Larkhall News March 2014

larKhall news

the

issue 25

Written and produced by St Mark’s and The Valley Schools

Festival Fun in LarkhallGet Creative & Crafty at St Mark’s

Larkhall In Time Exhibition

School ReportsNew Headteacher for St Mark’s

Swainswick Primary Celebrates 150 Years

The St Stephen’s Technological Dream

St Saviour’s Infants Burn London

St Saviour’s Juniors’ Dramatic Tale

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in this iSSue

St Mark’s School News

Valley Schools News

Legends of Larkhall

Larkhall Festival 2014

Open Studios 2014

Community News &Reviews

Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the au-thors. The publisher does not accept responsibility for anyinaccuracies or errors in content. Whilst every reasonable careis taken, the publisher shall not be held liable for any loss oc-casioned by the failure of an advertisement to appear, or anydamage or inconvenience caused by errors, omissions or mis-prints.

The Larkhall News is a not-for-profit enterprisepublished by St Mark’s School, Bath. Our nextissue will be out Summer 2014.

Editorial:Contact us on 01225 478416 or at St Mark’sSchool on 01225 312661.

Advertising:Contact Paula Hawkins, St Mark’s School, Bay Tree Road, Larkhall, Bath,BA1 6ND Tel: 01225 312661 or email, [email protected]

The Larkhall News is available online at:

www.st-marks.org.uk

Our humble schoolmagazine reaches its25th edition today. I amproud of its achieve-ments and the hardwork that a team ofvery dedicated peoplehave put into it and I

am still excited about its future and the op-portunities that it can provide to the chil-dren and young people of our community.

This year, for the first time, our magazineis brought to you in the beauty of techni-colour! ‘About time’ you may say, but as anot-for profit enterprise, our priority hasalways been to offer value for money toour advertisers without compromising onthe quality of our magazine and the spaceavailable to our young reporters to show-case their work.

With the help of our Valley School Part-ners, our advertisers and sponsors, I amabsolutely thrilled that we have managedto finally move beyond black and whiteand embrace the diversity and fragrance ofcolour!

Change is also on its way for St Mark’sSchool as we welcome a new Headteacherfrom September 2014. Mr Barnaby Ashwill be re-locating to the West Countryfrom London over the summer, ready tostart his new post in the autumn term. Hisvision is quite clearly for an outstandingsecondary school in our community andwe are all very excited by his appointment.

It does not go without saying that we areapproaching the Larkhall Festival and I amvery pleased to see a programme full offabulous events and activities right on thedoor step. The full programme is availableon the St Mark’s School website so if youhaven’t already got a copy, you can down-load one from there.

St Mark’s School will be hosting its annualCreative and Crafty workshops forchildren to come along and enjoy with theusual café serving treats to eat. In addition,there will be two exhibitions of artworkand I would urge you all to come alongand see the amazing work that has beencreated.

This year, we have worked on two verydifferent projects, the first is reflective ofour school community and has beencreated with the help of local artists DawnLippiatt and Simon Hodges and the otheris reflective (quite literally) of our localcommunity, made possible by thegenerous support of Bath In Time andauthor, Paul De’Ath. Turn to page 6 formore information.

Happy Festivalling one and all!

Paula

Welcome‘Change in all things is sweet’ - Aristotle.

Tel: 01225 312661 or email, [email protected]


St Mark’s school

This September, St Mark’s will have a newHeadteacher. Mr Barnaby Ash will be joining StMark’s School from his current post at Black-heath Bluecoat School in Greenwich, London.He has already visited the school on a numberof occasions, most recently to speak toprospective parents and parents of our new Year7s, who will also be joining the school in September.

The Larkhall News reporters had an interview with Mr Ash to ask him a fewquestions about his plans for the future of St Mark’s and how he will enhanceour school and local community.

Mr Ash took up a career in teaching as a result of his love of sport. He becamea Teacher of PE and from there he worked up to become a senior leader andeventually a Headteacher.

Speaking of his vision for St Mark’s, he said, “I would like to make St Mark’san outstanding school. St Mark’s is a school with a very warm and friendlyatmosphere and I would like it to become the school of choice for the localarea. The children here are happy which is important and I’m looking forwardto developing the opportunities for them and making school a fun, yetchallenging place to be.”

Mr Ash will be visiting the school again in the summer term, providing anopportunity for parents and carers to also meet with him and talkabout St Mark’s School and his plans for making it even better.4

by Chris Ryan, Head of School

I wonder if when leaving a hotel you havecompleted one of those ubiquitouscustomer feedback surveys? It seems thateverywhere one turns businesses are ask-ing us to rate their product or service. Letme assure you that this phenomenon alsohappens in schools. At St Mark’s, weannually survey all students in order toglean their opinions of our work and howwe can improve all aspects of our work:teaching, toilets, school dinners or theschool environment.

I am proud to say that out of this workand the realisation that, quite frequently,the customer does know best, we decidedto launch a ‘Learning to Lead’programme. This now nationally recog-nised scheme was conceived at The BlueSchool, Wells. It involves a few membersof staff training students in the art ofleadership. Students learn how to formcommittees, write agendas and chairmeetings, lobby for change and fundraise.We started the process by surveying ourstudents as to what they liked about our

school and what they would like to seeimproved.

Suffice to say the scheme has provedpopular with our students where currentlywe have the following teams: TheMilkshake Crew (it does what it says onthe carton), Indoor Decor team, theRadio Team and a Comic Team; ablysupported by Steve the proprietor of theComic Store in Walcot Street.

