1. education
2. school

VOLUME 20, ISSUE 1, AUTUMN 2014
Friary Files
Georgia on
the Nature
Trail
OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS I
have been using trail cameras
to film and record many different species, from badgers and
otters to herons and garden
birds. I like to share all the
interesting and unusual footage
on my wildlife blog, „Georgia's
Wildlife Watch‟, where I can
show others the natural world
around them, inspire them to
the TV crew came to me the
get out and overall try and pro- wildlife they love the most.
She
was
very
interested
in
my
two days before we went back
tect wildlife for future
passion
and
asked
me
to
fill
in
a
to school in September.
generations.
They arrived at 11.00 a.m. and
we headed straight into my garden to start the filming. We
did an introduction and I explained how trail cameras work.
We then went on to do some
filming to show the equipment I
use when I go out badger
watching and filming.
A few months back in July, I
was contacted by a CBBC researcher for a wildlife show
called Wild. The show was
planned to run every Saturday
morning for eight weeks and
the lady who contacted me was
looking for eight young individuals who were interested in
wildlife to feature on the show,
where they'd speak about what
form expressing my main interests, which were trail camming
and mammals, especially badgers.
A few weeks later I had
an email back confirming that I was suitable
and that I'd be featuring
on the CBBC show Wild.
I was so pleased, and
1
A few hours later we met up at
a local badgers‟ sett and got to
work with some more filming.
Before the sun set I gave some
facts about badgers, then settled down and waited for them
to emerge. As it was getting
dark we had to switch to infrared cameras.
VOLUME 20, ISSUE 1, AUTUMN 2014
Friary Files
[Georgia’s blog can be found
at …
place in the Arts is recognised
in such a manner.
www.georgiaswildlifewatch.co
m
Holding Artsmark status demonstrates that we, at The Friary,
value the arts and culture, and
in turn create an environment
that allows our students to
place value here too.
… where you can
read fascinating
accounts of Georgia’s wildlife experiences and
When I normally go badger
look at dozens of great phowatching at this sett, without a tos and videos that Georgia
film crew, they normally
has taken - Ed.]
emerge at about 9.30 p.m. at
this time of the year, but unfortunately we didn't see any on
this evening as it was a bit too
noisy and badgers are very shy
Artsmark Gold Status
animals.
This was in no better evidence
than at our recent whole-school
production of We Will Rock
You. This year‟s production saw
some 220 pupils take to the
stage over four nights, playing
to packed audiences. Further
to the strength of teaching and
extracurricular commitment
that our Artsmark success
demonstrates, it also allows us
When we went to collect the
THE WHOLE ARTS TEAM is deas a school to contribute to the
trail camera the next morning I lighted to announce that our
cultural aspect of Ofsted‟s rediscovered that I'd managed to Artsmark gold status has been
quirement that a school profilm lots of great footage. This secured until the summer of
motes students‟ spiritual, morwas of two adults and three of 2016. “Artsmark is Arts Council al, social and cultural developthis year‟s cubs. I film the
England‟s flagship programme
ment.
badgers here regularly and it's
to enable schools and other
lovely to watch all the individu- organisations to evaluate,
Mr. R. Havill
als grow up.
strengthen and celebrate their
arts and cultural provision …
Since my appearance on Wild I Artsmark is nationally recoghad a feature in the local news- nised as demonstrating excelpaper and I was also asked to
lence in arts and cultural proviUniversity Guidance
feature on BBC Autumnwatch
sion.”
as I was noticed by the
Autumnwatch executive proTherefore, the whole Arts com- THIS TERM OUR YEAR 12 AND 13
Fine Art and Photography studucer. I thoroughly enjoyed all munity at The Friary School,
the filming as it was a great
comprising of Performing Arts, dents attended a talk delivered
by Ruth Foster of Cardiff Metroexperience.
Music, Art and Design, Dance
politan University. This event
and Literature are overjoyed
followed the successful wholeGeorgia Locock
that the commitment that we
school Careers Fair that took
place earlier in the term.
