Week in Pictures
From the Headmaster’s Study Dear Parents and Pupils, What a momentous week it has been for the school. We were delighted to be named School of the Year in the South of England at the Independent School of the Year Awards on Tuesday.
At the risk of repeating what I have already shared with our community, I am incredibly proud of this achievement. It is a wonderful reflection of the caring, purposeful, innovative and ambitious work that takes place every day across the school in support of our pupils. This recognition is a credit to everyone who contributes to school life and is a tremendous achievement for our whole community. The judges, in their infinite wisdom, were quite right to appreciate the many ways in which we support pupils to learn, grow and be happy in all areas of school life. As we reach the end of a very successful first half term, I would like to congratulate all of our pupils on the manner in which they have begun the new school year. Whether settling into a new year group or, for some, transitioning to an entirely new school, they have embraced the term with enthusiasm, resilience and positivity. Such transitions should never be underestimated, and our pupils deserve great credit for the way they have approached them. I am always so pleased to hear positive comments about the children from staff, many of them spontaneous and unprompted, and to see the excellent progress they are making. My thanks also go to our dedicated staff, whose commitment and care help every pupil to flourish. Everyone has earned the opportunity to enjoy a well -deserved rest over the two -week break. I look forward to welcoming everyone back after half term.
Best wishes, Mr Turner Headmaster
Independent School of The Year Success Continues We are delighted that Ballard has once again been recognised by the prestigious Independent School of the Year Awards. Having been named Co Educational School of the Year in 2024, Ballard has now been awarded Regional Independent School of the Year (South). Announcing the award, Chair of Judges Dr Helen Wright said: "Our winner in this category makes really wonderful use of the landscape around it. Indeed, the countryside, coast, and local communities often seem to become an extension of the classroom. Just as importantly, pupils are encouraged not merely to enjoy where they live, but to engage with it, contribute to it, and help shape it." This latest accolade follows a growing number of awards and is a testament to the dedication of our staff, the enthusiasm of our pupils and the support of our wider school community.
It has certainly been an exciting start to the academic year.
ISA Regional Art Success Congratulations to our talented young artists on their outstanding success at the ISA Regional Art Competition. All the artwork was created last year when the pupils were in the year below, making these achievements even more special. We are delighted to celebrate such a wonderful collection of honours across the competition.
A particular congratulations goes to our first - place winners, whose exceptional work has now qualified for the National Finals, taking place in Kenilworth on 18 -19 November 2026. We wish them the very best of luck as they represent Ballard on the national stage. We are incredibly proud of all the pupils involved, whose creativity, skill and dedication have been recognised at such a high level. 1st Place - Alex (Year 4) for his Alex Rex picture, Evie (Year 6) for her clay dog head and Larnie (Year 9) for her self - portrait. 2nd Place – Finn (Year 8) for his poetic seascape and Josie (Year 11) for her primary decay. Highly Commended – Annabelle (Year 10) for her portrait of Joey Tribbiani and Isla (Year 11) for her decay weaving.
AI Quality Mark Award We are delighted to have been awarded the Progress Award as part of the Good Future Foundation's AI Quality Mark, recognising the significant work being undertaken to develop a thoughtful, ethical and educationally focused approach to artificial intelligence across the school. This national accreditation highlights our commitment to ensuring pupils understand the opportunities and challenges presented by AI. Assessors praised the school's clear AI policy, strong leadership and innovative approach within the computing and PSHE curriculum. Particular recognition was given to the way pupils are encouraged to engage with important topics including machine learning, bias, misinformation, fairness and digital responsibility. By exploring these issues, pupils are developing the critical thinking skills needed to navigate an increasingly technology -driven world with confidence and responsibility. The assessment also provided valuable feedback for future development, reinforcing that the next stage of Ballard's AI journey is not about creating more policy, but about continuing to embed and evidence best practice across all areas of school life. "We are delighted to receive this recognition from the Good Future Foundation. AI is shaping the world around our pupils and it is vital that pupils understand how technology works, but also the ethical questions and responsibilities that come with them. This award recognises the strong foundations we have put in place." Stuart Turner (Headmaster) The award provides further confidence that Ballard continues to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance teaching, learning and school operations in a safe, responsible and purposeful way.
