Whinchat 2013-2014

BEDfoRD PREPARAToRY SCHool

WHINCHAT Saxicola rubetra

A small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe (and western Asia); its scientific name means ‘small rock-dweller’, in reference to its habitat. The Whinchat is similar in size to its relative - the European Robin - measuring approximately 12 to 14 cm in length and weighing between 13 and 26 grammes only. Both the male and female have brownish upper parts, a buff throat and breast, a pale buff to whitish belly, and a blackish tail with white bases to the outer tail feathers.

It also lends its name to the magazine of Bedford Preparatory School.

WHINCHAT MAGAZINE - AUTUMN 2014

An Evening of Mild Amusement...

OCTO BER 2014

CO NTENTS

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Table of Contents

trIPS/outInGS

IntroductIon Headmaster’s Introduction

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AcAdEMIc

Bude

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John Bunyan Museum

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France

45

Higgins Gallery/Jersey/Morocco

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Caythorpe Court

48

Whipsnade

50

Skiing

52

English

04

Geography

06

History

08

ICT

10

Maths

12

MFL

14

SPort

Science

16

Athletics

54

Badminton

56

Cross Country

57

Cricket

58

Football

62

EnrIcHMEnt Enrichment

18

tHE ArtS Art

20

Golf

63

Drama

22

Hockey

64

Design Technology

26

Horse Riding

65

Music

27

Karting

66

Kayaking

67

Rowing

68

Rugby

70

Squash

72

Swimming/Triathlon

73

Leavers

74

And Finally...

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HouSES Houses

28

ActIVItIES Activities

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cHArItIES Charity Committee

36

Charity Evening/Keech Hospice

38

Fundraisers

40

Bedford Prep School Association

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Design: David Heaton and Grahame Taylor +44 (0)1727 866989 studio@wearesimply.co.uk Cover illustration: lorna Picton Photographs: Piers @ Simply (inside front/inside back cover)

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Headmaster’s Introduction Welcome to the Whinchat 2013-2014

This magazine offers just a glimpse of the exceptionally busy, talented, hard-working, fun, thoroughly enjoyable and supportive community that is Bedford Prep School.

W

e try to record here a few of the highlights of the year – and what a wonderful year it has been!

Inevitably, many of the best moments and personal triumphs are not captured on camera, but, contained in these pages are a few that have been. For the rest we will have to rely on old-fashioned memory.

Reading back over the Whinchat Newsletters in order to select some highlights for this editorial, I realise that the task is too great! There have been so many that any list I might make could not be comprehensive enough, or would be so extensive that it would use an enormous amount of printer ink! Instead, please enjoy a read through these pages and take a look at some of the great moments in a Bedford Prep School year. Will Barnes, our Head Boy for 2013-2014, and I gave highlights at Prize-Giving. A link to the video of the speeches can be found on the website.

As soon as the next School year begins on September 3rd, we will be looking for articles to fill next year’s Whinchat. If you have written any articles over the summer, or are keen to be a reporter throughout the year, please speak to your tutor or to me. We would also like this magazine to be a record of the boys’ creative talents. Therefore, we would encourage the boys to submit their best writing, poems, short stories, art work, photographs or anything else they think would make a telling contribution to the 2014-15 issue. All achievements, both in and out of the classroom and school, will be most welcome and we will choose the best pieces to include in the final print. I look forward to seeing what the next year holds.

WO RDS by

Ian Silk Headmaster

I look forward to seeing what the next YEAR holds Will Barnes Head Boy

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English E n g lish r ep o rt

Wo r ld B oo k Day

There has been so much going on in the English Department this year, it is difficult to know where to start. Perhaps I should use some logic and work chronologically through the year or maybe talk in terms of year group activities. But the English department, like its grammatical rules, is nothing if not capricious; I’ ll just start talking and see where it gets me.

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here have been a few personal highlights of the year. Taking over Y8 Film Night with the Gothic Horror classic ‘The Others’ and watching our ‘nothing scares me’ boys, sat alongside the girls of BGS, screaming their socks off has to get a mention. The Autumn Term’s venture in to the world of the creepy was perfectly rounded off with this event. Although, next year, I am keen to take boys on an after dark tour of the old Inky building; any parents with nerves of steel will be welcome...

Our yearly competitions were of standard fare; the standard, of course, being incredibly high. Watching boys perform speeches and poems is a genuine treat: their ability always exceeds my expectations and this year was no different. In the Y7 and 8 Public Speaking, our guest judge Sam Adams (Upper School Head of English) had his work cut out picking his winners. Ultimately though, Bryn Williamson and Harry Ward triumphed in a competition that saw ten future captains of industry speak. The range of subjects (from Islam to Scuba Diving via E-Cigarettes) was testament to the complete spectrum of interest we promote here at the school.

every Year 6 boy became an instant expert on the play Staying in the EMH, we welcomed the Young Shakespeare Company in February. They relayed their version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and got the boys involved at every opportunity. Their vibrant, utterly engaging performance meant every Y6 boy became an instant expert on the play; an invaluable tool as we set about Shakespeare in the Easter term.

World Book Day followed in March. Boys (and staff) dressed as their favourite book villain. I am always amazed by how much effort goes into these types of days. Parents should take the credit really, although I think Mrs Christian’s ‘Mrs Twit’ was all her own work.

With the Y3-6 poetry recitation competition in June, the ability to stand up and perform was again in evidence. All competitors produced well-timed, cleverly orchestrated pieces of spoken verse and the variety was impressive; Kenn Nesbitt’s ‘Skateboarding Hamster’ was given as much acknowledgment as W.H. Auden’s ‘Refugee Blues’. I know which one I prefer but these events are about the boys and their opinion is just as weighty as mine. Shaun Thomas, William Roberts, Nick Challacombe and Max Sogan were selected winners on the day, although our adjudicator, former Head of English Kirsten Williams, conceded that on another day any one of the finalists may have been victorious.

So there we have it, a wonderful year! So good, I think we should do it all again.

Design a Villain Competition On World Book Day this year, the boys had the opportunity to dress a famous literary villain.

As a part of our celebrations, we had a competition to design a new villainous character including a short character profile. We had a huge range of incredibly creative entries.

The winners were Rowan Spong (Y6), Oliver French (Y3), and Joshua Jeganathan (Y4). Special mentions also to our runners-up in Y3 and 4: Hugh Williams and Max Pearson.

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Geography

Priory Country Park Year 7 Field Trip

Plate Tectonics in the Geography Department!

Th ursday 7 th N ovem ber 2013

Not just for Year 8

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eography is not a static subject and, excitingly, it changes every day, either as a result of human influences such as population change and increasing settlements, or natural influences such as new volcanic eruptions, the creation of new volcanic islands, the release of the Earth’s energy in hundreds of earthquakes, the flooding of landscapes (extremely topical this winter) and the destruction of habitats around the world due to tropical storms and other climatic events.

Geography is not a static subject

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he field trip to Priory Country Park was very informative.

We saw lots of features that we had been discussing in class about Environmental issues and National Parks; one of the most common features we saw was sustainability of the landscape and wildlife. This was evident when we saw some barriers (revetments) made of willow around the edge of the lake; these assist in preventing the water washing up and eroding the edges of the lake. Willow is also sustainable because it grows back and is in its natural environment.”

“In my opinion the most interesting part of the trip was when we went into the Visitors’ Centre. It had a number of display boards detailing the different ways of being sustainable in the park and at home. The building had solar panels to produce electricity without the use of fossil fuels, containers to collect rainwater to flush the toilets, daylight tubes in the roof which let in light and are good for ventilation. The field trip was a good afternoon out.”

WO RDS by

Daniel Smith (Year 7 M) We too, in the Geography department have experienced our own active ‘continental drift’ as we were ‘tectonically’ moved from the St Luke’s building to the refurbished W19 and W20 in the Wells’ building in November. As in Plate Tectonics, some plates are constructive, some conservative and some are destructive and the two classrooms in St Luke’s have been destroyed to make way for the new theatre complex (‘recycling of material by convection currents in the mantle’). However for the Geography staff, the ‘seismic waves’ of re-settlement have now abated and the primary and secondary effects of locating and organising resources in our new rooms has been managed by the well-thought out ‘preparedness plans and rescue services’ on hand to cope with just a few minor ‘aftershocks’.

But hopefully by next year this ‘tectonic event’ will be a fading memory as we will have comprehensively used our map skills to draw a plan view of where everything is in our new classrooms and store-room!

WO RDS by

Assunta Spina Head of Geography

I

really enjoyed the Geography field trip to Priory Country Park. My favourite part of the trip was walking to the Finger Lakes as it felt very natural, and as if you were in a forest, as they hadn’t paved the path, it was just a mud track winding through the conservation area. The field trip also taught me about how the Park Rangers sustainably look after the park and all of the wildlife that live in the park. The park is very important to the local community and more people should go to it to have a fun and relaxing time both within the park and out on the lake.”

WO RDS by

William Smithson (Year 7 M)

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History Year 7

Year 5

Year 7

Naseby Battlefield Trip

Siege!

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot

Y5 boys ventured down to Mountfitchet Castle in Essex for a day of very hands-on exploration. An excellent site, they were able to “enjoy” the sights, sounds and smells of a motte and bailey castle.

Whether or not there really is a ghost in the Lord’s Hall is still debated amongst some of the boys.

A small group of Y7s thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the Palace of Westminster (where they were also able to meet our local MP, Richard Fuller). They had the opportunity to participate in a workshop on how laws are made in England, as well as receiving a guided tour of the Houses of Lords and Commons.

Later in the year, when studying the trial of Charles I in Westminster Hall (where this photograph was taken), boys could proudly say, “I’ve been there.”

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eyond the classroom, boys have had the opportunity to supplement their work through a series of talks, workshops and outings. These are worth their weight in gold as they significantly enrich the boys’ understanding of the past. A perfect example of this is the direct correlation between the number of Y7s who, come exam time, could accurately and clearly identify the dangers associated with a 17thC musket and a talk (plus live firing of a matchlock musket) given by our regular visitor, Kevin Hicks.

Whilst on the subject of the English Civil War, thanks must go to Lord Naseby OB for inviting a group of boys for a guided tour of Naseby battlefield; I, for one, had never appreciated the sprawling and exposed nature of the site. Just by chance, a local recruiting sergeant for the New Model Army was passing and put the boys through their pike drill.

Year 5 “Doctor, Doctor... … I have swellings under my armpits and my skin is turning black. What’s wrong with me?”

The final Y5 unit of the year included investigating the spread of the Black Death in the 14thC. To help the boys understand how different medicine was seven hundred years ago, Happening History visited. Gory stories aplenty and some live leeches, just thirsting after some fresh blood.

History In Hi-Def. An increasing number of boys choose to complete work using video. Here is sample of their work; just scan the QR code and enjoy.

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Giles Pitman (Y8) uses emotive imagery and language to persuade you to end TransAtlantic slavery.

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Jonathan Hosking (Y8) guides you through the history of the London Brick Company at Stewartby.

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Matt Rea and Finlay Cummings (Y6) rap their way through criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16thC.

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Peter Barrington (Y7) retells the story of the execution of Charles I using animation.

Year 8 Slave Ship Pushing Y8s well beyond their comfort zone through the slave ship role-play. Tight-pack or loose-pack? It was all about maximising profit.

Year 8 The National Archives

Year 3

Year 4

Attain Magazine

The Anglo-Saxons Invade Bedford School

The Y3 Archaeology Workshop enjoyed national coverage when it was featured in the Independent Schools’ “Attain” magazine.

Y3 boys enjoyed a hands-on, practical workshop in archaeology, designed and delivered by archaeologist, Dr Catherine Parker Heath. In the fun session the boys learnt about how archaeologists study the past by looking at the remains people leave behind.

The boys then got to carry out their own excavations with sand trays (trenches) that had different items buried inside them. Using trowels and paintbrushes the boys unveiled their very own hidden treasures.

It was a great afternoon’s work!

