Aluredian 9
Spiers, Jennifer Stapleton, Dominica
Taylor, Hamish Urquhart, Kristian Willmott,
Helena Winsey and Mr Oliver Butterworth.
We pray for God's continued blessing on
them.
Once each term, as has become our
custom, a choir of parents, staff and
pupils sing Choral Evensong. I always
enjoy singing the priest's part. Thanks
must go to Chris Holmes who teaches us
the music with such skill and good
humour.
The Summer term was brought to an end
with the traditional 'walkabout' by the
leavers. The following day Mr John Lee
preached an inspiring sermon at the
Leavers' Eucharist which brought the
academic year to a close.
During the year, the Oasis meditations
have continued to attract strong numbers.
Oasis is a voluntary devotion in Chapel
after prep on a Tuesday evening, led by
pupils and followed by hot chocolate and
doughnuts. I have also begun to teach
Meditation in Chapel on weekday mornings
before breakfast as well as on Sunday
evenings and at the beginning of Religious
Studies lessons. Many pupils have said
that they are intrigued and are enjoying
the experience.
My thanks especially to Mr Albery,
Mr Campbell and the choir for all their
work week by week. It is much
appreciated and enhances our worship
greatly. My thanks also to the members
of staff who have so willingly assisted with
the chalice, the Headmaster,
Mrs McSwiggan, Mrs Chadwick, Mr Smith,
Mrs Butler, Mr Wood, Mr Lang and
Mr McKegney. This year we said goodbye
to Mrs Betty Amor, who retired after
keeping the Chapel spotless and
arranging the flowers for many years.
The charities which benefited this year
from our Chapel fund are Help for Heroes,
The Frank Buttle Trust, Somerset Playing
Fields Association, The Christmas Stars
project, ShelterBox, the Diocese of Bath
and Wells Zambia Appeal, King's
Community Action Project, Moving
Mountains Trust and Rethink Mental
Health.
Jo Chadwick retired from teaching in
the Modern Languages department at
the end of the Summer term. Her first
brush with languages at King's was as
one of just 13 sixth form girls back in
1971, when she was taught by Ben
Sykes and Michael Rogers.
She later joined the Women's Royal
Army Corps and Educational Corps,
returning to King's in 1978 to lay the
wreath at the Remembrance Service,
before staying for much longer in
1996, when she arrived to teach
languages at King's.
French is her real love, but she also
taught some Spanish and even some
German. She was involved in many of
our language exchange programmes,
one of her great thrills being the look of
utter amazement on a pupil's face who
had just nervously tried out some
native language, only to find "It actually
worked!"
Among her many exchange visits, she
took pupils to Normandy with Paul
Westgate, to Nantes with John Fisher
and to Lille with Paul Gamble, even to
Los Barrios in Andalucia with
hispanophile Gerri Fagan.
Jo was fully involved in the pastoral life
of King's, working in Meynell with Karen
McSwiggan, then Taylor house with
Patrick Scanlan, where she fondly
remembers film star Juno Temple's hair
always seeming to have to be done
urgently very late at night, before she
ended back in Meynell with Gerri Fagan.
Jo was a wonderful and loyal supporter
of the Chapel, and of the rich tradition
of music at King's, recognising the
contributions made by both these areas
of school life to the uniquely kind,
generous, and essentially civilised ethos
of this extraordinary community.
She will be returning to King's to
continue taking her yoga classes, and it
will be wonderful to continue to see her
happy, lively presence around the place.
Lucinda Randell was with us
for just one year, during which
time she made an outstanding
contribution to the life and work
of the Art department, as well
as helping out with girls' games.
She leaves King's to teach at a
prep school in Kenya, and we
wish her every possible
happiness and success.
Moving On