Inside Bredon - May 2021

InsideBredon ISSUE FIVE | May 2021

FEATURED INSIDE:

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Duke of Edinburgh Award is back in full swing!

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John Muir Award Pupils Help to Re-Wild School

Welcome from the Headmaster Welcome to the final edition of Inside Bredon for this academic year. As we approach the half term break, I am delighted to reflect upon a very busy six week period as pupils (and staff) make the very most of the opportunities available to them with the easing of lockdown measures.

Arguably, this half term has been the most jam-packed to date for our boarding community with all manner of activities taking place from ‘Nerf War’ to an inflatable assault course and a full-sized pop-up cinema. As the country begins to open up so too do our boarding houses with the return of ‘flexiboarding’ which in turn has seen an upturn in interest – seeing the amount of fun being had it is not difficult to see why!

Following a successful visit from the Ministry of Defence we are delighted to share that from September, Bredon School will form a stand-

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Pastoral Care at Bredon A revitalised house system

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Representing Great Britain in the European Championships

alone Combined Cadet Force (CCF) contingent.

Over recent years, our CCF provision has grown exponentially, supported by our association with Malvern College, and we are extremely proud to be in the position to support our own contingent. It was a pleasure to watch Year 9 pupils having a taste of what is to come in the CCF as they embarked on their introduction to water safety earlier this week. I know Lt Colonel Sharp, our school founder would have been extremely proud to see how the school has developed this offer and we very much look forward to a formal opening of the contingent in the Michaelmas term.

As we look ahead to next academic year, I have been truly impressed by the calibre of our Lower 6th pupils who have been applying for positions of responsibility and leadership as Prefects in their final year at Bredon. An announcement of who these pupils are will be made post half-term.

I am also delighted to announce that the Expressive Arts faculty will be putting on our very own whole school musical production at the end of the Michaelmas term- a first for Bredon in many years and a great whole school project. I will of course let you all know what production is chosen in due course.

In September we will also be welcoming our newly appointed Day Housemistress and Housemasters who will take charge of their assigned Houses and as such offer pastoral care to pupils throughout the school day, and will, in conjunction with individual tutors, be able to proactively report to parents and

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Join Worcester’s Big Parade Find about out own ele-baby!

guardians on each pupil’s wellbeing and educational progress. House allocations and tutors will be announced shortly.

As a school community, we are more than just the pupils, teachers and support staff; our community extends to parents, guardians, extended families and our alumni, the ‘Old Bredonians. The school is excited to be launching a more formal Friends of Bredon group for the new academic year ahead. The Headmaster’s PA will be contacting all parents shortly inviting those who are interested in joining the new Friends of Bredon group into school to discuss their ideas. In the meantime, please do join the parent administered Facebook group, simply search ‘Bredon Parents FAB’. In addition, we intend to reconnect with the Old Bredonian community and hope to beable to host them in school soon.

We look forward to celebrating the outstanding achievements of our pupils for the end of year celebrations. Founder’s Day is set to take place, albeit in a different format to usual, giving the school community the opportunity to acknowledge the successes of the year.

I hope you enjoy reading this publication and that it gives you a brief glimpse into life here at Bredon School this half term. Keep an eye out for our annual school magazine ‘The Bredonian’ which will be published over the summer encompassing highlights from throughout the year.

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This half term has bought a welcome return to normality and routine to Bredon Junior School.

Remote learning now seems like a lifetime ago. We have been delighted with the children’s attitude and application on their return to the classroom and are encouraged at the academic progress which has been made across the school, despite the majority of the Spring Term being accessed from home. For this reason, we would like once again to thank our parents for their tireless support and encouragement during remote learning.

We have had a busy half term full of exciting adventures both inside and outside of the classroom: The children have worked incredibly hard in their daily Mathematics lessons as they continue to work on progressing their learning. The teachers have been very impressed by the quality of the writing and the universal improvement in the children’s reading. Just before the Easter break, we were lucky enough to welcome James from the Crazy Comic Club, who helped complete our module of comic book writing. It was fabulous to watch the children engage in comic drawing and to see their incredible ideas for comic book writing. It was also wonderful to see their incredible costumes! We will definitely be inviting him to come back next year.

