2019

rsma newsletter

newsletter of the retired senior members’ association of homerton college, cambridge september 2019

teacher memory, narratives … teacher stress & pupil behaviour a year abroad the real Joan Hunter Dunn farewells to four RSMs … etc. … etc. …

a word from the editor

RSMA committee: chair: Peter Warner secretary: Trish Maude

Dear Readers,

membership secretary: Anne Thwaites

Ever Expanding …

Two years ago the Newsletter consisted of 20 pages, last year it was 24 and this year a whopping 32. If this sequence were to continue then next year an impossible 44/48 – I think we will stay at a maximum 32, thank you.

treasurer: Dhiru Karia

There is however expansion beyond simply page counting. This Newsletter has its first ‘centrefold’, a tightly argued, rigorously researched, article by Roland Chaplain on Teacher Stress and Pupil Behaviour; a complex issue close to the hearts of trainees, teachers and teacher trainers, but still unresolved by successive governments over decades. Roland’s Behaviour Management sessions have been a lifeline to many Homerton students; no wonder both they and Roland are so highly regarded in the outside world.

events and visits coordinator: Sue Conrad

Homerton itself is rapidly expanding as illustrated by the Principal’s Message and the Bursar’s Estates Update. As too is the Homerton Archive, which has prompted articles by Peter Cuningham (Teacher Memory) and in parallel with Homerton’s recent Changemakers launch, a half-century ago media studio.

Recent personal expansion can also been seen in articles by Linda Hargreaves (Let the Children Speak!), David Bridges (Found in Translation), Trish Maude (Becoming an ALM) and John Hopkins branching out into Opera (Russian Jerusalem). Rex Watson’s (A Year Abroad) horizon literally expanded upwards in terms of altitude during his VSO year in ‘cushy’ Jamaica when only 21. It was a downward seabed horizon for Philip Rundall (Our trip to Ecuador).

Finally, there is Roger Green (A Note for You) writing about the musical influences that allowed him to develop his love for music – still performing and composing.

almonry: Carole Bennett newsletter editor: Libby Jared

A word of warning – never invite me out or sit next to me at dinner if you want to avoid writing an article for the Newsletter. Happily Peter, Rex and Stephen T did sit next to me and did agree – and gosh what luck to have Stephen’s tale of the Real Joan Hunter Dunn.

For these and all the other articles and snippets that I have not been able to list here, thank you and once again …

Happy Reading … Libby Cover photo: Roger Green presents “A Note for You” or perhaps “Many Notes for Us”

CONTENTS Chair’s Letter Peter Warner

Bill Coleman: Changemaker … 1970’s?

Our Trip to Ecuador 3 Peter Cunningham 12 Philip Rundall

Principal’s Message Geoff Ward

Russian Jerusalem 4 John Hopkins

Teacher memory, narratives & the archive Found in translation?

Peter Cunningham 5-6 David Bridges Let the children speak! …

Linda Hargreaves A Year Abroad Rex Watson A Note For You Roger Green

Royal Charter Archive Project 13 Sue Conrad Homerton 250 Celebrations 14 Laura Kenworthy & Libby Jared

20-22 22 23-24

Teacher Stress and Pupil Behaviour Development Office & Estates Update 7-8 Roland Chaplain 15-18 Laura Kenworthy & Deborah Griffin 24-25 Jumping off the Ledge 8-10 Trish Maude The Real Joan Hunter Dunn 11-12 Stephen P. Tomkins

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 2

Jean Holm, David Hindley, 18 Jenny Embrey, Dorothy Richardson 19-20

RSMA Roundup 2018 -2019

26-30 30-31

Chair’s Letter

I

Peter Warner

t is always humbling to read about the lives of others, and no more so than reading the New Zealand obituary of Jean Holm (Homerton 1969-86) written

by Professor Paul Morris. Jean died last year in Auckland aged 95. The fact that Homerton has a prominently displayed oil portrait of her testifies how highly regarded she was in her time. She largely initiated and led a movement in the English speaking world to open up Religious Education to faiths additional to Christianity – leading the way to comparative religious studies. How important is that? Her teaching was disseminated by Homerton students who taught Religious Studies all over the World. I estimate that equates to about 340 teachers spreading the message from just the 17 years she was in service; it is probably more than that as she would have done additional in-service teaching, which is more difficult to quantify: this is the story of a Homerton lecturer whose influence was truly profound.

when the next phase of building is completed in about 18 months’ time. The new Archive room is a superb facility and allows easy access to historical material previously more or less inaccessible; so our timing could not be better. Also the College is evolving so quickly and staff are moving on, there is a real danger of loss of collective memory.

Talking about loss of memory – reminds me! We have significant gaps in our records of staff who have worked at Homerton. Tom Simms, of Homerton history fame – maintained a hand-written register of staff, year on year, from 1846 – 1974. The earlier years he built up from records of the Congregational Board of Education and the later ones from his own time as Senior Tutor. Where possible he included a summary of career history and a few significant publications. After Tom SImms retired his register was discontinued and then came the Data Protection Act when all personal records no longer deemed ‘relevant’ were destroyed. Weep not you lovers of history, all is not lost! This is why we have been asking you to let us have a summary CV – it does not have to be up to date. In the case of Jean Holm we were given an obituary written in New Zealand, which was forwarded to us by a friend in Mansfield College, Oxford.

We were also able to access key dates from her pension records – when you are dead it seems the Data Protection Act does not apply! We would really like to know more about you all NOW, while you are still alive – please!

Don’t assume that we will know anything – history is history, something that is written down and kept safe in an archive. If it isn’t written down … . You know it makes sense!

We forget that as Retired Senior Members of such an august college we are the harbingers of history, albeit very recent, that has such a wide-ranging influence on ordinary lives all over the world. Homerton is now part of an international university, but in the past it too reached out in surprising ways. There are and have been direct connections between Homerton and India, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Australia, Canada and the USA, to name but a few. How do we retain that history in such a rapidly evolving institution? Your Committee has given this some thought – although prompted by the simple practical issue of ground works for new buildings sweeping away little bits of history before them. A tree removed, a plaque on a demolished wall – gone and with it a name and a gift recorded somewhere in the Archives – we hope. We have therefore formed a ‘Heritage’ subgroup to record these things and prepare for a history trail

Kind regards, Peter

2018 – 2019 RSMA gatherings: indoors and outdoors

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 3

Principal’s Message

I

Professor Geoff Ward PhD FRSA

apologise for Homerton College. It’s a mess.

In a hopefully more elegant form of words, this is the formula I am having to use when welcoming all the many guests and visiting organisations who have booked into the College’s facilities over the summer. As I type in my office, I can hear drilling. Nearer the site of the new Dining Hall, ground source heat pumps are being installed. Each one descends 100 metres into the ground.

Excited by the prospect of finding a medieval lime kiln, Roman coins or just the odd clay pipe during this process, I asked the foreman if he’d found anything of interest. He replied “chalk”. Meanwhile in Harrison Drive work continues at high-decibel level on the extension we are calling North Wing. It’s a mess.

However, it’s a mess in a good cause. The new Dining Hall will be beautiful, and will enable all kinds of extra spaces such as much-needed music practice rooms. When finished in Spring 2020, North Wing will boast a state of the art Auditorium, suitable for lectures and performances together with additional student accommodation and a number of new guest rooms. The numbers who want to use Homerton for their conference, summer school or away-day does nothing but grow, and while our main focus is always on our own students’ education, we value this interaction with our visitors, who are many and varied. This evening I will be welcoming teenagers from Japan, China and South Korea who are taking part in our Homerton International Programme. Last week we hosted the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum, an organisation for which I have a particular fondness having stepped down after a (slightly unexpected) year as Acting Director of that magnificent Museum. Homerton is not only the largest and newest but in some ways the most porous of the colleges, and perhaps the most ready to partner. When our guests leave, they take away a memory of our beautiful gardens and the assiduous care shown by our catering and other staff. That memory travels, and begets new links. Our visitors will believe that we are what they see, and curating our reputation is a crucial part of the whole-team effort that is Homerton.

It’s paying off. The number of would-be students applying to Cambridge University who put Homerton as their first choice has risen 100% over the last two years.

Applications to the University overall have risen during that time, but ours is far and away the steepest rise. Plus I am pleased to say that we are increasing the number of Triposes we offer to undergraduates. Veterinary Medicine joins our portfolio next Michaelmas Term.

Architecture joins us in 2020. At that point, Homerton will be one of only ten out of the thirty-one Cambridge rsma newsletter september 2019 page 4

colleges to offer every single Tripos. This befits our size, and our ambitions.

And so, having increasingly made Homerton their first choice of college, the talented young people who come to join us deserve only the best facilities. Meanwhile the University ensures they get the best education. However, some of us across Cambridge are beginning to wonder if this is enough. The world of work into which our graduands will find their way is complex, and shadowed

by Brexit, the possibility of recession, and an increasingly unstable world order. Having first lost its manners, political discourse seems increasingly in danger of losing its mind. And even before our current woes took hold, the world of employment had already become a zigzag of change, with the straightforward concept of “a job for life” now a thing of the past. In order to prepare our students for navigating troubled waters, we have introduced a programme called Homerton Changemakers.

This is an optional, extra-curricular programme of life skills, that will enable our bright young people to supplement their academic education with training in time-, people- and self-management, in how to handle pressure or ambiguity, in how to balance co-operation with critical thinking – put briefly, in how to succeed in the world beyond Cambridge.

We are not keeping this a secret. Other colleges will be watching with interest, and the Vice-Chancellor is helping us fundraise to run what will be an expensive programme, involving external speakers, mentoring and internships. I am delighted to say that we have been joined by Dr Alison Wood as Fellow and Academic Director of Changemakers – Alison is an expert in higher education, its history, and its possible futures.

Students are birds of passage. We wish them well in their journey to the new. Meanwhile Fellows come to join our community, and stay. Only this week I received a letter from Dame Sue Black, responding immediately and warmly to our proposal that she join us as an Honorary Fellow. You may have heard Sue on Desert Island Discs, or seen her describe on television the amazing work she does as a forensic anthropologist, working at scenes of crime in the UK, or genocide internationally, for example at Kosovo and Iraq. I know she will be a wonderful rolemodel and asset to our intellectual community. We also congratulate another of our Honorary Fellows, Dame Sally Davies, currently Chief Medical Officer, on her new role as Master of Trinity – the first woman to take up that role.

Homertonians just get everywhere, and into everything.

What a glorious mess to be part of!

August 2019

Teacher memory, narratives and the archive

H

Peter Cunningham

omerton life is enhanced by the memories and experiences of colleagues. Working in teams, in a mixed community of different disciplines, engaging with ideas and their practical application, leads to sharing life stories. How did I come to be doing this job, and how did you? Who influenced us, and how?

How has education changed, for better and worse, its social and economic conditions, its policies and practice?

What wayward personal paths through an educational maze did we weave as pupils, students, teachers and lecturers, and what light do our memories shed on schools and higher education today?

memories will be stored for posterity with the wealth of college history accessible in our archive. Allow me to introduce the remarkable Elsie Peskett, who completed her course at Homerton 100 years ago (1916-18). She lived to age 99, and in her last years we had the privilege of hearing tales of her career. Trish Maude and Sylvia Williams recorded a conversation with her in 1993, and in 1994 Bobbie Wells interviewed her for our project.

A dedicated and astute editor, Libby waited patiently through two courses at formal hall before pouncing. She was in search of copy. Our six degrees of separation had been relentlessly pursued, with intriguing links and contacts made. How about a piece for the Newsletter?

Then I had to admit the most enjoyable research I’d had the luck to do, was rooted in staff-room gossip. ‘That’ll do’, she said, so here it is.

I’d spent time in primary classrooms telling stories, and listening to stories children told. My stories were of a distant past, beyond living memory. Theirs were mostly of yesterday or last weekend, the walk to school, games in the park, family, friends and pets. Then in the staffroom at break, or after school at the pub, conversations might turn to life’s rich tapestry, family histories, how we came to be teaching, why, and where.

Together with Phil Gardner at the Education Faculty, and Homerton colleague Bobbie Wells amongst others, our oral history research projects over the last decade of the last century interviewed 300 teachers reflecting on their lives and careers. Their dates of birth ranged from the 1890s to the 1930s. Some of this work we published in our 2004 book Becoming Teachers: Texts and Testimonies 1907-1950. Historian Margaret Macmillan, last year’s Reith Lecturer and recent guest of Desert Island Discs, comments on the importance of ‘stories people tell about themselves because so much of our identity is both shaped by and bound up with our history’ (The Uses and Abuses of History, 2009). The history I’d learned at school and college, of kings and queens, wars and empires, had slowly turned its attention to ‘the common people’, their lives and experiences, work and leisure. ‘History from below’ now listened to people’s own narratives, how they recalled and understood the world they’d lived in.

