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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
Making a Splash
By David Aldred
Visiting The North Wall for the first time, I
was instantly reminded of another theatre,
similar in character and size: The Watermill
in Newbury, a converted 200-year-old
mill which has retained many of its historic
features and combined them with modern
theatre technology.
So too, The North Wall has had another
life and a watery past, with which I am
also familiar, having swum as a pupil of St
Edward’s in the pool that was once housed
here. I remember the white elegance of
its tiles and underwater mosaic, and the
wonderful wet acoustics.
Many years later, just after my return to
The North Wall as a teacher of Drama,
there were whispers of a ghost, a rumour
instantly denied by the school authorities.
But aren’t all theatres haunted? It’s part
of their inevitable make up and dramatic
character. Katrina Eden cast me as the ghost
in
Hamlet
, an ethereal voice from behind
the stage. So if there is one, I could be it!
From the waters of its forgotten pool, now
covered in dust sheets below the stage,
making an entrance as… the ghost of The
North Wall.
See pages 18 and 27.
Shells are in the enviable position of being taught by the very person who wrote their
Biology textbook. Dr Andrew Davis wrote the definitive guide to the IB Biology Middle
Years Programme and, although we do not study the IB MYP here at St Edward’s, the
Biology Department feels that it is the right focus for our pupils. ‘The MYP shares many of
the aims of the Shell Curriculum, such as a concept and skills-based approach to learning,’
Dr Davis tells us. ‘In fact, I wrote the book using the approach we have developed at
Teddies, and several of the chapters are based
on units we teach the Shells.’ It is good to know
that an approach developed at St Edward’s has
been recorded in book form and is being used
worldwide. Pupils will use MYP Biology in their
Shell year to gather an appreciation of the key
concepts in Biology, and the skills they will need
to succeed academically, before embarking on
the IGCSE in the Fourth Form. This book is not
Dr Davis’s only claim to fame. He has written
several other IB books covering Biology, and
Environmental Systems and Societies but, perhaps
most impressively, has a rainforest hunting spider
named after him,
Teutamus andrewdavisi
, a new
species he discovered whilst working in Borneo.
Bringing Books to Life