Bede's Prep Newsletter Spring 2015

Spring 2016

Bede’s Preparatory SchoolDuke’s Drive, EastbourneEast Sussex BN20 7XL

T 01323 [email protected]

BEDE’S NEW NURSERY OPENS!

On the first Monday in February, Bede’s opened its new nursery facility in the Downs House building across the road from the main school. Staff and pupils alike had watched the renovations handled by Bede’s Estates team with great excitement over the last six months and were eagerly awaiting the day when they could finally get inside.Louise Hackett, Head of Nursery explained, “When the day finally came to move into our new building I was curious to see how the children would adjust

to their new surroundings.“It’s just like moving into a new house! You worry a bit that maybe it won’t live up to your expectations and that maybe you might have been better staying in your old one, but we needn’t have worried - the children were brilliant and absolutely love it; so much so, that one of our children, Harvey, didn’t want to go home at the end of his first day!”Louise proudly showed me around the new facility - something she has grown accustomed to over the last few weeks as many prospective parents have been keen to view the new facilities. The rooms have been decorated with a fitting nautical theme, and whilst the staff and parents have been enjoying the decor and new furniture, the children have been preoccupied with trying out the new toys and ball pit! Louise added, “We’ve been inundated with enquiries and parents wanting to look round, which is great, and I feel incredibly proud when I show people our new home. The best bit however is

watching the children exploring and enjoying all the space and new toys. It has been great fun and really rewarding for everyone involved.”On the morning of Friday 11 March there is a ‘drop in’ Open Morning at Holywell and the Nursery, followed by the full school Open Morning on Saturday 12, so please do get in touch if you would like to see the new Nursery for yourself.

Ros NairneDirector of Admissions,

Communications and Development



EDITORIAL: EDUCATION IN THE ROUNDAnother half term has whipped by at lightning speed and, as a result, I am left musing over a topic which may be familiar to those of you who have been reading my blog each week: the mysterious concept of time.With Mr Purkiss, Mr Wood and I continuing to explore how we might restructure the Bede’s Prep School timetable for the next academic year, I have been slightly disconcerted to learn that nobody really knows what time is. Some define it as ‘the thing clocks measure’, which seems a little mad to me, and I have been fascinated to discover that some physi-cists and philosophers even argue that time does not even exist.These rather complex concepts, while inter-esting, have been of absolutely no comfort to me and, honestly, make my head hurt a little bit; it certainly feels that the children at Bede’s Prep School have changed, developed and grown enormously over recent days and weeks, and the staff at Bede’s Prep and I have been working hard to make the most of the time we have with them. If I consider that the seconds and hours we have been trying to squeeze the most out of may not be real then I would likely end up in a state of deep existential angst, so it is jolly good news that there has been so much happening to prevent me from doing so.Indeed, looking at the incredible achieve-ment of Bede’s Senior School in January – that the School was declared in the Top 1% of schools in the whole of the United Kingdom for Value Added at A Level for the

second year running – one major preoccupation has been the tricky issue for Prep Schools like ours of how to demonstrate the ways we add value to children in a like-for-like manner.For those unfamiliar with the concept, Value Added statistics are formulated by measuring how much progress children make compared with expected levels of progress, as set down by central government, between public examinations. That Bede’s is the best School for Value Added in Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire and beyond is an incredible accomplishment which implies that, whether you are a traditionally academic, Oxbridge-type pupil or someone who is expected to struggle at school, Bede’s will help you exceed your expected levels of success.For Bede’s Prep to not have public examinations to use to calculate our own Value Added scores is, of course, both a blessing and a curse; I for one am glad that we do not have to prepare such young children to sit a set of ‘pre-GCSEs’ or anything like them and yet the holistic education we offer – education well and truly in the round – clearly acts as an incredible accelerator pad for every girl and boy.As Mr Wood, Mr Purkiss and I set about pegging out our particular designations of time, how much of it to spend on this subject or that, we are therefore keeping in mind that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

