Head Master’s Final Assembly of Term

Academia has been the driving engine of this term, creating a wonderful buzz of achievement across all areas. The report below contains many of the highlights.  

ACADEMIC

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 Role of Honour 
The following boys have achieved two or more commendations this term – and congratulations to the Fourth Form, who, with 40 commendations, narrowly edge the Lower Sixth as the year group to have received the most. 

Fourth Form
Daniel Lushchay (10), Matthew Moretto (4), Dylan Uppal (3), Oliver Barbour (3), Dominic Fairhead, Elias Demetrius-Louisy

Remove Form
Oscar Qualtrough, Stirling Smallwood 

Fifth Form
Ryan Cheung, Elio Lepore, Harry L’Estrange, Sam McMurran, Fraser Morgan, Koya Okusaga

Lower Sixth
Angus Timmins(4), Saif Ajaj (3), Hugo Willson(3), Fred Dickson, Pui Lam Ng

Upper Sixth
Louis Cooke, Isaac Dutson, Jacob Foster, Giles Halsey, Ayaan Hanif, Alex Ying

HM 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 

Daniel Lushchay for being awarded an unprecedented ten commendations this term and receives a Head Master’s Commendation. Staff commend him for his exceptional work, which includes producing the finest computer-aided design seen from a pupil in the Fourth Form. His creative extension boards, put together across a variety of subjects, now adorn the walls of several departments. 

Matthew Moretto for his consistently high performance in Latin; for creating an animation accurately modelling particles in solids, liquids, and gases in chemistry; for writing a document on Pythagorean triples – which he presented to his maths class; and for receiving the Best in School award for the Inters category of the Bebras Logic Challenge in computer science. 

Lower Sixth Form

Angus Timmins – Angus is awarded a Head Master’s Commendation for not only writing the incidental music for the school production of A Christmas Carol, but also directing the small instrumental ensemble playing the music live for each performance of the show. Both of these activities are seriously demanding for any professional musician, let alone a school pupil: a truly remarkable feat. He has also received three additional commendations – writing and performing a speech as part of his study of Athenian Democracy, playing a leading role in the Movember charity concert, and for his approach on a Bach chorale harmonisation exercise. 

Saif Ajaj – Saif delivered an excellent talk on the chemistry of anodising, and successfully completed all four of the Chemistry Challenge 1 questions in the mole calculations workbook. Saif demonstrated an exceptional understanding for mole calculations and significant mental dexterity in answering the questions. 

Charlie Eggleton – for his unwavering commitment to his role within A Christmas Carol. He strived for excellence in every rehearsal and his attention to detail was noteworthy. This Head Master’s Commendation acknowledges the process that saw him become Scrooge. 

Upper Sixth Form

Hugh Williams – Hugh’s briefing paper on Clarence Thomas (US Supreme Court Justice) demonstrated academic curiosity. It covered a fascinating if controversial dissenting opinion from the most originalist of justices. His questions during the other presentations also showed an understanding of judicial philosophy demonstrating his excellent effort and work ethic. 

Ayaan Hanif – for demonstrating significant academic curiosity when researching the September 2023 Libyan dam failure and flood disaster and, even more impressively, for teaching a simply superb lesson on the Syrian conflict to his class. 

DNA Snowdrop Project
This term, 24 boys have participated in the start of this project that will extract the DNA from the chloroplast from different species of snowdrop and then sequence this DNA. This data will be used to create a phylogenetic tree of the snowdrop species. This has not been done before in schools. During this term, the pupils have spent time developing the skills that they will need, for example micro-pipetting and understanding the techniques. They have also visited Anglesey Abbey, where we will be getting the samples from, and the Wellcome Genome Campus to have a session in Bioinformatics. Next term, the pupils will collect their samples and, using the techniques they have learnt, extract the chloroplast and sequence the DNA.

