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Match report: Girls’ U15 Hockey v Lord Wandsworth College, 18.09.2019

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By Caz Hulbert, PE Coach

The U15s  travelled to Lords Wandsworth College for their first match of the season.

In the first half, LWC managed to score the first goal, but Bedales then started to apply good pressure in LWC’s 25, only to miss two opportunities at goal. In the second half, Bedales began to retain possession of the ball. with some excellent passing from Lally Arengo-Jones and Anna to the forwards.

Eventually Bedales managed to get their first short corner, in which Kamayaya put the ball in the goal. The second goal came after 5 minutes, with a strong passing shot into the circle from Zoe Lobbenberg, where Lally pushed the ball past their goal keeper.
There was some excellent defensive work from Olivia Cooper, Ava Sender Logan and Ellen Wilson, who worked hard in keeping the opposition out of the circle.

Final score was 2-1 to Bedales – well done!

Match report: Girls’ U16 Hockey v Lord Wandsworth College, 18.09.2019

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U16 Girls' Hockey v LWC

By Chloe Nicklin, Head of Netball

For a team that had never played together before, I have never seen such a beautifully played game of hockey! All the coaching advice Kevin Boniface and Mariela Walton gave at training were actually put into action, making it look like this team had been playing together for years.

Two players from the U15 team, Lally Arengo-Jones and Anna, stepped up and fitted in with the team well, providing many opportunities for a goal as well as Anna scoring a terrific goal in the second half. Sage Bidwell and Rebekah Leach stepped up from the U14 team and played magnificently.

Rebekah kept calm and opened up the game from the back of the pitch and Sage was a noticeable force in attack scoring the first and last goal of the game. The regulars in the U16s played like professionals, with Esther Stewart as acting captain rallying the troops from the defence. Sasha Arney, Mabel Watson, Gala Pearson, Etty Bratley, Sammy Smith and Nell Freeborough added to the score scoring a goal each (Nell with 2).

A brilliant afternoon out with committed and talented players. Final score 9-0 with Sasha selected as Most Valuable Player.

Match report: Girls’ 1st Hockey XI v Lord Wandsworth College, 18.09.2019

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By Mariela Walton, Teacher of Girls’ PE & Games

This week, the first XI stepped out onto Bedales home turf to play Lord Wandsworth College (LWC). Decked out in their new Bedales first XI kit, the team looked the part and were ready to battle against a strong LWC side.

LWC got off to a good start and within ten minutes, Bedales were 2-0 down. Despite this, Bedales continued to fight, and after Freya Leonard was hit by a stray lifted ball, the team raised their game further. As if seeking vengeance for Frey’a injury, Mathilda Douglas put one in the back of the net, sending us into the half-time break 2-1 down.

In the second half, an early goal from Amber Pearson saw the scored tied at 2-2, which was quickly followed by a goal from Eliza Goodfellow, taking us to 3-2. LWC then answered back with a third goal, making the scores tied again at 3-3.

Not long after, our resident goal scorer Mathilda Douglas followed with an excellent goal, crossed in by Most Valuable Player Thea Levine. Bedales managed to hold the lead for almost the entire remaining half, until Lord Wandsworth got a break in the last minute of the game and a quick goal left the final score at 4-4.

An exciting second game of the season – all of the students worked exceptionally hard and demonstrated some wonderful hockey. Next week they face Portsmouth High School at home with a 4.15pm start.

Volunteering in the community

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By Al McConville, Director of Learning and Innovation

We’re working hard at Bedales to give students more opportunities to volunteer for good causes, since we know how satisfying that proves to be for many people.

We have kicked off the year with a new scheme for Block 3 to undertake ‘service’ activities within the community to get them in the mood, working with the kitchens, the library and the gardeners to keep the place ticking, and to give them a sense of responsibility for their surroundings.

In addition, a whole host of sixth formers are heading down the road to Steep Primary School to help younger children with their learning, and a separate group have embarked on a project with the Fitzroy charity for adults with learning difficulties at their base in the Sustainability Centre. This week we got cracking on a pond, and painted the inside of their composting toilet!

Lots more opportunities in the pipeline – watch this space.

Block 4 visit to Avebury, West Kennett and Stonehenge

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By Chris Grocock, Teacher of Classics

To complement what we can learn in class and from books and the internet, the ‘Famous Five’ who make up this year’s Ancient Civilisations BAC cohort visited the neolithic – and now World Heritage – sites of Avebury Stone Circle, West Kennett Long Barrow and Stonehenge itself.

The weather held fair – well, mostly – but the opportunities to ‘connect’ with these extraordinary monuments constructed 4,500 years ago were seized to the full! All the sites provoked thought and deep reaction – one student commented “I found it interesting that people put the rocks there and we don’t know why”. Stonehenge itself provoked mixed reactions, from “smaller than I thought” to “bigger than I expected”!

At Avebury, there were several expressions of making a ‘spiritual connection’ with the place, especially at a tree marked with ribbons by New Age devotees. Perhaps the most memorable experience was ‘being spooked’ by going into a 5,000-year-old tomb at West Kennett, and then eating lunch on top of it, with vistas spreading all around and fine views of Silbury Hill.

