Head Master’s Final Assembly of Term

Well done to you all on another busy and successful term, in which every single one of you has played his part, big or small. We start the round up today with various academic updates.

ACADEMIC

Academic Merit Awards

75 Academic Merits go to:

• Elliott Clifford (Fourth Form)                
• Elias Demetrius-Louisy (Fourth Form)   
• Oscar Qualtrough (Remove Form)                    
• Sunny Yeung (Remove Form)   

Ellen Parcell Memorial Prize for the Humanities

Having received several high-quality submissions from boys in the Remove Form and Lower Sixth, we can announce the winners of the 2024 Humanities Essay Prize, in Junior and Senior categories. This competition was established in memory of Ms Ellen Parcell, an inspirational Head of History at Bedford School from 2005 to 2022. Ms Parcell enthused many boys and colleagues with her love of History, and she always promoted academic rigour and intellectual curiosity. These qualities were clearly apparent in this year’s winning entries, as detailed below.

The Winner of the Junior Prize is Advik Mishra (Remove Form). Referring to ‘the dark and the light of the human past’ in his call for optimism in the face of history’s most challenging moments, Advik accessed a range of resources, including books, articles and reference works, to develop an analysis of the nature and impact of the Kindertransport (1938-1940), the Jonestown Massacre (1978) and the March on Washington (1968). In drawing lessons from the past, Advik finds cause for optimism in people’s ability to ‘endure whatever harsh reality that is in place, keep acting and most importantly have an unequivocal ‘hope’ in better times to come.’

The Winner of the Senior Prize is Eric He (Lower Sixth). Eric delivered a coherent philosophical response to a question on modern governance and methods of control. Citing key thinkers such as Foucault, Fukuyama, Zizek and Howard Zinn, Eric challenged the question’s thesis, that control arises from popular acceptance of political messaging that ‘all is right as it is’, arguing instead that contemporary modes of entertainment, growing civic apathy and a divisive media narrative have left people vulnerable to and essentially unaware of the hard power wielded by the state apparatus, masked as it is by a kind of political theatre. The range and ambition of Eric’s reading and the success with which he critically integrated several challenging theories and concepts stand out in his work.

Runner-up in the Senior category is Fred Dickson (Lower Sixth), an IB student who is Highly Commended for an excellent essay on the roots of popular nostalgia and the complex causes of the often-held belief that the past was better than the present. Fred’s highly engaging, historically robust exploration of three very different eras led him to consider the experiences and responses of Russian emigres in France after the 1917 Revolution, the associational life of the Irish Diaspora in the 19th century and the factors driving supporters of the Restoration after the English Civil War.

Many congratulations to Advik, Eric and Fred for their outstanding work. We hope more boys will have been inspired to read something different and challenge themselves to pursue one or several of the many opportunities for academic extension available to them at Bedford School.

Debating and Public Speaking

It has been an extremely successful term for the school’s debaters and public speakers. An extremely high standard was set in the Junior and Senior House Debating Competitions, won by Ashburnham and Bromham respectively. The National Science Week Debate proved a terrific event, won by the chemists who convinced the judges that their science had contributed the most to technological development over the centuries.

Sam Maling and Millan Verwoert competed in the Regional Final of the ESU Schools’ Mace debating competition. They did not progress to the national final but performed superbly having won two previous rounds to reach this stage. A senior public speaking team consisting of Charlie Diamond, Ralph Franklin and Vir Walia finished runners-up in the District Final of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition. Vir was named best speaker of the evening. The vast majority of competitors in this competition were Sixth Form pupils so it was pretty impressive that such a comparatively young team achieved such success.

The following evening, a team of Fourth Formers (Oliver Barbour, Nathaniel Fletcher and Aaryan Nair) went one better than their senior counterparts, winning the Intermediate Rotary Youth Speaks District Final with a brilliant debate about the impact of violent video games. They qualified for the cluster final and presented highly effectively, with Edward Keggin stepping into the breach as a late substitute for Nathaniel.

