SPRING TERM | ISSUE 2
PART OF THE MALVERN COLLEGE FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
In this Issue
Dear All,
About The Downs Malvern
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Art from Mr Mellor
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An interview with our new Gap Students
THE DOWNS MALVERN THE JOURNEY BEGINS
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Welcome to the second edition of The
Mr Nuttall has been able to visit the school
Downs Malvern Newsletter and I’m sure
and meet with children, staff and parents
that you will enjoy reading about some of
and is, as we all knew he would be,
the many wonderful events and activities
tremendously excited about becoming the
that our children have enjoyed over the
next Headmaster of our wonderful school.
past few weeks.
Over the coming weeks, he and his family
This seems to have been the warmest
Celebrating Chinese New Year
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House Chess Championship
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Learning to swim:
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Reading in our School Library
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Skills to Thrive
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Sphero Robotics
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Sports
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Lent Term yet so no “snow news” I’m
will visit their new home and there will be more opportunities to meet them.
afraid to say but it does mean we’ve
As the days lengthen and become warmer
been able to get a full activities, sports
and the daffodils spring up, the children are
and trips programme completed. The
out and about more often doing what TDM
rehearsals for the major production are
children do so well, enjoying their whole
in full swing and the Choir impressed a
school experience and being successful!
full house in Malvern Priory last weekend.
I’m sure that you will all be impressed by
On the games fields we’ve celebrated
this publication and, very soon, be able
many successes as well as reflecting
enjoy the opportunities to visit and witness
on ways in which performances can
these amazing events firsthand.
be improved. Our U13 girls are now the County Hockey champions and also our U13A Netball Team are
The Junior Duke
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District Champions.
Dates for the diary
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Our list of scholarship and exhibition successes continues to grow and we look forward to news of great results after Half Term.
Happy reading! Very best wishes,
Alastair S Cook Headmaster
THE DOWNS
Interesting Facts
Manchester Airport
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The Downs Malvern is located on a 55-acres site on the western edge of the Malvern Hills.
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Designated area of outstanding natural beauty. The M5 motorway is easily accessible within 20 minutes.
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Colwall railway station has direct routes to London Paddington and Birmingham New Street.
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A choice of three local airports: Birmingham International, Bristol and East Midlands.
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There are 7 morning bus routes and 4 evening bus routes. Our buses travel to those more remote catchment areas, passing and collecting from local pick-up destinations around the surrounding counties.
»
East Midlands Airport
Birmingham New Street Station
Birmingham Airport
The Downs Malvern
If you’d like to see the routes please visit the link below.
Luton Airport
www.thedownsmalvern.org.uk/parent-zone/ day-pupil-transport.html London
Values » Respect
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Bristol Airport
» Courtesy
» Kindness
THE DOWNS Art from Mr Mellor Here is a snapshot of some of the wonderful work that has been going on in the Art Studio. Chalk pastel art by pupils in Year 3 inspired by their class reading book – The Snow Dragon. Pictures by Ida, Anna-Jean, Jeremy. Year 4 have been studying famous paintings depicting ships and the sea during their art lessons. Hugo persuaded his parents to take him to the National Gallery in London to view JMW Turner’s ‘The Fighting Temeraire’. Pictures by Isaac, Isabella, Amaya, Leonora. Hugo was inspired by Henri Rousseau’s ‘Tiger in a Storm’ when he visited the National Gallery in London recently. He has been working on his own version during art hobby on Saturdays.
Year 6 created continuous line drawings of musicians using charcoal and chalks after exploring art inspired by music, musicians and musical instruments. Examples of ‘colour music’ paintings by Wassily Kandinsky were shown and Paul Klee’s theories of drawing, i.e. ‘Taking a line for a walk’ was discussed. Pupils in the scenery and prop painting hobby have been busy supporting the school production - ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’. Watch out for their creations in the Rogers Theatre at the end of term.
