Out of the Blue - Winter 2021

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The Blue Coat School Founded by the Church of England in 1722

Love in Action

Prep Advent

A bumper harvest for St. Luke’s.

Choirs proclaim the birth of Jesus.

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From the study…

What a tonic - welcoming parents back to school and feeling anew a community spirit. Celebrating the joy of singing at the Pre-Prep nativities, Christmas Concerts and Prep Carol Services, all of them magical.

As our Year 6 children celebrate excellent results and scholarships locally and nationally, I here record this term’s other major highlights: becoming national hockey finalists at Millfield, IAPS Rugby champions and Warwickshire chess champions.

Such achievements place BCS proudly at the top table. Well done to all involved.

Music, traditionally strong here, has reached new heights. Performers in our scholars’ concert attracted favourable notices from several senior school music directors. That gives us all a lift.

Indeed, across the board, BCS is flying. This is no accident; it is the result of everybody pulling hard in the same direction.

Which is my cue to thank all my staff. They continue to inspire, allowing the children to make strong progress in all that they do.

Merry Christmas, one and all.

Noel Neeson, Headmaster

Term Round Up On 17th September we gathered for our first Chapel service in 18 months. Chaplain was overjoyed to welcome parents, staff and pupils back under one roof, and particularly to be able to hear everyone sing in fine voice again. The Chapel Choir sang their first anthem and Chaplain introduced the theme of ‘Love in Action’. So many wonderful examples of love in action followed over the course of the term - from individual fundraising initiatives to our collective harvest gifts for St. Luke’s Food Bank.

The return of singing was accompanied by the resumption of our early morning recital programme. After the break it could have been daunting for our young musicians to perform in front of an audience again, but remarkably, they took to the stage giving faultless performances that belied their tender years.

Pupils were excited and eager to play in competitive matches, another much missed feature of school life. And what a term it turned out to be for BCS Sport! The U11 girls sailed through to the IAPS National Hockey Finals without conceding a single goal and the boys fought hard to bring home a second regional title, winning the IAPS U11 Regional Rugby Festival at Ratcliffe College.

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St. George’s, St. Philip’s, St. Margaret’s and St. Monica’s all went to the movies as the School Hall became the venue for two House Film Nights, complete with popcorn treats. House spirit reigned as by day the children were coming together in their House tops as they streamed around the school field and across the Warley Woods bowl in the Harrison Mile and Scotsman’s Run.

Year 5 were hooked as they attended a talk by Karl Nova at King Edward’s School. His beatboxing thoroughly entertained them as he shared his love of poetry and his life story. Meanwhile our younger ˇ to open the newly pupils welcomed author-illustrator Petr Horácek refurbished Pre-Prep library. Petr regaled them with tales of a naughty breakfast-stealing goat and led a draw-along resulting in herds of fantastic paper elephants!

In the Spotlight Miss Mockler, Lead Swimming Coach, joined BCS in January of this year. She previously worked for several Learn to Swim companies and has assisted many schools in setting up their swimming development programmes. Helen has just completed an MSc researching the characteristics that determine an individual’s likelihood of achieving elite performance and success in sport. We chatted to her about life at BCS: Q. So you joined in the midst of a full lockdown, how was that for you?

Not goats or elephants but some other unusual creatures were present on site just a week later as Year 2 enjoyed their animalthemed WOW day. A skunk, a kookaburra and a very big snake were certainly highlights.

Wow is a word that definitely needs to be in the BCS dictionary!

WOW days a-plenty saw Nursery bounce, hop and twirl as they enjoyed a PE morning with all the specialist Sports staff. Year 2 were flying in another direction in their WOW day about St. Lucia. Their PE session involved Caribbean themed hula hooping and ‘beach’ volleyball! In Prep, Year 3 travelled back to the Stone Age, Year 4 experienced Tudor England and Year 5 were visited by Erik the fearsome Viking warrior.

Best Blue was the order of the day as we remembered the fallen at a special Remembrance Service held at Edgbaston Old Church. Back at School, 4LJ led the Lower School Service. They thought about what the word ‘remembrance’ actually means, and why Armistice Day is such an important event in our calendar.

A. A little daunting in the first instance! On my first day, there were several announcements made regarding swimming in schools, so to begin with I was placed in the classroom. I absolutely loved it and it was a great way to get to know the children.