Henry Gillham, George Gutteridge and Fraser Morgan won the ESU Churchill Public Speaking Competition Regional Final and will compete in the National Finals Day at Churchill College Cambridge on Sunday 5 May.

General Knowledge Competition

The Schools Challenge 2023-24 has been progressing apace: while the Intermediate A and Senior B teams have been knocked out of the running, the Intermediate B team have made it to Round 3 of the Plate Competition after solid wins against Norwich and King’s School Worcester. There has been some fantastic work from the team, comprised of Rocco Sarro, Oscar Qualtrough, Miguel Serrano and Seth Baines. The undefeated Senior A team has won matches against Bolton, King’s School Rochester and Lancaster Royal Grammar School, and are now in the Regionals round. Huge congratulations are due to Finn Adams, Fred Dickson, Sam McMurran and Millan Verwoert for their success so far in the competition!

Maths

A group of 185 boys took part in the UK Intermediate Maths Challenge, displaying outstanding performance as over 80% of boys achieved bronze, silver, or gold awards. Thirty-three boys achieved a gold award which is exceptional. Pop Immaraporn, Theo Wang, Fraser Morgan and Kasper Yu excelled, earning the highest scores within their respective year groups.

Sam McMurran, Michael Moretto, Oliver Jones and Pop Immaraporn took part in the Harpur Trust Maths Competition. There was a series of rounds ranging from individual questions to group-based challenge questions and the boys should be congratulated on winning this competition.

Pythagoreans Society has enjoyed some captivating presentations by internal and external speakers, with special recognition to Edgar Maddocks and Jameson Liang for their outstanding contributions. These accomplishments underscore the dedication and excellence within the mathematics community.

DNA Snowdrop Project

This term saw the conclusion of the practical part of the DNA Snowdrop project that has been taking place this year, in that the pupils who were participating managed to extract DNA from the chloroplast of snowdrops, sequence it and then compare it. Although not all samples had enough DNA to use comparatively, the group was able to produce a phylogenetic tree of some of the snowdrop species sampled. There was also some interesting contamination by a bacteria species that had to be contended with. Some pupils were able to go to the Royal Society and present the project to other schools and scientists.

Commendations

One of the highest academic accolades a pupil can be given at Bedford School for a piece of work is a Commendation. These are awarded sparingly and are given for producing pieces that really make teachers and peers sit up and take note – combining academic curiosity and endeavour. The approaching holidays provide a fantastic opportunity for you to see if you can produce something that reaches such heights. 

Commendation Roll of Honour

The following boys have achieved two or more commendations this term – last term it was the Fourth Form who finished top, but they are in third this term, with the Fifth Form second. It was the Lower Sixth who received the most this term, with 48 commendations awarded across 30 different boys:

Fourth Form

• Oliver Barbour (5)
• Nathaniel Fletcher (2)
• Kieran Kelly (2)
• Daniel Lushchay (7)
• Matthew Moretto (3)
• Aaryan Nair (2)
• Hamish Timmins (2)
• Lawrence Zhang (2) 

Remove Form

• Advik Misra (3)
• Oscar Qualtrough (2)
• Theo Wang (2)

Fifth Form

• Ethan Clifford (2)
• Tristan Cooper (2)
• Charlie Diamond (2)
• Henry Gilham (2)
• Sam Grey (2)
• Nigel Ng (2)

Lower Sixth

• Alom Tahir (2)
• Matthew Au (2)
• Charlie Eggleton (5)
• Eric He (3)
• Ruben Jacob (2)
• Jamieson Liang (3)
• Adrian Lok (2)
• Edgar Maddocks (4)
• Finlay Mitchell (2)
• Pui Lam Ng (3) 

Upper Sixth

• Johannes Yi (2) 

HEAD MASTER’S COMMENDATIONS

Boys are put forward for Head Master’s commendations following nominations to academic year heads. The following boys have been awarded HM commendations this term:

Fourth Form 

(with an honourable mention to last term’s recipients, Daniel Lushchay and Matthew Moretto, who secured 7 and 3 more commendations this term!)

Oliver Barbour – for an incisive analytical essay on Henry V which scored full marks. He went on to perform brilliantly to help his team win ‘Rotary Youth Speaks’ – a Debate District Final.

