Sibford School Rocket Magazine SOSA 2021-22 by SibfordOxon

SOSA

WELCOME TO THE 2021 ISSUE OF THE ROCKET Well, what a time we’ve had in the last couple of years due to the pandemic, not least not being able to have the reunion so not having a report. We decided to put a request for overseas stories out on social media, and the results are printed in this magazine. Thank you all (home and away) for your articles. My thanks go out again to Harriet Canavan for her help this year with the magazine. I am always wanting articles, photographs (with the relevant permissions) and reminiscences so please send them to me for inclusion. Thank you

Harriet

We are still hoping that (pandemic permitting) the branch meetings can be resurrected, so if you’d like to start one up, or rekindle an old one, please let us know so we can advertise it for you here in the Rocket.

Please sign up with your details (or update them) on the following link: https://sosa.org.uk/ membership/. Email: SOSA.Rocket.Editor1903@gmail.com Or by mail via: Sibford School, Sibford Ferris, Banbury, Oxon OX15 5QL

Enjoy The Calm What a year it has been. I hope you’re all well, safe and enjoying life. Lockdown has been a long and sordid affair. The days blend into one. COVID-19 life, as we knew it, had become one of constant repetition. It can be hard to find motivation in pretty much anything under lockdown. Enjoy the calm. I’ve seen so many posts from social media gurus and life coaches that say ‘this is your opportunity’ to play the piano and write the book you’ve always wanted to, and whilst that is good, this is actually the time to enjoy the calm.

You’ve got the time to actually call up friends you haven’t spoken to for so long. You’ve got the time to sit and contemplate. If you’re in a safe place, there’s no need to be rushing around and worried: just enjoy the calm. I believe this was why our “Virtual Reunions” were so important. With the aid of technology, and a lot of magic from Julie and Harriet, we were able to connect with old scholars over Zoom from all over the country. Although it will never be the same as meeting up at the Hill, it still had that familiar and safe feeling we all get when we all meet at Sibford.

With every day life returning to some sort of normality, we hope to start seeing you all again in person. I hope you all came out of lockdown safely; here’s hoping to see all your smiling faces in person. Until then. Enjoy the calm. Navid Sadrzadeh President

HELP WITH THE 1953 SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH

I started trying to put names to all those in the 1953 school photograph a couple of years before the Covid pandemic. During this period a small number of names were added with the assistance of Pat Phillips (Williams) on it. I placed the photo, with those I had named, on the Facebook Group “Sibford School, People who left (Anytime)” and I was contacted by Sylvia Williams (Webster), who suggested that I should also ask Liz Covey (Penn) for her memories. Sylvia and Liz were major contributors, able to name a high percentage of the girls and a lot of the boys.

I would like to give particular thanks to the following people who have helped with the project:

At the end of 2020 I made contact with David Carlton Smith, who has a remarkable memory for names, and was able to name most of those still un-named.

• • • • • • • •

David also met with Shelagh Greenland (Kinnish), who was able to name a number of the younger girls, filling in a serious gap. I also contacted Mike Spring (School Archivist) who sent me the names of those who were enrolled in the years prior to the picture, providing a guide for those expected to be included. A study of those who left, printed in the Archway, also helped in identifying people.

Sylvia Webster (Williams) Liz Penn (Covey) Pat Williams (Phillips) Ann Gee Susan Gee (Boucher) Shelagh Kinnish (Greenland) Jenepher Kohler (Bridge) David Carlton Smith and others

Also thanks to Mike Spring the school archivist. Work on the photograph will continue and comments, additions and corrections are very welcome.

I will happily send copies of the files (4 off jpeg files) to people who are interested. Please get in touch through the Editor at

SOSA.Rocket.Editor1903@gmail.com.

I went to Sibford in 1967 at 11 years of age and stayed for 7 years.

basic life skills such as Cookery, Needlework, and the ability to change a fuse and rewire a plug!

I truly believe that experience saved me, educated me and helped me grow into a decent, caring, person.

I’m fairly well settled in Malta now, land of my forefathers, enjoying the sunshine and blue skies, though the occasional heatwave in the 40s is a bit much to take, but should there ever come a time when I have to move on, I’m sure I will take it in my stride, thanks to the grounding Sibford gave me.

I came to Sibford at a time when Jonas Fielding was Headmaster, and on a mission to give a leg up to children from dysfunctional backgrounds such as mine. Consequently I joined a cohort of kids with all sorts of diverse and problematic home lives. I’m very glad of that. Total immersion in such an eclectic mix of misfits and the middle classes taught me how to get along with everybody at any level. To adjust my expectations to the situation and cope with whatever life threw at us. Nobody was above the menial tasks, (anybody remember the’ cleaning the boot room’, duty roster?), nor too lowly to be taken seriously. Fast forward many, many years, after living and working in Britain, France, America and finally ending up in Malta, I frequently reflect on the many, many useful life skills I learned at Sibford. Personal resilience, care for others as well as self, and most of all adaptability, not forgetting

I’ve remained in touch, on and off, with some of those “misfits”, all of whom grew up to be interesting individuals themselves. Coping with life, succeeding in life, helping others to cope or succeed, and some have already gone on ahead to whatever comes next; but many have expressed to me just how much they benefited from their years at Sibford. Yes, there were some people who were unhappy there. After all, if your home life was brilliant, it must have been a wrench to give it up, but for the rest of us, whose home life was less than idyllic, Sibford provided a refuge, a bastion of peace for which I will be forever grateful. Giovanna Hammet (AKA Widge)