Year 5 have been exploring fossils in Art lessons. They have created some beautiful ammonite prints. They are looking forward to doing some plaster casts of fossils after half term! Pictures of Oscar, Maita, Sophie.
Chalk pastel art by pupils in Year 3
Ralph P (Year 6) Forest scene inspired by Georges Seurat and pointillism.
Year 5’s fossil art
‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ props
Year 4’s artwork
Year 6’s continuous line drawings
Hugo’s version of ‘Tiger in a Storm’
Steam train painting by Oscar (Year 8) who is also a member of the Railway Hobby.
Young artists at work in junior art hobby – Poppy, Effie, Tempie
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THE DOWNS An interview with Kate and Bill our new Gap Students Where are you hoping to travel to in the year? BD: I’m travelling to Ireland in half term, and then I’d love to travel to Croatia, France, Italy, Spain and Amsterdam. Really, I would just like to see as much as I can of Europe and follow the sun. My family is coming to England and France in the summer holidays so it’ll be lovely to be able to spend time with them while they’re here! KS: I am hoping to travel to as many places as I can whilst over here in the UK, as everywhere is much more accessible than back in Australia!
Are there any sports or particular hobbies you enjoy? Have you got any interests that you’d like to teach and share with the children?
In January, we welcomed our newest Gap Students, Kate and Bill. It takes a lot of courage to travel across the world, especially just out of school and with Covid-19 still lingering. Here, they share a bit about themselves and what they are enjoying most about life at The Downs Malvern.
Where are you from in Oz? BD: We’re both from Melbourne! I live about a ten-minute walk from the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) and not terribly far from Kate!
What made you decide to take a Gap year, and, what made you choose to be a Gappie in a school/come to the UK, especially during Covid? BD: I had always liked the idea of doing a gap year and, especially over the past couple of years not being able to go away, the idea kept sounding better! I also wasn’t keen on going to university if it was online! Working as a Gappie at a school seemed really fun and the Gappies at my old school all loved it, so I was convinced! I have lived in the UK before, and, as it’s central to Europe it’s easy to travel, which is also another reason for wanting to pursue a gap year. KS: I decided I wanted to take a gap year because I wanted to experience something new before going to university, as, like so many other people, my last two years of high school were spent locked inside! I chose to be a Gappie as I really wanted to grow as a person, and I love working with kids.
What have the first few weeks been like? BD: It has been really exciting to be in a new environment; I’m always busy which I love! Everyone at the school has been so welcoming and lovely towards Kate and I, which has made it even better! Still trying to learn some names though…! KS: The first few weeks have been amazing as I have learnt so many new things and met so many new people. I now know how to play badminton, hockey, netball, which are not extremely popular sports from where I am from. I have also learnt a bit of guitar, which I have always wanted to do. The weather has been super cold, however, I think I am finally adapting! The Downs Malvern is a beautiful school and has an extremely welcoming environment. It has been great!
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BD: I love rugby and cricket, which I’m excited to be involved in when the time comes! I also love the outdoors and camping, which I’d be able to share activities and other fun games I’ve learnt over the years on school camps. I love films and am always happy to chat about any movies the children have seen recently! KS: My favourite thing to do is to partake in sports of any kind… it would be impossible to decide on one sport that is my favourite. Back home in Melbourne, I took gymnastics as well as coached it, I would love to be able to teach the children some things. I also would love to teach the children some Aussie Rules Footy at some point. Other hobbies I like to do are baking, cooking and painting so hopefully I get the chance to do these with the pupils.
What are you enjoying most about TDM life? BD: I enjoy playing with the boarders outside and I can also be found challenging some of the pupils to games of pool… my favourite. I love helping with the Pre-Prep children on Mondays; it is intense. Non-stop. However, I love how sweet and energetic all of the pupils are. Mondays are easily the best day of my week! KS: I can’t choose what I am enjoying the most, as I am enjoying everything! However, I am loving the Sport and PE lessons as I get to help with swimming and learn new sports. I love going to matches and getting to see other schools too. I also enjoy general boarding duty, as I love getting to know the boarders and doing games and activities with them! I am also enjoying the scenery and exploring the local towns, and the food at The Downs Malvern is delicious.
