Huge well done to our Year 7 children, who participated in our Performing Arts Open Classroom event today. The children have been learning about masked theatre this term, and were challenged over the past two days to tell a story without using words or facial expressions. From kung fu fighting grannies to sunbathing snorkellers, the children made their audience snort with laughter just through their body language. Well done, Year 7.

After two years of cold and blustery weather on the fields of Beaufort Polo Club, the sun finally came out for our Beaudesert Park Polo Tournament yesterday. 30 children (both from Beaudesert and elsewhere) joined us for the afternoon, competing in junior and senior tournaments in mixed teams. Our junior teams showed excellent progress in the arena, while our senior teams thundered across the 300 yard pitches with confidence. It is wonderful to see our children excelling in ways we don't often get to see at school. Children and their parents then enjoyed a presentation of prizes and delicious barbecue in the late evening sunshine. We are already looking forward to next year!

On Wednesday, Year 2 headed off to the Bristol Zoo Project, where they learnt about African animals and conservation through an excellent talk by resident experts. They saw bears, wolves, giraffes, gorillas and had a fantastic experience feeding the lemurs in the walk-through enclosure. The teachers were so proud of the children’s behaviour, good manners and engagement throughout; they were truly showing their best Beaudesert behaviour.

Our Reception children delighted and impressed parents in their Learning Celebration Assembly this morning, in which they shared artwork, poetry and reflections on highlights from their Reception year, and sang a song about ‘moving forward’ that brought tears to our eyes!

Over at Forest School, this week we have been learning about habitats, ecosystems, life cycles and food chains. Children have been pond dipping and impressed their teachers with their good listening and ability to follow safety instructions. It was very exciting to use our identification charts and magnifying glasses to figure out what creatures we had found, which included newts and dragonfly nymphs.

Nursery have been learning all about cows as part of their inquiry-based topic on farms and where food comes from. The children have discovered that cows have four tummies, eat their food twice and drink a bathtub of water each day! The children had a go at making their own butter by shaking cream for a very long time, listening to the sloshing sounds and then opening their jars to see perfect balls of yellow butter, which were enjoyed in the form of hot-buttered toast!

In other news, we have been creating Henri Rousseau inspired artwork, learning about places around the world, forming words, reading with our teachers and lovely parent helpers, engaging in fractions in maths and enjoying time in the outdoor pool!

Anna Packman, Head of Pre-Prep

Our Year 8 academic scholars have been researching aspects of French culture, choosing areas of personal interest, and presenting this to rest of their class. Presentations ranged from Chanel, French rugby, Paris Fashion Week, gastronomy and the Paris Olympics 2024.

4M hosted a brilliant, mouth-watering Prep School assembly on Wednesday. What started off as a test on the children’s chocolate knowledge melted into the history of Cadbury’s and the children brought to life the incredible influence that Dame Elizabeth Cadbury had on workers’ rights with their stellar showmanship. It was an inspiring story to hear, which through the children’s storytelling of Victorian working and living conditions, made us all realise how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

We enjoyed a fabulous display from our Prep School guitar students this afternoon. The children performed a wonderfully diverse range of music, which lit up the faces of fellow performers and parents alike. It was lovely to see children from all across the Prep School coming together to produce such an enjoyable afternoon, a sign of good things to come for our upcoming summer concert!

We enjoyed a wonderful lunchtime concert on Thursday, with a vast range of talent and hard work on display from children all throughout the Prep School. The brilliant performances from all the children gave us the opportunity to listen to an excellent range of instruments and voices alike. It was a truly lovely afternoon!

On Thursday, Year 4 enjoyed spending the day with the Year 4 children from Widden Primary School in Gloucester. Their day was filled with lots of exciting activities including how to write numbers in Arabic, learning some words in Yoruba (a language spoken in West Africa) and getting henna tattoos. We look forward to welcoming Widden children to Beaudesert after Half Term, where we will organise a day of fun experiences for them, including DT and Science workshops.

This week has been a really lovely one in Boarding, with a number of our Year 8 children staying in throughout the week as they prepare for their move to senior school. Alongside all the usual fun of Boarding, they have been taking part in subject specific revision sessions during the evenings, which has created a really positive atmosphere around the house. It has been fantastic to see the children balancing preparation and work with plenty of time to relax and enjoy being together.

There has still been lots of opportunities for everyone to properly enjoy the Boarding House and grounds. On Monday, the Year 8s relived their youth in a huge game of hide and seek, which somehow managed to take most of the evening! Others decided on something a little calmer and spent time bracelet making with some of our younger boarders, which was lovely to see, whilst a few took themselves off to the Sports Hall to run around and play games despite the showers outside.

Tuesday brought dramatic thunder and lightning. Inside the Boarding House things remained just as lively, with games, chatting and plenty of laughter throughout the evening. Wednesday had a much calmer feel after late returns from cricket fixtures. I always enjoy these quieter evenings, as it is lovely to see the children simply relaxing together around the grounds and Boarding House after busy days at school.

Thursday rounded the week off brilliantly, with some of the Year 8s heading on to the Common for golf whilst the rest of the boarders made full use of the Banks in the evening sunshine. The outdoor swimming pool was also irresistible, and a beautiful way to end this half of term.

Oliver and Debbie Jones, Houseparents