 

‘Beyond Bedales’ Media Careers Event

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By Cheryl Osborne, Teacher of Biology and Careers Advisor and Alex Beckmann, Alumni Relations Manager

We are very lucky to have four Old Bedalians with successful media careers coming to Bedales to talk to students about how they got into the industry, what their current job entails and share experiences and advice with interested students.

The event will focus on TV careers (producing, editing, pitching ideas, presenting, setting up your own business) and possibly cover scriptwriting and writing. Visitors include Kirstie Allsopp (pictured above), Peter Grimsdale, William Miller and Claire Whalley and students will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with the OBs. 

We are excited to launch this as the first ‘Beyond Bedales’ careers event and hope to be able to offer more in the future, focused on different industries throughout the year.

The event is predominantly aimed at students in Block 5, 6.1 and 6.2 if they are interested in this as a future career field, but all students are welcome to attend if they would like to learn about what it’s like to work in the media.

Old Bedalian returns for hockey coaching day

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By Kevin Boniface, Head of Hockey

On Monday, we had the pleasure of welcoming back former Dunhurst and Bedales student Pippa Lock. Pippa is a member of the England Hockey U21 side, Great Britain Elite Development Squad and will be playing in the top flight of the English National League for the University of Birmingham.

Pippa started the day with a talk at Dunhurst, and it was lovely to hear her talk about her hockey journey and how it began exactly where the Dunhurst students were now sat.

The day then moved onto a packed timetable of pitch sessions on the Astro. Students from Group 3 all the way up to 6.2 were given an insight of some of the coaching and ideology that Pippa has experienced through the England Hockey Single System and within international squad sessions.

The day culminated in a presentation from Pippa in the Quad, where she talked about perseverance and setting goals. Already, there has been a tremendous amount of feedback about the impact Pippa had. We look forward to welcoming her back to Bedales soon, having achieved her goal of representing Great Britain at the 2024 Olympics.

Julia Copus gives inspiring poetry reading at Bedales

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By Thomasina Rowntree, 6.2 and English Don

On Tuesday evening the renowned poet Julia Copus came to Bedales to give a reading of her poems in the Theatre. The evening began with a drinks reception for sixth form students, which gave them the opportunity to ask Julia for creative advice. Julia engaged with all the students, taking note of their individual interests – such as songwriting – to make the experience a very rewarding one.

The reading started with an incredibly moving and poignant performance of her collection of poems, Ghost Lines. Using sound and recorded text to enhance the poems, Julia told the story of her experiences of IVF treatment. It was an emotive experience to hear poetry performed in a way that many of us had never experienced.

Julia’s poem, An Easy Passage, is a text that we study for English Literature A Level. Hearing Julia read the poem gave a very personal insight into the piece, transforming the way I perceived it. We were privileged enough to be given a copy of some of the drafts of the poem, stressing the creative process, rather than the poem as a finished piece.

Hearing Julia read and having the chance to speak to her was a fantastic opportunity for all those who attended. The evening ended with a delicious supper for a few students and teachers. Many thanks to the catering team for such amazing food!

Bedales competes at Alresford Show

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By Gala Pearson, Block 5

For part of our Outdoor Work BAC, a group of four of us – Etty Bratley, Lila Levingston, Sasha Arney and me – are doing sheep husbandry. As part of this, we have been looking at a year in the life of a sheep, which includes worming, feeding, breeding and shearing them.

One of the highlights so far has been preparing for the Alresford Show, which was held on the first Saturday in September. In preparation for the show, we spent a lot of time halter training the sheep. We also had to bathe, trim, dag and brush them to get them ready for the ring.

On 7 September, we woke up early to load the sheep into the trailer and set off for Alresford. When we arrived, we herded them into their pens and did the final touch-ups, brushing off any excess dirt.

First up was Etty, who was entered in the ewe lamb class. Competitors were asked to line up and judges went round to each sheep to judge configuration, teeth and wool. After that, the judge wanted to see whether the sheep was tamed on a leash by walking it around the ring.

Following this, we also did a few more classes – shearling ewe, older ewe and a pair of shearling ewes. These didn’t go as well as they could have as the Southdown sheep were very stubborn. However, the pair of ewes (the Herdwicks) went very well, and Sasha and Gala came in fourth place. After all these classes, Etty entered the young handlers, which went really well – she came second!

By this point, we had been there for nearly ten hours, so decided to finish the day with the grand parade. This involved most cattle, cows, goats and sheep. We all got into one big line and walked around the main ring a couple of times, showing off to the public. This was everyone’s favourite part of the day because we led the parade. Even with all the ups and downs over the last year, the Alresford Show was a fantastic experience.

Merry Evening kicks off exciting year of Bedales Music

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By Neil Hornsby, Head of Contemporary Music
Photos by Sashia Monnier, Block 4

This Thursday saw the first big musical event of the year with Merry Evening in the Lupton Hall, a night of original songs, pop covers, classical music and magic! A wide range of great performances from budding rock stars in Block 3 to a rousing finale by The Upstanding Gents, our dynamic band of sixth form rockers. There were ten debuts out of 24 performances, roared on by an extremely enthusiastic audience. A memorable evening for all involved got what promises to be a great year for music at Bedales off to an exciting start!