SEPT 2018 - FEB 2019
College Connection
On Sunday 23rd September 2018, Bishop’s Stortford College celebrated its 150th birthday. To mark this auspicious occasion, a whole year of celebrations began with a special Founders’ Day service for pupils, staff, parents, governors and alumni (known as Old Stortfordians). Held in the Memorial Hall and attended by over 300 people, the service was followed by a birthday tea. The celebrations continued into October with the burial of a time capsule, which will be unearthed and opened in fifty years, in 2068. Pupils and staff from each section of the College thought long and hard about what to include inside the capsule; poems, a quilt made from College ties, Leo Price Theatre programmes, menus from the Dining Hall, artwork, DVDs of Senior School House Music and a Prep School play and copies of the current prospectus were just some of the items included, all of which illustrate College life today. The capsule burial was led by John Perry (RPH, 63-68), who was Head Boy in 1968 when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited the College for the Centenary celebrations. Mr Perry also delivered the address at the Memorial Hall service and spoke vividly about his role escorting HM the Queen Mother through the 100th Anniversary celebrations fifty years ago. The following week, the College welcomed the Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Mr Robert Voss CBE who represents Her Majesty the Queen and supports the Royal Family across the county. Welcomed by the Headmaster, the Bursar, the Chairman of the Governing Council and the Senior School Head Boy and Head Girl, Mr Voss was taken on a tour of the campus and spent time with pupils in Pre-Prep, the Prep School and Senior School. The LordLieutenant’s visit ended with a tree planting ceremony on Masters’ Green to commemorate the occasion and Mr Voss expressed his wish to return to the College in 10 years’ time to see how ‘his tree’, a handkerchief tree, is growing. Further celebratory events will take place in the latter half of the academic year including a grand music concert, and more drama performances. 2
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Harvest Festival The College celebrated harvest during the first week of October, with the Pre-Prep, Prep School and Senior School each holding Harvest Festivals in the Memorial Hall. Pupils brought in parcels of food for the Whitechapel Mission, including bags of toiletries, tins, pasta and pulses, sauces and soups. By the end of the week there were enough groceries to fill a supermarket which were packed into the Mission’s trailer. Pupils gathered for a lovely celebration, reflecting on those who are less fortunate and were encouraged not to take anything for granted.
Dancing Fever At the end of September the whole College community came together for Charity Day, which this year was made extra special for the 150th anniversary celebrations. Pupils, staff and parents throughout the College were asked to support the work of OneYMCA in Bishop’s Stortford, who support young people through a wide range of practical services, enabling them to grow in potential and become transforming influencers within their communities. Teams from across the College and guests from OneYMCA led assemblies before ‘dancing fever’ took over the College, with pupils and staff joining forces to ‘dance the YMCA’ along to the 1970’s disco hit by The Village People. In the Prep School a birthday cake competition was held and three winners from each of the age groups were chosen. All of the cakes looked fantastic and the judges had a very difficult task choosing the winners! A wonderful day was had by all members of the College community and a total of over £4,500 was raised for OneYMCA.
Whitechapel Mission The Harvest Week continued for a group of Sixth Formers from Sutton and Benson Houses who took part in the Whitechapel Mission Breakfast Challenge. The students saw for themselves how the harvest gifts collected by the College were used as they cooked, cleaned and served breakfast and hot drinks and distributed toiletries to those in need. The students felt very humbled by their experience and commented, “meeting people at the Mission brought mixed emotions; their diversity really shocked us, and it was a challenge to know how to respond to everyone.” The Whitechapel Mission made such an impact on the students that they all agreed they would love the opportunity to return and that “warm beds, hot water, companionship and food will never be taken for granted again.” Bishop’s Stortford College | COLLEGE CONNECTION
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In February, we held our 10th Festival of Literature and welcomed the largest selection of authors, poets and speakers yet in honour of our 150th anniversary. Spread across 10 days the Festival included a stunningly orchestrated performance from illustrator Chris Riddell; award‑winning authors Gillian McClure, Pippa Goodhart and Rosemary Hayes expressed how passion and a nurturing love of books is crucial for any aspiring children’s writers; while comedy connoisseur Robin Ince kept his audience entertained with a wily combination of witty observations of what makes us human.