ADVENTURES

Junior Round Up Teacher Assessed Grades Our pupils and staff have been working hard to collate the evidence needed to secure Teacher Assessed Grades. A variety of evidence has been used from classroom assessments to mock exams, offering a fair and consistent approach to grading.

These will be uploaded the exam Exam board on the 18th June.

Results will be issued on 9th August 2021 for both GCSE and A Levels.

This half term in Outdoor Education we have given each child a chance to enter our pool and try their hand at kayaking. Mr Sime has been very impressed with all of their skills, and we look forward to seeing these first hand when we visit Croft Farm during Activity Week, in June.

This half term the Year 4 and Year 5 have been cooking in the Forest School using an open fire to create many fantastic dishes including; damper bread, orange cakes, omelettes and roasted vegetable kebabs. This has been helped by the new fire pit installed in the Forest School by the Junior School pupils.

As the rules and regulations have changed we have been pleased that the Juniors have been able to return to the Senior classrooms to make the most of the facility on offer. The Year 6 children have been back in the kitchens creating some fantastic dishes, the Year 4 and Year 5 cohort have begun work on the sewing skills and are making puppets in the DT workshops and all children have been able to resume their regular visit to the school farm, where there have been several new arrivals.

Next Half Term... ...our pupils will be able to explore outside Bredon and we look forward to trips to Croft Farm and the Cotswold Wildlife Centre. We are also finalising plans for an onsite residential.

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Photos: XXXX After a long break resulting from extended lockdown periods, pupils (and staff) were delighted to see the return of our Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions.

During the first half of term, a group of Silver Award mountain bikers rode from our school campus to the Malvern Hills developing their navigation skills alongside necessary bike repair skills along the way. Another group working towards both their Silver and Gold Awards took to the water in their canoes. Taking in the sights along the River Avon, pupils spent the day honing in on their rescue skills including rescuing an upside down canoe.

Overall it’s been a wet and muddy affair but all pupils came through eager for our forthcoming practice expedition.

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Duke of Edinburgh Award Back in Full Swing!

Stuck for Things to do this Half Term?

With half term upon us, parents need not fear with Muddy Stilettos Gloucestershire and Worcestershire coming to the rescue with their bespoke Muddy Guide to keeping your children busy during the holidays.

Whether you have little ones needing to blow off steam or hard-to-please teens, Muddy have got it covered with their top 20 super-fun ideas and activities to keep everyone entertained.

For full details please visit https://glosworcs. muddystilettos.co.uk/uncategorized/20family-fun-activities-for-half-term/.

The password is: MUDDYFUN

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Pupils Help to Re-Wild School Campus as Part of John Muir Award Photos: School woodland area. Right: Some of the 200 saplings ready to be planted As part of their John Muir Award, pupils have been spending time in the school woodlands and finding ways in which they can help to preserve the natural wildlife within it.

Pupils have begun to create a conservation area within the woodland, and amongst other initiatives have helped to plant 200 native young saplings in an effort to ‘re-wild’ the area.

For anyone unfamiliar with this award, The John Muir Award encourages people of all backgrounds to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places. The award is inclusive, accessible and non-competitive, though should challenge each participant. It encourages awareness and responsibility for the natural environment through a structured yet adaptable scheme, in a spirit of fun, adventure and exploration.

We look forward to seeing further updates from this group of pupils and watching their progress throughout the year.

National Gardening Week Photos: Tulips outside Pull Court. Top right: School Gardener’s trolley. Below: School trees in full blossom.

Monday 26th April marked the beginning of National Gardening Week, and across our school campus, flowers were beginning to bloom, and many of our trees were in full blossom.

Our school gardens have been significantly improved by our Gardener over the last year; existing and established plants have been tended to and pruned, alongside investment in new plants and bulbs which we have seen springing up all over our 84-acre site. It was particularly lovely to see the raindrops glistening on the fresh tulips in the courtyard of Pull Court after some of the recent downpours here in Tewkesbury.

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The 7 Benefits of an Outdoor Classroom Bredon School has long been an advocate of taking teaching and learning out of the traditional classroom setting, out into the fresh air and making full use of our 84-acre rural campus, but why? Read on to discover 7 benefits of learning in an outdoor environment.

