275 Newsletter - June 23

Celebrating together in our 275 anniversary year

KINGSWOOD CHAPEL AND ITS GARDENS - AN OASIS OF CALM AND INSPIRATION

REV.

KATY THOMAS (2021 – PRESENT, KINGSWOOD CHAPLAIN)

Iam thrilled to welcome you all to this month’s edition of the 275 Newsletter where we discover more about the Kingswood Chapel and its current Gardens dating back to the 1950s.

Kingswood School grounds are so beautiful but never more so than in Spring and Summer. It is such a joy to walk down to Chapel from my

office each morning and upon leaving, to pause and look out through the Chapel doors to the lawn and trees beyond. There is evidence that spending time in nature is good for us and we are blessed by stunning scenery that invites us to take a moment in the middle of a busy school day and be restored by the beauty around us.

“...take a moment in the busy school day to be restored by the beauty around us.”

I recently attended a presentation in the Chapel by Year 9 on food poverty and sustainability and was very impressed with their passion and ideas to reduce food waste. One group suggested having an allotment to grow our own vegetables. I don’t think that idea will go ahead but as we shall see in this issue, it is not a new idea. The Chapel gardens were once

either orchards or vegetable patches, planted and looked after by pupils.

The Chapel building itself has changed little since it was built in 1922. It remains an oasis of calm and inspiration in the day and the place of reflection and singing in the morning. Chapel themes often focus on service, using our voice to challenge injustice, being kind and caring for one another. Students continue to amaze me with their charity fundraising, volunteering, and engagement with the wider community. One such initiative involves hosting afternoon teas for local residents and it has been a joy to see our pupils rise to that challenge with kindness and warmth, attentiveness and courtesy.

Wesley believed that true faith should be evident in a person’s actions and deeds, particularly in their commitment to helping others, engaging in acts of service as a means of expressing

their love for others. Wesley’s teachings emphasised the importance of actively working towards the betterment of society.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Summer and may you delight in the wonders of nature, immerse yourself in vibrant blossoms—indulge in the sheer bliss of a tranquil garden sanctuary.

Rev. Katy Thomas

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

We look forward to enjoying an exciting line-up of events for the remainder of our 275 anniversary year.

SEPTEMBER

THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER

• The Modern Maverick, Ed Haddon Kingswood Theatre, 6pm Ed has coached over 100 Mavericks over the last 14 years and brings this wealth of experience and their stories into his new book The Modern Maverick. He combines practical experience from working as an entrepreneur, the academic side of human psychology and techniques from coaching people to make real changes that make their lives better.

Ed spent 20 years pursuing a traditional version of success. Rowing for Great Britain, studying at world leading universities, working in global businesses, and becoming an investor. All that he managed to achieve in the end was a deep mid-life crisis. Having been fired from his dream job in 2007. He was broke and broken, requiring a radical rethink. He couldn’t find a book that was helpful, that covered the whole enchilada of life. He found a coach who changed his life and set this book in motion. He has worked through 10,000 hours of thinking, researching, learning, and experimenting about what makes a life well lived.

This lecture is open to the Kingswood Community and will also be streamed live – book your place now.

OCTOBER

THURSDAY 12 OCTOBER

• The 401 Challenge, Ben Smith (401 marathons in 401 days)

Back in 2015-16 Ben Smith became the only person in the world to run 401 marathons in 401 days raising in excess of £330,000 for two anti-bullying charities in the process.

The project won the coveted BBC Sports Personality Helen Rollason Award, along with other awards including the ITV Pride of Britain National Fundraiser of the Year Award. Over the past seven years Ben has been sharing his story across the UK. Ben continues to undertake significant challenges and is taking on some ultramarathons later this year, including 6 ultras in 6 days in 6 US states! Ben will be talking about his background and the significant challenges he has faced and overcome in his life. This lecture is open to students.

KINGSWOOD INSTILLED CONFIDENCE WITHIN ME:

AN INVALUABLE GIFT THAT HAS SHAPED MY LIFE IN PROFOUND WAYS.

Scholarship. On top of this, when my family had financial difficulties the School gave me a bursary, which, combined with my scholarships, covered 100% of my fees. I feel quite emotional writing this, as it is so clear that without this financial support I would not have been able to attend Kingswood and my life would have been very different. My family faced losing our house, but, to use a cliché that’s a cliché for a very good reason, my school gave me a home.

their sense of my value as a human being at all. And this is the magical quality that Kingswood has.

Isabella Watson, an Old Kingswoodian and bursary recipient, reflects on her life-changing educational journey and how Kingswood provided her with a sense of belonging and a place she can still call home.

I’ve been reflecting on what it was that made Kingswood so transformational for me, and, whilst it’s clear that Kingswood gave me one of the best educations it is possible to have, the key thing that Kingswood left me with was the sense that I mattered, that the teachers cared about me. They didn’t just care about how well I was doing academically, or about how many sporting victories I contributed to, or how well I performed in a play, but about whether I was ‘okay’.