All of the teams aim to make life at schoolbetter and/or more exciting for allstudents. The Radio Team have createdand broadcast a number of humorous,Pythonesque news programmes, whichhave been screened at school assemblies- much to the delight of all students. TheIndoor Decor crew have re-painted a setof girls’ toilets, which are now a delightfulshade of lilac.

The scheme is now about to expand andwe will be bringing online another threeor four teams including Free Running. Iam having cold sweats already wonderingabout the health and safety aspects of thisparticular venture, but I guess thecustomer knows best!

Ever wondered what Allen and Harris Estate Agents use to be?Or what was at the junction of Cleveland Place to control trafficin 1929? Or what St Mark’s School looked like – without theschool?

Children at St Mark’s and St Saviour’s Juniors have been workingtogether to create a unique exhibition of images and photo-graphs for this year’s Larkhall Festival.

The project, supported by Bath in Time and local author, PaulDe’Ath, has been organised as a collaborative event for childrenin Years 7 and 4, to encourage them to take a closer look at theirlocal community, studying old photographs of the area andcomparing it to today. Using photographs from the Bath inTime collection and images from the personal collection ofPaul, the children have been asked to re-photograph the scenein 2014 to see how a landscape and community can evolve andchange.

This fascinating exhibition of their work will be held on Satur-day 3 May from 11am – 3pm at St Mark’s School as part of theOpen Studios Trail.

The schools would like to thank Bath in Time, Paul De’Ath,The Larkhall History Society and Bryan Chalker for their kindloan of historical images.

Larkhall In TimeNEw Head forSt Mark’s

PICtured:

Above: A very ear ly view of Larkhall. Below: the construction

of St Mark’s School. Both images will be featured in this

year’s exhibition at St Mark’s School, May 3rd.

Below left: Mr Barnaby Ash, new Headteacher for St Mark’s

School from September 2014.

by Sam and Toby


St Saviour’sJuniors

St Saviour’s Infants & NurseryANDREW PEPYS by Andrew

In our class we have been learning about the Great Fire of London andhow Samuel Pepys kept a diary. I thought I would become AndrewPepys and write a diary about our school.

During our topic we wrote a diary extract for each day of the fire onold looking paper stained with tea. We made 3D Tudor houses out ofboxes and then put them together to make London Town. We all linedup and watched the houses burn and sang ‘London’s burning’ Insteadof saying ‘fetch the engine’ we changed the words to ‘fetch the buckets’because this was 1666 and there were no fire engines. We made infor-mation booklets and did lots of Drama and hot seating. We even wroteour own stories about being on a school trip and travelling back in timeto the Great Fire we were helping Samuel Pepys bury his wine andcheese and helped James I make a deci-sion about using gun powder to blow upthe houses to try and stop the firespreading.

Our new topic is going to be Pirates andvolcanoes. Oscar is already a bit of anexpert, he says, “Lava comes from theEarth’s core and when they don’t eruptfor a while they are called a dormantvolcano.”

iPAD FUN by Zerryn

At St. Saviour’s we use iPads for lots of our learning and for fun! Weuse iPads to research animals for our Literacy. My favourite app isA.L.E.X. because you get to learn about directions. We didn’t even re-alise we were doing maths during A.L.E.X. until our teacher Sara toldus!

Daisy said, “My favourite game is Taco monster because I like cookingand making.”

Amel said, “My favourite app is Hair Salon because you can cut Santa’shair and it is fun!”

Jasmine said, “My favourite app is Kid Doodle because it is fun. Whileyou draw the pens light up!”

Isaac said, “My favourite app is Doodle Maths because you get to learnmaths.”

Everybody loves using the iPads for playing and for learning!

PORRIDGE by Nina and Harvey

‘Porridge’ was the whole school production in which Year 6 starred asthe cast, supported by a chorus and backstage team drawn from Years3 to 5.

The plot revealed the evil Papa Bear trying to take over Happy Valleyand build a giant porridge factory in the forest. Only the detective, JackSpratt, and a few other friends could stop him! It was all organised byour Headteacher Mr. O’Shea and supported by all of the teachers andstaff at our school.

“I have been involved in the productions for the last four years, and Idefinitely thought this one was the best,” said Lily Smith (Jack Spratt).

“I found it exciting performing in front of lots of people!” said SammyWright (Dwayne Pipe).

However, it wasn’t only the cast who earned the audience’s applause. “Ireally enjoyed operating the lighting system with Joyee and Adam,” saidJamie Luton (Lighting crew).

Now we are all looking forward to next year’s grand production!

THE LARKHALL FESTIVAL 2nd - 5th Mayby Leon and Emma

The Larkhall Festival was invented by my (Leon’s) Dad, Nick Bird, andJulia Bowen. They thought of the idea in November 2007 but the firstfestival was in May 2009.

The Larkhall Festival will be mainly held in the New Oriel Hall butspread into other places in Larkhall, for example: St. Saviour’s Churchand St. Mark’s School.

There is an Alice in Wonderland theme in 1 or 2 activities this year butthere will also be other themes for different activities. There will be lotsof stalls, games, food, raffles and many other things happening in thisyear’s festival. The arts and crafts will be in St. Mark’s school, St. Sav-iours’ Church and the New Oriel Hall. This year it is also the New OrielHall’s 10th birthday so there will be a big party there.

The Larkall Festival committee, who are volunteers, help out with theLarkhall Festival and make sure everything runs smoothly.

You must come to the 2014 Larkhall Festival because you will have great

fun!