When we look at the recent Bede’s production of ‘Into The Woods’ at The Devonshire Park Theatre last week, at the pupils earning spots in England teams or at the GCSE and A Level results announcements Bede’s puts out, it is reassuring that those children – the ones who are breaking records, receiving five star reviews and earning honours for county and national sports teams – are familiar faces. They were once at Bede’s Prep, more often than not, and look at how they have grown!Indeed, the integration of Music, Dance, Drama, Art and Sport into the Bede’s Prep Curriculum is so important; like our partners at the Senior School, our Co-Curricular provision is the clear blue water that separates us from our competitors. It is fundamental to our recipe for success, and our new timetable, when we finally publish it, will not tamper with this idea. In fact, it will sure it up, protect it and enhance this essential aspect of how we educate. Our objective is to guarantee that we are making the most out of all the time we have with every individual, and that our Academic, Co-Curricular and Pastoral programmes add value in the most con-sidered ways possible – from the Nursery through to Year 8 – and we are determined to succeed, whether time exists or not!

Giles EntwisleHeadmaster



WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT ‘BEACH LEARNING?’

‘Bede’s On The Beach’ is a fantastic new scheme which has been in development at Bede’s Prep for several years.Outdoor Learning is nothing new at Bede’s, in particular at Holywell Mount where through our Outdoor Classroom and work in Friston Forest over the years we have always encouraged the children to see the whole world as a classroom.Since September, I have been formalising our approach to using the beach in particular - not least because Bede’s Prep School is genuinely uniquely

positioned to take advantage of this incredible amenity.Although in and of itself the beach is a wonderful place to spend time and learn about, Bede’s On The Beach is quite specific in its objectives; we use the beach as a vast outdoor classroom for the consolidation of learning, with every class from the Top Nursery group to Year 4 either already engaged in the programme or set to start soon.What this means in practise is taking concepts learned in the classroom, such as topics related to Maths, Science and Literacy, and then visiting the beach for a carefully planned activity which tests and firms up knowledge.If you were to be cynical, you might call Bede’s On The Beach an elabourate, roundabout route to making exams fun - because that is really what we are doing - and the outcomes have been fantastic.From using stones to calculate complex equations to studying the changes in state in sea-water, we have seen children who might be less comfortable in classroom environments absolutely excelling and pupils who love sitting quietly indoors suddenly revealing all manner of new characteristics.To make Bede’s On The Beach work however is less straight forward. Col-leagues have had to commit to training,

and I can say with some authority that planning and setting up Bede’s On The Beach sessions does require some pretty mad early-morning dashing about, hid-ing props and scouting relevant areas right at the crack of dawn!These additional efforts are so worth-while, thankfully, as the learning of my Year 2 classes has been so enlivened by our sessions throughout the year - some of which you can read about through bedes.org.Furthermore, we are out there come rain or shine and, despite some initial protestations, the children are now so excited about each new Bede’s On The Beach session that the weather is all but irrelevant.This is not to say that we will ever stop using the forest, or venturing out on the South Downs - which has long been a favourite of many a Bede’s Prep teacher - but this new scheme has something distinct and rather special about it.

As the only school in Sussex actually bordering the ocean, it might be argued that not developing something akin to Bede’s On The Beach would be irresponsible. Whatever the case, Mr En-twisle, Mr Wood and I are exceptionally proud of it, and if you would like to know more about the effects it is having on the children (which, if those children are yours you will know is overwhelmingly positive) then please do not hesitate to pop into Holywell Mount to say hello.

Di WriterHead of Years 2, 3 and 4

Experiencing the sheer talent and skill shown by the Year 8 Music and Drama Scholars at the recent Performing Arts’ Evening must be one of the highlights of the school year. Although it is evidently an opportunity for the pupils to test out their Scholarship Audition pieces in front of a live audience, the sheer quality of all the performances demonstrated the flair and hard work of all the students.Solos on instruments ranging from bas-soon to cello, and from trumpet to piano were bookended by solos from top singers Sadie Collett and William Hopkins. Sadie was the first of the musicians to perform, delighting the audience with her charm-ing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and she was followed by cellist Satya Elena Caprio Ivereigh playing the beautifully lyri-cal Andante grazioso by Romberg. Joshua Prince-Smith accelerated the mood of the evening with his spirited Indian Pony Race by D.C. Glover on the piano, and this was elegantly countered by Phoebe Dixon’s

