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Weekly Newsletter

June 7, 2024

Headmaster’s Welcome


Dear Parents and Guardians,

 

Welcome to the first week back after half term, which already seems like a distant memory. It has been great to see the pupils settle back in so quickly and once again, our GCSE and A Level pupils seem fairly happy with their examinations this week.

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The increasingly good weather meant that our sporting fixtures could proceed as scheduled.

 

On Tuesday, Year 12 pupils had an interesting UCAS trip, and yesterday our Year 8 pupils had an enjoyable Geography trip to Camber Sands.

 

I wish our Year 9 pupils the best of luck in their end of year examinations next week, and I am looking forward to the Year 12 Drama performance on Tuesday evening which starts at 7.00pm in the Drama Studio.

 

I would like to remind you that Speech Day is on Saturday 22nd June. It is a compulsory day of School for our pupils who can arrive from 10.00am with their parents and leave after prizegiving circa 12.30pm. There will be various subjects on display in central campus, as well as Drama and Music performances as well as some refreshments. Please email my PA to confirm your attendance for the prizegiving event on hmsec@bethanyschool.org.uk

 

For those of you who like football, an interesting four weeks starts next Friday with the Euro 2024 football championship and for those of you who do not like football, then a very long four weeks await!

 

As I finish writing this piece I was reminded of the joke from the comedian Peter Kay, “A cement mixer collided with a prison van. Motorists have been asked to be on the look out for six hardened criminals.”

 

Have a good weekend.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Francie Healy

Headmaster

Latest Bethany Blog


This week’s blog has been written by Mrs Shapland, Head of English and Media at Bethany School. She writes about the value of reading and how it can change your day for the better.

Finding your brave in a book: Thriving not Surviving
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As I write this I confess I am not feeling terribly resilient, brave or like I am thriving. I hope to be all 3 by the time this blog is published, but right now, I am stuck in “one of those weeks”, capped this morning by our boiler deciding it didn’t want to work so I had to break out the dry shampoo.

 

However, teaching is the sort of job where one has to leave the baggage at the door and be ready for what the day brings you. Whilst (given that we are in exam season) there will undoubtedly be some angst, there will also be the things pupils want to show us and tell us that will bring a smile and also a few ‘eureka’ moments when that tricky skill or topic finally ‘clicks’.

 

All this has made me wonder about my subject’s role in helping pupils develop resilience, or – to use a word from our learning habits – the ability to persist.

 

As always, my blog comes back to the value of reading. (I will never bore of this topic as we know this skill is one of the most important in improving young people’s life chances: it has an even bigger impact than what socio-economic group they are born into).

 

 

Reading improves mental health. It directly helps us thrive and feel braver. It makes us more resilient.

 

The question is how?

 

Firstly, reading makes us more adaptable by showing us solutions to problems we may or may not have experienced. Whether this be Googling how to fix a broken boiler, or buying a child a story about grief, books and text present us with the idea that there are options other than feeling stuck and helpless.

 

Then, of course, reading develops empathy. Understanding that you are not alone, or that others may have even worse experiences than your own allows you to keep things in perspective.

 

Furthermore, reading fuels our imagination, making it possible for us to conceive solutions problems, or imagine our lives in a more fulfilling way. This in turn allows us to set goals for ourselves and be brave about trying new things: whether that travelling to a new place or taking up archery because we wish we could be Katniss Everdeen.

 

Or perhaps, if we aren’t so keen on  the actual doing, it gives us space to do something different with minimal effort. We can go anywhere and do anything in a book, all whilst sitting in our favourite chair eating chocolate biscuits and drinking tea. I would love to just go home this evening and pop on a plane to Tokyo , but I have work, so I shall resort to my book instead (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa).

 

And then comes one of my greatest points of solace from reading: all stories have an ending. So to do bad days. (I am hoping my bad day today is going to culminate in a fixed boiler and a hot shower!) Whilst we all appreciate that, like books, not all stories have a happy ending, the idea that “this too shall pass” is an important one for remembering to focus on the big picture.

 

So as always, my blog comes down to “Reading fixes everything” so do more of it. Read with your children; read for yourself; read with a book club… just read.

 

You’ll feel better for it.

 

Track in My Reading Bullet Journal ...