By chance it transpired that ten of our 300 teacher interviewees had been students of Homerton, and their

Elsie in 1993 Elsie’s mum had been a pupil-teacher in a rural elementary school, not college trained or certificated; her dad, an apprenticed builder, went on to teach woodwork and metalwork. Like many of our women teachers she found her vocation as a young girl, lining up her rag dolls and teaching them. She attended a public elementary, a ‘rough school’ in London but won a scholarship to Sydenham County Secondary under a ‘very very stern head mistress there, a bit like Miss Allan at Homerton.

Not my cup of tea really’. Elsie then spent a year as a student-teacher, a two-year sixth form with one year spent teaching in a huge impoverished London school with classes of sixty, where one of the teachers had been Homerton trained. She thought this had been an invaluable experience, essential because it contrasted with some less challenging teaching placements in Cambridge.

Elsie’s first teaching practice in Cambridge was at Park Street School, where according to college records ‘her questioning of the children was really good and led to thoughtful work’. In Needlework she ‘allowed the children to work out their own lesson, encouraging them and asking for their criticism’. In PE she ‘kept good control, but her discipline was rather more severe than necessary’.

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 5

She also observed lessons at Morley Memorial, where class sizes were half those she’d had in London, and the children were quite different: [It] wasn't a natural kind of school … not a practice school but a demonstration school for the lecturers at Homerton really, so you'd be going over there to listen to one of their teachers teach a class. And that was quite helpful. [But] those children in that school knew they were attached to Homerton College, … picked children for picked lessons. Now those picked lessons given as helps for us to learn, were never given at a poor school like that I went to in the second year [Barnwell Abbey off Newmarket Road, a deprived area of Cambridge] in most terrible conditions when I would defy anybody who was a good teacher to have taught them anything. And I didn’t teach them anything.

But her supervisor noted her ‘imagination and sympathy with the children’s humour.’

Elsie and friend, Homerton c. 1917 Elsie reflected that college staff, on the whole, were not helpful regarding classroom practice, like Miss Bowman [lecturer in history and education]: She was a very very clever person. She was a very kind lecturer - somebody you could talk to. But you always felt as if she wasn't with you completely… but she was good on Plato … If you took advanced education, it wasn't how to help you at teaching - it was Plato. Oh I thoroughly enjoyed him … it increased my education - gave me something quite different to think about.

Despite the Principal’s severity, Mary Allan responded supportively when her year group complained about an inadequate English lecturer just a term before finals.

Senior prefect Marjorie Perriton, from the same part of London, a great friend of Elsie:

plucked up the courage and went to Prin. I don't know how she did it. Mind Prin was very very keen on Marjorie. She thanked us all for giving her such a marvellous senior prefect for that year.

I can imagine poor Marjorie - she'd be all blushing and in a terrible state and she went to

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 6

Prin and said, “I'm sorry to have to come” – I don't know how she put it to her – but, “we are all extremely worried because we know we haven't done our English syllabus anywhere near and the time is going on and on. And what can we do about it?” So then we were lent somebody either from Girton or Newnham who came just for one term to pull us through a crash course; otherwise we'd have all failed our English.

But Elsie found her college course stimulating: ‘I grew up in Homerton. I was introduced to all sorts of subjects which I’d never thought of before.’ Not just the formal curriculum, but her fellow students: In my ‘family’ – you know we had ‘families’ [at college] it wasn’t only mothers and daughter they had aunts and nieces and cousins — and one of them was a red hot socialist and they discussed a lot of it at home, her father was a red hot one. And I used to listen to her and I used to think, I’ve never heard of these sort of things before and it gave me a lot more to think about.

This aspect of her learning aroused tension at home during the vacation as she recalled pitching in to a discussion by her parents about some aspect of current affairs, provoking a retort from her father to ‘be quiet, you know nothing about it’. ‘And I thought to myself “I know a jolly sight more than you do about it.”’ Another memory refers to a related social difficulty experienced by women through higher education and professional training. Elsie and a college friend went on holiday, proudly sporting their college blazers, with their college crests, but they met negative reactions with people sneering at ‘teachers’. This response meant they soon abandoned wearing the status symbol of which they were so proud. Elsie reported similar examples of prejudice towards teachers that she’d encountered in her career.

Fast-forward to 2018 and Homerton boasted extensive new archive accommodation for its 250th birthday.

College records, documents and artefacts, long stored in miscellaneous cupboards and an underground room, now enjoy spacious shelving, controlled environment and a study room, overseen by archivist Svetlana Paterson. Its contents inform Peter Warner’s first volume of his new college history, and Sue Conrad has been busy researching the complex route to the Royal Charter (see page 22 for more), in time for next year’s 10th anniversary.

An archive art installation commissioned from Elena Cologni for the Homerton 250 festival, focused on the theme of ‘care’ in the college community of times past, for example in the ‘families’ that Elsie recalled.

Memories like Elsie’s, deposited in the archive, record and preserve for posterity an insight into the inner lives, lived experience, emotions and relationships of college students over the last hundred years.

Let the children speak! Unleashing dialogic learning in the classroom

B

Linda Hargreaves

y way of introduction three ‘conferences’ held in amazing venues, notable for their architecture, and their attendees are described.

§

Brussels, December 2010: a panel of academics, an MEP, a 10 year old girl, and a Roma dad, now volunteering in the local primary school, addressed an audience of educationists, policy makers and MEP researchers in the vast European Parliament second debating chamber. Their topic? The results of an educational research project entitled INCLUD-ED.

§

Valencia, March 2015: Five hundred parents, 500 teachers, 500 academics and policy makers attended a conference entitled ‘Learning through Classroom Interaction’ (LeCI) inside Calatrava’s iconic Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia.

§

Barcelona, December 2016: 200 parents attended a conference on ‘Learning Communities’, on the Saturday before Christmas, in a former 19th century dyeworks, imaginatively converted to a super conference centre.

Calatrava’s ‘Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia’, Valencia

These parents are not short of activities or iconic buildings in Valencia or Barcelona. So why are they so interested in their children’s education? And why am I still involved with the researchers of the CREA, ‘Community of Research on Excellence for All’ or, as originally known in Catalan, ‘Centre de Recerca en Educació d’Adults’.

The people came to Valencia to hear about the benefits of ‘dialogic learning’ in their schools. Alongside the teachers and children who spoke, Neil Mercer, Rocío García-Carrión, Ramon Flecha and me, talked about our research. Apart from the impressive venues, the common thread was ‘dialogic learning’.

Background: The INCLUD-ED Project My involvement began in the 2009 European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), in Vienna when the INCLUD-ED research team presented their interim findings. INCLUD-ED was a EU Research Framework

Programme 6 (FP6), 2006–11. It cost €3.5M, and involved 14 EU countries and 15 higher education institutions. Its aim was to ‘analyse educational actions that contribute to social cohesion [or] … lead to social exclusion.’ One specific objective was to investigate the effects of social exclusion on ‘the most vulnerable groups, (i.e. women, youths, migrants, cultural minorities and people with disabilities)’ to find out how educational provision might overcome the discrimination they experience (Flecha & INCLUD-ED, 2015, p.3).

INCLUD-ED included extensive research and policy reviews, secondary analyses of datasets of achievement (PISA, TIMMS, PIRLS) and indicators of social exclusion, exploration of links between education and social outcomes such as employment, housing, health, and numerous case studies of schools in six countries, from pre-primary to post-secondary, with diverse intake, deprived circumstances, but better than expected academic progress. Findings included a close association between community involvement in school and academic success, as well as the powerful effect of Flecha’s ‘dialogic learning’. INCLUD-ED ultimately identified six educational actions, which transformed academic outcomes and social inclusion for all children. They were labelled ‘Successful Educational Actions’ (SEAs).

My involvement In Michaelmas 2010, I hosted Rocio GarciaCarrion, an INCLUDED researcher, in the final term of her PhD, and in 2013-15 supervised her Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. This transformed my longheld, evidence-based Dra. Rocío García-Carrión view of teacher-pupil interaction. My experience as a systematic classroom observer in the 1970s’ ORACLE project, directed by Maurice Galton and Brian Simon, and later in research on interactive teaching, showed that even in ‘progressive’ and ‘interactive’ primary classrooms, Flanders’ well known two-thirds rule (that 67% of classroom time is talk, and that teachers do 67% of that talking) held sway. The ubiquitous Initiate-Response-Feedback (IRF) guarantees this, as the teacher gets two turns to the child’s one. This ingrained interactional format seemed unassailable, until

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 7

Rocio introduced me to the SEA known as ‘Dialogic Literary Gatherings’ (DLGs).

Equality and Diversity Service (CREDS), and Cambridgeshire School Improvement Board (CSIB).

Dialogic Literary Gatherings: teacher-pupil interaction inverted A DLG is based on ‘egalitarian dialogue’, i.e. that every participant’s contribution is judged on the basis of their argument, rather than their status. This includes the teacher. It is drawn from the theories of Habermas, Mead and Freire. A DLG involves the whole class, and enough copies of an age-appropriate version of a classic text e.g.

The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, A Christmas Carol, for everyone to take one home. At home, they read an agreed section (e.g. a chapter), with help if needed, thus drawing the family in. While reading, children choose an idea from the text to share in the DLG. The teacher who (usually) chairs the DLG, asks who has an idea to share, and lists the page numbers. Then, one at a time, the children are invited to read out the text that includes their idea, and explain their choice. Others are invited to comment, to agree or disagree, and explain why. The results are sessions in which, extraordinarily, the teachers stay quiet and let the children speak. Children’s utterances are regularly 20-40 words, of good vocabulary, conditional clauses, and mutually respectful interchanges.

They discuss ethical, moral and social issues (e.g. trust, poverty, death, racism) with topics lasting 7-10 minutes.

Children, consistently, hold the floor for 80% of the time with 75% of the class contributing.

Direct comparison (same teacher, same class) with whole class interaction in a literacy lesson revealed the usual teacher domination. DLGs have been associated with improved SATs and positive OfSTED comments. Since then, there have been two ERASMUS+ projects on SEAs in local schools with the former Cambridgeshire Race,

N

A DLG in progress

A local teacher’s report in January this year will tell you why I’m still involved: ‘The enthusiasm and appetite for children reading classics has astounded us. They are making links with their own lives and the topics covered in school. Children of all abilities are confident with sharing their ideas and contributions to the weekly discussion. For some of our children, this is the first time they have ever had their ‘own copy’ of a book. Some of our more able children have taken it upon themselves to seek out unabridged versions of classic texts, such as ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ after reading the abridged versions within their DLG. ‘Cool’ Year 6 boys, who have a history of not engaging with texts in guided reading sessions, have read past the agreed page prior to their next DLG session, because they are so engaged with the story.’

References Flecha, R. (Ed.) & INCLUD-ED Consortium (2015).

Successful Educational Actions for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe. Springer / Hipatia.

A Year Abroad

Rex Watson

o doubt many RSMs have had a year 'out', often abroad, in their youth, before settling down. I was no exception in 1965, though I don't think the term 'Gap Year' had been invented.

I think that at the tender age of 21, I was, like many, somewhat idealistic, with a fairly strong feeling that it would be good (for others) to 'give something back' : social conscience if you like, not in my case allied to any religious belief. So it was that during my final degree year I applied to VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas). It was actually quite common then to do VSO for a year prior to higher education, but arguably a 21 year old rsma newsletter september 2019 page 8

would have more to offer than an 18 year old, in terms of maturity, and for secondary teaching, which I did, in terms of subject expertise.

At interview I expressed some concern about coping with the hot weather of most VSO placings. (This will come as a surprise to those who know me these days as something of a sun worshipper!). The upshot was that I was posted to Jamaica, but 2000 feet up! The climate was lovely, and no hurricanes came my way.

The typical image of a VSO worker was as someone who would turn their hands to most things in relatively primitive conditions. Quite how I would have managed I

am not sure, but in fact the Jamaican government placed most of us in high status schools, largely for the middle classes, and with a distinctly British curriculum, with Overseas GCEs for example.

I found myself at a boy's boarding school 90 miles from Kingston, in beautiful surroundings, namely Munro College, whose website is worth a look. Of course I was teaching maths, and a little science. Sport was important, which for me meant football and, yes, tennis. However, in On the field at Munro College relation to the latter the wind was taken out of my sails because another teacher was a Jamaican Davis Cup player!

