Beechwood Lion Lent 2019

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Beechwood Lion Lent 2019

The Witches cast a spell - see page 3 for more

From the Headmaster Dear Parents and Friends, The Independent Schools Inspectorate’s new-style Educational Quality Inspection focusses less on the scrutiny of teaching and educational provision and almost exclusively on the measurement of pupil outcomes. Alongside statutory compliance, inspectors use the School’s self-evaluation to assess the pastoral, academic and co-curricular outcomes of pupils from the Woodlands Nursery to the Top Form. The raw data that we amass year on year speaks convincingly of the educational quality of a Beechwood education, but as we know, schools are more than algorithms and this data provides only an evaluative framework.

Why? Because schools are people places; places in which pupils, staff, parents and governors collaborate to effect the very best educational outcomes possible for every child’s future.

The ISI’s judgements of ‘Excellence’ in all areas (with no recommendations for improvement) come as no surprise to those who see at first hand the daily excellence that Beechwood evinces. Such outcomes are, I am told, extremely rare, but it is the prose feedback of the inspectors which speaks so powerfully and so passionately about the vision, culture and people of our School.

In my letter to parents, communicating our ISI success, I highlighted the exceptional alignment of our School to its child-centred Mission, to Nurture, Engage and Inspire. It is a Mission which is self-consciously child-centred, deliberately putting children at the centre of their educational

journeys, giving them opportunities to stand on their own two feet, academically, in their cocurricular lives and as integral members of our community, whilst giving them the autonomy to master their very own destinies.

Schools are all about the future; they open doors, instil confidence for future fulfilment, which is presumably why they are called ‘preparatory’, they develop character and creativity, but most of all they imbue hope, and it is primarily the prose of the ISI report which most clearly conveys what is extraordinary about Beechwood. The inspectors speak of our unique alignment, the profound effect of our 16 core Values on our pupils, our pupils as ‘confident and articulate communicators’ and ‘exceptional collaborators’, their ‘rapid development of skills and knowledge’ and their ‘exemplary behaviour’. Wow! I have never before read that in an ISI report.

If you have not yet read in detail the 21 paragraphs in Section 3 of the report please take the time to read the points again, perhaps even with your children, because these points articulate our pupils' extraordinary individual and collective progress and outcomes. …and no sooner had the inspection finished, than we plunged on again into a dynamic term of developments; ascending cherubs, (descending scaffolding!), the big reveal of our bright new façade, a new South Lawn pathway, (made of flapjack according to one young observer!) new indoor cricket nets, la folie de la Soirée Amicale, Rotary Youth Speaks debating success, the pupils’ election of Build Africa as their chosen international charity, outstanding cross-country, the mischievous antics of the irreverent James Carter our new Patron of Reading, magnificent Poetry Presentations, World Book Day with all manner of costumes, spotted and otherwise, Pi Day, our biennial Music Composition

Competition, remarkable clay pigeon shooting, equestrianism, synchro swimming success, national fencing accolades and a developing a culture of winning at fixtures home and away.

The Witches spawned a creative Arts Week including four real (and few hundred toy) mice proliferating the South Corridor. Felix met David Walliams and told us all about it in assembly, Adeola appeared on Eastenders and Mrs Anderson on Radio Verulam (repeated by popular demand!). We were inspired by visits to The Globe, Hazard Alley and a residential trip to Aylmerton, Norfolk.

Significantly, we have also been bowled over by the success of our pupils in achieving highly competitive places at 11+ and 13+ senior schools and by the 28 (!!!) senior school scholarships awarded this and last term and I congratulate all of those pupils, particularly those who secured places at schools they thought were out of their reach; evidence of their Growth Mindset and that of the School. Thank you to Mr Bullock, Mrs Clarke, Mr Coke, Mr Packer and the rest of the staff on these outstanding achievements.

I cannot tell you how proud I am of all of these outcomes.

