Despite the horrendous weather conditions over 120 competitors and school teams turned up to contest the Inter Schools show jumping competition at Kings Equestrian Centre, Bromyard  on 29th April.

The outdoor warm up arena was deluged with rain and so the teams had little opportunity to practise before their class. They simply had to go in and go for it ! 

 The Bedstone College team did just that and were rewarded  with  wins in  two of the four classes;   coming home laden with trophies and rosettes. 

Bedstone’s youngest member of the team was Owen Jones who is only 10 years  old; the rest of the team were Max Jones (12) from Wistanstow, Ellie Bevan (15) from Chirbury and Jody Beddow (13) from Clungunford.  Owen Jones also won individually Class 2 – 2′3 – 2′9 riding Mr Tupman.

Other individual placings on the day were Class 3 2′9 – 3′ Ellie Bevan 4^th, Jodie Beddow 5th 

Class 4 3′ – 3′2 Ellie Bevan came 2^nd.

The team will now go to the Championship qualifier in June where the top two teams qualify for the Inter Schools Championships at Addington Manor.

24^th March 2012

Dear Parents

This term has been a short one, but no less busy than the last and hence quite intense. I have highlighted many of the successes in my recent half term letter and so I won’t repeat myself.

The College production of ‘Annie’ was a joy to watch. As I pointed out at the end of Saturday’s performance, the majority of the actors were from the junior section of the College (1^st to 3^rd Form). To produce such a marvellous stage show with such young performers was a tremendous feat. The ‘old hands’ of course kept things ticking along and produced some absolutely wonderful singing and acting of their own. Needless to say, my thanks goes to all who made the show possible but in particular to Miss Beresford-Webb who was, as usual, a source of inspiration and boundless energy.

Even though it is our Football season, I hope you will indulge me if I start the sports reports with Rugby. Our U16s were in the North Midlands Plate competition and made it through to the final against King Edward VI School, Camp Hill. This is a large Boys’ Grammar school of some 720 students (we have approximately 150 boys). Our U16s played magnificently and came away as victors by 12 points to 5. This is a marvellous achievement for Bedstone Rugby and for Mr Simpson and Mr Looms in particular who have worked very hard with all our teams this season. Both the U16s and U18s finished an impressive 3^rd in the National ISA 7s; the U18s losing in the semi finals to the eventual winners, Dixie Grammar, in ‘sudden death’. After the successes of last season it is good to see our 7s teams performing so well and Rugby at Bedstone is clearly in good shape!

The frozen pitches have gone and we were able to catch up on a number of fixtures in the latter half of the term. The 1^st XI football team had four fixtures, winning three. The U15s and U13s started slowly but showed spirit in the closing games to perform very well and score some wonderful goals. The U13 netball team came a creditable third in the Ellesmere invitational tournament, scoring an impressive 8-2 victory against an Ellesmere ‘select’ team in their final game.  The X-Country squads have continued their excellent work from the first half of term. Both the Intermediate and Senior boys were placed third in the Shropshire County Championships.

As always, I have a few items of information that I wish to share with you.

The first is regarding uniform. From September 2012 it will no longer be a requirement for our boys to have a black suit in addition to their usual College uniform. Boys who currently have a black suit may still wear it on Friday and at formal school events but there is no necessity to replace it when it becomes too small or indeed worn out. Over the coming years there will be a gradual phasing out of this additional uniform to bring the boys in line with the girls at the College (who are not required to purchase and wear an additional uniform). We do, of course expect our scholars to wear their uniform correctly at all times and that includes skirts, and ties, being an appropriate length. I will be looking carefully at the standard of uniform next term and expect all scholars to adhere to our current regulations.

Also from September 2012 we are going to introduce a new format for our Sunday service. Each Sunday, the College will hold a service at St. Mary’s Church, Bedstone. In a change to current practice, there will be no additional service in the Rees Hall. Due to constraints on capacity in the church, boarders will be required to attend a Sunday service once every two weeks on a rota basis. Of course, if a scholar wishes to attend each week, then they would be most welcome.

I am becoming increasingly concerned at the number of international scholars who are leaving the College before the end of term and arriving after the start of term. I am acutely aware of parents’ wishes to secure the cheapest flights possible. However, I think it is important to put the impact of these missed days into context. Missing lessons can be hugely detrimental to the academic progress of a child. Taking three days away at the start and end of each term, (and sometimes at half term as well), results in some twenty to twenty five missed teaching days over one year; that is some three to four school weeks. It is customary for parents to request an early leave or a late arrival before flights are booked. I would therefore urge parents to please consider carefully the likely impact on the education of their children before making such a request.

We are installing new double glazed windows in Bedstone House to enhance the fabric of that wonderful building. The work should be completed by the time the scholars return in April.

We are upgrading the vast majority of computers at the college and working with BT to increase the internet bandwidth at the College. We hope that the new PCs will be ‘ready to go’ in April and the new internet connections, sometime before the summer half term.

On the staffing front we are very sad to be losing Miss Parry after just one year with us. She has secured a teaching position closer to her family home and we wish her well in her new role. She has been replaced by Mrs Stefanie Stevens who will join us in September. Mrs Stevens will live locally and is keen to get involved in all aspects of College life.

