The Whinchat 2020-2021

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B E D F O R D P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O L

BEDFORD P R E PA R ATO RY SCHOOL D E PA R Y S AV E N U E B E D F O R D, M K 4 0 2 T U UNITED KINGDOM

BEDFORD P R E PA R ATO RY SCHOOL W H I N C H AT M A G A Z I N E A U T U M N 2 0 2 1

W H I N C H AT

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MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

Photo: George Sivills

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Photo: Dylan Uppal

Artwork: Mr Phil Studd, Head of Art

2020 2021

B E D F O R D P R E PA R ATO RY S C H O O L

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CONTENTS

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Contents

INTRODUCTION 2 3

36

Headmaster’s introduction Head Boy’s Speech

S TA F F 5 7

Salvete - welcome Valete - goodbye

ACADEMIC 9 English 12 Library 14 Mathematics 18 Science 20 Geography 22 MFL 24 History 26 RE

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T H E A RT S

33

28 Music 30 DT 32 Art 36 Drama 39 Speech & Drama

2020 2021

ENRICHMENT 41 43

Enrichment Lockdown Enrichment

HOUSES 50 Eagle House 52 Bunyan 54 Harpur 56 Howard 58 Whitbread

CHARITIES 60 Charities 61 Prep School Festivities 62 Prep guild 63 BSA WHINCHAT Editorial team: Patsy Turton, Victoria Denny-Morley & Ian Silk Photographer: Mark Lewis

TRIPS/OUTINGS/CLUBS 64 65

66 67 68 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77

Computer Science Gardening Club/EcoWarriors/ Forest School ZSL Whipsnade & Bushcraft Future skills Days Out at Ickwell Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Speech Day Y3 Greek Day

Fond Farewell Talks & Shows

S P O RT 82 Rugby 84 Fencing/Rowing 85 Hockey/Badminton 86 Cricket 90 Sports day 94 Y8 Leavers

Produced by Printed by: Pureprint Group

Uckfield, East Sussex

Thank you to all the staff, parents and boys who contributed to this magazine

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OO

Osborne Creative

LTD

osborne-creative.co.uk lee@osborne-creative.co.uk

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INTRODUCTION

W H I N C H AT

Headmaster’s introduction WELCOME TO W H I N C H AT M A G A Z I N E 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Welcome to this year’s Whinchat magazine. As usual, the Whinchat records highlights of the year. However, it has been a most unusual year (although we were prepared for it owing to the year before).

T

he school, like the country and, indeed, the rest of the world, has been through a highly challenging time. We can take a measure of pride, though, from the way that the community has come through the pandemic, not just surviving, but learning new ways of doing things. It has been a year of learning how to do things differently. We have lived with Coronavirus for well over a year now. I reflected at Speech Day that over 100 of our boys have not yet experienced a full Bedford School term, as they have joined the school since Covid restrictions began.

Those 100 boys have not yet had a whole school assembly, experienced the energy of singing together with their whole house at a House Singing Competition, indeed have not yet sung the school hymn with all of their fellow pupils. But they will.

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So many things have not happened, or they have happened in a completely different way. It is now completely normal to walk into a lesson and see most boys present, with one or two beaming in via Teams whilst learning from home.

Nonetheless, the boys, staff and parents have done brilliantly. And it has given us the opportunity to strip back to what it is that makes Bedford Prep School such a special place to grow and learn, for all of us. CS Lewis, who wrote the Narnia books, said “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny” and I have said this before, that as we often find in times of adversity, human spirit, and indeed in our case Bedford School spirit, shines through. There has been much to be proud of, and to celebrate, not least the power of resilience, a quality the school has shown in abundance. Much of this is captured in this year’s Whinchat. Though much has been missed, I hope it will, however, live on in hearts and memories, and in the way we carry ourselves throughout our lives.

Firstly, then, thank you to our boys, who are a pleasure to teach; they have been extremely impressive in the way that they have flourished in the face of the challenges.

Thank you to our Governors who have been amazing in this time of crisis. Highly talented, incredibly supportive, and offering outstanding advice, and always putting the best interests of our parents and boys at the forefront.

I would like to thank our parents for their tremendous support, as witnessed in many areas, and we have missed seeing them in school over the last year. I would especially like to thank the Prep Guild who are brilliant, most notably, Chair Emily Hudson. The Guild have continued to arrange superb, enjoyable events, building community even with the limits imposed by lockdown.

Finally, our teachers. During the pandemic, the reputation of teachers has, rightly in my view, risen to where it should be. In very few careers is your profession on daily show, as ours was over this last year. Great thinkers of the past have always known how important teachers and teaching are.

Aristotle said, “Those who know, do; those who understand, teach.”

And, our teachers, as I am sure you will agree,

2020 2021

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INTRODUCTION

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have understood, and shown understanding this year.

CS Lewis again: “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.”

I particularly enjoy this metaphor, because it refers to two important aspects of teaching. Great teaching allows exploration; it means not forcing pupils down a single path but sheltering them whilst they get a bit lost a bit, and allowing them to

reach up to the canopy feeling for the sunlight in their own way. Great teaching also nourishes dry, parched lands, and allows growth where otherwise it wouldn’t be achieved. This has been harder to achieve this year, but with the community pulling together, we have done the best we could.

Elio Lapore

Headmaster’s introduction

WORDS BY

Ian Silk, Headmaster

Deputy Head Boy

Joseph Edwards

The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts CS LEWIS

Deputy Head Boy

Ben Cutts

HEAD BOY’S SPEECH 2021 Head Boy

H

eadmaster, Governors, Distinguished guests, Staff, Parents and Boys, especially the amazing Year 8s, good morning. I am honoured to be given this opportunity to speak to you on behalf of the boys.

It has been another exceptional year at Bedford Prep School albeit a bit different this year. We started the year with a sense of optimism at the prospect of having a normal year of school after so many disruptions last year.

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By Christmas the school, alongside the country, was plunged into lockdown with normal lessons being substituted for online ones.

Throughout this period the school and the boys rose to yet another challenge of yet more online learning. However, I feel that as a school we have emerged as a closer unit, with many boys taking up exciting new sports and activities from home. None of this would have been possible without the

dedication, patience and support of our excellent teachers and support staff throughout this diffi cult period. From, 1552 when the school was fi rst founded, Bedford School has experienced a fair number of challenges, the most notable being the fi re that struck the school in 1979, alongside WW1 where 481 boys gave their lives. The last year and a half has been another exceptional test for us all.

Over this year,

as before, we have shown remarkable resilience and determination to overcome these obstacles. I know that Mr Silk likes his quotes so I’ll read one now. As a well known American baseball coach once said ‘the difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination’. I feel like this is an apt quote to sum up Bedford school over the past year.

Now let me share with you some of the highlights and successes which demonstrate why.

Sport is a big part of BPS life and this year was no exception.

The highlight of the sporting calendar must be the much-anticipated resumption of fi xtures throughout

the school. However, during the autumn term regular fi xtures were replaced with Ready4Rugby ones with over 100 boys participating every Saturday.

Over lockdown many boys took part in the multi-school Roger Banister 1 mile challenge with standout performances from Isaac Raddan winning the U13 category and Berkley Barnicoat winning the U11 category. A special mention must also go to Sam Barnes and Oliver Featherstone who both fi nished in the top three of their respective categories.

A huge well done though to all of the boys who took part.

The summer term brought the resumption of external fi xtures with cricket and

water polo leading the charge. The U13 cricket 1st team deserve a mention after their superb performance to beat Bedfordshire and then narrowly missing out on beating Derbyshire as well. They also emerged victorious from the inaugural T10 tournament against Bedfordshire County, Haberdasher’s and The Hall School. I must also mention Danny Chapman’s phenomenal batting performances throughout the season for the U13 1st team. Well done Danny, and for his excellent captaincy!

Water polo was the other sport that saw some fi xtures with two highly competitive teams in the prep school.

Both the U13s and

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W H I N C H AT

Head Boy’s Speech 2021 U12s have been lucky enough to have some matches with BMS alongside one final match against NSB. The U12s are full of talented players and it will be interesting to see their progress next year. The U13 team containing some more seasoned players also had a great few matches with lots of new boys joining the team and enjoying being able to play fixtures again.

For all of our sports teachers, in all sports this year and all years, a huge thank you for inspiring us, and teaching us to win and lose with grace.

Moving to the music department; it has been a great year also in the prep school with 193 lessons taking place each week. This term we saw the much loved house music competition return with many stand out performances.

A special mention must go to Fraser Morgan, Sam McMurran, Sammy Inman and Harry Townsend who all played exceptionally well. These are also the names of the boys who were chosen to play today and I would

personally like to congratulate them all for their outstanding performances.

The house music competition is always entertaining with boys at all levels taking part and representing their house. A big thank you must go out to Mrs Knight who did a brilliant job adjudicating the boys. I have also been told about superb performances by some up and coming stars in the lower year groups; it’s great to hear of such talent coming through the school.

The annual summer concert this year will be in a different form, a documentary. The documentary will contain ensemble rehearsals, ensemble pieces as well as combined ensembles playing together on the astro. Definitely a creative idea and I can’t wait to see the end result. Although many competitions such as the much contested house singing event and the composition competition sadly didn’t happen this year, I hope you can all agree with me that this definitely didn’t affect the level of

Prep School Sports day 2020

music produced and played throughout the year.

Moving onto drama. This year the annual Bedford Speech & Drama festival took place in a different form. A virtual form. All 137 boys who took part in the festival had to pre record their videos and then join a zoom call to receive their feedback. As a school collectively we had 16 boys who placed 1st, 30 who came 2nd and 25 who came 3rd. 71 placements as a school is a tremendous achievement and these, and all boys who took part should be immensely proud of themselves.

The much

loved house drama competition, this year was also presented in a different way or should I say will be presented. Because of bubbling this year, only Year 8 were involved. It was planned to take place before Christmas but unfortunately it had to be postponed.

Over the last term all of the houses have dedicated time and effort into relearning their pieces for next week when they will finally be performed. I for one can’t wait to see all of the performances.

Throughout this last week LAMDA exams have taken place with 136 boys participating. We now wait to hear

For all of our sports teachers, in all sports this year and all years, a huge thank you for inspiring us, and teaching us to win and lose with grace

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the results but I am confident that once again the boys would have excelled.

I would now like to say a few personal thank you’s. Mr Hooley who from the first day I stepped foot in this school has presented me with endless opportunities to explore and hone new found skills.

Mr Whitwham who has devoted hours of his time training and organising waterpolo matches for our enjoyment. He has instilled in me a competitive spirit and a love for a sport that I didn’t know.

Mr Heaney, for both your inspiration in the science lab but also for unearthing a passion for running.

Mr Studd, thank you for your ceaseless encouragement and expertise, you have been a true inspiration.

A huge thank you to all of my form tutors who

throughout the years have shown exceptional kindness and supported me on my journey through the prep school.

I would also like to thank all of my friends and both my deputies (Elio and Jo Jo) and all the brilliant prefects during the course of the year.

Finally, I just want to say, thank you from me, and on behalf of all of our Prep School boys. I have had the most fulfilling, rewarding 4 years at Bedford Prep School. All of you as teachers have an astounding ability to nurture each individual boy and his talents. I for one am extremely grateful for all the amazing memories I will take with me.

I end by quoting a famous Chinese proverb, ‘A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark’.

Bedford Prep School has left a lasting mark on my life.

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S TA F F

Salvete M R S V I C T O R I A D E N N Y M O R L E Y Te a c h e r o f M F L a n d A c t i n g H e a d o f Ye a r 8

Torie Denny-Morley started in January, so her first experience of teaching at Bedford Prep School was teaching remotely via Microsoft Teams. Torie is covering for Mrs Sarah Loader during her maternity leave, and has made herself invaluable. So much so, that she has been appointed as Head of Year 8 for the Autumn Term. Torie came to us from an educational role for a property Master Developer. Before that she worked for Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, mostly on the educational side. She held roles as Education and Training Manager and Cultural Adviser and Training Officer, including responsibility for training troops in Pashto and Dari in order to equip them to interact with locals in Afghanistan. She also wrote British Military cultural policy handbook for deployed troops and supported the military colleagues during the outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone. Torie attended Bancroft’s School,

M R S K A S H TA DA L E

Te a c h e r o f C o m p u t e r S c i e n c e

Kashta Dale started at Bedford Prep School in September as Teacher of Computer Science. Kashta has a 1st Class BA Hons from Canterbury Christ Church University in English Language and Communication and Fine Art and Applied Arts. She also gained a distinction in her PGCE at the same institution, with an English Specialism.

She joined us from Spring West Academy in Feltham, where she had Excellent Teacher status. She was a Literacy, KS3 English and art teacher, a Year 8 tutor, and NQT mentor, as well as a Diversity and Equality team member. She has also been an ICT subject leader. Kashta lists her interests as Art (particularly printmaking and digital art from photography to more illustrative styles), Languages (she is currently learning German, Farsi and Spanish!) and Sport (she plays in a local netball team).

M I S S C AT H E R I N E D O H E RT Y A r t Te c h n i c i a n

Catherine Doherty joined us as Art Technician in Autumn 2020 and has already made a hugely positive impact in the school, including helping to run the testing centre for Covid-19. She has a First Class degree in Fine Art from University of Creative Arts (Canterbury) and an Art & Design Foundation Diploma from Loughborough University. She also runs her own business, Catherine Doherty Fine Art, and the type of commissions she undertakes can be seen on her website: www.catherinedoherty14.wixsite.com/cdohertyart. She previously worked at Abbotswood Junior School in Hampshire as Administrative Assistant.

MS CHARLOTTE HEYWOOD Deputy Headmaster

Charlotte Heywood joined the school in June, as Deputy Head. Charlotte was Assistant Headteacher at St Matthew’s Academy in Blackheath. In particular, she was responsible for raising progress, achievement and outcomes for Key Stage 4, and was Literacy Lead for all key stages (1-4). Prior to that she has been Director of English, Head of Year and Careers Co-ordinator. Charlotte was educated at St Dominic’s Priory School for Girls, where she gained A Levels in English Literature, French and Italian. She gained an Upper Second Class BA Hons degree in English Literature from Sheffield University, a PGCE with Secondary English from Manchester Metropolitan University and is currently studying a Senior Leader MBA at University of Salford. She has a keen interest in theatre and dramatic arts (she is LAMDA Speech and drama qualified to Grade 8). She ran Debate Mate club at St Matthew’s. Outside school, she plays netball and tennis.

MS RANIA KASHI Te a c h e r o f M a t h s

Rania Kashi replaced Angela Travis as Maths Teacher in September. Rania has taught Maths for the last three years at Ark Academy in Wembley. Prior to teaching, Rania worked as an Account Manager and Senior Account Manager for a number of multi-national FMCG brands, including L’Oreal, Johnson and Johnson and KP Snacks. She has an Upper Second Class degree from Cambridge University and a PGCE from Goldsmith’s University. Her Interests include modern history and international politics, particularly Middle Eastern and South Asian. She is fluent in Arabic and Hindi and an expert sugar-crafter and cake decorator. She will be sharing some of those interests, in the form of activities, with the boys.

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S TA F F

W H I N C H AT

Salvete MR DANIEL MASON

Te a c h e r o f S c i e n c e a n d H e a d o f H o c k e y Daniel Mason joined the Science Department in September. Dan has come from Hitchin Boys School where he taught Science, was Director of Cricket, Head of Radcliffe House and EPQ co-ordinator. He also coaches the Ladies’ 1st and 2nd XI at Bedfordshire Hockey Club. He has an Upper Second Class Bachelor of Science degree and an MSc from Loughborough University and a QTS from Hertfordshire University. As well as coaching sport to a high level, he is also an excellent sportsman himself, having played National League Hockey at Cambridge, Bedford and Belper Hockey Clubs; he is also a club cricketer and a squash player. He will also take charge of Hockey at Bedford Prep School and is a Norwich City supporter!

M I S S M O L LY O R M E Te a c h e r o f L a t i n

Molly Orme went to Wolverhampton Girls High School where she did A Levels in Classical Civilisation, Maths , Music, RE and Theatre Studies. She gained an Upper Second Class BA Hons in Classical Studies and Creative Writing from University of Wales, an MA in Antiquity with Ancient Greek language from University of Birmingham, and has just finished her PGCE with Latin at University of Sussex. She will be covering Madame Comani whilst she is on maternity leave and started at the school in June 2021.

MR SAM POWELL

H e a d o f Ye a r 3 a n d Ye a r 4 Sam Powell has joined the school from Dulwich College, Singapore where he was a Head of House (which includes 200 pupils and 20 staff) and a Y4 and a Y5 class teacher. He has previously taught at Cheltenham College Prep and LVS in Ascot where he had experience in a boarding house. He is a Level 2 cricket coach, and represented Cambridgeshire up to u25 level; he coaches rugby and hockey, and plays golf off a 9 handicap. He has also directed plays and productions in all schools he has taught at, and has run debating and public speaking clubs. Sam went to the Perse School in Cambridge, where he did English, Psychology and Class Civ A Levels. He has a 1st class degree from Anglia Ruskin University in Education Studies, and a PGCE from the University of Bedfordshire.

MR GREG THOMAS

Director of Studies

Greg Thomas started in September as our new Director of Studies. Greg joined us from Swanbourne House School, where he was English Faculty Leader, and Teaching and Learning Co-ordinator. His roles included mentoring PGCE students and Newly Qualified Teachers as well as developing teaching and learning in the school. He has previously run an English department at Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School, and was Head of KS4 English at John Hampden Grammar School, which he attended himself as a boy. He studied Art, History and English for A Level, and gained an Upper Second Class BA Honours in American Studies from Keele University and a GTP from Reading University.

He coached rugby, cricket and football at Swanbourne House, and plays football and cricket for local teams outside school. He played badminton to a high level in his teens. He has run and been involved with a number of extracurricular trips in various schools. Greg is also a member of the Little Horwood Parish Council.

M R S C H A R L OT T E WA L K E R Te a c h e r o f M a t h s a n d S c i e n c e

Charlie Walker joined Bedford Prep School in April, to teach Maths and Science. She was the outstanding candidate in a very strong field. Charlie previously taught at Etonbury Academy where she was a Year 6 class teacher, and Head of Science in the primary part of the school (having previously taught Science at secondary level). She attended Dame Alice Harpur School and Hitchin Girls School, where she studied A Levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry. She has an Upper Second class degree from the University of Bedfordshire.

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S TA F F

Valete M R M AT T A L L E N

Te a c h e r o f S c i e n c e , A c t i n g A s s i s t a n t H e a d , Head of Y7, Housemaster of Bunyan Matt Allen joined Bedford Prep School after a successful rugby career, which included outings for the England Saxons, as well as a European Cup Trophy with Northampton Saints against Munster in 2000. He finished his rugby career playing for Bedford Blues, and we were lucky enough to sign him up as a teacher for the Prep School. He has made a lasting impact on the Prep School, as a Science Teacher, Head of Year 7, Bunyan Housemaster, Head of Rugby and, in his last term, acting Assistant Head. He moves on to a post at Dragon School, so I have no doubt that we will continue to see him on the rugby field, only this time leading the opposition team.

M I S S PAU L A B ROW N

Headmaster’s Personal Assistant

Paula Brown moved on to pastures new at the end of May 2021, starting a new career as a driving instructor. Paula has been amazing in her seven years at the Prep School as Headmaster’s PA. She is a dedicated, thoroughly professional, very kind and thoughtful person, who has a keen eye for detail, very high expectations and is highly organised and efficient. She has also transformed many elements of Prep School office procedures. I will, personally, really miss her support.

MRS JO CHRISTIAN

A c t i n g D e p u t y H e a d , A s s i s t a n t H e a d Te a c h i n g and Learning Jo Christian has been appointed to the position as Head of Juniors at St Mary’s School in Cambridge. She took up her new post in September 2021. We will miss her enormously, and would like to thank her for her many years of dedicated service to the Prep School, most recently as Deputy Head, Assistant Head Teaching and Learning, but also as Head of Academic Support (SENDCo and ESL), Head of Enrichment and Head of Academic improvement. Her outstanding legacy will be the Future Skills Curriculum, which she worked tirelessly to embed in the Prep School.

M R J O N AT H A N E G A N Deputy Headmaster

Jonathan Egan moved on in April 2021 to be Headmaster of Framlingham Prep School. Jonathan achieved an enormous amount in his time at the Prep School. He prepared the school for outstanding ISI inspections (is an inspector for ISI himself), and implemented a number of new systems which have significantly enhanced the experience for parents, staff and pupils. IT has been a particular strength and he oversaw a new reporting system, introduced a slick parents’ evening appointment system, greater rigour to our academic provision and a curriculum review which included a language reform which meant boys in Year 8 are able to pursue two languages of their choice.

He was also responsible for timetabling and cover.

MR BEN GIBSON Te a c h e r o f E n g l i s h

Many thanks to Ben Gibson who taught English at the school for one term before Miss Bamber took over. He proved an excellent colleague, who came to us from Harrow International School in Hong Kong, where he taught English to children from Y6-Y11. He was also Assistant Housemaster of a House of 60 boys. He was fully immersed in the school in his one term with us, and we will, no doubt, keep in touch with him because both of his sons remain at the school, and his wife, Gemma, is Headmistress at Bedford Girls School.

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W H I N C H AT

Valete M R J O N AT H A N H O O L E Y

H e a d o f D r a m a a n d E n g l i s h Te a c h e r After 11 years teaching at the Prep School, Jonathan Hooley leaves us to work in the online education sector, where he will develop and teach schemes of work for home schooled learners, with a focus on English and Drama. A huge thank you to him for the legacy he leaves behind, and for all he has done in the school, especially in terms of English and drama. The House Drama is a permanent (and much loved) fixture in the calendar, and the many imaginative and creative plays he has directed are immortalised on the wall outside the Headmaster’s office. A very big thank you to him for all he has done in his time at the school, for his dedication and hard work, for the English and Drama depts, and for his time as Head of Enrichment. He will remain close to the school because his son, Jago, will continue to be with us.

MR DANIEL MAITLAND H e a d o f Ye a r 3 & 4

Daniel Maitland, was appointed as Deputy Headmaster of St Hugh’s in Oxfordshire. This is a really good role for him, in an excellent standalone Prep School (obviously not as good as Bedford Prep School!). Whilst we will miss him enormously, congratulations are in order. We would like to thank him for all he has done for the Prep School, especially in his role as Head of Year 3 and Year 4, which has transformed under his leadership, but also for the many other areas he has contributed to in his five years at the school. We are also very grateful to him for filling in for Mrs Stratton during her maternity leave.

MR ED MCGREGOR

Head of Hockey, and Acting Head of Computer Science Ed McGregor took up the role of Director of Sport and Clubs with SLT responsibility at The Perse Prep School in Cambridge in September. Thank you to him for all he has done at the Prep School, not least and especially, covering (with very little notice) as Head of Computer Science for the last academic year, and bringing on Hockey in the Prep School considerably as Head of Prep School Hockey. We shall, no doubt, see him on the fringes of Astroturfs in the forthcoming years.

M R P E T E R M I LTO N

Head of Computer Science

Mr Milton finished in summer 2020. Thank you to him for his many years of service to the school, for teaching ICT/Computer Science, CCF, Maths and Science. Also, for his work as Events and Visits Co-ordinator, guiding us all through the complexities of trip planning, and, in recent years for being the person who has navigated the mammoth task of Prep School timetabling. Finally, a thank you to him for his kind help to colleagues whenever called for.

M R S A N G E L A T R AV I S

Assistant Housemaster, Maths and Games teacher After 20 years of sterling service to the Prep School, Angela Travis decided that July 2021 was the time to move to the next exciting stage of her life. She has given a huge amount to the Prep School in her 20 years, and must be proud of all she has achieved as Maths teacher, Head of Maths, sports teacher, ski-trip leader, and, for the last six years, the Assistant Housemaster in Eagle House. She is the ultimate team-player. She is excited about the next stage, but we will miss her greatly.

