Out of the Blue - Spring 2022

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outof theblue

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

Peter Pan

Netball

Year 4 dazzled us with their production.

Pupils were inspired by a visit from England netball star Beth Cobden.

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From the study…

Despite the unremitting ravages of COVID-19, we are able to look back over what has been a wonderful 12 weeks. I am particularly pleased and proud that the breadth and depth of our provision, both inside and outside the classroom, continues to play down the deleterious effects of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, of course, results remain important to us – and to the children.

The School has certainly excelled academically, with children in Year 6 achieving excellent placements and scholarships to schools both locally and nationally. This is due to the combination of their hard work and the inspiration provided by staff, who, like me, are confident that our leavers will make a big impression on their new schools.

When January saw the launch of our ‘300 Years’ celebrations, everybody had the opportunity to become involved in some capacity. At the very least, the children all received commemorative pin badges and bore witness to the revelation of our striking ‘300 Years’ mosaic. The celebrations, many and varied, are well and truly underway.

With three centuries of proud tradition to uphold, the children have excelled in the classroom, with their music, on the sports fields, and in the performing arts.

All of them should be so proud of what they have achieved this year; for me, their maturity, personality, and sense of responsibility are a joy to behold.

Moving from profit to loss: at the end of term, we have to say farewell to Becky Drake (Chaplain), Jenny Dredger (Director of External Relations) and Ayshah Nazir (Y6 Form Tutor and Maths lead). To all three we say thank you for your service to BCS, and wish you success and happiness in your new roles. We hope to see Becky, Jenny, and Ayshah at our ‘300th’ celebrations this summer.

To my staff, well done, and thank you for going ‘above and beyond’ for the children in your care. To you, the parents, we appreciate all that you do for your children and the school in general. I wish you much chocolate, and an eggs-ellent happy, healthy time - way beyond Easter!

Noel Neeson, Headmaster

Term Round Up The Lent Term was awash with sunshine and opportunities to experience all aspects of School life.

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For many, one of the highlights of the term was World Book Day, where the School was once again awash with characters gathered from all corners of literature. We were also fortunate to have author visits and literacy workshops for the children to take part in, which allowed us to further develop their imaginative and creative writing skills. Our Nursery and Reception pupils had a splendid time at their WOW days, where they explored Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes.

BCS pupils again excelled in national and regional competitions, as well as on the sports field, where we had one of our most successful terms ever. Our Under 11 netballers and Under 11 boys’ hockey team reached the IAPS finals of their respective events, and there were more successes on the football pitch and cross-country courses, and in the swimming pool too. After the lack of sport during the pandemic, it is magnificent to see the energy and passion of our pupils in their sporting pursuits.

In the Spotlight This term, we are delighted that our new Chair of Governors, Mrs Karan Gilmore, has agreed to be under the spotlight.

Q. How long have you been part of the Blue Coat community?

A. I joined the Blue Coat community in 1993 when my daughter, Camilla, started school here in Year 3. She was followed by Piers, Aphra, and Hugo and when they left I stayed. I was on the Friends Committee for several years and was asked to be a Governor in 2004 because my career has largely been in safeguarding and child protection, both in Health and Social Care.

Q. How would you describe the Blue Coat School to others?

BCS pupils were active in the local community once again. As part of Blue Coat’s Community Outreach project, the Board Games and Gardening TED groups visited the local community and planted some lovely daffodils and bluebells along a small stretch of land on the Harborne Walkway. Our Prep Photography TED group completed a litter pick on the Harborne Walkway. Equipped with gloves and litter picking sticks, the children tackled the task with enthusiasm, showing the BCS Values throughout the afternoon.

Year 3 were delighted to welcome their Grandparents to School, where everyone enjoyed activities and a delicious afternoon tea.

Year 4 pupils wowed audiences with their inspiring production of Peter Pan, and it was great to see everyone on stage once again.

The extraordinary standard of musicianship at BCS was captured at our Musician of the Year Competition 2022.