Semilore Apesin – For an evocative cartoon strip of key moments of Hitler’s foreign policy in the run up to WWII. Semilore carefully crafted an excellent timeline, to make the increasing tensions and growth in Hitler’s power and domination in Europe clear. 

Remove Form 

Andrew Wright and Rocco Sarro – for a History Society talk of exceptional quality. Both had researched the history of Italian unification extensively, with a firm grasp on the components of the narrative as well as the anecdotes and peculiar smaller events that made their talk all the more interesting. They spoke knowledgably for 25 minutes without notes and without reading off the slides.  

Theo Wang – for producing a 20-plus page essay on ‘Greatest scientific minds – a brief history of physics and mathematics.’ It took his teacher several weeks to make time to sit down and read and then took me a few sittings to get through the work. I gave Theo some feedback on his first draft and he has gone away and re-written a number of parts of the first draft. I have had some good commendation level work in the past from Remove Formers but nothing quite as extensive before. 

Lower Sixth 

An honourable mention to Charlie Eggleton for another five commendations this term… 

Edgar Maddocks – Edgar has been awarded four commendations this term. As joint BSIP Presentation winner, his academic and entrepreneurial talents were evident. He also delivered an outstanding lecture for the Pythagoreans’ Society. 

Upper Sixth 

Sam Maling: Leadership. For using his public speaking talent to expertly compere the Creative Writing Detweiler Prize Giving, an event that celebrates the endeavour and talent of others. 

Shaun Thomas and Luke Langridge: Academic commitment and supporting the learning of others. Having diligently created a huge and high-quality set of revision materials for A-Level Economics and IB English Language and Literature (over two years), these two boys generously shared all their hard work with the cohort. It is this kind of supportive act that creates a high performing school and a positive academic culture. 

Johannes Yi: Demonstrating an impressive level of independent learning on his German Higher Level essay and for his positive response to the feedback on his extended essay, showing determination and commitment. 

SPORT

Hockey

This term over 90 fixtures have been played in the hockey club, with 212 goals being scored along the way! The 1st XI have been superb in terms of their approach and have played some great hockey. Sam Bayley has been outstanding in his leadership of the group and, along with the other Upper Sixth leavers, we wish them well. However, the highlight of the season must be the cup run for the U16A team, who will play in a National Final at Olympic Park on the first day of next term. The hockey club generally is in a very strong position and there are several exciting year groups coming through the school.

Hockey Honours Caps were awarded to:

• Sam Bayley
• Thomas Bates
• Josh Addo

Major Sports Colours for Hockey were awarded to:

• James Dagg
• Edward Dagg
• Oliver Smith
• Oliver Simmonds
• Oscar Jewers
• Fred Dickson
• Alfie Allen
• Zach Hone
• Sam Mullaney
• Zach Cumming

Minor Sports Colours were awarded to:

• Will Everitt
• Toby Mitchell
• Friedrich Hampel
• Sam Cutler
• Jamie Welch
• Oliver Briggs
• Oliver Bymolen
• Seb Elder
• Tom Barnes
• Thomas Taylor
• Jack Guest
• Isaac Dutson
• George Worthington

Rowing

There have been 130 boys rowing in the spring term, one of the most disrupted terms on record due to flooding and high winds. Almost all the races have been cancelled, and many games sessions have had to be changed from water to land, often at very late notice. All the boys have impressed with their willingness to get on with the training, whether on the water or yet another session on the ergo. The end of term finally brought some racing at the Schools’ Head and the Junior Sculling Head, although even these were disrupted, with less crews being able to compete than usual. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd VIIIs delivered on the potential it was thought they had with excellent performances from all three crews. The Colts, J15s and J14s have made good progress, despite the difficulties of the term. The Seniors and Colts travel to Sarnen, Switzerland and the J15s and J14s have a camp at Radley College during the Easter break. All crews are looking forward to the summer regatta season.

