CELEBRATING 175 YEARS OF QUAKER EDUCATION
175 years of Quaker education in Sibford W
hen the first pupils arrived at the doors of Sibford School
in January 1842 the world was a very different place, writes Toby Spence. Queen Victoria had only just ascended to the throne, slavery in the British Empire was finally abolished, communication had been revolutionized by the arrival of the Penny Black in 1840 (it would be another two years before the first telegram was sent), cholera epidemics still scourged the country, medical progress had not yet found successful antiseptics or anaesthetics and Louis Pasteur was some way from proving his ‘germ theory’. So, at face value, the world of 1842 was indeed a
“The past is a foreign country; they do things
differently there.” L.P. Hartley
The Go Between
approach to education. And yet this education is underpinned by a set of Quaker values which have changed very little from those upon which the school was founded back in 1842. Our meetings for worship, stillness, family values and deep-
‘foreign country’. Perhaps this is why so many people love to travel, be that back in time, via the world of history, forwards in their imaginations or physically to places near and far. In my experience
however, it does not take long to find commonalities and similarities in any foreign country. Shared humanity, love of family, laughter and sorrow, hopes and dreams, to name but a few threads. Sibford has come a long way from its earliest days and we are proud of our modern and progressive
One of the earliest whole
school photographs on file ... taken in 1890.
SPECIAL FOUR PAGE FEATURE This feature originally appeared in the 2017 issue of The Sibfordian The Sibford Rocket / 11
rooted culture are formative to the community. We believe in ‘that of God [good] in everyone’ and we remain guided by Quaker values of simplicity, tolerance, peace, sustainability and honesty. As we look forward to the future with hope, optimism and imagination we will, as it says in Advices & queries 42, continue to aspire to ‘be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.’
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