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AC ADEMIC

English

ENGLISH R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Dominic Affleck, Head of English

I

m sure that as you peruse through this edition of the Whinchat, many articles will have begun with how challenging this academic year has been for us all. This is true to an extent in the English department, but thankfully the brilliant team galvanised heroically and, rather than find the remote learning challenging, we embraced the challenge and produced a fantastic remote curriculum. There is the possibility that we may find ourselves in this situation once more, but judging by the boys’ attitude to learning, if it does happen again everyone will be ready and willing to enjoy their English lessons. The boys in all year groups have worked hard and produced some beautiful work, whilst honing all the skills associated with this pivotal subject.

Many of our usual events sadly had to be postponed, but we did manage to stage a remote World Book Day (with some dressing up regardless – see caption) and our Patron of Reading supremo Steve Skidmore was able to entertain Year 4. More exciting author visits are planned for next year and we can’t wait to welcome them to the school.

Reading continues to be as popular as ever. We were delighted to be able to introduce an online reading platform called MyOn, and the Accelerated Reading scheme produced our first ever pupil to read over 10 million words. Well done to Oliver Barbour for his outstanding achievement – I wonder if anyone will ever top that!

A new item was added to the curriculum in the form of the Shakespeare monologue competition. Miss Bamber coordinated this and with the help of old boy Ollie Lynes, all boys in the prep school had the opportunity to learn some Shakespeare and recite their piece in front of their classes. Class winners performed in a final which was broadcast live over Teams. Well done to the winners in each key stage. At key stage 2 it was Major Grewal & Dylan Uppal and at key stage 3 it was Elio Lepore & Henry Gillham.

On a sad note, we said goodbye to Mr Hooley who has taught English to the prep school boys for many years. An inspirational and dedicated teacher, who brought much joy and expertise to all the boys in his care. He will be missed by us all and we

HANDWRITING PRIZES

WINNER Y8 Isaac Adeyemi-Abere Y7 Oliver Harris Y6 Lewis Pettengell Y5 Harry Kenmore Y4 Joe Willard Y3 Ellis Gosling

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Fun and frolics on World Book day

wish him luck in his new venture. The poetry composition competition had an artistic theme to it this year and was judged

by Mrs Christian who commented that it was one of the hardest tasks she has had to do as the standard and creativity by the boys was so very good. Some amazing poems were created with Colour as this year’s theme. See below for the winners from each year group. Well done to them all. Boys were also assessed on their handwriting and some lovely poems illustrated that Bedford boys can use a confident cursive script. The winners are listed below. The recitation competition was also keenly contested in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 with some very confident contestants. Mrs Lee judged the event and gave detailed feedback to each boy about his performance. It was an extremely difficult event to judge and after careful consideration the winner in Year 3 was James Workman, George Steed in Year 4, Chris Gentry in Year 5 and Oscar Price in Year 6. Congratulations to them all.

P O E T RY P R I Z E S

W I N N E R R U N N E R U P H I G H L Y R E C .

Y8 Sebastian Fairhead Theo Cromwell Nicholas Dyall Y7 Harry Brown Rocco Sarro Ralph Franklin Y6 Max Midgley

Joshua McMurran

Aryan Nair Y5 Oliver Featherstone Hugo Morgan Oliver Gauntlett Y4 Meyer Meadley-Roberts George Allingham-Norris Sebastian Bodfield Y3 Charlie Suthers Leo Gravener-Mohle Matt Morgan

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W H I N C H AT

English A SELECTION OF

AWA R D - W I N N I N G POEMS

2020 2021

T POE

Red is love, As well as blood, But worst of all, You dread, The colour red.

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2021

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P O E T RY

Year 3 A LIFE IN COLOUR

Orange may be the colour of stress, But it is also a robin’s crest, Orange is the get ready colour, But if you eat too many carrots, You might get an orange shoulder!

Yellow is happiness, It calls to you when you’re sad, There is still something true though, It’s still disgusting to kiss!

Green is grass, Maybe translucent glass, I do not know about you, But perhaps you can times green by 2!

Charlie Suthers

Year 4 COLOUR

Year 6 COLOUR POEM

Blood Red is the glow of a fading fire Or the warmth of the bed, where I lay my head.

Performing in a choir, Exotic birds chorus and call.

Sapphire, emerald and golden yellow Plumes decorate the jungle canopy above.

While ultramarine is the calming breeze on the sea and sounds like the tide lapping against the shore, softly.

Then Viridian strikes. It is the zap of vlazing lightning on a tree And sounds like crumpling concrete, crashing down.

And Crimson? It is a flickering fire spreading rapidly across the forest floor And feels like burning acid on your skin.

Fear Ivory Black also. It is a black hole, sucking in the terror of the night And smells of the emptiness of nothingness.

Small creatures scramble on the brown forest floor.

Monkeys sway on vines through the dense leaves; Green snakes slither and swerve like running streams.

Golden jaguars climb and perch on towering trees.

Mossy green envelops the trees like a carpet, Tall trees dominate the jungle canopy.

Magenta coloured orchids adorn the branches Like precious jewels and gemstones.

Year 7 THE HUNT OF NIGHT I am the hunted because the sight of yellow and orange, Through the dark grey alleyway, I’m a cold-blooded animal, A crimson trace from hell...

The viridian screams of other town-people, haunted with the scent of purple.

Luminous green shining off the gloomy walls, The cherry red trails from victims.

The dark rainbow men are copying their own souls Into vibrant colours of their own, Some call them the colours, beauty and emotions.

The silver grey fox’s eerie footsteps, white fear of the hopeful lurking in Golden reflections of hope.

The blackness of death.

By Harry Brown

Year 8 THE MEMORIES OF COLOUR

Memories of colour, nothing can compare Stuck in a care home with walls so bare Mind so blank Thinking back A splatter of red, a dot of black the deafening sadness, flooding back Memories of colour Becoming duller Each colour and shade is a photo A fading rainbow, dull and unknown Shades starting to fade Over the decades A memory stored within each colour an age-old memory to discover I wish I could go back Into the pitch black A bouncing blue, bashful but bright The pouring rain, in an ebony night Memories of blue I wish I knew A bright, rosy red, a hopeless romantic Rose petals scattered, I’m starting to panic Memories of red Clinging on by a thread

But Prussion is the fuzziness of a blanket on my sofa And Alizarin is the magic dust from a genie Or, the twinkle of chime bells That make me feel calm again.

Crystal clear water cascades down the mountain side Like a skydiver jumping out of a plane.

It sounds like a crashing rushing beast of the jungle As it tumbles, splashes, gurgles, and roars.

And now I sit, in a saggy armchair Thinking and hoping, swallowing my despair Memories of colour like no other

Meyer Meadley-Roberts

Max Midgley

Sebastian Fairhead

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2021

PRIZ

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Y8 HANDWRITING WINNER Harry Kenmore Y4 HANDWRITING WINNER Joe Willard Y8 POETRY COMPETITION Sebastian Fairhead Y7 POETRY COMPETITION Harry Brown Y5 POETRY COMPETITION Oliver Featherstone Y4 POETRY COMPETITION Meyer Meadley-Roberts Year 5 THE COLOUR WHEEL

One day I found a wheel That was full of vibrant colour, Some were cool and others warm Some were bright and others duller.

From the juicy bloody orange To the red roses in full bloom, Followed by flourishing fruits of purple Shining under the light of the moon.

Next to purple are beautiful bluebells Bursting into spring like fireworks, A cover of deep green grass Covers where brown mud once lurked.

Yellow is as bright as the sun On a hot sunny day, I’ve now twisted my wheel all the way round Now I can start my painting, hip hip hooray.

Oliver Featherstone

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Y4 P O E T R Y R E C I TAT I O N WINNER George Steed Y5 P O E T R Y R E C I TAT I O N WINNER Chris Gentry Y6 HANDWRITING WINNER Lewis Pettengell Y7 HANDWRITING WINNER Oliver Harris Y3 P O E T R Y R E C I TAT I O N WINNER James Workman Y7 PUBLIC SPEAKING WINNER Vir Walia

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Library

H A R RY P OT T E R BOOK NIGHT 2021

ALL WORDS BY

Amy Lumley-Wood, Prep School Librarian

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n Thursday 24th June we were able to celebrate Harry Potter Book Night, later in the year than usual, and a much anticipated annual event for Potter fans around the world. The theme for this year was ‘Diagon Alley’.

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Lots of lessons were magic themed with Potions replacing science and boys headed outside in their Art lesson to build their own ‘Hagrid’s Hut’. At lunchtime there were very yummy Wizard’s hat muffins on offer in the dining halls.

Our year 4 boys headed into Nash’s library after lunch to try their hand at making a golden snitch, a monster bookmark, or a wizard’s lantern. Year 3 boys had their chance

after school to make a lantern or their own wizard’s money bag. Mrs Carrington finished the evening by reading aloud from ‘Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone’. The boys heard about Harry’s first visit to Diagon Alley.

Our colouring competition this year was a very detailed picture of Diagon Alley. There were some beautiful entries and judging was not easy. However, the winners were 1st Joseph Ram, 2nd Guy Jones, 3rd Joshua Featherstone.

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Library WO R L D B O O K DAY

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rep School boys brought their favourite books to life on Thursday 5th March for World Book Day. Brilliant ideas were transformed into fabulous costumes making it seem as though the characters had just wandered out from the pages of their books and joined our classes for a day of everything reading-related.

The day was a wonderful celebration of books and reading, with each tutor group competing together to win the costume prize. This year, the honours went to READING It has been reported in the press that book sales are up and reading has increased over the last 18 months as people have been spending more time at home, and more time on their own.

Reading has certainly been more popular in the Prep School and our Accelerated Reader scheme has encouraged boys to read and take quizzes on the books they have read as we offer a number of rewards for boys who achieve their reading targets and certain milestones.

This academic year boys have been able to take reading quizzes at home and through

MILLIONAIRES

There were 104 millionaires in total this year, and of these: n 16 boys have read more than 2 million words n 9 boys have read more than 3 million n Oscar McCartie and Berkley Barnicoat have read more than 4 million n Lewis Noble has read more than 5 million n Thomas Noble has read more than 8 million n Oliver Barbour has read more than 10 million

all the school holidays and they have logged almost 290 million words read, which is about 9000 books, and a 13% increase on the 2018/19 academic year.

An impressive 104 boys have become reading Millionaires this year and have been awarded a badge in recognition. If boys read more they get a different coloured badge for each successive million words.

This year, for the first time since we introduced Accelerated Reader, one boy has read more than 10 million words over the year.

We also reward those boys who pass more than 100 reading quizzes over the year.

There were 8 members of the 100 Book Club this year.

Reading is very important in the Prep School and all our boys taking a reading quiz are contributing points to the House Cup, and there is a Reading Trophy for the House whose members pass the most quizzes.

All boys are set a termly target for reading and they get a merit each time they meet their target. Boys in years 3 and 4 have class competitions as well with special treats for the winning class.

100 BOOK CLUB The following boys have passed more than 100 quizzes:

Thomas McDonald Rory McDonald Guy Jones Oliver Barbour Hugo O’Boyle Aaniketh Gusswami Gabriel Roberts Prayagh Sunil THE HOUSE TOTA LS Bunyan 1921 Harpur 2082 Howard 1966 Whitbread 2813 WINNERS

THE MOST ED REQUEST HE T N BOOK I S: I Y R LIBRA ‘Diary of a Wimpy

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Kid’

S O W H AT H AV E THEY BEEN READING?

The library has a wide range of books by different authors, and in different genres.

Boys in the prep school have wide ranging tastes, from Sophie Anderson to Ross Welford, and from Dystopian to Science Fiction. As you might have guessed our most popular authors with the younger boys are David Walliams, Jeff Kinney, Liz Pichon and J K Rowling. The older boys all want to read James Dashner, Suzanne Collins and Robert Muchamore.

So Whitbread are the winners of the reading trophy.

Well done!

THE MOST POPULAR GENRE?

Humour of course!

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W H I N C H AT

Mathematics

Tony Zhao, Top Scorer in Year 7, Junior UKMT

M AT H E M AT I C S R E P O RT W O R D S B Y Mrs Kathryn Lee, Head of Maths

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hat an extraordinary year!

This will definitely be one the boys remember. They have demonstrated such resilience and commitment to their learning. As a department we are so proud of how the boys have remained engaged and driven with their Maths.

U K M T J U N I O R M AT H S C H A L L E N G E

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he Junior Mathematical Challenge is a 60-minute, multiple-choice competition aimed at students across the UK. It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.

The problems on the Junior Mathematical Challenge are designed to make students think. Most are accessible, yet still challenge those with more experience.

All boys from Year 8 and 40 boys from Year 7 were entered into the UKMT Junior Challenge.

It was the first time we had competed online but the boys took it in their stride. They completed 25 multiple choice questions with either 5 or 6 marks allocated for correct answers. This year no points were deducted

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for incorrect responses. Over 270 000 pupils from across the UK sat the Junior Maths Challenge. Gold, silver and bronze certificates are awarded to 40% of participants nationally.

Roughly the top 6% receive gold, the next 13% silver and the next 21% bronze.

Approximately 10 000 of the top students are

invited to sit a follow-on competition, the Junior Mathematical Olympiad (top 2000) or Kangaroo.

In Year 7, seven Silver Awards and nine Bronze Awards were given. Tony Zhao was the highest scorer from Year 7. Excellent work Tony!

S I LV E R AWA R D S B RO N Z E AWA R D S Tony Zhao Jack Sivills Emir Kenrick Blake Balachandran Rocco Sarro Aryan Sohanpal Rhys Brook Sam Yeomans Thomas Mahony Joshua Lincoln Mihai Memet Nirmay Patel Henry Pask George Knight Arafat Rahman Charlie Gandesha

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Mathematics YEAR 8

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n Year 8, seven Gold Awards, sixteen Silver Awards and twenty-one Bronze Awards were achieved. A special mention goes to Jacob Yau (top scorer in Year 8) and Samuel McMurran who were invited to sit a further Olympiad Paper (the top 2000 in the country are invited). Also, congratulations go to Eden Chen, Sammy Inman, Gary Wang, Rayhaan Menolee and Felix Beckmann who qualified for the Kangaroo Paper (around 10,000 are invited). Well done to all boys who entered.

G O L D A W A R D S S I LV E R AWA R D S B RO N Z E AWA R D S Gold Awards Silver Awards Bronze Awards Jacob Yau Sam Barnes Jacob Anderson Samuel McMurran Ben Pickering Joseph Edwards Eden Chen Joseph Lee Isaac Battersby Sammy Inman Fraser Morgan Theo Cromwell Gary Wang Ben Rioch Mustafa Haroon Rayhaan Menolee Izaan Aris James Pinkney Felix Beckmann

Joe Basquille

Bertie Sayer Dylan French Danny Chapman Josh Mitchell Toby Wesson Ben Ulvert Luka Ilic Jonathan Hall David Shirley Nigel Ng James Wright Abuturab Turrabi Charlie Collard Eeshan Agrawal Mike Halahan

Henry Whitfield

Aadhi Arun Harry Wood-Rubio Benjamin Roberts Harry Townsend Tommy Hughes Henry Gillham Misha Savitski Joell Creek Y8 Medal Winners, Junior UKMT

Jacob Yau and Sam McMurran, Y8 Junior UKMT Olympiads

YEAR 8 POST EXAM PROGRAMME

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Year 7 Medal Winners, Junior UKMT

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s part of their Post Exam Programme, the Year 8 boys embarked on a series of Financial Maths Life Skills during their Maths lessons.

The aim of these lessons was to help students understand money habits, different types of bank cards, interest rates, (both simple and compound), and how to plan for future purchases.

By the end of the term, boys were able to reflect on their own attitude to money and spending, were aware of the different types of bank cards available, could interpret a pay slip and could calculate interest rates on loans and mortgages.

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Mathematics YEAR 5-8 ENRICHMENT FUN

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fter completing their internal exams, our boys were ready for some post-exam, fun maths team challenges. Stepping out of their usual classrooms and into the sun, the boys collaborated on a whole range of team challenges outdoors, enjoying higher-level problem solving, trying out different strategies and adapting their methods to attack problems from different angles. The boys enjoyed many different activities throughout the week, from cross number challenges to a relay event. They needed to harness their Future Skills to think outside the box and alter their methods to find the solution and get it right—which was not always possible the first time. Throughout the week, the boys displayed excellent collaboration and resilience when facing more challenging maths.

One Year 8 boy, speaking about the relay activity, in which you were not able to talk to half your teammates as you tried to solve the problems, told us, “It was really exciting, like an escape room. You were working as a team, but you didn’t know how the other half of your team were doing as we weren’t allowed to talk to them.”

YEAR 3 & 4

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t has been such a privilege to witness the hard work and commitment our young mathematicians have shown this year. It has been excellent to be able to visit the boys to award Maths Commendations for endeavour with the NumBots and TT Rockstars programme and the recent Maths Challenge.

I am very excited by the progress these boys have been making and the hard work they are putting in. Keep it up!

F I R ST M AT H S C H A L L E N G E All the boys worked extremely hard and I am very excited to see how many budding mathematicians are coming through.

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C U R I O U S M AT H E M AT I C I A N S C L U B

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he Summer Term saw a good number of boys attend the Year 6 Curious Mathematicians Club. Here, boys were able to work on a variety of mathematical problems and puzzles that challenged their thinking and gave them the opportunity to explore and investigate their ideas. Presented with challenges from Cambridge University’s Nrich Maths Project, the attendees were able to develop their natural mathematical curiosity and were encouraged to ask good mathematical questions. Their excitement was sparked by the weekly challenges, which included puzzles such as: n In a field, each cow can see twice as many sheep as cows; each sheep can see the same number of sheep as cows, so how many cows and sheep are there? n A cake on a plate cost £1.10. The Cake costs £1.00 more than the plate. How much does the plate cost? (It’s not 10p!).

Good mathematicians are curious, resourceful, collaborative and resilient; and all these important characteristics were put to the test during this Maths Club.

THE FOLLOWING Y3 AND 4 BOYS RECEIVED A B RO N Z E AWA R D n Matt Morgan n Joseph Ram n Charles Suthers n Samuel Chittenden n Major Grewal n Bertie Martin n Jack Nash n Joseph Parsonage n Zachary Caldy n Harry Martin n Jack Efe Taylor n William Wootton n Arvin More n Gabriel Roberts n Prayagh Sunil n Quba Thomas n Stanley Banks n Ashley Bayley n Joseph Hill n James Holt n Oliver Hudson n Rory McDonald n Tristan Price

n Samarth Serish n George Steed n James Stockwell n George AllinghamNorris n Benjamin Brading n Aaron Evans n Benedict Long n Pavit Upadhyay n Jacob JemmettGabrys n Aarvyn Rajbans n Rafael Spajic n Wilfred Squire n Arjun Dey n Freddie Gibbs n Meyer MeadleyRoberts n Angelo Rampello n Albert Carvell n Jasper Stone n Arthur Mullaney

THE FOLLOWING Y3 AND 4 BOYS RECEIVED A S I LV E R AWA R D n James Workman n Thomas Hanbury n Joshua Featherstone n Aaniketh Gusswami n Nayan Pattni n Nico Stewart n Henry Van Rensburg n Dhillon Waterfall n Evan Byrne n Oliver Gibson n Dhan Katechia n Austin Reddy n Benedict Armstrong n Sebastian Bodfield

n Xavier Clark n Eben Clarke n Joseph Willard n Gabriel-Joel Holland n Jonathan Pugsley n Noah Campbell n James Clements n Sukhjeevan Gill n Orson Pettengell n Montgomery Pool n Veer Ramani n Georgi Savkov-Lin n George Shirley n Charlie Tillison n Oscar McCartie

A SPECIAL MENTION SHOULD GO TO THE BOYS WHO GAINED A GOLD n Kuba Kopec (Top Scorer in School) n Ilyas Hosein (Top Scorer in Y4) n Jeremy Dunn

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Mathematics MANGAHIGH SUCCESSES

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number of boys spent a remarkable amount of time this year using MangaHigh to improve their Maths.

At the time of writing, the following boys had committed to the programme and gained an impressive number of medals independently over the course of the year. n Charlie Chen 169 medals n Tony Zhao

128 medals n Rayhaan Menolee 121 medals n Nigel Ng

100 medals n Thomas Noble 94 medals n Harry Wood-Rubio 87 medals

DOODLE M AT H S SUCCESS There has been an impressive commitment from Year 5 and 6 this year with the DoodleMaths Programme. Special mention goes to the following boys who have achieved extensive streaks (number of days in a row using the programme). Also, congratulations to the boys who have an outstanding number of stars (awarded for effort).

Y E A R 6 M AT H S D O O D L E HOUSE CUP S TA R S

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ll of Year 6, in groups of 4 or 5 boys, took part in a Team Challenge event which spanned over four weeks to be crowned the winner of the House Maths Championship. Boys utilised their Future Skills to the full, collaborating, reasoning, justifying and problem solving. The boys enjoyed various challenges including relay and shuttle events outside solving conundrums.

It was great to see the boys so involved and enjoying their Maths.Congratulations to Bunyan who won the Year 6 House Mathematics Trophy for 2021!

DOODLE STREAK YEAR 5

n Joshua Worboys 292 days n Conor Hayes 292 days n Chris Gentry 291 days n Cayo Sinclair 286 days n Christopher Irving Gamble 285 days

n Adam Purdie 175 days n Lucas Hill 138 days

YEAR 6

n Toby Coles 722 days n Ben Zanna 721 days n Nathaniel Fletcher 292 days n Isaac Vincent Emery 148 days n Max Midgley 105 days

Y E A R 6 ( AWA R D E D OV E R THE TWO YEARS) n Edward Ogborne 16 081 n Ethan Wrightson 13 149 n Amardeep Rai 12 624 n Harry Mullan 11 743

n George Garosi 10 445 n Toby Coles 35 793 n Ben Zanna 26 099

n Berkley Barnicoat 16 296 n Gabriel Borelli 13 426 n Jacob Adedeji 12 683 n Sebastian Warner 11 798 n Thomas Nixon 16 026

Y E A R 5 ( AWA R D E D OV E R ONE YEAR) n George Kotsidis 6 861 n Joshua Worboys 21 335 n Chris Gentry 10 049 n Haris McLynn 7 540

n Cayo Sinclair 10 930 n Connor Hayes 7 786

D O O D L E M AT H S AMBASSADORS

These boys have committed to over 730 days without a day off - TWO WHOLE YEARS!!!! n Toby Coles n Ben Zanna

M AT H S C O M M E N D AT I O N S AWA R D E D T H I S A C A D E M I C Y E A R : YEAR 3

Excellent problem solving in the First Maths Challenge n Jeremy Dunn Commitment to and completion of NumBots n Joseph Parsonage n Guy Jones

YEAR 4

Excellent problem solving in the First Maths Challenge n Ilyas Hosein

n Christopher Irving Gamble n Chris Gentry n Archie Fleming n Cayo Sinclair n Conor Hayes n Adam Purdie n Lucas Hill Continued Commitment to Doodle Maths n Joshua Worboys n Conor Hayes n Chris Gentry n Cayo Sinclair n Christopher Irving Gamble

YEAR 5

Commitment to DoodleMaths n Joshua Worboys

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YEAR 6

Commitment to DoodleMaths

n Nathaniel Fletcher n Edward Ogborne n Isaac VincentEmery True Ambassadors of DoodleMaths n Toby Coles n Ben Zanna Continued Commitment to DoodleMaths n Nathaniel Fletcher n Max Midgley

YEAR 7

Top Scorer in Year 7, UKMT Junior Challenge n Tony Zhao

For Commitment to MangaHigh: n Charlie Chen n Tony Zhao n Thomas Noble

Headmaster Commendation awarded for Maths this year:

YEAR 3 YEAR 8

Qualifying for the Kangaroo Challenge: n Eden Chen n Felix Beckmann n Sammy Inman n Gary Wang n Rayhaan Menolee For Commitment to MangaHigh: n Rayhaan Menolee n Nigel Ng n Harry Wood-Rubio

Top Scorer, First Maths Challenge n Kuba Kopec

YEAR 6

336 day streak almost an entire year! n Max Midgley 336 day streak Two years’ daily commitment to DoodleMaths n Toby Coles n Ben Zanna

YEAR 8

Qualifying for the Maths Olympiad, Junior UKMT n Jacob Yau n Samuel McMurran Fuller Mathematics Prizes 2021 Henry Howard Fuller was a member of the Mathematical Staff from 1900 to 1924.