STO P PRESS

Fathers and brothers of Y4s may have found their t-shirt collections denuded around the time of Anglo-Saxon Day. Judging by the boys’ reports and the photographs, it opened their eyes to the rich tapestry of Saxon society. That said, the re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings seemed to be the favourite part of the day; I wonder why …

Year 6 Boy King Just what would you do if you became king in 1547? Y6s had the chance to re-write history using an online simulation of the reign of “boy-king” Edward VI.

Two groups of Y8s were able to handle irreplaceable documents when they visited the National Archives. The workshops - the first on the 19thC cholera epidemic and the second on the experience of 19thC British imperialism - are targeted at Y11 students, yet the boys rose to the challenge of analysing quite complex primary source material (possibly fuelled by the chips consumed at Kew station).

Keep up to date with all our news.

Follow us: @bpshistory

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Information & Communication Technologies I CT r ep o rt

The provision of a bank of 20 Google Chrome books located within the Inky building along with the creation of a completely new suite of computers in the Nash’s Building has begun to allow the use of ICT to become truly embedded within the boys learning across the curriculum.

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oices in the education community have for some years been calling for the ICT National Curriculum to move away from ‘Office’ skills teaching whereby pupils spend large amounts of time presenting data, towards a curriculum which sees computing as a creative and technically challenging subject.

Whilst continuing to cover traditional ICT “Office” applications within their lessons, the boys have been also able to spend time exploring and understanding a range of programming

methods: Y5 have worked with the ’My World’ icon starter language, Y6 have looked at the “Scratch” graphics based language programming robots with the Lego ‘Mindstorms’ system, and Y7 have begun to create working coded programs using the “Python” language code.

Clubs are also following this direction with one team again entering a national computing competition based around the ‘Scratch’ language as implemented on the Raspberry Pi computers.

A small group of Y6 pupils have also started on a long term project to video the build phase of the St Luke’s Project. Currently the boys have taken baseline videos of all the areas of the site prior to the builders starting work and are now, working on the questions that they wish to pose on air before going through the health and safety program to be allowed access to the site.

Year Group Overview Y 3 pupils have as usual been getting to grips with our system with a focus on folder generation and the use of Word and on 4 page information and greetings cards (with a little teacher input!).

Y4 have been investigating the effects of formatting and increasing their formal use of the Microsoft Word program and using the Internet as a resource to populate a dream playground design using the Publisher program.

Y5 pupils have been increasing their knowledge of computer graphics using Adobe Photoshop and how to surf the Internet quickly and safely. They have also created web sites using Publisher and investigated the HTML web language via the creation from the ground up of a simple home page.

Y6 Pupils have been creating newspaper articles, the abstraction of data from very large data sets and the creation of simple bar and pie charts within Excel.

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Y7 have been using the chat room and Google Drive facilities of the School system to allow collaboration and joint discussion of topics, (and the dangers therein), and at advanced use of the Excel graphing system to be able to produce “Gantt” charts. Y7 have also looked at Simple Access databases and the advanced facilities of Word, including how to create, tables of contents, indexes and how to add references to their work.

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01 James Norris with Robot 02 Mindstorms Robot 03 Mindstorms Robot

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Mathematics Yea r 6 M aths M o r n i n g

With the guidance of Mr Milton this challenge was solved during the maths morning with Bedford Girls’ School. Firstly the groups had a demonstration to understand how a clinometer works. Armed with clinometers and measuring tapes, the groups set out to find the height of some of the trees around the estate.

U K J u n i o r M athemati c a l Cha lle n ge On a Thursday 1st May Y8 and Y7 took part in the UK Junior Mathematical Challenge. Over 24,000 pupils across the UK sat the Challenge. Henry Shaw was our highest placed pupil and was one of only 1200 pupils invited to participate in the follow-on competition, the Junior Olympiad Round.

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They started by walking away from the base of a tree until the there was a 45o angles between ground and top of tree. This forms an isosceles triangle with the distance from the base of the tree to the clinometer being the same as the height of the tree.

Also during the Maths Morning the pupils experienced special logic problem involving matches, and algebraic investigation through a practical approach and a competitive game of maths magic.

In this subtraction, P, Q, R, S and T represent single digits.

7 Q 2 S T - P 3 R 9 6 2 2 2 2 2 The diagram shows a square divided into strips of equal width. Three strips are blue and two are white.

What fraction of the perimeter of the square is white?

A: Two Fourths B: One Fifth C: Two Thirds D: Three Quarters E: Two Fifths

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S c a n to have a lo o k at h ow we s u pp o rt o u r l ea r n i n g o u t si d e t he c l ass ro o m

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What is the value of P + Q + R + S + T ?

A: 30 B: 29 C: 28 D: 27 E: 26

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The first two terms of a sequence are 1 and 2. Each of the following terms in the sequence is the sum of all the terms which come before it in the sequence.

In the division calculation 952 á 473 =18, which two adjacent digits should be swapped in order to increase the result by 100?

Which of these is not a term in the sequence?

A: 9 B: 5 C: 2 D: 4 E: 7

A: 6 B: 24 C: 48 D: 72 E: 96

and and and and and

5 2 4 7 3

The answers are... 1:A, 2:D, 3:B, 4:C

How do you find the height of a tree?

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Modern Foreign Language MFL ove rview

Bonjour, Hola, Guten Tag…..In any language this has been another busy and exciting year in the Prep School MFL Department. Some fantastic work has been produced in the classroom but the learning doesn’t just stop there.

Y 3 - 4 F r e n c h day r ep o rt & ph oto s

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n November, Hamza Noor made it to the finals of the Junior Language Challenge 2009, beating over 1400 other pupils from around the country. Our Y7 More Able linguists did extremely well in the national Linguatrivia competition and we then had a delicious Y3/4 French breakfast where la bonne cuisine was very much on the cards – or on the table to be precise! At Easter, a large group of Y7/8 boys spent six days in Burgundy, performing circus skills, trying their hand at archery, mosaic making, sculpture and high ropes, all preceded by French lessons, évidemment!

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It’s enough to make anyone need a siesta! KMF

Junior Language Challenge

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ver 1000 pupils nationally participated in the Junior Language Challenge 2013 and 5 boys from the Prep School made it to the regional finals on September 18th in Cambridge.

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There were 30 finalists from East Anglia, all aged Y3-6, and they were looking for the top 3 pupils to go forward to the Grand Final in London in October.

Hamza Noor (Y6) was successful in securing his place in the final and very much enjoyed the experience of coming in the top 20 in the UK. Well done to Hamza!

la bonne cuisine was very much on the cards – or on the table to be precise!

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Science

Highlights of 2013-14

The Sc ie n c e S leep ove r co mme nt s f ro m the b oys:

i n the Sc ie n c e Depa rtme nt WO RDS BY

Sam Maling (Year 3)

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t the Science Sleepover I had lots of fun. I got to play with all my friends and spend lots of time with them. I never thought that I would have so much fun. I slept beside my best friend Anas. We stayed up until 11 o’clock watching Robots The Movie! In the morning we had a delicious breakfast with waffles and strawberries and sausage rolls and then we had a fabulous play on the Astro.”

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The National Y5 & 6 Science Quiz team made the National Final of the Inter-School Quiz Championship and came 4th.

A group of boys attended the Big Bang Science Fair and got to see the Cubestormer 3 robot which later entered the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest solving of a Rubik’s cube (3.253 seconds!).

A team entered the Salters’ Challenge at University of Luton and won the University Challenge in the afternoon.

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The Science Club tackled a number of projects including making huge copper sulphate crystals, investigating the most absorbent nappies and programming electronic module boards.

51 Y5 boys had fun on the Science Museum Sleepover.

The Y3 boys had an evening of Science activities and then slept in the EMH!

Hari Mistry (Year 3)

T

he man was called Richard and he called the lady a wicked witch. The joke was a bit mean, but we still laughed. We all touched the snakes but we were not allowed to touch the head because they bite.

We went to the observatory, where we looked at stars, and galaxies. We looked at the ceiling and the machine reflected the stars and the planets there.

There is a geography teacher, Mr. Stone, in the upper school who made this machine. It was amazing.

One of the science teachers told us about the stars.

We had pizza, crisps, and a banana for dinner.

I had good fun on this trip.”

WO RDS BY

Harry Payne (Year 3)

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07 11 teams competed for the coveted Science and DT Family Challenge, won by the Sogan family.

irst we met lots of animals. We saw a chinchilla, a frog, a lizard, a scorpion, a millipede, a cockroach and my favourite was the snake. The snake was round my neck - it felt very slimy and scary. The cockroach went up my arm and it tickled my neck!

Afterwards we went to the building next to the observatory, called the Planetarium, and had a talk about stars; we learnt that there is another universe and names for groups of stars like Pegasus. We then had tea which was pizza. After that we went to the science lab and did cool experiments. The best one was when the balloon exploded. After that we went to bed in the EMH.”

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Enrichment academic saturday report

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n October the Y8 Gifted cohort had the opportunity to attend the annual Academic Saturday held at Queens’ College, Cambridge. Although pitched at older students considering applying to Cambridge, the boys were able to access the subject matter of the lectures. The topics of the lectures varied greatly, from gender equality in the 21stC to the improvements in the survival rates for oesophageal cancer. Without question, they were most interested in the development of technology that tracks skeletal movement; its application to future Xbox Kinect software fascinated them. The boys – Harry Ward, Haydn O’Neill, Henry Shaw, Ollie Peacock, Felix Mallalieu and Paul Whalley - were a credit to the School throughout the day and impressed the speakers by staying behind to ask additional questions.

DESTINATION IMAGINATION at Queens’ Park Academy

“I had an awesome day; we were working with lots of children from other schools and we did some really fun things like paint splodging, building a tower and a raft challenge. I loved it.”

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Matthew Goodman (Year 3)

SCIENCE ENRICHMENT

general knowledge report

“During this term I have been attending Science enrichment in the Upper School with a few other Y6s.

It has proved to be very interesting and fun because we get to do lot of (hands on) practical work. We get to be lab rats in a lot of the experiments. For example, one week we did an experiment where we set our hands on fire for about two seconds; it didn’t hurt at all! We also get to make some substances to take home; one week we made a liquid substance which, when touched, would turn solid. I think Science enrichment is very interesting because, by getting us to do the experiment ourselves, it is easier to understand the different processes involved.”

The 2013-14 season has been an excellent year for General Knowledge in the Prep School, having won all of our fixtures Y3-8 against Bedford Modern School and Bedford Girls’ School. We also reached the National Quiz Club Finals in Harrow in January and came a very respectable twelfth place in the country. Over twenty boys entered the challenging SATIPS General Knowledge Competition and three received a top twenty in the country ranking: fantastic. We look forward to our teams going from strength to strength next year.

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Theo Ward (Year 6)

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TH E ARTS

Art ART Department

‘Stone Carving’

H IGG I N S A RT TR I P

From the Head of Department

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am frequently asked by prospective parents about the role Art plays in the education of boys here at Bedford Prep School.

My first response is that we provide opportunities for all boys to develop a range of skills in painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture that makes them visually literate and able to convey their ideas, observations and feelings with confidence and independence.

The range and quality of work around the School and in the Art Room however suggests we are more than this; Art offers boys the potential for individual expression that satisfies their need to communicate and create. Whether they are exploring ideas in a sketchbook or working on a final piece, boys at Bedford are encouraged to operate as rounded, creative and imaginative thinkers.

Art offers boys the potential for individual expression These qualities were in abundance for anyone who attended the House Art Competition in February. A record number of entries is always a good sign that Art is engaging our boys. Our judge, Anne-Marie Stijella, was impressed by the diversity of materials and techniques on show that made her job all the more difficult. Congratulations go to Whitbread, who proved to be the emphatic winning house, and to the individual prize winners, but also to every boy that took part.

In May 2014, fifteen boys from the Prep School had their work accepted for the SATIPS National Art Exhibition hosted

by Saint Ronan’s in Hawkhurst; we were the only school to have work that represented each of its year groups. I recommend the exhibition to anyone who has the chance to go, as the quality of pupil art on show is exceptional, but I was able to leave knowing that i) we too are producing that standard of work and ii) Art at Bedford Prep is for ALL as our exhibitors included seven boys who are not part of the Talented programme.

