News Archive Jan to Dec 2001

Some recent additions to the Website include:

Under the PTA page - Information of the 'Art by Association Exhibition'

'Blue Pool' - oil painting by Fran Haine - a parent

Shoe Boxes Galore

Friends' School Wins the United Nations Quiz 2001

The 11th Strachan trophy quiz, run by the Saffron Walden and District Branch of the United Nations association was held on the 6th November. The teams contesting the trophy were Friends' School, Helena Romanes School, Saffron Walden County High School and Newport Free Grammar School. After an evening spent answering some very difficult questions on topics such as World History and Geography, World organisations, World leaders, Flags and the United Nations, the team from Friends' school, Ben Ball, Raza Anjum, Aaron Titmus and Leo Capella, emerged as winners with the County High and Helena Romanes in joint second place.

Mayoral Scoop! November 2001

Chris Bailey, Mayor of Saffron Walden, was in the hot seat this week at Friends' School.

Year 8 pupils are publishing their own newspapers as part of their English Studies under the guidance of their teacher Lesley McLean.

The interviews were very informal and were conducted by the 'reporters' from each of the news teams. Questions were asked about the recent flooding in Saffron Walden, how she came to be Mayor, and the pros and cons of the job.

"It was absolutely excellent," said Lesley McLean, "Chris Bailey was so friendly to the pupils and so approachable. The pupils were particularly impressed at seeing the human side of local politics. They were even allowed to try on the Mayoral Chain of Office and she explained the significance of the different parts of the chain"

 

Former pupil of the school Martha Holmes is the Producer of 2 of the 8 programmes in the BBC series The Blue Planet' shown in September/October 2001. She has produced the programmes 'Frozen Seas' and 'Coral Seas' and is co-author of the BBC book which accompanies this series.

Martha Holmes was a pupil at Friends' School from 1971 to 1976

Martha Holmes specialised in marine biology and gained her PhD at the University of York. She started work with the BBC in 1988 presenting programmes such as Reefwatch, a live underwater broadcast from the northern Red Sea, and the award-winning wildlife adventures series Sea Trek. She worked in Antarctica for Sir David Attenborough's Life In The Freezer and has produced a number of other natural history films, such as Hippos - Out Of Water, Deadly Liaisons and Otters - The Truth. More recently, she produced the ground-breaking film Wildlife Special - Polar Bear. She joined The Blue Planet team as a producer in 1997.

For Details of Martha Holmes latest book 'The Blue - Life at the Poles' click here

National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day, 4th October 2001, was celebrated in morning assembly by the pupils of Friends' School Saffron Walden.

 

 

Andrea Harrison, English teacher at the school, organised the assembly. There was a video presentation of a 'typical' poetry reading session followed by Year 7 reading some of their own work.

"I was really proud of the way Year7 rose to the occasion," said Mrs Harrison, "They have only been in the school a matter of weeks and were very nervous of being involved in morning assembly. They had been studying and writing their own poems in class and I felt National Poetry Day was the ideal opportunity to share these poems with the school as a whole to show that poetry can be fun"

Not only were the youngest pupils at Friends' School involved in this assembly, but Matthew Simper, a sixth former, won a well deserved round of applause when he made his entrance. In a long coat, with wig of long curly hair, he had become a poet of the romantic tradition and took centre stage proclaiming their poetry with great aplomb.

Poetry was certainly fun that morning!

Quaker Pilgrimage September 2001

 

 

The sixth form students at Friends' School Saffron Walden are given the opportunity each year to take part in the Quaker Schools Pilgrimage. This is an annual event to allow them to explore the origins of Quakerism in the North West of England, just south of the Lake District.

 

 

5 students from Friends' School, accompanied by John Searle-Barnes, a senior teacher at the school, joined similar groups from other Friends' Schools.

The visit was based at an Old Meeting House in Yealand Conyers, near Carnforth, and trips were organised to places which hold special significance in the early history of the Society of Friends. Notable amongst these were Swarthmoor Hall where George Fox lived, and Pendle Hill and Firbank Fell where he began his ministry.

 

 

The Quaker Pilgrimage gave the students time to reflect on the direction of their lives, particularly at the point of leaving school and choosing university courses. In effect, the trip was a sort of retreat; a weekend away from humdrum living when there was space to reflect on what is really important in life.

Sixth Form Activity Weekend September 2001

 

 

The new sixth formers at Friends' School Saffron Walden have just spent the weekend at the Bowles Activity Centre, Tonbridge Wells, Kent. Altogether 15 students were involved along with two members of staff.

Many different outdoor activities were attempted: skiing, rock climbing, orienteering and a High Rope Challenge.

Len Mead, Chemistry teacher and one of the accompanying staff, said, "It was not a case of seeing if you could beat all the other students. Rather, it was about personal drive, about whether the students would push themselves beyond their own perceived abilities"

 

 

Gemma Wathelet, one of the students involved said, " It was not as bad as I had thought it would be! Looking back on it really did make us prove something to ourselves as well as learning to work with other people".

"It was fun," said Wendy Palmer, "even though I was a bit apprehensive at first. The best bit was the rock climbing session. I had done some climbing on an artificial wall but it was wonderful to climb on real rocks. The worst bit was definitely the High Ropes Activity! The ropes swayed alarmingly, the wind was blowing in my face and I crawled along. But I did finish the course!"

Bangs and Bounces Start Science Year

300 pupils and staff at Friends' School Saffron Walden and Gibson House celebrated the beginning of Science Year on Friday 7th September with a 'Giant Jump'.

The 'Giant Jump' was organised as a national initiative to celebrate not only the launch of Science Year but also the roles of creativity and experimentation in science. The Jump took place at thousands of locations across the UK where those involved had to jump for one minute starting at 11.00am.

Dr. Len Mead, who teaches Chemistry at the school said, "We are hoping that there were sufficient numbers of people jumping throughout the UK today to set two world records: the first for the Largest Simultaneous Jump ever undertaken and the second for the Largest Mass Participation Experiment."

The Science Department at FSSW not only organised the school's involvement in this national activity but also had already started with school day with an 'explosive' assembly.

Julie Anderson, Science teacher at Friends' School, said, " Dr. Mead wanted to ensure Science Year started with a BANG so with the aid of some of the sixth-formers he made sure that it did!"

Janice Weatherall 07/09/01

 

Leys Challenge

Rachel Bloomfield, Tom Dickinson, Myles Hancock and Alice Trowsdale, all Year 7 pupils, were accompanied by their teacher Julie Anderson.

The team of 4 took part in a series of 3 challenges involving aspects of Chemistry, Biology and Physics as well as requiring skills of design and innovation.

The theme to all 3 challenges was "Copper" … this turned out to mean both copper as a metal and as another word for policeman.

The pupils worked tirelessly throughout the day and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

 

"Although the team did not win any one of the three individual challenges, the consistent performance meant that when the overall winners were announced we had in fact achieved 2nd Place", said Julie Anderson.

" And we were very pleased to receive a special mention for the 'team spirit' shown by the Friends' School pupils throughout the activities."

 

Andy has a B.Ed from London University and MA in Education Management from the University of Hertfordshire. He started his teaching career in a state school in London, was Course Director at the Outward Bound School in Aberdovey, before moving to an independent boarding school in Hertfordshire, where he was a Housemaster and Head of P.E. He was Deputy Head at Oswestry School, an independent 3 – 18 day and boarding school in Shropshire.

Andy and his wife Hazel have two children, Bethan and Ryan, who have joined the junior school, and the family are resident in school. Andrew's leisure activities include outdoor pursuits, competing in full distance triathlons and playing the guitar and mandolin in a ceilidh band.