Evan Byrne Veer Ramani Matthew Byrne Isaac Johnson Thomas Mahony Samuel McMurran

Y Y Y Y Y Y

3 4 5 6 7 8

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W H I N C H AT

Science

S C I E N C E R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Mike Mallalieu, Head of Science

OVERVIEW/HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR This year has presented us with another unique experience, bringing with it both challenges and rewards! The Prep School Science Dept has reviewed and adopted new practices and the boys have continued to respond well to new structures and policies. Although teaching was affected by the measures put in place around COVID-19 to a degree, generally boys and staff were, impressively, able to carry out practical work to complement other teaching strategies.

The majority of the Spring Term was spent with online lessons. Science staff used a variety of approaches with staff teaching at home and at school. Some even used the laboratories and equipment to demonstrate experiments to promote engagement and pique interest.

At home the boys were encouraged to do some practical work e.g. investigating production of cupcakes and effect of altering an ingredient.

When we returned to school for the final 3

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weeks of the Spring Term, many of the lessons featured practical work to catch up on lost opportunities.

I N N O VAT I O N S

In a year of blended learning, lots of innovations have been implemented into the Science Department’s teaching and learning portfolio. Several quiz-based learning packages to include brainPop and Educake have been completed that should make pre-assessments periods diverse and more enjoyable.

An exciting collaboration opportunity was co-ordinated by Mr Mallalieu and Mr Beale where the Prep School boys were able to attend some online lectures given by Upper School 6th Formers. These entertaining and informative talks included one on ‘Brood Parasites: a species arms race’ given by Hugh Halsey and ‘Reef-keeping, including the anatomy of coral, water chemistry, relationships between organisms, and a broader look at the reef keeping hobby itself’ given by James Deardon.

The Science department introduced boys to

a wide range of STEM materials which pupils could access outside of the classroom. For example, www.zooniverse.org/projects is a website that encourages boys to engage in scientific people-powered research.

And most notably, new microscope cameras have been introduced to the classrooms. This has provided a fantastic opportunity for pupils to view microscopic organisms on slides and from pond water on the “big screen”. This has helped them to see what they should be looking at and how to properly focus etc.

COMPETITIONS

Via the Weekly Bulletin, boys were given the opportunity to enter a competition run

by Cambridge Science Centre encouraging entrants to consider how they would make a difference to their future community.

N OTA B L E S U C C E S S E S

The Animal Care Club was able to continue successfully, albeit with different arrangements and it has remained a popular club. The Bubble system has enabled boys to continue to attend throughout the majority of year groups, with over 80 boys attending regularly to care for; Reptiles including a Royal Python, 2 x Corn snakes, Crested and Leopard Gecko, 2 x Bearded Dragons.

Our fabulous Guinea pigs and gerbils x 18 and lastly a range of Marine and fresh water

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Science

fish and corals.

During the ‘Open Day’ visits, families commented favourably on the Y8 boys’ enthusiasm as keen and knowledgeable animal club guides.

The Gerbil breeding program continues successfully, with one family raising multiple families. It was a wonderful experience to carefully handle a day-old creature for all the classes.

Our school pond has had its uplift and the pond liner has been replaced. As requested, a bog area has been included and following on from some planting and tidying, we were successful in commencing summer pond dipping science events for several different classes. The interest and fauna will expand as the pond re-establishes. Excitingly, Forest

O

school lunchtime club for year 5 has 20-25 weekly attendees to the pond area.

A portable “swan-necked” visualiser has been introduced to the department.

This has been used throughout the team to deliver both remote and an improved classroom experience.

NEWS & PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR

We will be losing two senior science team members, Matt Allen and Jo Christian at the end of this academic year.

Jo started in Sept 2008 and has made a huge contribution to the PS Science Dept over the last 13 years.

Matt has been here a little less time, 9 years, but has also had a significant

ur Prep boys journeyed into the fascinating world of Forensic Entomology on Monday 24 May, thanks to Lower Sixth Former Ethan Ofosu. During a brilliant lunchtime Zoom presentation, Ethan explained how the study of insects is used in criminal investigations—telling the story of forensic entomology from its early uses back in 1247 to modern-day cases like the famous Lobato case.

Ethan explained how forensic entomologists use the succession of species and individual species life cycles to help identify a time of death. Not to mention the many external factors that can affect insects on bodies, such as time of day (flies, like us, are diurnal and like to sleep at night!), aeration and temperature/season. The boys also discovered what attracts flies to a body in the first place and

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effect on the success and progress of the department.

However, we are aware that ‘the only constant is change’ so we welcome Dan Mason from Hitchin Boys School who will teach Y6,7 and 8 classes. Charlotte Walker will have a greater role in the department teaching a couple of Y6 classes and we welcome back Jess Hone who will teach a Y6 set and three Y5 groups.

There are always challenges with change, but we are confident that we will look to continue to review and improve upon our high standards of teaching quality, and commitment to practical learning and safety.

how bugs can be used to determine the location of death.

Speaking after the presentation, Ethan told us, “I really enjoyed sharing my knowledge of this field of forensics. It was a wonderful opportunity to, hopefully, inspire at least one of the boys to enter the world of forensics or maybe even become more interested in science as a whole because science is amazing and needs to be shared. When I was first getting interested in forensics, I would’ve really appreciated a talk by someone, so I am proud that I was able to do this.”

Ethan hopes to go into the field of forensics when he finishes school, possibly forensic toxicology, as he says, “It’s just too interesting not to.”

Thank you, that was amazing!” “Really interesting.” Prep Boys.

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Geography

GEOGRAPHY R E P O RT WORDS BY

Miss Emma Goodman, Head of Geography

YEAR 5 TREASURE MAP MAKING WITH GRID-REFERENCING, SYMBOLS AND SCALE Our intrepid Y5 geographers enjoyed a problem-solving afternoon in the sun on Tuesday as they followed some brilliantly designed treasure maps towards an appealing and tasty reward.

In groups, boys from Miss Goodman’s and Mr Loader’s geography classes put their mapmaking skills to good use to create some highly detailed treasure maps. The classes then challenged each other to follow the trails laid out on the maps. Using their map reading skills, the boys worked together to decipher four-digit grid references, work out directions from compass roses and identify symbols to hunt around the playground for hidden coloured markers. And when they were found—and some were hidden extremely well—the boys received their treasure: doughnuts!

YEAR 6 RO C K I D E N T I F I C AT I O N TA S K

by Max Midgley 6JL During the Rocks, Fossils and Dinosaurs topic we learned about the three rock families (sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous) and how they are formed. To help us learn we were given rocks to feel and study. We had to see how crumbly or smooth the rocks felt, if they had fossils, layers within the rock and crystals. We used a flow diagram to help identify which rock family it belonged to and the name of the rock.

It was wonderful to see the boys putting their geography skills into action, both in creating the maps and following them to their destinations. There was a great friendly rivalry between the two classes, which made the activity all the more fun for everyone.

Miss Goodman

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Geography VR HEADSETS: EXAMINING COASTLINES AROUND THE WORLD

by David Shirley

YEAR 7 M O N T S E R R AT

In 1997, pyroclastic flows from the Soufriere Hills Volcano caused devastation to the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean.

Y7 boys were challenged to re-enact the volcanic eruption. Their classroom became the incident room for the disaster as the boys, working together in teams as geologists, information coordinators and crisis managers, made crucial decisions to protect the inhabitants of the island. As in the real disaster, teamwork, strong communication, analysis and logical reasoning were all key as the boys assessed and responded to the changing data and ‘live’ reports coming in through their walkie-talkies from the Ten News helicopter pilots in the air. At every stage, the boys had tough decisions to make to protect residents.

Using the virtual reality headsets is always fun, especially in Geography. They move you from the classroom to anywhere in the world, from the Bora Bora Islands to the Cliffs of Dover. As well as being entertaining, the VRs are also a brilliant learning platform. Instead of staring at an image in a textbook, you are there, in the moment, immersed into the place of your choosing. In one of our recent geography lessons, we visited different coasts from all around the world, we could easily explore the headlands, identifying many different geographical features, such as bays, wave-cut notches, and stacks. I am excited to see what the future holds for the integration of teaching and technology.

YEAR 8 G L AC I AT I O N : B R I T I S H A N TA RC T I C E X P E D I T I O N REACHING THE SOUTHERN POINT OF THE GLOBE

by Abuturab Turrabi 8D 1907. My name is Ronald and I have a huge task ahead of me. I live in London and I am 30 years old. For the past three decades, I felt my life has been one of utter boredom.

I am seeking a challenge, a chance to earn the honour and recognition from my fellow countrymen. My luck has finally struck. I have been given the opportunity to go on a 1 year (possibly more) expedition to find the South Pole. As humans, we believe that the South Pole exists and we can find it.

As part of my quest, I have £2 and 81 pennies to my name. With this I can buy the equipment, essentials and animals I will need to achieve this dangerous mission.

During my shopping trip, some items are labelled as farthings (1p = 4 farthings), so in order to buy items such as crampons, reindeer skin sleeping bag, rope, snow shoes and suitable clothing I will need to convert my money. I feel the most useful items I have bought are a sledge (30 pennies), a set of 8 dogs (80 pennies) and a stove for (20 pennies).

The journey is for 12 months (approximately) and the method of communication will be using a radio. I have been told (by telegram)

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that Amundsen, a Norweigian explorer, has a team and they are on the hunt to reach the South Pole first, in order to conquer the land themselves.

Wish me luck!

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Modern Foreign Languages

M F L R E P O RT WORDS BY

Madame Kelly Faulkner, Head of Modern Foreign Languages

I

n a year in which most international travel has been curtailed, we have felt the responsibility of bringing the continent into the classroom ever more strongly.

During the fi rst lockdown last March, user numbers for language learning apps such as Duolingo and Memrise increased by 300%.

There was a slight lull over the Summer, but then another surge in uptake during the second lockdown this January. Of all the pursuits people have adopted during this strange year, such as making banana bread, working out with Joe Wicks or doing Zoom general knowledge quizzes, learning a new language might seem like an odd choice. After all, it’s not like we could jump on a plane to Madrid to order “Un vino

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tinto por favor.” However, it is for this very reason that people have embraced language learning so willingly. Cancelled holidays and the time to devote to those things we’ve always been meaning to do (get fi t, tidy the loft, learn Portuguese) have inspired us to bring a fl avour of another country into our homes or in our case, school. From a cookery lesson in “pain perdu” for Year 3, to fi lming a video about our school in Spanish for Year 8, the boys have been working hard on their linguistic skills, learning and embracing other languages and cultures whether the borders have been open or not. We hope you enjoy this little taste of our department.

Y 8 G E R M A N TA S T I N G Both Y8 classes worked on the topic of food as their last unit this year and were fortunate to have a food tasting session organised for them to discover the different fl avours of German cuisine. Small samples were prepared by Chef Stuart who talked them through the dishes and his own experience of working with German Chef in his career. From Currywurst to Apple Strudel, the boys were able to identify which fl avours they enjoyed or found particularly strange. The most popular dish was probably the potato salad and Blackforest gateau. The Sauerkraut was certainly the most odd fl avour the boys tried.

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2020 2021

Y3 FRENCH TOAST MAKING

As part of our topics this year, we learnt about food with Year 3 and in particular how to make French toast. Once we studied the vocabulary on ingredients, cutlery and recipes, Y3 classes were given the opportunity to have a go in the dining hall, under the supervision of chef Stuart. Boys worked in pairs and enjoyed tasting the end product with a sprinkle of cinnamon or sugar. This has inspired many boys to replicate this delicious recipe at home. What a treat!

MENU RESTAURANT

LE PLAT DU JOUR

ENTRÉES

Croque Monsieur Cherry Clafoutis

Tapenade aux olives Salades

Un Croque Monsieur est un sandwich chaud à base de jambon et de fromage.

Tapenade est une assiette à base d'olives et de câpres qui est délicieuse servie sur des toasts

Prix………………€4

Prix………………€6

LES PLATS PRINCIPAUX

IMPRESSO EXPRESSO

Chocolate soufflé Lemon-Berry Savarin

La salade est un mélange de laitue, tomates, œufs durs, thon, haricots verts, olives et anchois.

La croûte croustillante au chocolat est parfaite pour laisser suinter le chocolat crémeux pour une riche surprise.

Prix………………€10

Les boissons

he ● Un diabolo ment l’eau ● Une grenadine á ● L’eau ● Du lait e ● Du vin blanc et roug

Entrées

● Salades ● La soupe du jour ● Un Orangina ● Une crȇpe au sucre

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Café de la tour de Eiffel Les desserts Les plats principaux ur ● Un croque-monsie e ● Un croque-madam ● Une crȇpe au sucre lait au café Un ●

LES DESSERTS

Cassoulet Salade Niçoise

Prix………………€8

La Cabeza de la Reina Para comer Paella - 10 € Tortilla-9 € Tapas-11 € Jamón-12 € Croquetas-8 € Pescado-9 € Gazpacho-5 € Pan con Tomate-5 € Bocadillo- 8 €

Pizza con Chorizo-10 €

Une Crème Brulée

●

Une coffee Crème Brul

●

Macarons

●

clafoutis

Para Beber

●

ée

Limonada- 1.50 € Naranjada- 1.50 € Zumo de naranja- 1 € Coca Cola- 1.50 € Mojito- 2.50 € Sangria- 2.50 €

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History Left: Henry Helm’s castle; right: Jacob Adedeji’s drawing of Harriet Tubman Caste; Inset: Rossi Noto’s Castle Bottom: Year 5 boys reenacting the Battle of Hastings

H I S TO RY R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Paul Dennis, Head of History

D

espite the restrictions and lockdowns this year, the history curriculum was able to continue uninterrupted and the boys coped excellently with the adaptations made by staff to ensure that all areas were covered. It is very strange teaching in the midst of events that we as history teachers will almost be teaching about to future generations, but it is something that we will be able to look back at and say, “I lived through history.”

During the remote learning period in the Spring Term ‘Essential History’ was set up. This was introduced to allow the boys a chance to learn about and share work that we do not have time to cover in the school curriculum. It was fantastic to see so many boys contribute and there was a real range of topics, as well as ways in which work was presented. A few examples are a model of the Titanic, Minecraft creations of castles, Lego animations of the Aztecs and the Ice Age, a presentation about 2020, an essay about Harriet Tubman on the day of the US election and many more.

The annual Year 5 castle building competition was still able to take place, albeit without the competitive element.

Again the boys did fantastically despite being at home and the variety on show was fantastic. Castles were created using papier maché, cardboard, Lego and even Minecraft!

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AC ADEMIC

History

Top: Year 5 boys reenacting the Battle of Hastings Centre: Gabriel Borelli’s Minecraft version of Bodiam Castle; Bottom left: Arthur ThorntonFirkin’s castle Bottom right: Dominic Fairhead’s Titanic model

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W H I N C H AT

Religious Studies

R . E . R E P O RT 2 0 2 1 WORDS BY

Miss Louise Williams (Head of Religious Education)

Year 7

RE REPORT

BY EESA JAMIL, Y7

W

hat a great a time I have had in RE this year! From learning about interesting religions, to stimulating class debates, to designing and making my own mosque - this year I have thoroughly enjoyed it all! In the Autumn Term we studied Early Christianity. We were taught about the adventures and trials Jesus and his disciples went through. I was very involved in the debates such as ‘If Jesus existed does this mean he was the Son of God?’. It was interesting to learn about the Trinity – God in three forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Once this topic came to an end, we moved on to the religion of Islam. Islam is the fastest growing and the second largest religion after Christianity. In this unit, we learnt about the 5 Pillars of faith and the two main branches, Sunni and Shia. This subject was very

important to me as I am a Muslim and I was really happy to share my experience of this with my friends. During Ramadan this year, I fasted a few times on the weekend.

I was more thirsty than I was hungry! It was reassuring to know that my friends understood something about why I was doing this and I was pleased that they were interested. Although we were partially online learning in the Spring Term, I felt the lessons were very interactive and it felt as if I were in the classroom.

To end the year, our topic was Philosophy and Ethics and the big questions in life. We learnt about a famous philosopher Socrates and his student Plato.

Again, more engaging discussions and I even got to try out some Socratic debating skills! This subject was very interesting as it made me think deeply about big questions and helped me develop my logic and reasoning skills. Challenging – but enjoyable!

I S RSA E S SAY WRITING COMPETITION

I

n the Summer Term, two students in the Prep School chose to enter the Independent Schools Religious Studies Association essay writing competition. Around 200 students from independent schools around the country submitted essays exploring questions of theology, philosophy and religion.

The ISRSA’s response is testament to the hard work that these two Prep School boys put into their entries. They said that it had been the ‘greatest response in the history of the competition, and were absolutely delighted to read such passionate and carefully considered essays.’ Well done to David Shirley, Year 8, and Aryan Sohanpal, Year 7 for their impressive endeavours.

HOLOCAUST S U RV I VO R TA L K

BY ISAAC ADEYEMIABERE

A

s part of our Year 8 post-exam programme, we were extremely fortunate to hear one of the few remaining Holocaust survivors talking to us via live video link in the Great Hall. It was truly fascinating to be able to hear Mala’s story. The tragedy she went through was both eye-opening and emotional to hear, particularly when she talked about what happened to members of her immediate family who had tragically fallen victim to the brutality of the Nazis.

Sadly, we will be the last generation to be able to hear from the Holocaust survivors first-hand which is why it is important to treasure talks like this and remember them in the future.

Holocaust survivor, Mala Tribich MBE, shares testimony with Year 8 boys

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Religious Studies Year 7

Year 8

‘The moral rule “you must always save human life” is a bad rule.’ Do you agree? Show that you have considered both sides of the argument.

‘The Calming of the Storm (Mark 4:35-41) is best interpreted as a parable.’ Discuss.

A RYA N S O H A N PA L

W

hat’s the value of human life?

Some say it’s $10M; some say it’s priceless, so should a life be saved no matter, and under what circumstances? In this essay, I will be exploring whether or not there are morals to determining whether a life should be saved, and if it matters whether that person has been good or bad in this decision.

In my fi rst example, we have a British soldier named Henry Tandey, who it’s claimed spared the life of a German soldier during WW1.

That soldier was Adolf Hitler, who went on to kill millions of Jews in the Holocaust. In this case, the value of the lives of 6 million Jews undeniably outweighs the life of Hitler, and with this in mind, it could be argued that saving a human life is not always compulsory.

In my second scenario, let’s consider that there are currently over 2,5001 inmates on Death Row in the U.S. Some states follow the rule that if you take life, your life will be taken. But can murderers change, and is it right for any human to decide to sentence another to death? Surely it can be argued that other punishments are more humane and may be more effective in the long run.

Execution is fi nal and cannot be reversed if wrongly imposed. It rules out the possibility of rehabilitation which could conceivably see an offender atone for their crime and make a positive contribution to society. In this respect, a human life should, perhaps, always be saved as a moral rule.

Finally, there is the case of a terminally ill patient, who is in pain and has no quality of life. Should that patient be saved?

Undoubtedly, many would make the case that to extend a life that continues with pain and suffering is wrong. It could also be suggested that the organs (from the ill patient) could be used to extend the lives of others. However, doctors are not allowed to decide and are bound by the Hippocratic Oath, and in this respect, a human life should always be saved is an ethical rule.

To conclude, whilst I have explored both sides of the argument, I believe that we all have the ability to change and improve. We should not attempt to “play God”, and for this reason alone, I fully agree with the statement you should always save human life.

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DAV I D S H I R L E Y

A

parable is an often-fi ctional story, created for the purpose of teaching a moral or spiritual lesson told by Jesus. The Calming of The Storm is a story in the Bible, where Jesus calms the sea and the wind to stop the boat he is in, with his disciples, from capsizing. I believe that it does not matter how you interpret the story. Others, however, may not agree with this but say that it was or wasn’t a parable.

Some believe that the Calming of The Storm is a parable because the story contains a prominent spiritual lesson.

In the story, Jesus says. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” after the disciples wake him because they are panicking about the boat sinking. This shows that Jesus is trying to tell us in the story to always have faith in him, however bad the conditions are. Having faith in Jesus is a strong theme throughout the Bible, and it is at the heart of Christianity. The story teaches us a spiritual lesson about having faith. Therefore, some believe that the Calming Of The Storm is best interpreted as a parable because it is a perfect example of a story containing a strong and clear spiritual lesson.

Some may say, the Calming of The Storm could not be interpreted as a parable because it really happened. Jesus spread his word and message through parables, which were made-up stories that contained some sort of a lesson. These were only stories though. In and around the Calming of The Storm story, it is made clear to us that this actually happened and was not in any way fi ctitious, according to the disciples who wrote it. One of the key aspects that defi ne a parable is that it is a fi ctitious story, however this story, according to the bible, actually happened. Therefore, some people may argue that this cannot be a parable because it is not fi ctitious. I believe that it doesn’t matter how you interpret the Calming Of The Storm story because whether it is or whether it’s not a parable is irrelevant. Classifying the story either way doesn’t change or make a difference to the actual story, or what you can get from it. The main aim of the story is to teach people to have faith in Jesus no mater how bad everything else is.

Year 5

I

STA I N E D - G L A S S D E S I G N S

n the Spring Term, Year 5 were learning about Jesus’ teachings and, in particular, the Sermon on the Mount. After discussing each of the Beatitudes (the eight blessings recounted by Jesus), the boys were invited to create their own stained-glass window to represent one of the Beatitudes. The fi nished results are stunning!

Year 4

SIKH WORKSHOP WITH MR SINGH

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THE ARTS

W H I N C H AT

Music 2 0 2 1 S U M M E R W H I N C H AT DOCU CONCERT Our Summer Concert this term took on a slightly different form – that of a Docu-Concert, giving our Prep audiences a little insight into what we have been doing musically during the Spring Lockdown and, of course, when we returned to school for the Summer Term. Working in Year Group Bubbles has been a very interesting experience, but it has certainly built up our perseverance, resilience, imagination, and the ability to rapidly change plans and think on our feet, so to speak. Have a little look at our concert (QR code on opposite page ) and you will see what we have been up to this term.

MUSIC R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mrs Joanne Gedye, Prep School Head of Music

T

his year has been an amazing opportunity for the Music Department and all our young musicians in the Prep School to dig deep and experience a new and in many ways exciting approach to music making. Working remotely and then in Year Group bubbles when we returned to school, has been challenging but has also opened new and fun opportunities

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for boys to experience classroom learning as well as ensemble and group performing in new ways, and I feel that we have all learnt an enormous amount about ourselves and each-other in this process.

In the Prep School we believe that creativity, perseverance, endeavour, and resilience are vital to our boy’s growth and mindset and Music plays an integral part in the development of all these life skills in our young men. We believe that Music is for everyone, and you can see this through the many music video performances over this year, including our Summer DocuConcert this term which can be accessed via the QR code alongside this report.

Despite Covid-19 restrictions, we are very

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proud that every year group has been offered at least one, if not two opportunities to meet musically during the week to work together as an ensemble or choir. It has been an enlightening and interesting experience for the staff and boys to work with at times very varied combinations of instrumentalists, but I feel that this has been an excellent opportunity for us all to grow and learn musical community and the boys have embraced this experience and met every challenge head on. What I have found brilliant, and mind-blowing, was how keen boys were to get into the EMH for our rehearsals each week – somehow managing to eat early lunch and get down ready to sing before I had even opened my packed lunch!

I think the most challenging aspect of teaching singing in particular this year has been the boys getting used to working in a large space &being unusually spread out. As one boy said to me ‘Mrs Gedye – I feel like I’m singing a solo – it feels weird!’. However, the more we sang and worked on listening to each other, the better the boys got, and I have been so impressed with the adaptability our young men.

The Summer Term saw the return to near

THE ARTS

29

guided and continued to teach all our young musicians under extraordinary conditions this year.

Although at times challenging, I feel that this year has certainly taught me a lot about endurance and perseverance and that, no matter how daunting a project might seem at the start, nothing is impossible and the resilience of our Prep boys is remarkable.

I look forward to next year with much anticipation!