Maths
This term, large numbers of students from all year groups took part in the Senior UK Maths Challenge. Fourteen qualified for the second round and went on to take part in either the Andrew Jobbings Kangaroo or the British Mathematical Olympiad. The scores that they achieved in the Maths Challenge placed them amongst the strongest performing mathematicians nationally at an U18 level, and the following should be particularly congratulated:

Fourth Form – Pop Immaraporn
Remove Form – Charlie Chen
Fifth Form – Sam McMurran, Ryan Cheung and Tristan Cooper
Lower Sixth – Evan Dong, Jameson Liang, Eric He and Pui Lam Ng
Upper Sixth – Will Reddy, Kevin Xu, Oliver Jones, Ivan Iankov and Damon Yu

The Pythagoreans Society held their Christmas Quiz last Friday after school and, as always, it was incredibly popular, with mixed teams taking part from Bedford School, Bedford Girls’ School and Bedford Modern School.

The Ellen Parcell Memorial Prize for the Humanities – An Announcement
Ms Ellen Parcell, who most of you will know very sadly died earlier this year, was Head of History at Bedford School from 2005 to 2022, during which time she inspired many boys, and colleagues, with her love of history and her commitment to supporting the progress of her pupils. Ms Parcell promoted academic rigour and good scholarship. In this spirit, and with the aim of announcing our prize winners on International Women’s Day 2024, we are launching a writing prize in her name.  

Boys are invited, in Junior and Senior categories, to choose a question or task and to submit their competition entry in February 2024. A full list of questions is now published on the politics Firefly page, alongside competition rules and deadlines. Links are in the bulletin.

General Knowledge Club
Both the Intermediate A and Senior A General Knowledge teams won their first rounds of the Schools Challenge competition, against Ripon Grammar and Bolton Boys respectively. The teams demonstrated excellent knowledge of Greek mythology, floriography, new sports in the Summer Olympics, and famous Hungarians! Their next rounds will be in January, and we also look forward to the House General Knowledge Competition next term.

Debating and Public Speaking 
All three of the school’s teams made it through to the next stages of their respective English Speaking Union competitions this term. Sam Maling and Millan Verwoert performed impressively in a tough online heat to make it to Round Two of the prestigious debating competition, The Schools’ Mace. They argued persuasively and stylishly why judicial proceedings in the UK should be broadcast. Unusually, both Bedford School teams qualified from the local round of The Churchill Public Speaking Competition. Last year’s regional finalists, Henry Gillham, George Gutteridge and Fraser Morgan, will be joined in the next round by Seth Baines, Ralph Franklin and Isaac Raddan. All boys are reminded that they will be made most welcome at the regular Debating Society meetings held on Friday lunchtimes.

Entrepreneurship and Leadership
The creativity, initiative and drive of many boys has been exciting to see in the realm of entrepreneurship and leadership.

The end of the summer term saw a group of Fifth Form boys take part in the inaugural Start Up! week, starting their own fledgling businesses in just five days.

This term, our very first House Entrepreneurship Competition saw teams pitching their diverse business ideas to an esteemed panel of judges including OB Richard Canvin. Our first winner, with a paradigm challenging peer-tutoring platform concept, was St Cuthbert’s House – congratulations!

Young Enterprise has also relaunched this year under the expert guidance of Mr Green, with a dedicated group of Lower Sixth students having recently presented their ‘sea-safe straws’ idea to a Dragon’s Den style panel. The judges responded with such enthusiasm that one of them has offered to advertise the business through their own social media channels.

Entrepreneurship Society continues to meet fortnightly in S8 and, along with opportunities to share current project ideas – with their successes, challenges and failures – we have had the privilege of working with OBs Jonathan Hooley and Jay Vitale.

Ready2Lead?, now in its fifth year, saw 10 of our boys, supported by Mrs Geneve, join over 80 delegates from nine local Sixth Forms to develop their leadership in the context of making their own unique and positive difference in our local community. Working on issues relating to our environment, identified by local young people, the final market-place style event at Kimberley College was attended by key figures from Bedford Borough Council and Bedford Youth Cabinet, who were excited by the potential of many of the projects. Bedford School groups showcased their ideas of: an awareness raising photography project; a redesigned recycling bin that allowed users to vote on current issues; and a resource pack to support primary aged children make the most of Bedford’s green spaces.

The Ivy House Award, this year co-ordinated by Mr Jones, is also in its fifth year at Bedford School. This term, around 25 boys are involved each week in sessions where they are able to reflect together on values, passions and goals, whilst building the sense of personal responsibility and the skills to bring it about. A highlight has been the initiative that individuals have taken in the sessions and in implementing key lessons into life. We are looking forward to more boys joining the Award in the spring term.