performance of Mozart’s Birdcatcher’s Song played on the tenoroon – a mini-bassoon. William Hopkins brought the evening to an evocative and emotional close with his memorable solo from ‘Les Miserables’, Bring Him Home.On the dramatic programme, there were monologues from our Scholars and duologue performances by the Year 7 Masterclass children, who have been busy preparing for their forthcoming LAMDA examinations. Ahead of their Scholarship day, George Lewis performed superbly in the fun and upbeat ‘Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations’ by Alan Ayckbourn and he was followed by Ben Curran’s quick-witted and cheeky ‘Kes’ by Barry Hines. William Hopkins’ portrayal of Dodger from ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens was extremely engaging and Adam Bradley provided us with an emotive and haunting piece of action drama entitled ‘Running’ by Clarissa Ackroyd. Our final Scholar was Sadie Collett with her convincing performance of the wicked and evil Cruella de Vil from‘The 101 Dalmations’ by Dodie Smith. Well done to all the children who took part in the drama pieces, including Freya Palmer, Sean Wilson, Joseph Muschialli, James Thompson, Asena Karaca, Maddie Goodman, Jem Matthews, Oliver Bean and Esther Tuson. What a wonderful way to spend a Thursday night!



RECEPTION CLASSES ENJOY A REALLY ‘ICE’ HALF TERM

Reception have enjoyed exploring the changes winter bring as part of this half of term’s Ice topic. The children got creative, making snow globes and acted out what they might do in the snow, and hid their disappointment well when none fell down from the sky!

We were privileged to have Dr. Adrian Holden speak to the children about the 18 months he spent in Antarctica, and the children have been enthralled by our many science experi-ments, from ice balloons to using salt, sugar, flour and water to encourage melting. From working together to make an igloo out of milk bottles to creating colourful collages using a variety of materials to achieve their planned effect, it has been fantastic to see the children so inspired.Indeed, so sparky were their imaginations that they risked igniting next half-term’s Fire topic a little too early!

Rachel BarrattReception Class Teacher

PERFORMING ARTS EVENING BRINGS THE HOUSE DOWN



PUPILS OVER THE MOON WITH BEDE’S FIRST-EVER ‘GALACTIC CHALLENGE’

The morning of Saturday 16 January, the Recital Room at Bede’s Senior School was filled with the buzz of 45 excited Year 7 and 8 students who had been invited to take part in the inaugural Prep Schools Galactic Challenge.Students from Marlborough House, Brambletye, Skippers Hill, Rose Hill and Bede’s Prep School queued up to get their t-shirt and badge which told them which team they had been allocated to. The teams were Columbus Aviation, Astrodyne Merkon and Infinity Aerospace.Straight away, this gave us a clue as to what might be lying ahead.Bede’s Academic Deputy Head John Tuson opening proceedings and. after a short introduction from Mr Richards and Upper Sixth student Ben Laws, the teams were taken to their bases where they would spend the next 6 hours designing andplanning a space port.

This is a futuristic space station designed for space tourism. The brief was to design it to hold up to 600 full time residents (holiday makers) and a further 400 part-time residents who would deliver goods to the full-timers.

We had to consider artificial gravity, power sources, the scale and size of the station, sleeping arrangements, asteroid-proof construction materials, water, food and toileting, oxygen levels, spaceship docking areas, on board transportation and commu-nications including monorail and Li-Fi.Most importantly, they had to think about the cost of the whole operation and attempt to calculate their expenses!Our team (Astrodyne Merkon) was composed of pupils from Rose Hill and Bede’s Prep School. We had to pick a President, a Vice-President of Marketing, a Head of Structural Design, a Head of Operations and a Head of Human and Automation.We chose Eliane Boyer as our President,

