News & information

EDUCATION News & Views News and Information New Head of Drama inspires performances at St John’s Beaumont

A new Head of Drama has brought a touch of West End glamour to St John’s Beaumont School in Old Windsor. Scott Jenkins is a trained actor who is bringing with him a wealth of experience from appearing in TV series and blockbuster movies such as The Bill and Harry Potter.

His first production at the school was the much-loved Lion King Jr musical which took centre stage earlier this year. After much rehearsing, and roles for every single boy in the Middle School, the performance took place in front of a full house. The audience was dazzled by an incredible stage setting and colourful costumes, created by the school’s Art Department and the boys themselves.

After the great success of the show, Mr Jenkins is excited to announce two brand-new productions for the coming school year. The Middle School boys will be taken to Neverland for their Peter Pan Jr performance and the Upper School boys can look forward to some fun in the swamp with Shrek Jr.

www.SJBwindsor.uk

A Wild Christmas

25th Nov – 24th Dec

Step into our enchanting wonderland this winter. Journey on the Reindeer Railway, visit Santa in his grotto and feed the reindeer.

Pre book

bealepark.org.uk

The Stagecoach School Project: Maidenhead children get a community confidence boost!

Two performing arts practitioners, Fay Austin and Amelia Wall of Stagecoach Maidenhead love their jobs so much that they wished every child could experience a little speck of the Stagecoach magic! At the beginning of 2022, when the world started to recover from Covid, they noticed a dip in children’s confidence and sparkle. More local children flocked to their classes in an attempt to gain their sparkle back. The concoction of love, fun and exciting classes was what they needed.

Fay and Amelia decided that more children in Maidenhead needed this confidence boost and The Stagecoach School Project was born. Fay and Amelia are now working with schools in Maidenhead and surrounding areas creating free projects in line with the education framework. The ladies have used their own time to put this into action and the impact on children’s mental health has been great. Amazing work ladies!

www.stagecoach.co.uk/maidenhead

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Henley Royal Regatta 22 is an outstanding success for Claires Court!

Three boats qualified to race with the boys quad competing in the Fawley Challenge Cup, the boys eight in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup and the girls quad in the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup.

The highlight of the weekend went to the girls quad who won the Diamond Jubilee Cup on the final day. The girls quad was made up of Rebecca (17), Jemima (15), Hannah (18) and Nuala (17). Hanna and Nuala have just completed their Sixth Form studies and have been awarded rowing scholarships at Brown and Minnesota Universities respectively.

Coach Tom Jost, Claires Court commented, “It’s almost unbelievable to think that in only 12 months when we first entered a girls’ crew into the regatta, we would be coming away with the win! It’s a credit to the girls rowing program, run by Coach Jack Jesseman, which is going from strength to strength”.

www.clairescourt.com Visit the Roald Dahl Story Day hub at www.roalddahl.com/roalddahl-story-day for resources to decorate your home or classroom.

Celebrate Roald Dahl Story Day

Every year, the life and works of one of the best children’s authors of all time is celebrated on his birthday, 13 September.

During his lifetime, Roald Dahl wrote twenty children’s books and published forty eight books altogether. He created over five hundred new words and character names and his books have sold more than two hundred and fifty million copies worldwide.

Join fans from all over the world to celebrate favourite Roald Dahl characters, stories and moments. Get dressed up as your favourite Roald Dahl character at a Dahlicious Dress Up Day event being held at school, by community groups and libraries,or host your own by downloading the Roald Dahl Story Day Party.

News & Views News and Information Clare Gosling reflects on 15 years of Stagecoach Excellence

It’s been an amazing month of outstanding performances from Stagecoach High Wycombe, Henley and Marlow! I wanted to celebrate being the principal for 15 years as well as the talent of our young performers, so ClareFest was born. After three patient years of waiting, over 350 students aged four to eighteen years have performed at multiple events across the Summer. After an ActorsFest celebrating drama, an Addams Fest tribute and many performances from one of their youngest groups, the Early Stages, all the schools came together for two weekends of a large-scale performance of MusicalTheatreFest. A total of thirty five teachers, assistants and chaperones helping backstage, over 576 costumes and over 400 hours of rehearsal helped make this spectacular spectacle possible! The show, the children and the costumes were fantastic. Week in, week out, everyone works so hard to create a safe, creative and playful space for our young people to learn new skills, overcome personal journeys, and reach for their dreams! They have given so many children and families incredible memories from these shows!