Art
Art & Design
Fifty of our talented artists and
photographers assembled in the
theatre to be treated to a
wealth of information that will
be of great importance to the
many who wish to apply for a
place on an „Arts‟ course in the
future. Students were surprised at the vast range of
courses that are available in
the visual arts and the economically viable careers that these
courses then open up as a result.
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VOLUME 20, ISSUE 1, AUTUMN 2014
Friary Files
and have all experienced a steep learning
curve, but I‟ve been immensely proud of the
dedication and independence of my students in this endeavour.
We‟ve been learning
what the Arts Award is
all about as we go along,
and my students have
had to do almost all their research and writing for their
portfolios in their own time.
More timely for our Year 13 Fine Artists was the information
divulged on the importance of a
quality and well thought-out
portfolio when attending interviews. Students received a real
insight here into the thought
process of lecturers, and left
with firm guidance as to how to
present a portfolio that best
presents the range of skills that
they have developed over their
study of A Level Fine Art.
The Friary School Art and Design department wish to thank
Ruth for her time, and we look
forward to the guidance and
support that she can provide
our students in the future.
Mr. R. Havill
Book Club
Book Club Goes
Bronze … and Gets
Grounded!
around for a play that we could
go to, preferably something a
little different. Warwick Arts
Centre was advertising a tourIn recent weeks we‟ve had the ing production of a one-woman
support of two assessors from
play by George Brant called
Staffordshire Library Services,
Grounded, starring Lucy EllinCarl Johnson and Liz Gardner,
son. It looked fascinating – a
who have been guiding us and
monologue by an American
ensuring that we‟re on the right fighter pilot who becomes
lines. The culmination of
the students‟ work will be
a lesson with a Year 7
class, in which the students
will present their preparation and performance at
the Young Teen Fiction
Award Celebration Day in
July, and demonstrate
some of the skills they used
and developed for this very
successful literary event.
Meanwhile, part of their Arts
Award requires the students to
attend and reflect on an artistic
performance of some kind, be
it a visit to an art gallery or
exhibition, a film, a concert
and so on. For those students
who had not yet managed to
attend such an event, I looked
IT‟S BEEN A BIT DIFFERENT in
the long-running Friary Book
Club this year. Back in the
summer, we registered with the
Bronze Arts Award, a qualification run by Trinity College, London, to encourage young people
to explore all forms of art, and
develop both their own artistic
skills and their ability to reflect
upon them. It‟s fair to say that
we were complete newbies,
3
grounded because of her pregnancy, but is reassigned to Las
Vegas to fly remote-controlled
drones in the Middle East.
It was extraordinary! Lucy
Ellinson performed inside a
large cube created from thin
fabric that was effectively
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Friary Files
transparent, but could have
images and lights projected
upon it. It only occurred to us
afterwards that, because the
actor was lit and the audience
was in darkness, she was effectively acting inside a solid box
and could never see her audience, although you would not
have guessed this from her outstanding performance.
We were gripped by the story of
a supremely confident, fierce,
swaggering woman, who was
spending twelve hours a day
watching a screen in a darkened room, trying to find and
kill terrorists, and being a wife
and mother in the evening. In
this high-energy, tautlychoreographed performance,
Ellinson drifted into a psychotic
state in which the worlds of
war and family became blurred,
and she became dysfunctional
in both.
After the performance we attended part of a post-show discussion, featuring Lucy Ellinson
and three academics, in which
she revealed that, as part of
her research, she‟d talked with
American fighter pilots, including a young USAF officer who
flew drones, (and preferred the
term UAV, or Unpiloted Aerial
Vehicle), and described the
pressures it put him under.
Some of our students were
amazed that the actor was Eng-
lish, and not American, as her
accent was so convincing!
Ellinson explained that the box
she performed in helped her to
maintain a belief that she was
superior to the audience, whom
she couldn‟t see, and pictured
at different times as being interrogators, observers, military
personnel, medics, and so on:
“She calls herself a rock star,
she declares herself a deity,
and the box actually helps. It
functions like a mask, an all-
over body mask. It helps me
keep up this unbelievable level
of arrogance all the way
through the show.”