Georgie Cloke as our Vice-President of Marketing, a pupil from Rose Hill as our Head of Structural Design, Adam Bradley as our Head of Operations and finally George Lewis as Head of Human and Automation.Next we sorted ourselves into subteams so that we could all work on different parts of the project.“Structural” designed the outside of the pod and worked out how to create artificial grav-ity, “Operations” thought about the two AIs and costed the project (a mere £7 trillion!) and “Human and Automation” designed the interior, including the sleeping quarters, liv-ing areas, leisure facilities and bathrooms.After a break for a delicious lunch of sausages, chips and beans, we resumed our planning and pulled everything together in a group PowerPoint. We were eventually led back to the Recital Room where we presented our work to a panel of judges, our parents, and Bede’s Headmaster Dr Maloney.The winning team, Columbus Aviation (Marlborough House and Brambletye) gave a slick, polished presentation coupled with superb technical drawings. Even though we didn’t win, our team was amazing and I was really proud to be part of it.This was a fantastic experience, and I not only had fun but I learnt so much from it. I would like to thank all the Sixth Form Physicists, in particularly Nadia Gjerdingen (our CEO) and Summer Brighton (our Techni-cal Adviser) for all their help and support, and Mr Richards and Ben Laws for organising the event.

Arabella LambethYear 7 pupil

The Year 7 and 8 children have enjoyed unforgettable theatre experiences to London’s West End, during this half term.On Thursday 14th January, Year 7 had the opportunity to see the National Thea-tre’s highly acclaimed stage produc-tion of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘War Horse’, at the New London Theatre, just two months ahead of its final farewell to our capital city. Having studied the topic of WWI lit-erature and poetry last term, including the life and works of Wilfred Owen and Jessie Pope, the children were able to compare the stage version of this origi-nal fictional novel, with the play. The work of the Handspring Puppet Company, providing life size horses and animals, was truly outstanding and, as an audience, the children and staff werefully immersed in the incredible story of

Albert and Joey’s friendship, witness-ing the trials and tribulations endured. Joy, pain, humour and gunshots were all part of this believable adventure, not to mention some inspirational staging and imagery. On Tuesday 9th February, an anxious and curious Year 8 then boarded their coaches to find ‘The Woman in Black’. Susan Hill’s novel has been adapted by Stephen Mallatratt thoughtfully and carefully, to create a long running stage play at the Fortune Theatre. The children, seated together in this intimate venue, witnessed a theatrical spectacle performed by just two ac-tors. The simple yet cleverly designed set enabled the gentlemen to retell the whole story of Jennet Humfrye, otherwise known as ‘The Woman in Black’, using minimal props. The material was thought-provoking and left the audience feeling a wide range of emotions. This play has set the scene superbly for the Year 8 children’s forth-coming gothic genre writing, combining fiction, horror, death and romance. Perhaps we will find another Mary Shel-ley in the making, here at Bede’s Prep School?

Laura BurdekinTeacher of English and Drama



YEAR 7 AND 8 ENGLISH AND DRAMA CLASSES EXPLORE GUNS, GHOSTS AND THE GOTHIC

PENGUIN-THEMED FUNDRAISE INSPIRES PRE-PREP PUPILS

January saw the children and staff of Bede’s Pre-Prep dressed in penguin-related col-ours and, in some cases, full costumes for the day, all in aid of the World Wildlife Fund. With this term’s Learning Topics being ‘Ice and Fire’ there has been an extended exploration of penguins, Antarctica and sub-zero temperatures in all of the Holywell Mount classrooms, with the ‘Penguin Day’ providing the children with a brilliant opportunity to enjoyed a range of penguin-themed activities.

In mixed-age groups, appropriately attired girls and boys undertook 3D penguin shape building, cooking penguin cupcakes, creating a life size 3D penguin for our welcome hallway, and even got stuck into some penguin dancing in the Dance Studio!After a full morning of activities, the children were treated to a special themed lunch together. We were delighted to be able to announce that following donations for the day we have raised enough money to adopt a penguin through a WWF scheme, which is a fantastic outcome from such a fun, busy and thoroughly informative day!

Rachel PotterHead of Reception and Year 1

As always, the Bede’s Prep School’s Art and Design department have had an extraordinarily busy term, with pupils across the year groups creating some beautiful pieces and preparations being well and truly underway for the Towner Schools Exhibitions in March.Year 4 took a trip to the Towner to see two exhibitions including Stages by John Napier, a set designer for Broadway and London theatrical performances. After visiting this very three-dimensional exhibition, with strong sculptural forms and miniature set designs, the children came away all abuzz and particularly taken with his costumes.