A. I think Blue Coat offers a fantastically rich and varied experience in which every child is recognised for their gifts and talents. I love that children are rightly recognised for academic, sporting, and artistic achievements but also for being nice young people, for living the Blue Coat Values of showing respect, cheerfully trying hard and being patient and kind.

Q. What are your hobbies?

A. Cooking, especially Italian, Spanish, Malaysian, and Indian food. I also like making preserves, especially using fruits I’ve grown in my garden. I also love reading, embroidery, and crochet.

Q. What is your favourite animal? Do you have any pets?

A. I don’t have any pets now but in the past, we’ve had cats, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, a guinea pig, geckos, snakes, a Chinese water dragon, stick insects, and tropical fish.

Q. Where is your favourite place that you have visited?

A. Definitely Malaysia, but I am biased because my daughter, Camilla, lives there with her husband and their two cats. It is a beautiful country, if a little hot, and the food is wonderful.

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A termly round up would not be complete without mentioning the start of our 300th birthday celebrations. We were delighted that so many families took part in our Sportathon which raised over £3000 for two local charities. We offer a huge thanks to everyone within our community who took part. Our pupils enjoyed the opportunity to visit the original school site in central Birmingham, and speak at our Opening Chapel Services, as well as seeing the commemorative mosaic installed on the Centenary building.

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Pre-Prep Classroom British Science Week Pre-Prep explored the theme of ‘Growth’ for this year’s British Science Week. Nursery grew their own grass caterpillars, which brought the process of growing directly into the classroom.

They made predictions about how the caterpillars would grow and were excited to observe the transformation during the rest of the term.

The children in Reception loved exploring our beautiful grounds to spot the signs of spring. Inspired by this, they planted ‘beanstalks’ and watched them grow.

Years 1 & 2 got green-fingered, and we may have some budding gardeners on our hands judging by the beaming smiles on the children’s faces. The children planted cress and hope to see some signs of growth over the coming days.

The children also planted sunflowers, and with plenty of water and lots of warm, bright sunshine, we saw beautiful sunflowers emerging as we moved closer to the Easter holidays.

We were lucky enough to have a visit from England Roses Netball player, Beth Cobden. She started the afternoon answering questions from Years 1 and 2, who were in awe of her Gold Medal, followed

by Prep children, who asked some very good questions. It was extremely exciting to have Beth visit our school and particularly with all our netball success, it felt like an extended celebration. In addition, the Commonwealth Games are around the corner and some lucky boys and girls have tickets to watch netball in action.

Pi Day

Africa Day

Across the whole school, pupils enjoyed celebrating the wonder that is circles on Pi Day. This special number was an incredible discovery and has been in use for over 250 years. The symbol was introduced

by William Jones, a Welsh mathematician in 1706, and made popular by the mathematician Leonhard Euler.

The children in Year 1 enjoyed an exciting curriculum enrichment day. The focus of the day was Africa and was inspired by one of the key texts that we studied in English over the past half term, ‘Lila and the Secret of Rain.’

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In Pre-Prep, we celebrated Pi Day with a range of practical and engaging activities. Nursery focused on circles and worked collaboratively within their classes to create a group picture.

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A visit from Beth Cobden inspired our Pre-Prep Children

As well as learning more information about the continent, the children took part in a range of activities including making a djembe drum, designing colourful masks, and creating beautiful African sunset collages. A super day was had by all!

Reception enjoyed a Nursery Rhymes WOW day The children in Reception had a wonderful time creating art and craftwork linked to their new topic. They learned about Nursery Rhymes and how they help children learn all sorts of things – such as how to count or learn all about the world around them.

They had the opportunity to work with all of the teachers in the year group and moved from classroom to classroom throughout the day. It was quite an adventure!

The creations made at the end of the day did make us say ‘WOW’ and provided the perfect ‘hook’ into their upcoming learning.

Gamelan Day Children in Years 2 and 3 had an exciting day when they were introduced to Gamelan music.

After a short talk about Indonesian music and the traditions of Gamelan, they were all able to play some instruments and perform two different pieces. At the end of the session, all the children tried playing the gong, which was a particular favourite!

Many thanks to The Education Group for an enjoyable and engaging workshop, and a big well done to all the children for their fantastic efforts and exemplary behaviour and manners.