Yea r 8 Ta l e nte d A rt Day

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he Year 3s enjoyed a very exciting trip to the newly refurbished Higgins Gallery. Our walking route took us via some of Bedford’s finest historical sights and once at the Gallery we had a superb guided tour, focused on our current topic of ‘Pattern’. We studied furniture, pottery and paintings, identifying the difference between pattern for purpose and for decoration.

Th ursday 7 th OCTO BER 2013

The boys also had some free time to choose and sketch some interesting patterns and motifs in the artworks displayed to help them in the next phase of their design work. They all really enjoyed the trip.

S ATI P s A RT E X H I B ITI ON Sunday 27 th April 2014

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he host school of this year’s SATIPs Art Exhibition was Saint Ronan’s School in Kent. Sixteen young artists from Bedford Prep School, from Y3 to Y8, had their work accepted for exhibition. One of the notable features of the School’s entries was the diversity of media, size and subject matter; there were fruit and vegetable textiles produced by Y3s, an exquisite ceramic pot crafted by Michael McCormack in Y5, to a large-scale reproduction of the Nativity by a group of Y7s.

Two figurative dance sculptures were on display, alongside Ben Roworth’s Surreal Face-Pod, claiming a commendation by visitors during the Public Viewing.

This was the third year running when boys from Prep School have exhibited work; arguably, this has been our strongest year. Well done to you all!

I have been delighted to see boys who would not necessarily describe themselves as able artists flourish during the year. We are, and always will be, a department that is accessible to boys of all ability and this has been noticeable during lunch breaks when boys have used their free time to improve and extend their work.

I congratulate all the boys on their efforts for a wonderful year.

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culptor, Mo Gardner, visited the Prep School on Thursday to instruct and guide group of boys from Y8 on the arts of carving figure-heads from stone. Initially using clay, boys learned the dynamics of creating features of the human face from a block.

Once this skill had been grasped, celcon blocks were distributed along with chisels, hammers and rifflers.

Basic rules of chiselling techniques were demonstrated and applied but what followed was truly astonishing.

Within four hours, the group had carved out some exceptional work. Our thanks go to Mo Gardner for her guidance and support to make this a memorable experience.

WO RDS by

Phil Studd Head of Art Department

Year 7s large scale reproduction of the Nativity

01 Stone Carving Workshop Class 02 Figure Heads Carved by Year 8

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Drama

The Long View

DRAMA Department From the Head of Department

the s t. lu k es projec t

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rama at Bedford Prep School has flourished in recent years into a diverse activity, encompassing Shakespeare on the Stock Exchange, classic Gothic Horror in the suitably atmospheric backstage area of the theatre and the Arthurian legend under the endless canopy of the summer sky. In between, pupils have reimagined Maurice Sendak’s classic neo-fairytale, Where the Wild Things Are, and explored the permutations of womanhood in Shakespeare’s comedy of manners, Twelfth Night.

With every production we stage, the pupils explore new dramatic techniques and get to work with professionally trained actors.

From physicalizing epic battle scenes using

only their own bodies as weapons, to creating Victorian-era industrial landscapes through soundscapes and movement, each different cast has explored the exciting and numerous ways a dramatic text can be performed.

More than ever, the work featured on these pages represents the ethos of Drama at Bedford Prep School: to challenge expectation and to provoke the boys’ perception of the ever-changing world in which they live in.

WO RDS by

Jonathan Hooley June 2014

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he new theatre project currently underway in the old St. Luke’s Chapel represents a new phase in the life of the school, so when a handful of Prep School actors were invited to join the mayor, press and Headmaster to take part in the ground breaking ceremony, there was a real sense of history being made.

The boys will be the first to work in the new theatre once it is complete in 2015 and during the ceremony experienced first-hand, the plans for the new space.

There was genuine excitement amongst the group about the possibilities for the future and Y5 actor Ethan Whitlock’s thoughts about what a new theatre means to the school sumup the project especially well:

I think that the new theatre will give lots more boys the opportunity to try acting and they might find out that it is something they are good at. I am looking forward to seeing what the atmosphere is like in the new theatre and hope that it will help us produce exciting plays that will be seen by more people.

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TH E ARTS

WH I N CHAT

OCTO BER 2014

TH E ARTS

25

Drama S ebas tia n Soga n

C r eati n g a n A n ima l i n the Pa lm o f Yo u r H a n d

Videograph er

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rama at Bedford Prep School enables pupils to pursue a number of different interests in and around the process of performance. Y8 pupil Sebastian Sogan is a keen filmmaker and over the course of the year, his talents were put to good use in the creation of two film trailers to promote the Y5 & 6 production of Beasts & Beauties and the Y8 production of Hamlet. The trailers were shared on Youtube and across various platforms within the school community and helped generate a buzz around the productions.

H am le t A Review By Ben Herbert (Year 8)

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he final Prep School Drama production of the year was a ghoulish and eerie interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

In my opinion, the alternative interpretation, acted by a cast of nine, turned out to be one of the most thrilling and inspirational pieces of junior drama this school has ever produced.

The production used a variety of techniques such as video installation, sound effects and music extremely well to add to what is already a gripping story. Strange shapes and echoes of character’s actions merged together on a huge screen in order to portray internal feelings and helped to add a far deeper meaning to the background of the story.

As the play progressed, I realised just how much the design elements worked to create the unsettling atmosphere that bordered on a sense of terror; everything was washed out in black and white: the costumes, the props and even the faces of the actors. All the characters appeared with painted white faces and smudged black mouths and it was as though they were only the ghosts of their true selves;

this was unnerving. Overall, I felt that the staging worked really well to support the idea that Hamlet was living in a nightmare world, haunted by the ghost of his father, and when certain characters were feeling extreme emotions - like pain or fear - their faces became frozen in an exaggerated pose; this really added to the meaning of the lines they were speaking.

I thought the acting was superb. James Kneller’s Hamlet was intense and powerful; Will Barnes as Claudius, the king, was suitably creepy; Jonathan Hosking was totally believable as the elderly father, Polonius; Felix Mallalieu portrayed Laertes with impressive emotion; Kamran Awan added a sense of integrity as Horatio; and Toby Garrett provided some surreal comedy as the Gravedigger. Logan Jones from the Upper School was superb as the ghost of Hamlet’s father and from the girl’s school, Izzie Swaney as Ophelia was brilliant in capturing the pain of the character and Mia Brittle as Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, displayed genuine sensitivity.

The whole cast, along with the production team, should be congratulated for producing a captivating and intriguing piece of drama.

Here, Sebastian shares his thoughts on producing film trailers for theatre productions:

My main challenge was cutting down the raw footage in order to create a trailer. We filmed about an hour’s worth of footage and in the end, the trailer lasted 1 minute 30 seconds. Selecting the best shots to tell the right story took some time and careful thought.

I learnt a lot about the filmmaking process, and finding techniques to help create a clear flow and meaning in the trailer was something I enjoyed exploring. For example, I found that using editing tools like cross fades helped to create atmosphere and pace.

I am pleased with the way the trailers turned out. I think they showed just enough about the productions to give an impression of what they were about, but at the same time left a sense of ambiguity that I hope encouraged people to come and find out more by watching the plays.

Next year I hope to continue making trailers for School productions and I would really like to make a longer film that could be used in a production as a projection.

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he biggest challenge for Y8 actor Jonathan Hosking in A Tale of Ancient Darkness was playing a wolf. To create the character, a wolf’s head puppet was made by Head of Art, Phil Studd and during the Christmas holidays, Jonathan joined professional actor Gareth McChlery in a puppetry workshop; together they worked on bringing the character of Wolf to life.

Jonathan kept a working diary of the process and some of his experiences are captured here: The animal’s soul has to be created in the palm of my hand; what does that mean?! Ok, so I’ve got three main focus points: my hand inside the puppet, my legs and my torso. These three points are going to lead all my movements around the stage. I’m going to get fit doing this production!

I have to keep reminding myself not to look at the other actors; to make it believable I must only look at the head of the wolf, because really, I am not there; it is only the wolf that is there.

B eas t s & B eau ties - F ive Ta les F ro m E u ro pe

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We are spending a lot of time just moving around the stage, letting the head of the wolf lead.

The head bobs along and then the animal stops suddenly. The key to the movement is to think about the senses of smell and sound; these are the two key strengths that a wolf possesses more than any other.

The most important thing I have learnt is not to move too much. The animal’s thoughts are more easily seen when the head is still and he is thinking about something; if I move the head too much it becomes distracting to the watcher.

Playing a wolf is a lot of fun; it feels like I have a lot of freedom around the stage and I like the way the animal can go off and snuff around for a bit, before coming back to stay by Torak’s side; it’s almost like a constant improvisation because I don’t have to follow a set choreographed series of moves; if I decide I want to go and rub against a tree, I can do it and it won’t distract the other actors from their performance.

Adapted by

Carol Ann Duffy

s the autumnal shadows of early November lengthened into winter, a mysterious black cart rolled into the Erskine May Hall, spilling forth forty-one Y5 & 6 storytellers, who took to the stage to present five classic, European folk tales.

ingenuity and dedication in creating a truly magical atmosphere.

Beginning with a rousing song and dance that invited the audience to suspend reality for an hour and indulge in imaginary worlds both fantastical and unsettling, Beasts & Beauties weaved together an array of different tales, from the absurdist The Emperor’s New Clothes, to the pathos and sensitivity of Beauty & the Beast.

Tom: “I really enjoyed rehearsing our story and working with all my friends; it was a lot of fun! I felt our first night was the best performance and I want to do more acting in the future.”

Each individual story was adeptly performed by small casts of boys and enthralled the full houses on both nights through innovative use of shadow puppetry, live music and physical theatre.

The young actors were praised for their

Tom Allen (‘Beast’ in Beauty & the Beast) and David Bygraves (‘Weaver’ in The Emperor’s New Clothes) share their experiences.

David: “I loved watching how everyone else acted in their own stories, but my highlight was being asked to fill in for a boy who had to drop out of another story; I had two days before the first show to learn all his lines: that was scary! Overall, doing the play was a wonderful experience and it was exciting too.”

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TH E ARTS

WH I N CHAT

Design Technology

OCTO BER 2014

TH E ARTS

Music

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

MUSIC Department

From the Head of Department

From the Head of Department

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his year our theme was to encourage boys to read and therefore we had designed DT projects with a view to get the boys to enjoy reading so each project was linked to a book.

For continuity in terms of transferring to the upper School DT department the boys have started to use the software “Solid works”, a CAD program that enables the boys to create 3D forms.

Enrichment activities within the workshops have ranged from a build-it-yourself flat pack Canoe, Viking boats and Mosaic Tiles.

The Department has also gone out to the community this year. In the earlier part of the winter term Mrs Aldridge went into Pilgrims Y3 class to do a one day project linked with their curriculum. They were learning about “Under the Sea” and therefore Mrs Aldridge designed an Aquarium project for them to complete.

Then later on Castle Lower School Y4 students came into our workshops and completed a Viking shield project linked with what they are learning in their classroom at school.

Year 4

Year 5

Y4 have had great fun starting off with the Pirate project: they designed their own treasure maps and then manufactured a sword, setting glass gems in the handles for aesthetics.

Y5 experimented with a walking duck mechanism toy: this was a real challenge and was not completely successful, although the learning progress that we went through was a good one as it showed great determination and trail and error.

The boys also learnt how to sew using the basic techniques to create a Pirates hat and f lag. Using Elmer the elephant as their linked book the boys also manufactured a musical instrument which could make a sound by hitting, scraping, or shaking.

Year 3 Y3 have enjoyed working on their Seahorses manufacture from Oak and then learning about the finishing progress, and wood staining their patterns on..

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The boys’ second project was much more successful. They had to design and manufacture a Rubber band gun and target, a real boy’s toy!

Year 7 In Y7 we started off with the Art Deco Clock project using a variety of different hardwoods and manufacturing techniques.