Not a pin‑drop could be heard throughout Debs Newbold’s passionate and inventive re‑telling of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Claire Lomas shared her emotional yet inspiring life‑changing story and adventures, inviting everyone to believe that they can accomplish anything if they put their mind to it, whilst wildlife photographer and cameraman, Michael Leach, shared his clever tips and tricks of photography and the wonderfully varied ‘behavioural ecology’ of the world’s most elusive wildlife. We hosted the eccentric children’s book illustrator, Sarah McIntyre, who took her audience on an artistic journey demonstrating how her characters are brought to life through pencil and paper. Sixth Form English students participated in a Q&A session with journalist turned best‑selling author of crime, Fiona Barton. Sixth Form
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reviewer Arthur commented, “Many of her characters are amalgamated from genuine people she’s interviewed along her career, which creates a chilling realism that may strike a chord with the reader where a fabricated character could not.” Luke Wright, “one of the funniest and most brilliant poets of his generation” graced our stage near the end of the week, performing his poetry with passion and grit. Leading art critic and broadcaster, Andrew Graham‑Dixon, opened our 150 Years of Art at the College Exhibition before enthralling his audience with his knowledge of, and passion for Paul Nash, amongst others. Traditional family recipes from My Bangladesh Kitchen were served up by chef and writer, Saira Hamilton, followed by historian David Starkey who traced the history of the British monarchy from the middle ages to modern day. Jackie Morris ended the Festival, painting two beautiful otters in Japanese ink whilst discussing her process of creating her latest book ‘The Lost Words’.
Our sincere thanks to all our Festival sponsors without whom this annual event would not be possible; Barnes Construction, Delta 2020, Hertfordshire Display, M J Warner, Savills, Simpsons Creative and Tees. Thanks also to the Friends of the Pre‑Prep and Prep Schools for their help throughout, the Norfolk Children’s Book Centre and to the Bishop’s Stortford Independent for their superb coverage of the Festival events.
Throughout the week there were events for College and local school pupils to enjoy; Chitra Soundar kicked off National Storytelling Week with her new book You’re Safe With Me, exploring the sights, sounds and tastes of India; Paul Cookson and Steve Skidmore encouraged children to engage with reading by choosing the twists and turns in their Decide Your Own Destiny range of books. Award‑winning author, Lauren St. John, told tales of her childhood in Zimbabwe, her inspiration for her writing, her love of animals and involvement in animal charities; Philip Reeve read from his novel Railhead using evocative video and sound backdrops to conjure the atmosphere of the book and Petr Horacek captivated his audience with wonderful stories and drawings.
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Picture Book Award 2019 The 2019 Bishop’s Stortford Picture Book Award, presented on Wednesday 6th February by the very first winner of the award, Sarah McIntyre, was the culmination of a closely fought vote between eight shortlisted books. 16 local schools from across Hertfordshire and Essex participated in the award, casting between them over two thousand votes. In third place was Tropical Terry by Jarvis, in second place was There’s a Dragon In Your Book by Tom Fletcher and Greg Abbott and the winner, voted favourite by eight schools was Baby’s First Bank Heist by Jim Whalley and Stephen Collins.
Literature Live The annual House Reading Competition, Literature Live, proved to be a night of powerful poetry encompassing moments of laughter and palpable silence. Luke Wright, who began writing and performing poetry at the age of 17, was our flamboyant and charismatic judge. He commended the performers on their stirring and passionate performances, particularly those in the Senior category remarking, “they could’ve all been the winner.”
The College was delighted to welcome some of the participating schools to the Award presentation, as well as the winning partnership of Jim and Stephen. Throughout the afternoon the audience watched video messages from each of the authors of the shortlisted books and listened to a special reading of the winning book by the authors. The duo also illustrated to the audience how baby ‘Frank’ was first dreamed up from an egg, a satsuma and four sausages! Senior School Librarian and Picture Book Award Coordinator, Maggie Garrett said, “I would like to thank everyone involved and especially all those who have helped make this event happen for the last 10 years. It was lovely to see so many local primary schools return to join us for this award, made even more special with the return of our very first Picture Book Award winner, Sarah McIntyre, for our 10th anniversary Festival of Literature.”
Harry Potter Night Continuing with Festival tradition, Prep School pupils from Lower Shell to Form 2 cast their spells, perfected their potions and entered the world of witchcraft and wizardry as they enjoyed a very magical Harry Potter Night on 7th February. Coinciding with celebrations of the famous boy wizard book series across the globe, this year’s theme was ‘Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’.
The winners were; Junior: Matthew and George (Hayward House) with ‘Callum, who was an awful bully’ by Mitchell Symons. Group: Lower Fifth and Upper Fifth, Anya; Fifi; Sienna and Hannah (Tee House) with ‘Pause’ by Lincoln High Slam Poets. Senior: Joshua (Sutton House) with ‘Trunchball’s Monologue’ by Dennis Kelly from ‘Matilda the Musical’. Congratulations to the winners; well done to the participants.
