Lift Up your Hearts

The inscription round the dome of Hall comes from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. 

Then Mr. Honest called for his friends, and said unto them, I die, but shall make no will. As for my honesty, it shall go with me; let him that comes after be told of this. When the day that he was to be gone was come, he addressed himself to go over the river. Now the river at that time over-flowed its banks in some places; but Mr. Honest, in his lifetime, had spoken to one Good-conscience to meet him there, the which he also did, and lent him his hand, and so helped him over. The last words of Mr. Honest were, Grace reigns! So he left the world.

After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons by the same post as the other, and had this for a token that the summons was true, "That his pitcher was broken at the fountain." When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it. Then said he, I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the river-side, into which as he went, he said, "Death, where is thy sting?" And as he went down deeper, he said, "Grave, where is thy victory?" So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.

The Evolution of Dormitories 4

The movement over the last twenty years has been to smaller and smaller dormitories for younger pupils and to bed sits for the more senior. The pattern has been to have a 'dormitory' for Removes and Middles and study bedrooms for Vths and above. When the school became co-educational the new Bartle Frere and Edmonstone were set up in this way. Colvin and Melvill meanwhile were equipped with single rooms throughout. Hailey has a dormitory (the old Upper) but the Lower was divided into rooms for four girls each. This is similar to what was done in Allenby when the conversion was made. That pattern has recently been replicated in Trevelyan and Thomason where the Removes and Middles live and work in rooms of four. (Four is a pastorally good number as it reduces the chances of a two on one division happening in a room.)

Meanwhile the new Lower School boys' accommodation in Highfield is in Dormitories of eight.  The Lower School girls' dormitory is in Alban's and while it has great character it is not as swish as the boys' rooms.

Many of the boys' houses have clever bunks in a "T" shape where the top bunk is at right angles to the bottom one and supported at either end by wardrobes.

Quitchells Ditch

Haileybury is increasingly full of cars these days and the increased traffic has led to the appearance of speed bumps and a rule that those walking along College Road behind the kitchens to and from Highfield should cross one of the bridges and walk along the path near the eves of the wood. The bridges cross the Quitchells Ditch, which runs down from Highfield all the way along the edge of the XX Acre. It is a boundary marker and is about 360 years old. 

Molly Matthews in Haileybury Since Roman Times says the ditch was dug by Colonel Lawrence, nephew of Oliver Cromwell, who was Lord of the Manor of Goldington. Lawrence was a friend of Milton's, and the latter came out to see him in his country estate and wrote a sonnet about it. Matthews suggests the scene of Milton and Lawrence walking along the side of what is now Twenty Acre. Anyway, Lawrence had the ditch dug along the boundary, already ancient between the Manor of Goldington and Hailey Bushes, the part of the Manor of Hailey on which the College now stands. 


The boundary was also marked by a line of pollarded oaks of which, according to Matthews the Quitchell's Oak on the corner by the sports centre car park is the last remaining, though the fine tree next to it is also great and possibly ancient. Pollarding, cutting back the branches of the young tree, made the trunk grow thicker to prolong the life of the tree. The Quitchells Oak was probably planted in the 13th Century, not so long after the time of Robin Hood. 


The Ditch is now a bit up in the air as when the cricket pitches were leveled it was left rather high and dry. 


Today, both manors are owned by the College and Matthews says 'The Bursar presiding in his office over problems concerned with the Heath is the lineal descendent of Ralph de Limesi and Geoffrey de Bec, or to go one step further back, of the unnamed Bailiff who managed Great Amwell for Earl Harold and Ulwin, the Thane of Hailey.'

Uganda

John Jameson Willis (M 1887.1) was one of five boys who entered Haileybury that term who became clergymen. One was Bernard Attlee (L), brother of the future prime minister. Willis became Bishop of Uganda, where of course the work of the Haileybury Youth Trust goes on today. I have posted about the HYT before, but here is a video they have made of their work.

Bishop Willis, by the way, was heavily involved in a church controversy which saw him accused of heresy. More about that on another occasion, but for now here is the video.

IB

At the beginning of things at Haileybury, before there were even Houses, there were the 'Reds' and the 'Blues'. Their colours still survive in the rugby shirts of Trevelyan and Lawrence. One was the Modern Side, learning Science and Mathematics; the other was the Classical Side, focussing on the disciplines of the ancient languages and history.

The history of academics has been of the diversification of the curriculum. Even as late as the time I was at school it was unusual for anyone to mix arts and sciences at A Level. I was one who bridged that gap a little bit as I took Maths alongside English, RS and History.

At the turn of the 21st century Haileybury was in the vanguard of English schools to offer International Baccalaureate courses to the VI form. The IB, which has been available since 1999 extends pupils over a range of subjects chosen from six groups. In addition there is a course on the Theory of Knowledge, an extended essay and a programme of 'Creativity, Action and Service' to encourage the application of knowledge.

By designating three subjects as 'Higher Level' there is scope for the intensive study which is the attraction of A Level but without the exclusivity that this can bring at a relatively young age.

There is a very clear explanation of the mechanics of learning six subjects and how IB works on the Haileybury website here.

This year has seen excellent results from the IB cohort. The IB offers a points based scoring system, out of 45. The full details are here, but congratulations to all those who did so well.

Spare a thought for the A Level students who face the long wait for their results next month.