SCHOOL NOTES

From the Headmaster

Robin Silk

It has been a hugely successful calendar year for the school. Still in its start-up phase, we have now grown from less than 100 at the end of the last academic year to almost 130 at the beginning of this one. If we can continue to grow at a rate of 25% + per year for the coming five years, we will be in a very good place indeed. The school is also growing in its reputation once again, not only with students going on to excellent universities (including our first two Cambridge interviews since the school reopened), but because we are out and about making our mark, both in the local community and by playing matches and competing against other schools.
 
Fixtures in volleyball, squash, fives, tennis, rugby, football, cricket, netball, basketball, badminton, athletics and cross county have happened across Cumbria and more recently even further afield, with volleyball being played as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Manchester and Liverpool. Fives has taken off again and students really enjoyed playing in last year’s Shrewsbury School Championship. In traditional St Bees fashion, we win most fixtures against much larger schools and clubs, and if we don’t win, we compete with pride and a fine sense of sportsmanship. We have also competed in more cerebral pursuits, with our students excelling in Olympiads and university competitions in poetry, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics.
 
We are heavily involved with the local community and followed up last year’s support of Gary McKee’s 365 marathons in aid of MacMillan Cancer Research and Hospices at Home, Cumbria, by fundraising for the very noble local charity, ‘Team Evie’. We have thus far raised almost £1000 with more events to come. The school council is now working on choosing next year’s local charity. We continue to provide events both for and to bring in the local community to our school. Not only do local primary schools frequently use our facilities, including the fields, science labs and swimming pool, but we also host charitable initiatives, including the ‘Bees Bash’. Our most recent event was a tree planting on behalf of the Woodland Trust - our Key Stage 3 students enjoyed planting 420 saplings at the Adam’s Rec on what turned out to be a very fine winter afternoon. Next Friday we have a Year 7, 8 and 9 choir representing the West Cumberland Choral Society performing for a concert at St Bees Priory.
 
The opportunities now available to our young people are superb. Many students have taken the chance to get involved in the Duke of Edinburgh’s programme and we have students engaged at every level: Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. Outdoor Pursuits has, for the first time, now become a discreet subject within school, and this has been well received by students. The number of trips is incredible for such a small school. Our annual trips’ week is fantastic with excursions to Edinburgh’s Dynamic Earth exhibition, and the Houses of Parliament, and the Globe Theatre in London, among many others.

However, most impressive of all has been the chance to embark upon international adventures in this post-covid world. This term alone there have been trips to Amsterdam for art and China for business, economics, and the Chinese language. Most auspicious of all though was the school’s expedition to the Everest Base Camp, with 24 students, parents, staff and one OSB following in the footsteps of our OSB forbear, Tom Stobart, and trekking to 5550m, adjacent to the world’s highest mountain. The photography was not quite so impressive as Tom Stobart’s, but the sense of endeavour and pride was.
 
I am delighted also to see the school bringing old facilities online anew. The Barony building is now being used, with academic music being taught for the first time since the reopening, and the squash courts are both well-used once more. The gym has developed into a really nice space for free weights, rowing machines and spinning bikes, with the old and very decrepit multigym finally being scrapped. Most impressively of all and thanks in part to a few generous OSB donations, we have reopened the Library again. It is yet to be a lending library in its new incarnation, but that will follow shortly. Without the donations we received, the library opening would not have happened, but this is why I appeal to any OSBs reading this to give generously to the school, with the next major target to reopen Abbot’s Court as a boarding house. Smaller projects include reheating the Art Department and Chapel and refurbishing the tennis courts and cricket nets.

On a different note, we continue to be well-supported by Full Circle, and we are developing our relations with China, principally by becoming a training partner for many schools, and not only our own St Bees Schools. I was able to visit Dongguan in the summer and meet potential partners in both Guangzhou and Beijing. We now also deliver training to our school in Dongguan and with an imminent senior trip to China we aim to build on what we have achieved. The Trust also continues to be a huge support to us, helping out financially where they can and supporting us with expertise in our development projects. Lastly, I would like to thank our Local Advisory Council (LAC), which acts like a governing body and whose members continue to be good critical friends to the school.

Much to celebrate then, but still plenty of work to do. We will continue to build our ties to the OSBs and look forward to the upcoming events, including the Dinner at Armathwaite Hall in February and the OSB Weekend in June. A very Happy New Year to you all and we wish you the very best for a great leap forward in a new leap year.

Robin Silk

 

 

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The St Beghian Society    
St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

         Tel: (01946) 828093      Email: osb@stbeesschool.co.uk      Web: www.st-beghian-society.co.uk