Bedford Prep School Summer Docu-Concert can be accessed by scanning the QR code (pictured right)

No matter how daunting a project might seem at the start, nothing is impossible and the resilience of our Prep boys is remarkable

musical normality in the return of our Prep Music Competition in Year Group bubbles. I was so impressed with the standard of playing of all our young musicians and I certainly did not envy Mrs Knight having to adjudicate the event. There were some outstanding performances, a couple of which were heard recently at our Prep Speech Day. A huge congratulations to all boys who auditioned, made it into the finals; but particularly to all our amazing instrumental teachers who have

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Design Technology

D T R E P O RT

2020 2021

WORDS BY

Mrs. Michelle Aldridge, Head of Design Technology

W

ow! What a challenging year it has been for all, but for us as a practical subject, it really put the DT staff’s creative minds to the test, as we worked through the covid restrictions both in and out of school. Remote learning pushed us to innovate our teaching, so with some clever thinking and careful planning we were still able to deliver a subject that is very hands on, keeping the standards high.

When we switched to online learning, at fi rst, we focussed heavily on the theoretical side of our projects. We then decided to move to some Food Technology for Year 5-7. This proved to be a very positive experience at a time that was incredibly hard for everyone.

Not only did the boys complete their food tasks but they also got to learn about traditional English dishes, the history behind them, food hygiene, and the digestive system.

We even received a variety of creative digital formats of the pupil’s step by step practical task processes. The boys showed how they can extend their skills and go to the next level.

What a great sense of achievement!

D&T within the Prep School is taught in

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mixed ability groups and focusses on practical work that requires students to become independent learners and active self-managers. This teaching method enables students to respond positively and independently when taking on new skills and responsibilities. Students are taught to make a wide variety of products within our workshops for which they must learn to prioritise, anticipate, and overcome diffi culties, showing great resilience and perseverance and fi nally, learning how to effectively refl ect on their successes.

D&T requires the students to investigate, solve problems and challenge themselves.

Working together, our teaching permits the creative contribution of ideas and develops our students’ designing ability At Bedford Prep School, we provide the opportunities for pupils to engage in activities that are challenging, relevant and motivating. Even through the pandemic and online learning, we were able to provide high quality teaching and a range of adaptable projects. Our

students gain a sense of purpose and feel satisfi ed that they can play a constructive role in a technological society. They enjoy their learning in D&T and feel secure that their experiences use knowledge, skills and understanding that are applied in increasingly diverse and sophisticated ways. Design is everywhere and in everything. Everything around us has been designed. It is diffi cult to imagine what would happen without creative minds developing new products and providing solutions to essential everyday problems.

YEAR 3

Started the year carrying out a Harry Potter sweet project, redesigning the shop layout and the sweet products that were to be sold inside it. The boys were set this design task looking into the graphics of designing and making their very own Harry Potter style sweets out of air drying clay and then also designing and creating the packaging for them too. This allowed the boys to learn about slogans, brand names and the all-important

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labels and symbols that have to go on food products when being produced in industry.

When they returned to school the Year 3s started a new project, developing design ideas and manufacturing their ‘Superhero Mask’ but also working on a focussed practical task, designing, and manufacturing pencil holders with the theme of ‘Whales’. During this task they had an introduction to a few of the workshop tools and developed an understanding of the importance of accurate measuring and marking out.

YEAR 4

Year 4’s graphic design task was inspired by Jon Burgerman, a famous graphic designer, who likes to doodle. The boys were tasked with designing and transferring their final design ideas onto their Design Technology very own t-shirts and baseball caps. They then went on to an Alice in Wonderland Tea party graphics project. This project involved cupcake designs, party invitations & decorations, how to make a good cup of tea and sandwiches. They also worked on a focussed practical task, designing, and manufacturing a pencil holder with the theme of ‘Whales’. Throughout this task they were introduced to a few of the workshop tools and developed an understanding of the importance of accurate measuring and marking out.

YEAR 5

In September we looked at action figures, assessing how they were manufactured and branded. The boys were then able to design & manufacture their own action figure. Online we continued to gain the understanding of the different packaging processes. Moving on we touched upon 3 food technology projects: Hot cross buns, gingerbread men, and a healthy drink. After that we looked at the world of Space with NASA’s innovative technology which inspired our very own jet pack creations from recyclable materials. Lastly, using lollypop sticks, the pupils created a pirate ship using structural support systems.

31

Design & technology is about making things that people want, or think they want, that work well. Creating these things is hugely exciting. It is an inventive fun activity J A M E S D Y S O N 3 food technology projects: Space cupcakes, scones, and a fruit salad. After that we looked at the world of Space with NASA’s innovative technology and started to create our very own space helmets from recyclable materials. Lastly, using lollypop sticks, the pupils created a structural fruit bowl using Mathematics and support systems.

YEAR 7

At the start of the year we looked at branding a pair of the pupils’ own trainers. We looked at different manufacturing processes which included topics such as ethical and environmental materials and trainers which included creatively writing their own advert to promote them. Online we continued to gain the understanding of the different packaging processes that are used for trainers on the market today. We then touched upon 3 food technology projects: Breakfast muffins, The Bedfordshire Clanger, and a super salad. After that we looked at artists who use cardboard around the world, enabling pupils to see the many techniques and products that have been created with this material. Lastly, using lollypop sticks, the pupils created an architectural forest cabin using Mathematics and structural support systems.

YEAR 8

Throughout Year 8, pupils complete a variety of projects which aim to develop confidence and accuracy in the workshop and to introduce new design skills. This year, the pupils focused on a range of structures: making a modular Polyhedra, Leonardo da Vinci’s selfsupporting bridge and a free-standing structure with twenty sticks of spaghetti.

This was a phenomenal year full of dedication and commitment from the students and from our staff and therefore I want to thank you all for the great perseverance and resilience given. A special mention to a pupil who I felt needed to be acknowledged in this article. I would like to say a very well done to Oliver Barbour in Year 6 for his exceptional creative design work and for all the practical products that he produced, he not only made outstanding products but photographed them in an artistic and creative manner.

The standard of professional and exceptional work that has been produced by this student has truly been amazing. Watch this space everyone he could be the next up and coming James Dyson…

YEAR 6

At the start of the academic year, we looked at rebranding the McDonalds food packaging which proved to be multi-faceted as it sparked conversations when eating the food, but also enabled the exploration of food packaging methods and processes. As a result, the pupils were able to transfer their own designs onto real packaging. Our online learning supported this line of enquiry as the boys continued to learn about packaging materials and processes. Moving on we touched upon

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W H I N C H AT

Art

A RT R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Phil Studd , Head of Art

A

nother challenging year and yet, if further proof of our boys’ resilience and resourcefulness in Art were needed, this was one during which we witnessed their considerable potential and abilities.

During Lockdown 2, all year groups engaged in an exploration of one artist or another: Y4

investigated the pointillist techniques that characterised the work of Impressionist, Georges Seurat, leading to colourful reproductions of the Eiffel Tower. Boys in Y6 extended their studies of the human figure from the Autumn Term to research Alberto Giacometti: they developed stroke-making skills in drawing, as well as manipulating tin foil, to prepare for a figure sculpture assignment on their return to school. Both Y7 and Y8 pupils engaged with a broader course of Art History, identifying and learning ‘10 ARTWORKS YOU SHOULD KNOW’. Their learning was so good that, five months later, they are still correctly naming the artists, titles and locations of the paintings studied.

Of course, we are not defined by remote learning - the work produced this term

provides all the evidence I need that boys experience more enjoyment and meaningful art onsite. The Y5 and Y8 cohorts have operated as printmakers since their return.

Y5 were able to realise their illustrations of Ted Hughes’ Iron Man. Their management of intaglio tools and ink has been outstanding to deliver some outstanding editions of this classic fictional character. Y8s, having no previous experience of cutting lino, have simply delivered some astonishing prints of Bedford Landmarks within a 5-week period.

Our youngest boys in Y3 have been learning to mix and apply paints with precision to organise a range of colours and tones. The Giacometti-inspired figure sculptures crafted

by Y6 capture the movement and gesture of sporting heroes, musicians, actors and dancers. Giacometti would have been proud to stand among this crowd. And finally, Y7 have been well and truly tested: analysing in detail, for the first time, their own face to produce self-portraits in graphite. To deliver this quality, you need resilience, as well as honest observation and evaluation. I was more than impressed with this talented crop of young men.

Congratulations to Harrison Hughes, Y8 who was successful in his application for the 13+ Art Scholarship. He was run close by his peers during the year. They were incredibly supportive of each other and one of the most enjoyable groups to nurture during my time here. I wish them further successes and enjoyment in the years ahead.

So, despite the challenges, we continue to thrive at Bedford Prep School. We are continuing to promote the value of a creative curriculum in this school and to foster an appreciation of the arts. I cannot wait for next year.

C A T H E R I N E D O H E RT Y P S A RT T E C H N I C IA N

I

n October, we were fortunate enough to spot Catherine among a long list of applicants for the role as PS Art Technician. Catherine is a practising artist, an illustrator and painter, specialising in pet portraiture, as well as in plaster sculpture. Her enthusiasm for Art has been immediate and manifests in the way she supports the department, including the boys. In her first year, Catherine has made a significant impact around the school, with outstanding organisation of displays, but also in her tuition to Y7 scholarship candidates to develop their graphics skills.

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Art 01

02

03

05

REMOTE LEARNING

04

ART SCHOLARSHIP

T 01

02

03

04

07

08

06 05

09

his year, 11 boys from Y8 applied for the 13+ Art Scholarship, forming one of the strongest groups I have seen in my time at BPS. Scholarship is a genuine test of a boy’s commitment to the subject, as well as his technical ability. I know many of the group found the process arduous but they were able to refl ect on a sense of achievement. In some cases, boys discovered a genuine relationship with art and I hope that continues to fl ourish in the Upper School studios.

Of the group, 4 boys were invited for the second phase of assessment in January 2021 - for the standards they have set, as well as the commitment and efforts they showed to get there, art colours were awarded to Harrison Hughes, Abuturab Turrabi, Henry Gillham and Luka Ilic.

Of course, not all boys fi nish with an award. To you, I say art will be a strong area of your education and enjoyment, so keep at it. The 13+ Art Scholarship was eventually awarded to Harrison Hughes [8D] - an outstanding achievement.

11

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*For individual artist credits turn to page 97

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AC ADEMIC

W H I N C H AT

Art ART SCHOLARSHIP (CONTINUED)

YEAR 7

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SCHOLARSHIP APPLICANTS n n Jibran Baloch n Henry Gillham

n Jonny Hall n Luca Henchoz n Luka Ilic

n Joseph Lee n Luke Mitchell n George Sivills

n Harry Townsend n Abuturab Turrabi n Zach Whelan

YEAR 4

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*For individual artist credits turn to page97

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Art YEAR 7

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*For individual artist credits turn to page 97

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THE ARTS

W H I N C H AT

Drama

D R A M A R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Jonathan Hooley, Head of Prep School Drama

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Drama

Main picture Howard House, Y8. Inset: Harpur

O

Since March 2020, theatres across the country have been dark and at the time of writing, the future of the industry still looks uncertain.

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n reflection, it is astonishing to consider that pupils last stood on stage in the Quarry Theatre sixteen months ago. Since March 2020, theatres across the country have been dark and at the time of writing, the future of the industry still looks uncertain. It is testament, therefore, to our boys’ resilience, commitment, and energy that we can fill these pages with words and images celebrating their performances this year.

The annual House Drama competition was presented in an alternative format this year.

Despite restrictions and lockdowns, fortyfour Year 8 boys presented four stories from Ancient Greece in the Quarry Theatre to the rest of their year group in the final week of the Summer Term. Each piece was streamed live on the Quarry Theatre YouTube channel for parents, and congratulations go to Harpur, for their performance of To Hell with Love, based on Orpheus in the Underworld, to Howard, for their performance of Perseus and Medusa, to Bunyan, for their interpretation of The Minotaur, and Whitbread, for their suitably knockabout retelling of The Trojan Horse.

The boys relished the opportunity to perform on stage after such a long hiatus, and each piece was full of the Prep School’s trademark energy, humour and imagination.

Despite being in lockdown during January and February, five boys took part in the English Speaking Union’s Speaking Shakespeare Competition, a national event celebrating Shakespeare’s words and characters. Ben Cutts, Henry Gillham, James Pinkney, Advik Mishra and Aryan Sohanpal

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THE ARTS

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Drama enjoyed a series of online workshops, led by OB and RSC practitioner, Ollie Lynes, learning about the rhythms of the language and how to speak verse. In March, each boy performed his monologue to camera and special mention goes to Ben Cutts for his commanding interpretation of Mark Anthony’s speech, “If you have tears, prepare to shed the now…” and to Advik Mishra, for his nuanced performance of Chorus, from Henry V, “Now entertain

conjecture of a time…”

This year’s Drama prize winners were Ben Cutts and Henry Gillham, and the Drama Scholarship went to Henry Gillham. Well done to all the boys who have taken part in plays and workshops over the years, it has been an honour and a privilege to lead the department these past eleven years. I look forward to returning to the theatre in the future as an audience member.

Despite restrictions and lockdowns, forty-four Year 8 boys presented four stories from Ancient Greece in the Quarry Theatre Y8 House Drama performance and rehearsals.

Right hand side Howard.

Boy in white shirt Harpur

2020 2021

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Speech & Drama

S P E E C H & D R A M A R E P O RT WORDS BY

By Mrs Patsy Turton, Head of Speech and Drama

BEDFORDSHIRE SPEECH A N D D R A M A F E S T I VA L ‘ 2 1

LAMDA EXAMS

The LAMDA exams took place over the course of three days: Monday 21st -Wednesday 23rd.

Boys from Year 3-8 took their exams in a range of subjects ranging from Verse and Prose, to Acting. In total, 136 pupils took their LAMDA exams. Every boy had to perform two pieces as well as answer technical questions about their pieces and performances. All the boys worked so hard to prepare, including during lockdown, and we are so proud of the boys for their resilience and dedication. It was a delight to see the boys relish in the opportunity to share their work with the examiners!

The festival is a huge event in the Speech and Drama calendar, only this year was a little bit different. Each boy had to submit a video of their performances to google classroom and the videos were then submitted to the festival portal. The live adjudications took place between 8th and 12th March giving boys the opportunity to hear the adjudicators comments on their pieces. It was lovely to hear all of the boys’ hard work being recognised and their efforts R E S U LT S : acknowledged. The different set up this year Distinctions: 48 | Merits: 78 | Pass:5 provided the boys with an opportunity to explore Clockwise from top right: boys from years 3-8 who performance for the camera as well their at the Bedfordshire Festival of Music, wereasplaced usual skills. It was an event where all theand Drama Speech family were able to get involved from camera crew, rehearsals and even some pets making an appearance!

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITY Two of our Prep boys took part in the Upper School Showcase on Wednesday 30th July.

Ben Cutts and Elio Lepore took to the stage and to share their LAMDA exam monologues.

Ben Cutts performed ‘Sherlock Homes’ and Elio Lepore performed ‘The Date’. This proved a fantastic opportunity for the boys to perform their pieces in front of a wider audience and to celebrate their recognised hard work before the end of term. We are so impressed with all of the boys for their outstanding efforts this year! We wish all our year 8 pupils all the best of luck pursing their love for Drama in the Upper School and look forward to another busy and successful year next academic year!

R E S U LT S :

No. of 1st place: 16 No. of 2nd place: 30 No. of 3rd place: 25 Placements in total: 71

2020 2021

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W H I N C H AT

Speech & Drama BEDFORDSHIRE SPEECH AND DRAMA R E S U LT S 2 0 2 1

Monday 8th March

Tuesday 9th March:

Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 8

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 9

Write and Speak a Poem

1st Austin Reddy

2nd Adam Purdie

Aged 9-10

2nd George Steed

3rd Abhay Raghunath

1st Lucas Hill

3rd Veer Ramani

Dramatic Solo - Aged 7-8

Write and Speak a Poem -

Wednesday 10th March

1st Austin Reddy

Aged 11

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 7

2nd Joe Willard

1st Advik Mishra

1st Major Grewal

3rd Jack Efe Taylor

2nd Aryan Sohanpal

2nd Thomas McDonald

3rd Ralph Franklin Write and Speak a Poem -

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 8

Aged 7-8

Dramatic Solo - Aged 9-10

2nd Joe Willard

Joint 2nd Isaac Devenish and

Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 9

2nd Charlie Tillison

Samuel Hughes

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 9

3rd Cayo Sinclair

2nd Angelo Milioto

Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 11

Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 7

2nd Kasim Sheikh

1st James Workman

1st Lucas Hill 3rd Conor Hayes

3rd Major Grewal

Shakespeare Solo Aged - 7-8 1st Monty Pool

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 11

Joint 2nd Thomas McDonald and

Joint 2nd: Joshua Lincoln and

Prepared Reading Aged 8

Gabriel Roberts

Advik Mishra

2nd Charlie Tillison

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 10

Friday 12th March

3rd James Holt

1st Alastair Tierney

Verse Speaking Solo Aged 13

3rd Toby Hudson and Thomas

2nd Aadhi Arun

Prepared Reading Aged 9

Whiting

1st Luke Mitchell

Dramatic Solo Aged 12:

2nd Joshua Worboys

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 11

3rd Cayo Sinclair

3rd Leo Mathew

Verse Speaking Solo - Age 10

Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 10

1st Charlie Gibson

Joint 3rd Place James Angus and

3rd Ethan Daubney and

2nd Aryan Sohnapal

Samuel Hughes

Freddie Barnes

3rd Joshua Lincoln

3rd Sam Deardon Dramatic Solo Aged 11

Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 11 Prepared Reading Solo - Age 11

1st Advik Mishra

2nd Charlie Gandesha

Verse Speaking Solo Aged 13 3rd Joe Lee

Dramatic Solo - Aged 11 Thursday 11th March

1st Oliver Quince

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 8

2nd Rocco Sarro and Advik Mishra

1st James Holt Joint 2nd Jacob Jemmett-Gabrys

Verse Speaking Solo - Aged 12

and Oscar McCartie

3rd Aiden Reid

3rd Benedict Armstrong Dramatic Solo - Aged 12 Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 8

2nd Ben Cutts

2nd Oli Hudson

3rd Elio Lepore

Prepared Reading Solo - Aged 9

Shakespeare Solo - Aged 11-12

2nd Archie Fleming

1st Owain Harries 2nd Harry Brown

Dramatic Solo - Aged 9-10

3rd Tom White

1st James Angus 2nd George Harrison

Religious Text Reading

3rd Matthew Moretto

Solo Any Age 2nd James Gordon

2020 2021

3rd Tom White

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Enrichment

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he Enrichment Programme at Bedford Prep School aims to prepare boys for their future by providing a range of opportunities to develop different skills, pursue interests, and to gain new experiences outside of the curriculum. This year, despite the restrictions faced, the boys have had the opportunity to take part in many different enriching activities.

At the beginning of the year, we ran a competition in conjunction with the Independent Schools Association in which boys had to learn and perform a Shakespearean monologue. Boys took part in a workshop delivered by the Royal Shakespeare Company, organised by Mr Hooley, which provided coaching on how to use voice, gesture and intonation to enhance performance. It was truly wonderful to see boys from Year 3 all the way up to Year 8 recite Shakespeare’s language – albeit through Microsoft Teams! We look forward to running this competition again.

The Enrichment Programme, this year, has also included an opportunity for boys in KS3 to attend Sixth Form led Economics seminars, a newly formed Year 8 Debating Society, as well as taster sessions for the Upper School’s Ashdown Society which focuses on current affairs and

public opinion. Boys in Year 7 and 8 have enjoyed discussing everything from ‘cancel culture’ to the North Korean economy, and cryptocurrencies while building on their public speaking skills simultaneously.

The Year 8 boys had an opportunity to further their ability to communicate their arguments logically and coherently when they took part in a Debate Mate workshop as part of their post-exam programme.

Several boys in Year 7 were also given the opportunity to compete against Bedford Greenacre School in a public speaking competition; our team gave confident and compelling arguments against the future of artificial intelligence. We look forward to involving more boys in debating and public speaking opportunities next year.

In the summer term, boys in Year 3 and 4 took part in a nationwide Outdoor Classroom Day, which saw the curriculum enriched through a range of stimulating outdoor activities including a bug hunt, scavenger trail, and a construction task with stick-lets which encouraged resourcefulness and creativity. It was fantastic to see boys using natural resources to build shelters and look

ENRICHMENT R E P O RT

for creepie crawlies and mini beasts under rocks and near the school pond.

Towards the end of term, all boys in Year 8 took part in a House General Knowledge competition. This culminated in a final in the EMH where finalists were given the opportunity to answer tricky questions on a variety of topics. Due to the success of this event, we are looking to offer this opportunity to other boys in the Prep School next year.

During one of the tutor periods in the penultimate week of term, Year 7 and 8 boys were invited to attend one of several enrichment talks given by Sixth Form students from the Upper School. The talks were both insightful and compelling and titles included, ‘Learning how to be a good man using ancient philosophy’; ‘Why is maths actually useful?’; ‘Nerve agents and how they affect the body’, and ‘How lasers function’. We are fortunate to be able to draw on the enthusiasm and passions of our Sixth Form students, and it was great for our KS3 boys to see older boys speaking so confidently and coherently.

It has been tremendous to see how much the Prep School boys have immersed themselves in the wider life of the school despite the restrictions this year, and we look forward to offering many more opportunities next year.

WORDS BY

Miss Sophie Bamber, Head of Enrichment

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W H I N C H AT

Lockdown Enrichment

T H E G R E AT B P S B A K E O F F W O R D S B Y Ms Imogen Bowis, DT, English and Rowing Teacheraz

C

oming up with extra curricular activities to inspire boys during lockdown could have been a challenge, but not for our boys! Inspired by the television programme of a similar name, at the start of lockdown 2.0 (or was it 3.0) ‘The Great BPS Bake Off’ was born.

The fi rst challenge was ‘Biscuit Week’ The boys were asked to bake six or more decorated biscuits. We were delighted to fi nd over 40 entries posted on the Sunday evening and the standard was exceptional. From a 3D Christmas Tree of biscuits to biscuits that looked like pizza,

Minecraft characters, dinosaurs, football kits, the list goes on!

Some looked very professional, some looked home baked but all looked delicious and we were very disappointed not to be able to taste any.

Then came ‘Cupcake Week’.

Mr Silk didn’t realise what he had let himself in for when he agreed to judge this one. Word had got round and he had over 70 entries to choose from; and what a collection! It was like a ‘Willy Wonka Cake Shop’ with chocolate cakes, sweetie cakes, cakes that looked like burgers, Cookie Monster Cakes, Starwars cakes, Pokemon cakes, Snowmen cakes,

cakes that looked like milkshakes and toadstools and sheep and mice and cakes that looked like they had come straight out a Parisian patisserie.

The enthusiasm multiplied with Pizza Week, Valentine’s Week, Chinese Week, Bread Week and culminated in a fi nale of a Showstopper Celebration Cake.

By this time many boys, desperate to come back to school, chose to celebrate the return to the classroom with their spectacular school themed cakes. There were special birthday cakes, Mothers’ Day cakes and, of course, cakes to celebrate our fabulous keyworkers.

We have been blown away by the creativity and enthusiasm for this challenge and it has been wonderful to see boys developing their curiosity and learning new skills in the kitchen. We obviously have some Paul Hollywoods in the making and we hope you all enjoyed some of the delicious delicacies that had our mouths watering.

BISCUIT WEEK

Noah Silk

Alastair Tierney

Aryan Sohanpal

Charlie Miller

Jonathan Pugsley

Sammy Hughes

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Joe Willard

Isaac and Seb Raddan

Samuel Parrish, 4L

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Lockdown Enrichment BREAD WEEK

Berkley Barnicoat

Harrison Hughes

Oliver Featherstone Kuba Kopec

Samuel Parrish, 4L

Eben Clarke Ashwin Curtis

Jacob O’Neill

CHINESE WEEK

Kuba Kopec

Gabriel Roberts Matthew Byrne

Ashwin Curtis

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Joe Willard

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44

ENRICHMENT

W H I N C H AT

Lockdown Enrichment CUPCAKE WEEK

Edward Page

Joe Willard

Freddie Barnes

Oliver Surley

Berkley Barnicoat

Sammy Hughes

Hayden Grattan

EUROPEAN WEEK Major Grewal

Xavier Clark

Isaac West

Chris Gentry

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Ashwin Curtis

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Lockdown Enrichment FINAL WEEK

Joseph Edwards

Samuel Parrish

Ashwin Curtis

Oliver Featherstone

Matthew & Evan Byrne

ROGER BANNISTER ONE MILE VIRTUAL CHALLENGE

O

ur Prep boys have an excellent history of success in running events, and we are delighted to say that this has continued this term. Just before we broke for the half-term break, the boys competed in the ‘Roger Bannister One Mile Challenge’ with great success.