Travel and living abroad has always been a major part of my life. My parents worked abroad and it was for this reason that myself and my brother ended up at Sibford. University allowed me to have a year abroad in America and after graduation I worked in Japan for two years. A career in teaching brought a mortgage and other grown up responsibilities. I still travelled but perhaps was not “living adventurously”. This changed in 2012 when I was invited by a friend to walk the famous pilgrimage, the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Starting in France, I walked over 700 kilometres to north western Spain. This started what I call my camino addiction and a deep love for the country of Spain. Teaching in the UK had always been challenging but after 19 years in the state system, I was finding it significantly difficult. I was finding a lot of my time was spent on admin and endless marking that I often felt was for the benefit of Ofsted rather than the students. I knew I loved teaching but that love was being challenged. Living and working in Spain still felt something of a daydream for a rainy day. I’d always imagined if I worked abroad again it would be somewhere like the middle east where the pay is significantly better! Yet it was for Spain I set up a job alert for and one day in April, just over two years ago, I was alerted to a job at the British School of Malaga. After three skype interviews, I was offered and accepted the job in Malaga. Sorting out my house and the immense amount of clutter accumulated

over the years was tough. Finding a new home in Spain and dealing with the immense amount of paperwork and red tape was even tougher! And then the new year brough Covid. Lockdown in Spain was hard. We weren’t allowed out of our homes, even for exercise. But thankfully, school carried on as normal, albeit online. Working 9 to 4 everyday did bring some sort of routine to my life. My students were an absolute joy and each day at least one of them did something to make me laugh whether it was bringing a pet to class or turning up in a unicorn mask with no explanation! We even celebrated my birthday online! Despite all of the curve balls thrown at me, I do not regret moving to Spain. I am working in a much smaller school with students, who for the most part, are keen to learn! Everyday I get to walk on the beach and I still love teaching. Over the years I had forgotten that even at my age you can still live adventurously! Claire Upton I Sibford School 1985-88

REBECCA HEMPSTEAD

(Becky Tilley) Living in Cronulla, Sydney Australia I followed my brother and sister to Sibford (Jane + Joe Sturge) in1979; such a long time ago, I loved my time there and the memories still shine! The Hops, life in dormitories, beautiful scenery, sneaky cigarettes and smuggled in alcohol, eggy bread and giant pots of Luke warm tea, tuck lockers, cold snowy days at Oddie’s field, visits to the San, hymn book graffiti and head-lice, but most of all, the incredible friendships that have lasted a life-time. Over the years I have stayed very close to Susan (Gillet), I see her each year and she has visited us a few times, her daughter lived with us for a couple of years, making the back shed her home. Stephanie (Clements) also lived here, next door to me; that was a fun filled time. On my last visit Susan, Steph, Becky (Lester) and myself had a riotous catch-up weekend together down in Cornwall, just like old times and to be repeated for sure!. (See black/ white photo) We have plans to meet up next time with Julia (Vance) and Anne (Richardson). Anyone interested in joining us please let me know!! Shortly after leaving school I was in a motorbike accident and left unable to walk for over a year. I was lucky, having been given an 80% chance of recovering from the operation with at least 1 less leg, so to come out with two intact was incredible. I completed college in a wheelchair qualifying to teach under fives and went on to work with socially and emotionally abused children and their parents.

I dreamt of living in a warm country to stop the aches and pains. After four years of festivals and fun I met a restless Australian (who dreamt of living in the U.K), but I’m the boss and I talked him into a sunny lifestyle back in his hometown Cronulla, NSW, Australia. We are still together and have two boys, Max 25, a plumber who loves the outback and 4 wheel driving, dogs and ducks and Harry 21 an electrician, a crazy skateboarder, snowboarder and surfer. After working with children with special needs for a few years I began working with Craig in his photography and graphic design business.. (localimages.com.au), 20 years on and we still have the business. My life in Australia is great. It’s warm, I love the people, the beaches and the bush, the rain forests, the space. Its an amazing place to have brought up our children, but the pull of home is strong. I have visited almost every year for a month to live my other life with my family and old friends, devouring the lush greenery, and appreciating the history. We had planned a 3 month trip to travel around the U.K just before COVID hit, trying to cram in as many visits as possible. As soon as our borders re-open we will be ready to pack our bags!. Sibford, on Facebook, has been wonderful, I’m in touch with so many of you now, finding out where you all are and re-living some amazing memories of the very happy 5 years that shaped my future. Becky Tilley, Lister Girls 1979-1984

JUSTIN BLATCHFORD I was born in Brunei Town, Borneo and my family moved to Cyprus in 1972. I spent 2 academic years at Sibford School (1982 - 4) in the 6th form and loved playing organised football on decent turf most weekends…. I then completed an Art Foundation Course at Exeter College of Art & Design which paved the way to achieving a BA(Hons) & PgD in Landscape Architecture at Leeds Beckett University. I bought my first property - a back-toback terrace - in Headingly, Leeds in the late 80s. As a landscape architect I worked for a local authority in County Durham for 10 years - I specialised in play spaces and coastal restoration of former coal mines. I visited my brother in Melbourne and spent 2 weeks diving on the Great Barrier Reef - stunning! By the mid 90s I met my future wife in the Northeast - we soon decided to move to London.

harvested rainwater - on an ancient sand dune with views of sea and bush from all rooms. Moving to inner Sydney around 2012 we lived in 4 districts with views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and harbour frontage - a very liveable city using the ferry or tandem kayak…. Around 2018 I had open heart surgery followed by two emergency procedures. I woke to find I had quadruple vision, I could not walk (lost balance), I could not swallow (I was aspirating) and could not speak (my voice box was damaged). I had lost sensation to parts of my face and body and had strange “vertigo” episodes. I did not eat for over 6 days and lost about 10kgs… Anyway, thankfully most issues have more or less disappeared - in this respect I am lucky...and my cognitive skills remain!

An Art Deco two-storey brick semi with a roof terrace overlooking a Thames tributary required renovation - we flew a Syrian friend over from Cyprus to assist. I got a PgD in law from Kingston University and joined an EIA unit in a global environmental consultancy.

A few months ago, my wife and I moved to the Southern Highlands of New South Wales (Australia). Our 2-storey house is built of sandstone with a covered deck facing Morton National Park (a 200,000-hectare wilderness). Exploring Australia is an amazing experience the continent is vast.

My partner won a bid in Melbourne and we soon packed our bags and bicycles and by 2007 had secured a square kilometre by the sea complete with koala, wombats, echidna and a mob of Roos - next to a RAMSAR site.

Most of my time is spent property renovating or bush walking. I appreciate I have many challenges. For instance, am I still a competent skier, can I ride a bike or play a decent game of tennis? Only time will tell ….