Time has warped, expanding to accommodate eleven weeks of educational inspiration; the summer term beckons, but for now as the Easter holidays approach, perhaps we have a few weeks collectively to rest on the glossiest of laurels and to recharge our batteries.

Have a lovely holiday!

With best wishes, Yours,

EDWARD BALFOUR HEADMASTER

Felix Meets David Walliams

Youth Speaks Success

Felix (Year 3) was recently in the extremely enviable position of being invited to meet David Walliams and receiving a signed copy of one of his books. If this wasn’t enough excitement, Felix also featured in an article in The Radio Times! The magazine had run a competition inviting children to pose questions to the author and Felix was over the moon to have been selected from hundreds of children thanks to his insightful question; ‘Why do most of the characters in your book have only one parent?’ Congratulations Felix; what a fabulous opportunity!

Congratulations to the Beechwood Park public speaking team; Jonathan and Joshua (Top Form) and Freddie (Year Seven) who reached the district final of the Rotary Club Youth Speaks Competition. In the preceding rounds, the team battled a number of strong teams from other schools in the intermediate category. Performing at an extremely high standard, the boys delivered lively speeches based on their chosen topic: “what is the world’s greatest invention?”

Food for Thought We were delighted to welcome Holroyd Howe Nutritionist, Sally Crewe, to Beechwood Park this term. In a number of sessions across the School she inspired pupils to enjoy a healthy lunch, emphasising the importance of a balanced diet.

The newsletter of Beechwood Park School, Markyate, Hertfordshire AL3 8AW

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Experiential Learning Daddy Day Care

Woodlands Nursery was delighted to welcome 28 daddies (and one grandpa!) to an appropriately named ‘Daddy Day Care’ morning this term, where their children and the Woodlands Nursery team shared the Woodlands experience with them.

The enthusiastic daddies kicked off the morning with a Phonics session with a difference - they learnt the sound ‘n’ to music of Bjork; writing small ‘n’s when the music was ‘Oh So Quiet’ and enormous ones when it changed to loud! After this, a trip to the School’s Sports Hall for a PE lesson with Miss Horn included a warm up game where the daddies' competitive edge came into play.

They really were good sports!

The morning continued with an inspirational Music session, after which, Keeley the School’s Catering Manager brought along much needed cake! Reenergised, some dads had a go at rainbow toast making, whilst others hammered ice.

Another group made knobbly rocky road cakes whilst others made snow. Smiling, yet showing signs of tiredness, the dads departed just before lunchtime

SHIRLEY HAYMAN

Forest School From the depths of winter through to the excitement at signs of spring, pupils have been enjoying the many and varied activities that Forest School offers. Year 4 showed great perseverance in getting a piece of cotton wool to light with a spark, Woodlanders have enjoyed dressing up, finding bugs, staging shows and plenty more, Year 2 showed super negotiation skills and team work when they worked together to build a bird nest and Year 1 were lucky enough to experience Forest School in the snow! We enjoyed winter and now we are ready for some sunshine and warmth!

BECKY LE BAS

French and Art combine One of the French words of the week at Woodlands this term was ‘un baton’ (stick). Woodlands pupils had been looking at some examples of Andy Goldsworthy’s work. Andy is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who has a very unusual style, using sticks to create his artwork. The children were fascinated by the fact that he doesn't use pens and felt tips to create pieces of art.

The Woodlanders also revised the French word ‘la clé’ (key). Inspired, everyone ventured out into Forest School in small groups to collect real 'batons' before creating their own pieces, using just sticks and keys. The children studied each other’s creations and tried to work out the story that the art was telling. Who knew that a few 'batons' and 'clés' could inspire so many different and imaginative stories?

SHIRLEY HAYMAN

St Albans Abbey

Year 3 Explore Hinduism As part of their study of major world faiths, Year 3 enjoyed a most informative and engaging workshop on Hinduism.

In a fantastically interactive day they learnt how to prepare for a Hindu wedding; including painting hands and faces and learning how to dress for the occasion, adorning themselves with colourful garlands and bindis. They also learnt about some of the Gods and discovered which ones to pray to, to ensure a good marriage.