The event, which gave boys (and their parents) the chance to race virtually against St Anthony’s Prep and Hereward House, proved highly popular, with 35 Bedford Prep boys taking part in the one-mile challenge.

When the results were published, there was even more to celebrate as our U13s and U11s dominated the leader boards.

In the U13 competition, Isaac Raddan (Y7) took fi rst place, with Sam Barnes (Y8) in second place.

While in the U11 competition, we had three boys in amongst the

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H A L F T E R M F A M I LY M O U N TA I N ( S TA I R ) C L I M B C H A L L E N G E

H

ave fun, increase the amount of activity you do a day, and help your health…take the Mountain (Stair) Climb Challenge.

It is hard to keep track of the total number of individual steps you take in a day (some may have devices which do!), so instead record the number of fl ights of stairs you climbed. There are 15 steps in an average fl ight of stairs. Up = 1 fl ight & down = 1 fl ight The challenge is to climb a mountain in a week by totalling the amount of fl ights of stairs your family can climb in that time span. Below is a table with numbers already calculated for you: Virtual Mountain Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland Scafell Pike, England

Mount Snowdon, Wales Ben Nevis, Scotland

top four places. Berkley Barnicoat (Y6) took the top spot with Oliver Featherstone (Y5) in third place and Ollie Jackson (Y6) in joint fourth.

Our congratulations go to them and all the boys who took part.

Congratulations also go to Isaac’s dad, who fi nished in second place in the parent and staff competition and, most importantly, many thanks to St Anthony’s Prep for kindly organising the virtual event.

No of Steps 5,390 6,180 7,120

8,810

No of flights 360 412 475 587

Sixteen families entered the competition, with mountains climbed ranging from Slieve Donard to Ben Nevis from the above list The Willard family went somewhat higher by climbing more fl ights of stairs and calculating that they managed to climb Kitt Peak (USA). However, they were bested by the Dunn family who, by using the whole week and putting in an amazing last day, managed to get to the top of Mont Blanc (France).

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Lockdown Enrichment THE BEDFORD SCHOOL B I R D WATC H 2 0 2 1

T

he second lockdown did not dishearten our young boys’ enthusiasm for completing the great Birdwatch from the RSPB. All year groups were invited to join a virtual club and share which birds they observe in their gardens. The event ran on the set dates of 29th to 31st January. Many boys enjoyed preparing and setting up bird feeders whilst familiarising themselves with the different common garden birds.

CAREFUL COLOURING CLUB 2020-21

C

areful Colouring Club began in the autumn term, and quickly became a fi rm favourite with many boys in Year 3&4. This lunchtime club was intended as a little ‘oasis’ for the boys to take time away from their busy schedules, listen to some soothing music, and ‘lose themselves’ as they enjoyed focusing on colouring their pictures carefully.

The club continued to be a big hit during our period of remote learning, and a number of boys from across the year groups submitted images of their fi nished pictures each week. There was a wide range of weekly themes for the pictures, such as space, under the sea, British wildlife, Winter, Egypt and Pirates. Well done to all boys who participated this year.

The CCC will be back!

D

VIRTUAL ENSEMBLES

I

n the Spring Term we were desperate to give the boys the feeling of making music with one another, despite the environment we found ourselves in not making that possible in the traditional sense.

The woodwind, brass and percussion players in the prep school were offered the opportunity to learn a part for ‘Funky town’ and asked to practise and then record themselves on video playing along to a recording of the piece using headphones.

This is, in some ways, a more diffi cult task than rehearsing together for a live concert given there is no room for error with a pre-recorded track and very little professional input.

The boys, needless to say, did brilliantly well and we were thoroughly impressed with the performances we received. All the pupils who took part had clearly spent a great amount of time preparing their individual parts and their efforts paid off with a fun and energetic fi nal edit published in the Summer Term.

We can’t wait to perform ‘Funky town’ live to parents, family and friends once such occasions can once again be part of the calendar. Well done to everyone involved!

E S S E N T I A L H I STO RY

uring the remote learning period in the Spring Term ‘Essential History’ was set up. This was introduced to allow the boys a chance to learn about and share work that we do not have time to cover in the school curriculum. It was fantastic to see so many boys contribute and there was a real range of topics, as well as ways in which work was presented. A few examples are a model of the Titanic, Minecraft creations of castles, Lego animations of the Aztecs and the Ice Age, a presentation about 2020, an essay about Harriet Tubman on the day of the US election and many more

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BEDFORD PREP SCHOOL CLASSICAL SOCIETY

T

his year we decided to create a Bedford Prep School Classical Society, following the successful model of the Classical Society in place in the Upper School.

The Bedford Prep School Classical Society was launched online in January 2021. The dedicated page on Google Classroom immediately attracted 52 students from Year 6 to Year 8, all eager to share knowledge and opinions about Greek and Roman culture.

The online space has been fi lled with presentations and comments from the boys. It has been impressive to witness the curiosity of our boys in action! They completed independent research on various topics. Ancient Greek religion has proven to be very popular alongside with the stories of Greek heroes for Year 6. The boys enjoyed exploring these topics covered in lessons at a new level of depth and showed a great passion for it.

At the same time, the Bedford Prep School Classical society has seen some amazing project about topics not covered in lessons at all, from Punic wars to Greek philosophy! It has been a great experience to witness the talent of our boys achieving such great results.

ONLINE MUSIC CONCERTS DURING LOCKDOWN

I

nspired by our former Musician in Residence Andrew Groom (who did some amazing online concerts in the fi rst lockdown), we decided to organise a series of online concerts, giving boys across the whole school the opportunity to send in recordings of themselves performing.

We were inundated with recordings and so were able to create four different concert programmes with all of the material that was sent in.

Some of the sixth-form boys volunteered to introduce the recordings, which varied from complete beginners to very experienced performers. It was a truly ‘whole-school’ enterprise

and reminded me that at Bedford School we really do provide musical opportunities for boys all the way from Y3 up to Y13.

If you missed any of the concerts you can go onto the school’s YouTube Channel and catch up: Bedford School Music Playlist

MIND, BODY AND SOUL C O L L A P S E DAY

D

uring the lockdown period, all Prep School boys took part in a Mind, Body and Soul wholeschool curriculum collapse day - activities and tasks including bridge design and building; an online cookery class; fi tness sessions, as well as art and music sessions. Boys were encouraged to be creative and spend time away from the screen.

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Lockdown Enrichment M AT H S LOCKDOWN SUCCESSES

A

nother successful term within the Maths Department with all boys demonstrating “endeavour”.

YEAR 3

Two boys demonstrated excellent commitment to their Maths this term and received a Maths Commendation for their hard work. Joseph Parsonage and Guy Jones both completed the entire Numbots programme during lockdown. Guy then went on to revisit every level again to ensure he achieved 3 stars on each game (the top achievement!). Such excellent self-refl ection and drive is very impressive from such a young boy. I believe he has also now also completed the entire TT RockStar Programme.

Exciting times to see such Maths Superstars coming through the school. Huge congratulations to them both and also well done to the other Year 3 and 4 who continued to work hard on their Maths this term.

O N L I N E P O E T RY CO M P E T I T I O N

W

riting your own poem takes a combination of imagination, creativity, and an understanding of writing skills. The online poetry competition set out to give the boys an opportunity to explore all these elements; and each boy was given feedback each week from our ‘guest judge’ and an opportunity to understand the fundamental tools needed to write poetry.

Each week boys were set a new topic to write about. The topics ranged from capturing our future skills heroes, with the topic ’Responsibility’, to the seasonal theme ‘Winter’. My favourite was the ‘Home Schooling’ topic as they were quite comical and very relatable!

It was great to see the efforts being made week on week and the improvements made in such a short space of time. Boys thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and I certainly enjoyed reading them each week!

YEAR 7 AND 8

Again, a special mention to the following boys demonstrated true commitment to the weekly challenge – The Daily Rigour – an online maths newspaper. Current and relatable Maths problems.

Aryan Sophanal Thomas Mahony Eesa Jamil These boys showed excellent problem-solving skills.

Whinchat 2021_REPRO.indd 47

T

he second lockdown put an end to the normal Tuesday and Thursday morning running club.

However, not wanting the boys to lose enthusiasm and fi tness, we decided to create Strava Club. This involved boys joining a private club on Strava and me setting them weekly challenges - both individual and team.

PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB

D

uring Lockdown we invited the boys in Year 5 and 6 to be part of a Photography Club. The boys were given a weekly theme and had to submit a photograph of something they had taken that week. The weekly themes were quite varied from: ‘Young and Old, fi nd something that begins with the letter F, Black and White and Signs of Spring.’ The boys were extremely creative, and their photographs were wonderful.

Defi nitely some photographers for the future!

YEAR 5 AND 6

Well done to Chris Gentry, Alexander Gibson, Khushal Pattni for working hard to complete the Maths Calendars available as part of enrichment. All boys demonstrated an excellent level of Maths and worked hard to demonstrate their methods and reasoning.

S T R AVA C L U B

A

Signs of spring

Black and white

Old and new

Portraits

R E E F K E E P I N G TA L K

group of Prep boys enjoyed a fascinating talk from Lower Sixth Former, James Deardon on Wednesday 3 February as he took time out of his studies to introduce them to the world of reef keeping.

While James adapted his presentation (originally given to the Upper School’s Biology Society) for his younger audience, it still gave the boys an excellent scientifi c introduction into corals, water chemistry, organisms and ecological relationships— all of which can be discovered by keeping a reef aquarium.

James explained, “I originally performed the presentation to the Upper School and felt that a Prep School audience could also very much benefi t from it. As well as it being one of my personal hobbies, I feel that this topic is a perfect example of the application of science, and how what is learned in lessons can be applied to real-life situations outside the classroom. For me, this is vitally important for students to start developing passions for certain subjects, which hopefully sticks with them throughout their time at the school.”

The boys left the talk buzzing with excitement

Close up of an object

about the many fascinating facts they had learned; from polyps to the algae that colour the coral to how reefs are dying out, and how you can help replenish your own corals through fragging. A highlight of the talk was the many incredible creatures discussed, from the ‘clean-up crews’ of hermit crabs, cleaner shrimps and sea snails that are a vital part of the reef’s ecosystem to the ‘nasty hitchhikers’, such as the pistol shrimp who fi res bullets of bubbles at its foes. The bang that this incredible creature creates is, for a split second, 4800oC, nearly as hot as the surface of the sun, and is louder than the call of a blue whale.

Speaking afterwards, the Prep boys who had signed up for the lunchtime online talk commented, “Wow, that was amazing!” and that it was full of “good advice” for getting started in reef keeping.

Mr Mallalieu, Head of Science in the Prep School, told us, “We are enormously grateful to James for his brilliant talk. Talks from our Upper School boys and their involvement in many of our enrichment activities play an important role in enhancing the boys’ education. They are wonderful role models and inspire so many boys to follow in their footsteps.”

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W H I N C H AT

Make an impact WORDS BY

Mr Simon Lincoln, Acting Assistant Head Pastoral

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fter the success of ‘Challenge 100’ in Lockdown 2, Bedford Prep School wanted to challenge as many boys as possible in Lockdown 3 to make a positive impact in their local area, help an individual they care for, or for a charity they are passionate about. Therefore, ‘Challenge Make An Impact’ was introduced with the simple aim of giving up time to enhance the lives of others. The idea was inspired by James Holt in Year 4 who supported his local community in Harrold by helping with the clearup project after the fl ooding. The take-up by the boys was overwhelming throughout, with over 80 boys getting involved, giving their time to really make a difference. Boys submitted their reports and photos of their progress and the impact they made. It was amazing to see the time and effort that went into this challenge.

Henry Whitfield Henry Whitfi eld worked at his local Primary School where he painted the fence, washed the wall, cleared out a ditch, swept and jet washed the play area.

George Shirley helped to deliver the village magazine.

Sam Barnes cleared out an overgrown area of woods near his home. Over time, he hopes to improve the environment by introducing wildfl owers to the site to encourage insects and wildlife.

His local Parish Council are hugely supportive and are funding the cost of the seeds. It promises to be a real treat in Spring and Summer when the fl owers bloom. His endeavours even made the local newspaper.

Emir Kenrick took the challenge in his stride quite literally, pledging to run 100k for charity.

Stanley Banks walked and ran 100km raising £1200.

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Harry Townsend hosted bingo games for boys in the Prep School to raise

money for the Harpur H charity, the SMART Prebend Centre.

Each boy donated £2 to enter, and games took place online on Friday lunchtimes.

Harry had hoped to raise £200 but raised close to £900, thanks to the school community’s kindness and generosity. Thank you also to Mr Whitbread for helping to organise the games.

Rory and Thomas MacDonald helped to grit the lane on which they live during the cold weather to prevent their 85-year-old neighbour and other neighbours from slipping.

Charlie Tillison helped his neighbours by collecting their cardboard in his wheelbarrow before taking it to the recycling bank. Like most of us, they all had more card and boxes from deliveries that would not fi t in their bins.

Ollie Cochrane helped his local primary school by delivering hot chocolate and cards to the local community, ready for a whole school hot chocolate assembly.

The PTA were happy for his help, which

saved them a lot of time and effort.

money for Cancer Research UK, a charity that means a lot to his family and raised £315.

Jonathan Pugsley donated lots of books to his local ‘free library’ so that other children can enjoy them as well.

Jake Woodrow ran 28 miles this month (a mile a day) with his dog, brother, mum and dad to raise money and awareness for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Henry van Rensburg spread kindness by making cards and bookmarks for the residents in the care home near his house. He also sent them some chocolate biscuits to have with their tea.

George Millar set himself the challenge of running 5k every day for 14 days to raise funds for The Captain Tom Foundation. So far, he has raised over £1,200.

Joshua Edmondson ran or cycled every morning in February before school to raise

Harry Townsend and Josh Lincoln collected reading books and school shoes for Cauldwell School. Many thanks for all the donations.

Over 600 books and 40 pairs of shoes were handed to Cauldwell who were delighted with the impact that will have in their community.

Austin Reddy made a thoughtful care box for NHS staff at Bedford Hospital containing lip balm, hand cream, water bottles, and snacks. He also picked lots of litter, too.

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Make an impact

Aryan Sohanpal baked amazing sourdough loaves to give to his elderly neighbours who were shielding in addition to other vulnerable neighbours and NHS workers.

Joseph Ram decided to bake cakes, pack them into boxes and deliver them to friends and neighbours.

George Simmonds was busy writing a brilliant weekly newsletter for residents in his local care home. It is sure to have brought a smile to many residents’ faces with all its fun entries, stories, photos and art.

Alfie James potted up 27 spring bulbs: one for each of the elderly residents in the care home on his road so that every resident could have a plant in their room. He used his own money, which he earned by doing jobs at home, to buy all the bulbs and pots.

Bay Chater helped out by picking litter with his Grandfather who volunteers for ‘Pride in Bedford’ as a ‘Street Champion Volunteer’ and was glad to show Bay the ropes.

Joseph Edwards came up with a good way to recycle his old Christmas tree – turning it into an environmentallyfriendly shelter for wildlife.

Matthew Byrne sent crossword puzzles to his class and Mr McGregor to keep them entertained and offered to cheer them up with a call if they wished.

Rhys Brook volunteered at the community larder in Bedford: collecting donated food items and food, that would have ended up in landfi ll, from a supermarket before taking it to the community larder.

The community larder cooks meals for the homeless with the donated food and runs a community supermarket selling discounted items for those in need.

Fergus Jenkins raised funds for Macmillan Cancer Research by completing a sponsored 10-mile cycle ride.

SJ Gill helped to deliver groceries from his parents’ shop to the elderly and those who are vulnerable or self-isolating.

There were many examples of boys making an impact and these were just a few

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Freddie Bowis baked cupcakes to bring smiles to his neighbours’ faces during the snow, while Jacob JemmettGabrys delivered fl owers and biscuits in a kind gesture for his neighbour who lives alone and is unable to get out much.

Hayden Grattan helped his neighbours who are key workers with a bit of dog walking for them while they are at work.

Evan Byne created some Sudoku puzzles which he sent out with sweet treats to his teacher and class.

Joe Basquille not only sorted through his own books, games and puzzles to donate to Keech Hospice, he also encouraged his friends to do the same. By the time he had collected all the donations and combined them with his own, Joe had 168 books, 37 games and 17 jigsaw puzzles to share with the children being cared for by the hospice or for them to sell to raise funds valuable funds in their charity

shops. We are sure that his generosity will put a smile on many children’s faces.

Nico Stewart, Gabriel Roberts, James Gordon, Jeremy Dunn, Jack Nash, Joseph Parsonage, Ben Long, Thomas Mahony, Guy Jones and Sammy Inman all decided to focus on litter to help make a difference in their communities and have been very busy litter picking.

Jeremy also hopes to raise money for The Wildlife Trust by getting sponsorship for his efforts, and Jack is helping his elderly neighbour with rubbish too, by taking out her bins each week.

Mihai Memet decided to treat local NHS ambulance staff from Bedford with some doughnuts to thank them for all their hard work during these diffi cult times. Judging by the smiles of the ambulance staff, this act of kindness made their day.

Well-done to all the boys who took part in this challenge and made an impact on their community.

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Houses

Some of our Eagle boys (including 1st XI captain, Danny Chapman) get to meet Sir Alastair Cook (OB)

EAGLE HOUSE R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Simon Lincoln, Eagle Housemaster

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his year has brought so many challenges for everyone and in Eagle House we have had to face them together. The positivity and resilience the boys and staff have shown in such an unsettling year has been amazing. To have nearly all the boys return in September was an incredible effort especially for anyone overseas and that allowed us to build a really strong community quickly even with new rules and regulations for boarding in place.

The Year 8 boys led from the front immediately and have been outstanding all year at setting such high standards and helping others in the House. Ariyan Flora and Ben Rioch have been an amazing team

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as joint Heads of House and have really made an extra effort to look after individuals whilst also running events for the whole of Eagle House. Congratulations to Ariyan Flora, Ben Rioch, Henry Whitfield, Charlie Collard, Misha Savitski, Harry Wood-Rubio, Joell Creek and Danny Chapman on receiving House Colours. Also to Marcus Pateman-Hall for being the proud winner of the Boarder of the Year Award for consistently outstanding contributions to boarding.

Sadly, this year we are forced to say a few goodbyes and thank yous. Firstly, to our thirteen Y8s as they move on up to the Upper School. Good luck to them in their new adventures; well done and thank you to all.

Mrs Relton continues with her weekly Matron duties but will no longer be visiting us on a Sunday to look after the boys. We are very grateful for all the fun and support she has provided, and we hope she enjoyed the baking, walks and various trips as much as the boys.

Thank you, but not full goodbye, to Mr Brett on his five fantastic years of service to Eagle House. He stays on in school in his teaching role. The boys and staff have really benefited from his youthful enthusiasm and commitment to making sure all in his care are happy and enjoying boarding life.

Best wishes to Mrs Travis as she retires to her home in Wales for a well-deserved rest and time with her family. The last six years she has given as Assistant Housemaster in supporting the running of Eagle House have been outstanding. Her desire to always do the best for the boys means she will be sorely missed. She was incredible covering the Housemaster role last Summer Term and her endless energy ensured the boys were in fine hands.

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Sadly, we were not able to enjoy the same number of activities this year but as lock down has eased we have enjoyed Zorb football, the aqua inflatables at Box End, escape room, boarders’ games with the Upper School and an end of year BBQ to celebrate what has been a superb year despite all the disruption. We look forward to many more adventures and new opportunities next year with regular weekend trips and the return of the Summer residential trip to Derbyshire.

Congratulations to our prize winners this year. It is always a pleasure to see boys getting recognised for their achievements and again we have boys from Eagle House celebrating and making all the staff proud.

Congratulations to Henry Whitfield and Danny Chapman for their Sports Captain awards. This is a first for Eagle House to have two major sports captains in the same year.

Congratulations also go to Ben Rioch and Ariyan Flora for earning the Eagle Award, Nigel Ng for the EAL Award, Ben Rioch again for All Round Academic Excellence and Misha Savitski for All Round Academic Progress.

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HOUSES

Moving forwards, and as a result of the above mentioned staff departures, I am delighted to welcome Mr Lee to Eagle House as he takes over as Assistant Housemaster.

We are very excited to welcome Mr Lee to the Eagle family. He has already helped in the house in the Summer, so we know he is going to be a fantastic addition to the team.

Mr Dennis will also join us once a week for a

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duty. He has a wealth of boarding experience.

He was brought up in a boarding house in which his parents were houseparents, and he boarded himself in The Leys School, in Cambridge. Finally, we are all looking forward to welcoming 15 new pupils to Eagle House in September and are ready to give them, along with our current boarders, the full and exciting year that boarding provides.

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Houses

B U N YA N H O U S E R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Matt Allen, Bunyan Housemaster

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’ve tried to start every Bunyan report I’ve written with the line from a song, so which song do I use this time?! There could be so many, but how about this one…

‘And now the end is here. And so I face that final curtain’ Apt? Well the end is now here for me. And I certainly think that I managed to do it My Way! I could probably include a few more of

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Frank Sinatra’s wonderful lyrics too!

Of all the challenges that Covid posed, building, and maintaining, a strong House spirit was one of the more difficult aspects this year. The weekly get-together didn’t happen, the House Officers weren’t able to take pride in setting the assembly rooms up, and we weren’t able to formally meet the twenty five new Bunyanites. Sport was

a challenge, Drama was a challenge, House Singing didn’t happen, and watching dozens of rambling Mr Allen assembly videos must have been interminable!

Despite all of this, we built a spirit, new Bunyanites introduced themselves to me whenever they could, and we did get some sport, drama and music competitions (thank you Mr Phillips, the sports department, Mrs Turton and Mrs Gedye!), along with numerous academic competitions. Sadly, we rarely saw the Bunyan flag fly for the weekly Merits competition but, thanks to a flood of sporting wins at the end of the Spring Term, we won the termly cup and enjoyed starting the Summer Term with the flag flying high. It wasn’t to be seen again until the last week of term, when we finally won the weekly Merits competition, and we waited patiently, to see who would be the winners of the House Cup. More about that later but first, I want

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Houses to thank the trusty band of Bunyan teachers - Miss Bamber, Miss Bowis, Mrs Lee, Mrs Turton, Mr Guest and Mr Lee, and Mr Maitland, before he headed off to pastures new. Whilst I know that they were disappointed that they weren’t able to get to know the boys, as a House, they would regularly check in with me, and celebrate any Bunyan victories. I was also hugely grateful to the members of staff that offered to provide assembly videos - I know that the boys were very pleased to see a different face on a Friday….even though Mr Guest was a bit disappointed that the boys appeared to prefer my ‘Sharks’ assembly to Mr Guest’s ‘James Bond’ one - sorry, Mr Guest!

And so, we came to Final Assembly. First up, the announcement of the Summer Term Cup - surely, the results in the Summer Term would have a big effect on the overall result. Bunyan, 4th - not looking good, boys! At this point, I need to say farewell.

As I move on to Dragon School, I will take fond memories of my time as Bunyan

Housemaster with me. I’ve loved every minute of it. I wish Miss Bamber well, as she takes the mantle on - I know that she will be fab!

So...back to the final House Cup announcement...it went down to the last two Houses - only ten points between them!

Who would it be - Bunyan or Whitbread?

Surely the fairytale ending wasn’t going to happen! Could it? Surely not! Come on Mr Mallalieu - put us out of our misery! And the winners are…..BUNYAN!! It did happen!

I was so pleased for the boys, and proud of all of their efforts - what a way to sign off!

