Regular features: Head Master’s News Trips and Visits Music and Drama Sports Reports

Inside: Nurturing individual

talents in Creative ArtsWeek, across the

Curriculum and beyond!

BLUNDELL’S PREPARATORY SCHOOL MAGAZINE

SPRING 2016

reviewFirst Past the Post at Exeter Racecourse

Jockeying for Position:

Create, Explore, Imagine:Opportunities to Shine

Head Master’s NEWS

Andy Southgate Head Master

One of the best things about working in schoolsis that no two days are ever the same. There isalways something new to be part of and aconstant drive within the school to broaden andenhance the opportunities available to all of thechildren here at Blundell’s Prep. You only haveto look through the pages that follow to see thisin all its glory, with everything from outdooradventures to quiz competitions and scholarshipsuccess to fund-raising enterprises. We pack agreat deal into each term and this allows everychild the opportunity to develop their interests,

to find what they are good at and what they are passionate about. I am ofthe firm belief that success should be celebrated and we make this aweekly feature with our Awards Assemblies taking place every Friday withinthe Pre-Prep and the Prep School. To say that there are a wide variety ofachievements recognised would be somewhat of an understatement as anyparent who has joined us for one of these much loved assemblies willtestify. The Yogi of the week, badges for individual success in obtainingMerits or House Point wrist bands, swimming awards, gymnastics or chessto name but a few of the areas of school life which are regularly celebrated.There is also regular recognition of individual success in the moreacademic elements of school life, and Head Master’s Awards are presentedfor exceptional work as well as outstanding individual effort in a particularfield of school life. Often teams are applauded for their accomplishmentsand we always finish our assemblies with House totals and the traditionaldrum roll, allowing every child to feel that they have made a contribution totheir House or to inspire them on to greater success during the next week.As I remind them every week “It’s all to play for!” and they never fail torespond in the most positive of ways.

The focus for this edition of Review is ‘Recognising Individual Success’ andthroughout the pages that follow you will see the ways in which childrenare recognised for their achievements. This is a great strength of our schoolas children are given every opportunity to become the best that they canbe, whatever aspect of school life they show an interest in. This is achievedin all manner of ways but at the heart of its success is a focus on everyindividual’s aptitudes or interests and then providing for those, whetherthey be in the academic, sporting or artistic arenas. Small class sizes,access to specialist facilities and exceptional staff provide a potentcombination from which to support all of the children to become their bestselves. It is important that children are able to see that their efforts andtheir achievements are recognised and valued by those around them sothis is part of our daily practice here at Blundell’s Prep, whether it berecognition of a debut performance in a Teatime Concert or an academicaward to the Senior School. Every child has the chance to experiencesuccess and to feel valued for their achievements, many of which areincluded in this Spring edition of the Review.

“This is a great strength of our school as

children are given every opportunity to

become the best that they can be...”

Congratulations to Sophia Fields, Louis Hinchliffe,Kezia Holman, Elizabeth Honey, Lucie Spencerand Joshua Withey for gaining Academic Awardsto the Senior School, and to Mimi Griffiths, PatrickTaylor-Ross and Nathan Winchester who have allbeen awarded a Junior Scholarship. Well done toall!

ACADEMIC HONOURS

Speech and Drama studentsimpressed and entertained this termin their poetry and prose recital forparents. The students, under theexpert guidance of Mrs. Rochfort,continue to enjoy huge success inachieving higher and higher gradesfrom the London Academy of Musicand Dramatic Arts.

CELEBRATING Success

SPEAKING OUT

Congratulations to Oscar Winsley, Charlie Cracknell,Amelia Churcher, Flo Cave, Harry Southgate, FreddieCox, Joshua Withey and Nicky Hutton for winning aplace in the Blundell’s Quiz Club team. The teamtravelled to Exeter Cathedral School to take part in theprestigious general knowledge Quiz Club competitionthis term, where they performed extremely well againstsome top quiz teams from around the South West, andthoroughly enjoyed the experience. Back in School,congratulations go to Raleigh for winning our own tightlycontested House Quiz Competition!

Well done to all who enteredthis high profile competition,and congratulations Louis forstanding out from the 123,400 stories submittednationwide!

Following the hugely successful Blundell’s Bake-Off cake bakingcompetition open to Year 6 in Creative Arts Week, the worthy winnerswere invited to attend a masterclass workshop with Kate from CakeA-Doodle Doo, in which they learnt about the art of cake decoration,producing some spectacular - and most delicious - results!

Cake A-Doodle Doo

QUIZ MASTERS

RADIO 2 500 WORDSSHORT STORYCOMPETITION: Stop Press! As we go toprint, we have just learnedthat Louis Hinchliffe, Year6, has been selected toprogress through to thesecond round of judging inRadio 2’s national storywriting competition, withhis entry, Book Worm.

SuccessCELEBRATING

Above: James Clarkson, Freddie Cox, ValerieWilson and Ben FitzHerbert in action forvictorious Raleigh at the House QuizCompetition.

“

”

I thought I was

amazing, my name is

Tony, I’m an Oxford

dictionary with half

as many pages as

before my adventure.

It all started one

Saturday morning…

I boasted a lot, I

mean A LOT, I will

admit it! I thought I

was so great because I

had so many pages,

over 800, and so

many people read me.