Major Sports Colours for Rowing were awarded to:

• Daniel McGregor
• Tom Reader
• James Sprange
• Fergus Tongue

Minor Sports Colours for Rowing awarded to:

• Christopher Bonnington
• Alexander Deane
• Alex Harrison
• Ethan Newton-Walters
• Clement Rahwangi Gough

Badminton

The badminton team have had another very successful term. The U16 team of Jacob Yau, Marcus Wai, Yash Stachowiak, Leo Matthew and Wallace Kwong made it to the semi-finals of the school sports cup and will play in the final of the England Badminton competition in April. The first team pairings, led by Alex Lamb and Timothy Wai, have again been undefeated, and we have seen big improvements in several of the second team pairings – becoming far more competitive against some strong opposition.

Minor sports colours are awarded to:

• Elvan Ho
• Jamieson Liang
• Johannes Yi

Basketball

The basketball team have coped well with playing all of their games away this season. They were beaten by Bedford Academy in the local league, winning all their other fixtures and finishing second in the table. After receiving a nasty injury early in the season, Matthew Au has stood in as a very capable coach.

Minor colours awarded to:

• Boqing Kong
• Stephen Leng
• Daren Chan
• Matthew Au
• Edgar Maddocks
• Alex Ying
• Jack Liu
• Max Leung
• Harry Clifton
• David Knight
• Sam Maling
• Gavin Zhang

Cross-Country

The school entered three teams for the District Cross-Country Championships held at Sharnbrook Upper School. It was pleasing that a good number of boys qualified for the County Championships. These included Ed Dagg and James Dagg, who finished first and third place respectively in the Senior race. Well done also to Oscar Morrell who finished second in the Junior race.

At the County Championships, held at Ampthill Park, five boys from the squad of 12 qualified to represent Bedfordshire and Luton Schools at the National Schools’ Championships. In the Senior race, Jake Reynolds won silver, finishing second while Ed Dagg and James Dagg battled it out to finish in fifth and sixth place respectively, quickly followed by Dan McGregor who finished in seventh place. Danny Chapman put in a good performance to finish sixth in the Intermediate race. The commitment to cross-country, the determination to compete and the camaraderie shared amongst the boys at all levels has been very impressive this term.

(Rugby) Fives

In Fives, we had fixtures against Oundle, Rugby and OBs this term, as well as the Regional and National Schools competitions. Having lost away to Rugby, Bedford beat them at their own game 119-52, and we beat Oundle 95-83 in a close-fought fixture. Particular excitement came towards the end of term with Sam McMurran and Fraser Morgan getting to the semi-finals of the Rugby Fives Association Regional Contest, with Sam being knocked out in the semi-finals of the U18 singles by the eventual winner and winning the U16 contest.

Huge congratulations to Sam McMurran, who made it to the Round of 16 in the National Schools Championship for Rugby Fives in the U16 category; he was in fact knocked out by the eventual overall winner. Sam also reached the Quarter Finals of the Plate. One of the strongest performances for Bedford School in recent years.

House Fives will take place at the start of next term.

Football

This has been a terrific term for school football. There has been success on the pitch from top to bottom, unbeaten seasons for some teams (albeit with reduced fixtures due to the wettest winter for 130 years) and strong signs of development from others. The headlines belong to the cup runs of the U15A and 1st XI respectively, both reaching the semi-finals of their national competitions. Fixtures started in September and have involved repeated visits from central London to Newcastle, 14-0 victories and the tensest of penalty shoot outs; no other school reached semi-finals across two or more age groups. In addition, the 1st XI was one goal away in a frantic final five minutes of the season from winning a tough Mercian League; once the dust has settled, all involved will be able to look back on their season with pride. The 2nd XI, 3rd XI and U16s finished the season strongly, Mikel Deans scoring back-to-back hat-tricks and the 2nd XI even managed to shake off the ‘Rowland’ curse. A number of boys enjoyed what was a fantastic experience training at Villareal FC over half term, and the Old Bedfordian fixtures were again a tight affair with current boys coming out on top for the second consecutive year. House football was well contested by all involved and all bodes well for an exciting 2025 where we hope to build upon 2024 with the addition of being a little less ‘Spursy’.