Good luck, Miss Bamber - no pressure!

Let’s Go Bunyan, let’s go!

2020 2021

BUNYAN!! It did happen! I was so pleased for the boys, and proud of all of their efforts what a way to sign off!

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HARPUR HOUSE R E P O RT

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WORDS BY

Mr Andrew Whitbread, Harpur Housemaster

espite the obvious restrictions that we have all faced this academic year, most notably to the House calendar, there have still been some wonderful highlights that Harpur boys can look back on with fondness and pride. Standout performances in the Autumn Term included Year 7s coming top in badminton and reading, along with Merit total victories in Year 4 and Year 8.

The bulk of the spring term was, of course, faced remotely. However, it brought with it two of the biggest highlights of the year in terms of charitable endeavours. Harry Townsend in Year 8 organised a series of remote bingo games for boys across the School, raising over £1000. Aryan Sohanpal in Year 7 baked and sold sourdough bread for members of the school community (and very delicious it was too!), raising over £750. A huge thanks to Harry and Aryan and your families for all your efforts, which helped support Harpur’s chosen charity, the Prebend Day Centre for homeless people in our community.

There was a flurry of wonderful performances in the summer term, including firsts in the Year 3&4 Poetry Recitation and in the Year 3 Poetry Writing Competition. On the sporting front, there were cricket victories in Year 4, Year 5 and Year 7, along with a first place in golf. Sports Day towards the end of term was the obvious highlight of the year, especially as the whole House could come together; a rare treat after the restrictions we have endured. What was particularly striking, during both the morning and afternoon sessions, was the superb vocal support all the Harpur boys received from their brothers-in-arms in the stands. We out-cheered and out-chanted the other Houses throughout the event, and it was a timely reminder of what a special House we are; whatever the result, our collective spirit, enthusiasm and camaraderie is always first class, and I am immensely proud to be Housemaster of such an exemplary group of boys.

I was particularly delighted that, after many postponements and months of rehearsal, our Year 8 boys could, finally, deliver their House Drama performance in the final week of term. I thank all the boys for their fortitude and resilience, and I also thank Mrs Loader, Mrs Silk and Mr Hooley for all their wonderful support and guidance during the

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rehearsal period. My thanks, indeed, goes to all the Harpur tutors, who remain the best bunch of tutors for all their amazing help throughout the year, especially when delivering such interesting and entertaining assemblies. Along with them, the Harpur officers (Charlie Spencer, Elio Lepore, Ben Cutts, Harry Townsend, Noah Silk, Sammy Inman, Tom White, Jibran Baloch and David Shirley) were also a credit to the House. Despite the obvious difficulties we faced, they epitomised our Future Skills, and were true role models for the rest of the House to look up to. Thanks to them, for all they have contributed to Harpur over the years, and thanks to all boys in Harpur for helping to make this such a memorable year for all the right reasons. As we so rightly said at the track, ‘Let’s go, Harpur, let’s go!’

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2020 2021

What was particularly striking, during both the morning and afternoon sessions, was the superb vocal support all the Harpur boys received from their brothers-in-arms in the stands

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H OWA R D H O U S E R E P O RT WORDS BY

Miss Penny Oakley, Howard Housemaster

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t is fair to say that the House felt rather different this year. It was very sad not to get together in person, sad to miss the House Singing and sad not to feel that rush of excitement amongst screaming supporters in so many of the House Competitions – but the sense of community and sense of House, nevertheless remained very strong as we embraced and made the most of the change.

House competitions ran in Year Group bubbles whenever it was possible and Howard earned notable victories in the Autumn Term merits competition, ending up winners of the Autumn Term House Cup! It was really pleasing to see so many of the boys taking part in the remote challenges on offer and tuning in to an exciting array of assemblies from the Howard tutors: Critical thinking, Wonders of the World, Mindfulness, Bio-mimicry, Being Grateful, Mental Wellbeing and Creativity to name but a few. I am so grateful to all the House staff and officers, who even though things were different this year, have all contributed magnificently to the smooth running of the House so thank you. Nick Dyall, Luca Ilic, Toby Northey, Seb Fairhead, Aiden Reid, Joseph Kennett, Sam Barnes, Fraser Morgan, Joell Creek, Luca Henchoz, Matthew Cato and Joseph Lee

HOUSES

made superb officers. Despite all of the restrictions you have demonstrated just why you earnt your positions of responsibility.

The final weeks of the Summer Term saw the House Sports Day and Drama competitions running – so lovely to feel

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some of the strength of competition between the boys. ‘Unity is strength..when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.’ The boys gave 100% to each competition that came their way, winning the Summer Term Cup!

2020 2021

In any given moment we have two choices; to step forward into growth or to step back into safety The best part of competition is that through it we discover what we are capable of – and how much more we can actually do than we ever believed possible. It has been an exciting year full of change and growth. ‘In any given moment we have two choices; to step forward into growth or to step back into safety’ and the boys of Howard have undoubtedly embraced the changes presented to them and worked together to achieve great things this year! Have a wonderful summer boys, you deserve it!

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WHITBREAD HOUSE R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mrs Michelle Aldridge, Whitbread Housemaster

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lthough we have had a particularly challenging year, Whitbread House has still shown great commitment and resilience throughout the pandemic and during the return to school life. Although we have not been able to have a normal year of

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House events and get-togethers, with no live House assemblies, or House singing, the house has still held their sense of unity, keeping the Whitbread’s House spirit alive despite the difficult challenges that we have faced. The boys have worked hard to gain every single

House point possible across all year groups.

Within Whitbread House we have celebrated the successes of all our students who have strived to achieve their best in all aspects of their life in school. The Whitbread boys have certainly been rewarded for their efforts and

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achievements in all areas and it has been an honour and pleasure to have witnessed this. There are so many committed and passionate boys that put themselves forward, getting involved in the many inter-House competitions such as Y8 House drama, House music, and the many sporting events. Such a well rounded and talented house that we have - I am very lucky indeed.

We say goodbye to Mrs Travis after 18 years of being a Tutor, Head of Maths, Maths teacher, Games teacher, Eagle House Parent, member of the Bedford Choir, Ski Instructor and Chair of the Staff Committee (and most of all, one of our Whitbread House Staff). I will certainly miss her kindness, caring nature, giggles and dancing. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you and wish you luck on

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your next adventures. We also say goodbye to our Year 8 as they either move on up to the Upper School, or further afield, all starting new adventures and I wish them all the best. Many thanks to all the House officers (in particular our House Captain Henry Gillham) for all their hard work and efforts to keep the House going.

Thank you also to all the house staff; without your support and commitment we would not be able to have kept the House spirit going.

The competition between the Houses is always fierce and we came a very close 2nd this year overall with only 10 points between the winning Houses. Well done to all the boys in Whitbread House; you have been truly amazing as always. Back to the drawing board in September, let the battles begin... Remember, the force is always with you!

THE BACK TO BOARD DRAWING MBER, IN SEPTE gin….. let the battles be rce is fo e th r Remembe always with you!

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Charity

CHARITIES 2019-20

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he following monies were raised in 2019-20 and distributed in the Autumn Term 2020:

B U N YA N Charity: Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity Amount: £1,461.79 HARPUR Charity: Animals in Need Northamptonshire Amount: £1,461.79 H OWA R D Charity: Bedford Hospitals Charity (Riverbank Ward) Amount: £1,461.79 WHITBREAD Charity: Bedford Hospitals Charity (Primrose Unit) Amount: £1,461.79

Then the further monies were allocated by the Headmaster as follows: ■ £500

High Sheriff of Bedfordshire

■ £500

Captain Tom Foundation

■ £400

Canine Partners

We also supported ‘Christmas in a Box’ – tutor group hampers that were taken to Bedford Food Bank, All Nations Church.

Total raised

£7,308.96* HOUSE CHARITIES FOR 2020-21 Bunyan Harpur Howard Whitbread

Shay’s Smiles SMART Prebend Centre Magpas Air Ambulance CHUMS

(* from Mufti days, Carol Service donations, House Singing donations and a donation from the Prep Guild).

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Festivities CHRISTMAS LUNCH 2020

In a year that was turned upside down by the outbreak of COVID, for a while we on the Catering Team at Bedford School wondered whether we would we be able to offer any lunches at all, let alone Christmas Lunch. After lots of planning around the ‘rules’, it was established that, yes, come wind, rain or COVID, we were going to have a Christmas lunch… but sadly without crackers (I know, it’s crackers!).

The plan was to offer two days of Christmas lunches across the Prep School, serving three year groups each day.

Unfortunately, due to enforced last-minute isolation of large chunks of boys, we ended up just having one limited but exciting gathering on one of those days.

With limited decorations and staff socially distanced, we opened the doors, with turkey tongs at the ready and chocolate yule log taking up every available space. Boys entered in single file to what I believe to be one of the nicest lunches we have ever offered. Because we in the Catering Team like a competition, this year’s Christmas contest was to design and wear your own original Christmas hats (mainly because we were not allowed to supply them ourselves!). This competition seemed to go down very well amongst the boys as we had some great entrants. (We believe parents may have enjoyed this lockdown task just as much as the boys!) As in all good competitions, there were prizes to win. In this case, the victors each took away a delicious and huge (40 centimetres tall) Christmas themed Gingerbread Man! It was a great celebration in the circumstances, but let’s hope that Christmas 2021 brings back the decorations, crackers and, as always, the boys in high spirits to enjoy the occasion.

WORDS BY

By Mr Alex Grieve, Deputy Catering Manager

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uch as the Holy Family had to improvise on their arrival to Bethlehem, finding no room at the inn, so pandemic forced us to reconsider and engage creatively with the very concept of a carol service. With much care, planning, and rehearsal Mrs. Gedye organised the filming of each year group in their prepared carol, suitably

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distanced in an evocatively decorated Chapel. Lessons were read and recorded by boys and teachers from across the breadth of the School, telling the Christmas story. In order fully to capture the experience of a lockdown Christmas, Mrs. Turton prepared a dramatic script which, interfacing with the nativity story, explored the hope and joy that Christmas

MAGIC SHOW

On Tuesday 8th December 2020, Years 3 and 4 were treated to a magic show performed by Matthew Garrett who used to be at Bedford School. Some classes watched from home on Microsoft Teams because they were isolating but others watched it live at school in the Atrium.

Matthew started the show with some playing card tricks. George had to remember a card and then Matthew somehow picked it out of the deck.

It was amazing! I don’t know how he did it. Later in the show he did some optical illusions. He spun a black and white wheel and asked us all to concentrate on the middle for 10 seconds, then when we looked at Matthew’s head, it looked like it was growing and about to explode! He also blew up a raccoon, although I don’t think it was a real one.

The funniest bit was the mixed-up song words, especially the Romanian song about being the man, a plate of cheese and Ebay. I also liked the one about stapling a vicar.

The most impressive part was when Matthew got inside a ginormous balloon. He blew the balloon up and then rolled it over his head and climbed inside and did roly polys around the floor. That was so funny. I really really enjoyed the magic show. It was a lovely Christmas experience.

WORDS BY

By Eben Clarke (4M)

CHRISTMAS 2020 brings even amidst distancing and isolation. This was ably recorded from home by James Holt and Nirmay Patel, reflecting the now ubiquitous experience of catching up with friends over Zoom (other providers are available…!). Boys from across the year groups, suitably costumed, acted out cutaway scenes, both from the Nativity but also scenes of hope from pandemic life in hospital,

school, and street. With huge effort from Mr Lewis in editing all this footage together, a carol service for the digital age came together, allowing boys, families, and our wider community to share in the hope and joy of Christmas from the safety and comfort of their homes.

WORDS BY

Mr McCleery, School Chaplain

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G U I L D S & A S S O C I AT I O N S

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Prep Guild

PREP GUILD R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mrs Emily Hudson, Chair

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ot to be beaten by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the Prep Parents’ Guild rose to the challenge this year. With plenty of creative thinking and determination, we managed to host a variety of events aimed at bringing the parents community together in unprecedented times.

When we could not meet in person due to lockdown restrictions, we connected online for our committee meetings and AGM. We soon realised that we needed to embrace Zoom if we were to have any hope of seeing people this year. And it wasn’t all bad. Parents who might not usually make it to our events due to other commitments or not living close by were able to join us and appreciated not to have to organise a sitter or worry about whose turn it was to drive!

The Virtual Quiz Night was a great success, with lots of laughs

along the way and the half time cocktail making competition unleashed some amazing creations. Despite it feeling like a rollercoaster ride at Quiz HQ as we raced to judge, score, and generally keep the pace going, our inimitable Quiz Master Mr Sam Roberts carried the evening with aplomb. The proceeds of the evening were split between Prep

Guild fundraising and the Prep School house charities.

Building confidence with online events, we held a virtual Christmas wreath making workshop jointly with the Upper School Parents Guild.

Parent Lucy Copeman from Howbury Farm Flowers was our talented tutor guiding guests through some technical skills to create showstopping festive arrangements. Lucy’s teaching, along with the Guild Chairs as cohosts, made for an entertaining evening for parents based across the counties.

The Christmas Gift Sale for the boys is usually an epic feat of coordination for the Guild as we source and wrap over 2,000 gifts. This time, we had the added element of concerns as Coronavirus case numbers accelerated in the Bedford area.

The logistical mountain was conquered by the wonderful Prep

Guild committee with incredible support from Mr Silk and many of the school staff. A full online shop of the gifts went live, 600 orders were processed, and an army of socially distant, mask-wearing helpers wrapped and packed the gifts in record time before an early finish for Christmas.

Intense? Yes! But we were all still smiling at the end and immensely proud of what we had achieved in the circumstances.

Our final online event was Wine Tasting with parent and Master of Wine, Sarah Abbott taking us on a virtual journey of Discovery of the ‘road less travelled’.

Sarah’s evocative storytelling left us dreaming of sunnier climes, as we explored the wine selection, complemented by some exceptional artisan cheeses.

Since restrictions have been lifted, we held a couple of Garden to Vase workshops in the beautiful gardens at Howbury Farm. The flower team were fantastic hosts, and the committee produced a most magnificent feast. Small group restrictions almost made the experience extra-special, after having missed in-person events for so long.

And lastly, we are delighted that a Prep Guild Cricket Team has now been formed. The first match versus the teachers’ team ‘The Ousels’, was held at the beginning of the holidays and we can’t wait to see the team in action more regularly next year.

I would like to thank everyone on the committee, school staff and parent helpers for being so brilliant, especially Melissa Morgan (Vice Chair), Maria Lepore (Secretary) and Sharmila Sohanpal (Treasurer). Also thank you to all the parents for supporting our endeavours and for all the feedback after the events, which makes it all worthwhile. Whilst we have raised some funds for school projects, the main aim was to bring the community together as we all grappled with the everchanging world around us. We can’t wait to see what next year has in store!

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BSA (Bedford School Association)

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he Bedford School Association (BSA) is made up of several groups from across the wider school community comprising of; the Prep School Parents’ Guild, the Upper School Parents’ Guild, the Past Parents Association, the Old Bedfordians Club and the Bedford School Foundation. Whilst the last year may have been somewhat challenging, with few physical events taking place, the community has used its creativity to put on a programme of online events and talks designed to support everyone and appeal to a wide audience. Some of the highlights have included a wreath making evening, a beer tasting experience at our very own virtual pub, ‘The Eagle Arms’, and our first ever Wellbeing Week.

The special ‘Bedford spirit’ was in sharp evidence when 191 members of the school community came forward to offer their time to support the lateral flow testing of the boys and staff,

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B S A R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Hugh Maltby, Director of the Bedford School Association a huge logistical exercise, which would not have been possible without the tremendous help of everyone.

Eagle Connect (www. eagleconnect.uk), our digital business and social networking platform open to all parents, OBs and past parents, now has over 1,600 members, sharing connections and business opportunities. Our annual Upper School careers fair, which went online this year, attracted a broad range of guest speakers from many different business sectors, giving pupils the opportunity to ask questions and learn about a variety of different careers.

Despite the pandemic, the Bedford School Foundation has continued its fundraising activities in support of the boys, providing funding for the refurbishment of the Sculpture Studio in the Art Department

and the provision of equipment for the new Fitness and Conditioning Centre in the Old Theatre.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those connected to the BSA for their ongoing support, in what has been a very difficult period, for everyone is made to feel part of our school community.

2020 2021

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AC ADEMIC

W H I N C H AT

2020 2021

COMPUTER SCIENCE

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ECO WA R R I O R S

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nother successful year for the gardening club! From flowers to vegetables, Year 3 and Year 4 have enjoyed being involved, taking part on alternate weeks to observe the different bubbles. The boys worked hard digging out, potting in, and sowing a variety of plants turning the small garden into a blooming fest. There was a lot of enjoyment when the first beetroot and spring onion seedlings started to pop out of the earth, and this certainly encouraged boys to experiment at home with growing from seeds.

Y6 GROWING CHALLENGE

All four Year 6 groups were given a growing challenge in the Summer Term.

They received a tray of earth, two packs of seeds and a watering bottle at the beginning of May with the only instruction to work together as a form to grow tomato plants from seeds. Boys showed great organisational skills and team work to make sure that their seeds grow successfully. They also had to agree who would take care of the plants during May half term. This certainly developed their curiosity and resilience further. Congratulations to 6KL for winning the growing challenge!

FOREST SCHOOL

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2020 2021

ot content with making the Prep School better for everyone by keeping it clean and tidy, our Y3 and Y4 Eco Monitors set themselves a new challenge over the Summer Term: to earn ‘green’ Blue Peter badges by being climate heroes.

To gain their special ‘green’ badges, our 11 Eco Monitors selected three pledges, one from each of the following areas: Power, Plastic and Plants, to complete for two weeks. The boys also committed to one supersized pledge: to turn off lights at school when they are not in use as well as making a piece of art work which summed up their ideas about helping keep the environment healthy.

We are pleased to say that they have been busy completing their individual pledges and the supersized pledge with great commitment and efficiency.

The boys even went over and above the requirements of the Blue Peter challenge by joining our Science Technician, Mr Roberts, for a special lunchtime environmental science session. Using equipment usually reserved for boys in Y7 and Y8, the Eco Monitors looked at various working models and saw how they produced and used energy. They learned about the need for energy throughout history, covering steam engines, wind power, solar power, hydroelectric power and even water wheels in the fun and hands-on session.

Mr Roberts told us, “I was interested to hear where the project was going and what the Eco Monitors felt that they could achieve. It was great to listen to their answers. They varied from switching off lights to electric cars and other methods of using less energy. The session was great fun and well worth the effort.”

The green Blue Peter badges were awarded during the end of term Y3 and 4 Assembly and make a marvellous accompaniment to the Eco Monitor badges the boys already proudly wear.

“I am so proud of all the boys; they have proved real climate heroes!”

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W H I N C H AT

School trips

Year 4

Year 8

BUSHCRAFT

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Future skills FUTURE SKILLS COMPETITION

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FUTURE SKILLS CURRICULUM

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ur bespoke Future Skills Curriculum teaches content and subjectspecific skills for each subject whilst also explicitly developing skills, attributes and characteristics to ensure that every boy continually practises these skills and competencies, and reflects on our school values. We believe that this enables boys to achieve success not only in the Prep School but also as they move up to the Upper School as well as throughout life in general.

Our Future Skills curriculum is supported by a framework that ensures a consistency of provision across all areas of school life: in and out of the classroom, in academic subjects and extracurricular

activities too.

We want our Bedford Prep School boys to learn not just new skills and knowledge, but more importantly to learn and reflect on how they have best learnt, and why processes or strategies have or haven’t worked for them. This

is called metacognition, and there is a huge body of published evidence which agrees that teaching children about learning strategies (metacognitive strategies) is one of the most effective ways for progress to be made.

O U R VA LU E S

Bedford School’s five values are Endeavour, Responsibility, Integrity, Curiosity and Kindness, and these values span every year group as well as the whole school. Our Future Skills framework adds six examples (or sub-categories) of ways in which boys can demonstrate each value.

OUR SUPERHEROES

To bring the curriculum to life for the boys, we have also developed our own superheroes, who embody our values, and whom our boys love and align themselves to.

ETHOS BEHIND OUR FUTURE SKILLS CURRICULUM

In order to help explain the ethos and thinking behind the Future Skills Curriculum, we would like to share with you the following three thoughts on what real education is.

■ The first is by the priest, author and three times winner of the Nobel prize for literature.

“The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values.” William Inge ■ The second is from civil rights legend, Martin Luther King, Jr. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” Martin Luther King Jr ■ And finally, Swiss psychologist, Piaget, known for his work on child development.

“The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create people who are capable of doing new things.” Piaget These visionaries were right last century and they are still right now. If we are to prepare our children for their future, our imperative is to help them to be in the words of Piaget, “people who are capable of doing new things.”

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ust before the end of the summer term we announced a competition which encouraged the boys to engage with the school’s Future Skills. They were challenged to write a short piece about a time when someone in their family has shown, exemplified, used and embodied one of our Future Skills. Y3 & Y4 boys were asked to write no more than 300 words, Y5 & Y6 no more than 500 words and Y7 & Y8 no more than 1000 words. Pieces had to be submitted by Friday 25th June. Judging happened over the summer holidays (and winners were announced at the start of the Autumn Term 2021). The winner from each year group won £20 and the overall winner was awarded £50. The competition provoked some outstanding responses. Inspiring stories abounded. A number of boys chose to write about a disabled relative. We heard about a family member with autism who shines through her difficulties. Another family member, cousin Jonathan, showed endeavour, plus many other incredible attributes. He was born with cerebral palsy, which left him unable to communicate via speech.

Nonetheless, he learnt to write with his eyes, with the aid of technology, writing a stunning memoir, “Eyes Can Write” (which I encourage you to read).

He also set up the charity “Teach Us Too”. Grandparents featured heavily.

One grandad defused explosives underneath Benouville Bridge during Operation Overlord in World War Two. His story sat alongside more homespun accounts of a grandpa, dubbed Captain Kindness, who raised money for charity, and was Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, and a grandmother who lives on her own, helping her neighbours and devoting time to charity. Her grandson felt she deserved the Endeavour Cup! Brothers and sisters feature, too, for doing great work for charity, or just for showing great resilience when things don’t go their way. And a mother who is running a marathon to raise money for vital causes was one of the best told accounts. A huge well done to all of those boys who entered this competition, and thank you for letting us read your stories.

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TRIPS/OUTINGS

W H I N C H AT

School trips

D AY S O U T AT ICKWELL WORDS BY

Mrs Rebecca Russell, Forest School Leader

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School trips

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adly Covid has limited the Prep School activities at our beautiful Ickwell this year. However, after waiting patiently, on 11th June we were able to take the Year 5s. The aim being to build and strengthen friendships in the outdoors and to experience a range of team building activities with tutors.

We enjoyed minibeast investigations, den building, toasting marshmallows, team games, archery tag and learnt to use flint and steels to light fires. Who doesn’t love a s’more!

W H AT I S F O R E S T SCHOOL?

‘Forest School is an inspirational process, which offers ALL learners regular

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opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through handson learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees.’ Forest School Association’

O U R A I M AT B E D F O R D PREP SCHOOL

To provide learning opportunities in the outdoor environment through exciting practical activities.

To allow boys to take risks, problem solve, be creative and be part of a team.

To build independence and self-esteem in a relaxed and diverse environment.

Forest School will allow boys freedom to explore safely in the natural world.

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Year 3

YEAR 3 R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mrs Nicki Carrington, Head of Year 3

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his year Year 3 boys have certainly shown themselves to be a resilient bunch, who have not let anything get in their way. They have thrown themselves in to everything and especially Remote Learning with just a computer screen to answer to!

Their positivity and can-do attitude has kept all of us going and shown what a special year group they are.

The Autumn Term was a strange one in our bubbles, but we soldiered on. New routines and responsibilities the Year 3 took in their stride. Unable to head to Ickwell, we did not let this stop us and made the most of our onsite resources with bug hunting and tackling problem solving challenges as well as enjoying smores. This showed that the boys could think outside the box and work well with old friends and new despite the crazy times we were in. Definitely a skill needed for their future and one that carried on throughout the year. We lapped up the Egypt Topic with amazing Mini Project Preps and a definite highlight for me was our online Christmas hat parade with Christmas trees, Christmas presents and even snowmen. What a creative bunch our Year 3 are!