Pupils had the honour of meeting Hogwarts Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, created their own House chants, played a spell-binding game of Quidditch, completed a quiz and concocted various magical potions. All of the competition points were added up and this year the winning Hogwarts House was Slytherin!
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Pre-Prep Cinema Year 1 had a wonderful afternoon when they visited the cinema, re-created in the Pre-Prep IT Suite. They watched ‘Horton Hears a Who!’ based on the very popular book by Dr Seuss.
Treehouse Adventure In October, pupils from Shell and Form 1, together with pupils from five other local schools, gave an enthusiastic welcome to Andy Griffiths, author of the Treehouse Storey books. The young audience were treated to a tour of his Treehouse, learning how it has grown from 13 levels to the current 104 storeys, whilst Andy described his extraordinary adventures with his coillustrator Terry. Andy also visited the Prep School Library to see Treehouse designs created by pupils. He was so inspired by their ideas, he took photos to work from for a future book. The event finished with Andy playing a song on a balloon. It was a riotous, fun and engaging session which was loved and enjoyed by all.
Poetic Performance Form 2, Lower Third and Upper Third pupils were mesmerised by former College pupil, poet Sara Hirsch, as she gave a powerful performance of some of her favourite poems and answered questions from pupils. Sara recounted how, as a pupil in the Senior School, she saw Benjamin Zephaniah perform and was inspired to become a performance poet which in turn inspired her audience.
Debating Throughout the autumn term, the Library became a battle ground as Senior School debaters, representing each House, engaged in a war of words on topics such as ‘the value of celebrities’, ‘the pros and cons of computers and the impact they have on our lives’ and ‘Is free speech always a good thing?’. After some tense and closely contested matches Collett and Robert Pearce Houses made it through to the final. Well done to all those who took part, but special congratulations to Collett House who won for the second consecutive year.
Focussing on the English topics for each year group, Sara’s poems explored journeys, memories and moments and fear. The applause she received for each reflected the type of poem performed; raucous and loud for the funny ones and more subdued with a reflective hum for those with a more serious tone. 6
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EPQ Presentations
Get IT
During the autumn term, Upper Sixth students presented their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) work to an audience of their peers, staff, parents and governors.
Upper Third pupils embarked on a journey to become app inventors during the first few weeks of term. Working with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Get IT programme, designed to inspire young people to get into IT, they set out to invent an app to improve or address a social issue impacting their school or local community. Four groups of Prep School pupils were invited by AWS to participate in a pilot programme designed to fill the digital skills gap in the UK, improve communication and inspire young people to gain digital skills and ultimately get into IT.
The EPQ is a Level 3 qualification, equivalent to an AS, that gives students free rein to follow a direction of study of interest to them. This project gives students the opportunity to focus on independent study skills including planning, research, IT competence, evaluation and presentation. All of which are vital skills both for university and the world of work.
This year, topics varied and included titles such as A psychological analysis of fairy tales and their impact on children and Does the criminal justice system do enough to protect victims of rape and prevent injustice against innocent defendants? The EPQ showcase illustrated the students’ enthusiasm for their chosen topics. Their demonstration of knowledge and skill which they imparted was impressive.
In the first part of the challenge, each team gave themselves a name and created a secret codename for their app. The teams then spent time thinking about their target audience and how their app idea could help them. In December the pupils took up the fantastic opportunity to attend the AWS Bootcamp at the Amazon HQ in London. A variety of sessions, led by professional developers, analysts, marketing supervisors and public relations staff, focussed on topics such as problem identification, customer needs, user interfacing and public speaking. These workshops gave the pupils a great insight into, and better understanding of, how Amazon and other digital companies work. The challenge will continue throughout the academic year and the schools with the best ideas will be invited to present to a panel of industry experts at the AWS Summit in May with AWS committing to building the winning app idea.
Exploring Nature Pre-Prep pupils explored nature and wildlife in their Forest School sessions throughout the Autumn term. Whilst Reception searched for natural materials to make a wool and woodland piece of art and created some carefully made owl nests, Year 1 collected berries and very creatively used them as ink for their artwork. Meanwhile Year 2 discovered the four elements and learned how a fire needs fuel, oxygen and heat to burn. They were lucky enough to toast some marshmallows and eat them!
Space Explorers Reception and Year 1 were reaching for the stars when a Planetarium arrived in the PrePrep Hall in January. The pupils explored the stars, constellations and planets whilst travelling through the solar system. It was a very educational and enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Bishop’s Stortford College | COLLEGE CONNECTION
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Time Travelling
American Dream
Upper Shell ‘time travelled’ back to the Norman period when they visited Stansted Mountfitchet Castle on a History trip. The visit was a wonderful success, helping everyone gain an insight into what life was like during Norman times. The pupils had a thoroughly enjoyable day and returned to school knowing lots of new and interesting facts.