 

Mrs Shapland

Head of English and Media

Latest Sports News


The latest sports news from Bethany School. A busy first week of this final half term for the Bethany cricket teams, with no less than 9 different teams being in action.

Cricket | Bethany U13A v Radnor House
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With sun finally making an appearance, The U13A cricket team hosted Radnor House on Wednesday afternoon in a 16 over match. Radnor House won the toss and selected to bat first.

 

Bethany bowled with attacking intent, limiting the scoreboard in the opening overs, and taking an early wicket. As Radnor House played themselves in on the wicket, they began to accelerate the score in the second half of their innings. However, energetic fielding and good overall bowling from the Bethany team saw Radnor reach a total of 81 runs off their 16 overs. Pick of the bowlers were Gus Tuson, Oliver Scott and Nate McEwan Moore who all returned good figures and wickets.

 

Bethany went into bat aiming to put pressure on the bowlers from the start with attacking shots and quick singles. A first over wicket brought Gus Tuson to the crease, who played superbly well, striking the ball with power and accuracy to reach a score of 35 not out, and an innings that included 6 boundaries.

 

Nate McEwan Moore and Max Morgan scored boundaries when at the crease as Bethany raced towards to total needed, but a quick run of wickets in the second half of the order saw Bethany fall short of the total required, scoring 71 off 14 overs, and all out.

 

Final score: Radnor House beat Bethany by 6 wickets

Player of the Match: Gus Tuson

Coaches Player of the Match: Andrew Stubblefield

Cricket | Bethany U13B v Radnor House (away)
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The Bethany U13B cricket team travelled to Radnor House this week, where they won the traditional flick of the coin (rock, paper, scissors) and selected Radnor House to bat first.

 

A fine spell of bowling from Harry Jermyn and Jack Shimmin ensured a slow run rate for Radnor House, leaving them with 40 for 5 after 10 overs. With our main strike force reduced to a maximum of four overs each the opposition gradually started to make up ground, with boundaries and accumulated runs for wide balls. Radnor finished their innings with 131 for 8 wickets after 20 overs.

 

Toby Hindley and Sebastian Hickmott opened the batting for Bethany, creating a solid base to work from. Toby hitting a four with his first delivery truly set a marker with Bethany reaching 50 runs after 7 overs. With Toby chasing his 50 he was unfortunately bowled out during Radnor’s 10th over.

 

The game went to the wire with Bethany requiring 18 runs from the last two overs. Bethany reached 126 with one over remaining, sadly losing our last wicket with four balls remaining.

 

A great game for the spectators and thoroughly enjoyed by players and staff.

 

Final score: Radnor House beat Bethany by 1 wicket

Player of the Match: Harry Jermyn

Coaches Player of the Match: Toby Hindley

Cricket | Bethany U13C v Radnor House
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The U13C cricket team hosted Radnor House this week, for a competitive pairs cricket game. Bethany won the toss and chose to bat first, with the pair of Steve Kakouris and Greg Ejiofor making their way to the crease as the first batting pair. With each pair batting for 2 overs, they started off well hitting a respectable 7 runs against some strong handed bowling by Radnor.

 

Bethany’s batting remained consistent with the following 2 pairs, hitting 7 runs a piece, that was until the pairing of Gus Tomlinson and Bethany captain Leo Etherington stepped up to hit the first 4’s of the game with the pair finishing on 11. Bethany’s last pairings left the team finishing the innings at 64-1.

 

It was then Radnor’s turn to bat and Bethany’s strongest bowlers were up to the task as tricky bowling by Harry morgan and Leo Etherington kept the home sides scoring down to a minimum. As some of Bethany’s debut bowlers were given a chance to develop their bowling technique, Radnor capitalised on this by scoring some big hits and increasing their score to take them 20 ahead of Bethany.

 

With the last Bethany bowler Arthur Seale looking to stop Radnor scoring any additional runs, he did just that by bowling a spinning first ball that was hit well by Radnor but was caught by Toby Chapman in impressive style. Arthurs remaining 5 balls were too good for Radnor who couldn’t hit a single run.

 

Final score: Radnor House beat Bethany by 20 runs

Player of the Match: Leo Etherington

Coaches Player of the Match: Arthur Seale and Harry Morgan

Cricket | Bethany U13A v St. Ronan’s
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In their first match after the half-term break, the U13A cricket team took on St. Ronan’s.  Bethany won the toss and decided to bowl first.