Once upon a Time WOW day in the Nursery

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Our Nursery children took part in a Fairy Tale Wow Day. The children were adorned in some amazing costumes and they got into the role of their characters. Each classroom celebrated a well-known traditional tale – Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Gingerbread Man, and Jack and the Beanstalk.

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Prep Classroom

Year 6 took a trip to Mars Our Year 6 pupils took part in an engineering project which saw them plan a human settlement on Mars. Their mission was to design a colony that considers both human health and happiness.

Pupils considered ways in which to create breathable air and energy sources and they managed to present a diverse range of solutions.

Furthermore, they devised numerous ways to combat loneliness and boredom whilst on Mars, which included entertainment options.

After careful planning, the teams began the practical construction of their model colonies, bringing all of their ideas to life. Naturally, the children had a fantastic time throughout the project and they can be very proud of what they accomplished.

National Reading Quiz 2022 Following an internal reading quiz delivered to all Year 6 pupils in February, an amazing team of four Year 6 pupils was formed. On Tuesday 8 March, our selected pupils participated in the virtual West Midlands regional heats of the National Reading Champions Quiz, 2022. The Quiz was open to pupils aged 10 – 14 years, therefore our Year 6 pupils were up against many senior schools.

Our BCS team: Riah B, Erin H, Nandini K, and James L ranked 3rd place out of 37 teams. We were the top-scoring primary setting.

Questions were read aloud on-screen and a strict time limit was permitted per question. Our Year 6 pupils kept their spirits high and persevered through eight grueling rounds with ten questions each all about well-known books, characters, authors, and a few wordplay teasers as well. An off-screen marking system was in place to ensure regular leader board updates and after two and a half hours, the winners were announced at the end!

Malvern St James Art Competition Well done to Lois, Esmee, Keya, and Alex who all had work exhibited at the Malvern St James Junior Schools’ Art Exhibition. The exhibition featured work from many schools in the Midlands. It was lovely to see so much amazing artwork from junior schools on display alongside the GCSE and A-Level artwork from Malvern St James School. Lois and Keya went along with their parents to see their work on display.

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Special congratulations to Esmee and Lois who were both awarded ‘highly commended.’ It was a morning of inspiration, colour, and creativity for everyone.

Year 4 Maths Competition Success A team of pupils from Year 4 – Lexi, Zimo, Syan, and Zayaan – went to King Edward’s School for a fun-filled day of Mathematics!

The day began with the children competing with numerous other Prep Schools in the King Edward’s Maths Challenge. Following this, the children took part in a relay race which involved solving maths problems and running across the school hall!

The children were treated to an engaging talk from Kjartan Poskitt, author of the Murderous Maths series. He shared some ‘maths tricks’ including the 1089 and elephant trick.

Finally, it was time for the results of the challenge and the presentation of prizes. Our team was announced as the winners of the Year 4 Maths Challenge 2022!

A netball masterclass for Year 6 Beth Cobden delivered a Masterclass to the Year 6 girls; it was such a fantastic experience and one which all the girls enjoyed and took a lot from! With the netball season drawing to a close, it was the icing on the cake to have an inspirational visit from Beth Cobden as Birmingham prepares to host the Commonwealth Games this summer.

After lunch, the children worked in their forms to create a class multilingual poem, as well as allowing bilingual children the opportunity to teach the others in the class a little about their language and culture.

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It was a lovely opportunity to celebrate our differences, and what makes us ‘individually strong and unbreakable as one.’

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Children and staff came dressed in national attire, or clothes that represented a culture or nationality that was important to them.

There was a fantastic array of colours and clothes from around the world, from tartan trousers to silk kimonos and it was wonderful to celebrate our differences.

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We finished the half-term on a high with our celebrations for International Mother Language Day.

Over thirty languages are spoken within The Blue Coat School, and we found out more about those languages during our assembly languages quiz. The most spoken language other than English is Mandarin, followed by Hindi, and then Punjabi, and we also found out about some lesser-known languages spoken within our school such as Telugu and Amharic.