A new 2 km electricity run and access road eventually led to a 2-storey build - using

Justin Blatchford AILA

JO SEAMAN

Happily, I was recruited by the British Council. This is the UK’s main body for forging cultural relationships and for providing educational opportunities between people and organisations in our country and overseas. Initially I worked in London and then the Manchester office of the British Council and I realised that I loved working with people from all over the world and I enjoyed managing projects; many of the projects were paid for by the British government but some were funded by the European Union or by other organisations. Initially I focused on Sub-Saharan African countries and was able to help provide opportunities for people from Angola to Sudan to gain access to new skills, such as school management or health administration. By the early 1990’s I moved on to work predominantly with people in East and Central Europe, as many of the new post-Soviet countries were gaining independence. In the late 1990’s I moved to work in Egypt for four years. While I loved working hard, I also enjoyed meeting people and having adventures, from jumping over bonfires in Latvia on Midsummer’s Eve, to trying to meet Russian premier, Mikhayil Gorbachev in the chilly corridors of the University of Moscow, to getting lost with a disparate party of academics in the Nubian desert. My adventures had only just begun, as by 2001 as I was posted to the former Soviet country of Georgia. Although I had known little about the country, I quickly realised that I had tumbled into a fascinating and complex place, a former Silk Route country which is very much at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Georgia was going through major socio-political changes and, with my Georgian colleagues, I was drawn into the heady events of Georgia’s Rose Revolution of 2003. On a personal level there were major changes too, as I fell in love – Georgia is a very romantic place! It was such an eventful time, politically, professionally and personally that I recently wrote a book, Roses Down the Barrel of a Gun: Georgia, Love and Revolution to capture some of the exhilarating, touching and funny things that happened. I subsequently moved to Pakistan while my husband, Mike, worked in Afghanistan; we flew over the mountains on UN planes as often as we could to see each other. I lived through a major earthquake, some street riots and met some wonderful people. When I visited the northern city of Peshawar I wore the local dress, the shalwar kameez. By then I was studying for an Open University Master’s degree in Development Management; while I visited Kabul, the course I was studying was on ‘Conflict and Civil War’, and the recent events in Afghanistan sadden me greatly.

My husband Mike was posted to Jamaica and, alas, I could not keep my career with the British Council so I resigned to follow him. While it was initially challenging, I threw myself into life there and re-invented myself as a trainer and worked for Jamaican and foreign organisations. Jamaica was edgy and, while we appreciated the beautiful beaches and made many friends, we dodged a few hurricanes and doubtless a few gangsters too. Since moving back to Britain in 2011 I renewed my contact with the British Council, and did free-lance work with them all over Asia, including training project managers in Myanmar and helping to set up early years’ schools. Closer to home, I was happy to be able to use my project management experience as, during the pandemic, I helped establish a team of volunteers to support vulnerable members of our community. I have also been able to re-kindle my love of writing, a long-time passion. I’m following up the book about Georgia with one about Central Asia, along with short stories on some of my travels. I’m exploring fiction, including a novel about a C19th diplomat adventurer and a screenplay about a sleepy sea-side village that undergoes dramatic changes!

JOHN BUTTS Instead of ending up on the scrap heap, I ended up on a heap of almonds. I have had my words published before in The Rocket with a poem about birds published in the 1979 edition. In 1978, I submitted many articles to the Sibford Free Press which was supposed to be an uncensored warts-and-all publication written by the pupils. All my articles were rejected for being too risqué and polemic. So if you are not reading this right now it is because it has not got past the censors. I promise not to mention ******* ****** and *******. The reason why I went to Sibford was because I was a school refuser. I was in the first wave of grammar schools which were being changed over to comprehensives. I hated school and refused to go. My educational psychologist ran

a series of tests on me and immediately agreed to let me educate myself. At 12 years old, I had my own office. On Fridays I gave myself art and I used to paint massive abstract expressionist murals which were hung up around the building.

13 It was similar to COVID lockdown and I did not speak to anyone my own age for about 1 year. I eventually had the idea of going to boarding school and my psychologist came up with the idea of going to Sibford. I was very lucky that the local authority paid for it and that Sibford had a policy of taking on people who could be damaged or present something of a challenge. On the whole, I had a very pleasant time at Sibford. After leaving, I had the problem that I had no particular ambition to do anything specific. I also had the romantic idea that money was not important. My family didn’t consider themselves to be working class, in fact my grandmother believed herself to be lower artistocracy and had an accent that sounded like a cross between Amy Turtle (a very Brummie actress from the soap opera Crossroads) and the Queen. Nevertheless, my family had working class attitudes and there was no pressure or interest in me going to university. I ended up doing a foundation course in art. This is strange because I have almost no artistic talent. In the fashion module, I designed “fishware for executives” which included suits made with scales equipped with fins so that executives could feel fashionable in the boardroom. Sadly, the idea never took off! It was shortly after this time that I went to a Sibford reunion and realised that there was a massive connection between Sibfordonians. Maybe like the connection that happens between people who have been trapped on a desert island. Ashley Smith bought a split-screen Volkswagen van and 6 of us set off on our travels around Europe. It was such a success that we went travelling several summers in a row. Our longest journey was when 12 of us went through Yugoslavia to the Greek islands followed by grape picking in the south of France. We even went with 2 people who had been to Sidcot Quaker school. Most of us had long hair so it was like a hippy Quaker school posse. When we were operating a soup kitchen in the south of France in order to earn some Francs, we got given the nickname the Hair Bear Bunch. I could probably laugh for a month continuously remembering all the crazy things we did. At this time of traveling, I noticed that I was only ever really happy if I was not in the UK.

This could be due to the lack of sunlight. I had very little money at this time. I could not afford driving lessons so I bought a Robin Reliant because you can drive one with a motorcycle license. The idea was to learn driving on 3 wheels and then pass the test without any lessons. This failed because the Reliant broke down. Eventually I did a TEFL course to prepare me to teach English. In August 1987, I set off for Spain on my trusty Honda 90 motorbike. The top speed was 35mph. The bike had bespoke panniers made out of recycled leather from a Triumph Herald hood. As I was heading across the sun-scorched plain of Spain on my trusty C90, I heard the voice of Mr Sagar the metalwork teacher come into my head. In his Yorkshire accent, he said, “You’ll end up ont scrap ‘eap Butts”. I resolved to do my best to not end up on the scrap heap. To cut a long story short, I lived in Spain as an English teacher not earning a lot of money. This may not sound ideal but I was perfectly happy: the best things in life are free. I ended up living in the Sacromonte in Granada opposite the Alhambra. When internet connection became available to the general public in about 1998 I saw it as a way of earning some cash. We started renting out caves and after a while, we were like the Airbnb for Granada with almost no competition. This was the brief period when Internet was a level playing field and anyone could be successful. I now live in an isolated farmhouse at 1300 metres in the Sierra Nevada Spain. We are fully off-grid with a very small carbon footprint. We are very self-sufficient and we grow all our own vegetables, we have a vineyard and an olive orchard. Although we live in the middle of nowhere, we are quite sociable. In some ways, I have tried to recreate the community feel that we had at Sibford and we have many visitors from around the world. If you are passing, drop in for a cup of tea! It doesn’t seem much like a scrapheap to me! John Butts