Colours awarded to:

• Luke Langridge
• Leo Butler
• Leeroy Bakasa
• Joseph Maravala
• Zachary Wasterfall
• Zaki Shameem
• Hugh Williams

Golf

It has been a busy and successful term for the golf team. Trips to Dundonald Links and The Springs have both resulted in 2nd place finishes in the team event, and Jack Peters won the individual title at the former, which secured his WAGR (World Amateur Golf Ranking).

Internally, the boys have played a Winter League, competing among themselves in 9-hole match play games. Fin Rennie prevailed as this year’s champion. Last week, the club championship was played over 36 holes – 18 at Woburn on The Marquess and 18 at John O’Gaunt. Jack Peters secured the title this year, with a notable performance from William Mowe as runner-up.

Next term, we have a match against Brentwood College to try to secure a place in the prestigious HMC Foursomes finals, this year held at Royal Ashdown Forest. Before then, the Swifts Tour concludes at The JCB in the last weekend of the Easter break.

Rugby Sevens

The penultimate week of term saw the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens tournament take place – now the world’s largest rugby tournament, with over 14,000 boys and girls taking part. Following a superb showing at the prestigious QE Barnet tournament the previous week, the U14 team won all their matches on day one to reach the last 32. Unfortunately, they lost out to very strong outfits from Wales and Harrow. However, they can reflect on a promising first season on the circuit, having beaten the likes of Wellington College and Tonbridge School on their way to the National Sevens. As a year group, there was a very strong turnout to co-curricular sevens sessions and, as a result, they were able to field two teams, which certainly bodes well for the future.

The U15 team unfortunately had their biggest tournament cancelled: the Wimbledon College John Pieroni Sevens, and were unable to defend the cup the previous year’s group had won. However, they were unbeaten in the Stowe Sevens and performed well in the Perse Floodlit Sevens, giving themselves a season to look back on with pride.

The U16 boys started the National Sevens with confidence, having won the Perse School tournament the previous Friday and semi-finalists at the well-attended Oakham Sevens. They subsequently won all four games in some style on day one to reach the last 32. On day two, they qualified for the last eight in the cup competition, where they beat Clifton College 19-17, to secure a place in the semi-final. While they did not progress any further in the competition, narrowly losing to a physical Trinity side, to finish in the top four teams out of the 200 teams who entered was a superb achievement.

The U18s made slow progress in their season and the run-up to the National competition was certainly not plain sailing. However, they could take heart from stunning performances against the likes of Eton College, Hurstpierpoint and Bloxham School. At the National Sevens, they impressed with their first three games, which was enough for them to finish 2nd in the group and progress to the plate competition. They gallantly fought in the plate competition on day two and a couple of agonising losses meant they would progress no further, but to finish in the top 24 schools in the country is a testament to the quality of the Rugby Sevens programme and the boys’ hard work and determination.

Shooting

Shooting has continued to expand, and this term has been marked by a number of firsts.

February saw the inaugural match against Uppingham, our first inter-school shoulder-to-shoulder match for more than two decades. Unfortunately, the team has suffered from the loss of the highly experienced Upper Sixth cohort last year, and the depth of the First VIII has not yet been fully rebuilt, resulting in a loss against Uppingham, 536 to 555 (ex 600).

The same problem faced us in the match against a highly experienced Cambridge University team. However, despite losing, the team did very well to hold Cambridge to just an 18-point lead (725 to 743 ex 600).

The return, away leg against Uppingham took place immediately after half-term, once again, the first away match for more than 30 years. Sadly, the boys’ nerves got the better of them and the match once again resulted in a loss.

By way of contrast, March saw the OB match, the oldest and longest-running of the shoulder-to-shoulder matches. The school has enjoyed a long run of success in this match but this year we became a victim of our own success, with last year’s Upper Sixth returning as the opposition. The school lost against this very strong team of recent OBs 1124 vs 1175 (ex 1200). The best school shot was Matthew Pitt with 144 ex 150 and the best OB, James Lumley-Wood with a highest possible score of 150 ex 150.