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International Mother Language Day

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Year 3 explored The Romans Year 3 had a fantastic day exploring The Romans. In the morning they took part in a myriad of activities where they got to hold some everyday artifacts, find out about Roman board games and become researchers.

In the afternoon it was time for battle drills and the children to learn to be real Roman legionnaires. They found out about the armour worn and weaponry used by Roman soldiers and then practised some battle commands and learned about formations such as the famous Roman tortoise formation. A great time was had by all, and the experience really brought the Romans topic to life.

Year 4 visited the High Street Year 4 completed a fieldwork activity along Harborne High Street.

The children walked along the High Street looking at the types of buildings and their uses. They used a base map to annotate if a building was, for example, a shop, restaurant, or empty.

Once the fieldwork was completed, we went back to the classroom to consider our findings and looked at what the most common building was and how and why the High Street has changed over time.

Y5 built the Taj Mahal As part of their Humanities topic on ‘India’, Year 5 had the wonderful job of recreating the Taj Mahal using only sticks and rubber bands. Recreating the structure of the Taj Mahal gave the children an opportunity to reinforce their understanding of famous Indian landmarks and culture.

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The children looked at how to build different shapes using the bands and sticks and then had to work together to put their individual pieces together. The children used all of their creative ingenuity to ensure the structure stood up unaided and proudly showed off their hard work for all to see.

Year 3 welcomed their Grandparents to BCS During the last week of term, Year 3 celebrated our inaugural Grandparents’ Day. The afternoon began with an assembly and performances from music scholars Kara and Joshua. Year 3 then transported grandparents back to their school days with a selection of poems on the theme of school. The assembly closed with singing from the Year 3 choir and all of Year 3 sang the closing song “God is Good.”

Our visitors and children then split into two groups for an afternoon of activities.

In the classrooms, children and their grandparents celebrated the special things they feel about each other, and the children drew a portrait of somebody special in their lives.

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All of our visitors, including the children, enjoyed an afternoon tea together. This was followed by a tour of the Year 3 Art Exhibition, as well as exploring the history of the Blue Coat School in the Archive Room.

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300th Celebrations The children have been excitedly taking part in lots more events and activities to mark our 300th year. We retraced the footsteps of former pupils by returning to the original site of The Blue Coat Charity School in the centre of the city. Our House Captains located a historical blue plaque that now marks the spot where the first Blue Coat School once stood. They took the path that former pupils would have taken that led to the west door of the Cathedral.

As we enter our 300th year, we are about to embark on the next significant refurbishment which is on an even greater scale. We have commissioned a commemorative stained glass window. Chaplain and the House Captains visited Birmingham Specialist Glass Company to meet the owner Colin Brittle, who together with designer Louise Hemmings of Ark-Stained Glass, are working on our window.

We held our 300th Opening Chapel Services, fittingly taking place in the Chapel for one last time before its big makeover. We hope that the whole school community will have enjoyed learning more about our many years of history and have a greater understanding of the School’s origins.

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We are looking to rededicate the School Chapel in the Michaelmas term and as part of its unveiling we will be burying a time capsule and laying down a commemorative pathway with named bricks. Families will have the chance to support our fundraising appeal for the Chapel by buying a brick that can bear the name of the family or child, and leave a lasting memory, in perpetuity, of their time at The Blue Coat School. We hope that you will all want to be a part of this moment of history, and there is still time to book tickets for the various tercentenary events.

Last term we undertook a whole school Creative Arts project which saw the building of a giant mosaic depicting a Blue Coat boy and girl walking towards St Philip’s Church (now Birmingham Cathedral).

The whole school came out to see our 300th mosaic which has now been installed on the end of the Centenary Building. It was lovely to see the culmination of this project which has involved all pupils and staff across BCS.

The BCS 300th Sportathon

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After two years of restrictions imposed by COVID, it was wonderful to have the BCS community back in full force, bringing together children of all ages, family members of all generations, and BCS pupils past and present. The challenge had a sporting theme – for families to complete 5k around either 250m, 500m, or 1k laps of the BCS campus. Families certainly felt a sense of achievement in completing the course, especially in blustery conditions, but there were smiles throughout thanks to Miss Mockler’s motivational commentary.