Next came a visit to the ‘Art from Elsewhere’ exhibition, which saw the children taking in a diverse collection of contemporary art from which they have created some brilliant work – not least in terms of their mark making for the Towner ‘Walking The Line’ exhibition (for which the children in the top photo are working).In Year 5, the children have been study-ing Robert Delauney and Hundertwasser, creating some brilliantly colourful work (look no further than the cover of this newsletter!) while experimenting with transferring their two-dimensional work onto clay surfaces.

Symmetrical Forms and Insect Patterns have been preoccupying Year 6, with free drawing, pencil colour and water-colour providing the children with a huge number of opportunities to create new and visually arresting designs. Next the children will be creating sculptures of some of their stunning creepy-crawlies, learning about joining clay coils and then applying colour and texture using slips, oxides and underglazes.While Year 7 have also been exploring natural forms using clay, inspired by the work of Peter Randall-Page and Karl Bloossfeldt, Year 8 have spent a healthy part of the half term working towards completing their Art portfolios and, in many cases, undertaking preparations for their Art Scholarships (not least to Bede’s Senior School on Monday 1 February).Looking ahead, Year 8 will be continuing to experiment with Pop Art and product design while many Senior pupils, as part of the Art Masterclass activity, have been helping and encouraging children from the younger years to turn their hands to illustration and drawing with white pencil onto black paper, as in the case of Year 8’s Freya Palmer (below).

Rachael ArmitageHead of Art and Design



CELEBRATING A DIZZYING DIVERSITY OF ART!



YEAR 4 CELEBRATE INDIA DAY IN STYLE

Dressed in beautiful costumes, Year 4 made a colourful arrival into school on Monday 1 February to take part in our annual India Day celebrations. Many of the children had immersed them-selves in Indian recipes over the weekend and had brought in the wonderful fruits of their labours. The aromatic spice smells filled the Year 4 classrooms as we enjoyed the delicious snacks that the children had made, but we all made sure to leave enough room to enjoy the lovely Indian lunch provided by the Bede’s Prep catering team!

India-themed activities then took place for the rest of the day, including drawing a Rangoli pattern using rotational symmetry. There is a close link between maths and art in India, and Rangoli is a form of folk art used to decorate the floors of homes and shrines using coloured chalk with designs determined by complex, highly beautiful geometry.The children also practised writing in Hindi, which was an exercise which kept everyone engrossed, and to top off the day we enjoyed some relaxing and particularly beautiful traditional Indian music.

Annie Fuller & Miriam McDonellYear 4 Class Teachers

MIDDLE AGES STUDIES SEE YEAR 6 TAKE A PILGRIMAGE TO CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

As part of History studies into the Middle Ages, our Year 6 pupils were taken on an exciting trip to Canterbury Cathedral, looking at the famous story of King Henry II and Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.On arrival, the children were split into two teams. The first team quickly changed into costumes for the guided Story Tour, dressing as the King, an Archbishop, four Knights and Monks. Then it was into the Cathedral where, as we wandered, we learned about Thomas Becket’s last hours before coming upon the area where he was murdered. We then went down into the crypt to see where his body lay for pilgrims to visit and, finally, on our knees, we made our way up

the steps to the place where his tomb had been before its removal by Henry VIII.

Meanwhile, the other team had been in the Education Centre taking part in a variety of activities that included stonemasonry and stain glass window making and we swapped roles. We then made our way to the archives, an amazing building containing some of the oldest records in England. The archivist entertained us with stories of charters and showed us actual charters written and signed by King Henry II and even some with Thomas Becket’s signature on!The whole trip provided a number of great opportunities to make History come alive, and it proved highly entertaining for everybody!