KAGEHA MARSHALL Having moved from Wiltshire to Somerset during the first Lockdown, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that former President of Sibford Old Scholars, Ashley Shirlin and his wife Amanda (Mandy) were moving to our county as well. How lovely it was to be invited to their house-warming, wedding anniversary and Amanda’s birthday of significance. Saturday 19th June, saw a great mini SOSA do in Ashley’s newly renovated charming, huge and beautifully decorated cottage. A great time - superb food and company! Earlier this year, on Saturday 29th May saw another reunion when Anne Nsuta Farr moved from Zambia with her husband Danny to work in Exeter. Last year, Anne came to Frome to stay, but this year we enjoyed a flying visit to Exeter to see my old chum from Nansen girls. It was wonderful -superb- sunshine, great catch-up

with a best mate! She is due to visit us again in Frome in the autumn!! Autumn will see another mini-reunion when we see Viscount Anthony Wingfield !!! He is coming with his wife, Sarah (they had a lovely wedding day in Bristol which I attended!) for lunch in October- can’t wait to catch up on all their news! Kageha Marshall, nee Gay Watts, Deputy Games Captain, Nansen Girls 1978.

Left to right:- James (husband to Kageha, nee Gay Watts) , Kageha Marshall, Anne Nsuta Farr, Danny Nsuta, Emmanuel Nsuta. Taken May 2021

KIM WHEELER Once too often, I have leapt off great heights without a parachute or, worse still, without a clue and more often than not landed crumpled on the ground wondering what was wrong with me and why couldn’t I live the quiet, sedentary life of getting old. So with this in mind, it will come as no surprise to anyone that, aged sixty-four I decided to get married and then sell up and move, but not just around the corner within the once safe confines of the UK. No I decided to move to Indonesia and start afresh; talk about landing on your face. Still, I had a new desire, a fresh start far from the madding crowd and lonely nights. I gave everything I had to charity shops and the valuable stuff, sold on eBay and with every carload of collected detritus, I felt good; the less I had, the happier I became. Wow, this is biblical.

I took my dogs and one suitcase with four small wooden boxes with the ashes of my now very deceased dogs and hoped that I could both leave the UK and arrive in Jakarta without fuss. I am happy to report that nobody batted an eyelid. It was hot, the journey was hell, but I got here. My wife met me with her two children, the exhausted but incredibly chilled dogs went into a three-day quarantine, and we drove three hours to our new rented accommodation. I felt a tear of relief trickle down my face. I was free, now what? Kim Wheeler

JULIA VANCE

Altar carved in marble for Hønefoss Church, Norway,

I arrived fresh from a school in Oslo, and quickly felt adopted into this lively sea of young, friendly, exiting and exotic fellow students. I’d only seen school uniforms and boarding schools in films, both quite un-common in Norway, and arriving at Sibford became for me an adventure. I spent the following year diving into exiting new knowledge and enjoying very social days and nights. Like, probably, many others, I still have a very close friend from Sibford with whom I shared a bunk-bed in Penn House. And - I also met very competent teachers. It was as if the Sibford teachers were not afraid of expecting a lot from me. Mr Clark taught me art and drawing with a seriousness I was not used to. This was not playing around; we were given proper assessments, and this ignited me! Mrs Endersby taught me not only child development but something more like life development and made us evaluate values and choices. Even the English teacher showed me how precise our words can be composed alongside the exercise of deciphering and analyzing text. In fact, I believe all these superb teachers have helped me on the path towards shaping words physically in various materials. Today I am a sculptor and mainly carve my word-sculptures in marble or granite.

I also do some work in metal, both cast bronze and welded steel. Sibford was a school of faith, of which I had not really started to think about before arrival. Though my Quaker father claims I am a Quaker too, I like to think of myself as totally free and only belonging to myself. In any case, a few years ago I won a competition to make an altar for a new church in Hønefoss in Norway. I wanted to make a stone altar but would have to keep the weight down due to the floor construction. At first, I thought of hollowing out a block of marble from underneath. But this would have covered up the fact that I was trying to make the stone lighter. A church should be nothing to do with ‘covering up’. So, I decided instead to carve the altar so one can see through it and with no hidden ‘tricks’ to get the weight down. The altar now

17 stands like a springy curve, as if a giant brush stroke frozen in mid-air. Totally abstract but some may decipher a letter ‘C’ or ‘J’, as in Jesus or Christ. One of the priests first felt vulnerable about the congregation being able to see his legs through the altar, but he has now grown very fond of the altar and its expressive shape. I also wanted to transmit transparency and an open shape can allow thoughts to move freely and with no hinderance. I believe all thoughts, also the less attractive ones, must be given space in such a thinking room, which a church is. Furthermore, I keep returning to the two seemingly simple and short words of ‘ME’ and ‘WE’. Having the same physical body (if you turn ME upside down you have a WE), but with totally opposite meaning; the individual and the group. I am continuously fascinated by the countless facets of this word-couple and have carved and welded various sculptures around this theme. Recently I won a competition to make a sculpture for a school. I thought the children needed something more than a ‘look-at-sculpture’ so I made something they’d touch. They now have

an over two meter tall letter Q in black granite, titled ‘Passage to Knowledge’, to celebrate the good questions. Because who ever got inspired by being fed all the answers?! On the first day of school all 1. year students enter the school climbing through the sculpture and are greeted by their teacher and headmaster, pointing out the fact that they are entering a house of learning. Now I am working on a new sculpture commission where I am to tie together a community just North of Oslo. The studio I am working in here in Tuscany is Studio Giorgio Angeli. Yesterday I went to a large marble quarry in Tuscany to choose the block and by next fall they will have a large abstract kind of knot on their village square. And if they look very closely and from a certain angle, they may see it is the ampersand-symbol. But again, it depends on where you have your viewpoint. As for life – we all see it from where we stand. Julia Vance www.juliavance.no