The Instructor, Indri, spoke to the children about the principles of living a good life as a Hindu, they listened to some prayers in Sanskrit and had the chance to look at some fascinating artefacts.

Aylmerton Aylmerton clearly made a huge impression on its visitors, teachers and Year 4 pupils alike. The visit moved Mr Livermore to poetry. Here is a short excerpt.

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For Reception, one of the highlights of the term was their trip to the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban. The visit supported their ‘materials and buildings’ topic. They took part in a clay tile workshop and spent time in the Abbey learning about the materials which had been used around this impressive building.

RECEPTION TEACHERS

During the day the children learnt a traditional Gujerati stick dance called 'Dandiya Raas', and everyone had just about mastered it by the end of the day! It was a superb experience, full of colour, energy and learning and we all left with a deeper understanding of Hinduism.

YEAR 3 TEACHERS

Did I dream of all this?

The perfect panorama Of idyllic Blakeney Point A dream we sailed to the seals?

And did I imagine a night time scene Huddled in Felbrigg Church A storyteller, armed with tales and a torch,

Lighting up this world?

I close my eyes and see an exodus of toads Mud from the river between my toes A black shimmering lake....

The silhouettes of this world Leading to Felbrigg Hall.

ANDY LIVERMORE

PAGE X

The Witches

Witches Absolutely Detest Children…!

To a witch, a child smells like dogs' droppings.

And now the Grand High Witch is planning to get rid of every child in England - can anybody stop them?

In our annual School Production, a huge cast of characters and crew, from Year 5 to Top Form, brought Roald Dahl’s The Witches to fabulous life. Thank you for all your tremendous energy, imagination and enthusiasm.

LAURA HEGARTY

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Beechwood Park School’s Newsletter

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What a Performance Outstanding Orchestral Experience A group of 8 Beechwood Park pupils (from Years 4 and 5) were lucky enough to take part in Haileybury’s Orchestral Day. In instrumental sectional rehearsals, each group rehearsed and prepared their own piece, in addition to learning the music for a full orchestral arrangement of Grieg’s ‘In the Hall of

Poetry Presentation to Parents Playful, Passionate, Poignant Poetry Cry havoc! Let slip the poets of war Years Five and Six and Three and Four The Threes went first – three triumphs heard

By Faulkner, Nash and MC Squared With props, panache, poetic pace Bringing smiles, you warmed the place Confident, punchy – it looked a breeze Thank you, GROWN-UP Year Threes Onto the fours with costumed mimes A trio of revolting Roald Dahl rhymes Down Vith Children, A Wonka Bite The Porcupine - all darkly light The Fives were next – eclectic fun From Chocolate Cake to Hunter Dunn Patricia Leighton working hard Shall I Compare Thee by The Bard Tyger, tyger burning bright!

Byron, Moses, Burns and Wright Talent, confidence, a moody mix Thank you to our Year Six

ANDY LIVERMORE

the Mountain King’, which they performed to a full audience at the end of the day.

This was the first time most of the children had experienced what it is like to play in a large symphony orchestra. Under the excellent guidance of their exuberant and charismatic conductor, Andrew O’Brien they covered many different aspects of orchestral technique and the end result was outstanding.

JULIAN WINN

Soirée Amicale Au début 7B1 a présenté une pièce qui s’appelle Gogglebox à la française. Ça m’a fait rire quand Charlie était Donald Trump. Mon acteur préféré était Matthew parce qu’il était vraiment formidable et enthousiaste.

TOM & SOPHIE

Ma pièce préférée était Docteur Qui. Les professeurs ont ri quand j’ai dit “ C’est gentil?

C’est nécessaire? C’est vrai?”

JACK B

6A a produit un spectacle merveilleux: ‘Shrek sauve la princesse Fiona’ parce que c’était très rigolo. Ils avaient de bons accents et ils ont bien joué. La princess Fiona était très fort mais Shrek était assez timide.