Fourteen Sixth Form students and three members of staff spent the first week of the autumn half term break in California on the fourth biennial Media Studies
Barleylands Farm Year 2 had a fantastic trip to Barleylands Farm in October. They thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on activities which were linked to their science topic, the four elements. Everyone made bread and butter, enjoyed a tractor ride, fed the animals and visited the aviary. The visit encouraged and generated wonderful discussion, curiosity and questions.
Fitzwilliam Museum Pupils in Lower Shell had an exciting trip to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge where they saw a multitude of artefacts from Ancient Egypt. Their excitement at seeing these objects first hand was palpable! The children also moved around the art galleries where they learned about specific paintings, gaining an understanding of how to explore the meanings and details of portraits and landscapes. The children behaved impeccably and a great day out was had by all.
tour. Students began their trip with a tour of Los Angeles, including Santa Monica and the end of Route 66, learning about the history of the city and the film and media industry. Students took a memorable walk down Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, visited Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Dolby Theatre which hosts the Oscars ceremony. A trip
to the OUE Skyspace Tower gave the group some wonderful views of the city and those brave enough could then slide down the outside of the building, from 70 floors up, in a glass slide. During their visit to Warner Bros. Studios students were able to explore the sets for current and past TV shows and films, including sitting on the iconic Friends’ sofa in Central Perk. At Universal Studios they were also given an insight into the behind-the-scenes work and staging for film and TV shows.
A long coastal drive over to San Francisco was next, providing some breathtaking scenery followed by insights into the world of social media at the Apple visitor’s centre and Google Headquarters. Then later, a full tour of the city including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Walt Disney Family Museum. Blessed with excellent weather throughout the trip, a great time was had by all. 8
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Inaugural Spanish Exchange The very first Senior School Spanish Exchange took place during October when the College welcomed nineteen pupils from Agustinas Misioneras School in Valladolid, Spain for a week. The Spanish pupils had very much looked forward to their visit and thoroughly enjoyed the time shared with their exchange partners and their families. Our visitors were impressed with the size of the College as it is so different to their school in Spain and said it reminded them of Hogwarts!
Gruffalos Everywhere! Reception had a wonderful visit to Thorndon Wood where they met all the animals featured in ‘The Gruffalo’. The pupils cleverly disguised themselves as foxes or squirrels by making willow crowns decorated with natural woodland resources before walking around the forest. The children also enjoyed making owl ice-cream, feeding acorns to the squirrels and making a small house for the little brown mouse.
During their stay, the pupils took part in a number of lessons to practise their English in a natural setting. They also enjoyed excursions to London and Cambridge and spent time with their College counterparts and their families, who introduced them to a number of typical English meals. It was then the turn of the College pupils to go to Spain and live with their exchange partners for a week during October half term. The pupils all had a wonderful time and were able to improve their Spanish speaking skills.
Houses of Parliament At the end of November, seventeen Prep School Pupil Councillors from the Lower and Upper Third had the privilege of visiting the Houses of Parliament. The day began with pupils travelling to Westminster and walking through Parliament Square Gardens, to see the statues of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi. Next up was the Palace of Westminster where pupils observed debates in both the House of Lords and House of Commons. Both chambers were debating the question ‘How can the standard of education be improved in the United Kingdom?’ and one member of the House of Lords asked if the chamber might consider banning smart phones in primary and middle school, which caused some debate amongst the pupils! The Pupil Councillors then took part in a workshop on Voting and Political Representation where they learned the meaning of terms such as manifesto, ballot boxes and hustings. The workshop proved very engaging and by the end pupils had democratically elected an imaginary Prime Minister and voted for MPs from a range of constituencies. The highlight of the day came when pupils made their way into one of the smaller chambers beside Westminster Hall and were able to observe the MP for Bishop’s Stortford, Mark Prisk, take part in a debate about the rights of landlords and tenants in rented housing. At the end of the session, he spoke to the pupils about his duties in the House of Commons and how, presently, life at the Commons is very busy. The visit was a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience and pupils were very grateful to all the members of staff who made the trip possible.
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Traffic Survey
Teambuilding
Positioned just outside the main College entrance at the bottom of Maze Green Road, Year One conducted a short traffic survey in the autumn term. Full of enthusiasm for the task in hand, they expertly spotted all of the different forms of traffic coming their way, recording the number of cars, lorries and bicycles going past in a given period.
