Beechwood Lion Summer 2019

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The

Beechwood Lion Summer 2019

Excellence Day – Excellent Fun!

From the Headmaster Dear Parents and Friends, The Greatest Show The applause fades, the strains of music resonate still, and the sound of laughter ripples away as The Greatest Show draws to a close for another academic year. The highs of Speech Day, the exhilaration of The Beechwood Ball, and the thrill of Fun Night live on in our memories, but the summer beckons us to our families and our homes for a period of rest and reflection.

What a year it has been! The profoundly child-centred Beechwood Mission came with potency this year, embodied by our pupils’ extraordinary achievements. As I said at Speech Day, this level of excellence is not possible without the unerring and actually humbling support of parents and governors as this

Speech Day Olympic Gold Medallists, fabulous musical interludes and a Grand High Witch marked Speech Day 2019. It was inspiring to hear from Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh, who spoke passionately about what motivated them to dig deep in order to win the elusive Gold Medal at the Rio Olympics. They encouraged us all to focus on our super strengths and believe that our dreams are absolutely within reach. With some exceptional music (a trumpet fanfare, percussion trio, and a leavers’ choir accompanied by the soaring violin of Top Former Alex) and Hugo, with a welcome and hilarious reprise of his role in The Witches, memories of this Speech Day will endure.

JULIA ROUSE

wonderful community grows year on year in stature and integrity.

Speech Day, our grand finale enabled us to refocus prize giving on our Mission and to acknowledge the everyday excellence of our pupils in their pastoral, academic and co-curricular lives as they inspire us with their sheer energy and creativity. Whether or not your child received a prize, they are all winners; no one is left waiting in the wings, every Beechwood child has the chance to shine; be it camping out at Welly Boot Camp, launching a water balloon from a Trebuchet at Mountfitchet Castle, jumping, running, batting, catching, composing, performing for prospective parents, their own parents or grandparents in Music, Drama, Latin, French or playing in a junk orchestra, the energy, integrity and determination that your children exhibit astounds us every day.

There are no compromises at Beechwood, we don’t do things by half and the achievements of our pupils in and out of School testify to their talents, the support you give them and the education that they receive.

We wish all of our leavers the very best of luck as they go off to rewrite the stars at their next schools. I am confident, as I’m sure you are, that the rich and supportive foundation offered to all of our pupils at Beechwood will stand them in enviable stead, ready to face the challenges of the future. Bravo parents for playing your own part in this combined success and for ensuring that your children remain firmly on the tightrope with a steady focus.

Thank you to our staff who work tirelessly to make this finely-tuned production such a smash hit. You all deserve a standing ovation, as well as a much-deserved break.

Have a very happy summer, we look forward to seeing you in September.

With best wishes, Yours,

EDWARD BALFOUR HEADMASTER

Excellence Day On the last Monday of term, the School positively effervesced - there were stalls, activities and festivity a-plenty as staff and pupils gathered to celebrate the ‘Excellent’ outcome of our recent ISI Report. Excellence was everywhere – in the Fun Run, the finals of the magnificent Beechwood’s Got Talent and in the ingenious, creative and downright hilarious activities devised by pupils and staff alike - all in aid of Build Africa, GOSH and those all-important House Points.

It was a fantastically successful day, and a real team effort.

TRINNI HANDLEY & JAMES MOULDER

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

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Hold the ‘Front’ Page!

IAPS Maths Adviser Congratulations to Marion Wright, Head of Maths who has been appointed Maths Adviser for IAPS (The Independent Association of Prep Schools). Marion will continue to head up the Maths Department at Beechwood whilst carrying out this additional role. Great news for IAPS, Beechwood and Marion.

Congratulations!

EDWARD BALFOUR

Music Results Rock!

