Polar explorer breaks the ice at Lord Rosebery Lecture at Epsom College
Over 100 pupils, parents and staff turned up to listen to Alex Hibbert describe the successes and failures of his polar adventures at the first Lord Rosebery Lecture of the term on Thursday at Epsom College.
Speaking in Main Hall, Alex explained how as a 21 year old, still at university, he set in place the funding that allowed him to complete his first polar expedition. The journey turned out to be harder than he thought when he and his partner could not find their last food depot and so had no food for the last seven days.
Alex also described how his most recent expedition was thwarted by a failure of the ice to freeze. He and his team turned adversity into success, however, by learning how to drive a team of dogs and discovering a passage that would allow the polar eskimos to reach their relatives on the other side of the melting ice.
Alex ended his talk with a rallying call to all in the room: Dare to be different; take risks; and try to live a life that is a little less ordinary.
“It’s not often you meet a polar explorer. I hope his talk and his experiences inspire the next generation at the College to look to wide horizons when thinking about how they want to live their life after school,” said Helen Hynd, who oversees the Lord Rosebery Lecture series.
Epsom College artists reach out to Royal Academy tutor
Epsom College was delighted to welcome artist and life drawing tutor, Charlotte Steel, from the Royal Academy of Arts Outreach Programme, to direct a life drawing workshop for L6th art students on Tuesday.
Working on the floor in Big School in a circle around a professional model, the artists sketched from 9.30am until 3.30pm, using charcoal and large sheets of paper to produce an exciting collection of work.
The day focused on extending the range of the pupils’ drawing skills. They experimented with mark-making, composition and scale and produced dynamic, and unexpectedly confident, results. Charlotte was particularly impressed with how open the pupils were to the new approaches to drawing.
RA Outreach Programme workshops are designed to extend young people’s understanding of the nature and processes of drawing and encourage powers of perception, self-awareness and mental flexibility.