I hope that my students are not
only working towards a very
useful and interesting award,
but are making discoveries
about the arts and what they
might mean to them on a personal level.
Mr. M. Trivasse
Geography
Year 12s in
Scarborough
ON 15TH AND 16TH OCTOBER, the
Year 12 Geographers visited
Scarborough to carry out their A
Level Coasts and Rebranding
fieldwork. The aim was to look
at the rapid cliff erosion along
the Holderness coastline and
rebranding strategies put in
place to increase tourism in
Scarborough. In the evening we
analysed our results and
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working with their teachers
and National Trust staff. The
weather stayed fine and dry
for both days.
The students donned their
wellies and waded into the
river to gather velocity, depth
and width data. Each student
returned to school with a set
of data to use for their Controlled Assessment task, which like in plague-stricken Warwick.
is worth 25% of their final Geography GCSE grade. The hard
The students were also treated
work of completing this task is to an amazing bird of prey
now over.
completed some exam questions. The group braved the
rain at the start of the second
day, but enjoyed sunshine on
the beach for the first!
Many thanks to our Year 12 Geographers for their hard work
throughout the two days and
also to all staff who helped to
make the fieldwork a success.
Many thanks to our Year 11
Geographers for their impeccable behaviour throughout the
two days and also to all staff
who helped to make the fieldwork a success.
Ms. H. Young
History
Year 7 Storm Warwick
Castle!
TO CELEBRATE THE END of a
fantastic first half-term at The
Friary, every Year 7 student
was taken to Warwick Castle to
spend the day surrounded by
medieval history. To help with
their home-learning castle project, students were given the
chance to see the key attack
and defence features of a
castle up close and personal!
Ms. H. Young
Students roamed the castle
walls, climbed the highest
tower and even managed to
Year 11s in Carding
Mill Valley
ON THURSDAY THE 17TH AND
FRIDAY THE 18TH OF SEPTEMBER, the Year 11 Geographers
visited Carding Mill Valley in
Shropshire to carry out their
GCSE rivers fieldwork. Each
group attended for one day,
show, with vultures and eagles
flying from the castle ramparts.
Ms. G. Keane
MFL
Inspired by Languages
ON THE 6TH NOVEMBER, a student from Aston University talked to our Year 9 pupils
and Year 11 students studying
Spanish and French about her
experience of learning languages, and the importance of
languages in the workplace.
This was organised through the
„Routes into Languages‟
scheme.
As Aaron Porter said, “I think
that the talk was absolutely
fantastic. The presentation
made it clear why taking
languages will be beneficial to
my career. I will definitely be
picking a language now!”
take a step back in time to the
castle‟s dungeons. Down here
the brave students were given a
scary glimpse into what life was Mrs. C. Cain
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Friary Files
Languages Day
knees in her front garden not
moving, so she brought this to
ON WEDNESDAY 24TH SEPTEM- my attention and we walked
BER, around sixty Year 5 pupils across the road to see if she was
came to The Friary School from OK. Unfortunately, she couldn't
Christchurch Primary School to move and she wasn't in a fit
state to talk either, so we knew
celebrate National Languages
Day. The enthusiastic pupils all that she needed help.
participated in three sessions
involving Drama, Music and For- Whilst I held her hand and comforted her, Nienke went and got
eign Languages.
help from a neighbour who
would know more about her and
The main objective of the day
was for all pupils to have some could help her out. But unfortuexperience of French and Span- nately, Pat was too heavy to lift
up, so I decided to call an ambuish whilst participating in a
lance whilst Nienke and the
number of other activities as
part of our specialist school
neighbour looked after her.
status.
The ambulance came and told us
Fun was had by all; the pupils
that she had had a fit which was
were fantastic and were imcalled a 'hypo', which is where
mersed in the target language
the body slowly shuts down as a
whether on stage, in a music
result of not taking insulin to
ensemble or acting as a robot in support her diabetes.
a classroom!