During the first few weeks of term, Upper and Lower Third pupils made full use of opportunities to further their teambuilding skills. Whilst Upper Third pupils spent a week away at Bradwell Outdoors Centre, taking part in activities including raft building, sailing and high ropes as well as carrying out research for their Geography projects, the Lower Thirds completed a range of challenges on the College playing fields. Hosted by WiseUp, the pupils worked together on a range of problem-solving activities in the sunshine, gaining the opportunity to get to know their new classmates better and explore their practical thinking skills.
DT Rotary Competition Winners Three teams of College pupils took part in the annual Rotary Technology Competition. During a challenging yet enjoyable afternoon, each team, consisting of Junior (U3rd), Intermediate (L5th) and Senior (L6th/U6th), had 30 minutes of discussion and design time, followed by two hours of construction and testing time before presenting their designs to a panel of judges. This year the task was to design a Space Capsule Launcher. All the College teams did extremely well but congratulations must go to the Senior team who claimed victory with a very impressive display of their vertically launched Space Capsule. The design met all the required criteria and performed exactly as planned.
Bully Free Status During Anti-Bullying Week, Fourth Form pupils presented, by House, a showcase demonstrating their understanding of, and how to combat, the issues of bullying with the aim of gaining ‘Bully Free’ status for their House. The presentations were the culmination of several weeks of hard work and included poems, songs, videos and role plays. Guest judges assessed the work of each House against a robust set of criteria and included members of the Governing Council, school leaders from other Bishop’s Stortford Education Trust (BSET) schools and valued members of the College staff. Every House was deemed worthy of ‘Bully Free’ Status and all the pupils were commended for their presentations and hard work. 10
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Brains Trust Final After a thrilling and intense series of matches throughout the Autumn term, the final of the Senior School Brains Trust Competition took place in the College Library, with a repeat of the 2016 final between Collett House and Benson House. After the individual question rounds on subjects including Food and Drink, Art and Artists and Current Affairs, an intense buzzer round and a very impressive Mastermind round, Benson House claimed victory and were crowned the 2018 Inter-House Brains Trust winners.
Teddy Bears’ Picnic On a sunny September afternoon, Pre-Prep was full of teddy bears in different shapes, sizes and colours, when Reception pupils brought in their favourite soft toys for the annual Teddy Bears’ Picnic. It was great to see so many parents and so many well-loved teddy bears!
Savills Art Prize
BBC Question Time As part of our 150th celebrations, the College was honoured to host the penultimate BBC Question Time of 2018. A number of Prep and Senior School pupils were fortunate to take part in one of two ‘on set experiences’ held by the production team before the broadcast took place. Producer David Lockhart spent almost an hour explaining how the programme works and gave an insight into the technical side of each broadcast. The camera crew explained their roles and showed pupils how to operate the cameras too. During their ‘on set experience’ Sixth Form students studying Politics and/or Economics had the chance to chat and put questions to Question Time host David Dimbleby. Several students then posed as panellists for the sound check and answered questions from the rest of the group who were in the audience seats. It was a wonderful opportunity for all of those involved.
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Over the summer holidays, Prep School pupils were given the challenge of an art competition in which, to tie in with our 150th anniversary, they were asked to draw something with an architectural or landscape theme from the College campus. The standard of the entries was incredibly high, and credit must go to all the pupils who took the time to create their artwork. The entries, and there were dozens, were judged by Justin Godfrey, Head of Savills’ Bishop’s Stortford office, who had sponsored the competition. Mr Godfrey commented, “We’re delighted to support the College and to recognise young talent. Given the age of the pupils, the quality and skills on show were quite extraordinary.” Well done to Amber M (1st prize), Olivia S (2nd prize) and Imogen F (3rd prize) who were awarded vouchers for art materials.
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GCSE Drama Upper Fifth GCSE drama pupils devised four excellent plays which were performed with confidence during the Autumn term. Each of the four pieces focused on a different theme including greed, acceptance and modern society and were titled ‘Miss Fortune’, ‘Everyone has their baggage’, ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘Your Secret’s Safe with Me.’
Pre-Prep Workshop Years 1 and 2 enjoyed a great drama session in September with Perform For Schools in which Year 2 re-enacted the events that led to the Great Fire of London and gave thought to which items in their own homes they would want to save; while Year 1 discovered all about the body. It was a very imaginative, active and fun day for all involved.
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Not That Different In November, Senior School dramatists performed, as part of our 150th celebrations, a specially commissioned musical, ‘Not That Different’ which explored our educational values and progress over the last 150 years. Well done to all involved for fantastic performances and great contributions behind the scenes.
