Ackworth School Archives - Page 8 of 26

Ackworth Old Scholar James Willstrop wins GOLD in the Commonwealth Games!

Aug 9, 2022 | Ackworth School, Old Scholar

Ackworth Old Scholar James Willstrop wins GOLD in the Commonwealth Games for Men’s Doubles Squash alongside fellow teammate Declan James.

Born 1983 in Yorkshire, James was with Ackworth School from 1995 until 2002. James was recognised as a squash sensation at an early age. In 2002, he claimed his third consecutive British Junior Under-19 National Championship title, to establish himself as England’s most successful under-14, under-17, and under-19), and British Junior Open trophies at under-17 and under-19. In the same year, he established himself as the world’s top junior player, claiming both the European and the World junior titles.

James has gone on to be one of the youngest players ever to play for the senior England team, representing his county for the first time at both the European and World Team Squash Championships in 2003.

In 2005, having finished as a runner-up in the British Open and then winning the Qatar Classic trophy, James was ranks as the world No.2 in the PSA world rankings.

In the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, James won a Silver Medal in the Mixed Doubles. He won the British National Squash Championships title in 2007 and 2008, and in January 2010, he won his first Tournament of Champions title in New York.

In 2011, Willstrop put himself into first place in the PSA World Series rankings by winning 15 matches in a row heading towards winning the Hong Kong Open, the Kuwait Open, and The Punj Lloyd PSA Masters. James ranked as the World No. 1 in January 2012.

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, James won the Gold Medal in the Men’s Singles and in 2020, won the British National title.

Well done from us, James. Ackworth School continues to enjoy watching your career in Squash. We know you’ll be celebrating winning your well-deserved GOLD in the Men’s Doubles Squash!

Archaeology comes to Ackworth!

Jul 22, 2022 | Ackworth School

Jonathan Belk discusses archaeology at Ackworth School.

The Archaeology Group’s Exhibition on Open Day was a great success, drawing interest from many visitors. Old Scholars in particular seemed interested to see what had been under their feet many years ago. Kudos to Third Former Josh, who on his own initiative spent some of the day explaining the site and the finds to visitors. Our initial aim was to find somewhere where we could work with no disruption to the rest of the school but in an area that had the potential to be interesting. Anton Maree suggested somewhere near to where the original farm buildings had stood, and this proved to be wise advice.

Our first excavation was a standard test pit, following the Cambridge Archaeology methodology, but this did not illuminate much, although it was a necessary step both to teach technique to the students and also to find what the substrate was like. Then we did some ground probing, which led us to two further areas. The first provided some pottery and metal, but in terms of lower structure seemed to be part of a long-forgotten path made up of heavy, worked stones that now led nowhere.

The second area has proved the most important; we now can hazard the hypothesis, based on surface marks on the stone cobbles and on the finds, that this was a forge, probably a blacksmith’s shop. As we excavate southwards, the cobbles become more uniform, without the robbed stonework infill that is so obvious at the north end. Our plan is to continue this, briefly this year but more regularly next year, hoping to find some sort of edge that will give us the dimensions of the paved area. And of course, we expect more finds. The three or four most significant finds are to be assessed by experts, and we are also hoping to arrange a visit by an architectural or industrial archaeologist with a view to gaining another opinion as to the site’s former role.

All the group would like to express their thanks to the school caretaker, Paul Meeson, who has helped us out over the months in so many ways, from making us our ground probe and our marker pegs to ad hoc loans of all kinds of equipment and tools. Paul, you are a star!

“Will L, Will H and Josh working on expanding trench 3, whilst Alara takes a break from trowelling to sort and clean finds.”

The Return of Open Day!

Jul 15, 2022 | Ackworth School

Open Day 2022

On the 9^thof July Ackworth School was once again able to open its doors to friends of the School including current parents and former Scholars. The momentous occasion marks the start of summer and brings the entire school community together to celebrate the end of a wonderful school year. After not being held since 2019 it’s safe to say Open Day was back with a flourish.

The centre piece of Open Day was the complementary buffet, featuring lemon and dill poached salmon or Scottish smoked salmon with capers and mussels. Also offered was, goats cheese and stilton pork pie, mature cheddar and red onion quiche and selection of roasted beef, turkey, or gammon meats. These were all accompanied by the summer salad bowl section, all provided by the talented catering team at Thomas Franks. The marvellous weather permitted lunch to be consumed alfresco under the shelter of the marquees.

Showcasing talent

Drama productions ran throughout the day, showcasing the theatrical skills of the school’s actors. Act 2 of “The Crucible”, is the portrayal of a crumbling marriage exacerbated by outside pressures was moving from a cast so young. Later, Rick Wood’s two-hander on mental health, “Try”, played to a full Fothergill Theatre. It was ‘a fabulous performance by both students and a very powerful play’: a fantastic achievement for a play produced in a week! There is little doubt that Drama at Ackworth is thriving.

We were able to welcome audiences back into the Meeting House for the traditional Open Day concert. Both Coram House, our junior school, and Senior choirs came together at the end to reprise their performance of “No Wars Will Stop Us Singing”, which they debuted in the Concert for Ukraine back in June, together with other schools in the community.

A community

Old Scholars certainly took advantage of the Open Day Reunions as we welcomed back two cohorts, one celebrating 50 years since leaving Ackworth School. There are always opportunities to reconnect with classmates throughout the year here at Ackworth School.

The day came to an end after the traditional Grand March took place which marks the end of the summer term. A glorious day was enjoyed by all, we hope to see you next year!

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Ackworth Today Summer 2022

Jul 13, 2022 | Ackworth School

Please find below our Summer 2022 edition of Ackworth Today. CLICK HERE to read now!

Collecting for Rick Wood’s “Try” – Open Day 2022

Jul 12, 2022 | Ackworth School, Drama

“‘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!

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.

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

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Uniting for Ukraine

Jun 10, 2022 | Ackworth School

The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine continue to impact lives within our school and the surrounding community. On Thursday 9^th 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.