Squash

The squash team have had a steady season, with a handful of matches against strong opposition. The club has been excellently captained by Vova Sumbaev in his final season with us, leading the 1st V with enthusiasm. Player development through the entire club has been excellent with all players advancing their games considerably. The season culminated in an enjoyable fixture against a strong OB side.

Minor sports colours are awarded to: 

• Sam French
• Alexander Olleson

Swimming and Water Polo

This term was totally dedicated to the national Water Polo Championships.

For the first time the school had a team, the U15s, advancing to the semi-final stage of the main competition. Travelling to Trinity School in Croydon they faced the hosts, Dulwich College, Emmanuel School and Ibstock Place. The top two schools qualified for the finals. Unfortunately, we came third finishing the tournament with two wins and two losses. Trinity and Dulwich progressed, becoming champions and runners-up respectively in the Finals.

The Senior team, packed with the U15 players, played in the Bowl competition. Hosting the semi-final round, we beat both Bradford Grammar School and Warwick School 8-1 and 7-0 respectively.

In the Finals, we beat Bradford Grammar School again (4-0) and Churcher’s College (8-4) to set up a decider with Millfield School. In a very exciting game, we led 2-0 and 3-2 but were 4-3 down with four minutes of the game remaining. Umpteen chances went begging before we finally managed to get an equaliser with 40 seconds remaining and then held out. The team finished a worthy second due to Millfield having a better goal difference in the tournament.

CCF

This term has been a busy one for the CCF, starting with the recruitment of approximately 70 Fourth Form cadets in January.

In the weekend of 9 to 10 March, a team of eight cadets competed in the annual Intelligence Corps Cadet competition. Pitted against teams from CCF and ACF contingents across the country, the team performed very well, winning for the second year in a row and attracting many complimentary comments on their performance from the directing staff.

Sadly, staffing and cadet availability problems meant we were unable to field a team for the Combat cadet competition, taking place over the Exeat weekend in March. This the first time we have had to do this since the inception of the competition, more than two decades ago.

The Corps competed in the CCRS Team shoot, also in March, and we await the results from this, hoping to improve on the second place we achieved last year.

The Annual General Inspection took place yesterday, with the whole CCF inspected by Col James Shaw OB, Brigade Major for both the Queen’s Jubilee and King’s Coronation parades.

CREATIVE ARTS

Music

We have had a very busy term (as usual!) in the Music Department, with musical highlights ranging from Instrumental Music Prize Competitions and performances at the Bedfordshire Festival, to a wonderful Chamber Concert, featuring a number of small ensembles performing some very refined chamber music. There were a good number of successes at the Bedfordshire Festival, including 19 winners of classes across the Prep and Upper School. Four boys, including Kieran Hamel-Henn and Hugo Hodgson, were invited to perform at the final Gala Concert at the end of the festival. At our own Instrumental Music Prize Competitions, boys who were placed in the school instrumental and singing prizes this term gained credit for their houses. Crescent was the overall winner for the third year running, coming out on top in both the Senior and Junior competitions this year! It has also been good to see the Creative Arts Faculty getting together to present material at the Detweiler Competition, which had a strong field in all disciplines this year. The Music winner was Angus Timmins (for the second year running!). Contemporary music was given the limelight at the annual Rock Night earlier on in the term – there were an excellent number of performances from the boys, ably joined by girls from Bedford Girls’ School for many of the acts. The major collaboration of this term was at the Choral Society Concert performance of Haydn’s Creation on Sunday – this included over 150 performers, mostly boys and girls, experiencing the excitement of putting on a major piece of choral and orchestral music. The Chapel Choir has continued to provide excellent music for all the Chapel services this term. Two of our Visiting Music Fellows have spent time working with boys in masterclass and seminar sessions this term, which has been an excellent opportunity for the boys to develop their musical skills. Weekly lunchtime concerts have continued to take place, giving opportunities for every boy to perform at least once per term.