All of the other books

absolutely despised

me, I tried to tell them

I was just blatantly

better. It was a sunny

Saturday morning, in

other words book

rush, and at 8:00

when the library

opens at least 100 kids

swarmed through the

front, back and

emergency doors. Half

of them ran towards

my shelf; all the other

books started to get

extremely excited so I

started to say, “They’re

not coming for you,

they’re coming for

me…”

Earlier this term a group ofchildren from Years 3 to 6 weretasked with saving the humanrace! Having been invited toattend a secret meeting, thegroup of 16 were told that theearth was coming to an end andthat they would be in charge of‘Earth 2’ a mission to build anew colony to save the humanrace. So in groups of four thechildren set about deciding whothey would take and whatresources they would need tosupport the colonists as theyestablished themselves on thenew planet. There were someremarkable ideas, all of whichwere shared during an afternoonwhich saw our top Humanitiesstudents challenged to use theirknowledge and understanding ofHistory, Geography and RS inorder to formulate a plan for thefuture of mankind. Afterresources were established, andthe merits of every profession(thankfully, there were lots of

Poetry Day was celebrated with a range of different challenges andcompetitions. There were poetry decorating and poetry recitingcompetitions in the Pre-Prep, and it was wonderful to hear thechildren recite their poems and to see them dressed up as suchinteresting poetry characters. It was especially nice to be joined bythe Year 8 children from the Senior School who recited a poem oftheir own and helped to judge the final of the Poetry RecitalCompetition. In the Prep School the challenge was to write a poembased on the theme of the outdoors. Many terrific entries weresubmitted, but in the end James Clarkson, Year 5, was selected asoverall winner for his poem, ‘Changing Seasons’. Well done to all thechildren who took part and enjoyed sharing poems together! LPM & TN

Flowers shooting out of thebrown, grubby soil. Buds reaching for the sweetscorching sun.Swallows sitting and singingon a low branch.Swans swimming on a silversurfaced slow flowing stream.

Tall strands of swishy grassswaying in the wind.Butterflies fluttering aroundthe lovely, luscious, lilacflowers.Mice scampering suddenlyfrom the spying, screechingsparrow hawk.Crows cawing when they seemean, menacing menapproach.

The rustling of the crispy,crunchy leaves meets myears.The swallows gorging on thegorgeous bugs before they flyto Africa.Everywhere is orange like asea of colour dripping on theground.The weather is turning badbut the sun still breaksthrough.

Glistening, glittering snowtwinkles in the sun.Robins bunch together in theirnests like Emperor Penguins.Lakes freeze so the mightyheron can no longer fish forfish.

James Clarkson

CHANGINGSEASONS

Stanzas DeliverSuccess

teachers on board), gender andage were debated fully, a suitablesettlement was selected from themap of Earth 2, studiouslyavoiding volcanoes but utilisingthe natural environment to goodeffect. The issue of leadershipand government was discussedand debated, with the merits ofdemocracy seeming to make wayfor the need for strong anddecisive leadership from the top!The afternoon was a greatexample of the importance ofchallenging children to solveproblems and think creativelywhen faced with new situations -let’s just hope that they neverfind themselves having to savethe human race for real! ADS

Humanity Challenged!

KORMACHAMELEONSWith the delicious smell ofspices wafting through theschool, a number of intrepidfathers set out to curry favour bypreparing a feast to take homeand share with their families atthis term’s Curry CookingWorkshop for Dads. Throughmuch laughter and under theexpert guidance of ourwonderful chef Craig, and FoodTechnology Teacher Sarah, ourDads produced some very tastymeals indeed!

Year 1 spent a day learningabout the Great Fire of London.A wool merchant called MasterHugh Scrivenor visited theSchool to tell the children allabout the fire and about life atthat time. The children dressedup in the types of clothes thatwere worn in those days. Theyfound out about the food of thattime for both rich and poorpeople. They learned about thebuildings and how they weredifferent from the homes we livein today. They used quills andlooked at the types of lettersthat were used. The day endedwith a great drama session inwhich the children acted out theevents of the Great Fire. It was awonderfully informative day. TN

LONDON’SBURNING

CELEBRATING

Year 2 performed a super springplay called “The Magic Mirror ofHealth.” It was a delightful storyof a king who wanted to marry abeautiful princess. He wasunable to find a suitable wife tomarry him because he was sounfit and unhealthy. With thehelp of the doctors and thevillagers, he starts to improve hishealth and fitness. Finally, he issuch a picture of health that hemanages to find a lovelyprincess to marry him. Thechildren thoroughly enjoyedperforming in front of theirfriends and families. They sangsome lovely songs and eveninspired the audience to join inwith the fitness exercises! TN

Blundell’s Prep News

GRANDPARENTS’MORNING

news

Squeals of delight and excitement wereheard from the Pre-Prep hall when NeilVaughan visited the School. Neil came togive the children in Nursery andKindergarten a ‘Really Wild Encounter’.With a jungle backdrop and rainforestsounds the children were enthralled asNeil produced three different creatures forthem to learn about and handle. The firstwere Giant Hissing Cockroaches calledCedric, Shirley and Charlie. The childrenfound out that they come fromMadagascar and eat rotting fruit andvegetation. Next we met Ginny the BirdEating Spider. As well as eatinghummingbirds in the wild they also eatgrasshoppers, frogs and small lizards. Thefinal creature wasNorris, a Blue-tongued Skinkfrom Australia. Itwas wonderful tosee how thechildren’sconfidencedeveloped duringthe hour that Neilwas with us.Severalchildren, whowere initiallyreluctant totouch any of thecreatures,plucked up thecourage to strokeNorris by the endof the morning!JKP

Wild LifeTHE MAGICMIRROR OFHEALTH

Once again we were thrilledto welcome over 100grandparents to our school.It is fascinating to watch theinteraction between thechildren and theirgrandparents. The childrenwere very proud to showtheir grandparents what theyare learning and theenthusiasm was high as thegrandparents tried toemulate the high standardswe expect! Teachingmethods may have changedover the years but thewillingness to ‘give it a try’certainly hasn’t!