What’s been the most surprising thing about moving to the UK? BD and KS: THE COLD Kate and Bill, it has been wonderful welcoming you both to the TDM family and you are already firm favourites with the children. Well done!
THE DOWNS Celebrating Chinese New Year Chinese New Year was celebrated in a variety of engaging, “roarsome” ways, to mark the Year of the Tiger! In Pre-Prep, the Early Years marked the occasion by writing their names in Chinese characters in black paint on red paper and designing willow pattern story plates. They also made black and white rice tigers, took part in a Chinese dragon dance complete with a junk-model dragon head - which the children used their creativity and collaboration skills to make - and enjoyed a Chinese feast in the small world, complete with chopsticks for their funky fingers. In the Boarding House, the pupils were treated to a presentation and quiz about China, led by Jaden, with Sean, Jack, Eric, Sam and Elsa each heading up their own team. The children were inspired by the Australia Day Quiz, presented by Kate and Bill, and were excited to share why Chinese New Year is so significant. After the quiz, the boarders enjoyed trying a wide selection of Chinese food including traditional New Year sweets, biscuits, crackers and jelly drinks.
A huge thank you to Mrs Ainge, who very kindly joined Year 3 to share her knowledge of China. The children enjoyed her superb presentation, fortune cookies, red paper lanterns and of course, dressing up in traditional Chinese clothes. The children also learnt some simple greetings in Mandarin, courtesy of Mrs Ainge and, as a surprise, a former TDM pupil: Mrs Ainge had been in contact with Iona, who is now living in China. She sent a video of herself wishing the children Happy New Year in Mandarin and the children were so excited to see a former Pre-Prep pupil and friend! It was lovely to see that The Downs Malvern friendships can span the globe! The whole school also enjoyed a Chinese Banquet cooked using fresh ingredients by our in-house catering team. A firm favourite was the five spice, chocolate cake, full of decadent chocolate and flavour, which everyone loved! Chinese folklore says that those born in the Year of the Tiger are courageous, energetic, inspire respect and seek out challenges; all qualities we at The Downs Malvern are proud to foster and develop.
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THE DOWNS House Chess Championship The Houses tackled this tournament with tenacity and determination. Their energy and enthusiasm was evident in the speed in which they completed their matches, and they very quickly reached the final rounds. This was bravely fought between the Juniors, Rory and Otto from Cadbury and Sanger, respectively. Cadbury were the worthy winners. For years 5 and 6, Raffie and Thomas, both in Lewis, played a masterful game, and Thomas won. The sportsmanship between them was brilliant. The Seniors had an exciting final, but Harry was the worthy winner for Morgan. He played against Ronan from Cadbury. Thank you to everyone who entered and made this such an exciting competition. We now just need to wait for the winners to play against each other, for the points to be added up, and for the individual champion and overall champions of the House Plate to be decided… watch this space!!
Learning to swim:
Reading in our School Library
A skill that could literally save your life On Thursday afternoons, Pre-Prep get to practise their swimming at Malvern College’s fantastic, 25m indoor swimming pool. Each week, the children are greeted by Miss Clarke and Mr Griffiths who focus on the children’s confidence, technique and speed. These sessions aim to give children lots of different opportunities and experiences to enjoy swimming and work on their individual needs. In Pre-Prep, children learn to become confident in the water through games, work on their basic skills and, above all, having fun. The children love our swimming games when we throw woggles and sinkers to encourage underwater swimming. However, don’t take our word for it, here are some thoughts from the children...