1. Making Education More Engaging From time to time children may struggle to stay focused in the classroom, especially as the weather begins to get warmer and all they want to do is be outside in the sunshine. By taking learning outside and changing the traditional classroom scenery, children naturally become more engaged. Mathematics isn’t simply written equations in a book, but estimating the time it takes to run, hop or skip across the field. By calculating the correct amount of feed for our Bredon School lambs, piglets and calves, children learn addition and subtraction skills without even realising!

2. Real Life Scenarios Taking learning beyond the classroom presents dozens of opportunities to put into practice new skills, applying them to ‘real life’ situations. Concepts which seem complicated on paper can become easier to understand when pupils are able to use skills in context. For example, working out the surface area of the astro-pitch can be easier to visualise than a shape drawn on a page.

3. Develop Learning Through Play It is no secret that children learn more when they are happy and engaged. It’s amazing just how much they can learn through play. Experimentation is a fantastic way to learn – young children learn a huge amount about volume and textures by simple activities such as sand and water play, whilst older children will enjoy becoming nature detectives and learning about minibeasts and their habitats.

4. Nurturing Creativity and Imagination Taking kids beyond the classroom is like unclipping their wings. When outdoors, children often develop in confidence allowing them to become more creative results no matter what subject is being taught. Whilst learning about castles in History, a visit to real life castle ruins will set off a child’s imagination - pupils can enjoy role play and often ask a huge number of questions that they may not have done whilst sat behind a desk.

5. Improved Attendance By building outside learning and visits into the curriculum and create an inspiring learning environment, pupils will naturally become more motivated to come to school. At Bredon School we strive to create a learning environment which excites our pupils to ensure that they want to come to school each day happy and feel ready to learn.

6. Develop Interest in their Wider Surroundings Learning outside gives pupils a myriad of opportunities to engage and learn first-hand about the environment and their local surroundings. This is an important part of developing our pupils as responsible citizens and instilling a love of nature and the environment from a young age.

7. A Healthy Lifestyle Escaping the confines of a classroom offers the chance to get some fresh air and exercise. Even pupils who aren’t usually interested in Sport or P.E can usually be tempted by a fun learning game without the pressure of needing to ‘win’. Learning outdoors also inspires children to become physically active in their spare time.

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Down on the Farm Down on the school farm pupils have been getting stuck into routine estate maintenance work and helping fix fences following flood water damage through the winter – a vital job to ensure that our sheep and cattle are kept safe in their fields.

Year 10 pupils studying for their BTEC have been assisting throughout lambing season with tailing, castrating and numbering the ewes and lambs. This year 50% of our sheep lambed outdoors whilst the other 50% lambed indoors demonstrating to pupils the difference in the two lambing systems.

In other farm news, the easing of the nationwide Avian Influenza epidemic control measures has meant that our poultry have been able to return to their outdoor runs.

The latest calf has been born bringing us to a total of four bull calves and two heifer calves. Junior School pupils have joined forces with the Grounds Team to fit a new cover to the polytunnel with Mr Crwys-Williams and his gardening club already making full use of it.

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The Future of Pastoral Care at Bredon Bredon School is recognised for placing a strong emphasis on outstanding pastoral care for each individual pupil. Building upon strong, established foundations for a sector-leading pastoral approach, Bredon School is committed to ensuring its provision does not stand still but evolves.

From September 2021, pastoral care for all pupils at Bredon throughout the school day will be delivered through a revitalised house system. This will be achieved through the three houses; Jarrett, Sharp and Thomas. Each of these houses will be headed up by a Day Housemistress or Housemaster who we will refer to as a “Day HsM”. These are three new roles which will sit between the tutor and the Deputy Head Pastoral. Each Day HsM will have responsibility for roughly a third of the senior school, and will work closely with their tutor team who will report to them regarding the academic progress, health and wellbeing and any disciplinary or safeguarding issues of the pupils within their houses. From a parental point of view, the Day HsMs will be, in conjunction with the individual tutors, the main point of contact and will report home regularly and proactively.

We believe that the introduction of these new roles will ensure the following: • Increased pastoral care and safeguarding provision throughout the school day, with experienced specialists fulfilling these vital duties • A reinvigorated inter-house system where competitions are frequent, well-planned, inclusive and provide a focal point to foster house spirit and identity • That we future proof the above with the projected growth of the school roll We had an incredibly strong field of applicants to select from, which included current Deputy and Assistant Heads, sitting Housemasters and Heads of Department from HMC schools with a number of excellent candidates based overseas. We are delighted to announce that we have appointed three stand-out candidates whose profiles can be found on page 8.