Anyway, the year scholastically went by much as you might expect, with quite a few hiccups for this young inexperienced teacher, but I hope fairly successfully on the whole. Social life perhaps revolved a little too much at times around the inner staff room and its fridge of beers. There was however nearby a 'twin' girls school with, of course, a largely female staff. Both schools had a mixture of British and Caribbean teachers. Not surprisingly, the average skin tone of the students was quite a lot lighter than the national average; many Jamaicans of fairly dark skin would seek to find a partner of lighter skin.

At this point of the mid 1960s, Jamaica had been independent for only a short period. It was a rough and ready place perhaps in some ways by British standards of the day. It did though to me largely feel a safe place, with friendly people in all walks of life. One avoided the slum areas of Kingston. Later in the century the island did suffer much violence, and to this day tourists are advised to keep to official tours, etc.. But to me, naĂŻve maybe, in 1965-66 it was a pleasant environment in most places, most of the time.

Almost every other weekend in term time I and some other teachers would take the school bus off to Kingston.

I stayed in what is best described as an expat guest house, as did others on VSO. Other weekends there was often a trip down to the sea near Munro, say 5 miles and around 10 degrees Fahrenheit away.

Perhaps my strongest memories come from the journeys I made, always alone, in the two vacations and the summer at the end of my placement. I was in fact paid a conventional salary which helped funding. At Christmas I flew to Barbados, away to the east, staying a week or so with the parents of a Barbadian (Bajan) teacher in the school. So much more manicured than Jamaica! And, I think, with far fewer social and economic difficulties. I

returned to Jamaica on one of a couple of ships that had been given to the emerging West Indian countries by the Canadian government. Much as with a modern cruise ship, we sailed by night, with time on a different island each day. I remember, probably not in the right order, St Lucia, Dominica, St Kitts, Montserrat, perhaps one or two others. I was very keen on walking up and down hills in my youth (like a good Lancastrian), so remember ascending the high points of some of these islands. You had to be fit in the heat.

I was more adventurous at Easter. The school had a smattering of boys from places beyond Jamaica, the sons of businessmen or diplomats typically. So it was I went to Colombia, with a promise of a bed, in the capital Bogota I think. The north coast of the country is an easy flight from Jamaica. Now if I was a little cavalier about personal safety in places in Jamaica, I was just as much so in Colombia with its reputation for violence. I survived, and indeed never felt threatened. Perhaps my very halting Spanish made people feel sorry for me! I travelled by plane, train, bus, usually accompanied on the last of these by a variety of animals as well as people.

Needless to say the scenery is stunning, especially in the Andes away to the west. It would be in Bogota, around 10,000 feet that I first met an altitude challenge.

Fortunately it didn't seem to affect me at all.

On the way home: Teotihuacan, Mexico

I had always planned to have a long journey home in summer. The bulk of my things being shipped back to UK, I flew to Merida in eastern Mexico. The world famous Chichen Itza Mayan site was only just being opened up, and was stupendous. Buses mainly took me west to the Mexico City area. Much to see there, but my main memory is of sitting in a bar watching England play Mexico in the World Cup (and pretending to be American). Now again I was looking for mountains to climb, and had known the word Popocatepetl for a long time (geography in an English grammar school?). Off I went. The road ends at about 8,000 feet, and I reached the snow line at about 15,000. Lack of suitable footwear (or warm clothing) stopped me there.

Next I headed north to Arizona, again by bus. Rather hot.

In the USA I used the Greyhound buses, 99 dollars for three months! Sometimes I would travel overnight to save on a hotel room. In the American west I took in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vagas, and Seattle. However I found that a day in a city was enough, and got out into rsma newsletter september 2019 page 9

the mountains a fair bit, including an ascent of Mount Whitney, the highest peak of USA outside of Alaska, again over 15,000 feet, but with good trails. Also the Olympic National Park beyond Seattle was magnificent.

From Detroit, I think, I made a detour into Canada to see a friend from my school days who was studying at Kingston University. This necessitated a visit to the American consulate to renew my visa for USA: McCarthyism was not long past.

Then back to dear old Blighty.

Postscript

On the ascent of Mount Whitney The long journey across the continent to New York took me amongst other places to Salt Lake City. I did not at this point know that I had myself some Mormon ancestors!

After a PGCE at Bristol, I was offered a regular post at Munro, as the other maths teacher, under whom I had worked, was returning to UK. However I had by this time decided that 11-16 teaching was not really my forte.

Instead then the wanderlust took me to Malta for four years to teach at the University, including at an associated sixth form college. In my last year there, now married to Norma, and with daughter Lynda with blonde hair charming the Maltese, I saw an advert in the ‘Times Ed’ for a college in Cambridge called Homerton. At interview on December 21st I think (we were in UK for Christmas) I somehow managed to persuade Hilary Shuard that I was suitable - Dame Beryl had already departed Cambridge for the vacation. So I was appointed by Dame Beryl without her meeting me! She retired as I arrived (probably a good move). In the buttery one wet and cold August day I asked the lady across the table what she did at Homerton. She was new too, and called Alison Shrubsole.

The rest is history.

Competition 2018 – provide a caption Trish Maude sent in this ‘captionless’ photograph last year. It has added poignancy now that Dorothy is no longer with us, but shows Dorothy with her honorary friends (as Carole Bennett’s touching contribution to Dorothy’s obituary later explains). Muriel Cordell now provides the caption: Muriel, Margaret, Dorothy and Trish: They tried very hard but couldn't get a note out of them!

2 Newtons As some of my colleagues already know, I am whiling away my considerable spare time doing some family history, on the internet of course, rather than handling any dusty documents !

I recently came across a document from the Court of Chancery (immortalised in Bleak House), 1719, involving an ancestor. He is accused of squirreling away his step-daughter's inheritance. She is represented by a trustee of her father's estate by a local doctor and gentleman (Grantham) Humphrey Newton. (The outcome of the case is not known.)

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 10

Now Isaac Newton and Humphrey (not known to be related) both attended Grantham Grammar school.

When Isaac became a professor at Cambridge in the 1680s, Humphrey, somewhat younger no doubt, became his secretary, or 'sizar'. Despite not being (much) of a mathematician himself, he copied 'Principia', readying it for publication. He was with Isaac for five years, and said that he had seen Isaac smile once!

Fame, if of a somewhat vicarious sort, at last.

Rex Watson

A Note For You Roger Green

E

arlier in the year I offered a talk (A Note For You) to the RSMs on the subject of my compositions for piano. In the course of playing and speaking I shared some of the influences on me, my musical heroes.

Libby has kindly asked me to write something about those wonderful folk.

I have to start with Miss Flowers. That was how I knew her.

Several teachers at my Primary school dabbled with aspects of music but the main exposure to music came in the form of broadcasts from the BBC, “Time and Tune” etc.. Several classes would collect in the main hall where a single loudspeaker would ‘spray’ the music over us as we danced and sprang around the hall in response.

And then came Miss Flowers. She was young and full of life. She exuded music and I fell in love with her and her music. She brought groups together to sing and to play and the whole school was caught in the whirlwind of her musical activity. She encouraged me hugely, giving me the confidence to write down some of the ideas that I had in my head and to arrange others for the new school band.

I had been sent to piano lessons and was also learning the cornet in the local Salvation Army band, but Miss Flowers’ music made all that come alive and fly. She had an ability to discover and nurture talent even in those who were unaware that they had any. Even the most unlikely members of my class were influenced by Miss Flowers and I owe her so much. Many years later I discovered that Miss Flowers, so full of life and enthusiasm, had died tragically young. I could not believe it.

It was Evelyn Flowers who persuaded my parents that I should enter for a scholarship to Trinity College of Music. And so she was responsible for introducing me to my next musical hero, Gladys Puttick. I remember the audition. I was more than nervous. There sat Miss Puttick, slightly rotund, grey haired with a bun, benign and beaming as she so often did. And so for a significant period of years I was a student in her Musicianship Class.

What an influence she had on young children, from often unpromising backgrounds in London and the Home Counties. She knew intimately of a world of music

because she lived in it. Her life was saturated with music and she shared it generously.

Gladys had been a student of Yorke Trotter at the London College of Music and her method followed his principles.

Her teaching was centred on improvising and composing.

She was the finest improviser that I have ever met. I have seen her sit and improvise a fugue. Very few can manage that. She believed that music can be ‘caught’ rather than ‘taught’ in the early years and how right she was. As a student you were not always conscious of what you were learning or indeed that you were learning at all. Gladys used music from a wide range of styles and sources in the classical repertoire and she enabled it all to come alive and become such an important part of me.

Trinity and Gladys were the perfect foil for music at school. The Grammar school and John Turner, Director of Music, offered music worked out on paper whereas Gladys Puttick offered music lived in the moment. At school four bar phrases abounded and Dr William Lovelock ruled supreme with the eleventh commandment being, “Thou shalt not write consecutive fifths”. Both appealed hugely and in very different ways as aspects of the same thing. Both would probably have suffered without the other.

The final influence upon me, shared in my talk, is slightly unusual as I never met him and he never taught me in person, although I believe that he taught me so much through his music. Oddly also, whereas I suspect few RSMs will have any knowledge of Miss Flowers or Miss Puttick, I suspect that quite a few will recognise the name of Walter Carroll who became Music Adviser to Manchester Education Committee in 1918.

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 11

He worked with music teachers in 400 schools, influencing how music was taught and what music was taught. Singing was at the top of his list, followed by instrumental work and ‘musical appreciation’. In 1925 he formed the Manchester Children’s Choir, offering the opportunity for children from the least favoured areas of the city to take part in memorable musical performances, including concerts with the Halle Orchestra. Many will have grown up with the famous recording of ‘Nymphs and Shepherds’.

Walter Carroll was hugely influential in the world of music teaching. But it is his piano music that has been the major influence on me, an influence to which I have returned time and time again in later life. From 1912 to 1953 Walter Carroll composed a substantial body of short piano pieces, in the first instance for his daughter Ida. The pieces were intended as material for those learning to play the piano and countless piano teachers have used them in that role to this day, when the pieces still appear on exam syllabuses.

Many of you will have fond, or not so fond memories of “Scenes at a Farm”, a starting point for many young

pianists. As an aside, that picture in the top right corner must surely be based on Carroll himself?

But the subtlety of his later piano compositions makes them far more than pieces restricted to children learning to play. They offer a wonderful world of lyrical, melodic and rhythmic delight in miniature. And that brevity of expression has been a major influence on my own composing for piano.

I think that all three of my heroes have something in common. They are about doing and being music. Their approach was an active one rather than a passive one.

Bill Coleman: Changemaker of the 1970’s?

Just as ‘Homerton Changemakers’ was launched this summer, an apposite parable from 50 years past arrived in the Inbox of our college archivist.

A rare colour photo of our media studio shows college embracing new media that would revolutionize its curriculum.The story it accompanied was of a student from Caius in 1971, disillusioned with his engineering course, discovering at Homerton a new direction that fulfilled his talents.

Inspired by Bill Coleman, who led the work of micro teaching through CCTV and making TV programmes, David Heathcote transferred to the new Education Tripos, subsequently thrived in his teaching career and took early retirement as a Deputy Headteacher at age 60. He then retrained as a broadcast journalist, working for ITV and commercial radio. As he reported by email in June this year, anticipating his 70th birthday, ‘Lifetime ambition achieved’. rsma newsletter september 2019 page 12

William Henry (Bill) Coleman, had been appointed lecturer in Education at Homerton in 1963, retired in the mid-1980s and passed away in May 1996, as Peter Warner recorded in a past Homertonian. Svetlana Paterson identified a picture of Bill (on the left), with a student and technician at work in about David Heathcote’s time.

The new ‘Homerton Changemakers’ project aims to facilitate just this process, at a time when university students’ experiences too often appear to constrain and restrict identity and career development. As Miranda Hewkin Smith, HUS President 2017-19 observes: ‘Students aren’t at Cambridge just to get a degree – it is here that they discover themselves, and decide to make a difference in the world.’

Peter Cunningham

Russian Jerusalem

I

John Hopkins

n 2008, Elaine Feinstein published a book called The Russian Jerusalem. As Elaine is an alumna of Newnham College, where my partner is the Archivist, I was given a copy of the book by her, as she thought I would find it interesting. Well, I did find it very interesting, though at the time my reaction was simply to enjoy reading it, with the vague sense that it might make a very unusual piece of theatre.

The book was described on the cover as a ‘novel’, though that label does little justice to what is in fact, a very striking mixture of narrative and original poetry, with the story being partly memoire, partly history and partly fantasy. I knew of Elaine Feinstein as a poet and as a translator of Russian poetry, in particular noted for her extensive work on Marina Tsvetaeva. Very broadly, what happens in The Russian Jerusalem is that Marina’s spirit acts as a kind of Virgil to Elaine, who has visited Russia on several occasions, escorting her back in time to the beginning of the 20th century, and then leading her through the Hell of Soviet literary history. In the process, we encounter Anna Ahmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Boris Pasternak, Isaac Babel, Ilya Ehrenburg and others, including some of Elaine’s own ancestors in Odessa.