Granite sculpture ‘Q’ or ‘Passage to knowledge

PIERA MANCA

I was a day pupil at Sibford 1980-84 and have so many amazing memories of my time there. It was wonderful to have friends from all over the world, and to still be connected to some now via facebook! My childhood was very nomadic, with my father being in the hotel trade, so it was great to settle at Sibford for a few years. I really liked the unique approach to education there, ie to focus more on the individual, whilst at the same time of course encouraging study! My experience there has stayed with me and has a special place in my heart. After Sibford I studied for a degree in Modern Languages at Wolverhampton Polytechnic. I then moved to Brighton, as my parents were living nearby at that time. They left for Italy shortly after and I ended up staying in Brighton for 28 years! All this changed after a second visit to Sardinia with my husband. We decided to uproot and move here together. My father is Sardinian, so I felt it was time to explore my roots and get to know this beautiful island. Luckily my husband fell in love with the place very quickly. He is a macro photographer and was amazed at the abundance of flora and fauna, that we luckily have all year round. As I am sure any of you who also live overseas know, it is not easy to uproot and change one’s life so drastically. We have had to jump through many bureaucratic hoops and are still doing so after 2.5 years!! It has all been so worth it though and I have no regrets at all. We live on the Northern tip of the island in a small hamlet, surrounded by mountains. We are lucky enough to have a beautiful wild garden that we share with the wild boar!

The work here is seasonal, as the island relies heavily on tourism. This obviously was very affected by Covid last year, therefore we have found ourselves having to very much adapt to the changing situation and just go with the flow. It has been quite a big life lesson for me as I spent over a year panicking about everything, until I realised that this was not a very helpful or good attitude......We are lucky to have met some very lovely people, who we are now working with as a small cleaning/maintenance team. We have lots of plans for the future and I am finally putting the languages I learned to good use! I am also living my lifelong passion for bohemian clothing and jewellery by selling my wares online. My original plan was to sell at markets, however all the lockdowns etc have meant that this is on hold for now. Whatever the future holds, I am pretty sure that I would not be the person I am now were it not for my time at Sibford. I do remember having an interview at the then local school near Banbury and all I will say is that I am so grateful to my parents for deciding to send me to Sibford instead! Piera Manca

ANTHONY WINGFIELD Another mini-reunion took place when we saw Viscount Powerscourt (Anthony Wingfield) his lovely wife Sarah. (I attended their wedding in Bristol over 10 years ago) this October. It was lovely to see them both. Anthony was a boarder in Lister from 1975-1981. He spent one year in the Sixth Form. He enjoyed sport - cricket, cross-country running, football and badminton were amongst his favourites, but he has fond memories of playing British Bull Dogs as well. The teachers he remembered fondly were Mr. Jarvis and Mr Hedley. He also shared a recollection involving the English teacher Mr. Higgins. One Eisteddfod play stood out in his memory. In it, clad only in a toga, Anthony had to deliver Julius Caesar’s famous lines as the elaborate set collapsed just in front of the audience. Very dramatic! Other fond memories he shared include sugar sandwiches, and one year getting the most Valentines cards in his year group, and wearing his father’s friend’s Vietnamese jacket.

After Sibford Anthony attended Bath Technical College to study Technical Illustration but left to go to Ireland to learn what he wanted to do with his life. He later returned to Bath to finish studying before going to Portsmouth to do an HND in Technical Illustration, going on to gain a BA Honours in Graphic Design. Anthony has subsequently left Graphic Design behind (but not before he got to manage a team of graphic designers and copywriters in Cardiff). He now works as a BACP accredited counsellor, having moved from Cardiff to Cheltenham, where he has established his own practice.

H. Leslie Harrison Ian Harrison (Leslie’s son) advised Sibford Old Scholars that Leslie had passed away into peace on Wednesday 7 Oct 2020 aged 93. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends and will be remembered for the help and support he gave to many people through his life and work as a Naturopath. As a lifelong Pacifist he held his Quaker beliefs to the end, and he had fond memories of Sibford and was proud to have been the President of SOSA in 1986 /7.

Barbara Abercrombie on 11th May 2020

Alfred Holland (1939 – 1945) Sibford Old Scholars were advised by Miranda Perry that Alfred Holland had passed away this year. Born in 1927, Alfred attended Sibford

Martin Dodsworth on 26th November 2020 age 90 At Sibford 1941 – 1946 (Pupil) 1960 – 1966 (Teacher)

Interesting information on Alfred: Holland, Alfred James (Oral history) | Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk) Brian White – (1970 – 1979ish) Sibford Old Scholars were advised that Brian White, who was the Assistant Bursar alongside John Miller had passed away in April 2020.

June Bell (nee Baily) on 17th November 2020 At Sibford in 1941 Colin Beeby on 21st September 2020 age 76 Rosemary Berrington (nee Coxon) 13th October 2020 At Sibford 1952 – 1959 Richard Cheney in July 2019 age 69 At Sibford 1960-1965

Margaret Fairnington At Sibford 1940-1944 Esther Jackson on 24th October 2020 age 91 At Sibford 1941 – 1944 Rosemary Johnson (nee Cleaver) in October 2020 Pamela Manasseh (nee Boast) in May 2019 At Sibford 1943 – 1948 William E Rowley on 10th January 2021 age 88 At Sibford 1944 – 1948 Karen Sanders on 01st May 2019 age 53 At Sibford 1978-1982 Nick Towey in November 2020 age 54 At Sibford 1978-1982

Martin Dodsworth At 11 years old Martin was sent to Sibford School, where his sister was already. He said he ‘felt valued and respected as an individual’ at Sibford, and made friends readily, but he also felt the lack of family contact keenly. He was at Sibford from 1941 - 46 then spent his Sixth Form years at Saffron Walden (Quaker) School, in Essex. Martin studied Furniture Design at Leeds College of Art, and then completed a Teacher Training course, also in Leeds. He was asked by Hugh Maw, the Head, to join the staff team as Crafts Master. He accepted so the family (including myself as a baby) moved to Sibford Ferris and he went back to his childhood school to teach mainly woodwork and technical drawing. He was aware of the seriousness of the job he faced and the care and dedication needed but enjoyed the creative teaching.

He became Housemaster of the newly built Lister House in 1961, which meant that he had various responsibilities for the boys living there, and that as a family we grew up in the staff flat attached to the boys boarding house. During this period at Sibford, Rachel and Mark were born. Martin was a much respected member of staff and taught many pupils over the 6 or 7 years he was at Sibford, one of which he fairly casually mentioned in later life had worked on the construction of the authentic wooden Shakespeare Globe Theatre in London! Dad also once played Noye in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, which was a ground-breaking production at the time involving staff, pupils, parents and villagers. He formed many friendships with members of staff at Sibford and continued attending the Old Scholars Association gatherings for most of his life.