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PICtured:

Above right: London’s burning. Above: Andrew Pepys.

Below: Zerr yn tests out the iPads!


Local artists Simon Hodges and DawnLippiatt have been working with Year 7pupils at St Mark’s School to createindividual pieces of art that celebrate allthat is great about the school.

Working initially with the English department, the childrenhave been involved in ‘Word Workshops’ to build a list ofmeaningful words that describe how they feel about theirschool.

Over a series of art workshops run by Dawn and Simon,the children will be expected to turn these words into indi-vidual pieces of art using a range of techniques and styles.Each piece will be exhibited for visitors to select theirfavourites, so that the most popular can be turned into abigger outdoor installation in the summer.

The project is one of a series organised by the school andartists from the Larkhall Open Studios in the lead up to theLarkhall Festival. It provides an opportunity for young peo-ple to work alongside professional artists and use their cre-ativity to produce an installation that celebrates thecommunity.

Organiser, Paula Hawkins from St Mark’s School, said,“Our collaboration with the Open Studios artists continuesto grow year on year and I’m so pleased that Simon andDawn are joining our school once again to take part in thisproject. Sharing skills, knowledge and experience in thisway, allows the children to have huge amounts of fun whilstlearning about art and the different mediums throughwhich they can express themselves.”

“It’s not just about creating a wonderful piece of art for

the community to enjoy,but also giving themunique experiences andownership of their envi-ronment. I’m really looking forward to seeing the finalpiece on the front of the main building at St Mark’s laterthis year!”

Artist, Simon Hodges, said, “Whilst this is the third yearthat I have taken part in a project with children at St Mark'sit is still a challenge for an artist who likes to work alone. Ialways think of my art teacher at school who, when I lookback didn't teach me anything I can remember, but had agenuine enthusiasm for art in all it's shapes and forms andencouraged a need to try and if necessary fail in an effortto achieve something good.”

“He provided materials and gave me the confidence to try.It has taken me a long time to begin to take this philosophyon board again and if I do nothing else it is to pass on thisdesire to give it a 'genuine' go even if it may not result in afinal picture or design first time.”

Dawn added, “I think that working in school as an artist isa very symbiotic relationship in that I learn as much fromthe children as I hope that they do from me.”

“I’m a great believer of learning through play and I stillhaven’t stopped! Frankly I have no idea what the final out-come of this work will look like. I do however know thatit will be the children who made it and not me, not Simonand not the staff.”

“Hopefully it will develop self confidence in what the chil-dren can achieve, a sense of joy at its boldness by their con-temporaries and pride from the families and localcommunity.”

(Opposite St Saviour’s Church)

St Mark’s Through The Eyes of the beholder

PICtured:

Simon Hodges and

Hayley during one of the

ar t workshops at

St Mark’s School


by Miguel and Joseph

Two local school boys, Laurie Maylor andTobias Little, from St Mark’s, are joining aChristian project run by the Urban Saintsfoundation. In April of 2014 they will travel toMexico, where they and a group of other youngpeople will spend 10 days involving themselvesin the local community and constructing ahouse for an under-privileged family.

The pair will have their work cut out, and that’seven before they go to Mexico. Between them,they need to reach a target of £2,600 fromfundraising, a target of which they have reachedthe halfway mark. We decided to interview theduo to ask them some questions about theirjourney.

Q: What are your motivations?A: “We want to help people who aren’t as luckyas us and haven’t been born into a society likethe UK’s, but instead into a world full ofpoverty and crime.

Q: What do you hope toachieve?A: “It’s our aim to provide notjust shelter, a basic humanright, but also love, to peoplearound the world. It’s alsobeneficial for us to experienceother cultures and hopefullytake something back from thistrip. I want to get a supersizeMcDonalds whilst we’re thereas well!” – Toby

Q: Do you have any fears or worries about thistrip?A: “Yeah, but we’ve got to look past those. I’mworried about the climate and mosquitos; I’mnot good in hot places.” – Laurie

Q: How are you raising the money for this trip,and where is it going?A: “We’re doing a lot of different things. We’redoing bike rides and other tough physicalchallenges and hoping people sponsor us. Wealso do cake sales at our school. The money will

go to supplies and materials used to constructthe houses, as well as the costs of plane tickets.”– Toby

The boys have a tough task ahead of them, butwith support from the amazing localcommunity of Larkhall and through their owndedication to this good cause, they should beable to reach their goal and spend time helpingothers. We wish them the best of luck in theirnoble cause, and implore you to donate eventhe smallest amount of your money to theirproject. All support is greatly appreciated notjust by them but by the people it will benefit

over in impoverished parts of the world.

Re-Build Mexico -The Larkhall Link

PICtured:

toby and Laurie with their home-made cakes at St Mark’s.

Enquiries


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Larkhall FestivalThe annual Larkhall Festival takes place on 2nd – 5th May, starting onFriday evening with the popular Choirs by Fire, come and listen to localtalented choirs.

The grand opening will be at 12 noon on Saturday 3rd May. This yearwe are pleased to announce that our local fabulous fashionista JeanWoods has agreed to cut the ribbon.

The ever-popular Craft Market will now take place on both Saturdayand Sunday. To book a table send an email, address below. The childrenalso get a chance to be creative with arts & crafts workshops at St Mark’sSchool, St Saviour’s Church and New Oriel Hall.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the opening of the New Oriel Halland to celebrate, they are throwing a party. As with everything atLarkhall Festival this is free, so come along to eat cake and dance thenight away.