Q. Is swimming your favourite sport?

A. Swimming has always been a love of mine. I was fortunate enough to compete in swimming and water polo at county and national level. I also joined the university rowing team.

It was great fun, but I do prefer a nice warm indoor pool rather than open water!

Q. What made you want to become a swim teacher?

A. The opportunity to give back in a sport I love but also to ensure children are learning a key life skill that will stay with them forever is really important for me.

Q. What is the most exciting thing you have ever done?

A. It would have to be between singing the national anthem at international competitions for Great Britain or skydiving in Miami - I am not sure which I was more nervous for, or which had the best adrenaline rush!

Q. How will you spend Christmas?

A. Mostly celebrating with friends and family with a little revision for next year’s University Clinical Aptitude Test and some wedding planning ahead of the big day in August!

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As we look ahead to our tercentenary year, preparations are underway for several whole school celebrations. The first project is already nearing completion with artist Jackie Nash putting the finishing touches to our 300th Mosaic in her studio. The finished mosaic will soon be adorning the end of the Centenary building for everyone to enjoy.

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Pre-Prep Classroom Autumn Celebration Nursery enjoyed an ‘Autumn Wow Day’. They used a nonfiction book to find out information about the season such as what colour the leaves change to and what they would need to wear as the weather gets colder. In a carousel of activities the children visited each of the Nursery classrooms and investigated different autumnal fruits and vegetation as well as making a hedgehog cake and an autumn tree picture. Finally they went outside to find fallen leaves, twigs and conkers to make an autumn wreath.

Festival Of Lights What better way to brighten the darkening winter nights than with an exploration of light? Reception enjoyed learning about Diwali, the ‘festival of lights’. They explored light and dark by retelling the story of Rama and Sita, making a shadow puppet show, Diwali cards, and puppets of the characters. They also painted firework images and made special, treasured diva lamps. They learned the story behind bonfire night and made melted chocolate apples to celebrate.

The classroom activities were a celebration of colour and light, creating memorable experiences for the children.

Traditional Tales Year 1 have been learning about traditional tales in English and have particularly enjoyed reading the story of ‘The Gingerbread Man’. They decorated their own gingerbread people with icing and buttons. After reading the story of ‘The Frog Prince’, Year 1 cheerfully tried hard to follow step-by-step instructions and make their very own frog.

To end the day, the children watched a performance of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. Their laughter filled the room, and it was wonderful to see the children enjoying themselves.

Close Encounters!

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An annual highlight has to be a visit from the ‘Animal Man’.

Steve did not disappoint this year’s cohort and brought along a menagerie of animals ranging from huge snakes, to skunks, scorpions and perhaps the cutest - a hedgehog! The children learned a lot about the different habitats the animals live in and where in the world they would be found. Many fears were conquered as the children bravely stepped forward to hold or touch the animals and it was a fantastic way to end the half term’s Science topic with an experience that the children will no doubt remember for a long time.

Prep Classroom Team Bonding What better way to bond than over team games in the great outdoors! After a busy first week, Year 3 came together for some outdoor activities followed by a delicious barbeque.

Using the school forest, they created artwork in the style of Andy Goldsworthy, who is famous for his art and sculptures using natural materials found in his surroundings. Year 3 showed great enthusiasm and working in groups, they produced some wonderful creations using little more than sticks, leaves and stones.

Then it was time for the ever popular wide games on the field. Filling a fish tank with water using impossibly small pots to carry the water in, was a hard fought contest but 3HW emerged victorious. Well done Year 3 and welcome to Prep!

Proud To Be Year 4 have completed some fantastic work to mark Black History Month UK and the 2021 theme ‘Proud to Be’. Over half term, the children across Prep were set an optional Enrichment homework to research the achievements and contributions of a black Briton. There was a wide range of people who the children chose to research, both historical and modern Britons and the presentation of the children’s work was excellent.

We were also delighted to welcome back Mischa’s father who is a Blue Coat Old Scholar. Nick shared the life story of his own hero Walter Tull and gave us lots to consider in an inspiring and thought provoking assembly.

Viking Life Year 5 were visited by Erik Eriksson, a fearsome Viking warrior who delivered a wonderful day for the children to complement their learning on the Vikings for this term.