“My favourite stroke is breaststroke because I’m quite good at it. I like swimming the long lengths at Malvern College.” - Martha
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Here at The Downs Malvern, we have a thriving hub of a library. A lively team of Junior Librarians, headed by two Senior Librarians, assist their fellow pupils by keeping the books in perfect order, signing books in and out, and many other routine tasks which help to keep the library up to date and fully supportive of the wider curriculum. Many children have contributed posters illustrating their favourite books and connecting them to our ‘Skills to Thrive’, which are on display. Some of the Senior Librarians have volunteered to write reviews of new books as they come into the library so that they can give personal recommendations. We have our very own Reading Tree which encourages children to read widely from various genres at an appropriate level. Children are rewarded with a coloured badge when they achieve the requisite amount of reading. We hold ‘reading parties’, when students can bring their book and read silently during their own time – a welcome break from the hurry and flurry of the daily razzamataz!
“We do pencil jumps in the deep end. You have to keep really straight. I like those.” - Esmé
The school very much looks forward to promoting events to encourage reading, last week Mrs Sherringham our Librarian helped create a short video to celebrate National Storytelling week. Children in Year 1 and staff throughout the school discussed their favourite children’s book. Click here to see the video.
“I love jumping in and swimming in the deep end.” - Max
On Thursday 3rd March, we are all very much looking forward to World Book Day and we hope to have many colourful photographs of children’s favourite book characters to display.
THE DOWNS Skills to Thrive Resilience & Motivation
Sphero Robotics : Inspiring STEAM education
In September, we introduced our Skills to Thrive - Creativity, Curiosity, Collaboration, Communication, Resilience, Reflection and Motivation - in order to better explore and develop the children’s skillset.
From the start of this school year, our children have delighted in using the new Sphero robots. There are fantastic opportunities to develop their knowledge of coding, mathematics, engineering, design and much, much more. In the Prep school, there are currently three (yes, three!) Sphero coding clubs running throughout the week. Activities have included programming the robots to simulate the spread of a virus, turning the Sphero into light-up spinning tops, navigating the robots through mazes, and even coding the Sphero to simulate a game of Sphero cricket!
At the start of term, Years 7 and 8 showed excellent examples of resilience and motivation, when they sat their exams. For many, this would have been their first time sitting exams in a formal setting. The children worked hard to prepare for their exams independently, beginning to learn revision skills which they will need later in their academic careers. To celebrate their hard work, the children enjoyed an evening of home-made pizzas, ice cream bar and a round of bingo organised by Mrs Sigley and supported by the Year 7 and 8 tutors. Congratulations also go to the children in Year 6 for taking their 11+ Scholarships. Super efforts of resilience and motivation shown all round!
The robots have also made their way into Pre-Prep, where the children have had an introduction to coding by using the drawing programme “Canvas”, which is designed to teach primary principals of programming like sequencing and basic logic. The children drew shapes that represent code then executed that code using the Sphero robot. The Sphero robots have even rolled into our weekly parent-toddler group, Hoot! Children (and, quite a few parents!) were able to explore colour mixing by guiding the Sphero through different coloured paints.
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THE DOWNS Sports Boys’ Sport – Lent Term 2022 It has been a very busy six weeks of term where the 2022 football season has really kicked off. All our teams have been playing fixtures every week, and I am pleased to report that every boy has represented the school. To date, there has only been one hat trick, scored by Oliver Yr 8 against The Elms. Our senior teams have had a tough run of fixtures, but they have begun to play some good, exciting and more aggressive football, resulting in some promising performances against RGS Worcester and Abberley Hall. The Colts A team have beaten Winterfold House 3-1 and Moor Park 6-2, and narrowly lost a thriller with Hereford Cathedral School 2-4. After half term, one of the highlights of our football season is when our Under 9 team hosts the local Primary Schools’ Festival, and this year, we have, at the last count, thirteen different schools playing at the school. It promises to be an exciting afternoon, and it is always great to see so many young boys and girls, enjoying their football. As half term draws near, and attention begins to turn towards our hockey season, the Under 13 boys and girls are heading off to Scotland on a six-day hockey tour. The itinerary looks fantastic fun, the hockey sticks are all packed away and ready for departure. Please do keep an eye on our social media feeds to see how the children are getting on!