Saturday’s Food Festival in the Larkhall Inn garden includes a bakingcompetition, open to all ages. Bring your masterpiece along to the gar-den on Saturday 3rd May.

On Sunday 4th May the NOH car park will once again be transformedin to Larkhall Village Green with circus skills, a dog show, martial arts,maypole and more. At the same time there will be bands playing overthe wall in the Larkhall Inn Garden.

Local artists will be exhibiting their work both in the NOH and in var-ious open studios throughout Larkhall. Also, not to be missed is the op-portunity to visit some lovely gardens. Details on a map in theprogramme.

In addition to this we have stand-up comedy, shop window dressing,treasure hunt, church tower tours, gospel singing, paint the park, gurningand a cockney sing-along.

It is all rounded off with a big party in Alice Park on Monday 5th Maywith bands, food, children’s activities and the ever popular boules tour-nament.

The Festival could do with your help:-Donate a raffle prizeDonate money Give 1 hour of your time volunteering at the Festival

All timings and events are detailed in the programme and were correctat the time of printing; any changes will be on our websitewww.larkhall-festival.org.uk.

To contact the Festival organisers email [email protected]

Get Creative and Crafty Saturday 3rd May at St Mark’s SchoolGet creative and crafty at St Mark's School Main Hall on Sat-urday 3rd May from 11am - 3pm as we let our hands do thetalking and the making!

There will be a range of art and creative projects for childrento get messy, with something for all tastes and skill levels socome along and get mucky!

The St Mark’s Cafe, serving snacks from 11am - 2pm, allowsparents to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee with some home-baked treats whilst the children enjoy the activities on offer.

There will also be a summer BBQ from 12pm for those whoare slightly more peckish!

A small charge will be payable on the door for creative work-shops to cover the cost of materials only. We will be usingrecyclable materials where possible.

Booking is not required, just come along and join in!

Get Creative & Craftyat St Mark’s SchoolSaturday 3 May 11am-3pm

www.larkhall-festival.org.uk


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Open Studios

Open Studios this year promises all the visual diversity of previous yearswith the addition of new artists, reflecting the breadth of artistic talentin this unique corner of Bath. Ironart will be opening up their newlyrefurbished workshop for the first time and you can follow their in-volvement in Open Studios via their blog and newsletter. Ilene Sternswill enlighten photography enthusiasts with her unique photographyusing a Holga camera, as Ilene explains ‘. . . Holga photographs are likedreams or visions — places where reality is suspended and the imagi-nation takes over.’

This year Ilene is teaming up with painter Mark Gale at DeborahKeiller’s Open Studio whilst Sarah Targett will be curating the New OrielHall group exhibition. Sarah is a talented print maker and member ofThe Bath Society of Artists. Sarah will be showcasing some new artistsalongside more familiar names. Sadly we will be saying goodbye to oneestablished artist, notably Rick Sanderson one of the founder membersof The Larkhall Open Studios. Rick has left a legacy that goes beyondthe Open Studios. He encouraged everyone who visited his studio toappreciate the gift of art and this is reflected in his parting thoughts tothe Open Studio Trail.

‘. . . For me, painting is for people of all walks of life and level of artexperience. There is immediacy in painting that can only be translatedinto words with the proviso that words are only an attempt to interpretand share the experience. By its nature, painting is a language of oursenses, to engage with and explore, each from our own perspective.”

Rick is moving west to Land’s End in Cornwall but will be maintaininglinks with Larkhall and would certainly welcome visitors to his newstudio.

In November Ione Parkin exhibited her solo show at the Victoria ArtGallery. A member of the RWA, Ione has her work exhibited in publicand private exhibitions internationally. There will be the opportunity tospeak to Ione about her solo show over the weekend and the prospectof exhibiting in commercial galleries in New York.

Bath Printmakers are celebrating their 30th anniversary; their involve-ment with the Open Studios Trail coincides with an exhibition of theirprints at The RUH.

Visit Rosie at Crockadoodledo to find out about the fun to be had forparticipants of all ages creating your own ceramics. Elsewhere art work-shops for children are being held at St Mark’s to engage the youngeraudience. There is so much more to see. With beautiful views to enjoyen route the Open Studios is not to be missed!

The exhibition runs from the 3rd to the 5th May 2014 at various venuesin and around Larkhall. Full details of times and locations can be foundon the website. Look out for the brochures being distributed aroundLarkhall and Bath in the coming month and for the April edition ofThe Local Look magazine.

www.larkhallopenstudios.com

PICtured FrOM tOPLeFt, CLOCKWISe:

Alice Park, Olive Webb, Simon Hodges, Ironar t and

Creative and Crafty at St Mark’s School


The history of Alice Park and its creator, Herbert Mont-gomery MacVicar, has been well documented in theLarkhall News over the past few years and the relatively un-known Alice brought into focus. Frances Alice HarrietMacVicar (nee Wallis) has also emerged from the shadowsto be revealed as a beauty, born on July 14, 1883 and dyingtragically young on 27 November, 1936, leaving a distraughthusband, Herbert, or Bertie, as he was known affectionately,to create a park in her memory in 1938. That former tractof grazing land was gradually transformed into Alice Parkand opened to the public on 28 May of that year.

Alice and Herbert MacVicar were well-connected peopleand numbered among their friends such luminaries as leg-endary cricketer, W.G. Grace and famed authoress, AgathaChristie. It is known that Queen Mary visited Alice Park ona number of occasions and actually planted a tree there.

