Clare Jarmy

Head of Religious Studies and Philosophy, Bedales

MA (Hons) Philosophy, St Catharine’s College, Cambridge
PGCE Religious Studies, St Catharine’s College, Cambridge

 

What makes a good teacher at Bedales?
Some qualities are important at all schools, such as being patient and supportive, but I think a Bedales teacher must have enthusiasm, with openness and a sense of humour. Bedalians want their teachers to love their subject enough to enthuse them. Knowing how to shear sheep is pretty handy, too.

What are you trying to encourage and instil in the children?
Enthusiasm and passion for interesting ideas for their own sake. Willingness to gain the skills required to think independently and logically. A mixture of academic rigour with a love of learning.

Apart from your teaching role, what else do you get involved with at the school?

  • I am responsible for coordinating ‘Jaw’, which is our assembly slot for religious/spiritual/philosophical subjects.
  • I also spend a lot of time doing music– I was a choral scholar when I was at Cambridge, so I sing in the choir and chamber choir. I sometimes play percussion in the orchestra, though I’m not very good, and help run a recorder consort. One of the people responsible for the revival of Early Music, and especially recorders, in this country, Arnold Dolmetsch, used to teach at Bedales, which means we’re tapping into our roots.
  • On the pastoral side, I tutor 14 students in Blocks 3,4 and 5, overseeing their academic progress and general welfare. They have naturally named themselves “The Jarmy Army”. I also help on the girls’ boarding house on Thursdays.
  • One of my hobbies is making things and I run craft and knitting activities for students in the evenings. As a leftie, this can prove challenging, as I’m always doing everything backwards!

In your opinion, what makes Bedales special?

  • Handshaking. You stand and you shake hands with every single student. It says something amazing about Bedales as an institution: that we do not need to hide behind assumed authority, but approach the students as fellow human beings.
  • The BACs are also a key difference. In most schools, RS is either compulsory or undersubscribed. At Bedales, the BAC in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics is non-compulsory, yet we have between half and two thirds of Block 4 students electing to take the course each year. The BAC provides opportunities for developing independent thinking and critical analysis, along with the possibility of covering material that many schools don’t touch on.
  • Outdoor work is also so different. Sitting with Block 3s in the Bakehouse, zesting lemons, whilst discussing philosophy, knitting and good recipes with salmon is something you wouldn’t get in any other school!

Who or what inspires you?
My department – they are intelligent, funny, kind people. The music department, which fully deserves its excellent reputation. Our students, especially in their independent endeavours such as the Utopia Projects they undertake in Block 5. Our amazing library, which is to me the heart of the school.
As for non-Bedales-related inspiration: Plato, Aristotle, Bertrand Russell, David Hume, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, JS Bach, Heinrich Schütz, Claudio Monteverdi, Guillaume de Machaut, John Dowland, and a number of other dead men.

Tell us something not a lot of people know about you.
Most early examples of my writing are perfectly mirrored – right to left with all the characters the wrong-way-round. Thankfully, I was born at a time where burning witches was seldom practised!