Rhubarb 2017

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16 ST EDWARD’S rhuba rb
ATeddies Timeline
Gwendy Davenport (Fourth Form, Avenue)
In the Fourth Form, every pupil completes
the Warden’s Project, which involves
researching a topic of interest, and creating
an artefact for discussion. Since I’m new
to Teddies this year, I was sure I wanted
to do something about the School and its
history, but at this point, I wasn’t quite sure
about my focus. After a lot of hard thought I
decided to explore the OSE community.
During my research I found lots of
information online about the professional
lives of OSE and contacted several OSE to
have more personal anecdotes of their school
life. This magazine, rhu barb, was also very
helpful in discovering more about what people
do when they leave School, and where their
lives take them. I also wanted to learn more
about the history of Teddies, so I talked to the
School Archivist, Chris Nathan (G, 1954-1957)
and gained a lot more information from him
about how the School began and developed
over time. I also sought help from the OSE
department, who helped me with the logistical
side of the project and contacting several OSE.
From my research, I learnt many things,
but what surprised me the most was how
recently (in 1997) the school became fully
co-educational. It was also really nice to
hear that Teddies had the same friendly
atmosphere years ago as it does
now, even though the teachers were
apparently a lot stricter with different
and now I view it in a different light. I think
all pupils at Teddies should learn more
about its interesting history and be inspired
by its former pupils. It’s great to know that
so many people were in exactly the same
position as we are now, and went on to
do so many amazing things. Overall, I’m so
glad I chose the topic I did, and am looking
forward to learning even more about the
School and its community in my next few
years at Teddies.
Gwendy would like to thank the following
OSE for their support of her project:
George Fenton (C, 1963-1967)
Patrick Lyster-Todd (D, 1968-1972)
Christopher McCrum (C, 1976-1978)
Georgina Dennis (D, 1986-1988)
Maxine Mackintosh (D, 2006-2011)
types of discipline! Today, like then, Teddies
is a school with so many opportunities for
the pupils like CCF, dance, music, sports,
arts, and much more, and it is great to see
that this hasn’t changed, but has grown.
After I had completed my research, I
began creating my artefact, a timeline of
OSE and the School’s history. I called it
‘Teddies Timeline’ and included pictures
and information about 13 different OSE,
including Kenneth Grahame (1868-1875),
George Fenton (C, 1963-1967), Georgina
Dennis (D, 1986-1988), and Maxine
Mackintosh (D, 2006-2011). Along the
timeline, I added snippets of the School’s
history and marked its key events, including
moving the School to Summertown in 1871,
and the opening of the first girls' House,
Oakthorpe, in 1995.
With my project I was able to learn a
lot about the School’s history, but also a lot
more about my peers and we all got to show
our capabilities and interests in a creative
way. The project was sometimes stressful, as
we had a limited amount of time and we are
so busy with all of our other School work
and activities.
I really enjoyed this project. It was very
interesting to learn more about the School
F E A T U R E S
The School is now home to 12 boarding
Houses, following the establishment of
Jubilee in 2012, which moved into its
permanent new residence on the Field
Side in 2013.
A Cowell’s, B Sing’s, C Field House,
D Macnamara’s, E Apsley, F Tilly’s,
G Segar’s, H Kendall, J Oakthorpe,
K Corfe, M Avenue, N Jubilee