Pre-Prep Drama in Forest School Year 2 enjoyed a drama activity in Forest School where they created their own stories and performed them to their peers. The children were very imaginative and resourceful, using the nature around them as props in their performances.
Special Relationships The Lower Fifth performed their devised play, Special Relationships, at the end of January. Well done to all involved.
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Form 2 Concert
House Music
Parents and friends were treated to an exciting concert in November performed by pupils in Form 2. The evening kicked off with a lively song from the Choir and the Junior Chamber Choir before moving onto solo performances. One pupil gave a delightful performance on the harp, several solo singers demonstrated confidence and assurance with their delivery of some challenging songs and a drum solo added variety to the evening.
The annual Senior School House Music Competition took place just before October half term, uniting every pupil in a wonderful celebration of music. Houses produced their own arrangements for the three sections of the competition; Instrumental, Part-Song and Unison. Instrumental performances featured well known pop and rock songs and movie theme tunes such as ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘I Like to Move It’; Part-Song highlights included renditions of ‘Super Trouper’ (Alliott House), ‘Surfin’ USA’ (Hayward House) and ‘I Say a Little Prayer’ (Benson House).
Performances on the piano, violin and cello showcased the talents of many pupils and the recorder and trombone/ tuba groups demonstrated work from their instrumental classes. The evening came to an end with the Choir singing ‘Benediction Song’ which they had previously performed at the Prep School Remembrance Service. Well done to all performers for a fabulous evening!
The guest judge, Mr. Andrew Dibb, an experienced organist, ABRSM examiner and former Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral School, was hugely complimentary of all participants and mentioned that in all his time examining and adjudicating, this was by far the most impressive music competition he had ever attended. Congratulations to Trotman House who won the overall competition!
Budding Musicians Some wonderful musical assemblies have taken place in Pre-Prep across the Autumn and Spring terms on a variety of instruments including the piano and recorder. All the children played their instruments with confidence and performed superbly. 14
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Musical Assemblies and Concerts Well done to all those Prep School pupils who have performed in assemblies. A variety of instruments have been showcased including piano, clarinet, trumpet plus several vocal arrangements. The Trumpet Ensemble performed the well-known song ‘Eye of the Tiger’ with energy and rhythmic drive. A solo performance of Gerald Finzi’s ‘Forlana’ for clarinet was met with a very well deserved and enthusiastic round of applause from both staff and pupils, and a solo vocal rendition of ‘Hallelujah’ left everyone present with goose-bumps. The Prep School Pianists’ Concert took place on Thursday 24th January with a good number of young performers taking part. The evening featured a very enjoyable selection of piano works by composers such as Chopin, Nielsen and Bartok which were performed by very musical and skilful Prep School pianists. We look forward to hearing more wonderful music in the spring and summer terms.
Upper and Lower Third Concerts Many Prep School musicians took part in the annual autumn term Lower and Upper Third Concerts. There was a lovely variety of instruments including piano, strings and wind, all of which were played beautfiully. The Prep School Orchestra also performed at the concert, playing Mouret’s ‘Rondo’ with precision and drive.
Senior School Pupils’ Concert At the annual Senior School Pupils’ Concert, the audience in the Memorial Hall was treated to a wonderful array of performances ranging from solo violin music to jazz. The Senior School Concert Band opened the evening with a commanding performance of ‘Exclamations’, followed by an ultra-smooth and completely entertaining performance of ‘Mac the Knife’. Solos on the violin and cello quickly transposed the atmosphere to one of quiet and calm which continued with the Flute group displaying a close affinity for the beautiful French music of Fauré’s ‘Pavane’. The Orchestra brought the evening to a close with movements from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Nutcracker Suite’ , from which ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ was a particular highlight. Well done to all those who took part. Bishop’s Stortford College | COLLEGE CONNECTION
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Pre-Prep Christmas Productions Each year group in Pre-Prep staged an outstanding Christmas production this term. Reception confidently performed The King is Born and it was clear to see they enjoyed every moment; Year 1 performed Children of the World, demonstrating some excellent singing and speaking; and the Year 2 performance of A Midwife Crisis showcased wonderful narration, timing and clarity from the actors. Well done to Pre-Prep!
Christmas Market Lower Fifth Germanists travelled to Birmingham for a day at the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt Christmas Market in December. Split into small groups, the pupils spent a couple of hours exploring the market, with the aim of practicing the role plays they had prepared ahead of the trip. Using their German language skills in a relaxed setting, the pupils bought German specialties including a half a metre long ‘Bratwurst’ with ‘Pommes’ (chips), ‘Lebkuchenherz’ (gingerbread hearts) and ‘Geschenke’ (presents) for their families. The Christmas spirit continued on the way home, with everyone singing German Christmas songs on the coach.