Although the history of Soviet literature is a depressing saga of political interference ranging from censorship through to persecution, torture and even execution, the book’s overall impression is a curiously uplifting one.

Just last year, I realised that all along, the book had been simmering away at the back of my mind, and it dawned on me that it would make a fantastic opera. In part, this was a result of seeing some recent operatic staging where the use of video back- and side-projection had been used to create a kaleidoscopic sense of location, which could change extremely quickly and generate a fluid and dream-like feeling of place. I saw this would make a terrific way of handling the scenario of Russian Jerusalem. By an odd coincidence, I had also been encouraged to apply to become a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford, where the Centre for Life Writing is based, and where this opera project might be a viable enterprise to become part of that organisation’s activities. My application was successful, and so I am using Wolfson as a base and sounding board for the writing of my opera.

treatment of her work, but actually wanted to collaborate with me on the text. We met a couple of times towards the end of last year, and between us we devised a synopsis, that will make a work in two Acts divided into 10 scenes each that should lead to a ‘short full evening’, about two halves of around 45 minutes each. The cast will be small, seven singers being needed, with Marina Tsvetaeva and Elaine herself being permanent presences throughout, while the remaining members of the cast take on a number of roles as the action unfolds.

Sadly, over the Christmas period, Elaine became ill and won’t now be able to write the libretto for me. This has made me more determined than ever to make something worthy of her, and I have now drafted out a text myself, staying closely to the plan we had set out, and using as far as possible the actual words from her book. A number of people have now looked at the draft and pronounced it viable; all that remains now is to run it past Elaine and hopefully gain her approval, which I am going to do shortly with the help of one of her sons. Then of course, to write the actual notes and find somewhere to stage it!

Both the Prologue and the Epilogue to my libretto use sections of Elaine’s poetry from the book, and the best way I can think of to conclude this article is to quote the final lines of the whole work, which will be sung by the whole cast together: No golden floors, no feathery seraphim. Only a garden where two people are reading under a eucalyptus tree.

It is London, pale sunshine, here and now. Already we are their immortality. their spirits enter us, and those who come after, in other cities, other languages.

May the Lord in his long silence remember all of us.

You can imagine my delight when I discovered that Elaine Feinstein was not just keen on this projected

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 13

Found in translation?

I

David Bridges

was very pleased to get back to Kazakhstan recently, after 18 months absence, for the Eurasian Higher Education Leaders Forum and to see again many of the colleagues and friends with whom I have worked over what is now some eight years. The Forum was the occasion for the launch of the Russian and Kazakh editions of the book that I edited on Educational reform and internationalisation: The case of secondary education reform in Kazakhstan, published originally by Cambridge University Press. The book is based primarily on the (ongoing) research collaboration between Cambridge's Faculty of Education and Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education as well as engagement with system reform that also involved Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press.

Contributors to the book included former Homerton and Education Faculty student Dr Nazipa Ayubayeva and Dr Anel Kulakhmetiva, who did her PhD with POLIS (pictured), former Homerton staff including Fay Turner, Elaine Wilson and Ros McLellan and two recent Ministers of Education, as well as the Faculty of Education research team.

Book launch with Dr Nazipa Ayubayeva and Dr Anel Kulakhmetiva

The Kazakh edition had special significance, because it was funded as part of a national initiative to enrich the Kazakh language, which was suppressed in the Soviet era and lacks the vocabulary to deal with many contemporary issues. So we have now contributed what the publisher estimates to be some 200 new words (for example for ‘classroom action research’, ‘competence based education’ and ‘reflective practice’) which will appear among vocabulary from other sources in a new edition of the Kazakh dictionary. Just don’t ask me what they are!

Competition 2019 SPODE - what does this acronym stand for?

D

uring my early years at Homerton I was a member of the SPODE group. I had been invited to join the group whilst teaching mathematics in a secondary school by my predecessor as Head of Mathematics. The group was led by Professor David Burghes from Exeter University and would meet for the weekend around three times a year in various parts of the country to write ‘real’ life’ mathematical problems. We were joined on one occasion by two others who were involved with A Level problems though that weekend I was clearly working with someone else because years later a certain Tim Everton told me he had met me long before Homerton!

Some of you may remember that I ran a ‘sweepstake’ (in aid of Save The Children) as to where I would be eating Saturday lunch on the 10 year anniversary weekend, that David, a railway enthusiast, had ‘mysteriously’ arranged. I had been sent a return train ticket to Doncaster and the time of train I needed to rsma newsletter september 2019 page 14

catch on Friday afternoon and the time at which I would arrive back on Monday morning. I had also been instructed to take my passport. I was aware that a few members of the group needed to be at Heathrow early Saturday morning where they would open an envelope to tell them what flight they would be taking. Tony Robinson and Stephen Grounds won with Brussels.

So what does SPODE stand for? Remember we were writing real life problems that we wanted secondary aged students to solve - although I was never sure that my favourite problem of how to choose the correct size round cake tin if the recipe was only given for square cake tins could really be ‘real’ until I saw the formula appear in the free cookbook that accompanied my new cooker.

Answers not on a postcard please to the editor (ecj20@cam.ac.uk) - your ideas and the correct one will be revealed in next year’s Newsletter.

Libby Jared

Teacher Stress and Pupil Behaviour Roland Chaplain

Teacher stress, pupil behaviour and associated issues (including mental health; exclusions; well-being; teacher recruitment and retention) are currently hot topics. Many teachers report regularly feeling very stressed as a result of pupil indiscipline and this in turn is linked to lack of training in how to manage behaviour. In this short article I will first discuss key concepts relating to stress. Based on this foundation, I will focus on behaviour management issues that are implicated in teacher stress. I will conclude by considering what has been done to reduce teacher stress levels by improving their effectiveness in managing behaviour.

Concerns about stress, mental health and well-being in school communities are currently at the forefront of health and education debates (e.g. DfE, 2019).

However, whilst the wide reporting of psychological stress may suggest a general belief that the construct is universally understood, this is not the case. The imprecise way the terms to define stress are presented has given rise to a plethora of interpretations. Writing fifteen years ago, Hobfoll argued that no construct in modern psychological or psychiatric literature has been more extensively researched than stress. As a result, the number of scientific publications (and associated operational definitions) produced ‘is so extensive that it is no longer possible to conduct a comprehensive review’ (2004: 1). The amount of literature published in the scientific and popular press shows no sign of abating.

Research into psychological stress has produced numerous models which attempt to explain the process, among which Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional theory (1984) is probably the most influential. It places cognitive appraisal or self-evaluation as the key concept to understanding differences in how individuals cope (effectively or ineffectively) with stress. As a result, most definitions include reference to the phenomenological and transactional nature of stress and associated thinking, emotions and behaviour. The transactional model has had a significant influence on my own work because of its emphasis on the relationship between stressor, response and outcome, and the dynamic nature of stress (Chaplain, 2017).

Central to the transactional model of stress and coping is interpretation and appraisal of the individual’s environment in relation to their perceived capacity to cope. Interpretation and appraisal of an event are influenced by how the event is perceived by an individual at any one specific time. The same event can

be stressful, or not, at different points in time.

Differences occur between individuals as well as temporally within an individual.

Three types of stressor have been identified: nonnormative, normative and daily hassles (McNamara, 2000). Whilst everybody is, at some point, exposed to normative life events (e.g. death of someone close) and some to non-normative events (e.g. terrorist attack) individuals have little or no control over either. In contrast, everybody is exposed to regular minor stressors or daily hassles which Kanner et al. defined as: ‘the irritating, frustrating, distressing demands that to some degree characterize everyday transactions with the environment’ (1981: 3). Daily hassles can have a cumulative effect - such as, persistent low-level disruption in the classroom e.g. pupils talking out of turn. Hassles can also have an amplification effect, hence someone who has recently experienced a life event (e.g. divorce) is more vulnerable to daily hassles.

Daily hassles can be balanced by daily uplifts or positive experiences which affects an individual’s subjective sense of well-being. For instance, a teacher who has struggled to manage the behaviour of one class then goes on to teach a highly motivated class later that day.

However, most research focuses on stressful life events primarily because it is more problematic to utilise the more sophisticated and complex methods to investigate daily hassles (Kanner et al., 1981). Doing so requires considering the subjective significance of the event; individual differences in coping skills; resources and the context. McLean argued: ‘the unit of stress (daily hassle) is relatively small and the stressors so familiar … they are … taken for granted and considered to be less important than more dramatic stressors’ (1976: 298).

Is teacher stress really an issue?

According to the Health and Safety Executive’s comparative study of work-related stress, depression and anxiety across different professions, teaching is the most stressful (HSE, 2018). Numerous studies of teacher stress over the last 40 years have consistently reported that between 20 and 33 per cent of teachers report feeling very stressed most or all of the time (c.f. Kyriacou & Sutcliffe, 1978; Chaplain, 1996; Education Support Partnership, 2018). While depression is the most common outcome of teacher stress, other problems include chronic fatigue and rsma newsletter september 2019 page 15

burnout (Betoret, 2006). Armchair conjecture suggests that teacher stress has negative effects on teacher wellbeing, but there is evidence suggesting that this is not inevitable. Kyriacou (2011) found that, despite teaching being recognised as a high-stress occupation, teachers are reportedly healthier than other professional groups. Teachers and headteachers who report being very stressed can experience either high or low levels of job satisfaction - which prevails depends the nature of the stressor and specific facet of job satisfaction (Chaplain, 2017).

Having discussed some key concepts in general terms, I now turn my focus to one of the most frequently reported - and the strongest independent predictor of teacher stress - pupils’ disruptive behaviour.

Behaviour management and teacher stress There is extensive evidence collected over many years which highlights the relationship between pupil (mis)behaviour and high levels of stress, distress and discontent among both trainee and qualified teachers (c.f., Barrett & Davis, 1995; Berg & Cornell, 2016; Brock & Grady, 1998; Chaplain, 2008; Gavish & Friedman, 2010; Harmsen et al., 2018; Zeidner, 1988).

Many teachers claim that pupil misbehaviour is currently a problem in their schools - one which has increased in recent years (NASUWT, 2018).

One current concern in western societies is the difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers. What discourages many individuals entering and staying in the profession is pupil behaviour and discipline (DfE, 2018). In 2014, the Chief Inspector of Schools commented that around two-fifths of teachers leaving the profession within five years was a ‘national scandal’, adding ‘I think most of them leave because of misbehaviour in schools. They find it far too challenging, far too difficult’ (Wilshaw, 2014). This figure is identical to that reported by Kyriacou and Kunc in 2007.

Three other stressors commonly reported by teachers are workload, change and lack of support, but these are stressors frequently reported in studies of occupational stress in other professions. Some researchers have argued that combined multiple facets of stress working synergistically are more powerful than single factors.

For example, stress resulting from pupils’ disruptive behaviour is not just an interpersonal issue, it is also related to lack of support and administrative workload (MacBeath and Galton, 2008).

Concerns about the management of behaviour continue to be voiced at all levels, from government departments to pupils. In October 2018, the Head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, announced that a more specific emphasis would be placed on behaviour during future inspections. Speaking at CurriculumEd2019, Ofsted’s national director for education, Sean Hartford, said that the true levels of pupil disruption in schools were being ‘masked’ from inspectors and this would be responded to by changing the inspection process to obtain the views about levels of disruptive behaviour

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 16

from supervisory staff, trainee and newly qualified teachers separately.

Some teachers attribute the escalation of behaviour management issues in schools to the increased numbers of pupils with behaviour difficulties and disorders (e.g.

ADHD) being included in mainstream schools – pupils who would previously have been placed in special schools. As MacBeath and Galton found ‘Teachers … blame the deterioration in classroom discipline ... on the increase in the number of children with serious learning difficulties now entering schools as the result of “inclusion without adequate resourcing” ’ (2008: 8).

Little seems to have changed since their observation.

Responding to the Timpson Review of School Exclusions (Longfield, 2019) the Children’s Commissioner said that the ‘sharply increasing’ numbers of exclusions for misbehaviour reflects a lack of specialist support for pupils with special needs, in particular behaviour difficulties. A number of recommendations by the Timpson Review sounded much like the Elton Report some 30 years ago – and most of those published in the period in between the two. They include the need to: create ‘positive behaviour cultures’; train school leaders in how to generate positive cultures; ensure staff have the knowledge and skills they need to manage behaviour through expert training on behaviour management as part of Initial Teacher Training and the Early Career Framework.