P.E.
Hockey
U16 indoor boys Midlands hockey finalists,
Sunday 30th November:
FOLLOWING AN INDOOR BOYS
TOURNAMENT on Wednesday
19th November at Telford, the
U16 boys won a place in the
Midlands finals which were held
at Aldersley Stadium on Sunday
30th November.
After an early start, the boys
were faced with games against
Princethorpe, Bromsgrove, Repton and favourites Beauchamp.
The boys produced an outstanding performance, with their
first game ending in a draw.
This automatically gave the
boys a boost against some of
the best teams in the Midlands.
Despite the score line, and not
winning the competition, The
Friary did not give up, and managed to fire home numerous
goals against their opponents.
As we knew Pat was in safe
hands it was time for us to walk
home. So on our way we bought
her some flowers and a card to
wish her to get well soon, which
we delivered the next day.
When we delivered them Pat was
delighted to see us and gave us a The team was as follows: GK AFTER REHEARSALS, Nienke and I big hug, and told us that we
Sam Walton, GK - Bradley Jorwere walking home down Ferndan, Ethan Mitchelson, Matt
were her “lifesavers”.
dale Road when Nienke spotted
Cooper, Josh Howship, James
an old lady on her hands and
Geldard-Williams, Jamie Carter
We were really happy that
(Captain), Sam Ling, Tom Whitwe helped Pat out, and as a
field, Jake Hincks and Josh
way of saying thank you she
Smith. Player of the Tournacame to see us in the school
ment was awarded to Matt
show, We Will Rock You,
Cooper for his outstanding dewhich is the one we were
fensive skills and hard work.
rehearsing for.
Mrs. C. Cain
Compassion
in Action
Ellie Ham and Nienke
McEntee
6
Well done boys, you should be
proud of your performance and
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Friary Files
especially for getting through
not finish in the top three, but Netball
to the Midlands finals, which is the girls should be proud of
a first for a Friary hockey team! themselves to represent the
WE HAVE HAD A FANTASTIC
school in such a high level com- YEAR since September, with our
Mrs. K. Fallows
petition. Player of the Tourna- girls being involved with netball
ment was awarded to Tegan
Clarkson who played amazingly
U16 indoor Girls Midin goal throughout the tournalands hockey finalists,
ment. Well done girls!
th
Saturday 29 November:
FOLLOWING A STRAIGHT PLACE
through to the Midlands Indoor
Hockey Finals at Aldersley Stadium, the girls played a number
of top private schools to try and
achieve a place in Friary history
as Midlands indoor champions.
This is a first for hockey players
at The Friary as we have not
been fortunate to gain a place
in the competition before, so
well done girls for playing such
high-standard hockey!
Mrs. K. Fallows
U15 Girls Cannock & District Hockey Winners
ON TUESDAY 4TH NOVEMBER,
the U15 girls played against
King Edwards and Lichfield
Cathedral School in a knockout tournament and, winning
each game by a high number of
goals, went on to win the tour-
The girls played against
some schools whose standard of hockey was exceptional, and teams that included international players, but they managed to
hold their own and on numerous occasions fought on
to put goals by the opposition‟s keeper, with Sav Sturridge scoring a hat-trick in
one of the games.
The team was as follows: GK Tegan Clarkson, Emily Worth,
Sav Sturridge (Captain), Ella
Kenny, Melissa Gee, Kayley
Smith, Izzy Fowler and Alice
Worth. We unfortunately did
nament, and were crowned District winners! The team was as
follows: GK – Tegan Clarkson,
Lucy Adler, Anna Hill (Captain),
Lauren Butler, Eloise Roberts,
Charlotte Barnard, Alice Worth,
Emma Barton, Molly RocheAllen, Hannah
Brickett-Haycock, Sacha
Hood, Lucy Birchall, Katie
Sansoni and Suzannah
Zecca.
