BURSAR’S BULLETIN Issue 19
Lent Term 2023
Happy New Year! In his introductory remarks at this term’s Common Room Inset, the Warden talked about the importance of being upbeat. Something that I hope resonates with us all at a time when there are a lot of things happening around us, locally and globally, that can be downright depressing. Steve Rathbone spoke in the same Inset about the positive binding effect of shared experiences. One way of bringing these themes together is by focusing on what we can do to make things better in our own community. It is often the small things that count – the acts of kindness, the smile, looking out for each other and understanding each other’s point of view or daily challenges. After a period where we have had so much separation and challenge forced upon us, there can never have been a better time to reconnect with each other. That we work together in a beautiful campus environment for a shared aim gives us a great advantage. Let’s celebrate what we have got, look out for each other and ask ourselves, what is it I can do, that will make things better for others? Do let’s have the shared binding experience of getting to know more about the College and the people within it by reading this Bulletin. There is lots of news and many insights and even an opportunity to tap into the expertise of our Gardens Team by attending their Gardeners’ Question Time on 21 March. In the meantime, I have no doubt this term will fly by – do take time to enjoy it and get to know your colleagues in different departments!
Best wishes,
Celebrating the Passage of Time
What would you put on a timeline? Originally, I included many more world events. It’s worth knowing what was going on in the background: for example, growing up during the Cold War when the nuclear threat was tangible – similar to today’s young people’s concerns about the future of climate change; or the 50 years’ development of information technology – the first computers introduced in school in the late 1970s with the internet arriving in 1993. Choosing school events was tricky. Many people suggested corrections, removals, omissions. We can’t fit in everything so the timeline gives an overview. It’s designed to be dynamic. It’s been made in modules so we can physically change individual sections but the key part will be the QR linked online timeline, coming soon, with short intros to individual decades and deeper articles and videos about individual events or people. Clare Sargent College Archivist
@RadleyArchives
Covered Passage: top, 1890s; middle, 2016; bottom, 2023.
Covered Passage was last decorated for the College’s 150th anniversary in 1997. That pink rag-paint effect had definitely reached its sell-by date. Lots of research into the school’s history has been done in the last 25 years, especially for Untold Stories, and so the timeline was mooted – a chance to re-decorate and to celebrate our history.