These and many other reports from various committees and working parties give the impression that what is required is known and achievable, but to what extent have these decades of investigation and recommendations translated into practice? In the final section of this article I will demonstrate that in most teacher training courses behaviour management remains a low priority.

Towards effective behaviour management training programmes – rhetoric and reality The Committee of Enquiry into Discipline in Schools was established thirty years ago in response to considerable public and parliamentary concerns about levels of indiscipline in schools. The resultant Elton Report concluded that disruptive behaviour could be significantly reduced if teachers became more effective classroom managers. This could be addressed by providing both trainee and experienced teachers with specific training in how to motivate and manage pupils, and how to deal with challenging behaviour. They also concluded that effective schools were those that created a positive climate based on a sense of community and shared values. In reality, little more than lip service was paid to the recommendations.

One strategy introduced by the government, which was meant to improve teachers’ behaviour management skills, was to shift a greater proportion of teacher training from universities to schools (DfEE, 1988) in order to make them more effective practitioners (Anderson, 1995). Partnership schools now ‘have the leading responsibility for training students to ... manage classes’ (DfE, 1992: para 14). The efficacy of

this strategy has been challenged, not least because stress associated with classroom management does not decline as training within the school placement progresses (Burn et al., 2003). As Merrett and Wheldall (1992) observed, the chances of a trainee finding themselves in a welcoming school, with supportive teachers, cooperative pupils, and a skilled well-informed, and appropriately experienced mentor were uncertain. Moreover, despite continuing with this policy, the DfE acknowledges that poor pupil behaviour continues to be the ‘greatest concern voiced by new teachers’ (DfE, 2010).

Effective management of social behaviour is associated with high levels of pupil engagement with learning, whereas ineffective behaviour management is associated with pupil disengagement, general misbehaviour and pupil aggression (Lewis et al., 2005).

Whilst this is true, what constitutes effective behaviour management is often unclear. This is exemplified in a current area of dispute among educationalists – the ‘zero tolerance approach’ to behaviour versus humanistic approaches.

The Michaela Community School in Brent caters for 840 pupils. It is renowned for its ‘no excuses policy’, for example, detentions are given for being late for school or not completing homework. Behaviour at this school was rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and they have now been given the green light to open more schools.

An example of a school with a totally contrasting approach to behaviour is Summerhill in Suffolk. This progressive boarding school caters for 70 fee paying pupils, who make their own laws and decisions at regular school meetings and who can choose which lessons they go to (or not). Behaviour at this school was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. The point being that both approaches appear effective in their own contexts, but would they be transferable? I would argue that taking polarised positions in this way is unhelpful. The ultimate aim should be developing pupil selfregulation, however, this requires a progressive range of approaches.

Much of the government’s advice on behaviour management training consists of superficial and nebulous tips. Furthermore, none of the guidance on training in this area (produced over several decades) has been made mandatory, resulting in the guidance being interpreted differently across providers - in some cases offering little more than a single lecture.

The behaviour management training and support programme that I designed and have taught at Cambridge for many years is very much evidencebased and draws on cognitive-behavioural, organisational and social psychological approaches, and neuroscience. I have now taught the course to over 5000 trainee teachers. In the 2008 and 2011 Ofsted inspections of the Education Faculty, this programme was rated as 'excellent' and 'highly distinctive'. In the most recent Ofsted inspection (2018) it was described as providing 'extremely effective course inputs and intensive individual support for trainees' which has an 'extremely positive impact on improving trainees’

outcomes and practice'. In successive annual surveys, where newly qualified teachers rate their preparedness for teaching and level of satisfaction with their behaviour management training, those who attended Cambridge rate the course significantly higher than any other sector provider. However, from a personal perspective, I know much more could be done to develop the course further, but the government’s low priority given to training requirements continually diminishes teaching time at the Faculty.

In sum, whilst pupil indiscipline is strongly predictive of teacher stress, providing comprehensive initial and in-service training of teachers to improve their effectiveness in managing pupil behaviour is treated as a low priority. Just as there is no consensus regarding definitions, there is no consensus regarding which behaviour management approach should be used in practice, which reinforces the need for more extensive mandatory training to cover all bases.

References Anderson, L. W. (1995). International encyclopaedia of teaching and teacher education. Oxford: Elsevier Science.

Barrett, E. R., & Davis, S. (1995). Perceptions of beginning teachers' inservice needs in classroom management. Teacher Education and Practice, 11(1), 22-27.

Berg, J. K., & Cornell, D. (2016). Authoritative school climate, aggression toward teachers, and teacher distress in middle school.

School Psychology Quarterly, 31(1), 122.

Betoret, F. D. (2006). Stressors, self‐efficacy, coping resources, and burnout among secondary school teachers in Spain. Educational Psychology, 26(4), 519-539.

Brock, B. L., & Grady, M. L. (1998). Beginning teacher induction programs: The role of the principal. The Clearing House, 71(3), 179183.

Burn, K., Hagger, H., Mutton, T., & Everton, T. (2003). The complex development of student-teachers' thinking. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 9(4), 309-331.

Chaplain, R. (1996). Stress and job satisfaction: a study of English primary school teachers. Educational Psychology, 15(4), 473-489.

Chaplain, R. (2008). Stress and psychological distress among secondary trainee teachers. Educational Psychology, 28(2), 195-209.

Chaplain, R. (2017). Teaching without disruption in the secondary school: a practical approach to managing pupil behaviour. London: Routledge.

Department for Education (DfE) (1992). Initial Teacher Training: Secondary Phase Circular 9/92. London: DfE. Department for Education (DfE) (2010). The Importance of Teaching - The Schools White Paper 2010. London: DfE. Department for Education (DfE) (2018). Factors affecting teacher retention: qualitative intervention. March 2018.

Department for Education (DfE) (2019) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/support-on-wellbeing-forteachers-in-schools-and-colleges Department for Education and Employment. (DfEE). (1988).

Education Reform Act. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office (HMSO).

Education Support Partnership (2018). Teacher Wellbeing Index.

Elton, B. R. (1989). Discipline in Schools: report of the Committee of Enquiry chaired by Lord Elton. HMSO. Gavish, B., & Friedman, I. A. (2010). Novice teachers’ experience of teaching: A dynamic aspect of burnout. Social Psychology of Education, 13(2), 141-167.

Harmsen, R., Lorenz, M., Maulana, R., & van Veen, K. (2018). The relationship between beginning teachers' stress causes, stress responses, teaching behaviour and attrition. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 24(6), 626-643.

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 17

Hobfoll, S. E. (2004). Stress, culture, and community: The psychology and philosophy of stress. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.

MacBeath, J. & Galton, M. (2008, January). Pressure and Professionalism: The impact of recent and present Government policies on the working lives of teachers in England. Paper presented at the 21st International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement, Auckland, New Zealand.

Kanner, A. D., Coyne, J. C., Schaefer, C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981).

Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1), 1-39.

McNamara, S. (2000). Stress in young people: What's new and what can we do? London: Continuum.

Merrett, F., & Wheldall, K. (1992). Teachers’ use of praise and reprimands to boys and girls. Educational Review, 44(1), 73-79.

Kyriacou, C. (2011). Teacher stress: From prevalence to resilience.

In J. Langan-Fox & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Handbook of stress in the occupations (pp. 161-173). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Ofsted (2008). University of Cambridge A Secondary Initial Teacher Training. Short Inspection Report London: Ofsted Publications.

Health and Safety Executive (2018). Work related stress depression or anxiety statistics in Great Britain, 2018. London: HSE.

Kyriacou, C., & Kunc, R. (2007). Beginning teachers’ expectations of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(8), 1246-1257.

Kyriacou, C., & Sutcliffe, J. (1978). Teacher stress: Prevalence, sources, and symptoms. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 48(2), 159-167.

Longfield, A. (2019) https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2019/05/07/responsefrom-the-childrens-commissioner-for-england-to-edward-timpsonsschool-exclusions-review/

H

Ofsted (2011). University of Cambridge Initial Teacher Education Inspection Report. (70133) London: Ofsted Publications.

Ofsted (2018). University of Cambridge Initial Teacher Education Inspection Report. (70133) London: Ofsted Publications.

Wilshaw, M. (2014). Speech given at the North of England Education Conference 2014. Education: Innovation, Creativity, Employability.

Zeidner, M. (1988). The relative severity of common classroom discipline techniques: the students' perspective. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, 69-77.

Jumping off the Ledge: my Journey towards becoming an ALM

Trish Maude

ave you heard the story of the baby eagle that grew up amongst chickens, pecking on the ground and aware only that this was the way to live? One day an adult eagle flying overhead spotted one of its kind, took the young eagle to a high ledge and told it to spread its wings and jump off…. and it did ……..

Here is my recent experience of jumping off the ledge!

The Principal asked me to take on the role of Lay Chaplain for the Charter Choir. This would involve planning every aspect of the Choral Evensong services that the choir would be singing in St John’s Church, apart from the music, and to lead services. Having no formal qualification in worship planning and leading, I decided that formal Diocesan training would be the foundation for undertaking this role and embarked on the Authorised Lay Ministry (ALM) Course in the Diocese of Ely. The course is made up of two modules, as well as Safeguarding training. The first module was the 20 hour Discipleship course, which was a real inspiration for me, rightly described in the course handbook as “a brilliant way to get going and get growing”.

My second course, specifically designed for training in worship leading, was entitled ‘Worship4Today’. The course was packed into six all day sessions, with a wealth of homework and a self-selected assignment designed to

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 18

support each of us in developing our leadership of worship.

Throughout the courses I learnt so much and was privileged to engage with gifted course leaders and eager participants who added a wealth of experience from a wide range of parishes across the Diocese. I also received much valuable mentoring from the clergy at St John’s and at St Andrew’s, Stapleford.

The Charter Choir sings Evensong on six Tuesdays each term at 6.30pm. You are most welcome to come.

The Real Joan Hunter Dunn Stephen P. Tomkins

This little cameo is dedicated to John Murrell, whose suggestion it was that I write a piece for our RSM newsletter. So imagine, please, that lovely man in his dying days snuggled in his comfortable chair in that elegant first floor living room in Lensfield Road, surrounded by all his treasures, and attended by his dear Annie.

Our generation is divided by a line; some of us as children “remember the War”, whilst some of us were barely born or or were too young to remember much.

John remembered it and I really could not. In the course of our discussing our early days I must have remarked that, at my baptism, in a war-torn Sheffield parish, my godmother was none other than ‘the real Joan Hunter-Dunn’. Learning this John became animated and loved the tale. So here it is.

J

oanna Hunter-Dunn, she was always Joanna in the family but more commonly just ‘Joan’ to colleagues and friends, was the daughter of a home counties GP who lived in Farnborough. She was, incidentally, my mother’s first cousin as well. She and my mother were great friends and as girls, although at different schools, and as young women they went on holiday together. They had travelled, in their early twenties before the war, to both France and Germany.

Joanna was fun: she had a wonderful laugh and a lovely smile, very good looks with large deep brown eyes, a sporty physique, and she certainly had ‘character’.

Joanna at school in 1930

Joanna in France on holiday in 1938

She played tennis well and had been captain of lacrosse at school and also Head Girl. On leaving school she read for a diploma at the then King’s College of Household and Social Science in London and, before the outbreak of war, had joined the catering department of London University.

By 1940, at the age of 25, she had become an assistant manager of the canteen at the Senate House. The

doctor’s daughter was also the first aider. Hours were long and testing. She slept in the Senate House basement cellars throughout the London blitz. My aunt Stephanie Dunn, my mother’s sister and Joanna’s first cousin, was a nurse at St Thomas’s Hospital. Stephanie was killed in one of those 1940 air-raids. So at my baptism in 1943 it was fitting that I was named, Stephen, in her memory. Joanna was tough, but I know she was quite a glamorous and adventurous girl as she told me once that she and some other girls had been taken out one evening by two boyish young American men - Joe and ‘Jack’ Kennedy - who happened to be the eldest sons of the United States ambassador. Joanna recalled that they had all been told off by the police that night for using their car headlights in the blackout.

Joe Kennedy died on active service in 1944, whilst JFK, then two years younger than Joanna, of course had his own story.

At this point in the narrative it is ‘enter John Betjeman’, who might then have been described as a quiet, amiable, shy intelligent literary man, and an already published poet, although he was not known as such by many of his colleagues. Betjeman’s ‘War’ was spent as a non-combatant producer and editor in the Ministry of Information film unit, based at the London Senate House, and doubtless he was commonly to be seen at the canteen. Betjeman and his friends certainly fancied Joan Hunter Dunn. The fantasy grew into the poem. Betjeman later related how "She had bright cheeks, clear sun-burned skin, darting brown eyes, a shock of hair and happy smile. Her figure was a dream of strength and beauty. When the bombs fell, she bound up our wounds unperturbed. When they didn't fall, which was most of the time, she raised our morales without ever lowering our morals."