We had some inventive presentations on the Art Deco Era from boys dressing up in costume and boys creating their own movies on the theme that was given to them. They also enjoyed working with the theme of the Gurffalo for their bookends. The boys learnt about different wood joints and the importance of product quality.

Year 8 Y8 had the very different challenge of using mild steel to create their bottle openers. Keen rugby players and those that have the upper body strength found this task easier then the boys that do not. This is a hard project to manufacture as they are only allowed to use a limited amount of tools

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usic has yet again thrived in the Prep School over the last academic year. We have been spoilt with a plethora of musical events and treats and as always the boys acquitted themselves admirably and performed outstandingly!

The beginning of the school year saw more changes to how Prep Music is configured, and we were fortunate to have Anthony Fort join the Music teaching staff, an inspirational addition to our team!

Informal Concerts have been well attended and both the Autumn and Summer were a resounding success. Thank you to all our amazing Music teachers for the tireless enthusiasm, encouragement and hard work in preparing such polished performances from a very diverse group of ensembles.

The three Carol Services in the last week rounded off the term perfectly and I would like to thank all the boys and staff for their roles in making these so special.

The highlight of the first half of the Spring Term was, of course, the House Singing Competition, as always, fiercely contested. I am particularly delighted that the part song has been re-instated – all four Houses really acquitted themselves well and I was very proud of the resulting performances.

In January Mr Fort arranged for ‘Ars Eloquentiae’, an up-andcoming Baroque music ensemble visit the Prep School, for a day of workshops and performances.

A superb insight into Baroque music delivered with gusto!

Towards the end of term all boys in Y3 and Y4 thrilled audiences with their performance of the musical comedy ‘Sing it and Say it’ – a musical romp through Ancient Greece. The boys were amazing (decidedly hilarious at times!) and certainly this bodes well for the future of musical productions and the health of choral singing in the next couple of years…

The busy Summer Term started, as ever, with the Composition Competition. As always the standard of compositions was very high. House Music was the next big musical event and yet again, the standard of performance was impressive.

‘The Rise and Fall of Enoch Woethe’ was probably the highlight of my musical year.

This inspirational work, written especially for the Junior Choir by Anthony Fort, was pure genius and greatly enjoyed by both the boys who performed it as well as their very appreciative audiences. The music was challenging but fun; the story highly entertaining and I would just like to thank Mr Fort for giving us such a wonderful gift.

Sadly we say farewell to three members of the Music department this year. Mr Stevens will be moving to Berkshire, Mr Hughes will be stepping down as Head of Strings, and Mr Fort… What can I say? I have so enjoyed working with him this year and I know that the boys are really going to miss his enthusiastic and ‘quirky’ way of teaching. I wish him all the very best as he starts his new and exciting chapter of his life studying in America.

Baroque Music Workshop

Sing It And Say It — Greek Myths And Legends

The Rise and Fall of Enoch Woethe

WO RDS by

Joanne Gedye Summer 2014

Sing It and Say It

science 28

H OUSES

WH I N CHAT

Houses

E AG L E H OU S E Rep o rt Another year in Eagle House has come to an end, and the Eagle family has had a wonderful year of success and growth. The team of staff has again had the privilege of looking after a wonderful group of boys and has felt that the ongoing success of the House is down to the characters of these boys.

Academically, many of our boys excelled during the year, and we featured prominently at the annual Prize Giving ceremony. Not only that, a considerable number of Eagle boys took part in the Bedford Speech and Drama Festival, rehearsing hard in the House. One Eagle boy is a core member of the Chapel Choir, and a number of boys have participated in drama productions this year.

We have had weekly weekend trips, to reward the boys for their endeavours in School. We have, this year, seen ‘Wicked’ at the theatre and plenty of blockbusters at

the cinema. Trips included go-carting, high rope climbing, Big Rock indoor climbing, visiting Whipsnade Zoo and Laser Quest, The eagerly anticipated Eagle House Christmas Party saw record numbers attend this year, and the atmosphere was as entertaining as usual. The theme was ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ and saw a thoughtful start with Mrs Lincoln and some younger boys, before an energetic performance of ‘Rudolph’ with starring roles for Mr Silk and Father Christmas.

This year’s House trip to Hartington Hall in Derbyshire was a completely brilliant weekend, with the boys’ behaviour at the Youth Hostel outstanding, but also their attitude to the challenges they were presented with - rock scrambling, quad biking, cycling, abseiling and kayaking. Many boys stretched themselves and exceeded personal WO RDS by

Simon Lincoln Eagle Housemaster

boundaries hitherto thought impossible. It may be worth noting that Molly (Mr Lincoln’s daughter) scaled a rock face faster than he did! “Wink murder” in the evening proved extremely popular, ably led by Mr Loader.

The Eagle House photo took place alongside a wonderful BBQ, just in time to get the prints out to boys before the end of term – we had the usual ‘quick change’ between takes, and yet again, our boys’ inventiveness and humour stole the show. A wonderful tradition, it acts as both a record and reminder over the years, of all the amazing boys who pass through our doors. We also had a fantastic end of year BBQ with inflatable jousting and sumo suits.

Well done and thank you to all the boys who have stayed in the House this year for making it such an enjoyable year for all.

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WH I N CHAT

OCTO BER 2014

HOUSES

Houses

H OWA RD H OU S E Rep o rt

H A R P UR H OU S E Rep o rt

My personal highlight this year has to be House Swimming, where I caught myself leaping in the air and squealing as so many incredibly close races unfolded. I haven’t heard that much noise in the pool in a long time (and half of that was just me!) Ear defenders a must for next year. House Singing also struck a chord (pardon the pun); the boys’ focus, effort and unerring support of one another epitomised the great spirit within the House. To come out winners in the Unison Song made me very proud. A huge thank you to all the boys and staff of Howard House. An exhausting and exciting year; looking forward to the next one already. Well done, Howard!

I sit to write this review of Harpur’s year slightly stunned that we have, once again, triumphed and picked up the Nestor Cup for an amazing fourth time in five years! Although we had notable successes earlier in the year (first place in House Cross Country in the Autumn Term followed by victories in Y5-8 Handwriting Competition, Swimming Relays and Y7&8 House Hockey in the Spring Term), we entered the Summer Term some way off top spot. That was all to change with an avalanche of triumphs in final term of competitions: Y3&4 Poetry Writing, Y4 Poetry Recitation, Y3&4 Handwriting, Y4 House Cricket, Y5&6 House Swimming and, for the first time in many years, the House Music Competition.

WO RDS by

Penny Oakley Howard Housemaster

The most pleasing aspect of our victorious year, and the deciding factor in the end, was Harpur coming top in both Academic and Conduct Merit totals. This is a repeat of last year’s feat and again shows what wonderfully hardworking, kind and thoughtful boys we have in our House. I am truly privileged to be Housemaster to such talented boys. This has been reflected in this year’s superb group of House Officers; I thank them for all their amazing efforts. I also thank the best set of House tutors in the School, with the notable addition of Mr Loader (welcome home, Ed!). Well done to all of the “Mighty Reds”!

WO RDS by

Andrew Whitbread Harpur Housemaster

B UNYA N H OU S E Rep o rt I say this every year and I’m going to say it again, “wow!” It has been another rollercoaster year of thrills and excitement. The year started off with everybody pulling together extremely quickly and the first term was super successful, as we won the first Term Cup of the year. What a great start that was! The boys then threw themselves into getting prepared for the House Singing Competition.

What can I say? Yet again it was an occasion that I enjoyed and Bunyan sang their hearts out to give another outstanding performance. The boys sang well for lots of reasons, but did it primarily for the House and that is a winning formula. It is now June and the boys have done remarkably well; winning the Y3 to 8 Sports Day by over one hundred points was due to a great team effort by all the boys.

The final day of the year also proved to be exciting, with a great win in House Swimming. I know that whatever the final outcome Bunyan boys will have done their best, so in my eyes you are all already winners. Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is, and this exemplifies the way that Bunyan “roll”. Individual successes are too numerous to mention, but I congratulate you all, with special thanks going to a fine team of House Officers who have shown a loyalty and commitment that has pervaded all aspects of Bunyan this year. I thank you all, staff and boys, for making Bunyan a House of which I continue to be a very proud Housemaster.

WO RDS by

Jonathan Beckwith Bunyan Housemaster

W H ITB R E A D H OU S E Rep o rt Whitbread have had an exciting year. Victories in the Swimming Relays set us off to a flying start in the point stakes. The boys worked tirelessly with a challenging House song and I was so very proud to see their efforts culminate in such an amazing final performance. Winning the Part Song with their outstanding rendition of “Moon River” brought a tear to my eye and will remain the highlight of the year. Steady successes resulted in the honoured ownership of the Spring Term House Cup. I would like to say a special thank you to Angela Travis and the Whitbread House Staff and Officers for all your invaluable support this year. The positive spirit of Whitbread will continue to flourish next year. Well done, you Whitbread boys!

WO RDS by

Charles Blacklock Whitbread Housemaster

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OCTO BER 2014

Activities

Overview

The Activities Programme is Rich and Varied T

here are four different slots in which Activities take place: before school, early lunch, late lunch or after school. Most take place in the late lunch slot. There is something for everyone. Sport, of course, features heavily.

Swimming at 7.30am, short tennis, badminton, squash, running club, cricket (in winter and summer), table tennis, golf, rugby, rowing, hockey – you name it, the Sports Department will almost certainly run a club in which boys get a chance to do it. There are also plenty of opportunities to improve your musical skills, with steel band,

chamber orchestra, Chapel Choir, Brass Ensemble, Orchestra, Music Tech to name a few. For cerebral stimulation there are many enrichment classes: chess, general knowledge, catch-up classes and even Raspberry Pi Scratch programming and Lego programming. Spiritual succour is provided in Candlelight club and if you fancy something more practical, there are plenty of opportunities to participate in Art and DT clubs. This year, boys have even been making a canoe in DT club! The pictures on this page show a few examples.

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Activities

Activities

WH I N CHAT

OCTO BER 2014

Activities

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ENG LI SH 36

WH I N CHAT

E n g lish r ep o rt

Wo r l d B oo k Day

There has been so much going on in the English Department this year, it is difficult to know where to start. Perhaps I should use some logic and work chronologically through the year or maybe talk in terms of year group activities. But the English department, like its grammatical rules, is nothing if not capricious; I’ ll just start talking and see where it gets me.

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here have been a few personal highlights of the year. Taking over Year 8 Film Night with the Gothic Horror classic ‘The Others’ and watching our ‘nothing scares me’ boys, sat alongside the girls of BGS, screaming their socks off has to get a mention. The Autumn Term’s venture in to the world of the creepy was perfectly rounded off with this event. Although, next year, I am keen to take boys on an after dark tour of the old Inky building; any parents with nerves of steel will be welcome...

their ability always exceeds my expectations and this year was no different. In the Year 7 and 8 Public Speaking, our guest judge Sam Adams (Upper School Head of English) had his work cut out picking his winners. Ultimately though, Bryn Williamson and Harry Ward triumphed in a competition that saw ten future captains of industry speak. The range of subjects (from Islam to Scuba Diving via E-Cigarettes) was testament to the complete spectrum of interest we promote here at the school.

Staying in the EMH, we welcomed the Young Shakespeare Company in February. They relayed their version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and got the boys involved at every opportunity. Their vibrant, utterly engaging performance meant every Year 6 boy became an instant expert on the play; an invaluable tool as we set about Shakespeare in the Easter term.

World Book Day followed in March. Boys (and staff) dressed as their favourite book villain. I am always amazed by how much effort goes into these types of days. Parents should take the credit really, although I think Mrs Christian’s ‘Mrs Twit’ was all her own work.

