With internal exams over, our Y8 boys are enjoying an exciting and enriching post-exam programme in their final weeks in the Prep School. In this first week alone, boys have experienced numerous activities, workshops and talks, all designed to ensure that they are well prepared for the Upper School and the next stage of their education.
Boys participated in workshops on ‘The Art of Storytelling’ and ‘Leadership and Rhetoric’ from our Entrepreneur in Residence, Zubair Junjunia, and Old Bedfordian and RSC practitioner, Ollie Lyons, respectively. The boys first investigated and discussed the key ideas behind storytelling: status, facts and feelings, voice and audience with Zubair Junjunia, before putting their storytelling skills into action to raise awareness of environmental issues and prompt action by making an emotional connection with their audience. In the second workshop, boys explored the skills that combine to make a good communicator with Ollie Lyons. The active approach to communication in the workshop focused on techniques developed in the professional acting industry. It encouraged all pupils to consider new forms of expression as a critical life skill.
Boys also added first aid training to the skills learned this week, with hands-on sessions covering unconscious casualties, the recovery position, EpiPens and CPR, and received career inspiration in three fascinating careers talks, hearing from radio, tv and music personality DJ Spoony, Consultant Doctor Sarah Maling and Consultant Psychologist Karen Gray. Thank you to them all for sharing their expertise and advice.
Always a highlight of the post-exam programme each year is ‘Come Dine with Me’, and this year the boys were challenged to organise an evening meal, complete with entertainment, for their classmates and teachers. The boys oversee every element, from the invitations to the menus to laying and decorating the tables to cooking and serving the food and providing the entertainment. This week saw 8B and 8D play host, entertaining their guests with everything from DJ sets to standup comedy to even a roving pianist! As ever, it proved a wonderful learning experience for the boys who picked up many new skills from our chefs and catering team, including napkin folding, and put their teamwork and communications skills to the test – a test that they passed very successfully. We look forward to more evenings in the coming weeks.
“The feedback back from teachers and visiting workshop leaders has been brimming with praise. The boys have approached their activities with great enthusiasm and maturity, and they have impressed all with their eloquence, insight, thoughtfulness and camaradrie. I could not be more proud of these young men.”
Plus, there is plenty more for the boys to look forward to with bushcraft activities, debates, more talks and workshops, ‘Come Dine with Me’ evenings and trips to enjoy in the coming weeks. It promises to be a fantastic finale to the boys’ days at Bedford Prep.