Each of them impressed at interview with their drive to influence positive change, their warmth and a huge amount of pastoral and pedagogical experience to bring to Bredon which will ensure they are best equipped to make an immediate impact with our pupils and enrich the staff Common Room.

Continued...

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Suzy Phelps, MA, PGCE, QTS

Ben Phillips, BSc (Hons), QTS

Jon Richardson, BA (Hons), PGCE, QTS

Born in Wales, Suzy went to Cardiff University to study Environmental Geoscience before completing her PGCE at Swansea. Suzy began her teaching career at Blundell’s School in Devon before moving to Christ College, Brecon where she held various roles including Sports Coach, Assistant DSL, Biology Teacher and Houseparent. Suzy and Dominic were delighted to start a family and are parents to two lovely boys, Freddie (10) and Max (8).

Ben joins Bredon from Forest School in London where he has been for seven years. In this time, he has been a teacher of Physical Education and Games and most recently he has spent four years as a Housemaster.

Jon joins the Bredon School community from Sedbergh School where he is currently has Teacher & Lead Internal verifier of BTEC Sport & Exercise Science and Geography, Master in Charge of the Wilson Run/Athletics & Rugby, GTP Mentor and House Tutor.

Outside of work, Suzy spends time with her family, including two lovely boys, Freddie (10) and Max (8) at their holiday home by the beach in Pembrokeshire. Suzy’s other interests include DIY and up-cycling furniture, reading dystopian fiction and “tidying up what seems like an endless supply of Lego.”

Prior to teaching, Ben attended university in Cardiff and gained his teaching qualification from the University of East London. As an all-round sportsman, Ben played county level Cricket and represented Wales on the track over 800m, he also played club level Rugby and numerous other sports.

Ben’s educational philosophy is to ensure all pupils are in an environment which makes them happy and sets them up to be successful in whatever they choose to pursue.

A keen sportsman, Jon enjoys running and cycling and has completed a Bob Graham Round and fifteen Three Peaks races plus coast-to-coast cycles. Jon has also been very involved with team sports such as football and rugby, and has played these to a semiprofessional level as well as coaching others in various sports. Jon also has a passion for public speaking and has presented several times at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival. This has led to commentating opportunities for the British Fell Running Championships and other races.

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Bredon School pupil, Mitchell Brooker-Smith, has been selected to represent Great Britain in the European Championship for skeet shooting. The competition will be held in Croatia this summer, with only the very best clay shots in the country being selected to take part.

Mitchell will be competing in the Junior Men’s division and his being selected to represent Great Britain follows on from previous success in the field including becoming the Junior British Champion in 2019.

Mitchell was first introduced to shooting at Bredon School and commented “I remember that when I joined Bredon I was quite nervous to try anything new or step outside of my comfort zone. My teachers really encouraged me and when I tried clay pigeon shooting on the school shooting range I enjoyed it and felt I could be good at it.

I’ve been so lucky in all aspects by coming to Bredon; not only have I discovered a sport that I love, I have gained a huge amount of confidence in myself and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the help and advice from my tutor and teachers.”

After showing a huge amount of promise, Mitchell was talent scouted and now trains each week with the 1998 Commonwealth Games Champion in Skeet, Desmond Davies. “We have been working really hard to prepare for this opportunity”, explains Mitchell, “I am so grateful for my coach Des, who has really taken me under his wing. It would be amazing to one day compete in the Commonwealth Games myself and we can both have a photo holding our gold medals.”

Tipped as ‘one to watch’ within the shooting world as a future competitor at the Olympic Games, Mitchell comments;

“It is definitely a goal of mine to get to the Olympics. For now, I’m very focused on the upcoming competition. I can’t wait to represent my country in Croatia and I’ll certainly be giving this opportunity my all.”

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Representing Great Britain in the European Championships

Sports round up With fixtures and competitions planned for next half term, pupils have been busy practicing their skills across a wide range of sports including cricket, rounders, tennis and athletics.

Pupils have taken part in a number of tournaments including a Year 10 Cricket tournament – congratulations to Ms Yates tutor group who took the trophy!