Of the many features installed in the Park for the benefitof the public at large, including a play area for children, ten-nis courts and tea room, perhaps the most poignant of allwas a flag-pole, the flag of which was intended to be low-ered every 27 November to honour Alice’s memory. Theflag-pole was erected a few yards inside the Park’s main gateon Gloucester Road, Lower Swainswick, and can be clearlyseen in early photographs. An old millstone, no doubt re-trieved from the nearby Lambridge Mill, the ruins of whichcan still be seen in the grounds of Pitman Court, was usedas a solid base for the flag-pole but, where the pole oncestood, a large tree now stands in its place. The millstone,however, remains intact and will hopefully be retrieved indue course and used as the base for a replacement pole.This ‘new’ flag-pole will take the form of a ship’s mast, do-nated to the project by fellow Lambridge councillor, DaveLaming and currently stored in a yard close to DeadmillLane.

Another project in hand is the creation of a small memorialgarden within Alice Park to commemorate the two WorldWars, using the flag-pole as a focal point and honouring thelate Herbert MacVicar’s wish to have it lowered to half-maston 27 November each year in memory of Alice.

BEAUTY OF BATH

Alice was just 53 when she died but, in 1936, this would nothave been deemed out of the ordinary. In 2014, however,we look upon such a life-span as relatively short. TheMacVicars were, by all accounts, a devoted couple, whoadored children but were childless, save, it is rumoured, fora baby which died at birth.

The MacVicars were wealthy, even by today’s standards, andwhen Alice died, Herbert lavished a staggering £350,000creating Alice Park as a lasting memorial to his loving wife,a true beauty of Bath.

A number of early photographs have emerged of AliceMacVicar and it is felt that one of them should be digitallyrestored, framed and hung in the All-Organic Café (for-merly named the Jellicoe Tea Pavilion), together with a pho-tograph of Queen Mary visiting the Park in 1941.

With the gracious help of Bath & North East SomersetCouncil, it is hoped that the memorial garden, situated closeto the Larkhall Community Garden, will be completed byAugust to commemorate the outbreak of the Great War in1914 and either a Union flag or flag of St. George will againfly from the pole to honour Alice MacVicar and remind thepublic of the heritage of this wonderful public green space.It is hoped that pupils from St Mark’s School will maintainthe War Memorial Garden and perhaps either Tony Hick-man or Russ Crook, of the All-Organic Café, can take re-sponsibility for lowering the flag on 27 November each year.

Cllr. Bryan Chalker, B&NES Member Champion for Heritage & Historic Environment,focuses once again on the lady who gave her name to Alice Park and highlights twofascinating future projects relating to her . . .

Alice MacVicar Re-Visited

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PICtured:

Left: Alice MacVicar - a

beauty of Bath.

right: the flagpole as it

was but a mature tree

has replaced it.


ASHMAN JONES VETS

It has been almost four years since practice ownersMurray Jones and Pippa Ashman first opened thedoors of Ashman Jones Veterinary Centre on theLondon Road. From humble beginnings of twovets and three part-time receptionists, they havegrown into a team of three vets, three vet nurses,three receptionists, a complementary medicineveterinarian and a consultant animal behaviourist!

Opened in January 2014, Ashman Jones Widcombehas now been around for nearly three months, butfrom the moment they put up the sign for a futurevet practice, they have been welcomed into thecommunity with open arms. Ashman Jones’ ethoshas always been to be a personal vets that you can

get to know, and to see it reciprocated by the local area is ajoy to any business.

Since the beginning, Ashman Jones have always tried to findnew ways to suit their customers and pets’ needs. FromMarch, Ashman Jones London Road became the onlypractice in Bath to opens its doors 7 days a week.

Though only being open a few years, Ashman Jones has hadmore than its fair share of awards. First winning the StartUp Business award in the Bath Chronicle, they have goneon to win 2nd Most Loved Vets in the UK for both 2012and 2013 (this year’s is still being counted).

If you would like to join an award-winning vet practice thatis open every day of the week then pop into either surgerytoday or give us a ring.

As Murray puts it, “We understand that many people in Bathprefer a small, personal service from vets they can get toknow well.”

Business News

Local business people and community groups were recentlyinvited to attend a free business breakfast aimed at bringingthe business community of Larkhall together in a uniquenetworking forum. The event was hosted and organised bySt Mark’s School in Larkhall, Bath on Thursday 23 January.

Speaking at the event was Richard Tidswell, of BusinessDoctors and Louise Ladbrooke of Business West.

“Focusing on creating andmaintaining business plansfor small businesses, Richardprovided an insightful andinteresting presentation tostimulate strategic thinkingand future proofing,” saidPaula Hawkins from StMark’s School.

“For many small businessowners, regularly spendingtime on their business ratherthan in it can be difficult andoften time is consumed in theday to day operations andrunning of the business,” saidRichard. “However, findingthe time to plan ahead,developing a clear strategicplan for the business andsetting yourself measurableobjectives is invaluable.”

Growth Manager for Business West, Louise Ladbrookesupported Richard’s presentation.

Louise complimented the school’s efforts to bring thecommunity together at such an event, “My congratulationsto St Mark’s School on such a successful event, there wassuch a buzz in the room and I was very happy to be partof it.”

Speaking of future events planned, Paula said, “As well asthe obvious gain for our students we hope to developmutually beneficial partnerships and to support one anotherthrough the sharing of ideas and resources.”

“Our next event will be at our new joint sixth form, TheNew Sixth on Tuesday 29 April from 8-10am. Our guestspeaker will be Professor Veronica Hope Hailey, the Deanof the University of Bath School of Management.”