JONATHAN & AKSHAN

Toby was very funny as Puss in Boots and my favourite part was when he got hit in the “Derrière” and everyone laughed.

ETHAN

Tout d’abord je pense que la pièce Robin des Bois était fantastique. Les mouvements étaient très simples donc j'ai bien compris la plupart de temps.

DANIEL W & CHRIS

6C a fait Peppa la cochonne. Ça m’a beaucoup plu parce qu’ils étaient très enthousiastes.

JOE

Ma pièce préférée était Madame Arc-en Ciel, présenté par 6B1. Ça m'a beaucoup plu à cause des vêtements. J’ai beaucoup apprécié les vêtements de Sylvia.

L’histoire était intéressante. C’était amusant.

GREGOR

Ma pièce préférée était le chou de Bruxelles qui pue, mon acteur préféré était Jake qui était le chou de Bruxelles. Vive le chou de Bruxelles!

HENRY O’R

J’ai beaucoup aimé la pièce drôle quand Ben a voulu et a reçu la Potion dans Astérix et Obelix! Asterix (Arthur) was very funny and had good facial expressions, I believe he could have acted without any lines.

CALLUM

Après l’entracte, c'était Alex au pays des Merveilles. C'était vraiment fantastique car la costume d’Alex, qui était une fille, m’a fait rire.

Ce que j’ai surtout aimé c'était quand Alex a dit “J’adore les Maths!”

FERGUS

Composition Competition Our Music Composition Competition meant that every pupil, from Year 4 to Top Form, was busy composing in their class music lessons, either on their own or in small groups.

Their pieces reflected a wide range of styles and media, from live performances of ‘Fanfares’ and ‘Planet’ pieces to Garage Band compositions and cartoon soundtracks.

There were 162 entries

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in total and the Music Department Staff had a very busy and difficult time, deciding on the 32 finalists who would perform at the competition final in front of adjudicator Jonathan Dobson, Director of Music at Queenswood School.

Whilst he deliberated over some very difficult decisions, the audience was treated to a performance by the Percussion Ensemble of ‘Life on Mars’. Mr Dobson gave some fabulous feedback on each piece and presented every finalist with a winner’s certificate and a gift from Queenswood. The overall departmental winners were also presented with trophies.

The Middle Department winner was Ben (Yr 5) for his soundtrack to the cartoon ‘Ormie the Pig’. The Senior Department winners were Joe,

James, Charlie and Arthur for their percussion composition ‘Zane Plane Fanfare’.

A huge well done to all pupils; a superb standard of compositions!

JANE LODGE

Going Round in Circles…

Pi Day Celebrations

Science Dome Visits Pupils in Years 4 and 5 were whisked off to space when the Science Dome took them on a 360° journey through our solar system and beyond.

They learnt about space, including the International Space Station, the relative positions of the planets in our solar system and about solar and lunar eclipses.

But the highlight of the day was a hair-raising virtual roller coaster ride through space, culminating in sudden impact with an asteroid. Exhilarated (but dizzy) pupils emerged from the Dome and back to reality.

On 14th March we celebrated Pi Day across the School with many and diverse activities designed to raise awareness of the wonderful, yet irrational, number π. From treasure hunts, to memory competitions, library quizzes and assemblies; our day was filled with Pi. The kitchen staff even prepared a pie dish option!

So far Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As it is an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern.

Pi is the most studied number in mathematics, and is an integral part of many calculations.

Congratulations to Top Former Henry who won the coveted Pi Trophy for memorising a phenomenal 231 digits of Pi

Five Fun Facts about Pi 1. Pi is part of Egyptian mythology. People in Egypt believed that the Pyramids of Giza were built on the principles of Pi. The vertical height of the pyramids have the same relationship with the perimeter of their base as the relationship between a circle’s radius and its circumference!

2. There is an entire writing style that is based on the number Pi. The number of letters in the successive words must be the same as the digits of Pi. 3. A crop circle was found in 2008 that showed a coded image of the first ten digits of Pi. 4. Albert Einstein was born on Pi day!