Our yearly competitions were of standard fare; the standard, of course, being incredibly high. Watching boys perform speeches and poems is a genuine treat:

With the Year 3-6 poetry recitation competition in June, the ability to stand up and perform was again in evidence. All competitors produced well-timed, cleverly orchestrated pieces of spoken verse and the variety was impressive; Kenn Nesbitt’s ‘Skateboarding Hamster’ was given as much acknowledgment as W.H. Auden’s ‘Refugee Blues’. I know which one I prefer but these events are about the boys and their opinion is just as weighty as mine. Shaun Thomas, William Roberts, Nick Challacombe and Max Sogan were selected winners on the day, although our adjudicator, former Head of English Kirsten Williams, conceded that on another day any one of the finalists may have been victorious.

So there we have it, a wonderful year! So good, I think we should do it all again.

“every Year 6 boy became an instant expert on the play”

OCTO BER 2014

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C ha r it y Co mmit tee Rep o rt

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his year the Charity Committee decided to continue to generate funding for our local charity organisations: Keech Hospice for children in Luton, and St John’s Hospice in Moggerhanger, in recognition of the very important care that they provide for those in our community. In addition, some of our funds would also go to the Air Ambulance organisation and the National Autism Association.

OV ER £ 10,000 r a ised It has to be said that throughout the year we had some interesting and rather unusual mufti days, such as our popular ‘onesie day’ where we saw all manner of wonderful outfits, including Mr Phillips – a sheep in wolf’s clothing if I ever I saw one! Film nights and discos with BGS added to the total, as did the fantastic Evening of Mild Amusement organised by Mr Mallalieu and his entourage of willing and talented staff. For two consecutive nights the cast played to packed audiences of parents and boys. Slap-stick humour, sketches and some interesting crossdressing in the “Strictly-Come-Dancing” routine raised over £3000. Who will ever forget Mr Loader and Mr Studd as the strutting birds of paradise? Or the hilarious, banana-eating antics of Billy Bunyan, aka Mr Beckwith, in the zoo sketch?

At the end of the year the Extravaganza Week was a triumph with an ingenious number of stalls and activities devised and set up by all the boys. It was truly overwhelming to see such enthusiasm and fun. There were magnificent splatthe rat contraptions, space hopper races, balloon-bursting games, crazy golf targets, and even an ice-cream stall! Thanks must also be given to the marvellous mums and dads who baked or bought the delicious cakes and biscuits for the Mega Cake Sale on the Friday; thank you so much, your scrumptious efforts were greatly appreciated by all of us. A magnificent total of £2,500 was raised during the week.

The total amount raised during this academic year was over £10, 000, which will be donated to the School’s chosen charities in September.

As always, the Charity Committee, made up of House representatives, willingly gave their time and energy to help organise events and generate enthusiasm, in innovative and often hilarious dramatic assemblies.

All of the boys did a truly magnificent job and their efforts were much appreciated and I would like to say a huge thank you to Jonathan Hosking, Anand Sahota, Abid Zaman, Finn Cassell, Chris Broens and Harrison Collier. I would also like to say a very special thank you to Joshua Nethersole, in recognition of his outstanding efforts on the committee for the last two years. He has been my right-hand man throughout this time and I will certainly miss him next year.

In conclusion, my heartfelt thanks go to everyone in our brilliant school community for playing their part. The money that you have raised will help to make a difference in our community and to other very worthwhile projects.

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OCTO BER 2014

CHARITI ES

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Charity Evening/Keech Hospice

An Evening of Mild Amusement

Keech Hospice Care

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Saturday 5th April

n February, the EMH bore witness to two performances of the 2014 Evening of Mild Amusement. This show, which had limited expectations of itself, seemed to be enjoyed by two healthy sized audiences.

The show delivered what it set out to do: it provided mild amusement and raised a significant sum

In the opening sketch the teacher (Mrs Di Sapia) had her hands full controlling an unruly bunch of ‘school children’. Then in the first of two sketches ostensibly discussing historical matters, two professors (Messers Roberts and Mallalieu) engaged in a series of infantile comments and insults. Following this was a sketch loosely based on the Italian Job. The robbery itself was foiled by a well-meaning Health and Safety officer (Mr Milton) and with Scotch Freddie (Madame Trounson with interesting Scottish accent) captured, it was up to a member of the audience to keep guard until he was arrested by two domineering police women (Mrs Aldridge and Mrs Travis).

Memories of times gone by were supplied by an ageing northerner, convincingly played by Mr Wickens. Then, in tribute to Monty Python, Mr Phillips and Miss Mann engaged in a lengthy and futile argument.

To end the first half, Professor Has Been (Mr Silk) presented his world famous treatise on the history of slapstick humour, adroitly abetted by three well-trained (don’t try this at home, children!) performers: Mr Lincoln, Mr Studd and Mr Beckwith.

After the interval, an exasperated but expert handler of children and animals (Mrs Keane) guided a group of young ‘children’ on an eventful trip to the local zoo.

At the end, Billy Bunyan was left behind and a gorilla (a gorilla) took his place, even managing to drive the coach back to school. Next, the audience were taken to the depths of the Indonesian jungle to witness a male bird of paradise (Mr Loader) prepare his nest for a female (a member of

the audience). Things were going well until an older male (Mr Studd) happened upon the clearing. What happened next was a rarely-witnessed marvel of the natural world – suffice to say it didn’t go well for the hapless birds of paradise. Following this was a Headmaster (Mr Ingle) having to inform and then console a grieving parent (Mr Allen) about a punishment gone wrong. In the penultimate sketch, the two childish and truculent professors took it in turns to trade insults. And then onto the finale – Strictly Come Dancing as you have never seen it and would hope to never see again. The audience were left with indelible images of several male members of staff as they danced in their cross-dressed finery.

We completed the 28km canoe marathon today. It took us five and a half hours. As well as the canoeing we had to get out and carry the canoe past six different locks. We left Bedford at 8:10am and arrived in St Neots at 2:40 pm. It was really hard and my shoulders are really sore.

Friday 9th May Thank you to everyone who sponsored me. Altogether, with the gift aid included, we have raised £1,006.72 for Keech Hospice Care.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me.

WO RDS by

Max Sogan Year 6

The show delivered what it set out to do; it provided mild amusement and raised a significant sum (£3,236) for the our chosen charities – East Anglian Air Ambulance, Keech Cottage Children’s Hospice, The National Autistic Society and St John’s Hospice Moggerhanger.

The performers and audience can all be rightly proud of themselves.

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CHARITI ES

WH I N CHAT

Fundraising

OCTO BER 2014

CHARITI ES

Bedford Prep School Association

BPSA

Fundraisers

What a busy year the BPSA have had! Here is a recap of our main events. See if they bring back some good memories for you.

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he first big event of the year was the Christmas Gift Sale. The boys had great fun choosing presents for their family members, pets, friends and occasionally even themselves. Presents were all wrapped and ready to be put under the tree. It certainly was a joyful event!

Our next major event was the Quiz Night. The level was raised with some tricky questions, but the teachers proved their worth and were crowned champions even with 11 teams trying to keep the title from them.

Our last big event of the year was the 70s/80s DISCO and what an event to end our year with. The EMH was transformed into a gone but clearly not forgotten era.

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Fundraisers

Fundraisers

Fundraiser

Michelle Aldridge, Nicki Carrington, Jo Christian, Jane Di Sapia, Kelly Faulkner, Ruth Mann, Penny Oakley, Angela Travis and Wendy Wickens

Imogen Bowis and Michelle Aldridge

Matt Allen*

Charit y

Charit y

“Walk the Walk” (Breast Cancer)

“Special Effect” (development of accessible technology for those with disabilities)

Charit y Challenge

“Race for Life” (Cancer Research) Challenge

10km run (for some their first run since they were at school)

26.2 miles walk through London … by moonlight H ig h lig ht

“Falling asleep whilst walking”

Challenge

Cholmondeley Castle Triathlon: 800m swim, 44km cycle, 8km run *It’s a family affair! Thomas and Emily Allen competed in the junior triathlon.

Parents dressed up in the most fantastic outfits. Imaginations had clearly been let loose! There was dancing and laughter the whole night long, and no doubt many aching feet at the end of the night.

All our events, whether they have been big or small have been well supported by the boys, parents and staff. We are all part of the community that helps to make these things work.

Here’s looking forward to next year and the events it holds.

Many thanks,

Andrea Spice

on behalf of the BPSA

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n a sunny July Sunday, forty-two Y5 and 6 boys waved goodbye to their parents at Burnaby Road and headed away for a week of outdoor adventure activities at the ‘Outdoor Adventure Centre’ just outside Bude in Cornwall.

01 Bude Beach Games 02 Abseiling 03 Kayaking 04 Coastal Traversing 02

The weather was amazing as we left and it remained hot and sunny all week, which is just as well as we spent most of our time outside, experiencing the excitement and trepidation of climbing, abseiling, surfing, body boarding and coastal traversing. We

also sampled kayaking and archery. Our evenings were spent team building, problem solving and playing beach games – no time to sleep on this tour.

It was a wonderful week and all the boys had a great time learning different skills and making new friends. I am sure that they would like to join me in thanking Miss Mann, Mr Whitbread and Mr Phillips for giving up a week of their holidays to accompany the boys in order to make this trip possible – thank you.

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John Bunyan Museum

France

John Bunyan Trip

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Aaron Berman

FRI DAY 13 th J une 2013

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ear Three went to the John Bunyan museum in Bedford on 13th June. I thought it was so fun! My class went to see the church first. It was the first church I had ever been to with a baptism pool under the floor, my church just has a font for baptisms. I thought the inside was impeccable because it was so grand. There were lovely carvings on the front doors and the stained glass windows must have taken ages to make. The first window that was allowed to be stained glass in the church showed the story of a man falling in a river, then another man jumped in to help him. The man that had been struggling in the water safely got out but the man that tried to help him drowned.

At the top of the church there were pipes linked to the organ to make it echo around the church. The pulpit was so high up and we got the chance to stand up there.

After the church we went upstairs to the museum. The first thing I saw when I went in was a massive statue of John Bunyan. He looked very tall but his face did not look very real but his hands did.

We saw a pretend kitchen that was like a kitchen that John would have had. It had lots of pretend food but there was also a real pigeon hanging from wall! We also saw a statue of John Bunyan working as a tinker with metal tools when he was 12. When John was in the army he had to share a pair of trousers with another solider! We saw what the prison room would have been like for John. It was dull and gloomy. He was in prison for 12 years for preaching. I thought it was funny to see our school hymn on the wall in the museum.

I felt like that I learned so much that day that I went to sleep very early at night!

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From the trip blog ‌

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he boys have had an excellent first day at Maison Claire Fontaine, packing a lot in! After breakfast they had their first French lesson in preparation for their trip to the market, where they bought their own lunch. Lots of fromage and saucisson consumed. After lunch we headed into the beautiful medieval town of Vezelay and visited the Basilica, completing linguistic tasks on the way. This evening we have been playing boules and trying to defend our title as quickest jigsaw puzzle solvers! Bonne nuit!

labyrinth - great exercise and brilliant for their French!

Day 2 at MCF began with a language lesson where the boys practised their use of the past tense. Next we followed Mr Studd into the Art Studio and had a go at sculpting the gargoyles they drew yesterday at Vezelay, with some stunning final pieces. After another delicious lunch (merci, chef David!) we went to explore the Chateau Bussy Rabutin, the boys learning the story of how the Marquis was exiled there for seventeen years by Louis XIV. Next the boys did a language game in the

The boys all scrubbed up well in the evening as we had a quick shop then went off to the restaurant in Avallon to try some of the local specialities. DĂŠlicieux!

Monday was circus day!

The boys went excitedly to an authentic big top where they received tuition in circus skills from the fabulous Olivier.

Tightrope walking, juggling, trapeze and diabolo - everyone found something they were good at. Mr Loader did particularly well climbing a rope to the top of the tent - great strength, Mr L! Later on we had a try at archery and littered the peaceful countryside with the sound of balloons being pierced!

The boys were determined to make the most of their last day in beautiful Burgundy, beginning with mosaic making.

Mr Studd was very impressed!

After a language lesson and vocabulary competition we went on an expedition to the forest to try out the high ropes activity at Parc Aventure. Every single boy

completed at least the green level course complete with zip wire and a few brave ones tackled the red course successfully. A special mention goes to Oscar for his hanging around!