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The children had the opportunity to try on Viking clothing, jewellery and accessories to experience what it would have been like to live like a Viking. They also explored a variety of Viking weapons looking at a number of swords, shields, daggers and longbows which would have been used in battle and warfare! The children learnt about the daily life of the Vikings and the different roles that men and women would have played. To conclude the day, the children learnt about battle chants and then created their own.

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300th Mosaic It’s been an extra busy time in Creative Arts this term.

We were delighted to welcome mosaic artist Jackie Nash to help us with the first of our tercentenary projects. Pupils and staff from across the school have all been helping Jackie to put together an impressive 10ft tall mosaic.

Once completed, the mosaic is going to be situated on the end of the Centenary building overlooking the playground so that everyone will be able to see it and try to spot the part they helped to make.

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Both Pre-Prep and Prep pupils and staff both academic and nonteaching, took it in turns to visit the Creative Arts room and place a tile down. The children also had a go at creating their own mini mosaics by cutting and sticking coloured paper as well as cutting up tiles to attach to the main mosaic.

The scene depicted in the mosaic is of a Blue Coat boy and girl walking towards St. Philip’s Church, now Birmingham Cathedral.

This is a reminder that the first Blue Coat Charity School originally stood on land adjacent to the Cathedral and pupils would attend services there. The pupils are shown wearing the old school uniform and carrying a Bible and Common Prayer Book. The borders will be decorated with symbols of modern day Blue Coat highlighting elements such as sport and music, as well as the copper poppies we have made for Remembrance.

Jackie has been completing the mosaic by joining all the sections together in her workshop and we hope to see it in place in the near future.

What a creative way to celebrate a 300th birthday!

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Harvest Nursery and Reception were the first to celebrate Harvest.

They sang their hearts out with a rendition of ‘Dingle Dangle Scarecrow’, while Chaplain and her friend Rocky taught them a little bit about Harvest and what it means.

The children were inspired by the service and went back to their classrooms enthused to know more. They learnt about seasonal change, crops, produce and the importance of generosity.

Year 2 led the Harvest Service for the rest of Pre-Prep and Chaplain reminded them of the importance of saying ‘thank you’ for all the good things we have and for all the people who love and care for us.

They discovered that the magic letters of H-A-R-V-E-S-T can change themselves to spell ‘S-H-A-R-E’, ‘H-E-A-R-T’ and E-A-R-T-H. 2M spoke about the day the world was born. They thanked God for all that He had made – the day and night, the stars and the moon, the fruit and vegetables and all the animals and creatures. 2EW acted out the story of when Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves and two fishes and demonstrated sharing. The Year 2 Choir sang a very jolly and uplifting song, ‘A farmer’s life for me’.

It was then the turn of 2S to talk about a kind heart. They thanked God for many wonderful things and thanked everyone who is sharing their food with others less fortunate. 2NW explained how wonderful our world is and what we should all be doing to help look after it rather than destroy it.

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In our Prep Services we welcomed guest speakers James Leavy and Rachel Hughes from Gas Street Church. James’ retelling of the feeding of the 5,000 had the children laughing aloud as he proceeded to try and divide up a loaf of bread to illustrate his talk. Rachel handed out enormous bars of chocolate to the children to demonstrate the generosity of God. But the catch was to share them and pass them on to show ‘love in action’!

In both services, the Chapel Choir sang a stunning anthem, ‘Look at the world’ by John Rutter, tying in perfectly with the theme of Harvest.

Returning after half-term, the new Chapel monitors, together with Chaplain, Miss Levett, Miss Akehurst and the Estates team travelled to the ‘Love Your Neighbour’ Food Bank at St Luke’s Church with two minibuses full of food and toiletries. The Chapel monitors certainly had their work cut out as they carried between them around 2 tonnes of donations!

The children had the opportunity to see where the bags were packed and to feel part of something very special. Food Bank Manager, Millie Ferguson, told us that our donations would feed their families for several months and they had never seen anything quite like it!

Thank you to all our BCS families - your generosity really will make a huge difference.

Musical Notes As we go to print, the final notes of ‘O come, all ye faithful’ are still resounding in our ears. After what has been a most challenging time, the reality of having live performances in front of real audiences, in school, has been most welcome.