H.E.R Programme Launches at Ballard This week saw the launch of Ballard's new H.E.R (Health, Empowerment and Resilience) programme, an exciting initiative developed by Miss Bottell, Head of Girls’ Games, to support girls’ wellbeing, confidence and self -esteem. The programme combines curriculum, co -curricular and expert -led sessions covering topics such as nutrition, body image, resilience and empowerment. The first session was delivered by female nutrition specialist Dr Jules Strauss, who explored the links between nutrition, wellbeing and academic success. We look forward to sharing more details about the programme, along with a podcast featuring Miss Bottell and Dr Strauss, in the first bulletin after half term.
Basics Bank The Year 8 Prefects did a fantastic job delivering Ballard School’s Harvest donations to the Basics Bank, enthusiastically loading and unloading trolley after trolley of food from a full minibus and helping ensure the generosity of our community reached local families in need.
Pupil Voice Groups Launched This term, we were delighted to launch four new Pupil Voice Groups focused on Food and Nutrition, Wellbeing, Teaching and Learning, and Co -Curricular Life. Bringing together pupils from across the school, these groups have been created to ensure that pupil voice continues to play an important role in shaping the Ballard experience. We have been incredibly impressed by the thoughtful contributions, creative ideas and constructive feedback shared during the first meetings. Pupils demonstrated genuine enthusiasm for making a positive difference to school life, offering valuable insights into what is working well and suggesting a range of exciting ideas for the future. We have highlighted some of the discussions from our Food and Nutrition and Teaching and Learning groups this week and look forward to sharing updates from the Wellbeing and Co -Curricular groups in our first bulletin after half term.
The inaugural meeting of the Teaching and Learning Pupil Voice Group brought together pupils from across the school with Mr Rose and Mr Walter. The group enjoyed a lively and thoughtful discussion about a range of areas that shape the pupil experience, including homework, academic enrichment opportunities, outdoor learning, and the celebration of academic achievement. Pupils shared valuable feedback on current provision, highlighting aspects they enjoyed, as well as offering constructive suggestions for future development. The discussion also generated several innovative ideas relating to curriculum options and the shape of the school day, providing useful insight into how pupils feel teaching and learning can continue to evolve at Ballard. As a result of the pupils' contributions, several ideas will be explored further over the coming months. At future meetings, the group will continue to review key aspects of teaching and learning and provide ongoing feedback, ensuring that pupil voice remains at the heart of the school's academic development.
The inaugural meeting of the Food and Nutrition Pupil Voice Group brought together pupils from Year 5, Year 8, Year 10 and Year 11 with Anna Clarke, Head of Food, and Richard Whiting, Executive Chef at Ballard. The group enjoyed a lively discussion about all aspects of catering at Ballard, including lunchtimes, breaktimes, the snack trolley and match teas. Pupils provided valuable feedback on what they currently enjoy about the menu, as well as thoughtful suggestions for future additions. As a result of their ideas, several new initiatives will be trialled over the coming months. At the next meeting, pupils will take part in taste - testing sessions and provide further feedback to help shape the Spring Term menu, ensuring that student voice remains at the heart of our food provision.
STEM @ Ballard
Autumn Cookies Year 1 enjoyed making delicious warming, spicy cookies with a true taste of autumn. They loved the wonderful aromas of cinnamon and ginger filling the room as they baked, and had great fun decorating their cookies with beautiful autumnal -coloured icing.
Science in Action: Surface Area and Reaction Rates "Our pupils have been investigating how the surface area of a solid affects the rate of a chemical reaction. Using different-sized marble chips, pupils measured the volume of gas produced as the marble reacted, using an inverted measuring cylinder filled with water to collect the carbon dioxide. Pupils compared their results to see how the size of the marble chips affected the speed of the reaction, developing their practical skills while exploring an important factor that affects reaction rates." Miss Rothwell (Science Teacher and Careers Lead)
Year 11 Biology Field Trip Year 11 Biology pupils headed off -site to carry out their Ecology Required Practical, investigating how the distribution of organisms changes across a habitat. Using quadrats and transects, pupils collected data to identify patterns in species distribution and abundance. This hands -on fieldwork gave students the opportunity to put their GCSE Biology knowledge into practice and develop their skills in ecological sampling and data collection.