Many thanks to the Friendsof Blundell’s Prep fororganising such wellappreciated Springentertainments for thechildren this term. Whilethe Pre-Prep childrenenjoyed clowningaround at their party,the older childrenquickly proved that theyhad far more energythan the staff and lookedfar better on the dancefloor at their disco!

SCHOOLDISCO

Year 3 had a great day exploring and recalling manyaspects of the Ancient Egyptian culture. Theyenthusiastically mummified Sydney, watched over carefullyby Anubis (better known as Theo). They then made apyramid from a net and an Anubis headdress. After thatthey made a small model of a shaduf to help themunderstand how water was taken from the Nile to irrigatecrops. They also made a clay amulet and learnt how tomake 'paper' using the papyrus plant which is grownalong the Nile. They wrote their name on this papyrus inhieroglyphic writing. This was a really great day, enjoyedby all! SAS

The children in Year 5 werevery lucky to take a tripback through time when they were visited at schoolby King Henry VIII. During the morning King Henryexplained about his life, his family’s life and thestory of his six wives. He also told stories of life inTudor England including tales of torture, execution,punishment and various illnesses and their cures.Needless to say, the children loved this part of theday! In the afternoon, the children raced againsteach other in a jousting tournament. It was fiercelycontested between teams of boys and girls but inthe end the boys came out as victors. The childrenhad a fantastic day and ‘Good King Hal’ reallybrought the topic of the Tudors to life for them. GJR

HORRIDHENRY

On Tuesday 15th March, Years 5, 6, 7 et 8went to see a funny and energetic Frenchtheatre production at the Senior School called‘Parlez-vous Francais?’ performed by Onatti, acompany who specialise in writing andperforming plays for schools. We were given asample of the script beforehand to work on inFrench lessons and were given the chance toget involved on stage.

The play was set in a French hospital in aski resort, where Ben, an English boy on aschool trip ended up, following an accident onthe slopes. The play tracks his progress tryingto communicate with the French nurse, theFrench doctor and a French patient at thehospital. With lots of visual, slapstick humouras well as regular recaps of vocabulary, thechildren followed the story and laughed alongin the process. A great way to bring thelanguage to life! CFH

Year 3 children were delightedto welcome their parents to jointhem for lunch this term. Weeat well at the Prep School andour parents were delighted tosee the balanced diet on offerto all of our children. Schooldinners have come a long waysince the days of liver andlumpy custard!

LuncheonMeet

PARLEZ-VOUSFRANCAIS?

ANCIENT EGYPT: MUMMIES AND BADDIES

…acting, batik, collage,computer animation,

cooking, clay, creating,dancing, drumming, felt

work, film making,modelling, painting,

pastels, performing, petridishes, photography,playing, researching,

screen printing, singing,sketching, sticking,

tie dye…

Create, Explore,Imagine

CREATIVE ARTS WEEK 2016

CREATIVE ARTS WEEK

Featured Artist Maddie Biss, 1J, always putsso much time and care into her work.Maddie draws and paints with incredibledetail, always looking at every fine line.Also, she has a fantastic imagination whichhelps her to create her own drawings! SLJ

CHALKS AWAY

CELEBRATING

The theme for Creative Arts Week was the 2016Olympics in Rio and we enjoyed an action-packedweek with a carnival feel, full of salsa dancing,drumming and feathery headdresses! Amongstmany other things Year 3 painted rainforest treesand made clay rainforest creatures, Year 4 createdbeautiful animal batiks, Year 5 worked with visitingartist, Tony Minnion, to create some beautifulscreen prints and Year 6 painted rainforest inspiredcanvasses with artist Rory Nugent.

Create, Explore, Imagine

CELEBRATING Success

We were joined by the Big FootTheatre company and an actressnamed Charlie who directed ourproduction - although all the ideascame from Year 4. Charlie hadasked us to think of a character,fictional or non-fictional, who maybe performing in Rio. Mrs.Charlesworth encouraged us tobe very creative and in our dramalessons beforehand we had talkedabout the Olympics and what itmight mean to anyone taking partin such a prestigious event.

At the start of the day we metCharlie, who was just great, and weplayed some games to help relax us,as some of us were a little worriedabout how the day would work. Thegames were great fun and sooneveryone was joining in including Mrs.Cracknell! We quickly moved on todancing the Samba which was reallygood fun and Jacob was a completenatural Samba dancer.

We finally put together our ideas and Play in a Daywas performed toa very supportiveaudience. “I wasvery worried andexcited - but itwas really goodfun!” said HarryClarkson. “Iwould definitelydo it again!”said LaraBaxter, andJemimaMitchelladded: “Theparents reallyenjoyed ourPlay in aDay!” Mrs. Charlesworth

and Year 4

“The drumming workshop was really fun and it wasexciting learning how to do samba dancing… we learneda lot about mixing paint colours with Rory and theBrazilian designs were absolutely amazing, they lookedbeautiful!”

PLAY IN A DAY:RESPECT IN RIO

Harry Bouchier-Hayes and Lucie Spencer, Year 6

has been another extremely busymusical term. We have been luckyenough to have been treated to acouple of performances by visitingBands and Orchestras. Year 6

watched the RAF Big Band perform. Piecesincluded The Flintstones, Let It Go, Hey Judeand some more traditional Big Band piecessuch as American Patrol by Glenn Miller. Itwas a wonderful morning of music with lots ofaudience participation! Following this, Year 5and 6 went to see the BournemouthSymphony Orchestra perform. The theme ofthe concert was Fairytale and Fantasy andfeatured pieces such as Stravinsky’s TheFirebird and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at anExhibition. The children took part in a bodypercussion piece and the concert ended withthe orchestra accompanying the children asthey sang a song which had been composedespecially for the concert.