Any boys who are interested in bringing their own creative idea to life and making their own positive impact in the world around them, please contact Mr Everitt.

Finally, we are also excited to be launching a new BTEC in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship for September 2024. If you’re interested, please speak to Mr Hellquist in the Business and Economics Department. 

Charities Report and Movember
We had an amazing month in November, under the banner of ‘Doing good, whilst having fun’. The boys learned about a variety of men’s mental and physical health issues, with the flagship day being the annual citizenship day, when the older boys (with a variety of moustaches on display) teach the younger ones on this very subject. The fundraising for the Movember Foundation has a competitive element, which seems to bring out the best in the boys. Yet again, we are officially the top school in the country for Movember fundraising, with a phenomenal £19,000 for this great cause! The by-now famous Bedford School Movember video was a classic of its kind. Well done to Mrs Marriott and all the Upper Sixth MoBros for this campaign, and indeed to everybody for a monumental whole school effort. 

HOUSE CUPS FOR AUTUMN TERM 2023

Latest House standings for the academic year:

1st         Paulo Pontine

2nd        Bromham

3rd        Crescent

4th        St Cuthbert’s

5th        St Peter’s

6th        Ashburnham

sport

Rugby 
It was a term of two seasons. A blisteringly hot and dry first half of term followed by a wet, sometimes torrential, second half. Although the latter put pay to some fixtures, it did not dampen the spirits of the rugby club. When accounting for all fixtures played across all levels, we were not far off 160 for the term. Boys played a variety of formats against many different opposition teams, including triangular and quadrangular; it was a busy and successful term of rugby. With an approximate 50:50 win/loss ratio, the boys had a good balance of competitive fixtures and opportunities to progress in the game. Making progress as a rugby player is important, but not the main driving factor as, more importantly, boys learn about themselves, develop valuable personal traits, form close friendships and make memories for life.  

There were certainly many positive moments to reflect on. It was nice the see the 1st XV put together their most complete performance of the season to beat Abingdon, scoring six brilliant team tries. Top try scorer of the season by far was Ben Agbenu, who scored some scintillating tries, but the final game saw the XV’s tries spread across five other players – clear demonstration of how well the team had gelled. We must also congratulate the three players Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, Ben Agbenu and Jonny Weimann on their England U18 recognition – three real prospects for the future.  

The U16A team were one game away from a 100% perfect winning season. They put in some brilliant performances and grew as a team as the year progressed. Their efforts were only thwarted in a high-quality match, by an equally impressive Abingdon team, in the final game of the season.    

The U15C team were the pick of the U15s demonstrating the strength in depth of the year group. They have a wonderful team spirit and always play with pride and passion. The U15A team should be congratulated on reaching the semi-final of the prestigious Langley Festival, losing out to a notoriously strong Wellington College team.

The U14As struggled to find opposition to challenge them, such was the strength of their team. They have a great balance of players from 1 to 15, and threatened their opposition from every angle. It is exciting to think how they will progress through the years at Bedford School.  

The final word must go to the U14 3rd game. Expertly managed by the staff, the boys made serious progress and the contact form of the game was played as far as the F team. Both the E and F teams regularly played teams one, two or even three levels higher than them and were always competitive. Their achievements are seriously impressive and the boys and staff should be proud.  

Major Sports Colours for rugby awarded to: 

• Harry Payne
• Zak DeGale
• Max Innes
• Rupert Cracknell
• Fergus Tongue
• Arthur Proctor
• Will Gallagher
• Ben Grainger
• Oscar Barker
• Thomas Jenkins
• Sam Cutler

Rugby Honours Caps were awarded to:  

• Freddie Drake-Lee
• Ben Agbenu
• Rhys Harries
• Jonny Weimann
• Edward Briers 

Badminton 

The badminton squad have had another very strong term; our first team pairs won all their fixtures and our second team pairs also enjoyed success with impressive victories over Stamford School and Oundle. The first team pairs have been captained well by Alex Lamb, and the addition of Marcus Wai to first team regulars Timothy Wai, Jacob Yau and Yash Stachowiak provided added depth to the squad. 