Well done to the 10 Beechwood Park pupils who took their first RSL Rock School Music Production Exams in our new Mac Suite. We are the first prep school in the country to enter pupils for these exams. Verity, Fiona, Michael, Daniel, Alex, Ben, Chris, Matthew, Gregor and Eddie achieved 2 Merits and 8 Distinctions between them. A further 77 pupils took their individual ABRSM, Trinity or LCM music exams in May with 78% achieving a merit or distinction.

Fantastic results!

JANE LODGE

500 Word Story Success

Moving On, Moving Up With their exams finally over, Top Form launched themselves enthusiastically into their ‘Moving On, Moving Up’ programme; Four weeks of trips, guest speakers, challenges and lessons with a focus on deepening their understanding of the world around them and preparing them for the next stage in life.

The programme started with a fantastic day in London, visiting Tate Britain and the Houses of Parliament.

Top Form were excited to find that both Houses were in session and they were able to watch MPs debating matters that really affect their lives.

Back at School, they were engaged and inspired by Mr Osman, Mr Stroud, Mr Lough, Dr Chalker and Mr Mairs who gave then an insight into their fascinating jobs. A huge thank you goes to them for giving up their time for us.

Other activities on the programme have included a Forest School day, the Detective Project, a Drugs and Alcohol workshop and lots of discussions about relationships. Oh, and a cheeky Nando’s which proved very popular!

During their last weeks at Beechwood, Top Form have shared some very special times together and it has been an absolute pleasure to see them embracing all the opportunities and experiences they have been given. What a great year group!

KERRY CLARKE A highlight of our Moving On, Moving Up programme was a morning with leading barrister, Mr Osman. The oak panels of Beechwood Library were transformed into a vibrant courtroom where a charge of Grievous Bodily Harm was to be answered and four witnesses were questioned closely about the intricacies of the day’s events.

JONATHAN (TOP BM)

Reflecting on Common Entrance Freddie and James recently caught up with Head Pupils, Henry and Fiona, who were keen to talk about their CE experience and pass on some top tips to others.

Did you enjoy your exams? Henry and Fiona both agreed that the Common Entrance experience was quite enjoyable because they knew their teachers had prepared them for all the possible questions that could come up.

Any top revision tips to share? For language revision, Henry and Fiona agreed that post it notes are invaluable, for science, they found the most helpful techniques were mind maps and flash cards. They also found that timing yourself in practice papers is an excellent idea, to help you get used to exam conditions.

How did you prepare yourself mentally? Henry’s tip to avoid unnecessary pre-exam stress is to believe that you can do it, and not to be continuously worrying. They also advised getting lots of sleep to prepare for a tiring few days.

FREDDIE J (7JRB) & JAMES (7JRB)

Congratulations to Amelia (6DJ) who reached the final 50 of the BBC 500 Word Story Competition.

Selected from some 120,000 entrants, Amelia was invited to Windsor Castle for the final where she met HRH Duchess of Cornwall, who told Amelia how much she had enjoyed her story; ‘The Terrible Claw’ and also divulged that it was one of her own selections for the final 50.

Amelia also met Zoe Ball, David Walliams, Chris Evans and Hugh Bonneville, amongst others.

What an amazing experience!

HELEN BEAVIS

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Music’s Smash Hit Thank you to everyone who supported the Music Department staff in their inspired initiative to learn an entirely new instrument from scratch! We are pleased to report that everyone passed their examinations with flying colours and to date we have raised an impressive £1,642 for the School charity; Build Africa.

JANE LODGE

Boarders’ BBQ On a stunning evening, late in the term, 55 boarders and their families gathered on the back lawn to enjoy Beechwood Boarding House hospitality at its best. Picnics and barbeques were interspersed with plenty of fun, as we celebrated the past year together.

Boarders and their siblings enjoyed playing in the stunning grounds; the refreshing swimming pool providing a welcome opportunity to cool off. It was a perfect evening and a fabulous opportunity for us to say a proper goodbye to those who are leaving Beechwood to move on to their senior schools.