In Pre-Prep, it has been wonderful to have singing back, and the children have enjoyed developing their musical skills through singing games and activities. We held our first Year 2 Recital, and it was exciting to see the musicianship on display. We already have a group of very accomplished players at this young age.

Year 2 children have learned the pentatonic scale using solfa and Year 1 have been developing their rhythm skills and learning about semiquavers. Reception children have impressed Mrs Creaton with their excellent rhythm tapping and knowledge of march music; whilst our youngest have been playing singing games and learning about loud and quiet music in Nursery.

The children have enjoyed telling the Christmas story through music and it was a joy to perform our Pre-Prep Christmas Productions. The Fiddlesticks musicians took part in the Prep Christmas Concert where they performed ‘Carol of the Bells’ with great maturity.

Further inspired by their visit to Wells, our Music Scholars performed with skill and prowess at their Scholars’ Concert in November. The depth of talent in these young players is quite extraordinary and even caught the attention of Professor John Byrne, Head of Keyboard at Wells Cathedral School and the Royal College of Music. For those yet to enjoy this spectacle, we urge you to seek out the concert recording which can be found on our school website under ‘Latest News’.

In Prep, we were treated to the very highest standards of musicmaking. The Morning Recital and Prelude Concert programme provides a performance platform for the children to develop their skills in playing to audiences, helping them to manage their preconcert nerves, and to handle the post-performance adrenaline rush.

Well played everyone!

As Christmas approached, the sound of carols and Christmas music echoed around the campus and made us realise just how much we had all missed the festive music that brings the season alive. The Christmas Concert was undoubtedly a highlight. It was an evening of highly entertaining music, and with nearly 80 children taking part, it was a real thrill.

The Year 6 Chapel Choir were robed with their surplices and became fully-fledged choristers in a special Friday Chapel Service. Chaplain marked the occasion by talking about St Cecilia, the Patron Saint of Music, and by teaching the children about why singing plays such an important part in our worship of God. The choir sang their first anthem, fully robed, and after 18 months with no singing, it felt a particularly poignant occasion.

The Chapel Choir sang for patients and visitors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and we were the guests of the Star and Garter Home for ex-servicemen and women in Solihull. It was an honour to share some Christmas cheer with the residents.

The Carol Service showcased the Senior and Chapel Choirs respectively, supported by excellent readers from Year 6, it was a delightful way to bring the term to a close.

On Wednesday 13 October our Music Scholars visited Wells Cathedral School. At the kind invitation of the Music Department, we were delighted to attend the Wells CS Symphony Orchestra Schools’ Concert, ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’. The programme of famous TV and movie themes was hugely enjoyable, made all the more special by the extraordinary playing of the Symphony Orchestra.

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The children were treated to a guided tour of the magnificent thirteenth-century cathedral, which sits in the heart of this delightful little city, observing the world’s second-oldest astronomical clock still operating some 700 years after it was built. An exciting singing workshop brought the day to a fitting finale.

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Sports Round-Up At BCS we take great pride in our heritage and as we commemorate 300 years we celebrate our successes and growing reputation in sport. We strive to offer pupils every opportunity to enjoy sport and experience success accordingly. This involves striking the rare balance between excelling at the highest level, whilst ensuring that all pupils benefit from good coaching and positive sporting experiences.

Hockey Our U8s got off to a fantastic start. Competing in two intra-school festivals, it was clear that most have already grasped some of the basic ball control skills. This meant they could travel with the ball at pace and beat defenders.

The U9s participated in the local Prep Schools’ circuit beating Eversfield, Solihull and RGS The Grange. Successful results include the highlight of the term at the RGS hockey festival. We also held our own U9 Festival where many Year 4 girls had the opportunity to play.

Both Blue Coat teams finished undefeated and scored lots of goals.

The U9s enjoyed one of the busiest set of fixtures. Most weeks have seen the whole year group playing touch rugby against other schools. There have been some impressive victories against some tough opponents. Finally, after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, we were able to play contact rugby. The boys looked like seasoned professionals as they ran into contact and made some superb tackles.

As a result, the House matches were a joy to watch.

What potential our U10 girls have shown! With superb application, fast learning and the desire to succeed, they have been rewarded with big wins against Solihull and Eversfield. The girls should be proud of their commitment.