There was a great array of different costumes and outfits and Stefan’s sumo suit was a particular highlight! We were delighted to raise over £3000 for Edward’s Trust and St Martin’s Youth & Community Centre. Thank you to all families who took part and have enabled the school to make such a large donation .

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World Book Day at BCS The Boy in the Dress, the Cat in the Hat, Cruella de Vil along with her 101 Dalmatians and the full cast of Harry Potter arrived in school to help celebrate World Book Day 2022 on its 25th anniversary.

The damp weather could not deter the enthusiasm of all the children and staff at The Blue Coat School, who embraced the day in high spirits while sharing their love of books and authors. A perfect opportunity to appreciate books and to develop the benefits of reading for pleasure, which stretch throughout an individual’s life.

In Pre-Prep, the children spent time sharing their books, designing a new book jacket for their favourite book, and reading the funniest parts of the story to the rest of the class. At lunchtime, the Dining Hall had been transformed into the Emerald City where the Wizard of Oz resides. Thank you to Mr Moss and his team for pulling out all the stops!

Our day began on Thursday 3 March with a fantastic whole school assembly in the Sports Centre which involved a rather tricky teacher quiz!

To finish our World Book Day 2022 celebrations, we invited James Bates from West End in Schools to come in to run literacy workshops.

This brought some of our favourite children’s classic books to life exploring them through dance, songs, and dramatic activities.

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Finally, thank you to all our busy parents for supporting your children to dress up. A superb day with lots of laughter and lasting memories for all.

BCS turns into Hogwarts for the evening There were magical events in the Dining Hall, when, for the second time, we celebrated Harry Potter Book Night. Children from Year 2 through to Year 6 attended different sessions and enjoyed butterbeer milkshakes and edible golden snitches before engaging in games, quizzes and craft ably led by staff including Hogwarts’s very own Professor Dumbledore (Mrs Creaton) and Professor McGonagall (Mrs Redfern).

There were some wonderful costumes on display as Harrys, Rons and Hermiones mixed with Dobbys, Dumbledores, and even a dementor!

Thank you to all the children (and parents) who put so much effort into their outfits.

Serena Patel Visits BCS

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We kicked off World Book Day week in great style by welcoming Anisha, ‘Accidental Detective’ author Serena Patel to school. She talked about how real-life family and events inspire her writing, in particular how she amplifies reality to make it funny. By grounding the process of story writing in such relatable terms, Serena entertained and inspired Prep children with the message that they can be whatever they want to be and that their voice is unique and important.

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Musical Notes We crowned our BCS Young Musician of the Year this term.

Elaine Nguyen (Y6) performed Bach’s G major Cello Sonata with absolute technique, assured poise, and real finesse to wow our judges. We were delighted to welcome Mrs Nadia Hinson to be our adjudicator this year. Mrs Hinson is a nationally renowned Music Festival adjudicator and an international examiner for the ABRSM. She had the unenviable task of selecting Elaine as our winner. 141 pupils took part in the Music Festival, and it is a testament to their commitment and hard work that the children were so supportive and encouraging of one another. It was a distinct pleasure to hear them all play in the heats; what a thrill and treat it was too.

We wrapped up the term with the House Shout, a hotly contested competition indeed. This years’ theme was ‘Numbers’, and we all had great fun listening to well-rehearsed singing and watching the inch-perfect choreography. Each year the bar is raised and each year the passion and enthusiasm of the children, not to mention the bragging rights, make this event a highlight of the musical calendar.

Congratulations to St George’s who won the House Shout 2022. At the end of the competition we also presented the Headmaster’s House Cup to St Monica’s for the Lent Term.

July 8 is firmly fixed in our sights now; preparations for the Anniversary Concert are well underway and we look forward to seeing you there!

Elsewhere in music, after the very real challenges of the past 18 months, it has been refreshing and indeed very welcome to hear our choirs and ensembles hard at work. With a full weekly schedule of rehearsals and performances along the way, the ensembles are getting back into their stride. Practice does make perfect, and the dedication from both the pupils and the staff directing the ensembles makes for a fantastic, professional, and polished musical team.

