Thank you to all the parents who came along to the much-anticipated Pre-prep Prizegiving today.  Miss Henderson referenced Leonardo Da Vinci and Einstein as she extolled the virtues of always questioning, and never ceasing to be curious and keen to learn.  After a charming rendition of a summer song the children got to go up on stage one by one to collect their certificates as presented by Mr Searson, and with each celebrating a particular aspect of that child’s achievements this school year.   Well done one and all!

This week’s Summer Concert was a loud, proud and enormously uplifting celebration of school life, music and the joys of mass participation.  All the children from Years 3 to 8 were involved in a programme that bulged with a huge range of music new and old, all performed with aplomb by children and a few grown-ups displaying talent and showmanship aplenty.

The show was topped off with a superb swing medley sung by all the choirs together, and helped along by our own Beaudesert Rat Pack comprising Messrs Layton, Robinson and Tiley, looking super smart in black tie. Special mentions as well for our skilled soloists Evie, Will and Coco in Year 8, Toby in Year 7, and Savannah in Year 6.

Head to our @Beaudesertmusic Twitter feed to see some clips. Here’s one of the mass choir finale…

Still on cloud 9 after our #SummerConcert yesterday evening. Here’s a clip from our finale featuring solos from Coco, Mr Tiley, Mr Robinson and Mr Layton @BeaudesertMusic #musicforall #singsingsing pic.twitter.com/v9ZXxpriQr

— Music at Beaudesert (@BeaudesertMusic) 3 July 2019

A wonderful experience for Max and Hunter (both in Year 7) on Monday at the National Prep School Championships in Birmingham.   At this incredibly competitive event they both acquitted themselves admirably and finished in tenth place.  Max ran a big personal best, coming third in his heat in 28.5 and only missing a place in the final by a fraction – a fine effort.  Hunter performed excellently too.  It was great credit to her that she could keep her performance level high in this most daunting of arenas.  They have both competed marvellously this term and should both be very proud of their achievements.   Well done both.

This week our Year 8 children took a trip to White Horse Hill in Uffington where they met their Year 8 counterparts from St Hugh’s.  The group took a stroll and shared a picnic in memory of Bonnie Armitage who was a pupil at Beaudesert (and a former classmate of our current Year 8s) before she left to join St Hugh’s in 2014.   After the Ridgeway meet-up, the children went back to St Hugh’s for the opening of the memorial garden there, and a lavish afternoon tea.

Well here we are, with the last Boarding Buzz update of the academic year.  And what a year it has been – one full of highs, and only very few lows.  Thank you to every single boarder for making it such a memorable and happy year for the boarding team.  We have loved it!

We’ve been blessed with truly magnificent weather this week, so every evening has been spent outside enjoying the grounds.  The Year 4s enjoyed some time on BOB, and fun in the outdoor pool, whilst on Tuesday, those that weren’t in the most fantastic Summer Concert, launched themselves into various games of Wachy, tennis and nets.

With Wednesdays being Year 8 boarders’ night, this week it was an evening of last hurrahs.   It followed an absolutely terrific staff v Year 8 tennis tournament where none other than Mrs Layton was in the winning team!  Luckily for her partner Woody, she was able to carry their team over the finish line, although it has to be said that Woody did score all the winning shots!  With the tennis done, the children were treated to a lovely BBQ which they followed up with some football and tennis friendlies before a final treat, a while later, of pizzas on the banks.  The last activity was a game of twilight Wachy where the boys, ably led by Mr Holmes, beat the girls, not so well led by Mr Layton. They were then ushered upstairs where a late night film was on the cards before bed.

Thursday night was Year 8 Revue night, and also the last night of boarding for this academic year.  The Year 5, 6 and 7 boarders made the most of it – taking the evening sun and relaxing into the prospect of the long school holidays ahead …

Please do keep your requests for next term coming in and from all of us in the boarding house, have a great summer!

On Tuesday, Pete Adams from A-Life spent some time in school talking to different year groups about mind and body matters pertinent to them.  First it was the Year 8s who had a session on drugs and alcohol to help guide them towards making good decisions as they move on to senior school.   Next it there were some tailored workshop sessions around healthy attitudes to food and exercise for the Reception and Year 1 children.  They also explored risk, with the help of some Year 8 children,  who worked on a number of exercises with them, to assess risk in danger zones within the home.

