On a sunny (yes, you read that right) January morning, we hosted the 3rd annual Alumni Hockey Match, where the 2024 Girls' First Team took on the 2025 First Team. It was a truly special occasion, bringing the 2024 team back together and witnessing the joy of reconnecting.

The opening ten minutes saw a closely contested game, with the 2024 side just ahead. As the match progressed and experience began to show, the gap widened, highlighted by some fantastic goals from Isla and Eve. Both teams demonstrated excellent patterns of play, making it an enjoyable and competitive morning of hockey.

A huge thank you to this year’s captain, Petra, and her mother, MJ, for their organisation, and to Isla and Lauren from the 2024 season for bringing the team back together.

Our Art Studio was buzzing during activities on Tuesday, as Ms Dismorr led a group in creating beautiful still life sketches using stick and ink. This was a great opportunity for our scholars and budding young artists to flex their artistic skills in a different medium.

We thoroughly enjoyed Tuesday's lunchtime piano concert. It was a premiere for some of our children, who wowed their parents with their courage and newly acquired skills. Our first time performers were equally inspired by our more seasoned players, who played the ivory keys with poise and quiet confidence. It was a delightfully peaceful interlude on a busy Tuesday.

With the wet and wild weather passing through, we were blessed with dry conditions for an afternoon's racing. Hosting the Severnside event for the first time in a number of years and welcoming a strong contingent of schools, this was a good test for our athletes. Our cross country squad rose to the occasion, gauging one's effort and pacing themselves sensibly around what was a tough two lap course to negotiate. This was a stern examination and whilst a totally different challenge to last week's mudfest at Pinewood, it was marvellous to see the endeavour, enthusiasm and enjoyment shining through. Vali, Henry L, Isabel and Pip led their respective teams home, ably suppported by the rest of the squad. It is wonderful to see cross country running continuing to thrive at Beaudesert. Well done, all!

Dan Robinson, Cross Country Sports Coach

I have been particularly struck, this week, by the richness of what our children experience each day. I saw the delight on children’s faces as they watched an impromptu puppet show, witnessed children’s engagement during a perfectly pitched phonics lesson, revelled in the collaboration and teamwork being developed through through coding Beebots in ICT, and took pride in teachers’ excitement as they shared their children’s latest successes in writing. These things do not happen by accident, and it is timetables, planning and resourcing that helps to make them possible. But more than all of this it is the love our amazing teachers pour into our children and into our school each and every day that makes it so very special.

Our Head of History, Mr Curr, visited with two Prep School children this week to share information with Year 2 as part of their inquiry-based topic on The Victorians. Mr Curr was incredibly impressed by the knowledge and curiosity our children demonstrated during this interactive session – thank you! Along with their learning about Victorian schools, including the dreaded dunce hat and cane, Morning Drills and chalkboard writing, the children have been learning about class divides and how different children’s lives were dependant on their societal status. We are feeling very grateful that we are here, at Beaudesert, in 2026!

Our inquiries into stories in Nursery and Reception are providing us with abundant opportunities for role-play, using our fine motor skills to fix and join beanstalks, reading and retelling stories and learning about measurement.

We have also been busy engaging in debates using Exploratory Talk, discussing inventions and the history and development of transport, designing and making our own transport, and creating timelines from the invention of wheels, from Pennyfarthing bicycles to the present day. What might the future hold... We are following the news about Artemis II with much excitement!

Anna Packman, Head of Pre-Prep

This week has been marvellous!

Although Monday was a little wet outside, this certainly didn’t dampen spirits. Racing cars were the order of the day as we hosted a Beaudesert Grand Prix for many of the Year 4s. Once the winners had been announced (many of them self-proclaimed!), it was time to head into the Sports Hall for dodgeball and other ball games.

Tuesday saw some heading off for golf, whilst those who remained took advantage of the space, creating and performing dances for one another.

On Wednesday, the Year 8s were set free. With a lighter evening and much warmer conditions, the astro was firmly back in play. It was great to see them sprinting down with balls of all shapes and sizes. Those less keen on running around still ventured out, wrapped up in sub suits, heading to the woods or watching from the benches.

Thursday brought another trip to the driving range, but also saw the return of Spotlight for the first time in 2026! Mr Curr was particularly excited, planning his hiding spots over supper before heading outside. It has been lovely to see the children spending time together in the Boarding House once they come in, chatting, playing games, and enjoying a little friendly competition on the dartboard, table tennis table and table football.

A superb week.

Have a lovely Leave-out,

Oli and Debbie Jones, Houseparents

Our Prep School assembly had a panto-like feel, as 7B treated us to some audience 'call and response'. They told the story of the grasshopper who only liked to "play" and the ants who wanted to "work". As the summer came to a close and the grasshopper had not prepared for the winter, they reminded their peers that there is a time for "work" and a time for "play" within all of our lives, and not to neglect our responsibilities.

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