Throughout my time at Kingswood I had a Drama Scholarship and in Sixth Form I also had an Academic

It is the sense that the School cared about me no matter what that ultimately gave me the security and confidence that allowed me to perform very well academically. I got nine A*s and an A at GCSE (yes, the A still haunts me), and three As at A Level, and it is because of the teachers at Kingswood that I got into Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics. I applied during my gap year when technically I wasn’t even a Kingswood student anymore, with Mr Woodgate in particular helping me prepare my personal statement and complete practice interviews (which were much tougher than the actual interviews!). I would never have thought of applying if the teachers at Kingswood hadn’t believed in me, but crucially I also knew that if I hadn’t got in, it wouldn’t have diminished

I remember Mr Musto telling me that I was good at Maths and being moved up to set one a year or so after I joined the School in Year 7. Before then Maths was scary and intimidating and I had no conception of myself as someone who could be good at it, let alone someone who could study Economics at one of the best universities in the world. I didn’t think of myself as a naturally gifted sportswoman, but because of the encouragement of Miss Paver, Miss Wright and Mr Opie I got to give the final speech at our sports dinner wearing my full colours blazer - to this day one of the proudest moments of my life! Mr Harding taught me that the dichotomy between the academic and the creative is a false one, and that playing is a totally legitimate method of discovery (plus, we all need fun in our lives). Mrs Court taught me to think critically, giving me my first taste of the joy of discovering my own authority in the face of received wisdom.

Since university I’ve been a management consultant, I’ve completed a Masters in Philosophy, and I’ve had a career as a civil servant in the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Justice,

“Kingswood gave me the confidence to think for myself. It taught me that what I think and feel matters, and that is the greatest gift of my life.”

£15 (£20 inc P&P)

“A SCHOOL SET APART”, WRITTEN BY GARY BEST

(Kingswood Headmaster 1987 to 2008)

the highlight of which was running one of the (few?) Covid-19 response programmes that have been quietly recognised as successful. I now run my own psychotherapy business, where I help my clients understand their unconscious thoughts and feelings in order to build the lives they truly want. I live with my fiancée (who I met at Kingswood) in London, and we will be returning to Kingswood next year to get married in the Chapel. This will be the first same sex marriage to take place at Kingswood and I cannot wait to celebrate our love in the place that we both consider our home.

Pre-order your copy of Gary Best's latest book

£15 inc P&P

A journey through time, tracing the legacy of Kingswood School and its Alumni from 1748 to 2023, as we commemorate 275 years of excellence in education.

A journey through time, tracing the legacy of Kingswood School and its Alumni from 1748 to 2023, as we commemorate 275 years of excellence in education.

How to order

HOW TO ORDER

Click on the QR Code to order and pay for your book, choosing the 'Association' payment type.

Click on the QR Code to order and pay for your book, choosing the ‘Association’ payment type. If you have opted for posting then please add your address in the payment description box.

If you have opted for posting then please add your address in the payment description box

If you are able, contributing to Kingwood’s Transformational Bursary Fund will mean the School can continue to offer support to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access this phenomenal education.

Support the 275 campaign here.

Having a good education is not demonstrated by how well you can regurgitate what other people think. It is demonstrated by how well you can understand what you think and, crucially, why you think it. Kingswood gave me the confidence to think for myself. It taught me that what I think and feel matters, and that is the greatest gift of my life.

Isabella Watson (OK 2001-08)

£10

DON’T MISS OUT!

PURCHASE YOUR STUDENT DESIGNED 275 CELEBRATORY TIE WHILE STOCKS LAST

How to Order

Order your celebratory 275 tie, designed by Sixth Former, Tilly Bankes, by clicking here. The price of a tie is £10 and can be paid using this link and choosing ‘Other Payments’.

A HISTORY OF KINGSWOOD FOCUSING ON NUMBER SIX CHAPEL

GARDENS

Much of the information below was kindly provided by Robert Sackett, third son of Headmaster, Alfred Barrett Sackett (known as ABS by his colleagues); Headmaster between 1928 and 1959.

The two aerial photographs right (Figures 1 and 2) were taken before and after the construction of the School’s Memorial Chapel, which opened in 1922. Extending from the terrace to Hamilton Road there is a central grass path which has a bordering box hedge. The gardens here are surrounded by orchards. Figure 2 shows the large greenhouse; there are potting sheds alongside, too. During the Bath Blitz in April 1942, these potting sheds were hit by an incendiary bomb; notably the only direct hit on Kingswood School.

Figure 3: Painting by ABS showing the gardens in front of the School, C1950

Figure 2: Kingswood School, after the construction of the School Chapel

Figure 1: Kingswood School, before the construction of the School Chapel

During the war much of the orchard was replaced by vegetable production. There was a large rockery above the Chapel stretching up to a path just below the terrace. Also, along the west side perimeter there was a tall wall, which had a small wicket gate through into a field used for agriculture. Just below the ‘patch’, a clump of trees concealed the croquet lawn.

The watercolour (Figure 3) was painted by ABS and shows the sundial on the top lawn; the two shrubs around the steps and the start of the box hedge flanking the grass path are now no longer part of the front facade. The date of the painting is post-war, as the Admiralty, when leaving after their occupation of the School buildings threw the air raid warden structures off the tower onto the top of the two nearest bushes. These bushes were previously pointed and as a result they had to be truncated; hence their flattened tops!

YOUR MEMORIES

Do you have fond memories of your time at Kingswood that you would like to share with the community?

If so, we would like to hear from you.

We would very much like to include some of your most treasured moments from your time at Kingswood. Whether it was a particular event, a memorable teacher, or a group of friends that made a lasting impact on you, we want to know about it! Simply email marketing@kingswood.bath.sch.uk with your memory, keeping them to a maximum of 150 words and you could see your memory in the next edition.

Zoë Parsons, Archivist

Click here to view our objects gallery.

The photograph below taken from the tower shows the land around the chapel in 1952 – still very different from the landscaping today.

A view of the City from the tower, Prospectus 1930s

Chapel gardens 1952