Minor Sports Colours for badminton are awarded to:

• Alex Lamb
• Timothy Wai
• Matthew Au
• Enrui Zhou 

Fives 

In fives, we had fixtures against Oundle and Bedford Modern this term, beating Oundle’s First IV in two games and their Second IV in one, and winning the overall fixture against Bedford Modern, though losing the First IV game. Particular thanks to the lead players Toby L’Estrange, Charlie Lawrence, Finn Adams, Fraser Morgan, Sam McMurran, and others who joined for individual games and stepped in when illnesses hit. Against the backdrop of a national shortage of Fives balls (!) this term, the Senior tournament was won by Charlie Lawrence, and the Junior by Oliver Yeo and Stirling Smallwood. House Fives and further fixtures will take place next term. 

Minor Sports Colours for fives are awarded to:

• Finn Adams
• Charlie Lawrence
• Toby L’Estrange 

Football 

The 1st XI and U15s have both enjoyed successful cup runs in their respective ISFA national competitions, and quarter finals against Reigate Grammar School and Kingswood House School await them in January. This is the first time the Bedford School football club have reached this stage of a national competition; well done to all involved! Whilst the competitive football programme really gets going in the spring, it has been a term of great development, not only of those in the cup teams but all of those honing their skills at Gordon Field this term. We look ahead to a busy season, which will include our tour to Villareal in Spain.  

Minor Colours for football are awarded to:

• Tommie Baddeley 

Golf 
We won the team event at the first 54-hole event of the Swifts Tour season, which was held at Aldeburgh GC over the weekend of 8 and 9 October. Our four players – Freddie Tucker (capt), Jack Peters, Ed Wade and Finlay Rennie – all contributed to the team total, whereby the worst score is dropped off for each round. Jack finished 3 shots off the eventual winner, placing fourth. Ed shot the low round of the week, 67 (-1) (no par 5s, despite being 6400 yds!). All four players placed in the top 11 individually, highlighting our strength in depth and resulting in winning the team event quite comfortably by 15 shots. 

On 3 October, the same four boys played an 18-hole event at The Berkshire on their Blue Course. Jack Peters almost secured the individual title, finishing one shot back in T2 with a round of 69 (-2). In the team event, we finished in third place. We have also won all four matches of the Swifts Foursomes (formerly HMC Foursomes) in the pool stage, qualifying us for the regional final to be played late in the spring term.

In more good news, both Jack Peters and Freddie Tucker have accepted offers from US Colleges for a golf scholarship starting next academic year. Jack visited over half-term and committed to Keiser University (Florida) and Freddie has scheduled a visit with Iona College (New York) in December, having committed to them. 

Minor Sports Colours for golf are awarded to:

• Will Wilkins 

Hockey 
The hockey club have been working hard, training for the indoor competitions, as well as continuing outdoor training during games afternoons. The U16 and U18 squads entered the England Hockey regional indoor competition where the boys performed excellently, but unfortunately came up against some very strong opposition on the day. These games provided a positive experience and will help both squads, who were predominantly playing a year up to further their development, ready to compete again next year. 

Rowing 
The Boat Club has seen 33 boys training consistently this term although, unfortunately, there have been very few chances for them to show the product of all this training: with the continuous deluges of rain, most non-Great Ouse events have been cancelled. The only event to survive the floods was Bedford Small Boats Head, at which the boys swept the board, beating Latymer, Norwich and Bedford Modern. 

The standout this term has been the seven boys who have made it through to the second round of GB trials, with five of them being invited to join a training day at the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake, home of the GB squad. We wish Rupert Apps, Archie Black, Dylan Mitchell, Harry Tolmie, Alex Harrison, Daniel McGregor and James Sprange well for the next round in February. 

Shooting 
Last year saw the departure of a very experienced cohort of shooters in our Upper Sixth, so work this term has primarily focused on gaining experience and honing skills to rebuild a competitive Shooting VIII. Whilst this has meant there was no competition for the boys, they have still worked hard training, including attending a coaching session in October from Nick Hudleston (OB), one of the school’s many successful OB shooters.

The hiatus in competition did allow us to incorporate more full bore shooting this term. Seven boys visited Bisley in November to shoot full bore at 300 yards. Despite bitterly cold conditions they shot well, expertly coached once again by Nick Hudleston (OB) and Robin Hatcher (OB).