5. The Greek letter π is the first letter of the words periphery and perimeter. And, as we all know, Pi is the ratio of a circle’s periphery to its diameter.

We hope you had a happy Pi day too!

MARION WRIGHT

KATIE DIAMOND

Year 6 Globe Visit ‘My bus, my bus, my kingdom for a bus!’ cried Mrs Wilkins as our seventy-seat chariot arrived at the eighth hour of the eve of the Ides of March. We were off: crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war, Mrs Manton looked at the weather! Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Slightly over-optimistic but flitting between fair and foul, light through yonder coach window broke and in a couple of hours… we were there. All the world’s a stage –THE GLOBE! What lucky children and teachers we were. After a brilliant tour of the famous outdoor theatre, we had a packed lunch by

the windswept yet sunny Thames before the main event: a fabulous production of Romeo and Juliet enjoyed from the luxury of the Upper Gallery.

ANDY LIVERMORE

Inspired by Kandinsky

Frying Pans at the Ready!

The entire School enjoyed celebrating Shrove Tuesday. At Woodlands Nursery, our youngest pupils made pancakes from play dough and enjoyed practising tossing them. They went on to learn about the ingredients needed to make real pancakes, before decorating some real ones with lots of delicious toppings!

Meanwhile, pupils and staff from the rest of the School gathered on the courts in the brilliant sunshine, for the annual

Returning, tired, we were all able to reflect on a very special day indeed. ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.’

House Pancake Race and everyone entered into the spirit; the Middle and Senior Departments each held races whilst the Junior Department cheered them on enthusiastically.

Congratulations to Saunders House, who won the Golden Frying Pan! Reception continued with the pancake theme and listened to the story of ‘Mr Wolf’s Pancakes’ before completing more fun pancake activities, including their own pancake relay race.

And of course, there were pancakes for lunch.

Our Woodlanders were inspired by the artwork of Kandinsky, and they explored a variety of colours and circular objects to create their own original works of art, priceless in their own right.

Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky, born 1866, was a Russian painter and art theorist, whose most recognisable work ‘Squares with Concentric Circles’ or ‘Farbstudie Quadrate’, is a small study on how different colour combinations are perceived. However, there's no need to visit The Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich to see Kandinsky’s original artwork - we have our own beautiful copies at Woodlands Nursery!

Fabulous creative work Woodlanders!

SHIRLEY HAYMAN

LOUISE PAGE

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Beechwood Park School’s Newsletter

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Books at the Ready World Book Day 2019 Every day is #worldbookday at Beechwood Park but this year the School went completely ‘dotty’ (with spots) to celebrate. Dalmatians roamed the corridors, trying to avoid capture from the dastardly Cruella De Vil (aka Mr. Balfour) who was desperate for the perfect new coat. Meanwhile, in the Junior Department, characters from Traditional Tales wandered the hallways in search of a lost dwarf.

Staff and pupils alike relished the opportunity to dress as their favourite character (from a book) for the day. As a school, we raised a phizzwhizzing* £477 for Build Africa with our creative efforts. A huge well done to everyone involved! Thank you also to parents for providing such marvellous costumes.

Throughout the day, pupils enjoyed taking part in Roald Dahl quizzes and pouring over books at the Book Fair. They also enjoyed a special lunch of green eggs and ham. As the BFG would say, it was truly crodscollop!* What a splendiferous, spliffling* day

GRAINNE WILKINS

*Did you spot the Roald Dahl references?

Year 1 Explore Roald Dahl Coinciding with World Book Day, Year 1 enjoyed a trip to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery in Aylesbury.

Pupils explored the interactive exhibits, acting out parts of Roald Dahl’s stories and creating some collaborative tree art to inspire The Twits to be better people.