Phyllis Payne Phyllis was the first child of Ralph and Edith Langford, both of whom grew up in Shaftesbury Dorset and known each other from childhood, both brought up in Quaker families. She was at Sibford between 1928 and 1934, where she boarded and appears to have had a jolly time, judging by the affection with which she remembered the school and the abundance of photos she has from her time there. Her memories from that time were of picnics at Whichford Wood with donkey drawn carts, 80 pupils, 1 boys dormitory and 1 girls dormitory, the older boys sleeping in the village. When she left school she went into nursing, following her natural nurturing and caring character. She had a very successful career, culminating in working as a midwife and district nurse.

Phyllis is an inspiration to us all, a long life well spent, always busy, always positive, not complaining, and you don’t get to 103 without a bit of grit, the epithet keep calm and carry on, could well have been written for her. The full text can be seen on www.sosa.org.uk.

Well, it’s been quite a year! Before Christmas (i.e. November / December 2019) we had a mystery bug which swept the school. At one point we experienced the (unheard of normally) remarkable statistic of over 25% of our pupils at home with an illness. We had no idea what the ailment was – pupils and staff reported flu like symptoms – little did we know what was to come a month later… Ten months into the pandemic and it’s sometimes hard to remember Sibford life before lockdown. In early 2020, we were incredibly fortunate to be able to go ahead with our whole school production of Les Misérables. When I first arrived at the school, I learned about the rich history of performing arts in the community and I spoke with Neil Madden and Fiona Hudson (in charge of Drama and Music respectively). We agreed that ‘Les Mis’ was the production we would love to put on. For it to ‘happen’ we would need a rare elixir of the right pupils / right voices/ dramatic talent and staff able to support. For anyone who was fortunate enough to see the show (performed to over 1000 souls over 4 performances) it was an absolute joy. The quality of the performance was quite

extraordinary and those who came to see it simply gushed over what the young people achieved with the support of the school staff. It was, quite literally, a triumph. A few days later the school, and country, locked down for the first time and the rest is, as they say, history. Our annual Rugby 7s tournament was just getting off the ground before lockdown was announced. This meant (much to the upset of the boys) the only groups to play any matches in the tournament were the girls and, my word, they had a fabulous day of sport. Our Year 8 and Year 9 teams ended up playing each other in their age group final and they shared the spoils in a (very Quakerly) draw at the end.

We locked down on a Friday and, prior to this, we realised that for our pupils in their final year at Sibford, this would be their last occasion to meet as a group. Very typical of Sibford was the sense of a strong bond both within the pupil body and towards the staff who were their tutors and teachers. So, we held a Meeting for Worship in the main hall. For anyone who wasn’t present it’s quite hard to explain what a humbling and wonderful experience this Meeting for Worship was. The moment captured the very best of the human spirit and the very best of Sibford. I have no doubt that an event like this could only have happened in a Quaker School. We always encourage our community speak should they feel moved to during a Meeting for Worship – and speak, and sing, and cry and

23 hug we did. For our Year 13 (Upper Sixth in older money) pupils, their moment to ‘say goodbye’ was to be taken from them due to this awful virus – so they poured their emotions into this moment in school before Easter. It was very special indeed. As I reflect back now I am hugely proud of how the Sibford School community responded. We endeavoured to be flexible, pragmatic and we placed pupil welfare at the heart of our approach. We all learned about the magical (and sometimes frustrating) world of Microsoft Teams and Zoom. We took an approach where we didn’t expect children to sit at their laptops all day – but we used communications to keep in daily contact with each pupil and endeavour to make learning fun with lots of time for activities, families and wellbeing. The entrepreneurial spirit of the whole community and the remarkable resilience of the team was quite remarkable. And, speaking of remarkable….. Our team have spent many hours deliberating over how best to ‘market’ the school. How do we capture what’s special about our community and encourage others to join? We have a super website and some strong values to point our target audience towards. However, the key for us remains ‘word of mouth’. I will confess that when news of lockdown hit I was very concerned about the impact upon our community. However, initially at least, something

remarkable happened. Pupils started to join the school – firstly in ones and twos and then in larger numbers. By the end of the academic year we had a school role of over 450 pupils – the highest number ever recorded. I was teaching new pupils who joined my history classes (online) and who were welcomed in an online world to their new friends at the School. Perhaps the answer in future is to wait for the next pandemic to re-fill the school? Looking ahead – the future of Sibford School Is there a place for Quaker Education in a rural school in North Oxfordshire in the educational landscape of the future? The simple answer is simply, ‘Yes’ – and more than ever. If anything, the enforced ‘slow-down’ on our lives has reinforced to me that our family orientated, values driven and holistic education must be the aspiration ‘gold standard’ of education. The clamour to achieve the ‘best grades’ at the expense of pastoral care, wellbeing and a rounded, creative and inspiring curriculum must be consigned to the history books. I see the pandemic bringing about a fundamental shift in educational thinking. The world has changed, our approach to societal norms has changed and education must change. Sibford is a school built around people and values. We are very fortunate in many respects and we must harness our good fortune to help to make a model of education that others can

share in, benefit from and aspire to. Working together with SOSA – has anything changed? The pandemic has caused a re-think and, perhaps inevitably, we have been more physically distant from our old scholars for a period of time. Possibly a pause will have been a good thing. We have all had a chance to reflect, to spend more time thinking about what matters in life and where we want to engage our energies. However, our links haven’t gone away and I have welcomed the quiet but regular encouragement and support from members of SOSA – some of whom have come ‘back to the table’ of late – all united by their ties to Sibford School. One small but important pleasure for me this year have been the regular arrival of old scholars (outside of lockdown!) – some who let us know they were coming and others who simply turn up or passed by. The School will always be here and old scholars are always very, very welcome to come and see us and share their stories. I hope that as we come out of the other side of this pandemic, our ties as the Sibford School community will become stronger and stronger into the months and years ahead. Toby Spence Head

Although 2020 has been a challenging year, we have managed to get to grips with a lot of pressing matters. Firstly, an update to the Constitution, and an update on committee members’ jobs roles.

Shirlin, Amanda Brown, Edd Frost, Tom Williams, and Annie Broe. Thank you all for your hard work.