Schooling at home did not stop the boys’ endeavours and hunger for adventures and learning. The Spring Term brought us those adventures but from a different location to usual. Remote Learning. Our Topic gave us the

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flavour for the term with a treasure hunt around the school led my Mr Whitbread and his ‘Challenge Anika’ style reporting whilst we watched from home. The intermittent wifi and pixelated pictures just added to the tension when trying to discover our new theme. The clues led us to Extreme Earth and really fired the boys up to think of some amazing projects. The erupting volcanoes and crazy Kahoot quizzes showed us how adaptable and creative the boys could be in any situation remote or otherwise. Remote Learning also led us on other journeys to enjoying James and the Giant Peach, a trip with Google Earth to visit dormant volcanoes, Live workouts with our very own versions of Joe Wicks, even a wonderful Enrichment Day where the boys’ bridge building and artwork showed off more of their creativity and the opportunity to take part in the ISA Shakespeare Monologue Competition Final with a Year 3, Major Grewal, even managing to earn the place of Bedford School’s KS2 winner!

The Summer Term was fully of jubilation as we were happy to be with our friends and back in a ‘real’ classroom. The boys showed us that their love of learning had not diminished, and they were ready for anything from the classroom to clubs. The Food tasting for our Greek topic was a real hit and showed that

we may have a year group of budding chefs as lots went off to then prepare meals of their own. With regards to clubs, The Eco Monitors really shone with not only helping make the school and community look tidier with their litter picking, but they also learnt about renewable energy with a talk from Mr Roberts and made pledges to help the environment in hope of achieving their Green Blue Peter Badges. Watch this space!

We had Manadarin, Cricket, Lego, Recorder Karate and even Movie Club where budding film creators had a go at making their own mini movies. Our biggest achievement this term was the return of the fixture. Every boy in Year 3 was able to put on their whites and get on the coach to enjoy their first match with another school. Their behaviour was impeccable and they did themselves and the school proud even when the coach was delayed to take us home!

A different year with so many highs and lows, but ultimately so much to celebrate and be thankful for. I know that we are thankful for the lovely group of boys that now carry on their adventures into Year 4.

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Year 4

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ooking back on this academic year, it is safe to say that it has kept us on our toes! The Year 4 boys all moved on their learning in spite of the challenges we faced, as COVID 19 continued to impact on ‘normal’ school life. Mr Lee, Mr Maitland, Mrs Medd and I have enjoyed watching the boys develop in independence, both socially and academically.

It was lovely to start the year with all the boys back where they belong - in the classroom! The school vibrant with laughter, the boys making the most of social opportunities within the safety of our Year Group bubbles, of course. The resilience and maturity which the Y4 presented from day one, was evident. We kicked off the year studying Romans - a fabulous topic for the boys. Enthusiastic about their learning, the classrooms soon filled with superb mosaics, helmets, swords, shields and many other

fantastic sculptures created by the boys, demonstrating just how well they engaged with their topic.

In December, sadly, we had to return to Remote Learning but the boys and staff did us proud, adjusting overnight to a full curriculum programme, taking it all in their stride. We were amazed by their organisation, personal motivation and their resilience. Academic studies continued in earnest. Boys still producing excellent quality work, throughout their time at home. One of our highlights of the Spring Term was an outstanding presentation over Teams by Mr Dey. Arjun’s dad, who shared with us his personal journey to the summit of Mount Everest. The actual footage and elements of his incredible achievement brought the topic of Mountains High, to life in the most wonderful of ways.

Remote Learning, although sad, showed us that there are always silver linings to be found

Y E A R 4 R E P O RT

in every situation. This period presented an opportunity to develop boys Extra-Curricular skills in exciting new ways; baking, gardening, bird watching, helping the community and exercise challenges to name but a few. The focus of these on developing new experiences, teamwork and opportunities to collaborate and stretch themselves even further. This culminated, as Remote Learning came to an end, with an unforgettable Enrichment Day! It was so lovely to see the boys engaging in a range of activities, Art, D.T, Music and sport - many involving their families in the challenges. It was most wonderful to see the boys’ confidence and growth evident, and heart- warming to feel the wider sense of the Bedford School Community.

In true BPS style, as soon as the boys stepped foot in school, sporting events resumed as far as possible. It was lovely to see the boys involved in House Competitions and external sporting fixtures. We were also lucky enough to still manage a Whipsnade Zoo trip, an on-site animal visit and an Outdoor Classroom Day as restrictions were lifted a little.

It has been a whirlwind, a very different year, and the boys’ skills in all areas have gone from strength to strength. They have displayed our Future Skills values in spades.

They have proved themselves adaptable and resilient at every turn and I hope they will look back on the year with fond memories of challenge, growth and success. I know that the staff most certainly will! We wish the 2020/21 cohort of Year 4 boys all the best as they continue their journey. We wish Mr Maitland the best of luck in his Deputy Head of Operations role in Oxford and we look forward to welcoming our new Head of Year 3 and 4, Mr Sam Powell in September.

WORDS BY

Miss Penny Oakley, Acting Head of Year 4

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W H I N C H AT

Year 5

Year 5 R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Dominic Affleck, Head of Year 5

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ear 5 have had a very successful year despite all that the pandemic threw at us. The transition from Year 4 and the addition of many new boys meant that an action packed year was promised. The new boys settled in quickly thanks to the friendliness of the year group and the four new classes soon got used to their new(ish) environments and all that Year 5 and a new sense of independence entails.

The boys soon settled to life in Year 5 and we were struck by how quickly they acclimatised. Independence is our

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buzzword and we really encouraged the boys to pack their own bags, use their lockers and remember where they were meant to be at any given time. With the added bonus of long trousers and blazers, we were delighted to see how quickly they merged to life in senior part of the Prep School.

It was so disappointing to have so many of our events cancelled this year, but we finally managed our first trip in the Summer Term! A superb day out at Ickwell did mean that the tutors (Mr Roberts, Mrs Rossington,

Mrs Russell, Mr McGregor & I) got a real opportunity to do some fun team building exercises with their tutees. Under the guidance of Mrs Russell the boys enjoyed a range of activities from fire-lighting to team building games. Archery Tag proved very popular indeed. The school is lucky to have such a resource at its disposal.

We have enjoyed this fine crop of Year 5 boys and are confident that they will go onto great things. We wish them every success as they move onto the dizzy heights of Year 6.

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Year 6

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he Year 6 students have been remarkable this year. Returning to School in September, in totally new circumstances and classroom arrangements due to the pandemic, they have taken it all in their stride. Marvellously led by their tutors, Mrs Lee, Mme Chaillou-Kindred, Mrs Leeson and Mrs Osborne, the Year 6 boys have been hard-working, resilient and adaptable in their approach to a very topsy-turvy year. I have particularly enjoyed visiting the tutor groups each morning and seeing the vast array of activities and quirks that were present in each group. From 6KL singing the vastly catchy (and moderately irritating) ‘Today is Monday’ on a daily basis, to 6C doing picture riddles and developing their stand-up comedy routines, it’s great to see so much personality and fun in a year group.

The message that is sent out at the start of the year is a straightforward one; be kind and get involved in as much as you can. Our boys did this with great vigour this year.

Whilst the Autumn Term was difficult for all the boys, with so many new processes to learn and new routines to adjust to, the boys did fantastically. The lack of competitive

Year 6 R E P O RT

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fixtures was certainly tough for some, but seeing them involved in the Ready-for-Rugby fixtures on Saturdays was great. The end of our Autumn Term was cut short, and much of the Easter was spent away from School, but the boys did brilliantly. Even in lockdown, they engaged in lesson discussions and activities with great aplomb, and it was amazing to see some of their creations on the Curriculum collapse day. The Summer Term was peculiarly punctuated with a new obsession, introduced

by Mme Chaillou-Kindred; the growing of tomato plants! Seldom have I seen Year 6 boys more driven about anything, but they could

be seen refilling their watering containers every morning and heard discussing how to encourage their plants to grow at a faster rate. Many boys may well arrive in Year 7 with green fingers!

There are multiple moments that will live long in my memory, and I can’t mention them all. However, Oliver Barbour’s love of reading must get a mention, not only his remarkable 10 million words read this year, but also his willingness to support others in this, by setting up his lending library to support others with reading during lockdown for his make an impact challenge. I have really enjoyed getting involved in some of the golf sessions with the Year 5 & 6 golf squad, taking them on in various ‘chipping challenges’, and losing comfortably! It was remarkable to hear Rocco Shelton arrive one morning with news that he had played golf with Joe Hart the weekend before, an amazing experience, it’s just such a shame he couldn’t find any Newcastle United players to play with…

Well done to all the Year 6 boys this year.

Keep working hard in Year 7, keep showing kindness to all, and keep challenging yourselves. Well done, boys.

WORDS BY

Mr Ed Loader, Head of Year 6

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W H I N C H AT

Year 7

Year 7 R E P O R T WORDS BY

Mr Matt Allen, Head of Year 7

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espite the numerous challenges that were thrown at them, the boys have had a successful year. Lockdown posed its problems, but we stayed connected, kept working hard and kept smiling (most of the time!). It’s usually at this point that I talk about all of the Year 7 trips and team building activities that the boys have enjoyed but, sadly, there’s not much to report here. That said, each tutor group developed their own spirit and character and it was fascinating to see how these identities evolved differently, depending upon the characters within the group. The influx of a very impressive crop of new boys has really enriched the year group and new friendships have evolved and developed.

There were successes to celebrate. Boys gained an impressive collection of Future Skill Merits, displaying all the school’s values - Integrity, Responsibility. Curiosity, Endeavour, and Kindness. Whilst there were not external trips, boys got lots of opportunities for enrichment - they enjoyed Maths Challenges, Geography Walkie-talkie Challenges, Science trips to the Planetarium and Observatory and numerous other activities, throughout the year. There were some great performances in the U13 UKMT Maths Competition, which bodes well for next year’s competition - congratulations to Tony for coming first in the year. There was also

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a seemingly endless list of wins, placements and commended performances in this year’s Remote Bedfordshire Festival. Congratulations to Charlie, Oliver and Aryan (twice), who also won sections of the Prep School Music Competition. Oliver also won the Handwriting Competition and Harry won the Poetry Competition, closely followed by Rocco and Ralph. Congratulations, too, to Marcus for winning the Boarder of the Year Cup in Eagle House - it’s been lovely to have seen your transformation through the year! There were lots of other successes too, so apologies if I haven’t mentioned you!

As the year came towards its conclusion, 7JG managed to flex their sporting muscles, winning the tutor group relay at Sports Day and then coming out as champions in the much-vaunted Tutor Group football competition on the last day of the year. Not only did they play some excellent football - illustrating the value of playing as a team, not individuals - but they were wonderfully supported, with some amazing cheerleading coming from Mrs Gedye and Cormac!

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Year 7 tutors - Miss Bamber, who joined us in January, Miss Goodman, Mrs Gordon, Mrs Gedye (and her Deputy, Mr Phillips!) and Mrs Travis. Their care, support and gentle cajoling was of huge value to the boys. No issue (ranging from a missing pencil case - usually

found exactly where it had been left - to social and emotional worries) was too big or too small for the merry band of Y7 tutors. Of all years, this was possibly the most challenging for tutors to maintain their fantastic support.

Maintaining ‘team spirit’ remotely was a huge challenge. Boys weren’t getting the face-toface contact that they thrive upon, and it was difficult to pick up on the hugely important non-verbal cues that boys give. These are the cues that, along with the passing comments and ‘off the record’ chats, say so much about how a boy is feeling, so tutors had to work so hard to find other ways to get the boys to open up about how they were feeling. Whilst things were difficult for them at times, their passion and desire to protect and support their charges was ceaseless and, for that, I am truly grateful.

And so, to next year…

I sincerely hope that life at BPS gets back to somewhere near ‘normal’ and the boys get to enjoy a proper Year 8. They will be top of the tree and, with that, comes huge responsibility.

Congratulations to Freddie, Oliver, Eesa, George, Josh, Thomas, Advik, Charlie, Isaac, Kasim, Vir, Lewis and Sam for being made prefects - I look forward to hearing about how well you lead the school next year.

And finally, good luck to Mr Heaney, as he takes over as Head of Year 7 - you’ll do a great job and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have done over the last six years.

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Year 8

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hat a year it has been for this wonderful group of young men; their resilience and optimism has been tested throughout, but they have still come out strong and smiling. They are a lovely year group known, above all else, for their determination, kindness and respect and have been magnificently led by Head Boy, Ben Cutts, Deputy Head Boys, Elio Lepore and Joseph Edwards and a team of excellent prefects and future skills ambassadors. There have been academic, sporting, artistic, musical and dramatic successes across the board for this talented group of boys who have certainly left their mark on the Prep School.

The Autumn term saw all boys make a very welcome return to school, albeit with restrictions in place. Despite this, morale was high, and it was fantastic to hear the sound of boys playing, talking and laughing on the school grounds again. Remote assemblies became the norm, blended learning became a new phenomenon and regular midweek and weekend rugby fixtures were replaced by ‘Ready 4 Rugby’ matches, but despite all of this, the boys were back and it felt like a school again.

The majority of the Spring term was spent in lockdown. That being said, the boys and staff reacted in the only way we know how to - to make the most of every situation. A vast array of remote clubs/activities were set up for boys to enjoy.

These included; general knowledge, birdwatching, gardening, running, cycling, photography, baking, film appreciation and much more. The Y8’s also had the pleasure of being able to interview a number of very interesting people - all with fantastic messages to pass onto the boys. These people were; Austin Healey (Ex Leicester Tigers, England and British & Irish Lions rugby player), Joe Haigh (Chelsea & England U18 footballer) and Heath Harvey (former CEO of Saracens). Well done to all boys involved in the interviews.

Once boys returned to school for the final few weeks of term, the eagerly awaited House Tug of War competition took place. Always a hotly contested event, and one that all boys want to win, but this year saw resounding winners in Whitbread House.

The Summer Term saw all boys back to school for the duration of the term and it was a term full of exciting opportunities. Once the Summer Assessments had been completed, the boys embarked upon the ‘Post-Exam

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Programme’. This year, boys enjoyed talks from various industry professionals, a Young Lifesavers Award, an inspiring talk from a Holocaust survivor, a two-day Bushcraft residential, a House General Knowledge Competition, a Leadership and Rhetoric Workshop, Life Maths lessons, Paintballing, a day at Box End Waterpark, a Debating Workshop, Upper School visits, House Drama, an Independent Project and a ‘Come Dine with Me’ event, to name just a selection of the fantastic activities the boys enjoyed in their final term in the Prep School. The ‘Come Dine With Me’ event was a particular highlight of mine and it saw each class plan, prepare and cook a three-course meal for themselves and their teachers. 8A produced an excellent Italian themed evening, 8B - an exquisite fine dining experience, 8D - a fun filled evening of entertainment , 8F - an all-American theme and 8H - an exceptional evening of fine service. 8B were chosen by Alex Grieve and his catering team as this year’s winners but each class delivered an amazing event and the final result was an extremely difficult decision.

Another particular highlight of

mine was the Bushcraft residential. This is a trip which pushes boys out of their comfort zones and it was brilliant to see them adapt to their surroundings on camp. Over the course of the two-day trip, boys tried their hands at camouflage concealment, knife skills, archery tag, axe throwing, shelter building, fire making and of course the infamous fisheye eating competition.

The Summer Term also saw the long awaited return of school sports fixtures. It was fantastic to see the cricket pitches being played on and the excited and nervous buzz of energy around school on a Wednesday and Saturday returning. The Y8 cricketers had a fantastic season. There were 53 matches played from 1st X1 to 6th X1 and 52 victories.

To show this level of consistency over the season, after a ‘lost year’ last season, is an incredible achievement. Well done.

The year concluded with Speech Day and Prize Giving where a huge amount of our boys were recognised for their talents both in and out the classroom. A special mention must go to Henry Gillham who was awarded the Arthur Tisdall’s Award which is given to a boy who embodies the school values and most of all, kindness. Best of luck to Gary Wang, Bertie Sayer, John Ding, Ben Ulvert and Ben Cutts who have left the school for new challenges elsewhere.

Congratulations to each boy who has now completed his Prep School journey and is moving on to the Upper School or beyond.

Thank you for being such a fabulous group of boys - stay in touch; we look forward to hearing about your future successes!

Year 8 R E P O R T WORDS BY

By Mr Rob Heaney, Head of Year 8

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his year’s Speech Day and Prize Giving, to pick up on a theme from my introduction, was an example of how we learned to do things differently.

It was a step up from last year. Whilst for most of our families, it was still watched remotely (many thanks to Peter Drage and David Simpson for skilfully live-streaming it), we did have the pleasure of the company of Year 8 boys and Prep School staff who were able to witness the event live and in-person.

As is traditional, our Head Boy, Benjamin Cutts delivered a superb speech (which you can read below - one parent remarked that it seemed as though he had been public speaking for decades). In it, he gave a summary of the events of the year, showing us just how impressive our boys have been, and the richness of achievements, despite the more limiting circumstances. We also enjoyed inspiring messages from our guests of honour.

First, Emilio Gay (OB), who is beginning to make a serious name from himself at Northamptonshire Cricket Club, and was in the national news at the time of Speech Day after making his first ever first class century against Kent. Boys who play for Bedford Cricket Club will know him as he practices frequently down there, and often

gives words of encouragement to younger boys. He talked about the importance of resilience when things go wrong. This theme was developed further by our other guests.

Secondly, Olympian Heather Stanning who is a friend of our own Mrs Denny-Morley. Heather is a seriously good rower. She is a double olympic champion, double World champion and quadruple World Cup champion. She and her rowing partner Helen Glover, were, until the summer, reigning Olympic champions and world record holders. She has been ranked number 1 female rower in the world since 2016. Finally, ex Bedford School Head of School, Northampton Saints centre, and member of the latest England squad, Fraser Dingwall (OB) talked about the importance of taking opportunities whilst at school.

Talking of taking opportunities, the boys who provided music at Speech Day certainly took theirs, by playing superbly. Sammy Inman delighted us with Chanson Napolitaine by Tchaikovsky on trumpet; Harry Townsend sang (beautifully) A Brown Bird Singing by Barrie/Wood; on Cello, Fraser Morgan wowed us with Gavotte Humoristique Op. 6 by Squire; finally, without music in front of him, Samuel McMurray nailed Rondo by Bartok on Piano.

Following advice from our guests of honour, I left the boys with some advice that has helped me through the years, especially for

the Year 8 boys who move on to the Upper School (for the most part). Firstly, a quote from the Duke of Wellington: ‘Wise people learn when they can; fools learn when they must.” One of the things I have learned is that you should always be true to yourself.

Know yourself and don’t be afraid to fail.

Think forward to the end of things; the end of your schooling, the end of your first job, and decades into the future. What do you want people to say about you? Start work immediately on making that happen. It matters.

I finished with some advice from my favourite literary character Winne the Pooh, inspired by Miss Bowis, who has this quotation hanging in her classroom window: “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

Finally, very well suited to our Year 8 leavers, who are such good friends, Pooh’s thoughts on friendship: “ A day without a friend, is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside!”. I empathise with this as I like honey nearly as much as he does.

Proceedings were concluded by our Deputy Head Boys, Joseph Edwards and Elio Lepore, who shared readings of Friends and Flatterers by William Shakespeare and On Friendship from Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

S P E E C H D AY WORDS BY

Mr Ian Silk, Headmaster

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AC ADEMIC

W

e tried hummus, taramasalata, pitta bread, feta salad, lamb kebab and dough balls in honey.

Year 3 looked at: n Geography of the country and the idea that it is a great tourist destination as that is where it makes lots of money. n Greek myths and legends and writing our own stories, the Greek Gods and Goddesses too. n The Greek alphabet and words we use today. n Greek theatre and maybe even performing our own play and making our own masks. n Greek artefacts and make our own stamnos. n We will look at the Olympics & we may even try a bit of Greek dancing too! A busy and exciting term!

I enjoyed it when we did the Olympic Games.

n

P R AYAG H S U N I L

I enjoyed it when we took a year group photo this morning and also when we got to hold the replica weapons at the end.

L E O G R AV E N E RMOHLE

I liked it when we played the board games.

THOMAS MCDONALD

I liked it when we did the mini Olympics and threw the foam rockets

Y 3 G R E E K D AY

I

found the day quite good because I especially liked the time when Ian dressed up as a warrior CHARLIE SUTHERS

I enjoyed the day today and my favourite part was when Ian dressed up and tried to scare us by saying “I’m going to kill you!”

M A J O R G R E WA L

I enjoyed the day and found it quite fun to do the puzzles. T O M

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H A N B U RY

I enjoyed it when Ian said that we would have to have a ‘blood broth’ for lunch. (Kuba Kopec) It was ridiculous when I found out that Ancient Greeks boxed with no gloves.

M AT T H E W WILLIAMS

I enjoyed it when we did the mini Olympic Games!

J AC K E F E TAY LO R

JOSHUA F E AT H E R STO N E

I enjoyed everything but my favourite bit was going around and doing the carousel of different activities because I liked learning facts.

HUGO O’BOYLE

I liked solving the quiz questions and searching for the answers and we used our brains to find the information boards with the answers.

OSCAR GOODEVE

I liked everything but my favourite was the board games.

ELLIS GOSLING

I liked it when I played the Greek strategy board game with Charlie.

I enjoyed when Ian showed the weapons because they were really cool and I like learning about Greece.

ZACHARY CALDY

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W H I N C H AT

Fond memories

I N M E M O RY O F

C A P TA I N S I R TO M M O O R E WORDS BY

Hannah Ingram-Moore

M

y Father and our family have been at the centre of a global fundraising phenomenon that was achieved in response to the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020. A simple gesture of sponsoring my Father to walk laps of the garden led to £38.9 million being raised for the NHS, (including gift aid) with donations from over 163 countries.

After thousands of media appearances and requests by supporters to continue spreading hope, we launched the Captain Tom 100 campaign, in memory of my Father and his initial walk. The campaign attracted attention from 105 countries, had an overall reach of 12.8 billion and raised at least £1.4 million for charities, including The Captain Tom Foundation.

The Captain Tom Foundation was set up in May 2020 to ensure my Fathers message of hope becomes a lasting legacy. It’s ambition is to connect generations, by inspiring hope where it’s needed most.”!

CaptainTom.net

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The Ingram-Moore family (including former Bedford Prep School pupil, Benjamin, far right)

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TA L K S & S H O W S

Y3 EGYPT DAY

O

n 16th October 2020, Year 3 were transported to Ancient Egypt.

The boys threw themselves into the day by coming to school dressed as pharaohs, archaeologists and other significant Egyptian characters. They looked incredible!

The boys were greeted by Mark from the ‘Portals to the Past’ organisation who took us back in time to the world of pyramids and the flooding Nile.

First of all, he gave us a talk about Egypt’s history, from details about Upper and Lower Egypt to information about some of the usual pharaohs. The boys listened well and asked superb questions, which really impressed Mark.

Next, the boys were challenged to discover facts about different parts of everyday lives of the Ancient Egyptians with a special quiz. Moving around the room, they had to navigate between different information boards to identify answers to specific questions.

After a short break, the boys then looked closely at some amazing artefacts, including real mummy bandages and eye liner containers. For each item, they had to work out for themselves what it could be, just like a real historian. The boys then had a chance to play a popular Egyptian board game called ‘Hounds and Jackals’.

During lunchtime we were not

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disappointed either as the dining halls had prepared delicious ‘mummy biscuits’ for us to devour! These definitely helped to give us more energy for our adventures in the afternoon.

The session after lunch was spent learning about mummification. With Mark’s help, we found out about the burial process of a mighty pharaoh. We removed organs and placed them carefully in canopic jars, bandaged and cleaned our pharoah, said special prayers and even placed him in a special sarcophagus. Finally, we were able to crown our new king. It was a sight to behold!

The afternoon continued with a challenge to hunt on the Nile, making sure we did not disturb any sleeping hippos.