The U10s also had their first year of contact rugby. They quickly went from cuddling and wrestling to dominant tackling, executed swiftly and effectively. There have been some superb matches this season and every Year 5 pupil has played against Warwick, twice!

This has been the most successful season for the U11 girls in hockey.

With lots of fixtures and tournaments organised throughout the term, the A and B teams were unbeaten. The pinnacle was reaching the IAPS National finals and playing at the prestigious Millfield School, where we only lost one league match at a national level. Mrs Bennett was bursting with pride and this was certainly a highlight for her.

The staff have been thrilled to observe the U11 boys going from touch rugby to a game that resembles that of professional rugby. They were introduced to rucking and scrummaging. This adds a fantastic new dimension to the game and resulted in some fiercely competitive intra and House fixtures. A special mention has to go to the U11As who became Regional Champions at the IAPS Rugby Tournament held at Ratcliffe College. BCS won all but one game on their way to the final.

Rugby Rugby has once again flourished at Blue Coat, with a season of impressive scorelines, great matches, and a lot of enjoyment on the pitch.

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For many of the Year 3 pupils, this year was their first experience of any competitive rugby. Their progress has been impressive and their understanding of the game has developed each week. This has resulted in exciting, end-to-end games. Every pupil participated in a thrilling intra-school competition and House matches.

Swimming The children have continued to bring so much energy to the poolside in both training and competitions. We have completed a successful term in swimming across Pre-Prep and Prep where we have seen children transform their capabilities in the pool.

In Reception we already have children swimming unaided and independently across the width, whilst Year 1 and 2 have completed their Swim Fit challenges in preparation for some upcoming Pre-Prep

galas in the New Year. Our Prep swimmers have developed their strokes with particular focus on the development of their diving skills.

The Performance and Development squads have faced some challenging sets across freestyle and form strokes. Swimmers have made fantastic progress evidenced in their undefeated reign in galas this term. Children in Years 3 to 6 participated in and won a total of 10 galas. This was a fantastic start to the new academic year in spite of the prolonged closure of pools due to the pandemic.

BCS squad swimmers defended their title against a plethora of competitors including Bromsgrove, EHS and Eversfield. Amongst time trials and gala results were a stream of ‘personal bests’, with swimmers also achieving county times across multiple strokes. The children’s efforts in training and competition bode well for the upcoming IAPS qualifiers in February.

Cross Country

It was quite the sight to see a wave of red, yellow, green and blue House tops flood the Warley Woods bowl in preparation for the Upper School equivalent - The Scotsman Run. Mikey Nikey was there to greet everyone and staff led the warm up and ran out front as ‘the hare’. The Year 5 winners were Dan Tyler and Anna Newman. The Year 6 winners were Nush Singh and James Longworth, who ran the fastest time of the day of 4 minutes 52 seconds. The overall House winners of both events were St Philip’s!

Despite the early starts, the dark mornings, and the bitter cold, Cross Country is becoming a very popular squad with nearly 50 runners every Thursday morning. Mr Melia is delighted that he continues to receive requests to join, showing more people are enjoying their sport and developing positive life-long healthy habits.

The first meet of the season was at Abberley Hall. Undeterred by the hills and mud, our team of Year 5 girls came 2nd overall. A fantastic result, especially as they were competing at U11 level. Additionally, the U11 boys put in an outstanding effort and came away as the overall winners in their category.

The second meet was at RGS The Grange - this time no hills and a lot less mud but a tough course nonetheless. There were a lot of nerves as the children walked the course, however, as soon as the starting pistol fired, everyone quickly got into their stride. The U9 girls came 4th, U9 boys came 3rd, U11 girls came 2nd and the U11 boys were the overall winners of their category. Additionally, Nush Singh finished 2nd in her category, Jack Soundy came 3rd in his category and James Longworth finished 2nd in his category. Well done all!

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For some, running comes naturally but for others the thought of repeatedly running around a field fills them with dread and anxiety. A “Harrison Mile” this year equated to 1.3km, 1,300m, 130,000cm or 1,706 steps! Regardless of those initial thoughts, the smiles, laughter and cheering as everyone crossed the finish line replaced any fear or anxiousness! Congratulations to individual winners Kavidh Biswas and Sonam Hulait in Year 3 and to Freddie Wood and Esther Sun in Year 4.