ROB HUMPHREYS

Out … and About PAGEGetting X

Forest School Wet and Muddy or Glorious Sunshine: every session is a winner at Forest School!

This term we welcomed Flamstead Preschool to our woods, enjoyed a campfire evening with Year 2, nurtured a baby rabbit who made his home in our fire circle and had many happy sessions with pupils from Woodlands to the Senior Department.

Skern Lodge (Not an Ode) A Tribute to Top Form and Skern Lodge A different entrance started Top’s week Ho! We arrived in a tumble of surf.

BECKY LE BAS

We dressed in our costumes: Life-vests and wet-suits and hardhats For Skern turned, and we became Do-nutters and surfers and climbers, Then high-rope tottering acrobats, Small moles in holes and safety minders.

We shot straight for our meal, Punched the air, taking care.

Were heroes, kings, queens. For real.

Welly Boot Camp What glorious weather we had for camping! We were so grateful to all the parents who supported us, by putting up tents the night before which meant that we had plenty of time to focus on fun and games - Mrs Clarke’s Roman Escape Room Challenge, a Treasure Hunt and traditional games in the woods.

Food was very important to our campers and we were very lucky to have Keeley from Holroyd Howe camping with us who provided frequent and delicious sustenance. After all of the fun, there was even time for some S’mores before we relaxed and appreciated the wonderful sight of Beechwood in the golden light of evening. A great team effort, thank you to everyone who was involved.

We heard the beat of the generous Heartland We built bivvies in a row, cooked a hot meal and listened to Tom: Tales of the Rocket-house rescue, a shipwreck, zipwire, brave captain, and a cat.

Working together was the only way To stay dry and fed and okay.

On our return, we ate pancakes and bacon, Then rinsed the dirt to leave just a hint of the night, the occasion.

Then the last days: pool Olympics, a rib ride and obstacle course We packed and tidied the week.

Whoosh! An exit.

The last bird-bunk room closed.

That’s it.

YEAR 3 TEACHERS

Isle of Wight Year 5 enjoyed a wonderful week on the beaches and lawns of the Isle of Wight. The weather was kind to us and we thoroughly enjoyed our action-packed days in stately homes, 11th century castles, rock pools and pterodactylshaped Dinosaur exhibitions!

The Year 5 pupils were an absolute credit to parents and the School; their behaviour, collaboration and enthusiasm were everything we could have wished for. We hope that the experiences and memories will remain with them for many, many years.

Mr Livermore’s ‘Best Bits’ Roving reporters Freddie and Theo were keen to hear Mr Livermore’s thoughts on his first Isle of Wight trip.

Of all of the places that they visited, Mr Livermore’s favourite was Osborne House, and though he loves teaching (and learning) about Queen Victoria, he had never been before.

He also liked Carisbrooke Castle because of the connection with Charles I. Mr Livermore enjoyed the visit to Allan Bay where the group saw sweets being made – in fact a total 2,400 sweets were made from scratch before their very eyes during their visit. Year 5 were able to go onto the beach every night and Mr Livermore was rather chuffed to have the opportunity to judge the infamous annual sand castle competition!

FREDDIE W (7JRB) & THEO (7JRB)

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A week of memories secured, locked safely forever We pushed through Some battered, some bruised.

All sun-tinted.

Better Beechwoodians in the end.

BRIDGET MANTON

RACHEL RIDLEY

Woodland Writing Year Six have thoroughly impressed the English Department with their Woodland Writing this year. They produced fantastic novels based in our very own woods; time slip narratives abounded with wartime adventures, one Egyptian myth, lost children and even animal Olympics! Their work was celebrated at the Beechwood Booker Prize ceremony with awards presented by the wonderful Mrs McMullen, pictured here with overall winner, Charlie, (6AH). It’s clear that the children have been thoroughly inspired by authors who have visited Beechwood previously: Jonathan Stroud and Abi Elphinstone. To quote William H. Glass, “True alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words”.

