HTIS students make the most of their History and Cultural trip to London.

HTIS Head, Mrs Leek-Wright, commented: “What a fantastic learning opportunity, bringing History and current issues to life for our senior students. This type of educational experience adds genuine benefit to classroom teaching.”

The students’ extensive two-hour tour included taking in the room where the Queen robes for the State Opening of Parliament and where MPs vote on Bills currently under debate, before going on to meet Mr Garnier in the Central Lobby to ask him questions about his role as an MP for Wyre Forest and on the many aspects Parliamentary business, including his views on student university fees.

The HTIS students then continued their London trip with a tour of the Wartime Cabinet Office, Whitehall and a visit to the Cenotaph, 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, Trafalgar Square and finally the National Gallery.

Bedford Modern School's Politics students visited Edinburgh and the Scottish Parliament

The students were also able to visit Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse which held interesting exhibitions on Scottish History and also the role of the Queen in Scotland.

As part of our visit, the Politics students travelled to the University of Edinburgh to meet academics and ask about Politics courses. Dr Nicola McEwan gave students a lecture entitled ‘Debating Scotland’s future’. The students also had an opportunity to meet the Political Editor of the Scotsman Newspaper, Eddy Barnes, to ask his opinion on recent political events.

After a guided tour of the Parliament, students met MSP representatives from the four main political parties who explained their parties’ work in Parliament and their view on the forthcoming Scottish Independence referendum.

In the evenings the group was entertained by Edinburgh’s haunted past on a Ghost Walk whilst also having an opportunity to see the new film, ‘The Woman in Black’.

Stuart Baker, Head of Government and Politics at Bedford Modern School said: “It was fantastic to be in Scotland during this exciting time in Politics – to be able to meet academics, politicians and journalists who could explain an important part of contemporary British Politics.”

A further selection of photographs from the Edinburgh and Scottish Parliament trip are available in our Gallery section at: http://www.bedmod.co.uk/gallery/232

The 12 Oxbridge candidates are William Law St John’s, Cambridge (French and Spanish), Hussein Alloo (St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, Land Economy) Mishel Ghassibe (Trinity College, Cambridge, Economics), Eleanor Hobson (Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, Land Economy), Marie Terlinden (Peterhouse College, Cambridge, Classics), Nathan King (Queens’ College, Oxford, Physics, where he has also won a Choral Scholarship), Anastasia Tropsha (Brasenose College Oxford, Law with German), Silviana Ciurea Ilcus (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, Mathematics), Finja Finster St Hugh’s College, Oxford, History), Caroline Meinhardt (Clare College, Cambridge, Chinese, where she also has a Choral award), Lisa Sweering (St Catharine’s, Cambridge, PPS) and Vicky Moritz (Downing College, Cambridge, Natural Sciences).
In addition, two pupils have been offered places in the US, Reneé Rust to read Architecture at Cornell and Mavila Miller to read Economics and Computer Sciences at Yale.

Headmaster Antony Clark is enormously pleased that these pupils have won such significant offers. He applauds their success and their determination.
He says, “These are bright pupils with application and determination and they will go far in life. We are pleased that they have the opportunity to develop further academically at the top universities in the world and we wish them well in their examinations this summer”.

Joanna Rex has been appointed Head of Bedford Modern Junior School

With a BA (Hons) from the University of Lancaster where she majored in Religious Studies, Mrs Rex also has a PGCE having trained for the Upper Primary age range.

Mrs Rex joined Bedford Modern School in 1992 as a Year 5 class teacher before becoming Science Co-Ordinator in 1998. In 2002, Mrs Rex, was promoted to Deputy Head Pastoral, which then became Deputy Head in its own right in 2004, prior to being appointed to Head of Bedford Modern Junior School.

Describing the ethos of Bedford Modern Junior School as fun, vibrant and a hardworking place to be, Mrs Rex believes that skills learnt in her time as Deputy Head will prove invaluable to her Headship.

“The best thing about being Deputy Head was being able to get involved in the management of the School whilst maintaining a role as a class teacher. It allowed me to get to know all of the children in the Junior School and most of their parents and this has given me an excellent starting point for being Head,” said Mrs Rex.

Considering herself to be organised, fun and approachable, Mrs Rex has clearly defined short and long term goals for the Junior School. “Short term, it is important to continue to offer a breadth of co-curricular opportunities to help extend the individual and support the curriculum. Long term, I would like to build on the existing high level of educational attainment.”