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As part of our 300th Celebrations, we have made a recording. At the time of going to print, the recording engineers are preparing each track with care and attention, so that the forthcoming release will do justice to our talented young performers. Mr Nicklin and Mrs Drake, our School Chaplain have written songs that the whole school has performed, so everyone (including the staff) has made a brilliant contribution to this landmark project. Well done to you all!

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BCS Musician of the Year 2022

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Year 4 Production Peter Pan ‘Peter Pan’ was the highlight of the first half of the term.

Brilliant singing and dazzling acting took the audience on a fun-packed adventure through the classic J M Barrie story.

There is a rich seam of talent in this Year 4 cohort!

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Months in the making, our production of Peter Pan has not been without its setbacks. Namely one large setback – Covid. But we have cheerfully persevered and, thankfully, we have been able to keep the island of Neverland and its natives largely Covid free, maybe due to a little bit of magic because, as we all know, ‘All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.’

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Year 4 were so enthusiastic about the production right from when it was first announced, and the Dress Rehearsal and the performances were nothing short of amazing. The children transformed into the inhabitants of Neverland – into mermaids and warriors and pirates and lost boys, and a few select visitors! They sang and danced and acted with such energy and joy, that Peter Pan himself would be proud! As are we. We were so impressed by the children’s resilience during the lead-up to the performances and the staff have loved working with them to produce this wonderful adaptation. Our children worked brilliantly as a team, as have the staff and parents who helped make the production happen.

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Sports Round Up This term, BCS pupils had the opportunity to develop their skills in hockey, football, and netball, as well as experiencing competitive fixtures. We were delighted to take part in over 100 inter- school matches, House matches and regional tournaments throughout the term.

Football With school life swiftly returning to normal, it is easy to forget that we have missed two years’ worth of football seasons. This did not stop the boys from hitting the ground running and demonstrating some excellent performances on the pitches.

U11 Boys’ Hockey Boys Hockey has grown tremendously over the past 5 years at Blue Coat. With the introduction of hockey into the PE Curriculum alongside building links with Edgbaston Kestrels, we have seen a big uptake of boys playing hockey which is amazing to see.

Successes U11 IAPS Regional Hockey – Runners Up U11 IAPS National Finals – reached the Quarter Finals.

Netball

The U8s worked hard to develop their individual skill levels as well as developing an understanding of how the games are run.

The U9s have been by far the busiest year group for fixtures. The boys have started to focus more on positional play and utilising space to beat an opponent. Every player had a chance to represent Blue Coat against RGS The Grange and Warwick. The U10s football has really taken shape this year, with all boys taking part in fixtures against Warwick and Solihull. The U11s have been another busy year group with highlight fixtures against Warwick and RGS The Grange. Additionally, we also had remarkable success in several competitions.

Successes U9s reached the final of the Harborne District Cup. U11 Matty Thacker Cup – Winners U11 Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) Tournament – reached Semi Finals.

U11 King’s Hawford Tournament – reached the final.

U11 Birmingham County Football Cup – currently at semi-final stage

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U11 Harborne District Football Cup – currently at semi-final stage

What a fantastic term of netball. The girls have played 58 fixtures across the age groups, have won 45, and lost only 13! Our U8s have enjoyed learning Bee Netball and the five-a-side game. They enjoyed a netball festival at Warwick and a House Match at the end of the term. The U9s have enjoyed a fantastic season having won 12 and lost only 2 matches with both our As and Bs finishing unbeaten. Our U10s have also had a very successful season, having won 10 games and lost only 3.

Our U11 girls had 29 fixtures and 2 tournaments. They have won 21 games and lost only 8. They have also played a variety of 5 and 7 side games. The highlight of their season was finishing runners-up in the IAPS Regional Netball Competition at Sedbergh and therefore qualifying for the National Finals down in Dorset! The girls came runners up in the Bowl Final, beating Millfield School in the semis and finishing 18th out of 206 schools! A fantastic achievement that they should all be immensely proud of.