BRIDGET MANTON

Beechwood Park School’s Newsletter

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Bringing Learning to Life Woodlands' Big Adventure

Woodlands' Nursery went on a big adventure to Mead Open Farm. Fortunately, the weather was kind to us and we had a glorious day out in every way. The children were fascinated by the coach journey, feeding the animals and, of course, the tractor ride. After eating their picnic lunch, the children were eager to explore the ‘Diggerland’ area, which meant they could play in the sand, and climb aboard the diggers. We all had a brilliant day and were rather tired on the journey home!

SHIRLEY HAYMAN

Quizzing Scientists

Year 2 at the Abbey

Year 2 were transported to the calm of The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban as part of their TPR studies. The visit was a tale of two halves; firstly, a guided tour where we found out about the history of the cathedral and features of a church. Secondly, we focused on the stained glass windows, and the patterns and messages they gave. Our favourite was the Rose Window, which inspired us in a workshop to design our own stained glass window.

YEAR 2 TEACHERS

The Punctuation Show

Daisy, Rory and Nathan (Year 6) and Iola (Year 5) represented Beechwood Park at the first ever Science Quiz Day, held at Aldenham Prep School.

The Beechwood team completed 3 challenging practical tasks as well as a written paper.

Our team scored highly in each round and came 2nd overall out of eleven teams, only missing out on coming first by one point. A fantastic result - well done everyone!

KATIE DIAMOND

This term, Years 4 and 5 enjoyed an English lesson with a difference! Barrie McDermid from The Punctuation Show visited Beechwood and performed his very entertaining, all-singing, all-dancing, educational ‘Grammar and Punctuation Show’.

Barrie used air guitars and air saxophones to help reinforce pupils’ understanding of some of those tricky grammar concepts. Everyone was impressed with his tireless energy and found the songs extremely catchy. It was hard not to join in with the songs that are designed to help children remember the grammar rules.

Reception on Safari

All of our Reception pupils enjoyed a fantastic day at Woburn Safari Park. After the excitement of the coach trip, the children were thrilled to see a great variety of animals, from rhinos and giraffes, to lions, tigers and bears. They saw a troop of cheeky monkeys foraging for food, climbing and playing in their woodland home.

The Zookeeper even had to get a couple of cheeky monkeys off the top of our coach!

We finished the day by tackling the ‘Foot Safari’, spotting many amazing animals.

RECEPTION TEACHERS

Year 3 Skype ZSL The Science Department organised for Year 3 to have a Skype call direct to London Zoo! During the call, the pupils discussed the diets that different animals have and learnt their teeth have adapted to suit what they eat. Pupils constructed a food chain, including two different types of plankton and anchovy and talked about what might happen if one link in the food chain was missing, and what might be the cause. This sparked a thought-provoking discussion about the importance of taking care of the oceans and how we use plastic.

YEAR 3 TEACHERS

YEAR 4 & 5 TEACHERS

Bringing Science to Life A highlight of this term was the visit by The Science Museum, who brought three of their dynamic shows to Beechwood Park. The Junior Department delighted in the ‘Bubble Show’, where they learnt all about bubbles and where some volunteers even had the chance to stand inside a giant bubble!

Years 4 and 5 took part in a stimulating, interactive workshop called ‘Feel the Force’ complete with rockets, magnets, eggs, shotput challenges and skateboards. The pupils enjoyed the exploits of poor Phil the Frog who, in the name of science, was hurled across the floor, into space, out of hot air balloons and beyond.

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The Senior Department quite literally saw that ‘It Takes Guts’, as the digestive system was brought to life before their very eyes. They were able to follow the journey of food from the mouth, through the guts and out the other end, with the use of some clever props and ‘substitutes’.

JOANNE BEGLEY

Back in Time Roman Day

Year 3 took a step back in time and prepared for a Roman invasion!