In the evening snails were on the menu and an impressive 37 out of 40 boys had a taste before they tucked into steak frites and une glace au chocolat. After the presentation evening which recognised the achievements of the boys, they all snuggled down under their duvets to watch the Tintin film.

It was an amazing trip, thank you to the fantastic group of boys who came along!

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Higgins Gallery/Jersey/Morocco H IGG I N S A RT TR I P

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he Y3s enjoyed a very exciting trip to the newly refurbished Higgins Gallery. Our walking route took us via some of Bedford’s finest historical sights and once at the Gallery we had a superb guided tour, focused on our current topic of “Pattern”. We studied furniture, pottery and paintings, identifying the difference between pattern for purpose and for decoration. The boys also had some free time to choose and sketch some interesting patterns and motifs in the artworks displayed to help them in the next phase of their design work. They all really enjoyed the trip.

J E R S E Y TOUR R E P ORT

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wenty-seven Y6 boys flew to Jersey for a weekend of sport against Victoria College Prep.

We landed to find thick fog hanging over the pitches. Nevertheless, we played a good game of hockey and won. We were rewarded by enjoying a tasty pizza in the evening. The following morning, after a lovely full English breakfast, we headed off to the pitches to play a rugby tournament. Unlike the first day, it was a nice sunny day. We played our other Bedford team and two more teams.

The final result was a victory for Victoria College Prep. After this tough

tournament, we visited Durrell Zoo and later enjoyed some lovely food and a game of ten-pin bowling. Sunday was our final day and final match: football. It was a very competitive game and we were unlucky to lose. After this enthralling game, we grabbed our luggage and headed off to Jersey airport. We eventually arrived back at school at 6pm. All-in-all, it was a most enjoyable trip, even though I ended up a spectator due to being on my crutches.

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Joe Needham (Y6)

M o rocco Wo r ld Cha lle n ge r ep o rt

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hirty-nine Y8 students and four staff returned safely after two weeks in Marrakech and the High Atlas Mountains. The trip was a resounding success, with the boys coping extremely well with the significant challenges that the different culture and climate provided (a breezy 46 degrees in Marrakech anybody?).

All but three of the boys made it to the summit of Mount Toubkal (at 4167m, the highest mountain in North Africa), showing

a real sense of determination and resilience on what was a very challenging fourday trek. They also acquitted themselves admirably when helping to renovate two local primary schools in the area in the first week of the trip. All those we met were so impressed that boys of such a young age managed to achieve what they did and cope so well on this most challenging of adventures. Everybody should be very proud of what they achieved! >>

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Marrakech Markets Atlas Mountains Bridge Mount Toubkal Summit River Diving

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Caythorpe Court

The food in the lunch hall was very tasty.

My favourite was the macaroni cheese. At breakfast we had cereal, porridge, bacon, eggs, sausages and mushrooms. We could have sugar and cinnamon with our porridge.

It was delicious!

We were all exhausted on the way back and I fell asleep easily that night. I wore the same pair of socks for three days because I couldn’t find any others, even though mummy put loads in my bag. They were very smelly and slightly green on the bottom when I took them off.

I had such a great time. Now that I’ve done PGL, I feel I could do anything!

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Murray Silk (Year 4)

P G L r ep o rt

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n May we went on a PGL holiday to Caythorpe Court – Y4, Mr Whitbread, Mrs Keane, Mrs Thomas, Mr Loader and Mr Silk. I was very excited.

When we arrived we went to our dorms. I was in Dorm 10 with Martin, Robert, Sachin, Calum and Josh J; our dorm won the prize for the tidiest dorm!

We did lots of different and challenging activities. Some of the best ones were kayaking, orienteering, high ropes, archery and trapeze! In kayaking we played a game called “Dominate the World”; to catch someone you had to splash them with your paddle. Afterwards we did limbo under the instructor’s paddle.

Then we played a game where we had to line the boats and hold them together. Then we had to clamber across them to the shore.

I fell in at least three times and also capsized Sachin’s boat!

I didn’t think I would actually be able to do the trapeze. I didn’t reach the bar, but I did do an excellent jump straight off the top of the wobbly telegraph pole platform and then floated in the air pretending to be asleep until I was jerked down until I was lying on the floor on my back.

In the evenings we went to the tuck shop. On the first two nights we were allowed to get a ‘pick ‘n’ mix’. On the last night we were allowed to spend as much of our pocket money as we liked.

I bought a PGL teddy, a cuddly lizard, a 3D lizard bookmark, a 3D Chinese dragon key ring, a springy pen for my brother, a piece of red string with beads on it, some flavour-changing sweeties and a tag necklace. >>

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Whipsnade

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4 spent a magical day at Whipsnade Zoo, studying mammals and birds from around the world.

The Madagascan ring-tailed lemurs were a real hit - as were the rather hostile, poo-throwing chimps! Exotic bird and sea-lion displays were greatly enjoyed, as was the train ride around the outskirts of the zoo, where boys spotted a new born rhino and a rare horse breed.

After the boys had helped feed the brown bears, they munched their own lunches (in a pretty realistic imitation of the wild beasts they had seen during the morning!). The odd shower did not dampen spirits and the boys happily played on the new adventure playground. Luckily, all the boys returned home safely and no-one experienced the same fate as Billy Bunyan (the boy who was left in the gorilla enclosure in the EMA zoo trip sketch). Any similarities to the bladder-retention capabilities of the Y4 boys and the actors in that sketch are purely coincidental.

Whipsnade Zoo Report

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Skiing

Ski Club

E as te r Te r m S k i Tr ip

For many boys skiing is much more than simply a one week annual holiday activity. The Bedford boys have found that racing has much in common with motorsports. You are up against the clock and your rivals, taking extraordinary risks and having a whole lot of fun!

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n March 2013 and 2014, Bedford Prep School sent boys to the 23rd and 24th British Interschools Ski Challenge in Les Houches, France. Many of the prep team members have learnt to ski by participating in the school’s weekly Tuesday ski club at Snozone, Milton Keynes. There were many notable performances from the team. In 2013 some performances were notable just for the sheer bravery of competing where severely reduced visibility and mounds of snow as high as some of the boys dominated the proceedings. Credit should go to the sterling efforts from those boys racing on a mountain for the very first time. The boys worked hard as a team. They supported each other on the hill where the inevitable spills meant disqualification. Bedford School was notable not only for their eye-catching blue and white fleeces with the chapel spire but more importantly, and often commented on by other parents, for their team spirit and good behaviour on the slopes. The best team results were in 2013 where, of the sixty nine competing British Schools, Bedford School was placed seventeenth. From the Upper School, congratulations to Ben Smith who was

5th in the U/16 Giant Slalom category and to Luke Riddell (16) who won the Under 18 Giant Slalom category. In 2014 the most notable achievement was by Finlay O’Sullivan (Y7) who blitzed a beautiful piste to take 4th in his year of birth in the Giant Slalom and 6th in Slalom. Other fantastic achievements in the club include Luke Riddell’s participation at the Youth Olympics (U18) in 2013 and closer to home Ed Clarke winning the U14 indoor Satipski Race at Hemel Hempstead and the U/12 team coming in a close second in the team event.

The school ski club aims to be inclusive. It accepts beginner and non-racing skiers and has a history of developing them into credible racers and/or highly competent recreational skiers. It has worked hard to retain experienced skiers with previous Prep School boys who have progressed to the Upper School continuing to support and enjoy the company of the younger enthusiasts.

If you would like information on joining the ski club please contact Mr. Guest at sguest@bedfordschool.org.uk

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new and exciting venture! Forty parents and boys from Y3, 4 and 5 departed for the mountains of Austria with hope and trepidation flowing freely through the body. A body that would soon be tested to the extreme in the high Alps, as a very physically challenging and demanding sport would be vanquished. “Yeah, baby,” the cry went up. The sun shone, the mountain was tamed and chips were eaten.

The boys benefited from the endeavours of our great guides who were with the boys every centimetre of the way. The descents got swifter and smarter, and the ice creams got softer and smoother. The evenings were a highlight as the boys and parents relaxed as the competitive edge surfaced at the bowling night among the dads, and the

dancing feet of everyone came to the fore at the “Tyrolean Abend”. This night was also a place to demonstrate the prowess of Bedford’s finest, as we competed against the other English schools at a variety of events. Log sawing and yodelling were not our finest hours, but hat swapping, nail banging and team skiing were areas in which Bedford has a long and illustrious history of excellence. We won as we also looked the best with every member of the party resplendent in our lederhosen and dirndls.

The parents and staff were very proud of the boys skiing progression, as the boys continued to improve with every passing day. We climbed aboard the coach for the overnight journey home.

Everyone was asleep before Munchen.

S k i tr ip 2013 to Zi lle rta l

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n Friday the 13th of December around 40 boys from years 6-8 and 5 teachers went to Austria on a skiing trip.

The afternoons were filled with a variety of activities. On the first night we had quiz and games night. There was lots of balloons and balloon popping games.

The days began at 6.30 with a knock on the door from Mr Guest for those boys on my floor. This was followed by speedily getting dressed and breakfast at 7. The breakfasts consisted of bacon, eggs, cold meats, toast with Nutella and cereal. Plenty to feed hungry boys before a day of skiing!

The second night was a Tyrolean evening. Luckily Mr Guest had briefed our parents and we all had various items of fancy dress. We met up with children from Wellingborough and a school from Yorkshire, and lots of members of Mr Guest’s family.

We were split into groups depending on how much skiing we had previously done.

We left the hotel at 8am and skied until 3.15pm – stopping for lunch in the middle.

The weather was incredibly hot – reaching temperatures of over 15 degrees at times.

Pod (one of the instructors) and his group weren’t very good at finding the correct café for lunch and one of the teachers had to try to find the boys on two occasions!

Other evenings included swimming, ninepin bowling (very different to ten pin bowling) and another games night.

Overall we all had fantastic time –the teachers regularly updated the twitter feed so our parents could see what we had been up to- and I am already nagging my mum to book me on next year’s trip!

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Ben Barnes

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Athletics Ath le ti c s Rep o rt

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he usual round of league matches went relatively well for the senior team with some pleasing individual performances in a variety of events.

The junior team enjoyed their competition too and ran, threw and jumped with great commitment. Sadly, neither team made it to a final, but the preparation and experience bode well for next summer. Throughout the competition many personal bests were achieved and the boys were, rightly, proud of their achievements.

For the younger emerging athletes there was some success at the Southern Area East Anglian Championships; Caleb Sanders winning silver in a hotly contested Y4 75m sprint and silver in the Y4 long jump.

RAN, THREW AND JUMPED WITH GREAT COMMITMENT

The District Competition coincided with the National Prep School Finals; this meant that our two boys representing the East could not compete, although Ryan Apps did make it back to run as a substitute in the 800m and the relay! Mattie Lousada Blazer came 3rd in the Y6 high jump and Benjamin Spanoudakis 3rd in the Y7 200m. Others scored points by coming in the top eight.

Competition at the National Preps was very tough this year with only two of our athletes managing to qualify to represent the East in the finals in Birmingham. A hot day saw some amazing athletics and our boys did us proud again: Ryan Apps coming a commendable 11th in the Y7 long jump and Ed Blythman running a P.B. of 4:52.55, coming 5th in the Y7 1500m.

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Badminton

Cross Country

B A D M I NTON Rep o rt

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adminton has enjoyed huge success this year. With regular attendees of the Thursday lunch time club being selected to play fixtures, we have had over thirty boys from Y5 to 8 represent the School in matches.

Sixteen boys represented BPS in a fixture against Lincroft and in a close contest we eventually won 25 - 17.

We then had to play the U14 District winners for a place in the Regional Finals. The team of Leon Zhu, Oliver Medley, James Zhang and Mike Catt included three U12s, so it was even more impressive when we beat Stratton Upper 5-0 to qualify. The Regional Finals was a great experience for the boys and, whilst we did not win any of our

it was even more impressive when we beat Stratton Upper 5-0 to qualify There was then the District Competition run over four weeks at the Bunyan Centre, where the boys got to test their skills against the best in the District. We entered sixteen boys in four teams, qualifying for the finals. Unfortunately, our young B team were drawn against a strong Lincroft A team and lost their match, although with some very close games.