Another breakthrough was online banking, to drag us kicking and screaming into 21 centuries. We have also turned to social media, with our new Facebook page.

We have gained Julie Greenhill as the new coopted General Secretary.

The new website is also almost ready to go live. The committee voted to enrol the help of a web designer to help design and make the site. To this end we employed the help of an old scholar and ex committee member Hugo Finley. His knowledge of our ethos has proved to be invaluable in making the newer, better website. Sadly, we say goodbye to a few of our regular committee members. Ashley

I would like to thank the members of the committee for all their hard work, this year. I would especially like to thank Julie Greenhill, who’s tireless work and enthusiasm, have proven to be an absolute inspiration. Thank you, Jules. I would also like to thank Harriet, who has helped guide me as my mentor during my first year as President, whilst juggling other committee roles as well no less.

Holly whose hard work as Vice President and Membership Secretary, and database guru has been truly miraculous. You have all gone above and beyond. Thank you. Lastly, I would like to thank you, the members. Without you, S.O.S.A would not be what it is today. So, thank you and hopefully we will be doing this in person next year. Navid Sadrzadeh President

GENERAL SECRETARY’S REPORT 2020 2020, has been an interesting year in more ways than one!

The Committee saw the resignation of both Ashley Shirlin as your General Secretary and Amanda Brown (Shirlin) as School Committee Representative. It saw the re-introduction of myself as co-opted General Secretary after a nearly 20-year gap of being involved with SOSA although always looking from afar. And on top of this, we experienced a further two resignations from our committee due to circumstances being related to Covid and one role being vacant due to tenure expiring. So, all in all, a fun 11 months with the year not having finished yet! As you would expect, with the government restrictions in place, harboured efforts with any face-to-face / physical interaction and all events had to be cancelled in line with government legislation. However, your committee have been very agile and extremely proactive.

We have managed to focus on time consuming projects including the rewording of our constitution which is due to be discussed and hopefully approved today. We are in the process of making live our new website, sosa.org.uk. We have purchased further domain names which means that whether you put in sosa. uk, sosa.com, they should all be redirected to this new site. We have also become experts on Zoom, Teams, and other technology platforms, as I am sure you have as well! As an Association, we decided that as we had the time, a little bit of money and more importantly could concentrate on this project a bit more thoroughly, to employ the services of Hugo Finley (an Old Scholar and website / GDPR / communications expert) to rebuild a website that is more engaging, easily navigable, and readable by all and more image / picture focussed. On

this site, we will be able to include stories (blogs), promote any events, have links to all back copies of our magazine and the site is linked to the school, so people can also be well-informed about school activities. The website is also linked to our social media handles, which moving forward is going to be an excellent way of communicating with all age groups, quickly and instantly across the world. These social media handles are: LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter

Like many organisations and from a professional point of view, we have found that to engage the under 40s and

26 that is generic, we need to work more on our LinkedIn feed. Facebook continues to be age 45+ and Instagram is more picture / video focussed. We have been more active on social media; I am sure that Holly will be able to advise you more on that. To make all this work positively and I am sure you will hear all of us say this, we do require more stories and where possible images that we can use. Following on from last year’s report, the role of Archivist was created. Mike Spring has taken on this role; however, he has declined being part of the SOSA Committee due to time constraints.

At last year’s AGM, Ashley Shirlin was nominated for the role as School Committee Representative. Ashley’s name was forwarded to Sibford General Meeting for ratification. I can confirm that unfortunately Ashley was not accepted and the Association during lockdown had to propose another name. Your committee suggested and co-opted Holly Poncini, who was duly recognized by Sibford General Meeting. Later in proceedings, we would like Holly to be approved as our School Committee Representative. So, in conclusion, whilst 2020 has not been the year that we wanted it to be, and all of us have spent

a very long time inside and at home, we have had the opportunity to work on some very important items in strengthening our Association, making it more attractive to the outside world and more importantly to re-engage with the next generations. I feel that, in some ways, lockdown has been a perfect time for us to resolve some issues and to reconnect with Old Scholars, especially our younger members. I also believe the younger members are looking to re-acquaint themselves with their former school friends. That is it for my report and I do look forward to seeing you all in person in 2021.

This year has been quite a year hasn’t it? It has put paid to a lot of the plans that we had for the Reunion, AGM, and other SOSA activities that we get involved with at the School, and this disruption of ‘normal’ life has affected each and every one of us in a variety of ways. In terms of our member base and engagement we have made huge strides in tightening up how we store your data, bring you content and improving our ‘look’ on our new website due for launch anytime soon! At the end of 2018, we revisited our member database as there were some concerns that a large proportion of contact details, we had on individuals i.e., home addresses, email etc were no longer correct. We had a good response to our mail shot call to action with around 500 of our 1200 strong database replying with updated contact details. We had many ‘return to sender’ letters back and unfortunately, we had to take the rather brutal decision of removing those people from the database as there was no other way of contacting these people. We currently have 488 members on the original version of database. In the past month or so, everybody on that database would have been sent communication regarding the impending launch of our new look website and data capture form, MailChimp. This is a secure site which helps us gather your contact information so we can continue sending you The Rocket and any other news and events in the future. This data capture service is completely safe and widely used by other big organisations in the same way. So far, we have had just over 100 people sign-up to the new

database, with other members appearing each day. If you have not signed up already or know somebody who has not and really should, give them a nudge for us! Another area bubbling in the background is our new social media accounts. SOSA has an official Facebook page which you can find by searching ‘Sibford Old Scholars Association’ on the platform, a Twitter profile which you can find by searching for the handle @SibfordS or SOSA and an Instagram page which you can find by searching ‘sibfordoldscholars’.We are always looking for new content to post, so if you have any news, stories or ideas please get in touch with Holly at sosa.membership.secretary 1903@gmail.com or private message on any of those platforms and we can start a conversation!

SOSA – Accounts 2019/20 – Financial Report

Background This report to the accounts for the year ending 31st March 2020 whilst written in unprecedented times covers what was a normal year of activity in SOSA. Whilst much activity has happened elsewhere the financial activity has remained steady. The report concludes with a brief note regarding the Elm which as a reminder is the small plot of land at the crossroads as you leave the village of Sibford Ferris towards Banbury. Results – Profit and Loss The attached accounts show a healthy surplus of £2,404 for the year. Income is derived from annual subscriptions (£6,240) donations and the annual reunion (£1,110). Expenditure was incurred from the production of the magazine, admin costs, annual reunion (£2,543) which when set against the income for this event showed a loss of £1,443, pupil support and a charity football match (£300). This left a total £12,891 in the current account and £9,707 in the deposit account with an accumulated fund of £22,598 a healthy position.