On Wednesday 13th January 55 of our Year5 and 6 children travelled to Birmingham totake part in the National Young Voices Concertat the Genting Arena. The children joined6500 other children to sing together in what isthe largest series of school choir concerts inthe world. They performed a variety of musicincluding a Pop Medley, World in Union, aMadness Medley and a Gospel Medley. Thechildren were joined by musicians and artistsincluding Laura Wright (who sang at theclosing ceremony of the Rugby World Cup)and dance company Urban Strides. The

children sang and danced to a packed arena.It was an amazing experience for all involved,giving us a real taste of what it is like toperform in an arena concert!

Our Spring Concert saw pupils from thePrep School performing with pupils from theSenior School. The Prep School performedGet Loud whilst some of our instrumentalistsperformed Overture to La Gazza Ladra byRossini in a combined Orchestra. The first halfof the concert ended with the Prep Schoolsinging Abba’s Money, Money, Moneyaccompanied by the Senior School Orchestra.Our Year 6 choristers headed to the Chapel forthe second half of the concert and performedOnly in Sleep with the Senior School Choir. Itwas a fantastic concert and a wonderfulopportunity for our pupils to perform witholder and more experienced musicians.

Our small singing groups and some

instrumentalists performed at a lunch to raisemoney for Christian Aid. The childrenperformed at St. George’s Church as part of aseries of lunches which take part over theLent period. The audience were entertainedwith songs from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,violin pieces and something ‘Spooky’.

In addition to our House Music event, ourTea Time Concerts have also continued thisterm, providing an opportunity for many of ourchildren to perform. We have a huge numberof children having music lessons and it iswonderful to see them performing in theseconcerts with confidence and enthusiasm.Many have achieved considerable success atAssociated Board and Trinity Music Examsthis term.

A big thank you to all the children and staffwho have made this term’s music sosuccessful. BLC

Blundell’s Prep Music

MUSICAL Notes

It

Our House Music Competitiontook place at the end of CreativeArts Week. Songs performedthis year were Bills, A HardDay’s Night, Money, Money,Money and Skyfall. Smallgroups also performed includingwind groups, guitar ensembles,string groups, piano trios andsmall singing groups. The Pre-Prep also took part withchildren from Kindergarten,Year 1 and Year 2 singingI’ve Got No Strings fromPinocchio. The judgingwas, as ever, extremelyclose with Drake being theoverall winners. Thank youvery much to Mr. Gordonfor judging the competitionand to all the staff fortheir endless amounts ofenthusiasm! BLC

Featured Musician Elizabeth Honey,6AL, was awarded a Music Scholarshipfor the Senior School. Well doneElizabeth, I am sure you will go on toenjoy great musical success! BLC

ON THE FIDDLE

CELEBRATINGCELEBRATING Success

House Music

Blundell’s Prep OUTDOORS

Kindergarten, Year 1 and 2 had enormous fun onWednesday 13th January. They spent theafternoon building dens with the help of some ofYears 5 and 6. All the children workedtremendously well together and the older childrenlooked after the younger ones incredibly well. Afterbuilding some very impressive dens, we stoppedfor hot chocolate and flapjacks around the campfire before going back to the dens for some storiesread by the Year 5 and 6s. The afternoon wasrounded off by having great fun playing in eachother’s dens and seeing what all the other groupshad been up to. The children went home fairlymuddy and extremely happy! CB

The move to take Learning Outside the Classroomcontinues to gather pace at Blundell’s, and this termeveryone from Nursery to Year 6 has had the opportunityto take their learning out into the wider world. Whetherexploring the school grounds, the local woods or furtherafield, in weathers balmy or more challenging, all haveenjoyed a diverse range of outdoor activities, from art,music and poetry writing to building dens and campfires.The older children have particularly enjoyed workingtogether to create the kind of wattle and daub roundhouseshelter that the first settlers to the area would haveconstructed and lived in… a muddy work in progress!

Outdoor Learning

The children in Year 5 explored the beautiful Barle valley ontheir Outdoor Learning day. They started on the top ofExmoor, basking in glorious sunshine before yomping acrossthe moor and descending into the northern end of the valley.Their trek took them along the valley floor where theylearned about the history and geology of the land aroundthem and the people who used to populate the area, beforethey finished at the stunning Tarr Steps. It proved the mostwonderfully educational and adventure-filled day out and justthe sort of event to really inspire the children and fuel theiralready highly-charged curiosity! JCK

Year 4 had an amazing day in the woods inJanuary. They didn’t let the weather dampentheir spirits as they met the challenge of theday with typical enthusiasm. The childrenwere split into groups to make a den usingnatural materials. With very little guidance,the children demonstrated fantasticorganisational skills to construct theirwoodland homes. The teachers in charge ofeach of the groups noted some fantasticexamples of the children working as a teamto achieve their goals. The children were thentreated to a campfire lunch of sausages,potato wedges and beans to refuel them fortheir next challenge. After smartening uptheir dens, the children had to make theirown fire in order to toast marshmallows. Thiswas no mean feat considering the dampweather! Once the camp was packed awaythe children went back to school to completean Easter egg hunt. All in all, the children(and staff!) had a fantastic day in the woodsand we are all looking forward to our nextOutdoor Learning Challenge! GJR

Year 6 had their outdoor learning day in February. We allcame to school in waterproof clothing and headed off to thewoods. When we got there we split into three groups. Therewere three activities: Hedge Laying, Wattle and Daub andmaking a stone patio. When we did hedge laying we weretaught how to use lots of different axes and knives! Makinga patio involved tiling with big stone slabs and filling thegaps with mud! We got much muddier when wattle anddaubing though – we mixed hay and mud and watertogether, then we trampled on it to get just the rightconsistency before using the mixture to clad the shelter.After we had done all of the activities we went back toschool for a much needed shower and change of clothes!Clem Bantock, Year 6

LET’S GET READY TO RAMBLE!