The only competition shot this term was the BSSRA Staff Championship. Open to shooting coaches and staff from schools across the country, it was won by Mr Lumley-Wood, taking both the Gun Score and McRae average trophies.

Squash 
The squash teams have gone from strength to strength this term. With the loss of some of our key players pre-season, it is impressive to end the season with such a balanced score card of wins to losses against strong opposition. The club has been excellently captained by Vova Sumbaev and seen phenomenal teamwork and player development from all involved. 

Minor sports colours for squash awarded to:

• Danny Chapman
• Abhinav Iarala
• Ruben Jacob
• Abdullah Khalid 

Swimming and Water Polo 
Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control, the usual swimming competitions did not take place this term. However, our club swimmers continue to compete at a high level, with both Daniel Meier and Olly Meier representing Bedfordshire in the Inter-Counties Championships. 

Water polo continues to be the dominant co-curricular aquatic activity and numbers at training have been healthy. This term saw the first round of the National Schools Championships take place, which sorts the wheat from the chaff.  At U15 level we secured a place in the Plate Competition with two hard fought losses against Haberdashers and City of London, followed by an excellent, winning performance against QE Barnet: this secured third place in the group. The U18 team had a similar experience fielding a team of seven, and therefore no substitutes. In the opening game against Abingdon, we romped home 12-0 winners, guaranteeing a place in the Plate going forward. We then had to tough it out against two very strong water polo schools in Northampton School for Boys and King’s School Grantham. The team showed great attitude and effort under pressure, losing 10-2 and 8-3 respectively. Beyond school, Olly Meier represented the East Region at U14 level and Sam Barnes continues to play for Watford in club competitions. 

CREATIVE ARTS

Music
There were many instrumental highlights in the St Cecilia’s Concert this week, which saw 12 different ensembles performing (including a worthy first performance by the Consort Choir) with around 100 boys involved in the concert as a whole. On a vocal front, the Chapel Choir has been going from strength to strength under the inspiring eye of the Head of Choral Music, Mr Roberts, with a really diverse selection of repertoire for the weekly chapel services and particularly for the carol services last week, featuring a number of female and black composers. The House Singing competition provided another vocal highlight of the term; there were hotly contested and deeply felt performances from both unison and part songs. For the contemporary music enthusiasts, we had a very successful Open Mic Night, with excellent performances from our boys and girls from Bedford Girls’ School. Within the broader Creative Arts, we were very pleased to support the musical input to the production of A Christmas Carol, with outstanding creative composing from Angus Timmins, who also directed the live ensemble at all performances. In addition to the main musical events this term, there have also been the weekly lunchtime concerts taking place, with large numbers of boys performing and developing their skills as musicians. We have also enjoyed a visit from one of our Visiting Music Fellows, Katya Apekisheva, who spent a day working with pianists across the school. Particular thanks must also go to our new Organist in Residence, Mr Warcaba-Wood, who has been supporting all organ playing in assemblies and chapel services. Individual boy successes have included a well-deserved offer of a scholarship to Max Leung to study the trombone at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama. There have also been the usual rounds of practical graded music exams this term, and we have been delighted that Aaron Lim gained a Distinction in his ARSM Diploma on the violin, Pui Lam Ng a Distinction in his Grade 8 singing, Fraser Morgan a Distinction in his Grade 8 cello and William Everitt gaining a Merit in his Grade 8 piano.

Art
The Art Society, which takes place on Friday lunchtimes, got underway in September with a talk and discussion about the work of David Hockney. Consecutive sessions in the lead-up to October half term were taken up by the Upper Sixth boys doing their presentations for the school internal heat of ARTiculation, the national competition for talking and speaking about art. A shortlist of four was selected from the 16 entries, with the final taking place after half term. Barnaby Williams, Kish Patel, Alex Hall and Zaki Shameem talked about Anne Desmet, Van Gogh, Shepherd Fairey and Vermeer respectively. Our adjudicator Mr Finch singled out Barnaby Williams for his passion and in-depth analysis of Desmet’s print ‘Night Ice’, so he will go on to represent the school next term at the regional heat at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury. Recent sessions to conclude the term have looked at the work of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud.