Sam BrownHead of History



NEW ‘PRO-MUSIC’ SCHEME WELCOMES VISITING ORGANIST

Another of this term’s initiatives in the Prep School Music Department is Pro-Music, where pupils have the chance to work with professional musicians from the Bede’s team. Looking closely at different instruments and musical styles under the guidance of top players gives the students an in-depth look at the world of music from a different perspective.On Monday 25th January, three of our top musicians, Josh Prince-Smith, Joe Marks and Juan Pomet Chamorro found out more about the church organ, guided by our Chapel Organist, Mr Victor Potter. Mr Potter is Organist and Director of Music at St Mary’s Church, Old Town, Eastbourne, and he brought a wealth of experience and expertise to the session.The pupils were introduced to some of the technical aspects of how particular organ sounds are created (even on this digital instrument). Having two manuals – the keyboards played by the hands – means you can produce a vast range of contrasting

sounds, with the pedals – played by the feet – providing those wonderful bass sounds. There are even clever ‘pistons’ which can change the sound at the flick of a button.Each of the students had the chance to try out the instrument for themselves, and they all really enjoyed finding out just how much sound an organ can produce!

The pupils experimented with different combinations of ‘stops’ and finished their session with an improvised organ trio, before listening to Mr Potter playing one of the most famous organ pieces ever written, J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor.It was a wonderful musical experience for the students and I am hugely grateful to Mr Potter for his encouragement and enthu-siasm. We are now looking forward to our next Pro-Music session on jazz in a couple of weeks!

Jane PendryHead of Music

BASKETBALL CLUB IS A SLAM-DUNK SUCCESS

Basketball is a sport that is enjoyed by a lot of the pupils at Bede’s and is something we look at across the age groups in PE lessons before Christmas each year. Instead of letting this enthusiasm die away, it was decided to offer a Basketball Activity this term so that those who enjoyed their basketball lessons could continue to enjoy the game and take their skills to a new level. Tactics such as the ‘fast break’, the ‘screen’ and ‘half court man-to-man defence’ are things that we just don’t have time to cover in PE, and the pupils are really getting into the game.The activity is open to boys and girls and, more often than not, the girls’ ability to shoot and pass is better than that of the boys due to their Netball experience, which is brilliant to see.Unfortunately, not many Prep Schools have basketball teams but we have managed to secure some fixtures for the coming weeks.We will soon be competiting against Windlesham House School and Notre Dame in Lingfield, and competition for places in the Bede’s Prep team is fantastically intense; keep your eyes peeled for more news soon!

Chris AthertonHead of Physical Education



NEW MINECRAFT ACTIVITY UNLOCKS PUPIL CREATIVITY

It may seem strange to run an activity in which the pupils appear to be simply ‘play-ing a videogame’, but this term the school has invested in the customised education-al version of the block building game Minecraft, which has many features designed especially for classroom use. More than just a survival game where children have to avoid being caught, the educational version turns off enemies such as ‘zombies’ and ‘creepers’ by default, so that the focus is on creativity and team work within the virtual environment. In use by schools in over 40 countries, we

look forward to exploring further the opportunities to enhance many areas of the curriculum with this software. Participants in the activity sessions at school have explored the basic building tools within the game whilst considering the differences to their playing experience at home, with a coordinated approach be-ing key to success. It is obvious that some pupils already have considerable expertise with the game, and it has been wonderful to see the support they have offered their ‘newbie’ peers. Experienced pupils have been encouraged

to ‘mine’ for their own building materials in the game, learning new science facts in the process, whilst beginners can be auto-matically given the resources they need to achieve the set goals. Every session is preceded by a discussion regarding behavioural expectations when in the virtual world, and the experiences of the activity sessions have already spread into the mainstream curriculum with some Year 6 pupils using Minecraft to explore ratio in maths and others practising community planning in PSHE. We look forward to seeing what pupils can achieve using this learning tool and there are many more exciting activities planned for both Junior and Senior activity groups.

TRAMPOLINING CLUB MEMBERSHIP BOUNCES UPWARDSIntroduced last term, Trampolining Club at Bede’s Prep is going from strength to strength.This term has seen a new crop of childen learning the basic foundational moves on the trampoline as well as how to stay safe when on and around the equipment.During the first session of the term, the younger pupi learned how to link moves together as well as improving the aesthetics of each skill. Since then, the children have been progressing onto somer-saults, including preparations to improve their confidence when rotating forwards.Veteran jumpers meanwhile have concentrated on learning new skills to increase their trampolining knowledge as well as learning the technical keywords for each move. Throughout the sessions this term, they will be focusing on somersaulting in a variety of shapes as well as starting to learn how to somersault backwards!To end each session, pupils are given a little bit of “play time” which always provides opportunities for them to explore their movements whilst in the air, put into practise what they have learned and increase their competence in the skills they are developing. The net result is a whole lot of happy hoppers!