St Mark’s will host the final Business Breakfast of thisacademic year in June with guest speaker Linda Donaldsonfrom Geometry PR.

“Many of our local businesses attending the BusinessBreakfasts have asked for support and advice on theirmarketing and PR strategies and so I am really pleased thatLinda has agreed to come along and provide her expertiseand advice.”

Anyone interested in booking a place should contact PaulaHawkins or Emily Oliver on 01225 312661.

FACILITIES TO HIRESt Mark’s School has indoor and outdoor facilities available to hire at very competitiverates. Please call or email Mrs Hunter on [email protected] or 01225 326604for further information.

www.ashmanjones.co.uk

BUSINESS BREAKFASTS AT ST MARK’S & THE NEW SIXTH

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Have you wondered what Swainswick School is celebratingthis year? Well wonder no further! We have written an articleabout the 150 year anniversary.

150 Years Ago

In 1864, Swainswick School started in the house next doorto the present school. As Ivy and April remember, ‘Lookingdown on our new school, it is giant and way too tall for myliking. Staring up at the big casements (windows) gets meinto trouble. I am Ivy and I’m writing on April’s behalf. Asit says she wasn’t paying attention and has now got a throb-bing hand from the cane. I’m not sure I enjoy education. Ihaven’t met any new children and there are too many rules.’

70 Years Ago

Swainswick School was there in both World Wars. But whathappened in the Second World War?

In 1939, the Second World War broke out and many newchildren arrived for they had been evacuated. The Juniorsand Infants shared the main room and the London childrenhad a smaller room. The Somerset children attended from8am to 12pm. The London children attended 12.15pm to4.15pm. On April 27th 1942 the school was closed for afortnight to be used as rest centre because of the Bath Blitz!

More Recent History!

Our teacher Mrs Warne said that when she was a pupil atSwainswick the Year 3 and 4 classroom was just being builtand there was a climbing frame in the playground. Therewere only two classes, one for infants, one for juniors. Thereis a house opposite to the school (School House) and theHead lived here and there were only four members of staff(including the Head). The way you got to school was bywalking or by bus. The pupils of Swainswick went swim-ming at Colerne Air Hangar. Mrs Grayson, a teachingassistant who has been at the school for a very long time,said that there was no Office or Library. The Year 2 class-room was the office. There were drama days on ManorFarm for all the local schools. On one of these, they actedout the Battle of Lansdown; they even used real cannons!

Swainswick Legacy 150

As Swainswick School is celebrating 150 years, amongst theother celebrations, we thought we should give some moneythat we raised. We wanted to give something back on behalfof all that Swainswick School has provided for children overthe last 150 years.

Four children who used to go to Swainswick School andtwo of their friends are going to St. Michael’s, a school inUganda. The team will go to Uganda and help out with theeducation. The school lacks a lot of things we take forgranted in Britain. To raise money, the boys have done acycle ride from London to Bath.

At Swainswick School we have been raising some money tohelp them get there and have helped a lot. The SchoolCouncil organised a cake sale which raised some money and

our Harvest and Christmas collection went towardsthe fund.

Four of the boys came to talk to us in assembly to tell usabout Uganda and what they were going to be doing at theschool. They wore T-shirts that said ‘a group of motivatedteenagers have a dream of changing lives and making betterones’.

The Climbing Frame Project

This all began when Zac designed a poster and won £100from a safety competition. The children in School Councildiscussed how we could spend it to improve safety at theschool. Then people started signing a petition for a climbingframe, so they could have a safe place to climb in school.School Council asked the Friends of Swainswick if theywould like to help raise money for a climbing frame.

Friends of Swainswick agreed to help raise money to go to-wards the climbing frame to add to Zac’s £100 to providesomething for all the children in the school to enjoy duringthe school’s 150th year. They thought that it was a very goodidea.

Fifty Years From Now . . .

‘Today I went to my old school that I was in 50 years agowhen I was 10. Instead of blackboards they now have in-teractive touch screen whiteboards. Every book on the shelfhas now been turned into lots of Kindle Fires. All of thechildren have office chairs instead of plastic ones. They’venow built a garden shed on the so called Top Grass. Nowthey have also built a swimming pool for KS2. It is cleanedevery morning and night. The children can wear their homeclothes and their hair down when we had to do the opposite!Every year group has two teachers each when we only hadone teacher for two years. I wonder what the school will belike in another 50 years. ‘

By Zac, Finlay and Rexin collaboration with all of Oak Class

12

Swainswick Primary

PICtured:

Swainswick School

celebrates 150 years.


It seems remarkable that intoday’s world of electronicgadgets, when we are puppets,our strings pulled by new tech-nology, we don’t seem to haveacknowledged the educational

value of the E-Reader. Our recent telephone survey ofJunior schools suggests that they are either banned or arerestricted in some way.

So what is the reasoning behind their limited use? Is it onlydue to the concerns regarding E-safety as pupils are able toaccess the internet or is it a problem of liability? Who isultimately responsible if something inappropriate is down-loaded?

Yes, all of the above! But how is this so very different tothe mobile phone? I think we would all agree that having amobile phone, especially if you walk home, which is greatlyencouraged by “healthy schools,” is paramount to our per-sonal safety. Indeed, on one day, 36 out of 60 pupils had amobile phone in school that can potentially access theinternet.

We trust our pupils not to switch them on in the day. Surely,we could exercise the same trust with a Kindle. Equally,could we not ensure that Kindles are subject to the same se-curity, filters and parental controls as the mobile phone?

