Ackworth Today Summer 2022
Please find below our Summer 2022 edition of Ackworth Today. CLICK HERE to read now!
Collecting for Rick Wood’s “Try” – Open Day 2022
“‘Try’ was really something else; a powerful message and brilliant writing, coupled with the incredible work of Grace and Adam. I would argue that it’s probably some of the best work ever performed on that stage… It was such an important piece to see performed.” (Audience member)
On behalf of Grace, Adam, Ella and myself, I wanted to thank all those people who came to watch our production of Rick Wood’s “Try” on Open Day 2022 at Ackworth School.
We have received so many wonderful comments, rightly praising the extraordinary work of Grace and Adam, as well as Rick Wood’s powerful text. It has all been rather overwhelming! We have been glad for the end of term to help process our feelings about it all. It goes without saying that we are so grateful for your generous response; we are so grateful that people realise how important a play this is. As a teacher, I am particularly grateful to you for showing your appreciation of my students: I am biased, but they are wonderful and dedicated and passionate, and they deserved your acclaim. For all and to all – thank you so much.
We have received a number of requests for us to perform “Try” once more, and we are planning on staging another performance early in the Christmas Term 2022. Entirely typically of the three students, they have agreed to this immediately, despite the fact that reviewing the text, rehearsing and teaching the play will require them being in school and working in the holidays, some time before term starts. Please keep an eye on Ackworth School’s social media for the latest updates: we would love to welcome you back to the Fothergill Theatre, whether you missed it the first time, or if you are back for a second viewing!
Shown are images of the annual Ackworth School Open Day. Images Copyright ©Darren Casey DCimaging
Shown are images of the annual Ackworth School Open Day. Images Copyright ©Darren Casey DCimaging
It isn’t every day that we receive nigh-on a full house for a theatre production at Ackworth. Grace and Adam’s fantastic performances deserved those numbers, but I would argue that every production we put on does too – goodness knows the effort and commitment and determination of our students, from 1st form right through to Upper Sixth, is the same. Next year, please come to support our students’ endeavours! The first half of the Christmas Term sees, in addition to “Try”, a Sixth Form solo production of Margaret Edson’s “Wit” and a night of spoken word and performance by Sixth Form EPQ students; the second half of term is the School’s Senior Musical, and we are also hoping to showcase the examination work of the school’s many LAMDA Speech and Drama students in an evening’s cabaret. There is so much to see, and so much to celebrate. Please join us!
The very emotional aftermath of “Try” on Open Day meant that I neglected the chance to hold a retiring collection for two very important groups that we wanted to support, and I humbly ask for your support here. The first beneficiary is The Imogen Young Trust Fund, a charity that helps support students at Ackworth access extracurricular music and theatre tuition and experiences.
The second is for the author, Rick Wood, himself. Rick is a writer, performer and ex-Drama Teacher. The first production of “Try”was, like this, a student-drama production. Perhaps this experience is why Rick has been so astonishingly generous, supportive and helpful as we worked on our production of “Try”. When he understood how student-led this production was, not only has Rick waived the performance rights to his play, but he has been on hand to (almost instantly) respond to emails and discuss issues about the play, his experiences and his intentions, particularly with Grace. Particularly in the current, tough climate where Arts and Humanities are under increasing political (and I would go so far as to say existential) pressure, Rick’s kindness and generosity cannot go unacknowledged. It is a tough time to be a writer and theatre practitioner right now; the industry really has taken hits over the last few years. Rick deserves some payment for his work.
Shown are images of the annual Ackworth School Open Day. Images Copyright ©Darren Casey DCimaging
To that end, please find a Just Giving link below: please could I ask you to consider giving a donation, of any size, to help support the Imogen Young Trust Fund and Rick Wood. Any sum raised will be shared between the two. We recognise that these are difficult times for us all: if you feel you are able to contribute, we are most grateful for the support you have given.
From all of us, thank you. And I hope to see you back in the theatre in September!
In friendship
Ali Boucher, Head of Drama
Shown are images of the annual Ackworth School Open Day. Images Copyright ©Darren Casey DCimaging
Uniting for Ukraine
The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine continue to impact lives within our school and the surrounding community. On Thursday 9th June, Ackworth School hosted “Concert for Ukraine” which featured choirs from the local primary schools, as well as our own. Final numbers of attendees exceeded 300 from the school and the community who came to show their support.
We heard from our Head of Music, Oliver McCarthy-Bell, who joined Ackworth School back in September 2020, coming into his new role as a music teacher during the pandemic.
“I hadn’t worked with the Primary Schools before, so this was a perfect way to start collaborating with them and begin a partnership.” The schools prepared two of their own songs, which included classics such as ‘Stand by Me’ and ‘Over the Rainbow’.
“Our ‘All Schools’ song was one which I had chosen from my time at school. At the time, we were celebrating 40 years of twinning our primary school and a primary school in Germany. It was a song we performed during a project for World War II community ties where both choirs came together to sing ‘No Wars Will Stop Us Singing’. I just knew this would be the perfect song for us all to sing and finish the concert off.”
“The atmosphere was, its sounds cheesy….. ELECTRIC!”