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Christmas Productions Nursery The Nursery Children took to the stage to perform their first Nativity service. The children were amazing at retelling the Nativity story through words, songs and actions. Each child had a special part to play. All the staff and parents were so proud of them. Well done, Nursery!

Year 1 About 2,000 years ago in Nazareth, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she was going to have a baby, so the story begins…

The children in Year 1 worked collaboratively to perform a wonderful Nativity play. The narrative was split into three parts so that each of the Year 1 classes could take the lead in performing.

They worked tirelessly to learn their lines and deliver them clearly, expressively and confidently.

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Their beautiful voices filled the School Hall as they sang a range of traditional Christmas carols. A group of dancing angels completed the beautiful retelling of the Nativity story.

It was wonderful to see the children enjoying themselves whilst remembering the true meaning of Christmas. Well done Year 1!

Reception The children in Reception told the story of a little Christmas angel who wanted the world to know the real story of Christmas. The children were superb; their confidence shone as bright as the star of Bethlehem! They captured the magic of Christmas beautifully and every member of the audience couldn’t have been prouder of our Reception year group.

Year 2 In a bustling Christmas market, full of exciting sounds and treats, 5 excited children find a toy seller selling an old, tatty Christmas jigsaw.

He asks the children for their promise that they will complete it on Christmas Eve, but they are not sure why….

joy to both the children watching and all the performers. Well done Year 2, you should all feel very proud of yourselves!

Christmas Eve arrives and the children take out the jigsaw to fulfil their promise. Gradually piecing it together, the children realised that it was not an ordinary puzzle as the Christmas story unfolds.

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The traditional nativity story retold with exciting, catchy songs allowed the Year 2s to shine in their performance just like the Christmas star! Receiving a warm reception, the production brought

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STEM Enrichment Day Mrs Simmons was buzzing with excitement as she drew up a rather unusual shopping list: 900 paper straws, 3,000 lollipop sticks, 300 cotton wool balls, 32 reels of tape…

The reason? The welcome return of the much enjoyed Prep STEM day! STEM inspires creators, thinkers, problem solvers and innovators. Just the sort of children we want to nurture at Blue Coat!

A ‘growth mindset’ was a key feature of the day as our teams had to learn from what didn’t work as much as what did work.

In Year 4, the theme was ‘air’ and the activities included hoop gliders, streamlined planes, renewable energy and wind turbines. The day started with an introduction to renewable energy, specifically wind power. Next followed the hugely enjoyable ‘hoop gliders’ challenge, paper plane construction and finally stomp rockets!

Year 3 began with a watery challenge and the craft that set sail in the BCS paddling pool were of varying degrees of water tightness and buoyancy. There was however one standout team in the Year 3 ‘Float-Off’. The winning team managed to build a boat which held an incredible 200 marbles - a phenomenal achievement! Congratulations to Sonam Hulait, Connor Blacklaws, Chris Zhu and Brooke Bushell.

In the afternoon Year 3 tackled a real life issue. Land in Bangladesh is frequently flooded and one method of ensuring crops are not damaged is to use ‘floating gardens’. Building upon the morning’s learning, each class made some floating gardens, incorporating a bamboo frame constructed by Mrs Walker.

In Year 5, the challenge was ‘Beat the Flood!’ The children investigated various properties of materials, such as absorbance, and then designed their own flood-resistant building with consideration of both pricing and sustainability. In the afternoon, they tested the efficacy of their designs under a jet of water!

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The day’s STEM sessions buzzed with enthusiasm, curiosity, perseverance, creativity, critical thinking and teamwork. The children were able to develop fundamental life skills and an appreciation and understanding of the critical importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Thank you to Mrs Simmons for organising the day.

WOW Days Flux Capacitor engaged, headlights on, destination set.

“Where to Headmaster?” cry the children.

Initial target date: circa 2.6 million years ago. Out step Year 3 pupils into the Stone Age. At first, communication seemed a little hard as our ancestors spoke in their mother tongue of grunts, but a friendly caveman came to the rescue and led the children through a whirlwind tour of the different periods of the Stone Age. From the Mesolithic era when people lived through the disastrous Ice Age to the Neolithic civilization who first discovered that placing food on a fire would allow it to cook properly; pupils had the opportunity to dress like a Stone Age civilian and discovered how difficult it was to have been wrapped head to toe in boiling hot animal skin! They participated in a range of activities using stone tools to chop wood and light fire, as well grinding flour by hand and practising hunting animals by mastering archery.