Well done girls on an
excellent
performance!
Mrs. K. Fallows
7
practices or matches. We have
continued to have teams for all
year groups, with some years
having an A and B team, which
is fantastic. It is also nice seeing some new faces at practices
this year, as well as girls who
come and use the sessions as a
way of keeping fit and active,
which is great to see. Practices
have been regularly attended
and the girls have really developed their technical and tactical game play.
Within the league we have had
a number of great successes;
for example, Year 9, 10 and 11
all beat EDA by at least 20
goals! We have also had some
really close matches where we
have just lost out to King Edwards in Year 7 and 8, for example.
We have already had two tournaments this year for Year 10
and 11, where we performed
really well against some extremely strong teams, and just
missed out on the semi-finals.
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Friary Files
10 both lost to Rawlett in
Tamworth.
Year 7, 8 and 9 tournaments
are still to come in March, and
we still have other fixtures to
continue with after Christmas
for all year groups.
Two pupils who are performing
particularly well outside of
school netball are Megan and
Annie Chaplin, who are both in
county development squads,
which is excellent news.
As always, all our netball girls
work really hard for their teams
and are committed to developing their skills and tactics within practices. Well done for an
excellent term so far, girls!
Mrs. A. Bennett
The U15s lost to a very good
Rawlett side, in the last
sixteen of the Staffs Cup,
losing 34-17 in a hardfought match. Congratulations on winning the Cannock and District Rugby
Tournament at Burntwood
RFC in November! Players
to look out for in the future:
Jordan Addy, Kyle and Louis
Towers, Tom Grisswell and
Chey Robertson.
Most of the current U14 side
toured South Africa this summer. They were runners-up in
their Cannock and District Tournament after losing out to EDA Keep fit and keep playing!
in the final. Players to look out
for in the future: Alex Hogg,
Yours in sport
Michael Turner and Dan Morgan.
Mr. P. Van Block
The tradition of Friary Rugby
really rests with the Year 8 side
and the Year 7 players, who
have the responsibility of taking
The Friary colours out onto the
playing fields in Stoke, Wolverhampton, Newcastle, Walsall
and Stafford.
Boxing
The Year 7 and 8 sides have
over twenty-five players each
CONGRATULATIONS TO CHEY
ROBERTSON who fought his way who are available to play.
to the last eight in the country They are training regularly
in his age group, just losing on and therefore improving with
a split decision last Sunday 30th every session and match.
November in Manchester. His
achievements have been abso- Players to look out for in the
lutely fantastic. We wish Chey future: Kyle Broadhurst, Lucas
all the very best for the future. Mills, Jack Elson, Ellis Matthews and Matt James.
Mr. P. Van Block
Rugby
THE FRIARY TEAMS ARE STILL
BATTLING AWAY with friendly
fixtures and cup matches. Unfortunately, although the Year
8, 9 and 10 sides all got to the
last sixteen in their Staffordshire Cup tournaments, Year 8
lost to Walton, and Year 9 and
Many thanks to all the players,
not just the few I have named,
but the hundreds who have
taken the field for The Friary
over the past sixteen years. It
has been a lot of fun and provided me with memories to
take back to Wales.
Year 7 has tournaments after
Christmas, so hopefully will
still be playing and getting better with every match. They
also won their 15-a-side Cannock and District Tournament in
tremendous style. Players to
look out for: James Mackenzie,
Rob Honey, Tom Williams and
Panashe Makokowe, Jack Oates
and Oli Billingsley.
8
Football
IT HAS BEEN A VERY SUCCESSFUL TERM for football in the
P.E. Department. The Year 7
team has won its local league
and, captained by Callum Barlow, they now face a play-off in
March to determine the overall
best side in the whole of Cannock and District.
Josh Clamp has been the top
goal scorer, earning himself a
trial for WBA in the process.