In 1940 John Betjeman, who was certainly a friend but nowhere near a ‘boy-friend’, took her out for a meal. In the taxi home he gave her a typescript piece of paper neatly folded and asked her to read it. She read it alone in her room. Years ago I asked Joanna what she did with it. “My! I tore it up and threw it in the waste paper basket!” “What a silly man.... anyhow he was married!” If you look at the poem now you might see why.

The Subaltern’s Love Song was published in 1941. In 1945 Joanna, by then my godmother, had married Harold Jackson another young man in the Ministry of Information. As the subject of that famous Betjeman poem she had quickly captured the nation’s imagination. But as Joanna Jackson, the real Joan Hunter Dunn lived for years incognito. She was sadly rsma newsletter september 2019 page 19

widowed early in 1963 and John Betjeman then renewed his friendship and occasionally visited Joanna’s family.

At Joanna’s funeral, in April 2008, I was asked to give the family address and focused on her own life and her bringing up of her own three boys - for we, too, all adored her. She was a joy to me and never forgot my birthday. In that address of mine I did not mention Betjeman once. He had already died in 1984 but before Joanna’s funeral the John Betjeman Society, who had been tipped off about her death, begged her sons to let them come and give an address as well. We eventually relented and they too spoke.

JHD in 1945

The splendid statue of JB at St Pancras station

Looking back I am glad that that typescript, handed over in the taxi, had a copy but if the family still had the original it might have been worth a pretty penny today. It was this tale of the ‘real Joan Hunter Dunn’ that brought some joy to John Murrell in his last weeks.

I was, and remain so, just very glad of that too.

Our Trip to Ecuador

Philip Rundall

In 2018 Patti was invited by the government of Ecuador to speak at a conference in Cuenca in the south of the country and it was decided that I should accompany her as bag handler and head of security. We left the UK on 25th April and arrived in Ecuador the following day, where we were dropped off at a beautiful hotel called Mansion Alcazar, formerly a mansion owned by a Cuenca politician.

Cuenca is a small city situated up in the Andes mountains and it was cool enough for me to wear a sweater and coat out of doors most days. The hotel was in the old part, with enough churches, it’s said, to enable you to attend a different one each Sunday of the year. Cuenca was small enough to walk everywhere except to and from the conference centre situated some distance away across the roaring river Tomebamba, in the more modern part of the city. Whenever we travelled to the conference centre or to any event connected with the conference we were ferried by coach with a police escort. Traffic was stopped at junctions by the motorcycle outriders so that we could sweep through. This was a novel experience and I have to admit, a rather thrilling one!

While Patti’s input at the conference was being much appreciated, having a private meeting with the regional governor and attending a drinks party with around five presidents or former presidents of Latin American countries, I spent my time walking round the city, visiting rsma newsletter september 2019 page 20

churches and taking lots of photographs of buildings and people. On the Sunday morning I photographed and took videos of a lively street carnival. One of the most memorable sights and sounds was a drumming band that stretched the length of a street, all of it’s young members dressed in smart uniforms with splendid tall hats, playing and moving in synchronised slow motion. It was an extraordinary sight and almost hypnotic to listen to.

The drumming band in Cuenca

After the conference ended we caught the plane to Quito, the capital (and the second highest capital in the world).

Quito airport is miles away from the city but at a much lower elevation and we decided to find somewhere close to the airport for the overnight stay. We ended up in quite the worst hotel we’ve ever stayed in anywhere, a jerry

built place down a dirt track close to the highway. We arrived in pitch blackness and the place felt sinister and deserted. Eventually someone appeared and we were shown to our tiny room. Breakfast was in another precarious building some distance away - scrambled eggs with white bread and instant coffee. We felt like characters in a movie.

Our journey continued (through Galapagos immigration) to the tiny island of Baltra just north of Santa Cruz. It was like arriving in a totally different world. Walking from the plane though the blazing heat to the terminal building you could see a small volcanic island in the distance rising out of the blue of the Pacific ocean, the remains of the top of an ancient volcano. Sniffer dogs inspected the piles of luggage before our cohort of travellers was allowed to pass through customs and board a coach to take us to the ferry that crosses the narrow strait to Santa Cruz. Looking across this narrow channel the water was alive with diving pelicans and other sea birds.

We went to the south of the island to the small town of Puerto Ayora where we soon found the little hotel which we had booked directly from the UK. The room was large with four beds and air conditioning; it was basic, clean and really cheap at around £30 per night which made us decide to use it as a base to leave the bulk of our luggage while we travelled beyond the island. Going to the Galapagos can be hugely expensive but becomes much more affordable to book a room directly from the UK yourself or simply arrive and find one. The other decision we made, after considerable research, was to select the destinations we wished to visit once we had arrived; allowing flexibility and freedom to rest when desired.

We ventured out to explore the town, gradually making our way to the Charles Darwin Research Centre. The first thing that strikes you are the huge candelabra and other cacti that abound and the black lava rock beneath you. At the Centre they run a breeding programme to replenish the diminishing giant tortoise population, here we had our first sight of these extraordinary creatures and pens full of their young. On the way back we stopped at a busy fish stall next to the sea where a large seal lion lay beneath the stone counter and pelicans waddled on both the pavement and along the counters. Iguanas wandered around our feet, so you had to take care not to tread on them!

Philip sitting on a lava bridge - The Tunnels - Isabela

Leaving our base hotel, we made a two hour (speed) boat trip taking us to the largest of the Galapagos Islands, Isabela. The boat trip was exhilarating but unfortunately

Patti was struck down by sea sickness. On board were a party of ten lovely Argentinian ladies, old school friends, all celebrating their 60th birthdays together. As we were approaching Isabela, they asked where we were going to stay. We replied, we have no idea, to which our new friend said, “Close to the landing place is a lovely small hotel owned by a friend of mine - it’s not too expensive go there, you’ll love it!” So we did – and we did!

Our first floor room overlooked the beach - it was delightful. By an area of green mangrove I walked across black, lava rock, twisted into frozen forms, and found countless marine iguanas. One of the first things you notice is how they regularly snort out clouds of sea salt through their nostrils, for their bodies reject salt. I was fascinated watching them both on land and swimming and you’re within touching distance of them. They show no fear. Returning to the hotel for lunch we found our Argentinian friends there too - throughout our time on the island we kept bumping into these lovely people.

Isabela formed around five volcanos is the largest of the islands and thankfully has far fewer permanent residents.

Puetro Villamil the main village and landing place is tiny.

We immediately loved it there and decided to remain for most of the week.

On one morning we made a boat trip to Las Tintoreras and with our guide explored a set of islets. We saw a shoal of golden ray swim past us, sea lions on the beaches and large white tip reef sharks basking in the shallows.

We went snorkeling among shoals of tropical fish and hovered over large sea turtles. Later we took a taxi to the giant tortoise breeding centre, walking back to our hotel through woodland made up of trees and cacti, past lakes full of pink flamingo and other birds, iguanas sharing the pathway.

Two iguanas and a flamingo

The following day I joined a small party leaving for the Tunnels, a 45-minute speed boat trip away. At one point we slowed down and watched passing giant manta rays with their fins and wings sometimes appearing above the water. The visible landscape was entirely black lava rock, cacti and the odd tree. We anchored in a lagoon, donned flippers, masks and snorkels and swam amid shoals of fish, and dived down to inspect a sea horse, gathered around large sea turtles. At one point I shadowed a young shark as it swam past. The guide led us to another lagoon and guided us one at a time into a narrow tunnel in the black lava rock. There, immediately below, were three ten-foot white tip reef sharks resting on the sea bottom.

We swam further into the maze of small lagoons and again we saw several shark resting in an underwater grotto. We returned to the boat and travelled further along the coast to a huge area of lava rock that was broken up rsma newsletter september 2019 page 21

by lagoons, strips of water, the rock outcrops punctuated by tunnels and bridges, topped by cacti and the odd tree.

We anchored and clambered up to the flat top of the lava.

By now the sun was intense and looking down into the depths of the gin clear water we saw giant manta rays glide past, the odd shark, sea turtles and shoals of fish.

Blue-footed boobies were preening each other within easy view.

Eventually we had to make our return to Santa Cruz and flew back to the mainland and travelled up into the mountains to Quito. At well over 10,000 feet we both suffered from altitude sickness, the ground swayed and we felt unwell throughout our stay. Despite this we very much enjoyed wandering round this lovely city with lots to see. One of the most memorable places we visited was the baroque La Campania church of the Society of Jesus built 1606 - 1765. I have never seen so much gold in all my life! But oddly enough we both thought it looked

absolutely wonderful. Inevitably our trip had to come to an end; we flew home via Bogota in Columbia.

One of the issues that concerned us and still does, is the impact of tourism on the Galapagos. Fortunately only a fraction is open to tourists but man clearly has made and continues to make a negative impact. The introduction of goats, dogs, cats and certain plants has already proven to have been a big error but there is clearly a growing sense of awareness that this unique natural environment must be protected. Thank goodness there are no large hotel developments - it has a back packer feel at present and hopefully it will remain this way. I recommend David Attenborough’s series on DVD entitled “Galapagos” - it explains how the islands were formed and how they come to be unique. He touches on the impact of tourism and since our return there have been several TV programmes dealing with this issue. Despite these mis-givings and concerns, I’ll never forget the experience of having been there!

There was even time for me to get out the sketchpad

Royal Charter Archive Project Sue Conrad

Prior to my retirement in March 2018, I gained approval to carry out the task of indexing the minutes and briefing papers of the main decision-making bodies involved in the College's achievement of the Royal Charter in 2010 (chiefly the then Board of Trustees, Finance and General Purposes Committee, College Council, Trustees and Fellows meetings, and the Statutes and Ordinances Committee).

My objective was to ensure that future researchers interested in the events related to the College's journey towards achievement of the Royal Charter would be able to locate the relevant documents with ease.

It is my aim to have the Archive substantially completed by March 2020, the 10th Anniversary of the Royal Charter, with a view to staging a small exhibition in the College Archive. rsma newsletter september 2019 page 22

As the project has progressed, it has expanded to encompass a number of additional elements, including what I have called Homerton's Educational Enterprises - HIVE, CreICT, ERTEC, SAPS, CODE, Chemistry Club, etc., and I would love to hear from RSMs who were involved with these activities, which all contributed to Homerton's reputation for innovation and excellence. There is also a section for personal accounts and recollections of staff employed during the period of the College's transition to a full College of the University. I am keen to develop this section as I think it is important to document the impact of the events of this period on individual members of staff, and to gain their perceptions of what was going on, and why. Again, contributions from RSMs would be very much appreciated.

Celebrating 250 years in action

2

018 saw Homerton College mark the 250th anniversary of its foundation in Homerton, East London. Over two and a half centuries, the College has evolved from training non-conformist Ministers; to teaching teachers in both London and, since the 1890s, in Hills Road; and finally to its current incarnation as a full College of the University of Cambridge.

Jazz bands jostled for space with science experiments, while craft stalls, magicians and street food rubbed up alongside discussions of artificial intelligence and a masterclass by Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Panel Discussion: Me, Myself and AI

In celebration of this history, the College hosted panel discussions, concerts, drama masterclasses, events and activities throughout the year, demonstrating the breadth of interests explored by our students and researchers, and opening our doors to cement our reputation as Cambridge’s friendliest College.

The Development Office has just about caught its collective breath, but the Principal is now making noises about marking 2020 as the 10th anniversary of Homerton’s status as a constituent College of the University…watch this space!

Laura Kenworthy

The highlight of the year was the 250 Festival on 27th October. With over 1,000 people registering their interest, from alumni and former staff to neighbours and first-time visitors, it was, despite the cold, a joyful display of everything that makes Homerton special.

The largest soap bubble in the world?

With all this fun we are not feeling the cold

250 years: the final celebratory week

I knew that College was jam packed with visitors on Festival Saturday as I couldn’t book a ticket for anything! I was beginning to despair that I wouldn’t be able to get to any event (my fault - as I always seemed to be away from Cambridge) but my luck held for the two final events scheduled for the same week - A Celebration of Dame Leah Manning and the Homerton 250 Concert. What a joy they both turned out to be.

I knew little about the life of Leah Manning apart from a room in College and strangely, for the moment, a street in Bilbao named after her. By the end of the evening I knew a great deal more about this amazing woman, firstly through the presentations but then suddenly through the words of people and their families who, due to her supreme efforts and organisation, had been evacuated as children from rsma newsletter september 2019 page 23

Bilbao during the Spanish Civil War. No wonder then that a street in Bilbao carries her name. To hear the stories that were shared by those whose lives were directly changed by Leah Manning’s work was both humbling and a privilege – an evening that I will never forget.