Our suggestion for their use comes also from a financialbasis. Material available to gain the level 6 grades in readingis limited at present and thus requires a huge financial inputfrom the school with almost no resources. In fact, this article

was inspired by a pupil who wished to read the classics toenhance his level in reading. He could download the textsfree on an electronic reader (as opposed to paying a smallfortune in a book shop) and, at the same time, gain accessto a complex Dictionary and Thesaurus.

Our argument for the use of E-Readers in school strength-ens when we analyse the benefits for pupils with Special Ed-ucational Needs. The positives are wide ranging and willcertainly meet the target of our ITC Policy that highlightsthe importance of, “harnessing the power of technology tohelp pupils with SEN.”

The child who is less advanced in their reading and, let’s faceit, are put off because they do not want others to see thebook most appropriate to their needs, can keep their mate-rial anonymous. Who can tell the difference between “Warand Peace” and “Biff and Chip” on a Kindle?

The child with a visual impairment can change the size ofa font or add a backlight and those pupils with English asan additional language have the use of a Dictionary at theirimmediate disposal. Even the most technologically nervousof us, cannot fail to see the advantages of the E-Reader inthese circumstances.

We cannot stop technology advancing but we can educateour pupils to use it safely! Let’s open our minds and a lotmore books!

WE DO HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED READINGOUR ARTICLE AND WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESSTHE KINDLE EDITION IN DUE COURSE.

St Stephen’s PrimaryIT’S TIME TO LET TECHNOLOGY TURN THE PAGESby Luke, Beatrice, Katie and Jack, Year 6

After a successful 9 years at St Stephen’s PrimarySchool, everyone was shocked and disappointed tohear that Head Teacher, Mr Pete Mountstephen, wasgiving up his job.

Three St Stephen’s pupils decided to interview MrMountstephen about the highs and lows about beinga Headteacher. The first question we put to MrMountstephen was, “Do you want to leave?” His an-swer was a simple “No”.

He went on to explain that sometimes it is the rightthing to do things that we don’t exactly want to do. Some-times we might not want to go to bed, but we know we needour sleep. Or perhaps we don’t always want to have a bath,or eat our greens, or make time for visiting a relative, but itis the right thing to do . . . so we do it.

The next point we put to him was, why are you leaving? Heexplained that he wanted to take up another challenge be-fore he retires and let someone else have the joy of runningSt Stephen’s. Shortly after, we questioned what Mr

Mountstephen wanted to do next, he didn’t give a definiteanswer however, and he did say he has another job in him.

Then we put to him, will you come back and visit? Sadly, hereplied with a firm “No” as he said it would not be fair onthe new head trying to settle in to have him tramping aroundthe place.

We asked him about his time in St Stephen’s and whetherhe enjoyed it, he said he loved his time here and was verysad to be going in July. We then thought to ask him abouthis favourite moments. He has lots of very special moments,such as talking to pupils and being head of the school. Hewill especially miss the people, staff, parents and governorswho have become very dear to him. He also said he wouldmiss the music, although perhaps he could still become arock star and keep the music going!

All the children and staff will be very sad to see MrMountstephen leave but we all wish him well for thefuture.

Pastures New. . .

13

PICtured:

Pete Mountstephen,

Headteacher at St

Stephen’s Primary

School

by Bea and John, Year 6


14

News from

As with the crazy British weather,things change here on a daily basis.New classes come and go. Activitiesvary from chocolate making courses topersonal growth workshops. There’salways something different andunusual happening, alongside thestaple diet of exercise classes, lifedrawing, slimming sessions, meditationand mindfulness, choir, drama anddancing.

At the moment we are glad to beexpanding community activities. Onthe last Tuesday of every month, at10.45am, there’s a new Friendship Cir-cle for older people. It’s lively andwelcoming, a great way for retiredpeople to meet new friends over a cupof tea or coffee. The next session is onMarch 25th at New Oriel Hall andApril’s gathering will take place atHanover Court, on Salisbury Road, offfrom the Square.

Our little gem of a community librarycontinues to flourish, run seamlesslyby a group of lively volunteers. There’sa friendly atmosphere and it’s packedfull of the sort of books lots of peoplehave been looking for and are dying toread. Space is limited so we arediscerning and choose books verycarefully. Parents and grandparentswith pre-schoolers are welcome toamble along, choose a book and sitand read to the little ones, a pleasantway to pass the time of day.

Out of the library a book club wasborn. Full to capacity and turningpeople away, we decided to start a sec-ond book club, which is happening atthe moment. It’s a great way to meetpeople and read books you mightnever have come across otherwise. Ifyou are interested in joining the newclub call Sarah on 01225 287789 ormob: 07869 591189.

New Oriel Hall

These are exciting times for Larkhall Athleticon and off the pitch. Off the pitch, workcontinues to improve the facilities at PlainHam. The new dressing rooms and extendedclubhouse (completed last August) have beenvery much appreciated by all their various usersso far this season. Work is also well underwayto expand the facilities around the pitch: thevintage turnstile has been repaired andrepainted in Larkhall blue and a new stand hasbeen erected on the allotment side. If youhaven't visited Plain Ham for a while you willbe amazed at how much the ground haschanged and improved in the last few months.