Jack Elson has led Year 8 to a
faultless record in the 11-a-side
competitions. Containing many
district players, they have won
every single game, conceding
only one goal. Charlie Clarke
VOLUME 20, ISSUE 1, AUTUMN 2014
Friary Files
has been the top goal scorer
whilst Toby Phillips has continued to train with Wolves.
Year 9 faces a play-off match
against Cheslyn Hay to determine the outcome of the
Division 1 title. Despite lengthy
injuries to key players like captain Sam Walton and midfielder
Kieron O‟Sullivan, they have
remained unbeaten and shown
tremendous team spirit in some
challenging fixtures. Josh
Smith has scored in all the
games except one.
Year 10 has also had a successful term, finishing second to a
strong Cheslyn Hay in Division
1. The highlight was an outstanding performance against
King Edwards, culminating in a
7-0 victory. Max Haywood
(Captain) has been exceptional
in defence with Alex Brookes,
earning both pupils County
recognition. Conran Joyce and
Mitchell Candlin have also been
selected to play for Staffordshire. Also in Year 10, TaiReece Chisholm has continued
to develop with academy
coaches at Birmingham City.
Year 11 has not been entered
into the league but has had the
opportunity of a few friendlies,
with Brandon Smith bagging a
hat-trick against
Lichfield Cathedral School.
Lamar Graham has also been
attending the Nottingham Forest Academy.
constant smile on their face.
Their commitment to the sport
is second to none, and the boys
The sixth-form has also had the are always practising during
opportunity to play a few
break and lunchtimes on the
friendlies, and will be entering yard. The boys are entered in
a six-a-side tournament after
the Cannock and District
Christmas. There have been a Leagues for the first time at
number of sixth-form students
Year 9, Year 11 and sixth-form
that have helped by coaching in levels. Their matches start this
lessons, and the P.E.
week and run until the end of
department has been particuFebruary.
larly impressed with James
Burns, Will Cliff, Joel Harrison
Congratulations to the Year 9
and Theo Williamson.
girls‟ soccer team which was
recently crowned the Cannock
Mr. P. Mansell
and District 5-a-side champions!
Out of their four matches they
won three and drew one withSome ‘Well Dones’
out conceding a single goal
and a ‘Thank You’!
throughout the tournament.
The team was Anna Hill, Katie
BADMINTON CLUB HAS
Sansoni, Lucy Adler, Grace
FLOURISHED THIS YEAR with
Murphy, Sophie Davies, Sasha
regular turnouts of over thirty
Hood and Alex Haddon.
pupils at badminton club on a
Thursday night. Once again we Finally, on behalf on the P.E.
are entering teams in the Can- department and all the pupils
nock and District Tournaments over the last sixteen years, I
which are to be played this
would like to say a massive
week. On behalf of the Badthank-you and good luck to
minton Club I would like to say Mr. Van Block for all his conthank you to Tab who is leaving tribution to Friary sports and
at the end of the term. His
running numerous school
help in running the Badminton
trips, (most notably skiing and
Club has been really appreciat- South Africa Rugby Tours).
ed by the pupils.
Your commitment to The
Friary extra-curricular
Basketball Club on Friday has
programme has been outalso had fantastic numbers and standing over the past sixteen
it is great to see The Friary
years and you will be sadly
pupils working so hard with a
missed. Friary sports and in
particular Rugby, Athletics,
X-Country and Boxing will
never be the same without
‘Blocky’!
Mr. A. Millward
[The last paragraph is in
red ... the colour of the Welsh
Rugby team strip! – Ed.]
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Psychology
Annual Freud
Pantomime
IT‟S PANTOMIME SEASON
AGAIN! “Oh no, it isn‟t!” …
but “Oh yes it is!” if you
study Psychology in Year 12!
As part of the specification,
students are required to cover
the case study of „Little Hans,‟
who was a five-year old boy
with a phobia of horses. Freud
interprets this phobia as Hans‟
fear of his own father, (whom
he believed resembled a
horse!).
Lots of horseplay ensues as the
students act out the dreams of
Little Hans, and we watch as
Freud interprets the meaning of
them.