They saw Mrs Twit’s glass eye up close, dressed up as Willy Wonka and Augustus Gloop, ventured inside James’ Giant Peach, made music, read books in Matilda’s library, crawled through Mr Fox’s tunnel, were shrunk, made shadows and investigated sound, got sucked up the pipe in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, rode Mr Wonka’s glass elevator, experimented with mirrors and even found time to create some beautiful artwork. A splendiferous day!

YEAR 1 TEACHERS

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Patron of Reading We are delighted to announce award-winning children's poet James Carter as our 2019 Patron of Reading. Along with his guitar ‘Keith’ and Melodihorn ‘Steve’, this term James delivered workshops across the School with his unique and inspiring blend of words

and music; from Woodlands Nursery to Top Form, where he read his own poetry and inspired the children to write their own, offering advice and top tips along the way.

Year 2 were introduced to Kennings (a compound expression in Old English and Old Norse poetry with metaphorical meaning) and had great fun coming up with their own creations, whilst the Middle Department were given specific themes on which to create their poetry. Top Form worked on melodious word combinations and precise imagery to create poems about space. We look forward to another visit from James, later on in the year.

GRAINNE WILKINS AND FIONA MESSENT

Fantastic Mr Fox! Mr Fox joined Beechwood Park in January 2019 as our new Head of DT and we were keen to know a little bit more about him. Luckily, the opportunity arose for us to ask him a few questions about himself.

As well as his love of DT, Mr Fox has a number of interests, two of which are rock climbing and performing music – though possibly not at the same time! He has however combined music and DT in his love of constructing giant instruments, which can then be played in a variety of interesting ways. He’s even travelled around Europe teaching how to build musical instruments using technology.

Staying on the musical theme; Mr Fox explained that one of his other talents is overtone throat singing…originating in Mongolia and also known as overtone chanting or harmonic singing, this is where the singer manipulates the resonances created as air

travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out of the lips to produce a melody. It is clear that Mr Fox is a man of many talents.

When he’s not rock climbing, inventing or performing, Mr Fox’s favourite book is Lord of the Rings and his favourite location in the world (apart from Beechwood Park!) is Lhasa in Tibet, where the Dhali Lama used to reside. If he could travel back in time, Mr Fox would like to go back and meet Nikola Tesla so that he could work on some inventions with him. Just imagine what they could conjure up between them!

HENRY AND GREGOR TOP FORM.

Sport Ski Successes for Jack Well done to Jack (Y6) who has had some fantastic skiing successes this term. In the Anglo Scottish Championships in Pila, Italy he achieved a superb 10th place finish during his first time ever racing minis SuperG! At the Anglo Welsh Ski Championships in Champery, Switzerland he made brilliant progress to achieve an 11th place finish in the Giant Slalom. And in the British Interschool Ski Challenge, run by the British Ski Academy, he achieved a top 20 result competing against some full time and mountain based athletes. Well done!

ALEXIS HAMILTON

National Fencing Champions In a stellar weekend for the Beechwood Park fencers, competing in the British School Team Championships, our U11 girls (Edie, Emmeline, Ava and Josie) fought fantastically throughout the competition winning the final bout against Millfield 45-43 to become National Champions!

The boys' U11A and U11B teams fought valiantly in a very tight competition. The B team (Seb, Aidan and Ben) finished 5th and the A team (Joshua, Monty and William) went on to finish in bronze position. The U13 boys (Fergus, Daniel and Gus) also fought hard in a fiercely competitive arena to take 14th place in the U13 Boys' Sabre.

Huge congratulations to everyone that took part.

KYLIE-PAUL LE BAS

Netball Week!

During our Netball Week, Year 3 enjoyed their Masterclass with Mavericks’ player and the Director of Netball at Haileybury, Danielle McFarlane. Meanwhile, during break time other Year groups were set a challenge; to score 70 goals using the high netball hoops (and with an independent witness to verify the total!).

Well done to the many pupils who took up the break time challenge. During the week, Games Staff promoted Netball as a sport across the whole Middle and Senior Departments and during House Assemblies. Everyone learnt that Netball is NOT just for girls; it is a high-octane, demanding and exciting sport, enjoyed by all.