2013 will see the 10th anniversary of co-education at Bedford Modern School and Mrs Rex is looking forward to celebrating this achievement. “I think that co-education has changed the whole ethos of the School for the benefit of all and I believe that we foster an unpretentious environment in which children can develop their interests and talents.”

Johnnie Bland (17), competing in the U19 category, came 21st, making him 4th in the County and qualifying him for the Nationals. Charlie Hutchinson (16), also competing in the U19 category, came 25th (8th in the County) and Harry Reynolds (16) competing in the U17 category came 47th (9th in the County).

Ruby Goodall (13) started strongly in the U15 race but unfortunately had to stop after injuring her knee in a fall. However Ruby has been allowed to go through to the next round as well, given her strong performance last month in the County qualifiers. She went on to run an indoor PB in 800m the following day at the NIA for the Birmingham Games.

Johnnie and Ruby will join U19 competitor, Jessica Varley (16) in the All English Schools event on 17 March, in Somerset.

Head of Girls Games, Leti Brighton commented, “Oundle School is very proud to count such strong athletes amongst its pupils. It is also worth mentioning that the School cross country team is doing very well indeed, even when the runners mentioned above are away representing the County. The Girls 1st team came third in the highly competitive Knole Run held at Sevenoaks at the start of the season, and match after match Oundle seems to get closer to securing both Gold and Silver for the 1st and 2nd Girls’ teams in the local Independent Schools league, with the boys looking at Bronze.”

Former Bedford Modern School pupil, Marek Behnke, will represent Great Britain

Marek Behnke, a former Bedford Modern School pupil, has been selected to represent Great Britain at the World Junior Freestyle Ski Championships in Valmalenco, Italy, between 19 and 24 March.

19 year old Marek, who left BMS in 2010, is the first ever British skier to qualify for the Championships in Ski Cross and will be one of the 12 young British skiers who will make the trip to Italy.

In 2011, Marek became the British Junior Ski Cross Champion at the British Freestyle Ski and Snowboard Championships. Marek is currently studying Material Science and Engineering at Swansea University and is striving to achieve a balance between his studies and his skiing.

Marek said: “I am really excited to have been selected to race for Great Britain and looking forward to being the first Brit to do so in the ski cross event.”

Nigel Robinson, Ski Co-Ordinator at Bedford Modern School commented: “Whilst representing and leading the Bedford Modern School Ski Team, Marek set the standard to aim for. He was, and remains, an inspiration and is largely responsible for the quality of our current ski squad. It is really pleasing to see that he has gained the recognition he so richly deserves.”

Marek is seeking sponsorship for his GB representation at the World Junior Freestyle Ski Championships and anyone interested in sponsoring Marek, should contact Liz Behnke at Syzygy@syzygleisure.co.uk

     Head Boy, Matthew Roberts, is well known around school for his smile but as Joseph his smile literally lit up the stage. He gave a towering performance in the main role. Eric Sabonchian (Reuben/Potiphar) was mesmerizing be it in sheepskin or silver lame, with a captivating stage presence and expressive face. James Moran’s (Dan) fine calypso swing and Jonathan Cheriyan’s (Levi) beret raising French accent were equally popular. Mr Barnes (Pharaoh), resplendent in a white rhinestone covered jumpsuit and medallion, was truly ‘the King’ rocking it up Egypt style. The dancing Camel (Mr Brown and Mr Foley) was described variously by the audience as ‘unique’ and ‘something never seen before’, although that description could also have applied to the Three Hairy Ishmaelites (Ms Dunlea, Mr Arratoon, Mr Bowles). The whole performance was held together by the Narrator (Dominic Tighe), suave as a 1950s Hollywood screen star in his white tuxedo and whose voice illustrated why he has been awarded a vocal scholarship at Worcester Cathedral.

     English teacher Mrs Julie Greenhough writes, “This school production of ‘Joseph’ was brighter, bolder and more kitsch than ever before! There were so many memorable moments that it is hard to know where to start. I did not want it to end. Along with the rest of the foot stomping, hand clapping, singing and cheering audience I could have sung along in the finale for hours more.”

Students were inspired by Cathy’s stories of how she became involved in writing and worked with her to create their own characters and tales. With a theme of ‘Heroes’, the students came up with some amazing work in both written and illustrated form.

The workshop is one of a series of Extended Learning Opportunity (ELO) workshops being run at Box Hill School. The workshops are an extra resource for our students, designed to complement the regular timetable and broaden their thinking, and runs across a range of departments throughout the year.