This term Year 2 have beenlearning about places of worship aspart of their Religious EducationCurriculum and on Thursday 17thMarch they were fortunate to beable to visit Exeter Cathedral andthen Exeter Mosque. The childrenwere taken on a guided tour of theCathedral and they saw manyinteresting features including thefont, stained glass windows and thepulpit. They asked lots of goodquestions and then the childrenparticipated in a treasure hunt tofind brass plaques. Later on thechildren were delighted to be ableto do their own brass rubbings tobring back to School. As part of theday the School staff surprised thechildren as they had organised forthem to lay a piece of Lego on themodel being made in the Cathedralto raise vital funds. This caused alot of excitement and some goodphoto opportunities!

Blundell’s Prep OUTDOORS

Outand about

After a much anticipated packedlunch we got back on the coach andtravelled the short distance to ExeterMosque where we were met by theImam and he showed us the men’swashing area as well as talking usthrough some of the customs andtraditions. All the children listenedvery carefully and they had theopportunity to ask questions too. We were also invited to watch someMuslims pray and the children satreally quietly and behavedrespectfully as they watched therituals that they had heard about atschool. The Imam then offered thechildren and adults refreshmentsand happily answered the questionsthat children had about what theyhad seen and heard.

We all had a fantastic day and thechildren were very keen to share allthe things that they had enjoyed onour return to school. DMK

Horseplay at Exeter Racecourse

“We visited the WeighingRoom, where the jockeysprepare themselves beforeeach race. We found outabout the importantrelationship between weightand performance in racingand how the handicappingsystem works. We had theopportunity to look atvarious pieces of equipment,to consider how light theyare and to try some on. Wediscussed distances, thecondition of the going andother factors that may affect ahorse’s performance. We alsolearnt about the technologyof the photo finish and got tojudge some close finishes forourselves!” Lucie Spencer &Harry Bouchier-Hayes

EXETER CATHEDRALAND EXETER MOSQUE

Usually when the words ‘Maths’and ‘racecourse’ are mentionedin the same sentence some kindof betting is involved…but you willbe pleased to hear that when ourYear 6 pupils went to ExeterRacecourse in January not asingle bookmaker was visited! Aspart of our initiative to makeMaths education more ‘real’, thepupils had a wonderful dayvisiting workshops organised bythe British Horseracing Educationand Standards Trust. OllieMcPhail, a former jump jockey,entertained the children throughinteractive sessions during whichtime they discovered howimportant numbers really are.Visits to the weighing room,parade ring and stables all addedto a fun-packed day, duringwhich time the pupils wereconstantly challenged to apply thestrong mathematical skills thatthey have developed over theyears. What a wonderfulexperience! DJM

Year 6 had a wonderful dayat Powderham Castle,immersing themselves in lifeas a Victorian servant. Theyscrubbed the floors, polishedshoes and did all of theironing, a somewhat differentexperience from their normallives – or so they told me!The children also got thechance to learn about theVictorian kitchen and theymade some deliciouslemonade to accompany thetasty griddle cakes. Thewhole day was a lot of fun,made all the better byeveryone dressing up andbringing packed lunchesthat would have been fittingfor the time - not a bar ofchocolate or a packet ofcrisps in sight! Thanks toMrs. Watson for organisingsuch a super trip. ADS

JERSEY SPORTS TOUR

Year 6 met at the airport at ten tofive in the morning! We checkedour cases in, then we wentthrough security. We then had towait a long time to fly, since theplane was delayed. Finally weboarded the plane and took off.On the way we landed inGuernsey, then carried on toJersey. After we retrieved ourluggage we made our way to thebus which took us to the hotel.The hotel provided excellentaccommodation and had verynice food!

During our stay, the boysplayed rugby and they won threeout of their five matches! The girlsplayed netball and hockey, theydid better in hockey than innetball, losing both of their netballmatches but winning both of theirhockey matches!

On Saturday we visited the warbunkers before going to thecinema to watch Goosebumps! - ascary movie with lots of monstersand creeps and ghouls! We hadpopcorn in the cinema but all ofthe food in Jersey was delicious,we had a large variety of excellentdishes and drinks at our hotel!

The girls enjoyed their visit toJersey Pearl, where they had

lunch and looked around theshop - where there were lots ofdifferent types of pearls. Theyalso enjoyed looking around theMaritime Museum, and aftersupper we all went bowling! Thiswas really fun, but VERYcompetitive (I think the teacherswere more competitive thananyone else!)

Another highlight was visitingAqua Splash, where there werewaterslides, a wave machine anda little circular pool, it was greatfun! After eating at Pizza Hut, wehad an amazing disco back at thehotel with everyone, especiallyMrs Roberts, partying hard! Thebest song was Bills, when we allknew the words. We made up ourown dance moves, with the boyscopying the girls… it was greatfun!