All this hard work is directed towards gettingPlain Ham to the standard required for the nextlevel of the football pyramid, and the first teamare doing their very best to win the league inorder to gain promotion to the SouthernLeague. The Larks recently achieved a recordthird successive appearance in the 5thround/last 16 of the FA Vase competition.Earlier in the season they got through 3 roundsof the FA Cup. As far as the league is

concerned, the Larks are in the top 3 in thewhole country for league form at their level. Atthe time of writing, they have not dropped asingle point at home and they remain unbeatenin the league after 26 matches, another clubrecord. The season is now into its last third andit's going to be an exciting race to the finish forLarkhall Athletic. With all this success, theattendance at Larks' fixtures has reached an all-time high and now averages some 120 people,the highest in the league.

The other sections ofLarkhall Athletic are doingwell too. Having only beenpromoted last season,Larkhall Ladies are morethan holding their own inthe South West Women'sCombination League. In-deed, they currently stand4th in the league aboveExeter City, Chichester Cityand Southampton Saints.The Larkhall Athletic

Reserves, who struggled to stay in the SomersetCounty League last season, are now 6th in theirleague.

Last but by no means least: it's the Club'scentenary this year and to celebrate the Club isholding a number of special events. One ofthese is a Sportsman's Dinner on 14th Marchat the New Oriel Hall, where the guest speakerwill be legendary England goalkeeper GordonBanks. This event is sold out, but keep an eyeon the Club website.

Larkhall Athletic

LARKHALL SPORTS CLUBCharlcombe Lane, Larkhall

FULLY EQUIPPED CLUBHOUSEAVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE HIRE

AT COMPETITIVE RATES

For further information and booking enquiries, please contact:

Clive Burge on 01225 311156Special discounts to all Club Members

Licensed for up to 100 guestsCatering and disco facilities available

www.pitchero.com/clubs/larkhallathleticfc

www.neworielhall.org.uk


The LarkhallVillage Kitchen

The column that puts creativity back into

cooking with the majority of ingredients

sourced from Larkhall shops, gardens or

allotments.

QUEEN SCALLOPSIngredients:6 scallops1 tablespoon lemon juice3oz. breadcrumbs3oz. grated Cheddar cheeseSalt to taste

The Sauce:

1 1/2 oz. butter1 1/2 oz. flour2 1/2 oz. grated Cheddar cheese1/2 pint of milk

Method:

Scrub the scallops and place in a warm oven (325 F,163 C, Gas Mark 3) until the shells open.Remove theblack part and gristly fibre, leaving the red coral intact.Boil in salted water with the lemon juice for 10 minutes.Drain.

To make the sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan and stirin the flour and heat gently for 2-3 minutes. Stir in thegrated cheese.

To serve: clean the scallop shells. Place a little sauce ineach shell and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place a scallopon top, cover with a little more sauce and sprinkle withbreadcrumbs and cheese. Dot with butter and bake at thetop of a fairly hot oven (375 F, 191 C, Gas Mark 5) for 20minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve with a light salad.

BOOK - THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

by Nancy

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, andyou become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back togetherunless and until all living humans read the book.”

‘The Fault in Our Stars’, by John Green, is in every way this book. Hazel Lancasteris 16 years old and is like many girls obsessed with a book called ‘An Imperial Af-fliction’ which she describes in the quote above. Hazel is in many ways differentfrom other girls. Hazel has stage four thyroid cancer which has spread to her lungs,she is a terminal case and this beautiful book is from her unique perspective; thatonly one close to death can provide. She meets Augustus Waters at a cancer sup-port group her mother forced her to go to and we see this couple fall in love, butlife for cancer patients is never as easy as that. Life and death stand between themand one is doomed to cross the veil. The questions are what scars will be left be-hind and when will the rest of the world slip into the inevitable oblivion?

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is different from any other book that I have had the pleas-ure to read, which makes it remarkable. This book is thought-provoking, funny,and heart-breaking. It offers the complete truth about life and death and love,making it one of the best books I ever read. The only complaint I have ever heardabout this book is that it is predictable, which is the entire truth but that’s thepoint, cancer can lead to death and John Green doesn’t change the world. Thereis no miracle cure for Hazel and that’s what makes this a brilliant novel. This bookis worth your time.

TV - NUMBERWANG

by Corey

David Mitchell and Robert Webb have been on our televisions for almost a decadenow, and in 2006, through their successful comedy sketch show ‘That Mitchelland Webb look’, with its four series, they produced a unique sketch known as‘Numberwang’.

Its running time is only varied between two and three minutes, but captivates peo-ple in different fashions. Due to its name ‘Numberwang’, it gives a clear indicationthat it is numbers or maths related. Ultimately, it is, but it takes a very differenttake on numbers and what they mean, unlike other, serious mathematics pro-grammes, and is based obviously, on the art of comedy.

It consists of a host, played wonderfully by Robert Webb, and two contestants,which are consistently Simon and Julie. They battle it out to ‘Wangernumb’ theiropponent. Both players are given varying backgrounds on each occasion, puttingthe present audience in stitches.

It became very popular, and with this, an additional sketch of ‘TheHistory of Numberwang’ was produced. As the sketch grew, it waslater put onto YouTube, where various countries and cultures wereable to view the hysterical world of ‘Numberwang’.

Personally, I find the sketch a great three minutes of laughter. Iwould certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys something a‘little bit different’, and maybe even Number Guru’s would give it achance. Obviously, like everything, it is not for all audiences. It iscertainly not a show for anyone who takes life too seriously. Perhapsnot everyone’s cup of tea, but popular nevertheless, and maybe that’sdue to the unique way in which the show is conveyed.

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Larkhall News March 2014