Heart Dissection Our Year 10 Biology pupils got hands -on with the heart, exploring its internal structures through a practical dissection. Using string to trace the pathway of blood through the heart, they investigated the chambers, valves, major blood vessels and tendinous cords (often called heart strings), which help prevent the valves from turning inside out. This practical brought their learning about the circulatory system to life, helping them understand how the heart’s structures work together to keep blood flowing in the right direction around the body.
Creative Minds Take on the Zombie Challenge Pupils became zombie survival experts as they worked in teams to design and make a zombie -proof neck guard. After creating detailed design sheets, they built and tested prototypes before explaining how their designs would protect against a zombie bite. The challenge showcased fantastic creativity, teamwork and problem -solving, with some brilliantly inventive solutions on display.
Microphotography Our Year 8 photographers have been putting their creativity to the test using our new light boxes. Using small figures alongside natural materials and objects collected from around the school grounds, students designed imaginative scenes full of character and storytelling. By carefully considering lighting, composition and perspective, they transformed everyday items into exciting miniature worlds, producing some truly inventive and eye -catching photographs.
Arts @ Ballard
Year 11 Tate Modern Art Trip Our GCSE Art and Textiles students had a fantastic day at Tate Modern, exploring the Julio Le Parc exhibition and taking inspiration from the gallery’s main collection for their coursework portfolios. The visit gave students plenty of ideas to sketch, photograph and develop back in the classroom. A stop at the bakery on the way home for a well earned treat helped keep everyone fuelled for a day of creativity and inspiration! More pictures in our first edition back.
Moulin Rouge Theatre Trip A group of our Senior Performing Arts Laureates and Scholars attended Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Mayflower Theatre this week. The group enjoyed a pre -show talk at school before departing, giving background to different elements of the production, relating to its creation, choreography, music, set and costume design. The vibrancy, energy and skill of all the talented cast was an inspirational experience for them to watch, and the incredible set, lighting and costumes provided a visual spectacle.
Prop Recycling Pupils in Top Hat Theatre production club have been designing ideas for props and set for the upcoming production of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. They have been tasked with finding ways to bring a new lease of life to items used in previous productions, whilst considering the following factors; • Support the narrative of the production. • Be visually engaging for the audience and practical for performers. • Minimise waste and use sustainable materials wherever possible. • Consider what will happen to the set after the production has finished.
Lower Prep Music “Not to toot our own horn, but the Year 4's unit on brass instruments was marching in perfect harmony. Once we perfected our embouchure, it's likely you heard us!” Hilary Wilcox (Junior Music Teacher)
Clay Pumpkins Our Claywork Clubs have been producing these delectable pumpkins. Year 3 -4 made Halloween ones, and Years 5 -6 added some extra pizzazz. Patterned pumpkins!
Sport @ Ballard
Mastering Movement This term we have been working on refining and mastering fundamental movement skills. Year 2 have proved to be outstanding in this. In today’s lesson, Year 2 brought all of these skills together in a fun game of ‘robbing my nest’ by collecting as many pieces of treasure they could - the faster they were at running, jumping, skipping and evading me - the more treasure they collected for their teams.