On our last day we visited theGerald Durrell Wildlife Park beforeheading back to the airport to flyback to Exeter. It had been anamazing trip. Everyone thoroughlyenjoyed it and we would like tothank Mr. Swain for organising itall! Written by Newspaper Club and edited byKezia Holman, Year 6

Jersey is renowned as being thesunniest place in the British Islesand the island certainly lived up toits reputation. There was wall towall sun and a very warm welcomewherever we went, whether it wasto the Jersey Rugby club, WWIIGerman bunkers, Jersey HockeyClub, the Maritime Museum, JerseyBowling Alley, Jersey Netball Club,Gerald Durrell Zoo or Aqua Splash.With so much to do, the childrenhad to be active, thoughtful,sociable and competitive. Theywere all of these and, above all,everybody had fun!

All the teams found success onthe games field, with manyhighlights coming in scoring goalsor tries against the best on theisland of Jersey. With a disco onthe last night to round things off,this was a very energetic, friendly,fun tour for all. The thing that stoodout for me was how the childrenconducted themselves: withrespect for others, friendlinesstowards each other and with aconstant smile. The staff couldn’task for more!

Many thanks to Mrs. Watson,Miss Roberts and Mr. Morris fortheir support and help on the tour. SGS

FULL SERVICEHISTORY ATPOWDERHAMCASTLE

The U9A team has come on in leaps and bounds since the start of the term andthis was most apparent in their final Millfield festival where they won four out ofthe five games and drew the final match against Millfield. They have shown theirversatility as a team by being able to adapt well to any position they are put inand this has created a strong awareness of the different types of skills neededfor each position. They have won all bar one of their weekly matches and placedat 3rd, Runners Up and Joint Winners at the three tournaments they havecompeted in. Very well done to all of the girls! LB

The U9B team had a tough first match of the season against Exeter where wedrew 3-3. The following week saw another draw, 2-2, with our first away matchat Mount Kelly. This was a long journey with a broken down bus but the girls sawit as a real adventure and maintained a sense of humour! Our first win of theseason came the following week, 3-1, away against St. Peter’s in hurricane likeconditions which didn’t manage to stop Poppy or Mele from scoring. The girlswere thrilled and rightly so. A narrow loss against King’s Hall, 3-4, came nextwhere all the girls worked their socks off against a strong side. We then went onto play The Maynard with two teams, one winning, one losing. A great winagainst Wellington, 9-3, followed and our final match of the season also saw awin, 7-5, against Plymouth. This was a great way to end the season, with everygirl contributing to our success and each player having made massiveimprovements in their ball skills, footwork and tactical awareness. Well done! CFH

U9 NETBALL

Millfield in the semi-final, whom they soundlybeat. With Exeter School looming in the final,the U10s knew they had to be at their best.The score kept swinging one way and then theother, at full time it was 9-9. Five minutesextra time was played but unfortunately theU10s narrowly lost this 3-2. Although theyfinished the tournament as Runners Up andhad yet another silver medal to add to theircollection, it could not have been any closerand was a superb way to end the Netballseason. JR

The U10B team season began with meetingour toughest opponents in the first fortnight ofterm! Despite losing at home to Exeter Prepand then away to Millfield, the girls playedwith a fighting spirit and showed skill atintercepting the ball. With a few position

Throughout the Netball season, the U8 teams havedeveloped their skills and improved their tacticalunderstanding during matches. They have hadopportunities to try a variety of positions whenplaying games (although they all have their favouritepositions which they prefer to play!) Ruby Lane hasscored some magnificent goals as Goal Shooter andJemima Sides and Sophia Rushton have shownexcellent defensive skills at vital moments duringmatches. The U8A team played five matches,winning four and only losing one. They scorednineteen goals and conceded only seven, which wastremendous for their first season of Netball. The U8Bteam also worked hard throughout their matches,winning two, drawing one and losing two. Well doneto all the girls! JR

The U10A team has had a mixture of resultsduring this Netball season, winning threematches and losing two. All the matches havebeen high scoring and the two losses werevery close indeed and could easily haveswung in our favour. During these matches,Flossy Ames and Honor Tobin have scored atotal of 51 goals averaging ten a match! On acold and windy Saturday morning, the teamfinished third at the Queen’s tournamentknowing they had not been at their best.However, they left their best till last,performing extremely well at their final twotournaments. They finished Runners Up atMillfield and then a couple of days later theygave all the spectators much to talk about atthe Exeter Junior School tournament. Winningall their group matches, they encountered

changes and a focus on moving into spaces intraining sessions, the team becametransformed and the girls went on to win all oftheir five remaining matches of the season. Atthe end of January, the girls played Taunton inglorious winter sunshine and won convincingly14-4. Our Goal Shooter was on fire, scoring avery impressive 12 goals, a superbachievement. Sadly the weather wasn’t sokind to us later in the season! A big thank youto the girls for battling on to win 9-4 in thefreezing conditions at our home match againstKing’s Hall. Despite driving rain or sleet for thewhole match, the girls never once moanedand continued to play with a keen hunger towin. You’ve had a great season girls and all ofyou should be very proud of your victories!JMC

U10 NETBALL

U8 NETBALL

NETBALL

Blundell’s Prep SPORTS

The U11A team kicked off the season with acompetitive Bryanston tournament as the firstouting of the term. They played exceptionallywell in order to win their group and wentthrough to the main trophy semi-final. Thiswas their toughest game yet, and despiteputting up a good fight they narrowly lost 7-5to a well drilled side who eventually won thetournament. Not a bad effort so early on! Asthe term progressed, the quality of the passinggrew much stronger and they began to geltogether as a team, increasing the speed andaccuracy of their play. They have had anunbeaten season in their weekly matches andhave only lost to Millfield in the IAPStournament, which was a very unlucky drawand unfortunately knocked them out ofqualifying for the Nationals. They finishedtheir final netball match of the season withreal flair, winning the Exeter tournament withrelative ease 13-1 in the final. A great seasonwith a great bunch of girls. Well done! LB

