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BEAUDESERT PARKmagazine SCHOOL AUTUMN 2013 Autumn 2013 BEAUDESERT PARK MAGAZINE magazine AUTUMN 2013 No. 10 Contents School Notes: Headmaster’s Speech 2 Farewells 6 Prizes 7 Appointments, Scholarships and Valete 9 Boarding 10 Beaudesert and the community 11 Academic 12 The Arts 16 Outings and Events 24 Lectures 36 Activities 38 Prep Form Lists 43 Pre-prep Department 44 Pre-prep Form Lists 55 Anthology 56 Sport 64 Friends of Beaudesert 94 Staff List 96 1 BEAUDESERT PARK MAGAZINE Autumn 2013 School Notes Headmaster’s Speech at Prizegiving children will face in the search for jobs. So when asked by parents, “Is this senior school academic enough for my child?” my reply will always be, ‘Beaudesert only suggests schools whose ambitions match our own.’ I will leave it for them to sort out university places and what degrees they might go for in the hope that it will be something worthwhile. However, I do wonder sometimes about what some students get up to at university, particularly when talking about education. I read one in-depth university study that concluded, ‘Children need to be praised for effort not achievement.’ To have spent time coming up with a statement of the obvious is a concern. Academic success remains a vital element of Beaudesert life and I am greatly elcome to Prizegiving today. awarded an academic exhibition to indebted to our wonderful staff who I am very pleased to be joined St Mary’s Calne and many other awards ensure success remains possible for every Won stage by Angus McPhail, will be proudly listed on the honours child at Beaudesert. I am very clear about the Warden of Radley College. Fiona and board. I would also like to mention Alex the huge input staff have in preparing your I have known Angus and Liz for many Comaish, whose Eton scholarship attempt children for exams. Year 8 exams are one years and we have watched our careers was placed in the ‘very good’ category. of the things Beaudesert does very well. progress as we have grown up in the That is why I have written to you about educational world. Angus is now a senior It is worth reminding everyone what I feel our approach to exams and our views on officer. Not only is he Head of one of is one of our core aims at Beaudesert. tutoring (far better to think of coaching). our great public schools, he is also an We remain determined to place our leavers Rather than go through our reasoning impressive golfer. Despite playing in single in schools where they will have the chance here, I just wanted to remind you that figures, he is now a long way down the to thrive both academically and socially. you as parents need to ask yourselves why family pecking order of handicaps! Individual recommendations and choices you might want extra coaching for your We will all be playing together in the of schools may depend on a number of children, what is the aim? I can give you holidays and I am going to struggle to issues, but we would always aspire to aim many horror stories in London about the be part of a winning combination! high, just as we would expect the senior effects of coaching and exam pressure. schools to have high aspirations as well. One seven year old boy, following a year First of all, I would like to congratulate All the schools where we send Beaudesert of coaching, had a panic attack in the real all our Year 8s. Mission accomplished children will want their pupils to gain exam, which floored him for weeks and the for another year as they head off to their places at the best universities possible, poor boy still has a phobia about taking schools of choice. Many of them scored whether they do A Levels, International any exams three years on. This is why I say very highly in the exams and it is good Baccalaureate or Pre-Us. They need to again – parents need a partnership with the to see some of our scholarship candidates get their results at proper universities. school. We do know what we are doing. being rewarded. James Strain at Radley, For the vast majority of our children, Arabella Sopher and Mollie D’Arcy Rice a good degree is the starting point for I am delighted that numbers at Beaudesert at Cheltenham Ladies’ were all awarded a successful career. We may not agree remain strong. Not all prep schools academic scholarships. Amber Dunne was with this, but it is the grim reality your can claim to keep their rolls high. 2 Autumn 2013 BEAUDESERT PARK MAGAZINE Clearly, being in the right area counts drama studio, dance space and new music production, ‘The Boy King’ based on the and good schools in London and the school. It will greatly enhance the lives life of Tutankhamun was truly exceptional. southeast all appear to be doing well. of all Beaudesert children. More children than ever are entering It is not so easy ‘in the sticks’, which LAMDA exams. Drama is very much alive makes it especially important for us There are many success stories to at Beaudesert. to know where we stand within the remark upon this year. For me, one of independent sector. Perhaps I can put the highlights was the Consort Choir The Art display is now an excellent it this way. I am glad I am not running performing at the Cheltenham Festival. permanent fixture in our calendar. a girls’ boarding school in the north of Beaudesert singing has really taken off Culture lives on at Beaudesert! England. The stats for boarding are not under the directorship of Karen Taylor A number of our teams vie for a plug at good, particularly at prep school level. and Duncan Parry. At our Rock on Prize Day for having unbeaten seasons: There are now less than 400 eight year Summer concert, four different choirs took Colts B cricket old boys boarding in the whole country, to the stage. Boys are now happy to be U11 Girls’ Hockey – National Finals with a large proportion of these coming seen belting out songs ranging from Fauré U10A Girls’ Hockey and Rounders from overseas. Looking to the future, girls’ to the Beatles and we now have that most U10 Soccer team schools will continue to lose out to the wonderful combination of excellence and U10B Netball coeds. Schools will grow and there will be inclusivity. In the same way that a 1st team U9 Girls’ Rounders fewer of them. It is vital, therefore, that can be selected, so can a choir, as long as Beaudesert keeps its pre-eminent position there is another team or choir for everyone Individuals who have starred include as being the independent prep school in to join in. The Consort Choir won the Lara Kuropatwa who competed for Great Gloucestershire that feeds well-known 13 years and under Clark Challenge Cup Britain in an international dressage event senior schools further afield. at the Cheltenham Festival, but for me in Belgium. A number of our children the joy of seeing so many of our children represent Gloucestershire for cricket and To help us towards our goal, I am enjoying singing is just as important. hockey and we are well respected in the delighted to officially announce that the Junior Modern Pentathlon world. Performing Arts Centre now has planning Drama maintains its high profile. permission and tender documents are This year we had many treats. One of the many debates going on in the being prepared. With luck, the builders The Year 8 ‘Jungle Book’, Year 7 ‘Bugsy educational world is how children are will move in at the end of the year with a Malone’ and Year 6 inspired production tested and how we report the results of view to completing ready for a Christmas were all memorable. The Year 5 learnt those tests. I have already mentioned the party in 2014, or at least for the start of much from ‘A Play in a Morning’, whilst need Beaudesert has to ensure children do the spring term 2015. Some of you have the individual Year 4 performances well at Common Entrance and the senior seen the plans that will give us a new hall, were very special. The excellent Year 3 schools need to get their pupils into the best universities. The exam system is some form of quantifiable proof of achievement, even if when it comes to the real world most of our children, when starting careers, will not use any of the knowledge built up at school and probably university as well. They will use the skills they have acquired, the so-called ‘soft skills’ of communication and discernment. They will be able to draw on the strength they have shown to work hard towards A levels and a degree. The educational process should prepare them for a life of work. However, what they actually learnt may for the most part be irrelevant, even if how they learnt it is important. I say this because I am deeply aware that all exams do is qualify you for the next round of education and your first job is really the starting line to build a worthwhile career. Therefore, 3 BEAUDESERT PARK MAGAZINE Autumn 2013 we must not lose sight of the need to multi-talented girl who has turned her deal with thousands of emails and letters build on the crucial skills children need hand to Drama and Charities as well from parents and to and from future to live productive, positive, dignified, as leading both the English and RS schools.

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