Our House Cross Country event this afternoon was a great success, with children right from Nursery to Year 8 taking part. Across both the Pre-Prep and Prep, the children represented their Houses with pride, supporting each other and peers in other year groups, and putting in so much effort. We will be announcing the race results later in the term...

The Croquet Lawn was bustling with excitement yesterday, as our keen bakers in Years 3 & 4 hosted their charity cake sale to the great delight of the children. From Bosnian sweet treats to cake pops, and cupcakes to popcorn tiffin, there was something for everyone. Thank you to the children (and their families) who put in the effort to make these goodies, and helping to raise funds for our chosen charities. We are busy counting up pennies and will report back on the amount made next week!

It has been wonderful to welcome thirteen Spanish boys and girls from Runnymede College, Madrid, to Beaudesert this week. They arrived on Tuesday evening, staying with us until Friday morning. They thoroughly enjoyed life in an English prep school in the evenings, while taking part in the IAPS Golf Tournament during the days. As well as kindly bringing a dose of Spanish weather to the Cotswolds, they also injected wonderful energy into the Boarding House, happily playing with our boarders around the sun-soaked grounds, savouring yummy breakfasts and evening meals, and cheering loudly while watching Arsenal vs Atletico in the Champions League. Most were Real Madrid fans, so Arsenal were being heavily supported!

We hope this is the beginning of a very happy friendship for the years ahead.

The school cricket season is well under way. The good weather has blessed us throughout our matches, stretching from our Pinewood block fixture on Saturday to our boys' U11 fixture at Marlborough today.

On Monday, the girls’ 1st XI travelled to Clifton for the first round of the IAPS competition. Batting first, they scored an impressive 130 from their 20 overs, with Captain Tabitha C leading from the front with a superb half-century. Clifton finished on 112 for 4, securing a well-earned victory for Beaudesert. Special mentions go to Isla and Rose for some excellent catches, as well as wickets for Petra, Tabitha, Maggie and Martha. We wish the girls the best of luck in the next round against King's, Taunton.

On Wednesday, we enjoyed sunny fixtures against Hatherop, Wycliffe, The Elms and RGS, and our U10s travelled to St Edward's, Oxford, for their annual ‘Teddies Tens’ festival which went swimmingly.

We are pleased to have Mr Smith join us to develop our cricketers this term. Mr Smith is a high-level cricketer and coach, having represented England U19 and Gloucestershire 2^nd XI. He will be working with a number of our children throughout the term to instill his knowledge. Welcome, Mr Smith!

On Thursday, six of our golfers played at Minchinhampton Golf Club, competing in the IAPS golf event and playing over 18 holes in a Stableford format. The day was blessed with glorious sunshine, although a challenging wind added an extra layer of difficulty to an already demanding course.

Our U13 team delivered an outstanding performance, finishing in 1st place. Congratulations to Albie F, Xander and Archie T, who showed excellent skill and composure throughout the round to secure a well-deserved victory.

The U12 team also performed admirably, finishing in 5th place. Well done to Rory I, Henry F and Alby W, who competed with great determination and represented the School brilliantly.

It was also a pleasure to host Runnymede College from Madrid this week, who joined the event with a group of 13 golfers. Their presence added an exciting international dimension to the competition, and contributed to a fantastic atmosphere across the day.

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and successful event, with all of our players demonstrating excellent golfing prowess and potential. Well done to all involved.

With warmer weather this week, Year 4 took the opportunity to cool down in our outdoor pool after a warm Games session. Our Estates team have done a fantastic job getting this up and running for the Summer Term.

Tetbury Padel Barn is a brand-new indoor padel facility opening to the public in May. Our children were lucky enough to have a sneak preview of the courts this week as they began their new padel activity. They loved the courts and spaces!

It is all systems go over here in Pre-Prep, as children launch into their new inquiry units.

Year 2 have been tuning in to their animal related topic, posing questions for our Wonder Walls about what we would like to learn more about in the weeks ahead, as well as creating beautiful paintings of animals in watercolour.

Year 1 have been exploring different countries and flags from around the world. They have been honing in on Japan, writing about famous landmarks, creating pencil sketches of herons (a symbol of purity, grace and nobility in Japanese culture), and welcoming Sophie to visit and share photos, stories and experiences from her time living in Japan. We have also been learning to count to ten in Japanese, and have written our names using the Katakana chart alphabet.