The future As others will report more fully a number of activities are planned for the forthcoming year including a new web site, and magazine which will impact on the accounts, however it was the view of the Committee when they met in June that they should not take receipt of the annual subscription from the School in these unusual times recognising that SOSA’s activities will be curtailed and the undoubted pressure the School may experience during and after the pandemic. The funds of SOSA are sufficient to withstand this. SOSA has also moved to electronic banking allowing prompt payment and review of transactions. The Elm I thought it appropriate to report on the Elm which each year is listed on the accounts. This small plot of land referred to previously in this report has been in the ownership of SOSA for many years and the Trustees of this land are Peter Robinson, Edd Frost and Tom Williams. During the year, the wall to the site was damaged in a vehicle incident, fortunately no one was hurt and the repairs to the wall were covered by the insurers of the vehicles involved. We are also grateful that the grounds staff at Sibford School continue to maintain the site.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31ST MARCH 2020 INCOME

to 31.03.2020

12 months to 31.03.2019

Annual Subscriptions

£6,240

£211

Business Investment Account Interest

£9

£1

Annual Reunion

£1,110

£721

Donations and sales

£253

£11,630

TOTAL INCOME

£7,612

£12,563

Magazine

-£534

-£1,253

Administration Costs

-£331

-£1,440

Annual Reunion

-£2,543

£0

Pupil Support

-£1,500

£0

Charity

-£300

£0

Total expenditure

-£5,208

-£2,693

Excess Income over expenditure

£2,404

£9,870

Current Account as at 31st March 2020

£12,891

£10,496

Deposit Account as at 31 March 2020

£9,707

£9,698

EXPENDITURE

SCHOOL LIAISON REPORT My first year as School Liaison was really an extension of my two years as President, in my efforts to bring the school and SOSA closer, contribute to having a presence at events and make sure that the new Old Scholars know who we are. Unfortunately, with this year’s pandemic we have not been able to do much at all. The Angus Oakey football match was postponed to next year from March, and my visits to the school were curtailed. So as far as that is concerned there is not much to report, although I have kept in touch. The Rocket, although being moved from a December publishing date, took a little longer to compile and subsequently publish. The magazine was successfully put out on ISSUU primarily, announced on social media. We delayed the production of the printed magazine until the printers were able to do it, and we were able to get it into the envelopes and sent from school as usual.

I had enormous help from Harriet Canavan who collated and where we co-edited the magazine. We both liaised with printers, both putting up with my newness on the job, and thank you Toby, Nikki, and Michelle for helping stuff, label and post the mag. Thank you all, I appreciate it. Now we just need the content for the next one …

On their last day of Sixth Form, Year 13 played the annual Angus Oakey memorial football match against Year 12, with the leavers coming out on top. A beautiful afternoon saw a wide range of recent scholars return to Sibford to commemorate and remember Angus, a Sibford Sixth Former who died in March 2016 from acute myeloid leukaemia while still a pupil at the school. Pupils then enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea and were inducted into the Sibford Old Scholars’ Association (SOSA) before leaving campus for the last time.

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE FOR 2020/21 PRESIDENT

GENERAL SECRETARY & MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY

Navid Sadrzehan (31/8.22) SOSA.President1903

Julie Greenhill (co-opted) (31/8.22) SOSA.General.Secretary1903 SOSA. Membership.Secretary1903

VICE PRESIDENT

RETIRING PRESIDENT

Holly Poncini (31/8.22) SOSA.Vice.President1903

Harriet Langridge (31/8.22) SOSA.Retiring.President1903 SOSA.Rocket.Editor1903 SOSA.School.Liaison.Secretary1903

TREASURER (31/8/21) Peter Robinson SOSA.Treasurer1903

SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE (31/12/23) Holly Poncini SOSA.School.Committee.Rep1903

SOSA COMIMTEE MEMBERS

Margaret Shelley (31/8/23) SOSA.Committee.MemberA1903

Paul Frampton (31/8/21)

SCHOOL MEMBERS

2022 COMMITTEE VACANCIES

Vacant (31/8/22)

Interested in supporting old and present students of Sibford School? Want to share your experiences with others of the ‘good ol’ days’? Are you looking to connect with old friends and have the opportunity to make new ones?

Toby Spence Head

We have some vacancies on the Sibford Old Scholars’ Association committee in 2021 including General Secretary, Membership Secretary, Reunion Secretary and 2 Committee Member positions. If you’re interested in any of these opportunities and would like to chat to one of us about what is involved please send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

*Please note that all email addresses end in @gmail.com

We would like to give a huge welcome to SOSA to last year’s leavers, and hope to see them at future events:

Year 11 Leavers: Zhishun (Jason) Yao Serge Fox Louis Bushby Harry Holloway Jack Hutsby Mila Jabb Silas Jack Beau Kinser Toby Lee Oliver Lloyd Archie Main Jared Nash Fox Perry Joshua Rowley Sebastian Sargeant Isobel Bee Freya Burckett Julia Conisbee Catherine Harries-Harris Isabel Hills Evie Levell Maia Luxton Eris Miles Polly George Ralph Scarf

Erin Sharp Emily Sinton Grace Wilce Year 13 Leavers: Maxi Gholam Jiateng Jiang Yuhao (Jerry) Wu Dongcheng (Melvin) Yin Jinchung (Gavin) Zhang Max Haggard Freddie Baker Charlie Bothwell Oliver Burgess Hall Jamie Cooksey Harry Critchfield Ben Epps Louis George Piers George Ethan Hadley Thomas Kitchen Matthew Kinnersley George Nicholls James O’Donnell Michael Phillips

Charlie Robinson Jack Stanton Jonno Todd Jack Wiggington Natalie Pearse ZhiXuan (Amy) Liu Yaohuan (Echo) Xie Olivia Carey Lottie Clarke Anna Cook Freya Dibling Amelia Dunnett Scarlett Fowler Anoushka George Charlotte Harries-Harris Harriet Homewood Jessica Main Grace Marot Emma Mortimer Katie Pamphlett Gabriella Reeve Esther Rippon Emily Rodwell