Accuracy and stamina were definitely needed herein order to keep an eye on our target and have enough strength to throw our javelins with exact precision. This was certainly a highlight for a lot of the boys. The conclusion of the afternoon was Mark’s wonderful retelling the story of the Egyptian Cinderella, Rhoduphis. The boys all really enjoyed their day, feeling a million miles (and thousands of years) away from school!

TA L K S & S H O W S

Talks & Shows

WORDS BY

By Mrs Nicki Carrington Head of Year 3

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TA L K S & S H O W S

W H I N C H AT

Talks & Shows

TA L K S & S H O W S

RT DESE LS A M I AN

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2020 2021

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School life

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W H I N C H AT

Rugby

RUGBY R E P O RT

H

WORDS BY

Mr James Hinkins, Director of Rugby

eavy restrictions this term did not dampen the enthusiasm and commitment of the boys on the rugby field. In fact, it was quite the opposite as they embraced new challenges and opportunities to improve skill levels, game understanding and decision making. The opportunity to play some competitive matches on Saturdays was well received and incredibly well

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attended, even though they were internal matches without any contact. Ready4Rugby was the game adopted for the Intra School Saturday League, as designed by the RFU, to accommodate the necessary restrictions.

The matches were fiercely competitive and, aside from the odd overzealous touch, always played within the spirit of the game. Well done and thank you to all participants. The boys

also did well to adapt to the referees’ varying understanding and application of the rules!

The coaching staff should be commended for the way they adapted and delivered a quite atypical looking rugby programme.

They did so quite beautifully, providing the boys with opportunities to enjoy their rugby experience, make good progress and compete. There have been

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Rugby BEDFORD PREP SCHOOL RUGBY COLOURS WERE AWARDED TO:

FULL COLOURS: Sam Barnes Ferdi Barnett-Vincent Justin Fasanya Dylan French Owain Harries Sammy Inman Ander Mokhtar-Esteban George Sivills Henry Whitfield HALF COLOURS Joe Basquille Ben Cutts Alfie James Jamie Maling Alfie Redfern Noah Silk James Pinkney Charlie Constantine Felix Beckmann

The matches were fiercely competitive and, aside from the odd overzealous touch, always played within the spirit of the game

many constructive reflections on this season, which will undoubtedly lead to the emergence of a new-look rugby programme that harnesses the many positives gained from training and playing with restrictions. Roll on Autumn Term 2021!

Thank you, boys and staff, for your commitment and endeavour.

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Fencing

W H I N C H AT

Rowing

A

F E N C I N G R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Mike Mallalieu, Assistant Head Extra-Curricular

s with many of the activities that took place in this academic year, Fencing was affected by the restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic. Maximum numbers were reduced and as we were only able to have year group bubbles, we were limited to just having four Year 8 boys on Tuesdays and then four Year 7 boys on Thursdays. These boys were chosen for their ability, aptitude, and attendance in previous years. Not surprisingly, the progress of these boys has been good, and they have developed into proficient fencers. Another casualty of the pandemic is that there have been no Fencing tournaments, which was a pity.

Hopefully in 2021-22, we will be able to get back to involving more boys and year groups and give more boys the opportunity to take part in this skilled and challenging activity.

RO W I N G R E P O RT WORDS BY

Ms Imogen Bowis, DT, English and Rowing Teacher

‘R

esilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.”

Elizabeth Edwards In normal times, unlike most schools, we give the Y7&8 boys an early experience on the water. More complex logistics due to Covid-19 and a shared location has meant that for the first time in years this wasn’t to be. However with our Games rotation system we have managed to give even more boys a taste of Indoor Rowing

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with the ergos and, with the ever creative imagination of Mr Mulkerrins, we have all had lots of fun.

We have had technical sessions, learning good body positioning, rowed with squishy balls under heels and huge elastic bands around bodies to test concentration and improve technique. We have had power racing but also blind racing to try to hit an exact number of

metres within a given time, using skill and a modicum of luck. We have brought the ergos out into the sunshine and had boys relaying between running and ergo-ing. We have even had a very inventive rowingfootball-cricket game, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

On top of this, Mr Mulkerrins has run a Rowing Ladder during his Friday lunchtime club and it has been wonderful to see

boys improving their skill and moving up the ladder.

We have been delighted to finally see some of the senior crews starting to race competitively again and we hope that we have inspired the next generation of rowers to take up this popular sport as they move into the Upper School. Fingers crossed next year will bring us all back to the river once again.

“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.”

ELIZABETH EDWARDS

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Hockey

Badminton

H O C K E Y R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Ed McGregor, Head of Hockey

H

WORDS BY

ockey 2021 took a very different form than any of us could have imagined.

For the majority of the term skills have been undertaken at home and it has been great to see many boys putting those skills into action over the last three weeks of term and watching the videos

submitted after Wednesday home lessons.

Fortunately, we have seen some hockey before the end of term with each year group taking part in mixed hockey leagues and house matches.

Just seeing you all playing team sports again has been fantastic

Mr Ed McGregor, Head of Hockey

and despite this season being lost, the desire and drive on show since we have returned bodes well for future seasons.

Congratulations to the winning Houses in each year this week. There were some fantastic matches with many highlights from Year 3 through 8. In Year 8, with 2 minutes remaining 1 goal for any of 3 houses would have seen them take the title

but it was Whitbread who won out in the end. Year 7 was won comfortably by Howard, the only team to take maximum points across the school.

Whitbread’s strong showing continued in Year 4, 5 & 6 where they took the latter on goal difference. Finally, Howard managed to win their 2nd year group coming out victorious in Year 3..

R E S U LT S

BADMINTON REPORT WORDS BY

Mr Simon Lincoln, Head of PE

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T

he usual busy badminton season with district, county, regional and national competitions was not able to be completed this year.

However, Badminton club ran all the time school was open in the first 2 terms and was very well attended by boys in Year 5-8. House matches were able to be completed before the Christmas lockdown and colours were awarded to the following Year 8 boys for their contributions and commitment to badminton.

Full colours: Dylan French, Jamie Mailing, Jacob Yau, Sammy Inman.

Half Colours: Ander Mokhtar-Esteban, George Sivils, Luca Ilic..

Y5 House Match Result 1st Bunyan 2nd Whitbread 2nd Howard 2nd Harpur

Y6 House Match Result 1st Bunyan 2nd Howard 3rd Whitbread 4th Harpur Y7 House Match Result Harpur 1st 2nd Whitbread 3rd Bunyan 4th Howard Y8 House Match Result 1st Bunyan 2nd Howard 3rd Whitbread 4th Harpur

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S P O RT

W H I N C H AT

Cricket

C R I C K E T R E P O RT WORDS BY

Mr Simon Lincoln, Head of Cricket

I

throughout the season has meant they have been a very enjoyable group to coach and their teamwork has brought them success.

The side played 12 games winning 11 and only narrowly losing to a very strong Derbyshire CC U13 side. Within the team success there were outstanding individual performances and with captain Danny Chapman and Mustafa Harron leading the batting line up we were always competitive whether we were chasing or setting a target. The consistency of our bowling attack with so many options Age Level P W D L Boys-U13A 11 10 0 1 depending on what the game required coupled with some excellent fielding meant Win Ratio 90.9% that sides were always under pressure when batting. Winning the BPS T10 competition The U13A Team have enjoyed a hugely with 3 wins against Bedfordshire, The Hall successful season playing some fantastic and Haberdashers Askes was a real highlight cricket and always playing the game in the for the season with the orange balls, coloured correct spirit. The way they have worked kit and flashing stumps making the day even as a team and supported others efforts n March we all received the wonderful news that we would have as close to ‘normal’ a cricket season as possible and considering we are still very much in a worldwide pandemic, we did manage to get a fair amount of cricket in at all age levels. This report will cover all age groups, however a specific mention for the U13s who, as an age group, only lost one game and that was against a county team. Very well-done boys.

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more enjoyable. Well done to the whole squad for their performances this season and for playing so well together.

Mr Lincoln

Age Level P W D L Boys-U13B 10 10 0 0 Win Ratio 100.0%

UNDER 13B

An unbeaten season for the Prep 2nd team, who were ably led by Captain Luka Illic, who also finished up as top wicket taker, with his ability to mop up the increasingly long tails of the opposition. Other notable performers with the ball were Alex ‘the Bedford Express’ Carlton-Smith, who rarely failed to take a wicket in the opening over and Henry Gillam, who deserved his call up to the 1sts. With the

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Cricket limited. It is therefore a testament to this group that they did develop their skill set and game management, as witnessed in the final two games of the season. We were blessed with some accurate bowlers and, when one had an off-day, another stepped up. In Tom Noble, the captain, we had a reliable scorer with the bat: he is an aggressive hitter of poor bowling, but equally adept in stealing runs off good bowlers. Everyone was able to produce a glimpse of their potential during the season, but they need to work on technique and focus to consistently deliver a big score. The last match demonstrated how good a fielding unit this side could be, holding on to their catches and running down the stumps under pressure.

Enthusiastic, lively, frustrating at times - but they were a pleasure to manage.

Mr Studd The U13s, as and age group,had an outstanding season with wins in all but one game across the age group and the one loss by the A team was against Derbyshire CCC and until the last two or three overs of that game, we were well in front and looked like winning.

Well done to all of the teams on what has to be the most successful season the age group has had in terms of games won

UNDER 12 C & D

With a regular squad of 19 players, and a few others when needed, the U12C team had a real mix of styles and techniques, from left arm bowlers to a new wicketkeeper and everything in between. The players were keen and their understanding of how to play the game, and especially the straight ball, improved over the term. With several strong batting performances, from Aryan Sohanpal, George Simmonds, Jack Sivills, Sam Millar, Muhammed Umar and Monty Lomax, backed up with some accurate bowling from Thomas Dewe, Eesa Jamil and, latterly, Tristian Julius, the team managed to secure six wins from their seven matches played over the term. All those not mentioned by name played equally important parts in the success of the team.

Catching was sometimes an issue, but it does give all players something extra to work on over the close season, before starting again as U13s. The U12D team remained unbeaten in their three matches, again showing some powerful batting alongside a few impressive bowling performances, proving too strong for the opposition faced.

Well done to all the boys who represented the teams for their enthusiasm and commitment and, ultimately, for showing so much delight in being able to play the noblest of sports. Mr Phillips

Under 12A

bat, we were able to rely upon Neo Bantock, who scored 3 50’s during the season, who always got us off to a solid start before either the power hitting of Ferdie Barnett-Vincent, Alfie Redfern and Aiden Reid would drive the innings forward. Other memories that will live long will be Justin Fasanya’s hat trick against Bilton Grange and Noah Silk catching the danger man against Berkhamsted before Aiden took the match winner to be mobbed by his grateful teammates.

Mr Guest

UNDER 12B

At the start of term, I am not sure I would have predicted this side would register 8 wins, given the levels of inconsistency with bat and ball. Where we needed training, either the rain or the next fixture intervened, meaning opportunities to work on techniques were

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S P O RT

Cricket UNDER 11A

A return to fixtures allowed the U11As to play some exciting cricket this term. Results may have varied from emphatic victories to heavy losses, but the quality of their cricket improved steadily over the course of the season. Victories against MK Prep, Caldicott, Spratton Hall & Beechwood were secured when the boys played best as a team, batting in partnerships and bowling consistent lines and lengths. In the 6’s festival the boys played some excellent cricket, eventually making the Bowl final, only losing to one team all day and beating the trophy finalist along the way.

Mr McGregor

UNDER 11B

The U11Bs had an unbeaten season, curtailed as it was by Covid. Two good home and away victories over Caldicott were coupled with comprehensive wins over Beechwood Park and Rushmoor. The only ‘loss’ came against in a practice match against our own U10As, who fielded brilliantly, taking catches and running us out. There were lots of great individual moments and each boy developed their game.

A pleasure to oversee and I wish them all luck as they move up the school.

Mr Roberts

Under 12B Under 10

UNDER 11C

On an afternoon at the beginning of the summer term an ‘arrangement’ of boys presented themselves to me informing me that they were the U11C cricket team. My mind wandered back to my school days (many years ago I know) to a book that was compulsory reading called The Long and The Short and the Tall. What stood in front of me represented this book to a tee and I wondered how I would turn this motley crew into a mean lean fighting machine.

The first few sessions did not, if I may say so, go well! A year out due to Covid restrictions and the introduction of a ‘real’ cricket ball to the boys which they claimed was hard were their main excuses. ‘We’ continued and phrases such as “that’s a run” (whilst a boy admired his shot from his crease) and ‘were you backing up’ could be frequently heard from our practice sessions.

Time passed by and the boys’ enthusiasm and efforts could not be faulted as they attended every lunchtime after school and games session. Throughout the term the boys’ skills and ability to play the game improved greatly which reflected in the teams results of winning all five of their matches.

I may be sporting a few more grey hairs than at the beginning of the season but I would like to thank all the boys for a really great season.

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1st XI (U13A)

I hope you have enjoyed your cricket season as much as I have and will look forward to playing again soon.

R E S U LT S v Caldicott Prep school- won by 10 wickets v Spratton Hall School - won by 31 runs v Quinton House School- won by 68 runs v Beechwood Park School - won by 10 wickets v Caldicott prep school - won by 66 runs Mr Gilbert

UNDER 10A

The Under 10A team came a long way with their development this season. The boys missed last season due to Covid and at the start of the season you could see they had some catching up to do. The boys put in a lot of work during practice and on game days to improve themselves which was fantastic.

The biggest improvements they made as a team were: Backing their hands and putting their bodies on the line in the field; running between the wickets and calling; rotating the strike.

As the boys improved through the season, they picked up some good wins including beating Caldicott away and then beating Bedfordshire at home to finish the season.

Throughout the season we gave boys different

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Cricket opportunities in different roles to give them lots of experiences that will help with their development going forward. I hope the boys enjoyed the season as much as I did. Well done boys!

Mr Brett

ball whilst maintaining their enthusiasm in the field, then they will certainly have more success in the future. Well done to Cameron Dale and Cayo Sinclair for their bowling performances throughout the term.

Mr Dennis

UNDER 10B

UNDER 9A

The boys had two good wins against Wellingborough and Beechwood Park respectively but struggled against other teams. If they can learn to defend the straight

The U9A Cricket Team had an unbeaten season this year, comfortably winning with strong performances with bat and ball.

Despite having had a year away from cricket

C R I C K E T AWA R D S

UNDER 8 AND 9

Batsman Danny Chapman All Rounder Mustafa Haroon Bowler Alfie James Fielder Joseph Edwards Most improved Thomas Dewe Half Colours Ariyan Flora, Sammy Inman, Joseph Edwards, Alfie James, Jamie Maling, George Sivills, Henry Gillham, Dylan French.

Full Colours Danny Chapman, Joe Basquille, Mustafa Haroon, Ben Ulvert

due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, the boys did not fail to work hard to improve their skills over the season. Stand out performances came from Freddie Gibbs with both the bat and ball, scoring many runs and taking a collection of impressive wickets. Jasper Stone defending the final ball in the game vs Kimbolton Prep was a highlight with the boys then winning by 1 run. Joseph Willard continued his impressive form throughout the season, whilst Samarth Serish bowled fiercely.

A superb season by all who played in the U9A team.Mr Lee

2020 2021

The U8 & U9 pupils thoroughly enjoyed their cricket lessons at school in the summer term.

All boys endeavoured to master the arts of the game alongside understanding how it was played. Much progress was made all round and much enjoyment was had. All boys in the year groups experienced a competitive match against another school, with all the U8s playing against Spratton Hall - also their first ever away trip on a coach - and the U9s playing against Spratton Hall (all boys), Kimbolton (4 teams) and MK Prep (2 teams).

We look forward to further development in their skills, which will be aided by their enthusiasm to learn and play. Mr Phillips

U12C

U9

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U10 training

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W WH H II N C H A T

Sport

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1 2 0 2 Y A D S T R SPO WORD

S BY

hillips, Shawn P irector of Sport D

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S P O RT

Sport

“It was truly tremendous to finally feel the buzz of the House after such a long absence. Golly, how I have missed that!”

MISS OAKLEY

B

edford Prep Sports Day 2021

I

t was so good to be able to have our annual Sports Day at Bedford International Athletics Stadium this year, even with no spectators allowed.

The day was set out with Y3 to Y6 competed in the morning, followed by Y7 & Y8 in the afternoon, safely maintaining year group bubbles.

The boys chose which events they wanted to take part in, and the programme arranged accordingly.

On the day, the track was busy with sprints from 60m up to 300m, the middle distance races of 600m and 800m were highly anticipated, and the relays at Y7 & Y8 were fiercely contested with several close finishes.

However, the staff 4 x 100m team reminded our talented Y8s that they still have a way to go!

Every boy who ran gave their best, trying to score points for their House, whilst proving

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that they could win or lose with grace. What a great display by all involved.

The field events were equally enjoyed, with the long jump proving very popular, with up to 36 competitors in some age groups. Maybe the next Mike Powell (world record holder at 8.95m) will come from this!

Following a few hours deciphering score sheets by Mr Phillips (whilst he tried to keep up to date with the England v Germany football match) the final results, combining scores from all year groups to make it House event, were calculated. With only 62 points between first and fourth place across 117 events, the boys’ determination to succeed for their individual and House performance, was evident.

Congratulations to Whitbread House for their victory this year. The results were as follows:

1st Whitbread 2nd Bunyan 3rd Howard 4th Harpur Thank you to all the boys for their tremendous enthusiasm and to the staff for all their efforts to help make the day run smoothly.

To finish then, a quotation from Miss Oakley, Housemaster of Howard House: “It was truly tremendous to finally feel the buzz of the House after such a long absence.

Golly, how I have missed that! It sent tingles down my spine hearing the roar of the boys cheering on their Houses and brought the biggest smile to my face. It was made all the more special by the way the events were organized, the boys thoroughly enjoying the events they had chosen and well...it was just magic - so thank you. A very much needed high to end the year on”.

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LEAVERS

W H I N C H AT

Bedford Preparatory School

Isaac Adeyemi-Abere

Eeshan Agrawal

Jacob Anderson

Izaan Aris

Jibran Baloch

Neo Bantock

Sam Barnes

Joe Basquille

Isaac Battersby

Felix Beckmann

Stanley Breed

Alex Carlton-Smith

Matthew Cato

Danny Chapman

Eden Chen

Charlie Collard

Charlie Constantine

Ben Coomber

Tristan Cooper

Joell Creek

Theo Cromwell

Benjamin Cutts

Sam Deardon

John Ding

Nicholas Dyall

Sebastian Fairhead

Justin Fasanya

Shiraz Fazaldin

Ariyan Flora

Dylan French

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Leavers 2020-21

James Gordon

Harry Gray

Sam Gray

Mike Halahan

Jonathan Hall

Mustafa Haroon

Owain Harries

Luca Henchoz

Harrison Hughes

Tommy Hughes

Luka Ilic

Sammy Inman

Alfie James

Joseph Kennett

Ali Khan

Joseph Lee

Elio Lepore

Jack Lindner

John Logan

Jamie Maling

Liam Mcintyre

Samuel. Mcmurran

Rayhaan Menolee

Josh Mitchell

Ander Mokhtar-Esteban

Fraser Morgan

William Mowe

Giuliano Mulê

Max Mullooly

Sean Natsa

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AC ADEMIC

W H I N C H AT

Bedford Preparatory School

Will Neil

Nigel NG Boon

Toby Northey

Oliver Payne

Ben Pickering

James Pinkney

Alfie Redfern

Aiden Reid

Ben Rioch

Benjamin Roberts

Archie Robson

Misha Savitski

Selim Sheikh

David Shirley

Noah Silk

George Sivills

Charlie Spencer

Ayaan Tarique

Harry Townsend

Abuturab Turrabi

Ben Ulvert

Rocco Valentino-Tucker

Gary Wang

Toby Wesson

Zach Whelan

Tom White

Henry Whitfield

Harry Wood-Rubio

James Wright

Jacob Yau

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Notes

ART CREDITS Page 33 REMOTE LEARNING 0 1 D o t - To - D o t 02 Y6 Jacob Adedeji 03 Y6 Oliver Barbour 04 Y6 Max Midgley 05 Y6 Matthew Moretto ART SCOLARSHIP 0 1 A b u t u r a b Tu r r a b i 0 2 A b u t u r a b Tu r r a b i 0 3 A b u t u r a b Tu r r a b i 0 4 H a r r y To w n s e n d 05 George Sivills 06 Harrison Hughes 07 Jibran Baloch 0 8 H a r r y To w n s e n d 09 Henry Gillham 10 Luka Ilic 1 1 H a r r y To w n s e n d 12 Henry Gillham 13 Mike Halahan 14 Jonathan Hall 15 Harrison Hughes 16 Zach Whelan 17 Jibran Baloch Page 34 ART SCOLARSHIP (CONT) 18 Jonathan Hall 19 Josh Mitchell 20 George Sivills 21 Josh Mitchell 22 Luka Ilic YE 01 02 03 04

AR 3 W i l l i a m Wo o t t o n Quba Thomas Oscar Goodeve Ellis Gosling

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0 0 0 0 0 1

5 6 7 8 9 0

Aaniketh Gusswami L e o G r ave ve r- M o h l e Joseph Ram Hugo O’Boyle Nayan Pattni Matthew Morgan

YE 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

AR 4 Freddie Gibbs Aaron Evans Alber t Carvell Aaron Evans Jasper Stone Jasper Stone Eben Clarke Dhan Katechia Ve e r R a m a n i

YE 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

AR 6 Matthew Moretto Dominic Fairhead Lucien Carron Henr y Davidson Max Midgley Aaryan Nair I s a a c We s t Aaryan Nair Dylan Uppal Y6 ‘Figures in motion’, EMH Display

YE 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

AR 7 Seth Baines Blake Balachandran Harry Burns Ollie Cochrane Ashwin Curtis Charlie Gandesha Harry Howlett Luca Iaciofano George Knight Monty Lomax Ben Maddaford

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Lewis Noble Daniel Phillips Isaac Raddan Aryan Sohanpal Will Spice Oliver Surley Muhammed Umar Charles Whittle-Queral Alfie Williams

Page 35 YEAR 7 01 Harry Bown 02 Ranveer Gohil 03 Umar Mazhar 04 Shehyrar Mumtaz 05 Oliver Surley 06 Eesa Jamil 07 Nirmay Patel 08 Rhys Brook 09 Isaac Ferguson 10 Alfred Williams 11 Will Spice 12 Harry Howlett

Ye 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

ar 8 Misha Savitski H a r r y To w n s e n d Harrison Hughes Gar yWang Benjamin Roberts Sammy Inman J a c o b Ya u Selim Sheikh Jamie Maling Jibran Baloch Ben Rioch Joseph Less Ben Ulver t Will Mowe Sam Mcmurran A b u t u r a b Tu r r a b i Sebastian Fairhead John Logan Isaac Battersby Ben Cutts Ben Cutts Y8 Bedford Landmarks

YEAR 5 0 1 M a x i m i l i a n We r e s z c z y n s k i 02 George Kotsidis 03 Edward Page 04 Hugo Morgan 05 Caelan Standen 06 Evan Miller 07 Archie Fleming 08 Archie Fleming 09 Oliver Featherstone 10 Cayo Sinclair 11 Evan Miller 1 2 J o s h u a Wo r b oy s 13 Harry Kenmore 14 Luke Mitchell 15 Alber t Hanbury

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W H I N C H AT

Snowy Days

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100

W H I N C H AT

Parting shot

Above: Drone image of the Jerusalema performance. Those taking up the challenge performed a dance reel to the song Jerusalema, a gospelinfluenced house song by South African producer Master KG and performed by singer-songwriter Nomcebo.

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Photo: Dylan Uppal

Artwork: Mr Phil Studd, Head of Art

2020 2021

B E D F O R D P R E PA R ATO RY S C H O O L

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T +44 (0)1234 362274 F +44 (0)1234 362285 E PREPINFO@BEDFORDSCHOOL.ORG.UK

B E D F O R D P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O L

BEDFORD P R E PA R ATO RY SCHOOL D E PA R Y S AV E N U E B E D F O R D, M K 4 0 2 T U UNITED KINGDOM

BEDFORD P R E PA R ATO RY SCHOOL W H I N C H AT M A G A Z I N E A U T U M N 2 0 2 1

W H I N C H AT

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MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

Photo: George Sivills

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