So it was in uplifted mood that four days later I arrived at the concert which drew the year of 250 celebrations to a close. How fitting that it should open with Nicolas Walker’s Fanfare for Homerton. This was followed immediately by the world premiere of Elevation composed by John Hopkins (one of our RSMs, of course). The brochure described how John had used ‘different musical textures to suggest the different stages of architecture’ that can be seen between the Ibberson Building through to Queen’s Wing. I simply marvel at John’s vision and creativity and in this instance I listened conjuring up my own mathematical imaginings of changing heights. Angelus Blank ‘s piano performance of a Chopin Ballade illustrated the tremendous musical talent that abounds within the

University. The programme notes presented the carefully thought through choices of pieces – none more so than Ben Graves’ setting for choir and string quartet, composed as a reflection upon an event in 1798. It was a splendid evening and I am sure I was not alone leaving with a wonderful collection of excerpts from Handel’s Messiah, expertly rendered by choir and orchestra, ringing in my ears.

Libby Jared

What does the Development Office do?

T

Laura Kenworthy

he Development Office has an uncanny ability to be both visible and invisible. Wholly ignored by the current students, who bypass it en route to Finance or IT; and in sudden sharp focus to alumni who wish to return for Formal Hall, change their address details, request a copy of their degree certificate or book cheap accommodation for a Cambridge wedding.

As a department, we fulfil several functions. We are responsible for fundraising in order to provide financial support to students who need it, and to improve the experience of all who study at Homerton. In spite of the fact that Homerton has only actively fundraised from its alumni base for a relatively short time, the pool of people giving to the College is growing steadily. We receive frequent letters from former students describing how formative their years here were, and how much they value the opportunity to have a positive impact on the current generation of students, which is hugely heartening. An annual Telephone Campaign and direct mail publication, as well as ongoing stewardship of donors, all help to increase the giving rate and involve more alumni in supporting Homerton.

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 24

We are also responsible for Alumni Relations, which encompasses events, communications and responding to day-to-day enquiries. Alumni receive the Homertonian magazine and the Annual Review each year, updating them on the activities of students, alumni and Fellows, as well as termly e-newsletters.

They have regular opportunities to engage in person with Homerton, whether by attending regional drinks or the annual Alumni Reunion Weekend or coming to the Kate Pretty Lecture or another event, all of which are managed and promoted by this office.

We are on the end of the phone to manage alumni queries and enable them to stay in touch, and are in the process of getting Homerton Careers Connections, a mentoring opportunity linking current students with alumni, finally off the ground.

It’s a busy, varied office, always running up against a deadline or a shortage of envelopes, but we’re proud to be the point of connection between Homerton and its alumni, and delighted that so many of them make that connection a meaningful one.

Estates Update

W

Deborah Griffin, Bursar

e are now half way through the College’s Estates Strategy 2014-2024 - at least in time! As the original strategy was based on assessment of needs it was good to report to College Council in February that with the building of Morley House, refurbishment of Queen’s Wing and the building of the Griffin Bar and offices, some of the most immediate needs – student accommodation, offices for Fellows, gym and social spaces – have been met. We have also been able to provide a new archive, additional high-tech supervision rooms and a small reception space in Macaulay.

Three projects under construction or due to start this year will mean that when complete by mid-2022 we will be an estimated 85% of the way through the strategy.

Estates Strategy 2014 Approximate time Requirements Student Accommodation Student Facilities Sport Music Art Faith Archive Space Special Collections Catering Small Reception Study Spaces Finance Office Academic Office Spaces Porters’ Lodge Fellows/Staff Housing JRF Housing

Completed 2015-2018

In Planning 2019-2020

Phase 3 2021-2023

North Wing will provide a new auditorium and guest bedrooms to support the conference business which is critical to our financial sustainability and two large airy music rooms. This is due to complete by April next year (2020). Planning permission has been achieved for the new Dining Hall and we hope to start construction by the end of this year. This is the largest project in the strategy and will provide not only a space for catering for our increased number of students, but also an exemplary working environment in the new kitchens, a large modern servery area and a new Buttery allowing the current JCR to become a dedicated social space for our undergraduates. Both these projects will benefit from Ground Source Heat Pump technology and have been designed with future environmental needs very much to the fore.

Since writing the strategy we have been able to take advantage of two opportunities to build first class sports facilities on Long Road which are scheduled to be complete in 2020 and to invest in a new boathouse with City of Cambridge Rowing Club which will be ready this summer.

Knowing how long planning takes in the City, once the Dining Hall and sports facilities are under construction we will turn our minds to planning for Phase 3: a Porters’ Lodge with consideration of space for exhibitions and special collections (specifically Children’s Literature) and the reconfiguration of the area around the Great Hall to provide first class facilities for music and drama.

July 2019

Missed the deadline?

Why not write an article for the next RSMA Newsletter?

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 25

Jean Lydia Holm Lecturer in Religious Studies and Head of Department at Homerton College 1969-1986

A

prolific writer on religious studies and religious education, Jean Holm was one of the first academics to advocate the teaching of other religions in parallel with traditional school Christianity in England. In the words of Professor Paul Morris: ‘Jean was one of the pioneers of this new direction. She authored one of the first textbooks for teachers where she presents a practical and straightforward guide to teaching religions within the framework of the national guidelines: Teaching Religion in School: a practical approach (Oxford University Press 1975).

Other important textbooks included: The Study of Religions (Sheldon Press 1977), Study of Religions: issues in Religious Studies (Sheldon Press 1986), Making Moral Decisions: themes in Religious Studies; Sacred Place and Attitudes to Nature; themes in Religious Studies (1994), all aimed at teachers of Religious Studies in British classrooms. This work endured; seven years later Sacred Place and Making Moral Decisions were republished (Continuum 2001). In her work she collaborated with John Bowker, G.C. Mabbutt, A.E. Matten and R. Ridley, all leading Religious Studies scholars from Britain and beyond (Morris). Her range and scope was extraordinary: Worship; Picturing God; Women in Religion (one of the first of such collections); Sacred Writings; Rites of Passage; Human Nature and Destiny; Attitudes to Nature; and Myth and History.

Consequently she became recognised as the authority in her field, ‘much loved and admired by the religious studies and religious education professionals in the UK’(Morris).

In his funeral address, Professor Morris concluded that: ‘Jean’s Legacy is her important contribution to teaching about religions to students … around the Englishspeaking world. She brought the work of Religious Studies experts directly into the classroom via her publications. In a quiet and ultimately civilised way (albeit with a slightly wicked sense of humour!) she lived what she taught and wrote about – a personal curiosity, engagement and respect for religiously and culturally diverse others – grounded in the recognition that this was not always easy but always ongoing and supremely important.’ Generations of students at Homerton benefitted from her expertise and carried her teaching with them all over the world.

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 26

Homerton’s portrait of Jean Holm

by Richard P. Cook

While I am most grateful to Jean’s friend and colleague Peggy Morgan for forwarding Professor Morris’ obituary from New Zealand, I would like to conclude with some memories of my own. As an eager junior lecturer at Homerton on part-time one-year contracts, I remember her kindness and gentleness as a very senior member of staff in that rather forbidding matriarchy. Even when the lot fell on me to organise the Christmas Gathering (God help me!), she resisted direct intervention and simply offered her kindest ‘advice’- which really could not be ignored! She had a lightness about her which disguised an extraordinary warmth and depth of wisdom – in retrospect I suppose there was a saintliness about her which I was too young to appreciate - not surprising given her extensive knowledge of world religions.

Jean Holm died in August 2018 in Auckland, her beloved New Zealand, aged 95.

Peter Warner

David Hindley 30th July 1933 – 16th November 2018

D

avid died the week before the Homerton 250 Concert, and thus it was fitting that this concert was dedicated to his memory.

His family later organised a concert in his memory which took place on 16th June 2019 at Stapleford Granary. The souvenir programme booklet compiled by his daughter Jo, not only detailed the choice of music but included sections on David’s life. We have used Jo’s booklet as a basis for a short piece for the Newsletter about David. By way of conclusion, David Bridges presents a personal memoir.

Laurie John. This documentary was all about David and his music, with Brenda Dykes, who taught flute to Homerton Students, performing.

David was born in in Roundhay, Leeds, proud to be a Yorkshire lad and a Balliol Man. He attended Bury Grammar School where his father was History master.

David showed an early talent for playing the piano and regularly played the organ at Bury Methodist Church on Heywood Street. At Balliol he read Music specialising in composition. June 1954 saw two premiere performances of David’s work, the second Sinfonietta was dedicated to Olga his Irish girlfriend but soon to be wife.

But the occasion was also a reminder of many very happy occasions with David at Homerton – the parties in Trumpington House, of course, but also the animated conversations in the Combination Room.

These were especially stimulated by David’s firm assertion of the belief (quoted in the beautiful programme produced for the memorial) that ‘Any sound sequence can be an aesthetic experience; “music” to my ears, if I have a mind to let it be’. Such stark subjectivism (perhaps conventional opinion by now?) provoked great debate with the philosophers, in which many others including the principal, Beryl Paston Brown eagerly joined. Indeed we decided to take the Combination Room debates into a series of staff seminars on aesthetics and education, which included contributions from David Spence, Elizabeth Cook (a Platonist perspective) and Hilary Shuard on the aesthetics of mathematics. David, with his usual teasing mix of fun and seriousness, presented a paper on the art of olfactory i.e. smells, which he used as an entertaining device for advancing his views.

After graduation, David’s first post was as Music master at Huddersfield College, subsequently Huddersfield New College. Then in 1963, David was appointed Senior Lecturer and Head of the Music Department at Homerton, working with colleagues Malcolm and Barbara Pointon. Together they taught the Bachelor of Education Music Degree and promoted music education as core curriculum in schools. They achieved a new dynamic status for creative music at the heart of the curriculum in schools throughout East Anglia and beyond that continues to the present day.

In 1979, David, Olga and their two daughters, Karen and, Jo moved to the family home designed by David, Purlins, in Little Shelford. In 1985 David took early retirement to refocus on music composition. Many Homerton RSMs will remember, as David Bridges does in his personal memoir below, the 1990 BBC TV Programme A Man who writes birdsong, produced by

David and Olga continued to welcome B&B guests at Purlins until 2011. After David was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012, Olga and Karen looked after him at home until 2016, when he and Olga moved to Birmingham to be cared for near Jo, John and grandson Theo.

Libby Jared & Trish Maude [We are very grateful to Jo Hindley for allowing us to draw on her presentation for the memorial concert.]

A personal memoir of David It was good to attend the Memorial Concert for David Hindley in June this year for many reasons, not least because of the stunning musical performances of David’s own compositions (described by the distinguished exponent of contemporary music for piano, Rolf Hind, as no less than ‘masterpieces’) and the playing of an old recording of David accompanying the soaring soprano voice of Olga (why had we never heard this before?!).

David’s work on birdsong, celebrated in the 1990 BBC TV documentary ‘A Man who writes birdsong’ reflects his passions for both music and birdlife – passions that ran through every element of the memorial programme.

For this – and not forgetting all the fun – thanks, David.

David Bridges

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 27

Jenifer Mabel Embrey 31st January 1934 – 7th December 2018

‘A very individual lady and a friend to many’

T

hese are the words carved on the plaque which marks her grave, and anyone who knew her would agree with them.

Jen grew up in Staffordshire and her love of nature came from watching her aunt painting flowers on porcelain in the potteries. Her first job was in the gardens of the Rothschild estate where her dream grew to be a plant hunter, finding rare species, but her father wanted her to be a teacher.

At Bath Academy of Art, she took a course enabling her to teach Art and Craft. She particularly enjoyed pottery, but developing mobility problems led her to switch to Biology.

Her headmistress at the time describes her teaching as having a “vibrant quality” and “utterly free from school marmery”!

Jen went on to complete a double honours degree in Zoology and Botany. She spent a term each at Philippa Fawcett and Southlands before coming to Homerton in the late 60’s. Her main area was Micro Biology with a special interest in lichens and fungi. Although it could be said that she did not suffer fools gladly and was direct in her manner, Jen was very generous with her time and help for anyone who showed interest. Whilst on a trip to Fair Isle she helped the islanders relearn the art of dyeing with natural dyes. She continued her own development and took a short time away to work with David Bellamy.

Prolonged periods of ill health led to early retirement but Jen was extremely courageous in dealing with her ill health and was always determined to lead the fullest life possible. Members of Emeritus will remember her coming all the way from Harston to Nightingale Avenue for choir! She only did it once.

