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1382 Educators providing Art courses in Borehamwood

Roundwood Park School

roundwood park school

Hertfordshire

With Grammar schools in nearby St Albans, that meant that it was in reality a secondary modern school although as its pupils reached school leaving age (15 in those days) it soon became apparent that many wanted to stay on into the fifth year and take ‘O’ levels so that facility was provided. The school opened with three teaching blocks – still recognizable as ‘B’ block, ‘C’ block and the hall, gym etc. where the staff room and offices were. There were three forms, one in each of the second, third and fourth years and three first year forms, making a total of 179 pupils. There were ten teachers including the first head teacher – Mr Arthur Foxwell. The school was organised into four houses – Braille, Campbell, Grenfell and Nightingale – thus providing a competitive element for the popular Sports Day and, from 1961 when the town’s pool was opened, the Swimming Gala. After three years, the school had reached its planned maximum size but often exceeded that over subsequent years due to its increasing popularity with local residents as well as those in Wheathampstead and Redbourn. Now we receive many pupils from the other villages – Markyate, Flamstead and Kimpton. This is partly due to the closure of smaller secondary schools in Redbourn and Wheathampstead so that the ‘economies of scale’ can be taken advantage of, full comprehensive provision within Hertfordshire and also due to parental preference. Mr Foxwell retired in 1976 after 20 years as Headteacher and Mr Turnbull took over for 2 years, being followed by Mr Haydon Luke who stayed for 17 years. Andy Cunningham stayed for 6 years and was replaced by Mr Nick Daymond who also stayed for 6 years until he was succeeded by the current Headteacher, Mr Alan Henshall. At various times in between, the Deputy Heads have held the fort – Mr Lucas, Mr Surtees and Ms Linda Graham – all contributing to the continuity and stability that have been part of the Roundwood ethos. Roundwood21There have been many changes over the past 60 years resulting in upheaval and disruption – increasingly frequent times when the site appeared more like a building site as a new Sixth Form/Modern Foreign Languages block was constructed, soon to be followed by a new Maths/Music building and a Sports Centre. The school is also now an Academy. The changes have not affected the ethos of the school and Roundwood Park remains the same, continuing to educate local children in a caring and supportive way that encourages them to develop their best talents through a broad and balanced curriculum. This article is adapted from the original produced for the 50th celebrations by Ruth Martin & Christine Hood. UPDATE On 13 September 2018 Roundwood Park was proud to officially open a state of the art 3G artificial pitch on the school site. A joint venture with Harpenden Colts FC, and with a £500,000 grant from the Premier League and the FA Facilities Fund, it allowed us to replace the existing grass pitch, which was unsuitable for football during the winter months. The new pitch is used by all students and players from the school as well as Harpenden Colts FC, who operate around 60 teams across eight different training venues. Watford FC Community Sports and Education Trust also use the pitch to deliver sessions for female and disabled football, as well as its use for regular summer holiday camps and coach education workshops.

Casual Rice

casual rice

Cranmer Road

I’m Xuan (pronounced Sawn). I was born in Vietnam from Chinese Vietnamese parents and I am proud to be one of the original Vietnamese boat people now living here in the UK. In the late 1970s, the aftermath of the Vietnam war and the growing oppression of the ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam forced my family to flee their home. We left Vietnam on a small overcrowded and ramshackle boat that wasn’t fit for the open water and sailed the perilous South China Sea to Hong Kong. At age 2 my first and only memory of Hong Kong is a hazy image of the orange skies. After 6 months we left the tropical heat of Hong Kong and immigrated to the cold, or you could say dreich (Scots for dreary) climate of the Scottish winter. We lived in the quiet outskirts of Glasgow for four years before moving and settling in London, which was a hubbub of culture and activity. By the age of 14 I had lived in four vastly different countries and each of these places have influenced the person that I am and the food I love to cook and eat. My own cooking adventure started at an early age – washing the rice grains for steamed rice and undertaking the long and meticulous task of cleaning and snapping the tails off bean sprouts for my parents spring rolls. This you can say was my training for the future food lover in me – or feeder. As a child of refugees, love was often shown through food rather than words. From these duties and by always keeping my belly full, my parents quietly passed on their own rich food heritage and family history to me through the years. In my 20’s I became a sushi chef at a vibrant restaurant in Central London, and spent 4 years learning the meticulous art of preparing, filleting and slicing fish for sushi, maki, nigiris and sashimi. I have since run a number of supper clubs in London and Dundee, including a charity Chinese hotpot that raised over £2,000 for the charity – Sarcoma UK. This year, I’ve taken the next leap in my food adventure and launched my online cookalong classes, which have been great fun and allow me to reach new like minded food enthusiasts far and wide. Casual Rice is all about sharing my love for food and my own culinary heritage through authentic but informal Vietnamese and Chinese meals I devoured when growing up, with Japanese influences from my sushi training days. The name Casual Rice comes from The Mandarin Way, a book by the inspirational Cecilia Sun Yun Chiang. A pioneering woman who in the 1960’s opened one of the first authentic Chinese restaurant in North America. In her book she writes “when we sat down to meals as a family, we adopted a much simpler mode of eating … such meals were known as “pien- fan”, “casual rice” or what might be termed home cooking”. As the saying goes, food is a universal language that brings people together. I am hoping through this website and cookalong classes I am able to share personal recipes from my own home, that you can make and share in your homes with your loved ones. Thanks for visiting.