Remembrance Service…
On Friday 10th November, the school once again came together to pay our respects to those who have given their service and paid the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts since the First World War. Students showed incredible respect as we gathered on blue court for a two minutes silence at 11am. A number of students were instrumental in the service:
The R6 Choir performed as the students assembled together, singing some of the songs that featured in the remembrance concert the week before.
Ahmad Makinde read an impassioned speech that he had created, which reminded the students of the reason to remember. Members of the Cadets and Scouts paraded out led by Reagan Stroud, and Spencer Jones played the Last Post to mark the silence. Our House Captains laid wreathes at the school’s Cenotaph. Lest We Forget. Mr J Bister
Bristol Historical Association…
On Wednesday the 8th November a group of sixth students attended the Bristol Historical Association for a lecture by Professor Hilary Carey called ‘The only good of an execution: The condemned sermon at Newgate 1799-1865’. A fascinating discussion in which Professor Carey examined the condemned sermon preached in the Newgate Prison chapel on the Sunday prior to an execution throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. We learnt that the prisoners had to sit on black pews around a black coffin while being gawked at by the paying public, before being preached at. Some prisoners would put on a good act on fainting and grasping at the coffin in hopes of the sentence being commuted, while others protested and shouted at the Ordinary (chaplain at Newgate). This practice only ended with the abolition of public execution in 1869, which the condemned sermon played a large role in in is abolition.
Our next lecture trip will be on Wednesday 13th December by Professor Robert Bickers on ‘The scramble for China in the nineteenth century’. We hope to see you there! Mr J Adair