Mrs. J. Tyler
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Friary Files
Biology
Can Our Brains
Understand Our
Brains?
OUR A LEVEL BIOLOGY STUDENTS attended the annual
Erasmus Darwin Memorial Lecture at The Garrick Theatre in
November. This is a very prestigious event, and was a complete sell-out again. This
year‟s speaker was worldrenowned biologist Professor Sir
Colin Blakemore, a British neurobiologist at the University of
our ancestors, starting three
million years ago. Then, abruptly, there was a remarkable
increase of about 30% or so.
His lecture argued that a mutation in the brain of a single human being 200,000 years ago
Meet Pony
Club Patron
Princess
Anne!
SINCE THE AGE OF SIX I have
been a keen horse rider. A year
ago I moved stables to Coton
House Farm Stables, Whittington, and began the Pony Club
scheme there, where you complete achievement badges and
progress tests. I also help at
the stables on a Saturday, often
leading for the younger riders.
Oxford and the University of
London, and his lecture was on
the evolution of the human
brain.
His main argument was why the
brain, an organ that absorbs
more than 25% of the energy
that our bodies generate, is so
big compared to the brains of
our predecessors, such as Homo
erectus? Until 200,000 years
ago, there had been a gradual
increase in brain size amongst
turned intellectually able apemen into a super-intelligent
species that would conquer the
world. In short, Homo sapiens
are a genetic accident.
After all of the lessons on a
Saturday, the Lichfield Riding
for the Disabled comes and
rides. The owner of the stables
has offered this service to the
Riding for the Disabled free of
charge for nearly twenty years.
This idea certainly challenged
our students, and one of our
Year 13 students did make the
statement, „But this contradicts what we have been studying in lessons, where species
evolve through tiny changes
over thousands of years.”
We try whenever possible to
enrich the Biology students‟
understanding by attending
these sorts of events and listening to world experts in their
One day at Pony Club, we found
out that because of the service
field.
that the stables have provided,
the Patron of Riding for the
Mr. J. Chick
Disabled was going to come and
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Princess Anne walked up the
lane from the helicopter. She
met the owners and local dignitaries, then ate in the house,
before walking through the yard
to meet some of our horses and
some of the Riding for the Disabled members.
Her Royal Highness then proceeded through the marquee
and back outside to watch a
display presented by the Riding
for the Disabled. She then unveiled a plaque before cutting
the cake!
visit on the 14th of December.
The Patron is none other than
HRH The Princess Royal
(Princess Anne)!
The preparations immediately
started; I was put in charge of
finding out all about the Riding
for the Disabled and all of the
opportunities they offer.
All Pony Club members had to
decorate a horseshoe that we
could sell on the day to contribute towards our fundraising
badge.
During the days before the princess was due to arrive, we
spent ages sprucing up the stables, the yard and getting the
horses ready, as well as trying
to cope with the torrential rain. helicopter arrived the sun came
It was still raining on that
out!
Next, she came back into the
morning, but just before the
marquee to look at the horse
shoes we had made and at the
Pony Club stall.
Then she came over to the Riding for the Disabled stall, where
I was based. I began by mentioning some key facts about
the Riding for the Disabled and
how we learnt about it for our
badge. She was very down to
earth and began to ask about
what the badge entailed and
how we were going about it.
She asked about specific cases
that I knew about and then we
began to discuss how horses can
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VOLUME 20, ISSUE 1, AUTUMN 2014
Friary Files
tell who‟s on their backs, and
behave accordingly!
She seemed to have a fantastic
time and didn‟t want to leave.
We had a day we will never
forget.
Grace Mackenzie
[Hollie Wright, who also rides
at Coton Farm Stables and
helps with
young disabled
riders, first
told me about
this amazing
day. You can
see a video of
Princess Anne’s visit to Grace
and Hollie’s stables at http://
youtu.be/V-dGLsbSG1I - Ed.]
Sunrise over Lichfield Cathedral, as
seen from The Friary on 9th December
13