 

St. Ronan’s got off to a flying start and to be honest never really relented as they struck regular boundaries and ran well between the wickets. Bethany continued to work hard in the field as the opposition kept them busy with Immy Morgan’s excellent catch early on being one of the highlights. In amongst all the runs being scored there were solid bowling performances from Isabelle Hindley, Ciara Carnegie, Darcey Stone, Isobel Andrews and Bea Kay.

 

Bethany then went into bat with the lots of determination but the St. Ronan’s bowling attack proved to be too strong and experienced, but again Bethany stuck to the task in hand and took as many runs as they could. Batting highlights came from Fifi Seymour, Bea Kay, Immy Morgan and Isobel Andrews.

 

Bethany certainly fielded better than St. Ronan’s but in what was a tough match against a strong opposition, the team played, as they always do, with joy, a smile and regular encouragement of each other. It’s another step along their cricketing journey and it was one of three matches being simultaneously played on The Firs with over 50 pupils playing cricket, which was brilliant to see.

 

Final score: St. Ronan’s (281/2) beat Bethany (201/8) by 80 runs

Players of the Match: Immy Morgan (batting) and Ciara Carnegie (bowling)

Coaches Players of the Match: Immy Morgan and Bea Kay

Cricket | Bethany U13B v St. Ronan’s
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The U13B team played a strong and experienced St Ronan’s team this week. With Bethany batting first and St Ronan’s having some fast and accurate bowlers, Bethany managed to score a few runs.

 

Unfortunately, due to the rules of pairs cricket we lost 10 runs due to a wicket first ball and a great catch off of a Bethany bat. Bethany defended their wicket well considering the balls they were facing, scoring 19 runs.

 

Bethany then went into bowl giving away only 5 wides in the entire innings. However St Ronan’s were very strong at batting and particularly their last pairing who made 1/3 of their total in 2 overs. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable game and the team learnt a lot from this experience.

 

Final score: St Ronan’s (298) beat Bethany (219) by 79 runs

Batter of the Match: Florrie Dearing

Bowler of the Match: Nelly Adams

 

Cricket | Bethany U13C v St. Ronan’s
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All players who played in the U13C team played well and enjoyed what, for many, was their first opportunity to represent Bethany at cricket.

 

An impressive batting display for Issy Goodall racked up the runs for Bethany, giving St Ronan’s a tricky target score to surpass. Sophia Hickman was the pick of the Bethany bowlers, her well placed bowling and wickets kept the St Ronan’s scoring down.

 

However, this wasn’t enough as the experienced St Ronan’s team surpassed the target with a couple of overs to spare, but not before Olivia Garrett impressively claimed an excellent wicket.

 

Final score: St Ronan’s (262) beat Bethany (243) by 19 runs

Batter of the Match: Issy Goodall

Bowler of the Match: Sophia Hickman

Coaches Player of the Match: Olivia Garrett for taking a wicket on the final over

Cricket | Bethany U15A v Claremont (away)
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After a late fixture rearrangement, the U15A cricket team were able to take to the pitch against Claremont on a pleasant summer afternoon.

 

Winning the toss, Bethany chose to bowl on a pitch that looked good, but with all the recent rain was still playing low and slow. The Claremont opening batters started strongly and were happy to punish any wayward bowling from Bethany.

 

With one short sided boundary, Claremont continued to score at a healthy rate, but they were briefly halted by Jacob Chesterton, taking a wicket with his first ball, followed by two wickets from captain Oscar Scott, who was the pick of the Bethany bowlers. Despite a spirited effort in the field from Bethany, the opposition ended their innings on large total of 211-3.

 

Bethany began their reply slowly which wasn’t helped by losing some early wickets. The innings seemed to be kick started with Jackson Skillicorn’s beautifully timed and massive six over the longest part of the mid-on boundary. It was the shot of the match. That seemed to inspire Eddie Watson, who hit his first shot for four through mid-wicket and when Hux Maunder-Allen arrived at the crease the boundaries started to flow for Bethany.