Stagecoach’s slogan is ‘Creative Courage for Life’. This was demonstrated by a surprise visit from the school’s alumni for a tearjerking performance of ‘Seasons of Love’. It was an exceptional display of skills and talent from students of Stagecoach High Wycombe, Henley and Marlow and a taste for students to see what can be in their future as an adult and professional. The dedication and perseverance the Stagecoach High Wycombe Henley and Marlow team have demonstrated over the years was summed up beautifully by outgoing Creative and Further Stages student: Way back when life was 2005 a baby appeared, ME! that’s right and now I was 6 when I started, a nervous kid with no confidence, but clean hearted Then I became a man like no other, I found a family and found a new brother, I found a new Furthers team, and I stuck with ‘em. I can sing, dance, rap, act, AND I GOT RHYTHM! Clare Gosling, the mother of the team There’s a lot that Clare does for us behind the scenes Happy 15 years, we love you the most But I’m glad I don’t have to wear those dang waistcoats It’s been 11 years and I can’t believe I’m leaving but It’s been a journey I’ve loved every second You know I’ll be back soon, yeah I better be And I’ll leave it to [my sibling] to continue my legacy I’m so glad I got good people around me So, its bye for now to my Stagecoach family Stagecoach High Wycombe, Henley and Marlow opened originally in 1997 and continues to soar with a superb reputation for performing arts training in the local area. We are open for new students in the Autumn term and there are 2 discovery days events in September for students aged two to eighteen years. We also have two brand new classes mid week on a Thursday at the Henley College.

You can sign up for a 2 week trial now to join via www.stagecoach.co.uk/henleyandmarlow or www.stagecoach.co.uk/highwycombe

Are Retained Reflexes holding your child back? Could Neuro Developmental Therapy help?

By Jo Rodhouse

An increasing number of children are currently being labelled with ASD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, auditory, visual & sensory processing disorders etc. Many struggle meanwhile with non-specific difficulties such as classroom learning, concentration, movement control, social interactions, anxieties and even emotional maturity. Many ‘labels’ have a medical reference, which many find helpful, however the terms merely describe a set of symptoms. As a Neuro Developmental Therapist, we see these myriad of symptoms as an indication of developmental delay and very often there is a simple explanation which is the presence of ‘Retained Reflexes’.

What are Retained Reflexes and why do they have such an impact?

In the womb and early stages of life, we are equipped with a number of reflexes to aid the birthing process and ensure the survival & safety of the new-born, such as grasping and sucking. As the new-born develops, the brain begins to mature and take control, so these early reflexes are no longer needed and switch off. This is an essential stage of normal development. If, however, these reflexes fail to inhibit they can have a huge impact on appropriate function and a child may display immature patterns of behaviour – lacking appropriate emotional, social & behavioural responses and co-ordination issues. It may explain why a seemingly intelligent child struggles to learn and thrive as others do.

What signs of retained reflexes would I have seen as a parent?

Evidence is often seen at the early key stages of development when the child has deviated from the norm such as difficult or delayed birthing, feeding or latching issues, failure to crawl, delayed teething or speech, easily startled, unusual sleep patterns, fussy eating, thumb suckers, toe-walkers, late in becoming ‘dry’ or bedwetting. As a consequence of delayed development we can see poor impulse control, sensory overload, emotional and social immaturity, anxiety and frustration, motion sickness, poor balance & coordination, easily distracted with poor concentration & focus, an inability to adapt to change. The classroom is often where we see the impact. The most common feedback we receive from parents is that children are simply failing to thrive or ‘I could always tell something wasn’t quite right’ – after all there is no better expert than a parent!

What is the process?

We offer non–intrusive, drug free Neural Stimulation Programmes which are performed at home, normally twice a day and should take no longer than 5 minutes. We then review progress and update the programme on a 6/8 weekly basis.