The pupils really looked the part in some fantastic costumes and, with the help of our Roman visitor from History Off The Page and our wonderful parent helpers, we were all able to experience how the Romans lived; we even had a Roman feast, tasting some Roman delicacies, whilst lounging in Roman style. As Romans, we knew how important it was to bathe and we made creams for our skin out of herbs and oils. The smell was gorgeous!

We wrote messages in ink, and sent them to warn others of Boudicca advancing with her army, made wax tablets from beeswax and used traditional herbs and ingredients to create authentic medicinal cures. Meanwhile, soldiers were preparing for war and learning how to march. It was brilliant!

At the Great Fire

Latin Etymology

Year 2 saw history literally ‘leap off the page’ during their Great Fire of London Day. Dressed in costumes from the time, as the fire unfolded, the pupils journeyed back to 1666 and explored the trades and streets of London.

Year 2 had tremendous fun recreating the Great Fire of London (on a much smaller scale!). They could hardly contain their excitement as we watched Paul and Simon our maintenance men safely light and oversee our fire. We observed the flames jump from house to house and it definitely deepened our understanding of how the fire took hold so quickly. Thankfully, Year 2 came to the rescue and were able to put out the fire with their very own water chain of buckets!

Our Top Form Latin students, shopping lists at the ready, visited Waitrose in Harpenden to look at product brand names for clues to Latin and Ancient Greek derivation.

We wanted to find out how many brand names of products lining the shelves today are derived from Latin and Ancient Greek. An excellent example of this is the brand Panadol.

It claims to be able to cure any pain that you may have. Through our personal knowledge (and Mrs Anderson's handy dictionaries), Top A managed to find out that the name literally means 'all pain'. It comes from the Greek word 'Pana' meaning all and the Latin word 'Dolor' meaning pain.

YEAR 2 TEACHERS

YEAR 3 TEACHERS

Mountfitchet As we approached Mountfitchet, we could see the incredible castle on the hill. Firstly, we visited the Outer Bailey, where medieval torture treatments were displayed.

The model dummies, complete with sound effects, were very realistic. We also looked at all of places that people worked and lived - even the privvy (old name for toilet). We visited the toy museum, which included displays of toys all the way back to when our grandparents were children. After lunch, we went and sat in the Outer Bailey for the Trebuchet show. We had the chance to ‘have a go’ with the trebuchet – we loaded it with water balloons, which we fired at our teachers who, in revenge, fired back at us!

CATHERINE (6AB) & MARTHA (6AB)

Dinosaur Encounter!

Years 1 and 2 were surprised, excited and a little bit frightened this term to come face to face with a 7-year-old T-Rex called Sophie during their assembly!

This was an amazing introduction to Year 1’s new topic and, during their 'Life Long Ago' workshop, they became palaeontologists, uncovering amazing fossils from long ago. It was quite awe-inspiring to be touching artefacts that were many millions of years old.

During their visit to Gulliver’s Land Dinosaur Park, Year 1 were lucky enough to step into The Lost World of Living Dinosaurs for a day out that they will never forget! At least 30 roaring dinosaurs to examine and the chance dig and identifying fossils. Wow!

GREGOR (TOP BM)

Year 2 Investigate Year 2 enjoyed a History Walk around the School, journeying back over 900 years to find out more about Beechwood Park and its previous existence as a private house.

The children were amazed to discover that parts of Beechwood are over 500 years old and that the most famous person that stayed here was Edward VI, who slept in the Steward’s Room!

They also discovered that the ice house was like an early fridge – an original way of storing food to keep it fresh, using ice blocks that would have been cut from the pond or lake during the winter.

YEAR 2 TEACHERS

Beware the Vikings!

Here at last was the day that Year 4 had been waiting for - Viking Day! Transformed into vicious Vikings, with Viking names such as Hogni Hot Nose, Grundi Bloodaxe, Groa and Solvieg, Year 4 still gave a warm Beechwood welcome to the fearsome but friendly Viking, Thorulf Hammrsson. The children were treated to a very entertaining day - an interactive history lesson where they learnt about everyday life as a Viking, played a Viking board game, and learnt how Vikings traded, before finishing the day off with the all-important weapons display and battle.