Christingle Pre-Prep and Prep School pupils celebrated the start of the festive season with Christingle Services in the Memorial Hall in late November. Pupils had already learned about the meaning of Christingle as they decorated their oranges with sweets, a ribbon and a white candle: the orange represents the world, the red ribbon embodies God’s love for the world and the blood of Jesus, the sweets represent God’s creation in the four seasons and the candle signifies Jesus as the light of the world, bringing hope.
Senior Citizens’ Party The annual Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party took place during the last week of term. This year, Alliott House took responsibility for organising the party and did a superb job. The girls created some imaginative table decorations, wrapped and sorted the gifts (generously donated by tutor groups) and devised a five-round quiz to help break the ice between pupils and guests. There was a wonderful atmosphere throughout the afternoon; the generation gap was bridged as pupils and guests took time to talk together and listen to one another. Musical performances from talented Prep and Senior School musicians added to the festive feel.
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House Rugby
Holland Hockey Tour
Despite the poor weather, yet arguably good conditions for rugby, Senior School House Rugby was a great success, with a mixture of regular and nonrugby players representing their Houses. With spirits high throughout the day, there were some great individual, as well as team skills, on show during the afternoon.
At the beginning of October half term, 17 players and three members of staff set off for a five day hockey tour to Holland. Based in Den Bosch, the team enjoyed the use of world class facilities throughout the duration of their stay.
Congratulations to Robert Pearce House for winning both the Junior and Senior Cups, thereby claiming overall House Rugby victory.
The tour consisted of three matches against Dutch teams, four training sessions with the Den Bosch 1st XI players, a Hoofdklaase match, go karting and laser quest. All the players thoroughly benefited from an intense, busy, hugely satisfactory and enjoyable tour and came back better players for the experience.
Marathon Day Friday 28th September was Marathon Day for pupils from Lower Shell to Upper Third. It was fantastic to see all the pupils competing so fiercely yet with great sportsmanship and respect for one another. As always, it was a great day with lots of energy, high spirits and talent on show. The pupils gave everything for their respective Houses and did themselves proud.
Mia’s Swimming Marathon Prep School pupil, Mia, raised an incredible £6,123 for a local charity by swimming a half marathon. The charity, Kids in Need, grants wishes for terminally ill children or those with serious disabilities within the Bishop’s Stortford area. Mia’s swim, equating to 844 lengths of a 25m pool, took over 3 months to complete. Having started on 15th September, Mia swam 4 times a week, on top of her school work, and completed the distance on 16th December in the College pool. Mia’s final swim, of 15 lengths, was watched by the Chairman and Trustees of the Kids in Need who gave Mia a special award for the incredible work she has done. This award is only given to one person each year and Mia received 100% of the votes. Congratulations to Mia! Bishop’s Stortford College | COLLEGE CONNECTION
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Prep School Netball Round-Up Prep School netball players have had a busy half term perfecting their skills whilst playing competitive matches. Passing and shooting accuracy, movement on and off the ball and creating opportunities to score are all areas where the girls have displayed significant improvement. The girls have shown resilience, teamwork and sportsmanship in all their matches, even when the result has not gone in their favour. Well done girls.
Prep School House Hockey Prep School Girls’ House Hockey took place in October and was, as always, a thrilling afternoon with pupils giving it their all to play and support their House. Well done to everyone who played and congratulations to the winning House in each age group: U13A – Grimwade U13B – Westfield U11A – Grimwade U11B – Newbury
Making a Splash Sixth Former Elinah and Senior School pupil Mehdi have both enjoyed a very successful Autumn term in the swimming pool. At the Hertfordshire Swimming Association Annual Awards held in September, Elinah was awarded the prestigious Wilkinson Sword in recognition of her achievements in the sport. This was the first time in 25 years that the sword has been awarded to a Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club member and the first time the sword has been awarded since 2013. Symbolising the ultimate achievement in the sport, the sword is only presented when there is a worthy recipient; usually an Olympian or a Commonwealth Games competitor. Elinah also swam in the FINA Swimming World Cup at Eindhoven at the end of September and smashed her Personal Best and British Virgin Islands National Record by swimming 50m Butterfly in just 27.31 seconds. Meanwhile, Mehdi achieved a 100% success rate during the Moroccan Winter Short Course Swimming Championship in January, winning an impressive eight gold medals and smashing three Personal Bests. He was also the only swimmer across the whole Championship to achieve gold in every event he entered. Well done to Elinah and Mehdi for all their recent achievements.