The A team enjoyed more success with a quarter final win against Harrowden, followed by a semi-final win against Lincroft B. This set up a final between two very evenly matched A teams from Bedford and Lincroft. In a tense affair with some excellent badminton Lincroft were winning 2 - 1 with two doubles matches remaining. Showing superb team work, we managed to win both games and win the match 3 - 2 to be crowned District Champions and qualify for the County Finals.

matches, we had some close games against some fantastic players and the experience the boys would have gained is priceless as they still have two more years at attempting to qualify for the Nationals.

We also entered the IAPS Nationals with three doubles teams entering. Our two U13 pairs of James Zhang/Charlie Axford and Leon Zhu/Oliver Medley both won seven consecutive matches to qualify for a head-to-head in the final. Our U12 pairing of Leon and Oliver finished up as champions after an exciting final. Well done to all the Badminton Team this year; we are all very much looking forward to seeing what can be achieved next year after all the success of this year.

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he number of pleasing performances this year reflects the fact that cross-country is healthy in the Prep School. Boys have been able to compete at a high level, which is very encouraging. At the Rushmoor Invitational Race, the U9s came first, retaining the trophy for the third consecutive year.

Under 13s team taking second place at the Maidwell Chase.

Joshua Stewart led the team home with an impressive run while Bedford runners took 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th place individually. The U10s ran at both Newnham and Alameda, as well as at the Spratton Hall Relays, gaining experience for next year. George Mansell (Y5) led the way.

The Y7s show exceptional promise. Ed Blythman had a great year, winning gold at both the Bedfordia and District meets. He was backed up ably by Daniel Smith and an ever improving Benedict Giles. The team was third at both the Bedfordia and District events. The Y8 team would also go on to take third place at the Districts.

Another very pleasing result for the U13 team (Y7 and 8 mixed) was second place at the Maidwell Chase, covering a gruelling course in challenging conditions.

The year finished at the East Anglian Prep Schools Championships at Framlingham College where the Y7 and Y8 teams were in fine form, winning their respective age groups. Combined with solid performances from the Y5 and Y6 teams, the School was first overall in the combined boys’ event. An excellent way to end the season.

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Cricket CR I CK E T r ep o rt

The Bedford Prep School Cricket Club have enjoyed another fantastic season with many boys from all year groups performing to a very high level. In total nineteen teams have played competitive fixtures for the school - that’s more than 200 boys, plus we have won over 85% of the games played.

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ongratulations to the U11B team who have achieved an unbeaten season with eight wins out of eight, with Freddie Pelling front lining the batting with some power hitting. Our very impressive U9’s also had an unbeaten seasons at A and B team level, so the future is bright. The 2nd XI lost only two which is very impressive given that they have played four 1st XI teams this year, again showing the strength and depth of cricket at the School.

The 1st XI had another fantastic JET National Cup run as they attempted to defend the title they won last year. They beat BMS, St Martins, New Hall and Millfield on the way to the final, but sadly fell at the final

hurdle as they lost out to a strong Bede’s side.

Harry Gouldstone has been the outstanding batsman of the year for the 1st XI scoring over 750 runs at an average of 75 with a top score of 104. The 1st XI finished the season having played fifteen and won fourteen.

Amazingly we beat Bedfordshire CCC at U10A, U11A, U12A and U13A team level and Northamptonshire CCC at U10A, U12A and U13A level. This in in itself is an amazing achievement for the season and one of which all the boys should be very proud.

Well done also to the twenty-six boys who have been selected to play county cricket for either Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire or Cambridgeshire this summer.

O u t s ta n d i n g Ac hieveme nt s

Batting Matt Rea - 104 vs Swanbourne House 1st XI Matt Rea - 101* vs Caldicott U11A Harry Gouldstone - 104 vs Northamptonshire U13

Bowling James Taylor - 7-6 vs Lockers Park 2nd XI Sachin Kalyan - 5-26 vs Wynburg South Africa Amaan Mehmood - 5-17 vs Dragon 2nd XI Varun Parmer - 5-7 vs Maidwell Hall U11A Alex Rennie - 5-2 vs St Albans U13A Felix Mallalieu - 5-16 vs Northamptonshire U13

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Cricket

South Africa Tour We left School on Thursday 13th February making our way to Heathrow in a variety of different cars. We checked in at the airport and later that evening boarded our South African Airways flight to Johannesburg. It was a long and tiring flight and after a change of planes in Johannesburg we arrived in Cape Town.

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Day 4

Day 7

Day 9

Having collected our luggage we headed to Table Mountain where we boarded cable cars to the top. The view was spectacular and even in our exhausted state we were amazed by the scenery. Then we headed back for a much needed rest at our hotel, which was just below the mountain.

We took it easy the next morning and some of the team didn’t get up until almost lunchtime. We then headed out to Malmesbury to play our third match against Swartland Primary School. We managed to win by 148 runs in a 30 over game!

Refreshed from the rest day, we headed off to Paarl again to watch a bit of the Cape Cobras versus Dolphins cricket match before returning to Stellenbosch to play Laerskool Eikestad in our fifth match.

On our last day, we went to an amazing Theme Park in Cape Town call Ratunga Junction with some really brilliant rollercoasters.

Day 2 In the morning we headed off to the beach at Camps Bay, where we played beach volley ball, touch rugby, jumped through the waves and ate pizza.

In between innings we were lucky to hear a few words from the test match umpire Marais Erasmus who used to be a sports master at the school. He wished us luck for the rest of the tour and asked us to make sure that whenever we played cricket as we got older, we should play it in the right spirit at all times.

After the game we transferred to Wynberg School to meet our hosts for the next two nights.

Day 5

In the afternoon, we went to the Mbekweni Township near Paarl to play our first game. It was 40 degrees when we started the match so the heat, combined with our tiredness from the flight and the interesting batting conditions meant we lost this match by 4 wickets.

We spent some time with the players from the township after the game and left them lots of kit and sports shirts that we had brought over for them.

Day 3 Due to continued hot weather, we switched our second game, against Langa, to the morning. We won comfortably by 118 runs.

Lots of local children came to see us and asked us loads of questions and played with us.

In the afternoon we went to the local aquarium where there were some amazing fish and sharks to see.

We won our fourth game in a row, beating them by six wickets having to chase down a total of 149.

Day 8 After spending a bit more time on the beach in the morning, we headed off to Somerset West to play Somerset College in our last game of the tour. Before the game we held a minute’s silence for Mr. Kettleborough.

Unfortunately, we were getting a bit tired by this stage, and we lost our last match by six wickets – 107 was never going to be enough.

We had a really interesting morning on day five, going to see both the Newlands Rugby Stadium and the Newlands Cricket Ground.

They are both iconic sporting grounds and we could only imagine how amazing it would be to see a rugby international or a cricket test match at the grounds.

In the afternoon, we played Wynberg School where we met an old housemaster from Bedford School. There were also two other old boys watching the match. We managed to win this game as well, by 18 runs, although we nearly didn’t as the sprinklers came on before the game had ended!

Day 6 This was our rest day and in the morning we all went on a boat to Duiker Island to see thousands of seals all packed together on this tiny island near Cape Town.

After lunch we went to a water park and had a lot of fun in the sun! We also managed to play crazy golf.

Afterwards, we went to Stellenbosch to be met by our new hosts for the next two days.

After the game we headed back to the Waterfront where we finished the tour off with a tour dinner in our favourite restaurant Spur! The parents who had flown out to support us were there too and various awards were presented.

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Golf

Football Report

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he Under 13s football was heavily disrupted by weather, which is why a huge compliment should be paid to the boys who kept turning up with a positive attitude, whether we were on the astro, sports hall or grass pitches. When they finally got games underway we started incredibly at Swanbourne House winning 3 and drawing 1 out of 4 games. Two tough fixtures against Wellingborough and Kings Ely followed, both being very strong teams and the boys dug in well. The season finished on a high for the Ds who won in style at Maidwell Hall 4-2.

the boys dug in well U11, U10 and U8 & 9 football was enjoyed by the boys who took part and they certainly gave their all in challenging circumstances. Although not successful in results their skill level and understanding of the sport developed nicely over the Spring Term despite some interesting weather conditions.

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olf continues to grow at Bedford Prep School and this year’s results certainly show that it remains not only a popular sport, but also one at which we have some proficiency. The fourteen boys in the Golf Squad worked well under the tutelage of professional golfer Richard Banks at The Bedfordshire Golf Club in Stagsden and I would like to thank him for his incredible patience and understanding throughout the year.

There were two school fixtures this year played on the Academy Course at Stagsden. The first saw us in an inaugural match up against Wellingborough. Boys played ‘fourball - betterball’ against pairs from the Northamptonshire school and triumphed 3-1 in the early Summer Term sun. This is now to become a yearly fixture, alternating home and away, in competition for a trophy kindly donated by Robert Jordan, father of Jack. We look forward to future tussles on tee, fairway and green.

The BMS fixture in early June is always hotly anticipated and this year was no different. The boys put up an excellent defence of their title, won for the last three years in succession and were able to play out a creditable 2-2 draw.

As one boy pointed out ‘Does that mean we retain the trophy like in the Ryder Cup… ?’ Nothing gets past these boys.

Also in June, two teams of Bedford Prep School boys (one Y6 and one Y8 team) travelled to take part in the Glebe House Invitational on the wonderful Heacham Manor Course, a few miles from Hunstanton.

Although ultimately unsuccessful on the team front, Jonathan Hosking did pick up prizes for Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin. One of those prizes was a large tub of sweets, which, needless to say, did not make it through the two-hour minibus journey back home.

Everyone was a winner thanks to Jonathan’s length and accuracy!

Three Y8s went down to The Shire Golf Club in late June to take on the late Seve Ballestreros’ Masters 18 and were simply undone by the tricky links on a tough afternoon. A wonderful experience on one of Britain’s top courses nevertheless; they could well encounter the course again in the Upper School.

The BPS Open was at the Academy Course at Stagsden and was open to all Prep School boys in Y5 to 8. On a very difficult afternoon weather wise, where the heavens opened for the majority of the round, the boys did incredibly well to score and Tom Herbert (Y5), Matt Rea (Y6), Jack Jordan (Y7) and Ben Herbert (Y8) won the individual year group titles, with the aforementioned Jonathan Hosking carding a very impressive 31 (3 over par) to take the top prize.

A big thank you to all the mums and dads for all their care and attention and especially all their waiting around. Here’s to another great season next year.

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Horse Riding Hockey has enjoyed an excellent season. It has been great to see so many boys from Year 3 to 8 performing so well, but also enjoying the sport. Thanks must also go to our brilliant supporters who have braved all weather conditions and travelled many miles. It is really appreciated by both staff and boys.

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he U8s had their first ever fixtures and even though they came up against a strong Great Houghton, there are positive signs of potential in the age group. The U9s were also back in competitive action after a four year gap, with some very close matches versus Kimbolton and Great Houghton again.

There was real competition for places at U10 level. The U10s have played some superb hockey all season and, although results may have not quite gone their way in some games, the style of hockey being played only bodes well for the future.

The U11s have improved all season, with some players moving up through the squads. Both A and B teams qualified to the Regional Finals. The IAPS regional round is where the A team played some of their best hockey, finishing third and qualifying for the Nationals. With a little more composure in front of goal it could have been a completely different story, but just missing out on the quarter-finals is still a real achievement.

The U12s and U13s were mainly combined for the majority of the season making up eight teams. It was good to see so many U12s playing in the higher teams.

One of the highlights of the season was when the 1st to 6th XIs went away to an always

very strong Dragon School, but came away with all six sides winning comfortably.

Horse Riding Report

Played

The 1st XI qualified for two National finals, something that hasn’t happened for a long time; maybe Mr Wickens can have a think and let us know when the last time was …The IAPS finals were held at Millfield School. We progressed as far as the semifinals, but lost to the eventual winners, placing us third in the country overall.

