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The 21st March 2018 marked the end of an era when Wendy Finch retired from Sibford School after a career that spanned five decades and six Heads! Her departure has left a big hole to fill … both at the school and in SOSA. The Rocket asked her to share some memories of her 39 years at Sibford.


The early Sibford woodwork shop ... the teacher is Roland Herbert I had the good fortune of being


involved in The Educational Institute of Design, Craft, and Technology and was very grateful to John Miller for his support when I took up the national presidency. Apart from all that happened on


the teaching and boarding front, I remember the enjoyment of staff craft evenings where many quality pieces of work were produced by colleagues, friends, and parents. As an off-shoot to the subject,


Fibreglass Canoe building developed as a spare time activity based in a prefab in the Manor garden. During lunch times, evenings and even some weekends, my little teams of four or five boys would be organised into efficient labour groups, finally achieving a grand total of 45 canoes which we then used on local rivers. A further memory which many can share with me was the yearly Hobbies and Activities Eisteddfod developed by Ken Francis, a true eye opener to the diverse interests and expertise of the students. I had the dubious pleasure of running it on behalf of Ken for the last few occasions – the logistics of planning and coordination were somewhat challenging I remember. On leaving Sibford in 1990 I


took up the position of Head of Design & Technology at Woodbridge School in Suffolk. My professional involvements continued to progress including the development of a European project with schools in Finland,


12 / The Sibford Rocket


Hungary, and Germany. I also became an inspector with the Independent Schools Inspectorate. I am still involved with the subject … I just can’t let it go … and I hope that people will enjoy reading some of the snippets in my History of Craft Education in Schools (‘warts and all’ as it is very much a work in progress in its early stages!). On a personal level it was shortly


after leaving Sibford that we as a family hit stormy waters which culminated in the loss of my wife Pauline following a resurgence of cancer in 2002. Today I am married to Mary and we spend a good deal of time in our caravan enjoying the delights of the Dutch flowers in spring, the trail of Hans Christian Anderson in Denmark and walking in Derbyshire. We also have the occasional trip to Trinidad so that Mary can see her family. Grandchildren take up a lot of my time of course … but I still manage to find moments to get into my workshop continuing my silverwork but now keeping up with the times and working in ‘Argentium Silver’. I also give the occasional talk on Silversmithing. If anyone has any little stories


relating to past craft teachers at the school – particularly Reg Rountree – I would love to hear from them. • Old Scholars might like to know that Graeme has a small outlet for his work in a Cooperative venture in Wickham Market, Suffolk: www.wminspirations.co.uk


I


arrived at Sibford on the 24th August 1978. Ken Greaves was Head at the time and I had seen an advertisement in the Banbury Guardian which was worded something like ‘Sibford School requires help in the Sewing Room to look after and maintain children’s clothing – you may be required to help with some ironing.’


All I can say is that it was


a good thing that I liked ironing! My previous job had been as a clerk in a bookmakers so, as you might imagine, moving to a Quaker school was something of a stark contrast! The job, however, was ideal for me because in those days support staff only worked term time. My son, Richard, was just nine–years–old so it meant I was able to enjoy school holidays with him. Working alongside the school housekeeper, Margaret Dring, who I’m sure many readers will remember with affection, was an experience in itself. I vividly remember my first two days which were spent making 280 beds ready for the children to come back – we had a lot more boarders at Sibford in those days. Margaret was a perfectionist, all the beds had to be made with hospital corners and the bedspread and top sheet had to be folded back exactly nine inches at the top … she would go around the boarding houses and pull off the bedding of any that didn’t come up to standard! To this day I am very fussy at home with how the bed is made and


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