BOARDERS LEAP INTO A NEW YEAR

This term so far seems to be all about games: board and parlour, silly and serious, all have featured in the life of Meads End since January. The most obvious explanation for this is the weather; what better to do of a dreary winter’s evening than gather together for some old-fashioned fun? At the beginning of term I introduced the house to the game of Empire. For the uninitiated, this is a game which involves choosing the name of a famous person or character for yourself and then guessing other people’s. Every time you guess correctly, you win that person to your ‘empire’ and they have to help you. It can be an intense game (as is evident by the thoughtful faces of Mr Ellis’s team in the below photo) but what is really special about it is the combination of competition and teamwork.

The ‘emperor’ is only as good as his

‘empire,’ and those who win are the ones who work together to win as a group. On a more cerebral note, several of our boys have joined Chess Club and so it is a rare weekend when Carlos, Louis and Tim cannot be found brooding over a chess board. ‘Pass the Bomb’ has also made a reappearance (favourite category – Disney characters) whilst Uno remains the fall back game of choice.Winter weekend activities are always a challenge, but the boarders’ two favourites so far have been the ‘Tesco Photo Scavenger Hunt’ and their trip to the trampolining park Gravity. The girls won the scavenger hunt by a narrow margin, having not only found all the requisite items and photographed them, but also taken the opportunity to pick up extra points for funny or imaginative photos. (see Mimi fulfilling the criteria ‘Wearing a hat’ in the photo to the right!)Games are life in microcosm, and this is evident when the children apply the same principles to their wider lives. So we have celebrated many successes with our boarders this half term because the team spirit, competitive edge and commitment which are so evident in Empire are also abundant in their sporting activities. Mimi, Lucia, Dec and Themba represented the school in the IAPS swimming competi-

tion, all achieving personal bests, Dec, Luke and Kyle were chosen to attend the football masterclass at the Senior School and

Themba has been recently selected for England football trials! As Roosevelt said “Competition has been shown to be useful up to a point, but co-operation begins where competition leaves off.” I am sure that those living in Meads End this half term would agree!

Kirsty StannardHousemistress, Meads End

Curious about Boarding at Bede’s? Contact me via email on

[email protected]



U11S SHOW HUGE PROMISE IN COUNTY AND REGIONAL HOCKEY TOURNAMENTS

This term’s Hockey has seen the girls continue to make good progress and develop their spatial awareness, both in match-play and in tournaments. The 1sts and 2nds reached the quarter-finals of the Sussex Cup after defeating St Andrew’s in the preliminary rounds, but the real success stories there are individual ones; Phoebe Dixon and Mimi Cisotti have both been attending Sussex Hockey training camps and hopes are high that both will be joining the England Performance Pathway in due course.The U11s meanwhile won the East

Grinstead Hockey Tournament in stun-ning style against local rivals St Andrew’s winning 1-0 in the final, and also won the annual U11 Hurst Hockey Tournament by beating Ardingly. The U11s also performed well in the IAPS Regional Finals at Epsom, reaching the quarter-finals only to be knocked-out in a penalty shoot-out.Last but not least, the U10s were also finalists at the recent Brighton Hockey tournament and were very pleased with their medals!With the Hockey season now winding down, it is also worth noting that many of the girls are now switching their focus to Cricket, where Izzy Atherton and Matilda Collins have been selected for Sussex and are en-joying their training sessions in preparation for the summer season. Ellie Sarro and Elise Sutherland were even selected to play for the Bede’s Senior School U15 Cricket team and helped them win a recent Sussex Indoor Cricket tournament.