Architecture Society got underway with an informative talk about the architect Kengo Kuma by Stephen Leng (Upper Sixth). We were delighted to welcome back in November OB James Robinson, who is currently working for Piercy and Company architects. In his talk about his career trajectory to date, James explained how he has gone from studying architecture at the Bartlett at UCL to now designing architecture for space. In a whistlestop and exciting talk, James’s passion was evident for all the boys to see and I am sure he will have persuaded some of those attending to seriously consider architecture as a possible future career.

The Sixth Form trip to Tate Britain in late September was an opportunity for the Lower Sixth to look at works directly related to this year’s project theme of ‘Life and Death’, and for the Upper Sixth to look at works relevant to their own coursework projects. The Fifth Form trip again to Tate Britain in November was another productive and busy day.

For the Artist Masterclass for the Upper Sixth in October, we were delighted to welcome back printmaker Dale Devereux Barker RI. Working for the whole day on a Sunday ensures that the boys really get into the whole process and momentum of silk-screen printing, so it was great to see them end up with some quality work to include in their A-Level coursework.

The first of two exhibitions in the Foyer Gallery this term was a retrospective of work by the painter Roy Freer NEAC, ROI, RI, PA. Planned a number of years ago, this show ended up being a retrospective following Roy’s death in 2021. His colourful, vibrant and celebratory work was a great way to get the term underway.

The Staff and Friends exhibition in the second half of term is always a popular event, with a wide range of works, and this year it was great to see a pleasing number of sales.

There have been two Gilbert Lloyd lectures this term. The first in October, ‘Christopher Wren: The Quest for Knowledge’, was given by Simon Carter, Head of Collections at St Paul’s Cathedral. It is 300 years since the death of Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), the revolutionary scientist, mathematician and architect who was responsible for building St Paul’s Cathedral, and for his talk Simon explored the life and work of one of Britain’s most accomplished polymaths – and the crises and opportunities which enabled his genius to flourish. Illustrated with images from the cathedral’s object and archive collections, the talk revealed the less well-known areas of Wren’s interests as well as his major architectural achievements.

For the second lecture in November entitled ‘In every hedge and hollow tree: Thomas Gainsborough, rootstock of Turner and Constable’, Dr James Hamilton looked at how Thomas Gainsborough’s romantic evocations of Suffolk countryside in the 18th century gave inspiration and direction to the questing and interrogative landscape paintings of Turner and Constable in the 19th. Dr Hamilton has written a number of critically acclaimed books of art history and biography including biographies of Gainsborough, Turner and Constable, so he was able to provide an informative and enlightening talk.

Drama

Drama colours awarded to:

• Zachary Wasterfall
• Giles Halsey

Both students have committed themselves to many major school productions, and their high standard of acting has been great to witness over the years.

Bedford School’s Academic Drama Society has continued to flourish each week. The term has been led by President Will Hayward. Will himself led the first society talk on French practitioner Antonin Artaud. Highlights from other lectures include a comic improvisation session led by Drama Scholar Henry Gillham, a lecture on the Greek play Antigone by Millan Verwoert and a brilliant lecture on Greek theatre by Tanay Rai. We were delighted to welcome back OB George Robertson, who took a fascinating lecture on dramaturgy (he has just left York University).

There have been several theatre trips this term, including a trip to see 2:22 at Milton Keynes Theatre. We have also had five workshops, with work ranging from Artaud, Stanislavski and physical theatre, as well as a GCSE Drama workshop with Theatre RE and Rhum and Clay.

Students excelled themselves yet again in our latest school production, A Christmas Carol. Performed over three nights to a packed Quarry Theatre, this timeless classic, adapted by Karen Louise Hebden, took audiences on a rollercoaster of emotions. Thank you to all cast, crew and band for a truly wonderful performance.

A magnificent performance by Lower Sixth Former Charlie Eggleton added to the authenticity of the scene, with his convincing portrayal of the bitter old man Scrooge – it was really hard to believe that this soulless, mean old man was played by a 16-year-old boy. Preparing for this famous role, Charlie watched several renditions of the play to take inspiration from the different actors who have also played the part. Charlie explained, “I think I really got into the mind of the character in order to give a good, believable, performance; and I think I understand Scrooge much better now, and the pain he went through. I decided to portray many classic Scrooge stereotypes, like a hunchback, and I came up with a voice that I thought fitted the character well, that I could sustain for the whole performance.”