ISA Senior Regional Swimming Gala On Friday, our senior swimmers set off bright and early, leaving school at 6:30am and fully fuelled for an exciting day of competition at the ISA Senior Regional Swimming Gala held at Surrey Sports Park. With 28 schools in attendance and an exceptionally high standard of swimming throughout the day, our pupils represented the school with immense pride, determination and sportsmanship. The gala began with arguably the toughest event of the day, the 200m Individual Medley. Both Holly K and Zachary F rose brill iantly to the challenge, producing excellent swims to finish 5th and 4th overall respectively, while both also secured 2nd place in their heats. Holly was straight back into action in the 100m Freestyle, demonstrating outstanding resilience after the demanding IM event to finish 4th in her heat. In the same event, Eleanor CS made an impressive debut at a regional schools' gala, recording a strong 4thplace finish in her heat. The breaststroke events produced some excellent performances. Eleanor returned to the pool to claim another 4th-place finish in her heat, while Dulcie H swam superbly against older Year 10 competitors to finish 5th in her heat. Brodie R enjoyed an outstandi ng race, placing 3rd in his heat and securing an excellent 5th-place finish overall. Brodie continued his impressive form in the backstroke, finishing 2nd in his heat and narrowly missing out on the medals with a fantastic 4th-place overall finish. Zachary then returned for the 50m Butterfly, to place 5th in a highly competitive heat field.
Our Year 7 and 8 swimmers also delivered some outstanding performances. Myka HA started strongly in the 50m Backstroke, finishing 2nd in her heat and an impressive 4th overall. Fraser C competed admirably in both the 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle, placing 6th in his breaststroke heat before improving to 4th in his freestyle heat. To round off the day, Myka returned for the 50m Freestyle and produced one of the performances of the gala, winning her heatin a superb time of 34.22 seconds and securing an excellent 5th-place finish overall. The commitment, resilience and determination shown by all of our swimmers throughout a long and demanding day was exceptional . Competing against some of the strongest swimmers in the region, every pupil represented the school magnificently and should b e incredibly proud of their achievements. Well done to all involved on a fantastic day of ISA swimming.
ISA Regional Junior Swimming Gala On Tuesday, our junior swimmers travelled to ACS Cobham for the ISA Regional Swimming Gala. Despite a long journey, the team swam their hearts out throughout the day, demonstrating outstanding determination, resilience and teamwork. It was particularly pleasing to see the encouragement and support shown between races, with pupils inspiring one another to give their very bestin every event. A special mention must go to our three Year 4 swimmers, who were making their ISA swimming debuts. Competing on the regional stage for the first time can be daunting, but all three embraced the challenge brilliantly and will take a huge amount of confidence from their performances.
Our experienced Year 6 swimmers, Isla and Cameron, were fantastic role models throughout the day. Both pupils led by example, supporting younger teammates, offering encouragement, helping with technique and calming any pre-race nerves. Their leadership and maturity played a huge part in creating such a positive team atmosphere. They backed this up with outstanding performances in the pool. Isla enjoyed an excellent gala, finishing 2nd in her backstrok e heat before producing a superb swim to win her freestyle heat. Cameron was equally impressive, claiming two silver medals with excellent performances in both the butterfly and freestyle events. He finished 2nd overall in the butterfly with a time of 38.28 seconds and followed this with another 2nd-place finish in the freestyle, clocking an impressive 33.97 seconds. Our Year 4 swimmers also produced some excellent swims. Lois showed great determination to finish 3rd in her backstroke heat, Emily battled well to secure 5th place in her breaststroke heat, and Gigi rounded off a fantastic debut gala by placing 4th in her freestyle heat. The commitment, enthusiasm and support shown by every swimmer made the day a tremendous success. We are incredibly proud of the way our pupils represented the school and look forward to seeing them continue to develop their confidence and progress on their swimming journeys.
Exciting New Sports Holiday Clubs
Life @ Ballard
Pumpkin Patch Party Pre-Prep and Lower Prep families enjoyed our Pumpkin Patch Party with great excitement and enthusiasm. The children loved taking part in a wide range of autumn -themed activities, including making pumpkin balloons, woollen pumpkins, 'hook a pumpkin', trying their hand at the pumpkin shy, conker painting, using their gross motor skills when hammering plastic pins into pumpkins, and baking delicious autumn cookies. It was wonderful to see families learning, creating and celebrating the end of the first half term together, making the most of a fun -filled afternoon of autumnal activities. You can view the video here. More photos in our first edition back.