Sharon MuxworthyHead of Games

BEDE’S PIONEERS LTA ‘MISS HITS’ SCHEME

This term, Bede’s Prep tennis coach Jane Nash has launched a new LTA scheme within the School called “Miss Hits.” A 12-week introduction to tennis for girls aged 5-8 years, Miss Hits has been designed by Judy Murray and has been launched in partnership with the LTA.In a bid to understand why more girls were not taking up the sport, the LTA commissioned research which indicated that a key reason why girls were not taking up the sport was that they perceive it to be the highly competitive rather than fun. The Miss Hits scheme was designed to ad-dress this issue and Ms Nash was approached by the LTA and invited to be one of the small number of coaches to participate in the first training session led by Judy Murray at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.The programme is now being rolled-out across five year groups at Bede’s Prep, with sessions involving dancing, games, and a fun introduction to competition, scoring and court positioning as well as ways of improving motor skills.Ms Nash said of the pilot, “So far it has gone down brilliantly - so much so the boys want to get involved!”She added, “I was really keen to support this LTA initiative as it’s vital for the future of women’s tennis to get girls involved early, widen participation and develop talent.”

SPORTTENNIS HOCKEY



SPORTNETBALLSPRING SEASON SEES BEDE’S GIRLS FLOURISH

Netball at Bede’s continues to flourish and the Spring season has so far seen some great play and competitive matches in all teams across all age groups. Always a busy term for the U13s, the girls have balanced their school work and competing marvellously to ensure we have a strong and committed squad who grow stronger in every aspect of play each lesson and match. The girls have had some great cup wins and are looking forward to the IAPS Regional Fi-nals in March. Netball captain Lucy Drewek has led her team well and I have been

impressed with how hard the squad work for and with one another to achieve team success.The U12s played well in the Sussex Schools’ Championship winning four of their five group matches. They won their first trophy of the season at the annual Bede’s Netball Tournament with some great play and the U12B team also played well coming 4th place.The U11s have also displayed some great skills and are developing their tactical awareness and versatility and working hard to prepare for the IAPS Regional Finals that

are scheduled for next month. Further down the school, the U10s are grow-ing in strength and stature, performing well in all friendly fixtures in preparation for their tournament in March and, last but not least, the U8s and U9s enjoyed their Netball Fes-tival at Claremont in January and are also looking forward to their next tournament in Brighton next month.All told, this has been a superb Netball season to date and hopes are high that the girls might claim some more silverware during the next half of term!

Sharon MuxworthyHead of Games

Thursday 4 February saw Bede’s hosting the Regional Round of the IAPS Swimming Championships where we welcomed over 115 swimmers from St Andrew’s Prep, Moira House, Vinehall, Bede’s, Brighton College, Bricklehurst Manor and Marlbor-ough House.With swimmers ranging from U10 - U13 they were joined on poolside by local ASA Officials and Timekeepers from Hailsham Swimming Club and Eastbourne Swimming Club and staff and swimming coaches from each of the schools.Over one hundred parents watched this exciting gala from the upstairs viewing gallery whilst being hosted by the wonderful marketing team at Bede’s.Bede’s entered twenty eight swimmers into this Swimming Championships and having spent many hours training to prepare for this event everyone rose to the challenge and swam to the very high standard which was set by all the participating schools.

The gala commenced with each team swim-ming in a Freestyle Relay and the events continued with the U10 Individual events where Alex Dunne took a very close second place on his 25m Backstroke. Following this was the 25m Butterfly races for all the age groups.Jasmine Cecil swam an amazing length of Butterfly winning by a clear three metres and securing a personal best time of 17.11 seconds, Mimi Cisotti won her age group also achieving a personal best time of 19.28 seconds. In the boys U13 Butterfly event Themba Wardle secured his best time with an amazing 16.66 seconds.Next were the 50m events for the remain-ing age groups and strokes; Kirstin Orr and Declan Shanks both secured 1st places in the U11 Backstroke with times of 46.63 and 46.12 seconds.The final events were the Medley Relays where each of the Bede’s team swam well

showing good speed and handovers and the U10 boys’ team closed the gala with an amazing win.Overall the event was a huge success and every swimmer that participated in the competition from Bede’s achieved a personal best time. All the times from the Regional Round will be ranked across the Country with the top sixteen swimmers in each age group then competing in the Finals at the K2 in May.

Michelle JebbHead of Swimming



SPORTSWIMMINGBEDE’S ENJOYS MULTIPLE-MEDAL HAUL AT IAPS SOUTH-EAST REGIONAL COMPETITION

Bede's Prep Newsletter Spring 2015

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Transcript of Bede's Prep Newsletter Spring 2015