Drama

It has been a very busy term for the Drama Department. Our highlight of the term was welcoming Saul Hewish from the University of Warwick, who lectured on theatre in prison. We were fortunate enough to have members of the public in attendance, as well as staff and students from Bedford Girls’ School and Bedford Modern School. Auditions and rehearsals have taken place for the forthcoming production of Clue (to be performed in July as part of the Creative Arts Festival). In addition, we have had a Scholar workshop, GCSE and A-Level scripted performance mock exam evening for parents, the Speech and Drama Evening, Tech Club and, of course, our weekly Drama Society meetings. We now have over 20 boys join the society each week and we welcome new members at the start of the summer term.

A key event of the spring term is the Drama Detweiler performances. Thank you to Will Hayward for introducing the performers. Many congratulations go to the following performers:

• Hamish Timmins
• Oliver Quince
• Jared Love
• Matt Hackney
• Seb Davis
• Thomas Taylor

First Place: George Garosi

Second Place: Dominic Fairhead and Luke Charles

Runner up: Jared Love

Our Academic Drama Society has continued to flourish, with Will Hayward as our president and Millan Verwoert as Vice. The society started off with a series of devising workshops led by Will Hayward, Millan Verwoert, Thomas Taylor and Louis Cooke. Later in the term, the society members were lucky enough to have professional actor and Broadway Musical star Neka Zang join us. Neka led a fascinating workshop on the importance of an actor’s physicality. Our final Drama Society session of the term was an inaugural joint Drama and Biology society meeting. Drama scholar Charlie Eggleton organised a brilliant session on medical interviews. The drama students role-played being patients, whilst they were interviewed by prospective medical students. The session was so successful, we have decided to run one every term. Any biology student wishing to lead a session, please talk to Mr Beale or Mrs Keylock.

The Speech and Drama Evening was highly successful and very well attended by friends and family. Many congratulations to all involved. Over 50 boys took to the Quarry Theatre stage on Monday 25 March; the event was hosted by Charlie Eggleton and Louis Cooke.

Finally, we are excited to announce that there will be a special Les Miserables launch event on Tuesday 30 April, from 5.00pm to 6.00pm in the Quarry Theatre, for any pupil interested in auditioning for the show. Performances will be in November and auditions will take place in June. Boys should email Mrs Keylock or Miss Boughey if they would like to book a place.

Art

The term got underway with a joint exhibition of work by painters Alison Head and Andrew Dutton. Their powerful and colourful work certainly made an impression with the memorable and haunting imagery, so their talk for the Art Society was very well attended by Sixth Form boys keen to find out more. Andrew brought in his props including the puppets he uses for his compositions, which provided a fascinating insight into his picture making process.

This year’s Detweiler competition theme ‘Life and Death’ generated some exciting responses from all year groups so our judges, illustrator Katie Churchill and painter Fiona Wilson, faced quite a challenge in shortlisting the winners.  However, George Worthington (Upper Sixth) won the 2D first prize with his striking intaglio print and Rhys Harries (Upper Sixth) won the 3D prize with his ambitious and imposing sculpture of a dog.

Barnaby Williams (Upper Sixth) was selected from the internal school heats to be the school’s representative at this year’s ARTiculation regional heat at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury. Talking about the print Night Ice by Anne Desmet RA, his thoughtful and eloquent talk was celebrated by the adjudicators, Dr Steven Parissien and Dr Lara Pucci, so he was unlucky not to go through to the national final. Barnaby’s personal response to the work and his confidence in articulating such a complex print within 10 minutes was fantastic and he has much to be proud of.

Other Art Society meetings this term have included watching the video David Hockney Secret Knowledge, which explores how artists have used lenses throughout history. The whole debate about using devices to work with and ‘trace’ from generated some interesting discussions about the legitimacy of this way of working and whether or not it is ‘cheating’?

We were particularly delighted to welcome back Dr Albin Wallace to give a talk about The Garden of Earthly Delights – A load of Old Bosch. Dr Wallace retired two years ago and is a much-missed teacher and colleague, so it was a pleasure to see him again and, as on a number of previous occasions, he gave an excellent and informative talk about this extraordinary painting.