YEAR 4 TEACHERS

YEAR 1 & 2 TEACHERS

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Beechwood Park School’s Newsletter

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What a Performance!

Latin Plays

LAMDA This term, 47 pupils from Year 3 to Top Form took LAMDA exams, either in groups, duos or as solo entrants. They all worked tremendously hard, finding and exploring the different characters; there were foxes and ugly sisters, villains and heroes, ghosts and hypnotism! But there was a lot of fun as well!

“Veni Vidi Vici” – this could have been the victory shout of every participant at our Ludi Scaenici. Adjudicator, Mr Sam Dewhurst from Uppingham School was effusive in his praise. Priory Academy joined us again in a packed Performance Hall. During the splendid Prandium Romanum, individual prize winners were named: Arthur, Arthuro, Gregor, Adeola, Sylvia, Quinlan and Bea. MICHELE ANDERSON

IMOGEN SLAUGHTER

Summer Concert Our annual Summer Concert featured 140 pupils and 18 different ensembles, in a packed Performance Hall.

They entertained with a wide range of superb performances such as ‘Shut up and Dance with me’ from our ukulele group, Mrs Peck playing the typewriter in the Woodwind Band and Top Former Alex (Top KLB) playing the 3rd Movement of Vivaldi’s violin concerto with the Chamber String Ensemble – wow, what a performance that was! Such talent from all!

JANE LODGE

Choir Tour 2019 During the Easter holidays, 46 pupils from Years 5 to Top Form (and 7 staff) departed Beechwood Park, bound for Holland for the 2019 Choir Tour. At their opening performance in Delft, the Choir were warmly welcomed, the acoustics were amazing and the pupils sounded incredible, singing their hearts out to a large audience; receiving rapturous applause and a standing ovation at the end – led by the public, not just the parents who had come to watch!

The following day the Choir sang in the ‘English Church’ Amsterdam and the pupils gave their very best. The day also included a tour of the picturesque Amsterdam streets, a very poignant visit to the Anne Frank House Museum and an evening trip to the beach back in Noorwijk. It was a fascinating tour with some really memorable performances.

JANE LODGE

Haileybury Rocks!

Wimblewood 2019 Thank you so much to everyone who not only competed in this year’s Wimblewood event but to all those who contributed to the fund raising by buying raffle tickets or various treats at the end of the School day.

We raised an amazing £800 for Give It Your Max! Well done everyone!

ADRIENNE HORN

Twelve of our music pupils had a fantastic time at Haileybury's 'Rock and Jazz Band Day'. In a highly energetic and inspirational day, our musicians teamed up with students from many other schools to rehearse and perform music in a variety of Rock and Jazz styles, including ‘Wild Thing’ by the Troggs and ‘Grease is the Word’ from the 1970’s smash hit film ‘Grease’.

JULIAN WINN

Greek Club Visit Bradfield Our Greek Club, accompanied by Mrs Anderson and Mr Balfour, visited Bradfield College for their triennial Greek Play, Alcestis by Euripides. This 2,500-year-old play was performed in the original Ancient Greek. Inspiring stuff!

Year 2 Concert We were delighted to welcome parents to our Year 2 musicians’ first concert. The appreciative audience was enthusiastic with its applause, which was just the ticket to alleviate butterflies!

Needless to say, the children’s confidence shone through as they showed us just how much progress they have made this year. Keep up the fantastic practising!

JANE LODGE

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Sport County Cup & Regionals

ISGA Golf

This was a fantastic sporting occasion. It was a final. It meant playing under pressure. It was more formal than normal with outside umpires and scorers. There was a trophy waiting on the side of the pitch. They were playing against the best team they have come up against all term, probably ever. And they stood up to the pressure and nearly blinking well did it. To come up short on the final ball was disappointing and upsetting. But only in a sporting context.