Enjoy Netball!

Rugby v York House Emotions were high in this match the last time these players would don the historic Beechwood 1st team rugby colours. A flat performance during the first half meant that some home truths needed to be shared at half time. The boys were asked to focus on what they wanted their final 20 minutes of Beechwood rugby to look like. The process was cathartic; they approached the second half with a much more direct, committed, cohesive and assertive performance which penetrated York House's defensive lines again and again, enabling BPS to play on the front foot and scoring several tries in quick succession to win the game comfortably, 5-3. It has been a pleasure to work with such an engaged and mature group who have worked hard to create a positive culture.

KYLIE-PAUL LE BAS

Hugo's Swimming Success Well done to Hugo (6MW), who has had fantastic success in the Swimming County Championships.

He is County Champion in the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke. He won Silver medal in the 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke and Bronze in the 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 100m breaststroke. An AMAZING achievement!

ADRIENNE HORN

CLARE LECKIE-HARBORD

Our New Equestrian Team At their first Regional Competition at Bury Farm Equestrian Centre, our newly formed Beechwood Park Equestrian team (Olivia, Josie and Fergus) all did fantastically well.

Josie and Olivia went clear and took 1st and 2nd place in the first class individual 80cm.

Hot on the heels of this success, the team had another terrific weekend, competing at the NSEA (National Schools' Equestrian Association) Arena Eventing Qualifier where they qualified for the National Plate Championships at Keysoe later this year.

At the NSEA, Olivia and Josie went clear in the first class, Fergus was the fastest and the team didn’t accrue any time faults. Josie rode clear in both rounds, in a great time and with incredible style, coming 3rd & 4th respectively in each round, qualifying for the National Championships at Addington. Many congratulations to the team!

CLARE LECKIE-HARBORD

Cross-Country across the Country Congratulations to all of the BPS runners who competed in a weekend packed with crosscountry fixtures. At the Bridgewater School Cross-Country event there was lots of great running on display, and some fantastic results!

Individual medal winners were Eloise (Y4) gold, Amy M (Y3) silver and Ava (Y4) bronze. Danny (Y6), Annabelle (Y5) and Zuri (Y3) all finished just behind in 4th place. Anna (Y4) was 5th, Martha (Y4) 6th, Hector (Y3) 6th, Isla Mc (Y5), Livi (Y4) 9th and Amy C (Y3) 9th. There was also team success for the Year 3 boys, Year 4 boys and Year 5 girls who finished 3rd, and the Year 3 girls and Year 4 girls both finished 1st.

At the National Prep Schools' CrossCountry Championships at Malvern College, all of the team showed great determination and resilience to complete the course and finish strongly. It was a brilliant opportunity for all of our runners to be able to compete in such a large and competitive field. Special mention to Eddie who finished 40th out of 214 runners in the U13 age group.

ALEXIS HAMILTON

Senior Mixed Hockey It’s been an undefeated season for the Senior Mixed Hockey A team ending well with a final score of 10-5 against Haileybury! All of the players should be extremely proud of themselves after an incredible season. They have worked hard, had fun and reaped the awards at the end of this term.

CLARE LECKIE-HARBORD

BPS Cross-Country In the second Beechwood Park annual cross-country event, we welcomed almost 400 runners from 18 local schools. The competition was strong, with up to 15 teams taking part in each of the U11 races. The honours were shared with Aldwickbury winning the U13 boys’ race, Queenswood the U13 girls’, Heath Mount the U11 boys’, Berkhamsted U11 girls’, Heath Mount U9 boys’ and Beechwood Park triumphing in the U9 girls’ race.

Congratulations to our two Beechwood Park medallists, Eddie who won silver in the U13 boys’ race and Eloise who won gold in the U9 girls’ race.

ALEXIS HAMILTON

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Beechwood Park School’s Newsletter

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BPSPA and Charity News BPSPA, Alumni and House News BPSPA News New Committee Following the AGM in January, our new committee is now in place. I can’t thank the team enough for giving up their time to support the work of the BPSPA, and I was delighted to see some new faces attending our Committee Meeting in March.