For the final Art Society meeting of the term, Dom Blore OB returned to talk about his career in graphic design. Our Lower Sixth were particularly interested in this as they start to consider their career options for life after school. Dom gave an excellent and insightful talk explaining exactly what being a designer entails, which certainly conveyed just how exciting and important graphic design is in everyday life. An excellent conclusion to the term.

HOUSE CUPS, SPRING 2024

New for 2024 – Chris Synott Cup for Excellence in Hockey:

An OB, Chris Synott (83-90) sadly passed away from cancer in late summer, 2023. He was in charge of overseeing the global TV coverage of the Rugby World Cup – he had hoped to see the opening match but unfortunately died a couple of weeks before. Chris was a keen hockey player whilst at school and his family kindly donated a cup to be given to a boy who shows ‘Excellence in Hockey’.

Chris Synott Cup for Excellence in Hockey          Sam Bayley                  

House Cups, Spring 2024

Current standings after two terms: 

Current House Cup Standing 2024

Head Master’s Scarves

There are two.

This boy’s exceptional work ethic, combined with his ability to balance co-curricular, academic and musical commitments, have resulted in outstanding outcomes across his school life. He is an intelligent, thoughtful and determined young man, but incredibly humble in his approach; he combines this with a quiet confidence, which enables him to work well with others as well as independently.

His commitment to excellence in music is clearly evident with him winning school prizes and invitations to perform at external concerts; his appointment as President of the Music Society at the start of the year was thoroughly well deserved. He has all of the qualities that we encourage in boys at Bedford School – he is polite and self-effacing, and yet is one of the most able musicians we have seen at Bedford School for many years. This combination of ability and humility makes him the ideal role model for younger boys at the school. He is exceptionally talented and quietly gets on with supporting the musical life of the school in many different ways, as a member of the Brass Ensemble, Concert Band, Funk Band, Jazz Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra. He has been offered a scholarship at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama. As well as his prominent role in the music department, he is also an exceptional basketball player who has represented the school A team with consistently high-quality effort.

Within his boarding house, his quiet, kind and unassuming nature puts his peers at ease and his ability to quietly champion and support them is hugely valued. He is immensely caring and he is not afraid to call out people doing the wrong thing; his friendly nature helps guide others to positive choices. He contributes to all areas of school life with a humble, unassuming and above all kind approach. He is Max Leung.

The second boy has quietly made a significant impact within our Computer Science department during his time in the Upper School. While not always in the spotlight, his unwavering dedication and support for his peers has been nothing short of remarkable. Often the first to volunteer and collaborate with others, he has represented the school in many programming competitions and has even run his own: the inaugural House Coding Competition. Meanwhile, his own code was run on computers aboard the International Space Station (ISS). His willingness to organise and oversee a coding competition, including crafting challenging questions and test cases, laid the groundwork for what followed. Thanks to his initial efforts, we are now able to conduct end-of-year computer science exams entirely digitally for our Fourth Form pupils. This pioneering work will undoubtedly shape our preparations for future digital examinations. This boy took it upon himself to collaborate with one of his peers on a competition involving hardware. His ingenious idea was to optimize an air conditioning system by directing cool air precisely where it was needed, rather than indiscriminately cooling an entire room. 

Throughout his time in boarding since the Fourth Form, this boy has been a consistent source of kindness towards others. He is incredibly proud of Bedford School and his boarding house, as demonstrated when he wrote a number of news articles for a national children’s magazine publication in China, where his articles described passionately his experiences of education at Bedford School and boarding in Pemberley House. He has also written articles for the Bedford School WeChat account, which have resonated with readers far beyond our school. He is a consistent source of endeavour, integrity, academically curious, and kindness to others. He is Kevin Xu.

It leaves me to say, on your behalf, a big thank-you to your teachers again for all their hard work to inspire you towards all of your success. ‘Going the extra mile’ does not really describe them sufficiently; they go the extra marathon. So please do join me in a round of applause.

And finally, I wish you all a very Happy Easter. Enjoy the break; but don’t switch off from being curious and inquisitive; and do something useful. To those with public exams, I wish you well for a productive and hard-working period, with appropriate rest.  Good luck to you all.