Jenny’s interests were wide and eclectic, She was Friend of many organisations and projects: Gog Magog, the Roman Road, Fleam Dyke and Brogdale Fruit Trees, plus a couple of Rivers to name a few. She was involved with Polynous, Astronomy, Flower painting, and at some point fitted in an OU course in electronics! She enjoyed attending Quaker meetings and supported the English Heritage Countryside Restoration which was where donations were to be sent after her death.

Jen was so fortunate in meeting Tony and Debbie Mason who ‘adopted’ her as part of the family, supporting her for more than forty years and making it possible for her to remain at home as long as possible – and on her behalf we must thank them.

Jen was a lovable eccentric.

In recent weeks we received the sad news that firstly Judith Hammond and secondly Bob Arthur had passed away.

We plan to include tributes to these two RSMs in the next Newsletter.

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 28

Muriel Cordell

Dorothy Richardson 16th October 1927 – 25th December 2018

I

first met Dorothy only about five years ago. An elegant lady with a commanding presence had been given the role of greeting everyone arriving at Corpus Christie to attend an Art Fund lecture.

Somehow her face seemed familiar - and so I asked her if she had been at the RSM Coffee morning I attended the previous week. Yes – she was one of several RSMs who had retired before I had even arrived some 25 years earlier at Homerton! From that moment onwards, Dorothy took me (and Graham) under her wing and I had the pleasure of her delightful company on many occasions. Like other RSMs I was fascinated to hear that she had been the leading lady in the World Premiere of the musical Man about the House on the West End in 1963, as well as performing at Bayreuth, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, English National opera and at the BBC. I was privileged to attend her funeral at St Andrews Church in Chesterton on a bright, sunny afternoon in January and listen to wonderful music and exquisite singing from exstudents, friends and choir. It was also the occasion when we heard about her long life well lived through Christina Barry’s thoughtful Eulogy and the vicar’s Address. I was therefore very grateful to Christina Barry for giving RSMs a copy of her eulogy and to Sue Pinner for the digital images of delightful memorabilia displayed after the service. Both sources have allowed me to compose what follows …

Christina began by telling us that: ‘Dorothy was a proud Northumbrian, born in Newcastle, growing up with her brother Douglas and sister Joyce. Her education was disrupted during the war when she was evacuated, an experience she did not look back on with pleasure. She won prizes in many music festivals in the North of England and was in demand as a soloist in oratorio and recitals. The acclaim she received in productions at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal was one of the prompts to encourage her to become a professional singer further afield’.

Dorothy’s CV lists 1957 as the year she moved to London where she was a soloist at the City Temple.

She won a major London county scholarship to study singing at the Royal Academy of Music. As Christina

remarked, ‘the parallel paths of her future career were already evident when she gained her teaching diploma alongside the performance Associate Certificate’.

This was the same year that Dorothy, only recently graduated, received the invitation to teach singing at Homerton, a role she describes on her CV as ‘[including] tuition for students on the music course, vocal training for non music students, ‘in-service’ tuition for lecturers and qualified teachers with vocal problems as well as private students from other colleges in Cambridge’.

Overlapping with her work at Homerton, between 1972 and 1989 Dorothy was, as her CV records, ‘a Professor of singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Teaching students on the Associate , Graduate and advance Post-Graduate courses’. A letter shows that Dorothy made the decision to leave the Guildhall ‘broadening her market to include the international scene and the masterclass circuit’. As Christina went on to explain, ‘even during ‘retirement’ Dorothy was never one to rest on her laurels. She had a commitment to further learning and was a founder member of AOTOS, the singing teachers’ association.

Her long membership of the Association of English Speakers and Singers is one demonstration of her commitment to communication of text.’ I also discovered from Dorothy’s papers that she had ‘successfully published a book [Aria Antiche] of English translations by myself and Tina Ruta of 100 Italian Aria’s - word by word plus a sensible English meaningful poem’.

Christina also spoke about Dorothy as a person: ‘Not only was [it] Dorothy’s professional life [that was] multifaceted. As a young musician she supported herself with various part-time jobs, including stints as a comptometrist and retained the adding machine using it for accounts till only recently. She also worked for Godfrey Davis delivering cars between depots. She recalled with enthusiasm the speed with which she managed various journeys.

This love of speed was reflected in her choice of car until recently. Students offered a lift were astonished as their rather stern teacher unlocked a smart sports car and invited them to hop in. She viewed later more sedate models as sports cars in disguise as she zipped around Cambridge and only reluctantly conceded in November that her legs no longer allowed safe driving.

Dorothy didn’t just do things to make her own situation better. Her life was informed by her faith. Its outworking of service not only in the encouragement of young musicians but in her volunteer role within the Victim Support and later Witness Support programme.’ rsma newsletter september 2019 page 29

I can certainly confirm that Dorothy’s driving at aged 91 was phenomenal – she insisted on giving me lifts here and there – she was one of the most skilful drivers I have ever ridden with.

We particularly enjoyed the occasions when Dorothy hosted the group at her home in Chesterton. It was Dorothy’s opportunity to demonstrate the best of luncheon wining and dining, with linen serviettes and tablecloth, silver salad servers and a table layout worthy of the Ritz.

Christina specifically mentioned Dorothy at the RSM that ‘over Christmas Gathering 2016 [the] twodecade association with Homerton she valued greatly, maintaining friendships and attending College events until very recently’ which was certainly reciprocated as shown by the following contribution from the RSM DVD Club.

Libby Jared Personal Memories of Dorothy from the DVD Club For over ten years a group of RSMs from the Homerton PE Department have met on a regular basis to have lunch and share a DVD. Dorothy has been an “ex officio” and valued member of our “DVD Club” since its conception.

It was also the opportunity for our group of six to share stories and memories and discuss the issues current on our minds. As most will remember, Dorothy was a raconteur par excellence and told numerous stories of life before, during and since Homerton and of her many brushes with famous names from stage and music. None of us could equal her ability to recall and enthrall.

We also remember the seized opportunities (by Dorothy) to give us on-the-spot lessons in dealing with unwanted phone calls, effective breathing, singing in tune or driving safely. As an Advanced Driver herself the rest of us would be told (should we have been on taxiing duty for Dorothy), of how to park, overtake safely, or deal with Ambulances approaching with sirens from behind.

We were all able to visit her and enjoy her company just before her sad death in December. We have very happy memories of times shared at lunch and watching DVD’s, especially the occasions when she managed to stay awake for the whole afternoon. We miss you Dorothy.

Carole Bennett

RSMA Roundup 2018-2019

RSMA Social Activities

A

very warm welcome, together with an excellent induction from Carole Bennett, allayed any misgivings I might have had about having volunteered at the last AGM to take on the role of Events and Visits Coordinator (with continued support from Carole). I am pleased to report on the lively programme of talks and visits that have taken place over the year. It is the aim each term to have an ‘in house’ speaker, a visit or special event following coffee mornings, together with attendance at a Formal Hall. Carole and I did some work to redesign the Events Bulletin, which is issued termly.

There has been good attendance at the Friday Coffee Mornings and we have had two excellent accompanying rsma newsletter september 2019 page 30

talks. Roger Green delivered a talk from the piano entitled ‘A note from me to you’, in which he highlighted key influences and developments that had shaped his life in music, and played several of his pieces by way of illustration. John Gray delivered a very interesting and thought-provoking talk entitled ‘How Oxford University presents itself to the world’ which stimulated a lot of lively discussion on some lessons to be learned (and some not to be).

In November we visited the Exhibition of Royal Documents in the St John’s College Archive. It was a great privilege to be able to examine these fascinating historic documents at such close quarters, and to receive a fascinating introduction to the collection by the Archivist, Tracey Deakin.

In February we went on a self-guided trip to the new Cambridge Zoological Museum. The refurbished museum is very well designed, with attractive and well-lit exhibits, and has an excellent section devoted to the voyages and work of Charles Darwin.

Following the Coffee Morning in April we had a very enjoyable tour of the College grounds and gardens, led by Stephen Tomkins. As Head Gardener, Helen André-Cripps was on leave, she had kindly provided some notes on her plans, and challenges she faces.

Generally all is well in the gardens, despite disruptive incursions from the building works. One of the things Helen highlighted was the difficulty in managing donated trees and other items, which may have to be moved, or even removed, from time to time in the environment of a dynamic Cambridge College. This was one of the factors which prompted the launch of the RSMA Heritage Project.

We had planned a trip to Hemingford Grey Manor House and Garden for the Easter Term, but numbers were low and we decided to cancel. We will try and re-arrange this though, as it is an interesting place to visit, and the gardens are lovely.

The June Summer Picnic took place in the Orchard, and was blessed with lovely weather. RSMs have also attended termly Formal Halls.

It is planned to issue the Events Bulletin for the Michaelmas Term 2019/2020 shortly. A firm date in the diary is Christmas Carols and Mulled Wine which Pauline and Godfrey Curtis have again very kindly offered to host at their home in Comberton on 13th December 2019. To further whet your appetite, a tour of the Cambridge Botanic Gardens is planned for the Summer, which Stephen Tomkins has kindly offered to lead. I am also looking to arrange trips to the Scott Polar Institute, and the stunning new Cambridge Mosque.

In terms of future talks, you may have received information about the launch of the RSMA Heritage Project. This promises to be an important and exciting project to which we hope all RSMs will be able to contribute. Peter Cunningham has agreed to talk about this, probably in October 2019, and I may join him to talk a bit about the Charter Archive Project which I have been working on which, again, would benefit from contributions from RSMs. Talks about the Conder paintings, and painting restoration are also planned.

Dates are yet to be confirmed, but if at all possible the above trips and talks will all follow Coffee Mornings, which take place on the third Friday of each month.

To conclude, we have had a lively and successful year, and are looking forward to more of the same. Please look out for the Michaelmas Term Events Bulletin - all suggestions for additional talks and visits will be very gratefully received.

Sue Conrad

Emeritus Choir 2019

E

meritus continues to meet, usually every fortnight in Term time, under the baton of Maestra and Alumna, Sue Pinner and we are most grateful to her for continuing this journey with us.

We performed at the RSMA Christmas Gathering at Pauline and Godfrey’s home last December. They are generous hosts and it is always a most enjoyable occasion: a chance to share our singing with everyone.

We have had only one opportunity to meet this Term to reprise some favourite songs followed by a Tea Party courtesy of Trish.

Choir numbers vary as members have many other commitments and indeed, some are still working!

New members are always welcome and RSMA Membership is not necessarily a criterion so bring your friends along and join us when you can.

Patricia Cooper

Book Club

W

e are a small group of keen RSM readers who meet two or three times a term. Titles are chosen by each member in turn and the range of choice means that we often read books beyond those we would choose for ourselves.

We read the nominated choice and discuss background, style, content or issues raised, led by the person who chose the particular book. We meet in each other’s houses, in or around Cambridge, usually on a mid-week afternoon.

This year we have read biographies, novels and a semihistorical novel based on The Plague at Eyam. We also enjoyed a story about a teacher who ‘Kidnapped’ a penguin and then took him to the boarding school where he was a teacher. Based on a true story it was a pleasant relief after other worthier tomes about Hitler or Achilles.

I am a comparatively new recruit to the group but must say that I have found it enjoyable and also challenging.

As Stephen King says: “Books are a uniquely portable magic” … it has been great to experience this magic with other RSMs. Carole Bennett

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 31

“This is easier than hosting the Xmas Gathering”

On tour: march on, march on

Stephen leading the Garden tour: this isn’t one I grew earlier

Altogether now!

Fay & Philip – an album cover photoshoot?

Zoological Museum Visit 15h February 2019

Garden Tour at Homerton 15th March 2019

Philip & Stephen: “Let me think about that!”

Xmas Gathering (kindly hosted by Pauline & Godfrey Curtis) 15th December 2018 250th Festival Tea Party 27th October 2018

Trish’s top hat at the 250th tea party

Trish, Sue & Clare: (non-alcoholic) drinks all round

Summer Picnic 27th June 2019

Leaving for home – but there is always next year

Phew! Another Newsletter edited!

Off to the Yorkshire Dales …

A few snatched moments free from accounting

Photo credits: Front Page & p.3 Libby Jared; p.2, 23 & 24 Homerton Development Office; p.5, 6 & 12 Homerton Archive; p.7 & 8 Linda Hargreaves; p.9 & 10 Rex Watson; p.11 & 12 Roger Green; p.14 David Bridges; p.18 Trish Maude; p.19 & 20 Stephen Tomkins; p.20, 21 & 22 Philip Rundall; p.30 Patricia Cooper; this page Sue Conrad, Patricia Cooper, Libby Jared, Trish Maude and Anne Thwaites.

rsma newsletter september 2019 page 32