Further adding to the realism of the scene was Lower Sixth Former Thomas Taylor’s portrayal of a cheerful and optimistic Bob Cratchit, with his well-executed Cockney accent and a character brimming with warmth and hope, which was so true to this Dickens character. The on-stage chemistry between Bob and his weak son, Tiny Tim, played by Fourth Former Seb Davis, made for some emotional and convincing father and son scenes, radiating love around the theatre. Thomas (Bob Cratchit) and Seb (Tiny Tim) spent months honing their father-son bond during rehearsals. Thomas explained, “We worked hard on the little things that would create a realistic father-son relationship, like a hand on a shoulder or a shared smile after something amusing or heartfelt happened on stage. I was very lucky to work with such a talented actor who took on the role of Tiny Tim so brilliantly.”

This adaptation also created an opportunity to collaborate with our music department, with an ensemble of school musicians broadcast live into the theatre from their upstairs studio. The original score was stunningly composed and conducted by Lower Sixth Former Angus Timmins, who had been working on this composition since June. It was a very special moment for him, and the audience, when he came out at the end to take a bow to rapturous applause. Thank you also to the following students who played in the band (including Mr Rooke and Mr Bantock):

First Violin: Alexander Olleson

Second Violin: Sebastien Tatham

Viola: Ethan Newton-Walters

Percussion/Keyboard: Alby Chan

Cast and crew:

Ebenezer Scrooge- Charlie Eggleton
Young Scrooge – Oscar Jelfs
Young Ebenezer – James Angus
Jacob Marley – Will Hayward
Ghost– Millan Verwoert
Spirit – Zachary Wasterfall
Phantom – Zachary Wasterfall
Fanny – Matt Hackney
Belle – Daniel Lushchay
Fezziwig – Louis Cooke                                        
Master Fezziwig – Lukas Collins
Bob Cratchit – Thomas Taylor
Tiny Tim Cratchit – Seb Davis
Mrs Cratchit – Charlie Lawrence
Fred – Hamish Timmins
Storyteller 2 – James Angus
Storyteller 3 – Oliver Quince
Storyteller 4 – Sammy Hughes
Storyteller 5 – Zachary Wasterfall
Storyteller 6 – Millan Verwoert
Storyteller 7 – Will Hayward
Businessmen 1 – Henry Gillham
Businessmen 2 – Daniel Hudson
Bailiff 1 – Matt Hackney
Bailiff 2 – Ben Elliott
Mr Thompkins – Giles Halsey
Mrs Thompkins – Charlie Lawrence
Mrs Fred– Charlie Gibson
Topper – Ben Elliott
Miss Dora – Nathanial Fletcher
Man 1 – Lukas Collins
Man 2 – Kieran Kelly
Dick Wilkens – Isaac Johnson
Charwoman – Louis Cooke
Dibler – Henry Gillham
Old Joe – Anton Gryaznov
Turkey Boy – Agastya Lahkar
Peter Cratchit – Kieran Kelly
Martha Cratchit – Fergus Jenkins
Belinda Cratchit – Edward Keggin

Tech support/crew:
Jamie Eaves – sound No.2
Elio Lepore – LX operation

Stage management:
Stephen Brown
Theo Cromwell

Auditions will be held this next term for the next school production of Clue.  We held a workshop a few weeks ago to invite prospective actors to the Quarry Theatre to work on a few key scenes. We have been delighted with the interest and hope more boys come to the auditions in January.

Finally, we remind all boys that the Drama Detweiler competition is open to all pupils and the deadline is 29 January. We look forward to getting your creative writing! Please email Mrs Keylock for further details. 

CCF

The CCF started the term with both a physical and metaphorical bang, as the Corps competed in the annual CADSAAM shooting competition in the very first weekend of the term. The timing of this competition is always difficult. Yet, despite the lack of opportunity to practise, the team achieved first place of all the CCF contingents, and third place overall, competing against a field of much more experienced and established teams.

Once term started, the routine of normal training was quickly established. The RAF continued with ground training and the Navy sailed on Priory Lake while the weather and light were with them.

All three Sections trained with the Corp’s new Field Gun, culminating in the inaugural Field Gun competition just before the half term break, won by the Royal Navy.