Pupils in Year 8 have been tracking their individual performances. Currently Harry is in pole position for the triple jump, Freddie leads in the shot put and Lucy is the fastest over 100m.

Our Clay Pigeon shooters have continued to train hard with Ted claiming the High Gun Award this half term. Our Clay Pigeon Shooting teams are preparing for the Holland and Holland competition in June.

Pupils have been in the kayaks on the pool working on their safety drills and manoeuvrability ready for when they are on the river which can now be accessed from the new onsite launch.

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STEM Challenges: Teamwork As part of the STEM programme at Bredon, Year 8 took part in a bridge building workshop. Working in teams to construct famous bridges from around the world, each group assigned roles to members of the team which enabled them to work effectively to achieve the task in hand. The project is ongoing so we look forward to sharing further updates with you shortly.

Meanwhile a group of Year 7 and Year 8 pupils have been developing and learning strategies to survive a zombie apocalypse! Constructing zombie detection systems pupils learnt how to cook on a solar cooker and modify their shoes to be able to walk really quietly.

Programming Star in the Making Year 7 pupil, Tilly has impressed her computing teacher with her analytical skills and natural programming ability.

Completing the LightBot challenge, a programming app which uses procedural subroutines, Tilly demonstrated an advanced understanding to the concept. A technical whizz and programming star in the making.

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Boarding Round Up Stable House

Tyndale House

The Summer Term in Stable House has started with a hive of positivity and excitement for the term ahead.

Another outstanding half of term for the boys of Tyndale House. The boys haven’t just survived, they have thrived, especially since the opening up of activities.

We have a few new residents in Stable House in the form of fish; the girls are hugely enjoying feeding and taking care of them. We hope to soon welcome eight peacocks; the eggs are currently being incubated - we hope they will arrive before the end of the Summer Term.

It has been a lovely half term, with the girls thoroughly making the most of the outdoors and our 84 acre campus. They have jumped in our outdoor swimming pool in all weathers.

Basketball has been a huge hit with both boys and girls enjoying a 90-minute coaching session each week with the coaches from Worcester Wolves. The football coaches from Hartbury College and our Fitness Coach Nicki have also been a great addition to our comprehensive activity programme. Boarders are also making full use of the school Gym and there is a healthy air of competition around!

Friendships continue to grow and develop and all our boarders have been excellent at welcoming a number of guest boarders throughout the term – Tyndale House is most certainly a home from home.

Weekend activities are back up and running and we have had some excellent fun with Bubble Football, Nerf war and our very own cinema experience. Looking ahead boarders are excited for our upcoming programme of external activities and spending their pocket money.

HIGHLIGHTS

Focussing on a positive mental attitude, School Nurse, Carey, ran a creative session making positivity boxes covered in glitter and all things happy! During Mental Health week the girls created a video highlighting all the fantastic experiences that have taken place this academic year bringing a tear to some of the girls’ eyes as they could see how their friendships with one another had developed over the time.

We are very proud of all our boarders, boys and girls.

The resilience they have found to come through a trying year will remain with them in the years to come. We look forward to strengthening the boarding provision next year and we thank all parents for the ongoing support they have given us as a school.

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Join Worcester’s Big Parade Photo: Clemmie (Year 13) working on the Bredon School elephant

Have you ‘herd’? Bredon School is involved with Worcester’s Big Parade!

For eight weeks in the summer of 2021, Worcester will be brought to life by a perfect parade of beautifully decorated elephant sculptures. Elephants – both big and small – will form a stunning, free art trail through the city’s streets and open spaces. The sculptures will be on display in the city from Monday, 12th July to Sunday, 5th September 2021.

Our pupils have been working hard by designing and painting our very own school ‘ele-baby’ (Brendon the Bredon elephant) which will be on show as part of the parade, which is set to raise money for the charity St Richard’s Hospice.

Pupils Learn About Local History Photos: XXXX It was the 550th anniversary of the famous Battle of Tewkesbury on Tuesday 4th May, and pupils spent their History lessons learning all about this local historic event.

Pupils got into the spirit of things by trying on some armour in their lessons!

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Bredon School Pull Court, Bushley Tewkesbury Gloucestershire GL20 6AH T: 01684 293156 www.bredonschool.org Part of the Cavendish Education Group

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