for their house team during a virtual sports day, with a set of challenges to be performed at home. The textiles department will use the week as the culmination of a term-long upcycling project that will incorporate a virtual fashion show, while the English and drama departments are combining to put on performances of Shakespeare. The spiritual side of Sibford is hard to pin down in words, even for a writer or journalist. It’s an emotion that somehow seeps through the psyche and has perhaps been summed up best during lockdown by a little presentation to commemorate VE Day on 8th May. Released on YouTube to the soothing tones of dear Dame Vera Lynn, we see staff members of the Sibford community introduced in their home environments, among them the Head
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of Food Preparation and Nutrition cooks in her kitchen, the Head of Horticulture (yes, horticulture – Key Stage 4 children can study a City & Guilds in Horticulture in place of a GCSE while the school is one of a handful in the UK to offer the BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Countryside Management, equivalent to an A level) introduces his new baby daughter and Michelle, in the school’s reception, dances the Charleston. Anna Jo Mathers states, “This little school on the hill that everyone loves so much is doing the most phenomenal things.” It is only a matter of time before Finlay’s friends will be able to meet again at the no longer empty chairs and tables. It was such a pleasure to visit the school which strikes me as a beacon of light at this time of so much darkness. The deeply held values, adaptability and resilience of the school community goes some way to explain that it is not all doom and gloom for high quality education in the independent sector.
By Caroline Mills
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The annual Sports Awards that was due to take place at Walton Hall Hotel last April, was unable to go ahead due to lockdown. However, this did not stop the PE department from celebrating and recognising the sporting efforts and achievements of our pupils. Recipients of each award were awarded virtually for Junior, Intermediate and Senior age groups, with also the exciting new players’ player award being awarded virtually by the wonderful Sports Captains Phoebe, Amy and Eloise. The PE department congratulate the success of all the award winners, but also wish to thank all pupils for their hard work, dedication and achievements in school sport.
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AWARDS
Junior Rugby Junior Girls Rugby Intermediate Rugby Intermediate Girls Rugby Senior Rugby Senior Girls Rugby Junior Hockey Intermediate Hockey Senior Hockey Junior Football Intermediate Football Senior Football Junior Netball Intermediate Netball Senior Netball Junior Swimmer Intermediate Swimmer Senior Swimmer Intermediate Cricketer Junior Equestrian Intermediate Equestrian Senior Equestrian Junior X Country Intermediate X Country Senior X Country Junior Climber Intermediate Climber Junior Most Improved Intermediate Most Improved Senior Most Improved Coaching Award Exceptional Performance Year 7 Players’ Player Year 8 Players’ Player Year 9 Players’ Player Year 10 Players’ Player Seniors Players’ Player Junior Team of the Year Intermediate Team of the Year Senior Team of the Year Overall Team of the Year Junior Sportsman Junior Sportswoman Intermediate Sportsman Intermediate Sportswoman Senior Sportsman Senior Sportswoman Sports Person of the Year
RECIPIENT
Nicholas Lily Serge Georgie Tane Phoebe Tabitha Evie Esther Noah Mila Oliver Ella Rosie Freya Orla & Leo Emma Joe & Rita William Maizey Hannah Anouska Tom & Isla Tilly & Louis Katie Isobel Felix Maizey, Isabella & Molly Jack, Bea S & Bea M Will, Toby & George Eloise Lara Mills Isla & Mac Tabitha & Samba Maxwell & Georgie Rafe & Polly Billy & Rosie Year 7 Netball Year 10 Girls Rugby 1st X1 Hockey Year 10 Boys Rugby James Maizey Oliver Kristi Billy Phoebe Shae
GCSE RESULTS Sibford School GCSE results in August 2020 were the best on record but the true measure of success could be found in the life-skills and qualities that our pupils developed during such an unusual year. Toby Spence said: “2020 was an exceptionally unusual year and Sibford School pupils and staff worked exceptionally hard both before and during lockdown to ensure that real learning continued. Yes, grades are important, but the determination, grit, resilience, and creativity of our community is what truly shone through. For example, the manner in which Year 11 pupils engaged with our teaching after Easter and thence our Sixth Form preparation courses which we The Sibfaordian 2020
offered during the summer term was quite inspiring. “What was a particular pleasure were the strong set of grades across all subject areas – from the creative arts to humanities and STEM subjects - underpinning the breadth of talent we have across our holistic curriculum. As a community we can be proud of how we responded to the circumstances and I was delighted by the outcomes for our pupils.” Overall, top tier grades (8 or 9) were received in a total of 22 subjects, and 40% of pupils achieved at least one grade 8 or 9. 100% of pupils gained five or more grades at 9 – 4 (or A* - C).
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A LEVEL RESULTS Our Sixth Form students achieved their best results on record despite the unprecedented circumstances surrounding examinations. Overall, 56% of Sibford students gained A* - B grades in their A Level and BTEC exams, the highest on record, with pupils achieving a 100% pass rate across all subjects. The majority of pupils achieved places to study at their first and second choice higher education destination. Leavers went on to study a wide range of courses all over the country from astrophysics, law and theatre to mathematics, finance and marine biology. Toby Spence said: ‘It was a remarkable achievement for our pupils who worked so hard during this most unusual time. All of the staff were delighted that the efforts of the pupils
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were rewarded with some exceptional results and fabulous onward destinations for our pupils. ‘It was pleasing to see that the majority of grades awarded were a fair reflection upon the efforts of the student with nearly 40% of results awarded as A*/A or an equivalent BTEC Distinction. ‘We were very proud of the wide range of destinations and pathways that our students pursued – from those who headed to ‘Russell Group’ universities such as York and Sheffield to those who are furthering their careers in a wide range of vocations such as fashion, sport, media and theatre. This reflects the diverse and thriving community that is found at Sibford School.’
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The Sibfordian is the official magazine of Sibford School Sibford School Sibford Ferris I Banbury I Oxfordshire I OX15 5QL For general enquiries: office@sibfordschool.co.uk For admissions enquiries: admissions@sibfordschool.co.uk SibfordOxon
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