After a false start earlier in the term thanks to inclement weather, the Nursery sports day was a sunny joy to behold this week.  The pictures say it all!   Many thanks to all the friends and family who came to watch and cheer.

What a treat it was to welcome Dr Blair back to his old haunts this week when he came in to talk to us.  Old Beaudesertian, Dr Blair won an Emmy for his incredible documentary ‘Ring of Fire’ about his eight year trip around Indonesia’s remote islands.  The much-lauded anthropologist, author, explorer and filmmaker spent time talking to the children in Prep (and some of their parents too), and showing photos from some of his intrepid adventures and global expeditions.  He then spent time in Pre-prep doing something similar.  In both scenarios hands flew up with questions.  The questions raised by the Prep school children were highly insightful and topical.  It was more of a mixed bag when it came to the questions posed by the Pre-prep children.  Whilst they too showed genuine interest in Dr Blair’s life and times, and asked some interesting questions of their own, they were also very taken by his eye patch, and as keen to know about his reasons for wearing one as they were to know more about his tales of far flung places! We have some CD box sets of his Myths, Magic and Monsters, if parents which to buy these for £45.00 in the school office.

Many of our super staff have been with Beaudesert for many years, and this week we marked 20 years in the saddle for Mrs Excell, Mrs Royal, Mr Gordon and Mr Craig.  Well done and thank you!

The recent sunshine has proved absolutely perfect for some fun in the outdoor pool.  Here are some of the younger children making the most of it this week.

The croquet lawn, complete with dappled sunlight peeping through the surrounding trees, was the perfect setting for this week’s performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  In the final one of the Shakespeare trilogy performed by Year 4 this year, the Deer Theatre Group took on a skillfully abridged (by our own Mrs Standen McDougal), and hugely engaging, version of one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies.  The children’s studies of the play culminated in two days of intensive rehearsals, and finally the performance itself.  The comedic mix of mistaken identities and ensuing romantic liaisons had the children and the audience chuckling as the storyline unfolded, and the children performed brilliantly.

The Year 8 equivalent of the Royal Variety Performance delighted parents, friends, staff and pupils on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Put together entirely by the pupils themselves, there was a fantastic variety of songs and sketches, dances, jokes and videos and the Year 8 tech team put it all together with masterful sound, lighting and film effects – much to be admired. Particular highlights included a Catherine Tate sketch sending up their own parents and their love of Range Rovers and olive oil, not to mention some accomplished duets, Disney princesses and a series of wonderful ‘Little Beaudesert’ sketches! As always the before and after slideshow produced plenty of ‘aaaahhhhs’ and the Year 8 song floods of tears. Huge congratulations to all of Year 8 on all their originality and hard work; it was a pleasure to be in their company.

This week, Year 2 topped off a terrific school year and consolidated what they had learnt with a trip to The Living Rainforest.  There they enjoyed guided tours and saw a wonderful selection of plants and animals from the rainforest including blue poison dart frogs, armadillos, pygmy marmoset monkeys, goeldi monkeys, turtles, giant tortoises, giant iguanas and giant stick insects.  That’s a lot of giants.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and behaved beautifully.  Cecilia wrote this account of the trip;

“Yesterday our class and the rest of Year 2 went to The Living Rainforest. I enjoyed looking for the sloth. My favourite part was when Edwin the toucan was showing off at us, and the iguana was epic!  The leaves were ginormous.  It was quite stuffy and hot. I loved learning about the monkeys. It was amazing. The blue frogs were really bright and pretty. There was a really big fish. I also liked a funky bird with curly hair. That was probably my favourite one! There were lots of insects and snakes. One looked like a leaf and another looked like a tree.”

Madame White treated some of the Year 6s to an end of term lesson with a difference this week, in recognition of some excellent work this year. Everyone brought in French food to share, and then proceeded to converse entirely in French.  Madame White even dressed up for the occasion!

The cake sale organised a couple of weeks ago by 5W in aid of Robbie’s Rally raised a highly respectable £123!   As readers may remember, Old Beaudesertian Alex Haynes came into school last month to tell the children about a charity cycle ride through France which he is undertaking with a group of his friends from Radley.  They are hoping to raise £7,000 for Robbie’s Rally.  Alex’s younger brother is in 5W and the class was so inspired that they collectively decided to join in the fundraising effort with a Friday cake sale.  Well done 5W!   It’s always wonderful to have our Old Beaudesertians returning and genuinely inspiring current pupils.