Highlights this term include hosting the IAPS Qualifiers at BCS where our Year 6 and 5 swimmers competed fiercely for a place in the national finals.

Successes English Schools’ Regional Finals: Year 6 boys placed 1st in both the freestyle and medley relays in the entire West Midlands region.

U11 IAPS National Netball Finals – 18th place out of 206 Schools

The following BCS teams all qualified for the IAPS Swimming National Finals; the U11 Boys Medley Relay team, the U11 Boys Freestyle team, the U10 Girls Medley Relay and the U10 Girls Freestyle Relay team. In addition, congratulations to: Vivek Ratti, who qualified for the U11 50m Butterfly final, and Remy Granger, who qualified for the U11 50m Backstroke final.

Swimming

Cross Country

What a term it has been for swimming at BCS! From hosting IAPS and qualifying in the ESSA’s to our competitive Prep House Galas, our BCS swimmers have been tremendous in their performances in the pool. BCS have been undefeated in swimming so far, victorious in galas against strong competitors including West House, Norfolk House, Solihull, and Warwick; a visible demonstration of their hard work and commitment to the sport. Moreover, during Week 11 of term, we welcomed all of our Prep pupils to the poolside to compete in their House Galas. Well done to everyone who took part.

Our runners have again performed brilliantly at cross country, showing their grit and determination against some intense competition. We have been hugely impressed at the commitment and dedication of the team this year and are delighted that these efforts have seen the pupils rewarded with local and national successes.

Successes U11 Abberley Hall Mixed Relays – Winners

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National Prep Schools’ Cross Country at Malvern – U11 Boys 2nd Place, U11 Girls 7th Place.

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U11 IAPS Regional Netball – Runners Up

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U9 RGS Netball Tournament – Runners Up (on Golden Goal)

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Successes

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BCS danced the night away The Pre-Prep and Prep discos were a source of huge excitement, and it was wonderful to see so many of our pupils dressed up for an evening of fun. Our organisers, The Association of Friends, did a fabulous job in making the evening such a success and the range of glow products and sweets made it even more special for the children.

As one of the first events to return after the end of COVID restrictions, the evening was a celebration of all that is great about our amazing school – children across year groups coming together as one to have fun and make the most of all that life has to offer.

Easter Services The term ended with our Easter celebrations! The School Hall was packed as parents and children filled the room for a full Pre-Prep service and two Prep services.

In Pre-Prep, Year 2 took the lead, guiding us through the Easter story.

We were invited into the Easter kitchen, where the children used Easter foods, such as hot cross buns, Easter eggs and simnel cake to remind us of the true meaning of Easter. The children sang their hearts out, performing a range of joyful Easter songs. Chaplain set up an egg hunt for her puppet Rocky, and the children squealed with delight as eggs were discovered in surprising places: one was found under a parent’s chair and another inside Mrs Andrews’ pocket!

In Prep, Revd Tim Hughes and his band from Gas Street church joined us for two celebrations. Full of energy and joy, the band played a new song “Keep on Provin’ it” with the help of the Chapel Choir, who sang boldly and beautifully! Some of our Year 4’s and Year 6’s delivered a powerful account of the moment Mary realised Jesus had risen. Tim gave an inspiring talk, reminding us of the power of Jesus’ resurrection and the new life it brings to all!

T-shirts for Ukraine On the final day of term, pupils and staff across the whole school donned t-shirts designed by our Art and DT Technician, Miss Moore.

The artwork features the Ukraine flag and a sunflower, the country’s national flower, which has become a symbol of peace, resistance, and solidarity in the face of atrocity.

We are delighted to announce that £4000 was raised for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, which is a phenomenal amount. Our sincere thanks to everyone who took part in the fundraising effort for this worthwhile cause.

Key Dates for Trinity Term 2022 Term begins Monday 25 April

Term resumes Monday 6 June

Bank holiday Monday 2 May

300th Birthday Celebrations Friday 8 July

Half-Term Holiday begins Monday 30 May

Tercentenary Lunch Sunday 10 July

Term ends Wednesday 13 July

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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