 

Hux’s innings was a mixture of hard hitting shots and good running between the wickets, particularly in partnership with Jacob Chesterton. As the innings came to an end, Hux smashed Claremont’s fastest bowler straight back over his head for six in his attempt to reach a half-century. However, a strategically timed wide from the last ball (as extras were not re-bowled on this occasion) of the Bethany innings, Hux was sadly denied the opportunity to score his 50.

 

For those watching the match through, they were entertained with lots of good shots and runs and the Bethany team can be proud of their efforts.

 

Final score: Claremont (211/2) beat Bethany (175/6) by 36 runs

Coaches Player of the Match: Hux Maunder-Allen

Cricket | Bethany U15A v Ashford School (away)
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The U15A cricket team travelled to Ashford School on Tuesday afternoon for their first hard ball match of the season. Playing a 16 overs format, Ashford won the toss and put Bethany into bat first.

 

Maisie Frankum opened the batting and with some excellent attacking shots that included five boundaries, she raced to an impressive score of 30 runs before being retired. Ruby Peters also contributed well with the bat as Bethany accumulated a score of 83 runs in their innings.

 

Bethany bowled with accuracy, limiting any extras, and forcing Ashford to play cricket shots. Pick of the bowling figures came from Ruby Peters, Honor Casselton Elliott and Eleni Turner. Several good attacking shots from Ashford were superbly fielded by Ellie Turner, and all team players fielded with improving accuracy and effectiveness in their first hard ball match.

 

Ashford batted their way to 84 runs off 13 overs to win the match, but a very promising start to hard ball cricket from the Bethany team.

 

Final score: Ashford School beat Bethany by 7 wickets

Player of the Match: Maisie Frankum

Coaches Player of the Match: Ruby Peters

Cricket | Bethany U15B v Ashford School (away)
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The U15B cricket team travelled to Ashford to take on Ashford School this week.

 

In the first innings, Bethany fielded and bowled exceptionally well with consistent bowling giving away few wides, and limiting Ashford to scoring just 30 runs.

 

Bethany than batted consistently well, with Summer Stewart-Welch, Sophie Finnamore, Amelia Bickford and Leah Carnegie all batting and running well, running in 4’s and 6’s. Bethany scored 72 runs.

 

In the second innings Bethany once again again bowled consistently well with Amelia, Leah and India Shimmin all taking wickets. Daisy Riddiford taking the bowls off with quick fielding from Leah. All players fielded well, backing each other up, keeping Ashford to 20 runs in the the second innings.

 

Bethany scored another 65 runs in their second innings to add to their total and claim an impressive victory.

 

Final score: Bethany (137) beat Ashford School (50) by 87 runs

Player of the Match: Amelia Bickford and Leah Carnegie

 

 

 

 

Year 7 Football Tournament


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A full week of fixtures for the Year 7 football tournament this week. Tuesday’s games saw a convincing 3-0 victory for Mr Evans’ tutor group over Mrs Rowell, and it looks like Mr Evans’ team could well be title contenders.

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They will have to work hard to overcome the enduring strength of Mrs Zhao’s tutor group, however, who kept up their 100% record with a 2-0 victory over Mr Clough. However, they were made to work hard for their goals despite all their pressure, with James Cheesbrough having a very good game in goal. In the end, Mrs Zhao’s tutor group squeaked home with the aid of a couple of undignified goalmouth scrambles resulting in tap-ins.

 

 

In Thursday’s games, Mr Evans vs Mrs Zhao’s tutor group kicked off first and, despite a spirited display of skill by members of Mr Evan’s team (special mention to Nate McEwan-Moore), Frank Cavill scored two determined goals which saw Mrs Zhao’s team victorious.

 

The second match saw Mr Clough’s tutor group take on Mr Thomas’ group. Mr Clough’s group was a player down for the match due to some absences but thanks to some great goalkeeping by Gus Tomlinson and some solid defending by both Millie Liddiard and Ollie Marten, they kept a clean sheet despite a strong attack by Mr Thomas’ side.

 

Greg Ejiofor played as a roving goalkeeper, making several runs up the pitch in the search of victory for his side, but ultimately Ollie scored twice securing a 2-0 victory for Mr Clough’s side instead.

 

 

With two rounds of fixtures to go, excitement is building. Mrs Zhao and Mr Clough’s tutor groups currently sit in the play-off positions, but the chasing pack all have a game in hand on them.