In Reception, children have been exploring and creating patterns using a range of different objects and resources, including those from the natural world, and creating beautiful collages.

Nursery have started learning about farms and, particularly, where our food comes from. The children’s initial ideas included from trees, from animals, from fridges – and from Ocado!

Out at Forest School, the beautiful environment has been inspiring our play and giving rise to some impromptu poetry.

Anna Packman, Head of Pre-Prep

Thank you to all of the families that brought in books for our book swap event this week. The Drawing Room was filled with a plethora of colourful books to choose from, and our children had great fun leafing through and finding some new stories to take home. Of those books that are left, a few have been added to our Library by Mrs Shufflebotham, and the rest will be donated to a charity abroad.

4JB have created some wonderful watercolour portraits inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Beautiful!

In Science, Year 3 have been investigating light. They thoroughly enjoyed carrying out an experiment where they matched cards with holes, and then deliberately misaligned them to demonstrate that light travels in a straight line.

Each term, our Year 3s are working collaboratively to organise their equipment, showing excellent teamwork, strong scientific skills, and a clear understanding of the concept. These are all qualities that will help develop them into studious future scientists.

Our children continue to visit the residents of Horsfall House each week during activity time. The residents love speaking to the children about their hobbies and interests, and playing games with them when they visit.

Hola. Me llamo señor Jones y estoy contento.

Unfortunately, that is as far as my Spanish can go... However, we have been incredibly lucky to have 13 Spanish children from Runnymede College in Madrid stay with us in the House.

Whenever we welcome children from other schools it is always rather special. Your children truly show the best of themselves; polite, inquisitive and an awful lot of fun.

Before our guests arrived, Monday was tennis and fun on the Banks, followed by karaoke in the Boarding House. Tuesday had a similar feel; silly games in the sunshine, followed by welcoming our Spanish friends.

Wednesday was the big game. England vs Spain football on the astro (with a side helping of pickleball). 3-3 was the final score, although the Spanish team were convinced there was a 4–3 victory to them!

Thursday was more Rafa than Real, with most of the children picking up racquets and bats to play tennis and pickleball on the Costa del Beau.

A superb week. Have a lovely weekend and Bank Holiday!

Oli and Debbie Jones, Houseparents

Last Saturday, 14 members of the Equestrian Team went to Rectory Farm to take part in the Westonbirt NSEA Show Jumping competition. It was a lovely, sunny day and we got some good results.

In Arena 1, Joey started with a lovely round in the 70cm with an unlucky 4 faults. This is a new ride for Joey and he and Leo are going from strength to strength. On to the 80cm and the team of Joey, Marni, Rose, Meredith and Florence all went brilliantly for us to finish on a clear score and with the fastest time combination, putting us into first place. In the 90cm the team had a bit of bad luck, but Florence on New Jersey Star jumped a fantastic round to place 4^th individually and Meredith had an unlucky 4 faults.

Arena 2 was incredibly busy; there were over 60 competitors in the 40cm class and both our teams placed, which is incredible. Hanni, Ottilie, Gus and Beatrice came 3^rd and Hanni, Henrietta and Ben came 5^th, with Hanni also placing 3^rd individually. Amazing. The 50cm moved into the Main Arena which threw a few of the ponies, having never jumped in such a large arena environment. Unfortunately our teams didn’t place, but Ben, Ottilie and Hollie all went clear.

This is a great start to the Summer Term with lots to look forward to, including the annual Beaudesert Summer Horse Show at Rectory Farm on Tuesday 23^rd.

Jo Davies-Smith, Equestrian Co-ordinator

We are hosting a Wachy Special match for our alumni on Sunday 31st May from 10.00am to 1.00pm.

Former pupils, parents and staff are all invited to join us for a match like no other, and a chance to see friends and teachers from years gone by. If you know any Old Beaudesertians who would like to join us, please do send on the RSVP link.

RSVP for Alumni Wachy Special

Next Friday, we are hosting our last open morning of the academic year, with our Year 8 scholars and our excellent Year 7s taking over as our tour guides. If you know any families who might be interested in joining Beaudesert, please do pass on the message. As you will have seen this week, Beaudesert is truly looking its best in the sunshine.

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