Dear Parents
As I write, towards the end of the first week of the school summer holidays, the Duke of Edinburgh Gold expedition is returning from the Lake District, a Brass ensemble is playing in Germany, a huge rugby squad is going through its warm-ups in Canada and the golfers are playing at the ISGA National Golf Finals in Chester. Not a bad start – and the holidays will continue in much the same vein!
I write to thank you for your support of us and the boys over the course of this academic year; and also to update you on end of term events. Most of these are contained in my Final Assembly Speech and my Speech Day Speech, both of which are linked to this email. In the former, you will find some words I spoke to the boys about the decision taken by the British people to leave the European Union. My intention is to reassure all those who join us from overseas that our own school values do not change; we aim to cherish all the boys we have here, whether they come from 12 miles away or 12,000. You will also find details of our first Creative Arts Festival, held in the last fortnight of term, which was a huge success; several events were recorded and can be viewed via links from this page.
- All boys have secured their Diploma certificate (this is by no means a “given” with IB).
- 31% of the cohort have secured 40+ points. To put this in context, there is barely a university course in the country which asks for 40+ points (most notable exceptions are most Cambridge University courses and some at Imperial).
- 89% of all grades were 7/6/5 (A*-B equivalent).
- The average was over 36, up 1.5 points from last year.
Combined with the highest mock IB grades for several years in this year’s Lower Sixth, this all marks very good news for the IB diploma at Bedford School.
Finally, may I reiterate my thanks to all families for your support this year and wish you all a very happy summer.
James Hodgson
Head Master