Forthcoming Events It is always exciting, as we head into the Easter break, to look forward to the long summer days and the fun events of the Beechwood summer term - a mix of inevitable fun and exhaustion; and this year will be no different!

Some wonderful Junior Department Tea Towels have been created and delivered very efficiently by Liz Balen and Sally Suxena.

These tea towels are always such a popular, useful and enduring memento of the Junior Department years.

Looking forward to next term, we have a quick return to BPSPA activities with the re scheduled Junior and Middle Department Discos on Friday 26th April. Our thanks to the school for squeezing them into the busy summer term diary.

Lent Term Charity News As always, Beechwood pupils have been buzzing with ideas for fundraising.

At the start of the Lent term, we were visited

by Noah Flanagan, a BPS Alumnus, who spoke to us about what had motivated him to support the charity, Build Africa.

We were thoroughly inspired to raise money and learn more about this charity which works to provide access to quality education in rural areas of Africa. Between now and January 2020, we will build links with Angangam Primary School in Uganda.

Our Year 6 girls held a very successful cake stall, kindly making space for Year 4 origami to be included as well! The queue stretched all the way to the Middle Department classrooms and everyone appreciated the wonderful treats on offer.

World Book Day was incredibly successful and we all enjoyed dressing up, raising a massive £477 for Build Africa.

Our Summer Ball team are working very hard to prepare for this year’s Ball – it will very definitely be ‘The Greatest Show’! We will have an amazing band to entertain us, a menu that I cannot wait to taste and entertainment that can only impress. If the date is not yet in your diary, it should be! 29th June – please join us!

Our Fun Night team are working hard on our 9th July evening event which is a highlight for every child in the school. If you are new to Beechwood then make sure you block the evening out in your family diary and save the last few drops of your energy.

Keech Hospice Much of the work that we do raises money for an exceptionally good cause and I was very proud to represent the BPSPA at a visit to Keech Hospice this month along with a few parents to present a cheque for the proceeds from the Christmas Fayre Cake Stall and the previous year’s disco refunds which parents opted to give to charity. I wanted to see first-hand why we need to support Keech and understand more about the work that they do.

I was moved and inspired. This is a Hospice that works with both children and adults and with their families. I was amazed to hear about Dementia and Alzheimers support and respite care for families. I had no idea how many families they support in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire and that the majority of the £6 million a year they need to stay open comes from organisations like ourselves. We are arranging further visits to the Hospice to allow parents to see why the work that the Hospice does is so important. If you are interested and would like to come along, please get in touch with me.

Looking to the Future We are finalising our plans for the next BPSPA fundraising push for the School and look forward to sharing more details with you soon.

Watch this space!

All that remains now is for me to thank everyone who generously gives up their time to support us in all our events and activities.

Music Department Fundraising The BPS Music Department has come up with a fantastic initiative to raise money for this year’s School Charity; Build Africa. All of the music teachers have challenged themselves to learn an entirely new instrument from scratch, ready to take Music Examinations in May. The range of instruments is varied; Mr Vockerodt traded the piano for the tuba, Mr Winn has chosen the drums whilst Mr Buckton has exchanged the violin (and ukulele) for the clarinet, and he has already learned to play the Ukulele Club theme tune! Mrs Peck is learning to play the xylophone, which she can just about squeeze into her compact Fiat car and I (I normally play the piano and cello) have selected to learn the flute.

Pupils have reacted in various ways. I have received a number of comments such as “surely she can play every instrument anyway?” to “that’s strange; a teacher learning…”, most of the children are just intrigued! Either way they have taken a great interest and been very supportive.

Details of how you can sponsor the Music Department will be available shortly.

JANE LODGE

BRIDGET MANTON

Please check the School’s website for more information: www.beechwoodpark.com

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SARAH WOODRUFF, BPSPA CHAIR