Girls’ Sports – Lent Term 2022 The girls have had a great start to the netball season, competing both at home and away against a number of schools, Abberley Hall, Moor Park, Malvern College, Winterfold House School, Kings Hawford, Hereford Cathedral Schools, Haberdashers’ Monmouth School, The Elms, RGS Dodderhill and King’s School Gloucester. All the girls have had the opportunity to play in matches with great performances all round. The Netball Captains were selected for the senior teams: 1sts : Isabella
2nds : Georgia
3rds : Rouyi
Our Under 12s thoroughly enjoyed attending Malvern College’s Netball Masterclass run by England Netball player, Laura Malcolm. Also, a big thank you to Head of Netball, Rebecca Gwilliam, who has been helping coach different year groups every Monday. Overall, the girls have scored a huge number of goals in matches totalling: U13s: 157
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U11s: 133
U9s: 52
TOTAL: 342!!!!
This term is also a big Cross-Country term, with the upcoming National Prep Schools’ event over at Malvern College always being a highlight. Our runners have already enjoyed some success running at the District and Worcestershire Schools events, resulting in Jess, Hermione and Isabelle being invited to run for the West Worcestershire Schools team.
THE DOWNS U13 Girls’ Hockey Are Now County Champions!
The Junior Duke The Downs Malvern proudly launched an exciting, new award in September 2021: The Junior Duke. The Junior Duke award has been introduced to the school in Years 1 – 6 and, so far, we have about sixty, enthusiastic pupils working diligently towards their first award. The Junior Duke encourages independence, practical life skills and self-motivation, skills which certainly compliment the many important skills promoted throughout the school, through our Skills toThrive ethos, which is firmly embedded within our teaching, all the way up to Year 8.
On Tuesday 1st February U13s played a County Hockey Tournament. The competition began with TDM playing against Hereford Cathedral School. It was a slow start, we went two goals down in the first half. However, the girls demonstrated astonishing determination and resilience and the team brought it back to 2-2. With just minutes to go, Hereford Catherdral School’s keeper pulled off a world class save to prevent a winning goal from Isabella. Goal scorers were Poppy and Camilla. In the second match, TDM played against The Elms. The girls dominated the game from start to finish and won with an outstanding result! Goal scorers were Izzy (3), Hermione, Amaya and Georgia. As County winners, we will now progress to Millfield School for the West of England County tournament! Our U13A netball team had considerable success in their County Tournament playing extremely well in all three matches against Hanley Castle High School, The Chase and Malvern St James. The coaches were able to try different formations throughout the tournament with the girls still being able to execute strong netball skills.
There are six levels to the Junior Duke Award: Silver Mini Duke, Gold Mini Duke, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Junior Duke. To complete a level, the children need to complete seven challenges successfully. These include important life skills such as First Aid, ICT, Languages, Art, Drama, Music, Sport, Cookery and even Puncture Repair! Many of our particularly curious and hardworking children are already achieving these essential skills outside and within school, but most of the challenges require some additional time and effort at home. By involving our wonderful families in this way, we can encourage continued parent engagement and participation in our pupils’ ongoing physical, mental, social, and emotional education. It is of course well-documented that educators who focus on and foster parent engagement, repeatedly report a profound positive change in children’s learning in the classroom. Overall, the more involved parents become in their children’s education, the more motivated and engaged a child becomes. This award really compliments our excellent teacher parent relationships, which make The Downs Malvern community such a strong family. Henry in Year 5 has now completed the required 7 out of the 10 challenges for the Gold Junior Duke. He has made a magnificent effort and is our first pupil to complete this level and receive a gold badge for his blazer!