The U11B team faced some toughopposition this season. Our first match againstExeter was lost narrowly 3-1. Excellent work indefence was shown throughout. We then lostto a very strong Millfield side who managed tokeep possession throughout and neverseemed to miss any chances of scoring. Weworked hard on attack in our training sessionsand had two very convincing wins againstTaunton 12-5 and The Maynard 12-4. Wewere all thrilled with our improved skills andtactical awareness. Our next match wasagainst King’s Hall who had a strong side andthey beat us 10-5. Hurricane like winds meantthat St. Peter’s had to cancel our next matchand we lost our final match against Wellington,although we had been winning in twoquarters. The girls have been great to workwith: positive throughout, showingperseverance, a great sense of humour andlovely team work. I look forward to seeing theirRounders skills next term. CFH

U11 NETBALL

Above: The U7 Netball team hada fabulous time playing theirfirst competitive matchesagainst other schools at the St.Peter's tournament this term.

The Senior Netball HouseMatches were closely contestedthis year with some super teamwork from all of the Houses, but in the end Grenville emerged aswinners. The Junior competitionwas so even that all teams wereon the same points after playingeach other and the matchesneeded to be replayed, beforeRaleigh claimed 1st place. LB

The first Cross Country team event of the seasonwas held at Stover School. Although the coursewas fairly short, it was typically muddy and trickyin places. The Blundell’s team finished thirdoverall which they were fairly satisfied with. Muchwas learnt at this meet by all of the Blundell’srunners and they were ready to use their newinsights and tactics at the Larkman Cup andHouse Cross Country. With a much longer courseto contend with compared to Stover, there wasmuch excitement throughout the team on theday of the Larkman Cup. There were many greatindividual performances with a few top tenfinishes. In the end, the Blundell’s team finishedsecond overall, losing out to a strong Queen’steam. Everyone ran with great spirit at the HouseCross Country, and with points counted andrecounted, news of the result finally arrived. Ithad been an extremely close competition withDrake and Raleigh both receiving the winningaccolade and holding upthe Mildren Cupvictoriously. Well done tothe individual racewinners: Ruby Lane (U8Girls), Monty Charteris(U8 Boys), Floss Crease(U9 Girls), Will Edwards(U9 Boys), Jess Barnes(U10 Girls), JamesClarkson (U10 Boys),Rachel Brown (U11 Girls)and Ben FitzHerbert(U11 Boys). JR

CROSSCOUNTRY

HOUSE NETBALL

Featured Sportsman BenFitzHerbert, 6AL, won therugby prize at Tony Yapp’sRugby Excellencecoaching course, showinghis outstanding rugbyability against childrenmuch older than himself.Keep on trying Ben! SGS

PASSING OUT

At the start of term the U10 A team enjoyed a transitionalfootball season before switching to Hockey at half term. Aclose loss to Milfield was followed by excellent victoriesagainst St. Peter’s and QEH Bristol. It was fantastic to see theprogress made by the team in their tactical awareness andlevel of performance. All the boys were excellent, but specialmentions must go to Toby Butler who excelled in goal, to WillMaunder who constantly drove the ball forward and to OllieHedley-Lewis, leading the attack up front. Well done boys!ARC

The Spring Term saw the U10 B team make huge stridesforwards, due in no small part to theirhard work and enthusiasm. We were onthe wrong side of a few defeats but theboys never flagged in their efforts andwere always keen to learn more andpractise their skills in training sessions.

During the first half of the seasonthere were great wins against QEH withTom Prior-Palmer scoring somestunning goals and Hector Marr workinghis socks off for the team. Archie Hullprovided strength at the back andJoshua Sellar-Elliott had a keen eye forgoal when chances arose. Well done toall! ADS

U10 FOOTBALL

The U9A team enjoyed an excellent season, makingwonderful improvements as the term progressed. Built on asolid foundation in defence with Kit Cameron and HarryCracknell conceding no space at all, the team managed to gothe first five games unbeaten. Excellent victories were enjoyedagainst Exeter, St. Peter’s, Truro and draws achieved againstPlymouth and West Buckland. A narrow loss away at Stoverdidn't dent the team’s confidence and the boys finished witha wonderful victory against St. John’s. Well done to all theboys, who were ably led by the excellent Raffy Crowe, leadingby example to score a number of vital and important goalsacross the season. ARC

The U9B team gave everything they had for every minute ofevery match this term! At times it looked as if every playertried to cover every blade of grass on the pitch at the sametime, and this is where other teams could take advantage,catching the team out of position and moving in on goal. Withsome more positional awareness and discipline the squadcould have a great success rate, but in simply enjoying amatch and working flat out the team could not be beaten! SGS

U9 FOOTBALL

It has been a very successful termfor the Under 8 teams. Theplayers have progressed really wellsince Christmas and their attitudeduring Games lessons has beengreat. During our matches thechildren have tried to put theirskills into practice, and after a fewearly losses the boys managedvictories against Mount Kelly B’s,Trinity A’s and B’s, Stover A’s andB’s and Exeter Prep A’s. The realhighlight of the season mostdefinitely came in the final gamesagainst Exeter Cathedral School,where our A’s managed a 5-1 winand our B’s an amazing 13-0victory! The boys should be veryproud of all that they haveachieved, and we are all lookingforward to what will hopefully bean equally successful Cricketseason! GJR & DJM

U8 FOOTBALL

FOOTBALL

Above: The U7 Football team enjoyedtravelling to St. Peter’s for a first shot atcompetitive football away from home.