Won

Having begun my horse riding career at an early age, I felt the need to give the boys the same opportunity. As a result, the Horse Riding Club was established five years ago. Since then we have been able to take a small group of boys to Backnoe End equestrian centre at Thurleigh where the coach, Mrs Jackson, has been able to motivate, inspire and develop the riding skills of our boys. The boys have also had the opportunity to go trekking around the countryside and were taught how to care for and tack up the horses.

motivate, inspire and develop the riding skills of our boys

Without our excellent coaches – Messrs Phillips, Lincoln, Guest, Studd, Loader, Coward, Whitbread and Mrs Travis – we would not have had such a successful season.

They deserve a great deal of credit. Thanks must also go to our external coach Stefan who has worked with a variety of age groups and helped us to develop our technical game.

Drawn

We have had boys with a wide range of abilities joining the Wednesday afternoon sessions. Several of the boys, including our most experienced and able rider Luke Patterson-Tarling, have been excellent ambassadors.

We have also been able to offer beginner lessons, and it has been delightful to see the fantastic progress made by Gerald Hargreave Mawson.

We are lucky to benefit from the high standard of equipment, horses and ponies on offer at Backnoe End, which also boasts fantastic tuition as well as a beautifully maintained site. It has been an excellent opportunity for the boys to share experiences with other riders from different schools around Bedfordshire, including the students from Bedford Girls’ School.

Lost

A ll-in-all, it has been another wonderful year for horse riding, with all our students winning a rosette at the end of year competition.

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Karting

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Kayaking

K A RTI N G R E P ORT

K AYA K I N G R E P ORT

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ntering his second year of competing in the National Karting Competition, Alexander Walker (Y6) is following a path well-trodden by many motorsport stars. He competes in the IAME Cadet Class, which sees speeds of up to 65 miles per hour, on tracks that measure up to 1.5km in length. The competition includes the leading one hundred kart racers aged 9 to 13 from not just the UK and Europe, but also the current American and Canadian champions. So far this season, he is leading the HKRC championship that was won by OB Dan Wheldon (86-94) in 1988 and 1989 and also Lewis Hamilton in 1996. Whilst his first final win has eluded him so far, he has placed on the podium several times and has set a new lap record at the PFi circuit in

Lincolnshire. At national level, the season to date has been one of much promise during qualifying, but little in the way of results after two big accidents, one needing a trip to the A&E in Scotland and the other requiring a replacement kart. This has left him languishing outside the top twenty in the rankings, but with four events left, a top fifteen placing is still possible. Driving for leading kart team OWR, Alexander shall be looking for top three results at both the East Anglian and Midlands Championships, whilst also hoping for a top ten finish in the British Kart GP at his home track of PFi. Sky Sports will be carrying highlights of these events – so keep an eye out for red and black kart carrying number 90.

Kayaking has gone from strength to strength this year, so much so that the Summer Term activity was oversubscribed and boys had to be turned away. They will, of course, have their chance next year. The introduction of a supplementary school-based course during the Autumn Term has enabled boys to make significant progress with their skills. Some even mastered their first “roll”. After the warmth of the indoor pool, the chillier waters of Priory Park and the Ouse came as a shock to the system for many boys. The weather played with us; river trips in gorgeous sunshine were great fun … battling the wind to take a canoe a couple of yards, less so.

However, whether begging for another chance to seal-launch off the jetty, swimming into an air pocket under an overturned canoe, nervously waiting for the compulsory capsize drill, or just being able to paddle with increasing confidence, the boys have had a great year on the water.

We say a fond farewell to our Y8 veterans – Barney May, Laurence Pleuger and Noah Putman - who have been loyal paddlers for three years.

Of course, huge thanks must go to our coaches Sammy and Richard Jackson; without them, we simply could not have had so much fun.

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Sport

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Rowing ROW I N G r ep o rt

a great year, from the wobbly days of the Autumn Term to virtual rowing on the ergos

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itting in the sunshine at the finish of the scratch boat and sculling races, a culmination of a year of rowing, I am impressed with how far we have come.

Watching boys, some of whom only started rowing this term, handle a single scull with confidence and everyone experiencing the excitement of side by side racing, fills me with quiet confidence for the future.

The boys have had a great year, from the wobbly days of the Autumn Term to “virtual rowing” on the ergos (with onscreen race animation). This was one of (former Olympian) Mr Mulkerrins’ many original coaching techniques. He also introduced the lunchtime “Brazillian Boat Skills Club”, which turned into the new Thursday Rowing Club, giving more boys the opportunity to enhance their skills.

Throughout the year we have tested the boys’ fitness through ergo tests and running. All boys managed to improve their times and particular congratulations should go to James Zhang, who beat both records with his run time and ergo score.

A team of Y8 rowers did us proud at Bedford Regatta, manning the stake boats with maturity even when the

weather was less than ideal. As it was a special birthday regatta, they were all rewarded with a commemorative medal.

Back to the racing. This year we had two events. The first, a single scull event for four of the more competent scullers, was won, convincingly, by Rory Boylen. The other was a “Scratched Quad Race” where each boat comprises of boys of all sizes and abilities, with the aim to make them as equal as possible. After a series of eventful races, the final outcome was a win for the ‘D’ crew, consisting of Joshua Markham, Alex Bowes, Oliver Billington and Trent Abraham and coxed by Conovan Shea-Hodges.

My thanks go to Mr Mulkerrins, Mrs Guise, Mr Ingle, Mr Gadsden, Ali Satchwill and Senior Rowers, Tom Bruce, Tom Lousada, Dan Frossell, all of whom have been involved with rowing coaching over the year.

WO RDS by

Imogen Bowis

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Rugby RU G BY R E P ORT

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he rugby calendar was, yet again, packed with fixtures. Spearheaded by a successful 1st XV campaign (winning 10 games and losing 5), the majority of teams registered a high percentage of victories. Notable 1st XV successes were hard-fought victories over strong Caldicott and Dragon sides and reaching the last sixteen in the School Sport Magazine National Schools’ U13 Rugby Union Cup. Although the losing score of 31-5, against a very strong Dr Challoner’s School, suggests a heavy defeat, the boys played possibly their best rugby of the season, displaying huge commitment and courage in the face of a very powerful and agile opposition. Despite some limitations, the team really gelled through the course of the season, played to their strengths and produced some entertaining and effective rugby. A thoroughly enjoyable Easter tour to Ulster brought a victory over Portora Royal School and a narrow loss to a very talented Royal School, Dungannon.

To top this off, two boys - Harry Homan and Alex Bowes - were selected to represent the Independent Schools’ Lambs U13 Midlands team at the regional championship at Rugby School.

The highlight of the season was reaching the final of the Finborough tournament The U12s had a mixed season. Despite heavy losses to Warwick and Stamford, there were a number of very positive performances, not least in inching past Caldicott 13-12, and gaining a draw against a strong Northampton School for Boys’ team. The highlight of the season was reaching the final of the Finborough tournament, only to lose to a heart-breaking “sudden death” try in the third period of extra-time. Special mention must go to Michael Catt and Michael Phillips, who also represented the 1st XV and 1st VII. The U11s had a very successful season, winning 12 games, only losing 3 and reaching the final of the New Hall tournament. Gurkaran Johal and Thomas Allen were selected for

the Independent Schools’ Lambs team, with Thomas going on to be selected for the National Team. Congratulations to them both.

In Y5 and below every boy represented the School in at least one fixture enabling them all to experience playing against the ‘unknown’. The U10s clearly developed as a team throughout the season. This was most evident in their end

of season 9-5 victory over Warwick, following an early season 4 -4 draw. At U9 level, the A team came up against some strong opposition, battling bravely and making great strides in their play. Although not winning many games, doing the double over St Columba’s was a highlight.

The B team had a little more success and will compete for places next year. The U8 learned a non-contact version of rugby called Walla Rugby and managed to play several matches to boot.

During the Spring Term the 1st VII performed manfully on the 7s pitch. With so few players on the pitch, pace is of huge value; unfortunately, the team was somewhat bereft of a real flier.

Despite this handicap, the team worked hard, tackled bravely and, at times, played some excellent rugby. They performed well in the group stages at Bryanston, Millfield and the Rosslyn Park Nationals, gaining numerous wellearned victories. Unfortunately, their lack of pace was to be their undoing, when attempting to progress through the knockout rounds.

Overall, in an excellent season, twentyfive teams played over 180 games, producing some exciting rugby, some excellent wins and, possibly more importantly, displaying a real sense of progression throughout the season.

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Squash

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Swimming/Triathlon S W I M M I N G R E P ORT

sq uash R E P ORT

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he boys make great use of the squash courts in the Rec Centre at lunch and after school. The standard of play is improving, as the talented racket ball players adapt their game, and the boys who are new to the sport enjoy the fact that the ball always comes back to them.

T We play the odd fixture and it’s great to see the boys put what they have learnt into practise in match situations. House Squash is always a keenly contested evening, with Harpur coming out on top this year.

he Autumn Term saw several galas including home and away . Aldwickbury where, unfortunately, we were defeated. A further, late season, defeat by Aldwickbury indicates that some serious training needs to happen next year, but I know that the boys will commit to the cause.

The new fixture at Haberdashers Askes, alongside Bedford Girls’ School, proved successful and a good opportunity for a combined event. At the challenging Warwick 50s competition the teams swam well, coming 4th overall. This included gold for Louis Case in U12 Butterfly and Michael Phillips in U12 Freestyle.

In the Spring Term William Maltby (Y5), Louis Case (Y7), Daniel Smith (Y7) and

Oliver Peacock (Y8) qualified for the IAPS finals in individual races and the Y7 freestyle relay team have also made the finals on 10th May. An U9, U10 and U11 gala v. Warwick again saw close races and a tight win for Bedford. This was followed by an excellent win over St Faith’s for the U10 to U13 teams. Unfortunately, the last match for the U8 to U11 teams saw a comprehensive defeat for us by BGS, with only the Y5s winning any events.

The Summer Term was quiet for swimming, but it did see the IAPS Finals where William Maltby came 9th in the U10 Breaststroke, Louis Case 15th in the U12 Backstroke, Daniel Smith 16th in the U12 Breaststroke and Ollie Peacock 8th in the U13 Breaststroke. Our team came 11th in the U12 Freestyle Relay.

TR I ATH LON R E P ORT

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oys have had the chance to explore the multi-discipline sport of triathlon this year. Each discipline – swimming, cycling and running - is challenging on its own, but combined? As one of our boys panted as he completed the final running section of a competition, “why would anybody choose to do this?” Although we are a modest squad, it is hoped that we will go from strength to strength over the

coming years. There are certainly a number of very strong Y7 athletes who could go on to achieve great things. We have already had some success; Harry Homan securing 3rd place in Tri-Star 3 at the Beachborough Triathlon. Who knows, maybe the next Jonny or Alistair Brownlee is amongst us …

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And Finally...

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01 A Selfie Women’s Tour Style 02 Germany 7 Brazil 03 Phwoar 04 Mrs Keane Photo-Bombs Harpur Celebrations 05 You Cannot Be Serious 06 Nice Shiny Helmet, Mr Whitbread 07 Head Boy Gets That Sinking Feeling

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ladies In Lycra Look, I Was Just Trying To Add Another String To My Bow Try Using It The Other Way Round, Felix How Not To Seal-Launch No, Boys, I Am Not The Queen H oward House Almost Win The Touch Your Nose With Your Tongue Event 07 Spot The Boot Competition

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An Evening of Mild Amusement...

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Goal Keeping An Evening of Mild Amusement bPS Open Winner The Pot of Gold is in WA1

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Design: David Heaton and Grahame Taylor +44 (0)1727 866989 studio@wearesimply.co.uk Cover illustration: lorna Picton Photographs: Piers @ Simply (inside front/inside back cover) 04

Bedford Preparatory School De Parys Avenue Bedford MK40 2TU United Kingdom T +44 (0)1234 362274 F +44 (0)1234 362285 E prepinfo@bedfordschool.org.uk