The evening was emotional, absorbing, and reminded us all how important community spirit is! Money raised reached over £1,500 with all proceeds will be donated to charity to support Ukraine.
We would like to give thanks to Oliver McCarthy-Bell, Alison Wise, Rae Strong, Eleanor Younger, Ackworth Coram House and Ackworth School choirs for your hard work and dedication.
Additionally, thank you Ackworth Howard C of E, Mill Dam School Ackworth, Outwood Primary Academy Bell Lane, and their teachers Kate Wright, Ann Cleworth, and Holly Thompson, for making the effort to join us for the special concert.
Finally, a special thanks to Tadei and Mykhailo for their words at the beginning of the evening.
80 Trees for 80 Years
Tree Planting Ceremony at Ackworth School, April 28th, 2022
Holocaust Remembrance Day this year fell on Thursday 28th April. At Ackworth School we were lucky enough to be joined by very special guest, Ruth Barnett. Ruth was rescued from Germany by the Quakers and spent several years at the Friends School in Saffron Walden, Essex.
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Ackworth School took in a number of Jewish children who were escaping from Nazi tyranny in Europe. They were sponsored by the Society of Friends. Most were boarders though some lodged with families in the village.
The first to arrive was Hans Freutel from Berlin on 18th September, 1935. From then on, a steady stream of boys and girls arrived at the school from Vienna, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Berlin and Poland. Rudi Schaffer, son of Oscar and Else who both died in the Holocaust, came to Ackworth in May, 1939 via the ‘Kindertransport ‘.
Ruth Barnett, MBE and Anton Maree, Head
To mark this, the Association of Jewish Refugees selected the school to receive a commemorative tree among 79 other sites nationwide as part of their 80th Anniversary commemorations. We were pleased to welcome Ruth Barnett MBE to the school on April 28th to plant our tree. This coincided with the Jewish community’s annual day for remembering the Holocaust. Ruth escaped to this country as a 4 year old and spent the war years at our sister school, Friends’ School Saffron Walden. A time capsule containing details of Ruth’s life was planted at the same time.
Members of Year 9 had the opportunity to listen to Dr. George Dublon’s account of the fate of his German Jewish family as they are about to begin their study of the Holocaust in History lessons.
A beautiful copper beech is now flourishing in the peaceful surroundings of Great Garden to remind us of those lives that were lost to tyranny, and of those who were saved. Hans Freutel became a well known actor (Paul Hansard) and Rudi Schaffer became a world renowned psychologist specialising in child psychology.
Rudi Schaffer 1943, arrived 1939 aged 12 and Hans Freutel 1938, arrived 1935 aged 13
Duke of Edinburgh Diaries
In the last week of the Easter holidays three groups, six being in my own, went to Nidderdale for our silver DofE practice expedition. We set off from Pickering in the morning and walked by the lake for most of the day. I found going uphill at the start of the day the hardest point of the expedition as my rucksack was the heaviest then. When we got to camp, we set up the tents and ate lots of good food. My feet were so sore from walking, it felt like I was walking on hot sand.
For the second day, we walked through many sheep fields with newborn lambs. Also, around the villages, there were dead moles hung up on fences and one of the locals told us that they were advertisements for mole catchers, at one point we saw 17 in one row.
We climbed up to the peaks of the hills and walked on top of them for most of the day. The scenery was amazing. At one point we walked too far and couldn’t find the right path down the hill, so we had to make up our own path, going through a marsh and jumping over a steam- but it was all part of the fun. Overall, I loved being with my friends and walking through pretty scenery all day.
Isabel Cawood (Fifth Year, Fothergill)
We were the last group to set off on Wednesday morning. Our route started on flat ground, so we were not going up any big hills right from the start. This allowed us to get used to the walk which was quite nice. The first parts of the walk were quite ordinary. It was a nice day, so we just followed the route and enjoyed the scenery. We walked up a couple of fields around a reservoir. We walked through and around a couple of farms during the day and saw fields filled with sheep and lambs. We even saw a couple of horses in the morning. The horses walked up to us which frightened a couple members of our group. For me this was the highlight of the day. Closer to the end of the walk we walked through a farm and saw rows of moles hung up on the fence. We later found out that the farmers do this to show how good they are at catching moles. The farmer helped us find the way and we had a nice walk to the camp. We set up our tents and after we cooked our meal for the night we went to bed.
Setting out the next morning was possibly the hardest part of the expedition. Although the weather was nice, our route started on an uphill and after a day of walking this was the last thing we wanted to do. Nevertheless, we set out and once we got to the top of the hill and took a small break the rest of the walk was quite nice. We walked along the top of mountains which meant that we got an excellent view of the valley and got to enjoy the view for most of the day. We couldn’t find the footpath that was shown on the map, so we decided to go through a field and over a river to join up with our route. After we got back on the footpath, we walked down the mountain just to cross a reservoir and walked straight back up another. At this point we were all tired, our feet were hurting, and we couldn’t wait to get back to the camp. So, after a short break at the top, we set off for the last stretch of the journey. It was fairly simple from here. We walked through a town and down a field and we were back at the camp. We threw down our bags and after another night of camping, we packed up our tents and got on the bus back to school.
Mikulas Klodner (Fifth Year, Penn)