Blundell’s Prep SPORTS

CELEBRATING Success

Blundell’s Prep SPORTS

This has been a wonderfully enjoyable seasonfor the U11A team. The enthusiasm andenergy given by all of the boys throughout theseason and the boys’ sheer willingness to learnthis new sport and give of their best have beenreal delights. The season started with Hockeybeing a relatively new sport, so all of the boyswere able to learn a huge amount about theskills and teamwork required, while alsoplaying in many different positions. An initialthanks must go to Mr. Harry Jones, the SeniorSchool’s first team coach, for his regular tuitionof our boys and for the extra sessions that heprovided during Friday lunchtimes. All of theboys learnt a huge amount of useful skills fromhim and their Hockey improved visiblythroughout the term. The boys wereencouraged to try a wide variety of positions in

HOCKEYmatches, but one position that did remainconsistent was that of central midfield and forthe whole season Ben FitzHerbert controlledthe game and led the team superbly.Elsewhere, Dominic Wielenga developed into asuperb goalkeeper, producing a huge amountof outstanding saves and fearless defending.All of the boys improved enormously and thiswas typified by Zebedee Winzer, OscarWetherall and Joshua Withey, who were worthyrecipients of their Colours, along with Dominicand Ben. All of the boys ensured that thisseason was immensely enjoyable for all of usand finished having won more matches thannot; however, it was the enormous learningcurve and sheer enjoyment that the boysgained from their sport that will live with me asthe true highlights of this season. JCK

U11 HOCKEYThe U11B team has worked extremely hard

on passing skills throughout the season inorder to unlock opposition defences. Stoppingthe ball on the run and passing is a difficultskill but the boys improved immensely andfound success in getting the ball forward intoshooting positions. However, being faced witha goalie in full goal keeping kit is a dauntingsight and goals didn’t always follow. Indefence the team tried hard to keep theirsticks down, but this didn’t always happenand too often attacks got behind the defenceto shoot at goal. The team’s goalie wasexcellent throughout the season, savingnumerous goals and pushing the ball out tothe right hand side to set up ready for anotherattack. Well done boys! SGS

The U10A team enjoyed the most excellent ofstarts to their hockey careers this term. All theboys thoroughly enjoyed the expert coaching ofMr. Jones from the Senior School and madesignificant progress in their performance.Following a 6-0 loss to Exeter in their first evermatch, the team continued to develop andbounced back well to beat Mount Kelly andWellington at a quadrangular tournament atKing's Hall. The team went on to achieve anexcellent draw against Taunton, and only lostnarrowly to Hazelgrove. The boys should beextremely proud of their efforts and of the hugeimprovements they have made to their Hockeyskills this term! ARC

U10 HOCKEY

Years 1 and 2 played against a number of local schools in a very exciting TagRugby festival hosted by Blundell’s this term. The children showed incrediblerunning, dodging and tagging skills! They all thoroughly enjoyed the afternoonand made lots of new friends too! A big thanks also to our Year 5 children whohelped to marshal and encourage the teams so well! SLJ

TAG RUGBY

The move from Football to Hockey this termsaw the U10B team hit a steep learning curvebut they responded very well, battling hardagainst tough opposition at King’s Hall andmanaging to draw with Mount Kelly. WilliamLuxton and Ollie Hedley-Lewis were the standout performers in attack with Romulus Hilloffering support out wide and Tom Beynon andJohn Wrighton providing a robust approach totheir defensive duties at the back. ReubenKerr and Alexander Fewtrell took on the goal-keeping duties and showed fearless dedicationto their roles and infinite patience when puttingon the kit! It has been a super term and theboys have been a delight to coach. Well doneto all! ADS

The game of 7s is not rugby as many know it. Thistake on the sport is a different mind-set from thecrash, bash, tackle, charge and run of the fullgame and fine-tuned skills are called for. When ateam ‘clicks’ in 7s it is a wonderful sight and noopposition can counter it. This takes time,understanding and a touch of flair, but theBlundell’s team got close in the Millfield 7’stournament: in one game a glut of tries came, all ofwhich were finished in style, and in the other gamea single try came, but the ball was moved aboutwith speed and purpose. Runners up in the platetournament was a great result and a fine platformupon which to build for the years ahead. SGS

RUGBY 7S

The theme of Science Week this year was ‘Space’ to tie in with TimPeake’s time on the International Space Station. Jo Richardsonfrom Space Detectives gave a fascinating presentation on ‘TheSolar System’ to all the children. Everyone was absorbed andlearned a huge amount. In workshops later in the day she told thechildren some more information about astronauts and rockets anda few children had the chance to dress up as astronauts. Thechildren then made their own rockets which were blasted into theair in the playground. There were excited screams of delight aseach rocket went up!

The Science competition this year was to design and make aspace vehicle to bring Tim Peake back from space. The NurseryFoyer was packed with rockets and space craft of every shape andsize. Some were so big that Tim Peake would almost be able to fitinside! To add to the excitement, one of our parents, who knowsTim, emailed photographs of the space models to him on theInternational Space Station. His reply was:

‘Brilliant rockets...some of them not small either! I feel safe now

knowing I have a ride home...thank you! Tim’

JKP

Blundell’s Road, Tiverton

Devon EX16 4NA

Telephone: 01884 252393

Email: prep@blundells.org

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