This means The Downs Malvern U13 girls are now district champions and will go onto represent our district in the county round next term. The team nominated Lauren as their player of the tournament and Mrs Hooper-West awarded Orla, Coaches Player. Well done, girls!!
The Abberley Hall Cross Country Relays On Sunday 6th February, a team of Under 11 and Under 13 cross country runners attended the annual Abberley Hall Relays. The course is quite brutal at the best of times, so the blustery weather and heavy ground made it even harder for our runners. However, all the children were amazing and showed a great deal of determination and resilience. They should all be extremely proud of what they achieved. It was also pleasing to see the collaboration and teamwork of the children as they encouraged all of the runners on their respective legs of the relay; when the going gets tough, our children really are wonderfully supportive of one another. It was, as always, great to see so many of our parents cheering on our runners around the course. The Under 11 boys’ and Under 13 girls’ teams finished third overall, and Jess was the fastest girl in the whole field, finishing first overall. A tremendous set of results, and a huge well done to all our runners!
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THE DOWNS The Junior Duke continued...
Isabella completing challenges for her Junior Duke
Congratulations also go to Esmé in Year 2, for being the first child in Pre-Prep to achieve her Gold Mini Duke! Esmé said, “I liked making my rocket for the Creative challenge best. I enjoyed completing the different activities that there are to do. For the Caring for Others challenge, I made mummy a cup of tea! I would say to other pupils that it was so much fun and they should definitely do it! I’m looking forward to the Junior Duke when I am in Year 3.” Well done, Esmé!
Our parents too, have provided some very positive feedback:
Bertie’s Modern languages Challenge Postcard
“I think it is interesting how the tasks are clearly aimed at the relevant age bracket and tasks are set out with detail which did help my children discuss how to approach them. The tasks are very much activities to do with family members and friends, which lend themselves to the weekend. Creating a great sense of satisfaction and a lovely written record which the children are truly proud of! I feel the life skills aspect, taking responsibility for themselves and others and the space they live in, all very positive notions to be encouraged. To be honest, for me personally it is nice to have an excuse to spend time with them doing something practical.”
Parents have also commented that the award has “created intrigue and curiosity” in their children and an education is “not simply about academic subjects, to learn about life and it’s day to day challenges is hugely valuable.” It is fabulous to read that our parents are enjoying and valuing the award as much as our staff and pupils, “the skills our daughter is learning now with the Junior Duke are important skills for life, this is integral to her happiness and success as she gets older”.
Howard
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Ms McDonnell, Mrs Sigley and Mrs Tsiquaye are managing the award and have been astonished by the children’s enthusiasm, energy, and perseverance. There is a wonderful “buzz and excitement around the award”, which is generating a new focus at school and an additional vehicle for celebration, which is accessible to all our unique, curious, and brilliant individuals here at The Downs Malvern.
THE DOWNS Dates for the diary
The Great Egg Launch
26th February
World Book Day
3rd March
Malvern College Open Day
5th May
National Prep Schools’ Cross Country at Malvern College
Sunday 6th March
Year 5 – 8 Informal Concert
7th March 6.00 pm
Year 3 & 4 Informal Concert
9th March 5.00 pm
Year 7 Geography trip to Carding Mill Valley
10th March
Leave Out Weekend
11th March – 13th March
Earth Awareness Week
14th March
Red Nose Day
18th March
Worcester Competitive Arts Festival
19th March
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat
22nd /23rd March
End of Term
25th March
Ski Trip Departs
25th March
Whole School Open Day
2nd May
If you’d like to see a full list of events and fixtures please click here. For more information email information@thedownsmalvern.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.
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THE DOWNS
PART OF THE MALVERN COLLEGE FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
FIND US HERE The Downs Malvern, Worcestershire, WR13 6EY
GET IN TOUCH Call us on +44 (0)1684 544100 Email us at information@thedownsmalvern.org.uk
@DownsMalvern /thedownsmalvern @thedownsmalvern
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