European Day of Languages To celebrate the European Day of Languages, pupils in Years 5 to 8 were invited to write an encouraging postcard in French or Spanish and draw a picture on the back related to the country of the language they had chosen. Pupils then posted their postcards in the school post box outside the Main House, and they were delivered to their recipients. We received some lovely entries, and the winners from each year group were awarded a certificate, key ring and pen. Many congratulations to the following pupils: Clemmie (Year 5), April (Year 6), Hudson (Year 7), Lizzy (Year 8)
Marwell Zoo Year 1 and Year 2 enjoyed an exciting visit to Marwell Zoo, where they learned all about animal conservation, tracking and animal behaviour during a fascinating workshop with Laura; a particular highlight being when the children observed and discussed the penguins' behaviour before, during and after feeding time. We were thrilled to see so many different animals throughout the day. It was a wonderful experience that brought their learning to life.
Sea City Year 9 ventured to the SeaCity Museum to enhance their understanding of this term's key topic, the Titanic. Here, students took part in workshops exploring who was to blame for its sinking, myths about the ship and, of course, the classic ice cube tray experiment. They also spent time exploring the exhibitions on both Southampton City and the Titanic, which complemented their focus on the curation of exhibitions. More photos in our next edition.
Book Week Round -Up Throughout the week, tutor groups competed in a series of reading challenges. After reading short extracts together, they tackled riddles which led them on a race around the school to find tickets and deliver them to S7, earning points for their tutor group along the way.
At lunchtime on Wednesday and Thursday, pupils took part in a scavenger hunt created by Mr Cornwell, following clues hidden around the school to solve a murder mystery and win sweets. The week concluded with a final challenge, beginning at the ruins of the old Edinburgh House toilets and testing pupils' knowledge of the week's extracts. Following a trail of clues and questions, teams were led to the Pre -Prep area to find the final checkpoint. Congratulations to 8C, who were crowned winners of the History Heroes Trophy Our next Reading Week will be hosted by the Art Department and will take place in the week commencing 23 November.
World War II – The Evacuee Experience "First, we made our Identity tags and suitcases. We thought about what items we needed to pack and wrote these on pieces of paper to put into our bags before heading to the PAC to role play being evacuated. In the PAC, we pretended to stand on the platform and board the train. We discussed what items we had in our bags, where our destination was going to be and what the last thing our families had said to us. ‘The children were excellent at getting into character’" – Mrs Wiltshire.
Elevate Education Workshops for Years 10 & 11 This week, students in Years 10 and 11 took part in engaging workshops delivered by Elevate Education during their usual PSHE lesson time. Year 10 pupils completed the Ace My Exams workshop, while Year 11 pupils took part in Study Sensei, both of which focused on practical, evidence -informed strategies to help students revise effectively, prepare for examinations and make the most of their study time. These sessions complement our ongoing in -school revision and study skills programme, reinforcing many of the effective learning techniques and revision approaches that students are already developing through lessons, form time activities and revision guidance. By combining expert external input with the support provided by our teachers, we aim to help students build the confidence, habits and study routines needed to achieve their full potential. The Elevate Parent Guide, details of upcoming webinars, and a range of other revision guidance and resources for both parents and pupils are available on My School Portal (MSP) under the Effective Revision tab. We encourage families to explore these resources to help support pupils throughout their GCSE journey.
Bulb planting The Grounds team are conducting a new trial of bulbs planting on the grassed area around the main car park. We have used a contractor to plant 38m2 of Bee Surprise mixed bulbs. These bulbs are all packed in on top of each other and are as much as 400 bulbs per square metre. The bulbs all have different flowering months, meaning we should have a band of changing colour from late February all the way through to May. If the trial is successful, then we will look to increase the planting area next year and bring a patchwork of colour to the school in many different places. This project is one of many that Mr Corbett and Mr Coomber of the grounds team will be undertaking this year to keep all visitors, and the bees, smiling as they walk through the fantastic grounds.
Allotment Club Gets Ready for the Growing Season Our Allotment Club has been hard at work preparing for an exciting growing season. The pupils have already planted onions and garlic and have planted broad beans this week (kindly donated by Fearne and Hugh Lale's grandmother). The club has also begun erecting a new fence to help protect their crops from hungry deer. It has been wonderful to see the children's enthusiasm and teamwork as they care for the allotment and learn about growing their own food.