We get over it and say well done because we did our best. The fact the boys then went on to beat the Suffolk champions, Orwell Park, and then Norfolk Champions, Norwich School, showed anybody who was watching closely that these boys are not only determined winners with ability, but it showed that they learn.

George and Eddie (both Year 7), registered their best ever team performance at this year's ISGA Stableford Golf competition, held at Sunningdale Heath Golf Club. In a superb performance, the boys finished 5th overall, just 6 points behind the winners, Millfield. The highlight of the day was George's 1st place position on the leader board - an incredible achievement against some very tough opposition.

ANDY LIVERMORE

IAPS Swim Finals

CHRIS KNELLER

Four Beechwood Park swimmers represented the School in the IAPS National Swimming Finals. The event took place at the London Aquatic Centre, where the 2012 Olympic athletes competed. Congratulations to Adeola, Josie, Elliot and Hugo and especially to Adeola and Hugo who reached the final, where they achieved 7th and 4th respectively - what a result!

HSSA Swimming

CLARE LECKIE-HARBORD

SATIPSKI Well done to all the Beechwood Ski Team members who competed indoors in the SATIPSKI Championships. The U11 Boys finished 4th out of 15 teams and the U14 Boys were 6th out of 12 teams. Special mention to Jack D who finished in 4th place individually.

The U11 girls were also in action, winning bronze in the team event! Special mentions to Annabel who finished 4th individually and to Nia who made her ski team debut.

ALEXIS HAMILTON

London Schools’ Ski Race It wasn’t our day in the Dual Slalom event this year with each of our 3 teams missing out on qualification to the next round. But, great to watch and everyone is already looking forward to next year...! However, we fared much better in the Team Slalom. Our new junior team medalled in 5th place in the Y2-4 race (Zuri, Jacob, Aidan and Alex). Our Beechwood ‘A’ team (Jack, George, Annabel and Ben) medalled in 2nd place in the Y5-6 race, in a field of 24 teams! And our senior team (Jack, Arthuro, James and Josh) also medalled in 2nd place in the Y7-8 boys’ race. Well done BWPSKI!

Girls’ Cricket Festival

Well done to Joshua (4H), who competed at the English Youth Championships, fighting in the U11 Sabre category.

Joshua knocked out the No.1 seed in the quarter finals to get through to the semis and came away with a bronze medal!

What a competition! Huge congratulations!

Our U10 Girls' Cricket team participated in Haileybury’s U10s Cricket Festival this term. There was some excellent play from the Beechwood girls in the pool matches followed by an emphatic win in the next match. The girls lost their final game against Edge Grove by just 4 runs to finish 5th out of 12 teams.

Well done!

ALEXIS HAMILTON

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CLARE LECKIE-HARBORD

County Champions!

ALEXIS HAMILTON

U11 Sabre Champion

PAUL DAVIS, PDFA

Well done to Eloise D, Josie R, Annabelle W, Jack D, Luke B, Elliot G and Hugo R-S, who all competed for Dacorum at the HSSA Inter District Swimming Gala. All of our pupils did fantastically, with special mentions going to Hugo R-S (2nd in the Year 6 Butterfly) and Josie R (2nd in the Year 6 Butterfly).

Annabelle, Elliot and Hugo also won medals for their role in the relays and Dacorum came 3rd overall!

At the Hertfordshire School Games Kwik Cricket Finals, our U11A girls’ cricket team got off to a great winning start beating High Wycombe 279 – 199. A classy display followed in the semi-final with a win against Hobletts Manor (305 – 167), taking a fantastic 10 wickets including some incredible catches! On to the finals against our friends from STAHS… Beechwood batted first, finding their form after the first 2 overs, with Maya and Annabel hitting the boundary. The team posted a total of 287. STAHS went in to bat but the Beechwood bowling and fielding was too strong with Beechwood eventually winning 287 to 243 to become the Hertfordshire School Games winners - the County Champions! Great work!