Pearl and Yeo Cups The annual Pearl and Yeo Cups cross country races took place a little earlier this year. Pupils competed both individually and for their Houses and Senior School pupils came out in force to support their peers. Well done to everyone who took part, but particular congratulations go to Hayward House who won both the Junior and Senior Yeo Cups, to Young House who won the Junior Pearl Cup and to Alliott House who won the Senior Pearl Cup. 18
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A League of their Own The annual Shell League competitions in rugby and hockey took place in November and were thoroughly enjoyed by participants. The pupils displayed excellent sportsmanship and determination as they tried their hardest to gain as many points as possible for their League teams. The level of skill was very high from all players in both rugby and hockey. Well done to everyone who took part!
U13 IAPS Football On a very soggy October day, the U13 football team enjoyed a successful IAPS Regional Qualifier tournament at Chigwell School. After a very tense quarter final match which ended in a penalty shootout, and an excellent performance in the semi-final, the team advanced to the Final and put on a tremendous performance which secured their place in the National Finals. Well done!
County Hockey Champions The College U16 girls’ and U18 boys’ Indoor hockey teams have done very well this term, both being crowned County Champions! Each College team faced tough opposition in the run-up to the County Final, but their hard work and determination paid off. As a result of being crowned County Champions, both teams qualified for the East Finals where the U18 boys finished in third place, and the U16 girls qualified for the National Finals. This is a huge achievement for the girls and is the first time in College history that a girls’ hockey team has reached the National Finals. Congratulations to both teams on their successes!
House Netball The annual Senior School House Netball competition took place on 5th February this year and was full of enthusiasm and friendly rivalry. The girls played with maximum effort and passion in the hope of gaining those all-important House points to go towards the House Championships. Congratulations to Young House on winning both the Senior and Junior sections of the competition.
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LOOKING AHEAD Pre-Prep
For Reception/4+ entry Saturday 27th April 9.45am arrival
Excite your child’s curiosity
Open Mornings
Whole College
For all stages of entry Saturday 21st September 9.30am – 1.00pm
Sixth Form
For Sixth Form entry in 2020 Saturday 12th October 10.15am arrival
Prep School
Kenya 2019
Hanbury WealthRecital RecitalSeries Series Hanbury Wealth The next Hanbury Wealth Recital, held on Tuesday 5th March
88thth March 2018: 2018: Cameron CameronSmith Smith&&Madelaine Madelaine Jones – Cello & Piano Adults Jones – Cello & Piano Adults £10£10 Gentlemen ofofStStJohn’s College, Cambridge 21stst 7pm March 2018: 2018: Gentlemen John’s College, Cambridge 21 at in the Memorial Hall, will introduce the Vela Ensemble, Concessions FREE Concessions FREE th 26 April 2018: 26 2018: Lucy LucyParham Parham––Piano Piano
featuring Charys Green on the clarinet, Alex Redington on the violin, Tim Steggals the cello and Siu Chui Li on the piano. For information and book tickets visit Formore moreon information andto to book tickets visit
Following on from the success of last year’s trip to Ungana Academy in Nakura, Kenya, this year 20 Lower Sixth students will return to carry on the construction work to enhance the general fabric of the school and teaching facilities for children aged 5 to 12.
Please check the website for further details and tickets: https://www.bishopsstortfordcollege.org/10289/hanburywealth-recital-series
The team have already begun their fundraising activities to raise as much money as possible for Ungana Academy. So far they have sold cakes, popcorn and drinks at school events, set up a stall at the Prep School Christmas Fayre and are currently in the process of organising a Parent, Friends and Staff quiz night. As well as this, a group of five musicians, called The Busking5, have been performing around Bishop’s Stortford and Cambridge and have already raised a fantastic £4000!
Our thanks to Hanbury Wealth for their valuable support of these recitals and the chance to inspire our young musicians.
Please keep an eye out for more fundraising events, any donations will be greatly appreciated.
www.bishopsstortfordcollege.org oror call 01279 838575 www.bishopsstortfordcollege.org call 01279 838575
The programme will include Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor and Mendelssohn Piano Trio No.1 in D major.
Keeping in Touch Don’t forget to visit our website, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter, @BSCollege, @BSCollegeSport and @BSCFestLit to keep in touch with all the latest news from the campus. Pre-Prep: 01279 838626 Prep School: 01279 838607 Senior School: 01279 838575 www.bishopsstortfordcollege.org 20
facebook.com/bishopsstortfordcollege @BSCollege and @BSCollegeSport BSCollegeHerts | BSCollegeMusic Bishop’s Stortford College | COLLEGE CONNECTION
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For 7+ to 11+ entry (Years 3 to 7) Saturday 9th November 9.45am arrival