The NCO training Cadre took place in the first week of the half term break, returning to Jersey Camp on the Isle of Wight. This involved preparing 14 junior NCOs from all three Services to lead the Fourth Form Recruits that will join us in January.

The RAF Royal Air Squadron Trophy Ground Skills Competition took place on 26 November. The team performed well, beating Bedford Modern and achieving podium places in two stands: third in Airfield Defence and second in the Command Task, although a detailed report on placings has yet to be published by the RAF.

This term also saw the appointment of the contingent’s latest Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet, Sgt Licia Cappaccio. Acting as an aide to the King’s representative in Bedfordshire, this is one of the highest achievements a cadet can make.

Head Master’s Scarves

The first recipient is fully involved in the musical life of the school and has been committed to a large number of ensembles including, amazingly: Chapel Choir, Consort Choir, Choral Society, Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and Funk Band. He has taken a leadership role in the Chapel Choir and he leads from the front, making it a space where boys from Year 3 to the Upper Sixth can feel a full part of a meaningful group and sing so well. He is always happy to take responsibility, to put his hand up and to play his part, embodied by the singing of solos, leading assemblies and playing a role in public events like Open Mic Night. Beyond this, he has done an excellent job of showing how a pupil can be a courageous public advocate. He is a driving force in the LGBT+ allies group, working hard to get support resources built up and publicly advocating, for example, through the history month assembly last year. He has also been a key person in setting up and driving forward the mental health ambassadors group. In short, he has paved a way in establishing and advocating for important matters in our school community, so that it will be easier for those pupils in the future who also want to do so. Lastly, and significantly, he has also, on a number of occasions, been someone who quietly tells an adult that someone is having a tough time and needs checking in on, showing himself to be a true friend and ally, and really caring about wellbeing. This boy is Toby L’Estrange.

The last two scarves, uniquely, come in a pair – and I do hope that these two boys will forgive me for that! They are in fact good friends, but they are also individually outstanding young men and great role models for all boys at school. They are often seen together and have collaborated and contributed in the most extraordinary way to the school, particularly in the last year or so. One of them pretty much single-handedly organised the Open Mic Night, liaising with boys and girls from Bedford Girls’ School, fixing who was playing, in what order, sound checking, printing a programme, etc. This showed incredible organisational skills and an ability to work well with a whole load. The other, similarly, has an inner drive to help those less fortunate than himself and through his Faces Christmas toy donation scheme, totally masterminded, run and managed by himself, he has now collected over 350 toys for children in local communities over the last two years. His empathy, drive and can-do attitude is so refreshing to be around, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Both have been incredible throughout the Movember campaign – truly exceptional young men who worked tirelessly behind the scenes through a number of challenges to lead our most successful Movember campaign to date. They have used their passions and strengths to raise awareness and encourage others whilst keeping up with their studies and taking part in the school production. Both have also made extraordinary contributions to the drama department and Quarry staff in their time at school, spending numerous hours on works of technical and creative mastery. Last year alone, when we were short of a school technician, these two assisted with preparing the GCSE Drama exams for two different cohorts and trained up one of the drama teachers to be a designer/technician! They are also both wonderful personal advocates of the school and have taken numerous prospective family tours. If I had been one such family, I would not have bothered visiting elsewhere. I do not normally look to monitors for these awards, but I cannot help it this time. Well done, on so many fronts, to Charlie Faulkner and Jacob Foster.

And on that final point, I would like to say thank you to the whole tours team, under Charlie and also Barnaby James, who have been amazing this term. I would also like to thank the staff for their incredible inspiration this year; they are a remarkable team and I think we should all stop to applaud them. 

This term also sees the departure of Mrs Hutchison – thank you to her for covering for a term in geography – and of Mr Gracie. Mr Gracie has been here for 40 terms, so just over 13 years, as geography teacher, sports (and especially rugby) coach, Talbot’s Housemaster and latterly Assistant Head (Pastoral) and Designated Safeguarding Lead. He has made an immense contribution to very many people’s lives, boys and indeed staff, and we wish him well as he takes up his role as Deputy Head just down the road at Bedford Girls’ School. 

Finally, well done to all of you. You have been excellent this term; you have achieved all sorts of wonderful things; and you have grown well and learned in your various individual ways. I wish you well for Christmas; and we move in that direction now in the traditional way, with the final hymn of term, Domus Pater.