ALEXIS HAMILTON

Beechwood Park School’s Newsletter

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BPSPA and Alumni News BPSPA, Alumni and House News From the BPSPA I hope, as you sit and read this, you will be happy in the thought that you will not have to travel to School for a while. The heady mix of excitement and exhaustion that the end of term brings is behind us and we can now reflect upon what a truly memorable term it was.

The school was certainly buzzing at the Beechwood Ball! The Ball Team succeeded in putting together the most special evening of the year and I am completely overwhelmed by just how well our Ball Committee pulled off a night to remember. I am not sure how the parents who attended managed to regain their strength in time for Fun Night, but they did and the Fun Night team pulled out the stops to ensure that we hit the end of term exhilarated and completely shattered! Huge thanks to both teams.

We were pleased to be trying something new in terms of the Fun Night catering, and feedback had suggested that you the parents were keen to see us try this new approach.

I also heard lots of positive feedback about our Sports Day Water stations and I am grateful for your support as we try to consider how we can be

more sustainable. You may have seen that we have also launched a costume recycling project and will try to work on maintaining a stock of items for use, in School, to reduce the need for parents to buy a new costume each time one is needed. We always welcome input on how we could do things differently so feel free to send us your ideas!

The BPSPA have been busy ensuring that the Michaelmas term is full of fun and there is lots to look forward to; the popular family photo shoots sessions begin at the end of September, the Quiz Night takes place in October and then Bonfire Night in November; not forgetting the Magical Christmas Fayre at the start of December. I cannot believe we are already discussing events for next summer; we never seem to stop.

Please give some time to our Christmas Card Project - we will need your images in October and will communicate about this once we return from the summer holidays.

These cards provide such a unique personal touch that can be shared with family and friends at Christmas.

We shall review our fundraising achievements later this year and share this with you, including how we intend to spend the money both on school projects and with Keech, who we continue to support. We shall be organising another visit to Keech in the near future, so if you would like to see the work that they do and understand first-hand why our fundraising is important to them, please let us know.

Looking ahead, I am hopeful that soon we shall see a new Outdoor Classroom, thanks to the work behind the scenes that Mr Blad has been doing since we agreed to help fund this area. This will certainly generate some excitement once it is up and running. Thank you Mr Blad for your perseverance in ensuring this project is delivered, and for your updates to the BPSPA Committee along the way. We shall share pictures once we have them - hopefully early next term.

Finally, I’d like to thank those who have donated their time and energy to the BPSPA and its events, in particular it is the parents who always ‘pull out all the stops’ to deliver another tombola prize or drop in a candle for secret Santa who I wish to mention. Also the Class Reps, who have worked tirelessly to keep parents up to date and organised, my wonderful Committee who are always on hand and hard working. I know there are times, particularly in summer term, where we are overwhelmed

and feel that one more thing could break our resolve – however your continued support of our events allows us to generate the positive energy and environment that makes our events and our School so special.

I wish you all a marvellous summer. See you all (suitably refreshed) for the start of the new academic year in September. And that’s all folks….

SARAH WOODRUFF, BPSPA CHAIR

Alumni News Congratulations to old Beechwoodian and classical saxophonist Dominic Childs, who has recently released his debut solo album ‘Tableaux de Provence’ with the Resonus Classics label, featuring works written or inspired by women.

Dominic, who left Beechwood in 2000 went on to Bedford School with a Music, Drama & Academic Scholarship before later moving to Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. He has also studied at the Royal College of Music in London, Hochschule für Musik in Cologne and Conservatoire de Musique in Lyon.

As an orchestral musician, Dominic has toured, recorded and performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Birmingham Royal Ballet Sinfonia and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, including a live broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and performing at the ‘Last Night of the Proms’.

He is currently Head of Woodwind & Brass at Bedford School.

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

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