At the recent meeting of the Governing Body the fees for the forthcoming year were set.

Fees from September 2012 will therefore be:

Senior Boarding:                              £7,670 per term

Junior Boarding:                               £5,045 

Senior Day:                                         £4,230

Junior Day:                                         £3,065

Pre Prep:                                             £1,450 per term

Pre Prep per hour                           £4.50

ASC (After School care)                 £310 per term

ASC per hour                                     £4.50

It is at Easter time that our more senior scholars will start to focus in earnest on their external examinations. At this stage it is important that parents do all that they can do, to support the revision process. Your sons and daughters should be working every day during the Easter break and it is important that they are ‘encouraged’ to make best use of their time. In my view a GCSE student should be working actively for some five hours each day for five days each week during the holiday, and possibly six if they are in the VI Form. These forthcoming examinations are crucial to the life chances of all our scholars and they need to approach their preparation for them in a serious and focussed manner

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your children again for supporting Bedstone this term. May I wish you all a most pleasant and relaxing Easter break.

With my best wishes,

David Gajadharsingh

(Headmaster)

 The Bedstone College U16 Rugby squad went to Bromsgrove School in search of their first trophy of the season against King Edward’s School, Camp Hill.

Bedstone were without two first team regulars due to injuries and therefore needed a reshuffle in the pack which saw Ben Gutteridge make his first start in the back row and George Aylen move from hooker to blindside flanker!

The game started at a ferocious pace and it was King Edward’s who looked like scoring the first try, they had sustained pressure on the Bedstone line but the defensive tackling was superb. Pat Taylor made a superb tackle just as the King Edward’s winger was about to score, got up and turned the ball over, enabling Sam Shorthouse to clear the Bedstone lines!

King Edward’s camped in the Bedstone 22m for 15 minutes but simply couldn’t get through! The defence was outstanding, Sam Shorthouse and Alex Richards making some good low hits on the opposition captain.

The half time whistle came at just the right time, the score 0-0 and Bedstone to a certain extent had got out of jail as the territory and possession was all King Edward’s.

The second half was a much better display from Bedstone, the forwards were finally giving the backs a platform to play and got their strike runners into the game! Conor Bennett and Pat Taylor were making in roads into the Camp Hill defence and it was Bennett who opened the scoring.

Connor Jones made a break and off loading to Lawson Thomas who then fed Bennett who shrugged off two defenders to sprint to the line for the opening score! The conversion was scored by Taylor and Bedstone were 7-0 up.

Bedstone continued to look dangerous with Shorthouse and Thomas making breaks but they were unable to link up with their support, and chances were missed!

After a lineout steal from Jones and a drive from the Bedstone pack the ball was fed to Bennett who powered towards the line but was tackled just short, Harry Hall picked up  and was smashed over the line by his forward pack for a great team try.  It was a sweet moment for Hall after being sidelined for much of the season with an ankle injury, it was the fourth formers first try for the U16’s. The conversion was missed to leave the score 12-0.

The Bedstone pack were superb and in the tight aspects of the game they gave the backs the platform to play some very attractive rugby; led by prop Ben Chamberlain the scrum in particular was dominated.

Man of the match was shared between the Conor Bennett and, number 8, Connor Jones who both had dominant displays and showed why they have been first XV regulars this season.

King Edward’s did get across the line eventually with the last play of the game and it was certainly deserved due to their contribution to a superb game of rugby, Bedstone eventual winners 12-5.

The Bedstone College Under 16 Rugby team eased into another final with a 39-10 victory over Dyson Perrins School, Malvern this week.

Bedstone already find themselves in the South Shropshire Cup final and now have another final day to look forward to in the North Midlands Plate Final.

The game started off with Dyson Perrins taking the game to Bedstone with some early pressure and resulting penalties but it was Bedstone that took the lead through centre Pat Taylor after some superb handling by the Bedstone back line.

Dyson Perrins came back into the game with a penalty, making the score 5-3; despite this, the Bedstone defence was excellent and continually put pressure on the Dyson back line and kept them from getting over the line.

Bedstone then began to turn the screws and scored through winger Jon Bell after a superb run by Man of the Match Conor Bennett; the ball went to Bennett who stepped through the Dyson defence and ran 40 metres, he was tackled just short of the line where the ball was recycled and Sheppard fed Taylor who put Bell away and into the corner.

Further scores from Conor Bennett (2) before half time gave Bedstone a 22-5 lead at half time.

Bedstone continued to produce some superb rugby, the forwards gave the exciting backline the platform to run the ball from anywhere on the field. Halfbacks Shorthouse and Thomas controlled the game well; this control gave Bedstone the territorial advantage and the majority of possession. Chamberlain, Jones and Aylen were excellent in open play and carried the ball well.

This possession led to further scores in the second half through blindside flanker Connor Jones who had 2 defenders clinging to him as he dragged them over the line. Pat Taylor and Jon Bell completed the scoring for Bedstone, Taylor managing 2 conversions out of 7.

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