Whilst the children carried out their activities, rumours were rife about Anne Boleyn and it was announced that she had committed treason and was to be sentenced to death. Lord North invited all his workers to an afternoon feast of bread, cheese and biscuits. His guests drank from goblets whilst enjoying a variety of entertainment including jugglers and jesters, singing, dancing and acting.

Fast forward several centuries and the Blue Coat DeLorean had been replaced by a more conventional mode of travel. Like many have dreamed over the last 18 months of hopping on a plane to a faraway place, Year 2 children took a virtual trip to discover new lands. On the beautiful island of St. Lucia, they made colourful necklaces decorated with the St. Lucian flag and enjoyed playing percussion instruments to calypso music. They sampled the different fruits of mango, guava and passion fruit before hula hooping and playing ‘beach’ volleyball in their Caribbean-themed PE lesson.

Following in the footsteps of ‘The Stone Age Boy’ by Satoshi Kitamura, the children later went out into the Blue Coat garden and crept quietly towards a cave. They walked the path The Stone Age Boy had taken with his new friend Om, and discovered a cave with beautiful paintings. Senses inspired it was time to write a narrative as the main character and describe what their discovery had felt like.

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The Blue Coat DeLorean and Blue Coat Airways may not be a reality just yet but there is no question that it can often feel that we are time travelling or exploring new lands for real. Enrichment WOW days are very much embedded in the curriculum and this term’s adventures are just a few highlights!

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Target date entered:1536. The School Hall was bustling with activity as Year 4 pupils entered Tudor England. They were invited into Lord North’s manor and were summoned to carry out many duties. These included everyday tasks such as ink making and writing, scent bag making to keep the plague away, embroidery, leather working and candle-stick making. Some children were even left without some limbs after visiting the Barber’s surgery!

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Charity Check Children in Need One of the first tasks for our newly appointed School Leaders, was to deliver an online assembly about Children in Need. They talked about the important work of the Charity and encouraged the children to raise money by coming to school in non-school uniform. Since it was launched in 1980, Children in Need has raised £600 million for good causes and we were delighted to be able to donate £1,215.67 from BCS this year. The school was certainly a sea of colour with yellow onesies and spotty tops and the pudsey biscuits delivered by the School Leaders also went down a treat! All donations will help improve the lives of disadvantaged children and young people around the UK. Thank you for your support.

Love in Action We have been delighted to learn of the kind actions of many of our pupils in aid of a variety of charities. They have all demonstrated our Chapel theme ‘Love in Action’ as well as our BCS Values. We are extremely proud of them.

During September, which was national children with cancer awareness month, Aashni Shah raised £365 for the Children with Cancer UK Charity instead of receiving presents for her 10th birthday. Meanwhile keen runners Kitty and Sabreena each decided to seek sponsorship whilst pounding the streets! Kitty ran 1.5km in the Run Bournemouth event in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Sabreena ran 5km and raised a staggering £850 for Cancer Research.

Recently, sisters Esme and Oona each took the plunge to lose 11 inches of their hair, after growing it for several months for the Little Princess Trust, a charity that makes real hair wigs for children with cancer. They were excited to make the cut for such a meaningful cause and we think their new hairstyles look amazing!

Key Dates for Lent Term 2022 Term begins Wednesday 5 January

Half-Term Holiday begins Monday 21 February

INSET Day (School closed) Friday 28 January

Term resumes Monday 28 February

7+ Prep Entrance Test Saturday 5 February

Term ends Friday 1st April

Shortlisted

Prep school of the year

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17

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The Blue Coat School, Somerset Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B17 0HR S

The Blue Coat School Founded by the Church of England in 1722

Telephone 0121 410 6800 Email info@thebluecoatschool.com Website thebluecoatschool.com The Blue Coat School Birmingham Limited is registered in England, Registration No. 8502615 and is a Registered Charity No. 1152244

Follow us on: @bcsbirmingham @bluecoatbirmingham @bcsbirmingham