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Weekly Newsletter

July 4, 2024

Headmaster’s Welcome


Dear Parents and Guardians,

 

Welcome to the last newsletter of this academic year.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the Junior School production “Curtain Call” performances on Thursday and Friday last week, which contained excellent excerpts from 9 West End shows.  Once again it was great to see so many pupils involved both on stage and behind the scenes.  All showed unity of purpose and their enjoyment in participating was obvious for everyone to see.

 

Although this final week has been only four days, long these final three days have been busier than ever. Year 7 have been involved in visits to Port Lympne Zoo, Bewl Water and the Harry Potter World, Year 8 have ventured out to Bewl Water, Leeds Castle and the Natural History Museum in London.  Year 9 have been training for the Duke of Edinburgh award with various walks around the countryside as well as guidance on how to survive outdoors.  Year 10 visited St. Andrew’s Lake, Bedgebury and Port Lymphne, whilst Year 12 spent two days preparing for their future and also had a most enjoyable day in Thorpe Park yesterday.  In addition, those pupils undertaking their silver Duke of Edinburgh programme went on the Silver expedition.

 

The term has certainly ended on a high and both staff and pupils will be understandably tired.

 

Although it seems at this stage that there is a long summer holiday ahead, it goes quickly and before you know it it will be time to return to School. There is an induction day for new Year 7 pupils and a Year 12 Parent Teacher meeting on Thursday the 29th of August with the first teaching day of term the following day, Friday 30th of August, which would you believe is 8 weeks from tomorrow!

 

I hope you all have a most enjoyable summer with your families.  For those of you going overseas on holiday I hope that you experience trouble free travel and for those of you staying at home I hope that you will have warm summer weather.

 

Given the time of year the following seemed appropriate.

 

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ­John Lubbock, The Use of Life

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Francie Healy

Headmaster

2024/25 Heads of School Announced


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We are delighted to announce that our Head of School next year will be current Year 12 pupil , Alice, who will be ably supported by Deputy Heads of School Gwyn and Poju.

 

The three pupils, pictured above alongside the Headmaster, will commence their duties in September.

 

Congratulations!

Pupils Showcase Talent in Junior Production


Over 40 pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 performed in this years Junior Production. “Curtain Call” was a showcase of famous West End productions over the years. “Mary Poppins”, “My Fair Lady” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” were some of the extracts performed over the two evening run.

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“The pupils were exceptional”, Alex Bolton, Director of Performing Arts spoke passionately on the production, “for many this was their first opportunity to take centre stage and they did so with such flair.”

 

Although for many pupils this was their first outing in public performances this production was to be the final performance in the Assembly Hall. “What a wonderful send off” Alex reflected, “the Assembly Hall has served us well over the many years as a performance space, but as the pupils demonstrated it is time for us to move into a building that can cater for the technical demands shows such as this require.”

 

The performance evenings were well attended as usual with over 100 parents, staff and family coming to support the show. The show enabled pupils to experience the three disciplines of performing arts with Dance, Music and Drama all working together, the finale of “Supercalifragalisticexpialdoscious” from “Mary Poppins” ended the show on an absolute High. “I am in awe of the pupils, grateful to the team for pulling together and thankful for the support of the parents”, Alex and the team are now in pre-production for next year’s whole school production which will take place in the Performing Arts Centre in 2025.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Junior Production Photos & Speech Day Portraits


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Our fantastic professional photographer (and Bethany parent) Ali Tuson has taken some wonderful photo’s of the Junior Production and Speech Day which are now available to view and purchase online.

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To view photos, please go to alituson.flexschools.co.uk

 

For Speech Day portraits, please enter the access code: SPEECHDAY2024 to log in.

 

For Curtain Call Junior Production photos, please enter the access code: CURTAINCALL2024.

 

To purchase a photo please follow the ordering process: Choose A Product > Select Image > Add to Basket > Go To Basket > Checkout.

 

Please place your order by Friday 31st July 2024.

 

A percentage of money raised from the sale of photographs will be reinvested back into Bethany School for future events.

Year 7 Enrichment Week


Activities week is always a fitting end to the year and a great way for the Year 7s to celebrate completing their first year at Bethany. This year, the pupils visited Port Lympne, took part in water based activities and team building day at Bewl Water Outdoor Centre and finished with a visit to Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio. 

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Tuesday

 

The week began with a visit to Port Lympne which was much enjoyed by both pupils and staff. An open top safari had been organised for soon after arrival where pupils saw a mix of endangered species from around the world. They benefited from expert commentary from one of their guides informing us of their important conservation work on our way around. Everybody had their favourite zones and our timing on the safari seemed brilliant with us seeing giraffes up close. Mr Beckham particularly enjoyed the “Asian Experience”, but the pupil favourite appeared to be the “African Experience” where they say giraffes up close. 

 

After the safari ,there was a brief pitstop for lunch for pupils to refuel with some ham and cheese rolls before we began a walking tour of the zoo. Pupils saw some very excitable gorillas and despite the drizzle were treated to seeing the bears scaling the trees in their enclosure.

 

It was a brilliant day and a great start to the week.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday

 

Wednesday saw a more active focus for the day, with the trip to Bewl Water. The pupils were split into two large groups for this with canoeing and raft building planned for the day. It was great to see the pupils working together to build some pretty impressive rafts. However, they swiftly disintegrated when they put them through their paces. It was clear, that if this was a desert island, the pupils may be there for some time. The other group took part in canoeing paddled off for a tour of Bewl and to learn some water skills.

 

A leisurely stop for lunch saw some very tired pupils refuel on some welcome ham and cheese rolls before embarking on the activity that they had left. We were asked if we minded their work experience volunteer joining the instructors for the afternoon, and a familiar face appeared in the form of Aubrey, a Year 11 Bethany pupil, who was a welcome surprise. He aided in preparing the pupils for what they were up to in the afternoon and one would never have guessed he was fresh out of his GCSE examinations given how confident and knowledgeable he was.

 

Despite the rain, which almost seemed to encourage pupils to through themselves (both literally and metaphorically) into the water and their challenges, a fantastic day was had and there were some very tired Year 7’s on the bus back to School.

 

 

 

 

Thursday

 

Today we visited Warner Bros Studios and entered the world of Harry Potter. It always amazes me how much we manage to cram into the three days and it is great to see the pupils shine in very different lights. Many have been speaking about how much they were looking forward to today’s trip, including myself.

 

 

 

 

The pupils have been a real credit to themselves and it has been a pleasure seeing them really grow during their first year at Bethany. Of course, this week would not be possible without the dedication of those who staff it and therefore I save the last line of this article to thank them and to wish both pupils and staff a very relaxing and well-earned summer holiday.

 

Mr Clough
Assistant Head of Years 7 & 8