review

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

Inside: Seeing is believing in

Science WeekStars shine on Poetry Day

Taking the bait inCreative Arts Week

BLUNDELL’S PREPARATORY SCHOOL MAGAZINE

SPRING 2017

Nursery enjoy getting into themix on Pancake Day!

Bowled Over

Head Master’s NEWS

Andy Southgate Head Master

This term’sedition of theReviewprovides aninsight into allof the excitingevents whichhave takenplace withinour wonderfulNursery andPre-Prep.There has

been a lot going on, including visits fromcreepy-crawlies courtesy of The ReallyWild Man, through to trips out to see acastle, a cathedral and a canal, and on toa Play in a Day, House Matches in netballand football and the much loved, HouseMusic Competition. Every week hasincluded a variety of opportunities for thechildren’s learning to be enriched, andthey have enjoyed every moment, as thepictures in the pages that follow willillustrate. There have been opportunitiesfor our parents to come and see what isgoing on at school whether it be throughthe Pre-Prep Coffee mornings, the NurseryCafé event or the weekly Toddler Group. Inaddition, we hosted an Early Years OpenEvent and were delighted that so manynew parents came along to see what is onoffer here at Blundell’s. You only have toset foot inside the Pre-Prep to get a senseof the fun and the happiness thatemanates from the classrooms andcorridors. I recently joined our Nursery 2teacher, Mrs Thornton, as she used thestory of The Three Billy Goats Gruff as thebasis of a week’s learning and it wasincredible to see the way that the childrenresponded to the different activities thatshe had planned for them. What I saw wasa room full of bright eyed children, all keento share their ideas and to be part of whatwas going on, and that is the hallmark ofany outstanding Nursery and Pre-Prep.

The Spring Term has included the usualarray of events, be they academic,musical, sporting or artistic. In January,eleven of our senior pupils won AcademicExhibition Awards from the Senior Schooland three children received MusicExhibitions. Academic ambition continuesto be at the core of our offering and duringthe term the children have enjoyed takingpart in the NSPCC Number Day whichinvolved Year 9 students teaching

“What I saw was a room full of bright eyed children, allkeen to share their ideas and to be part of what wasgoing on, and that is the hallmark of any outstandingNursery and Pre-Prep.”

Pythagoras Theorem to our Year 6 pupils.The introduction of the AcceleratedReader Programme continues at a pacewith planned changes to the timetableproviding more opportunities for focusedreading, combined with the renovations tothe Prep School library, which are set forcompletion in September. A highlight ofthe term was most certainly our QuizTeam’s victory in the Regional Quiz Clubheats, which took place at Millfield School.The four boys involved were delighted andthey will take part in the next round duringthe summer term – we wish them well.The Spring Concert in conjunction with theLondon Chamber Orchestra was aspectacular event and one that allowedour young musicians to perform alongsidesome of the most accomplished musiciansin the country. The image of Charlie,Hector and the two Harrys playing theirtrombones alongside the LCO will live longin the memory. Success on the sportspitches has continued and our decision todevelop boys’ hockey has paid dividendsas our Under 11 boys narrowly missed outon qualification for the nationals havingonly played hockey for just over 10 weeksin total. During the regional qualifiers theygained a hard fought draw against theeventual national winners so that bodesvery well indeed for the future of hockey atBlundell’s. Creative Arts Week broughtcolour and vibrancy to the school with aseaside theme providing ampleopportunity for children to explore a hugevariety of artistic mediums. Science weekthen brought great excitement not tomention various explosions, as we werejoined by the Senior School Heads ofChemistry, Physics and Biology during aweek of workshops. This provides a flavourof what has gone on since the start of2017 but the articles that follow willprovide so much more. My thanks asalways to our esteemed editor, Mr Moore,for all of his hard work in putting togetherthis edition of Review for us all to enjoy.

Poetry Day made a fantastic finale toCreative Arts Week in the Pre-Prep. Thestaff and children came to school dressedup as some wonderful poetry and nurseryrhyme characters. Poetry Slam visited forthe day and helped every child to createand recite a poem with actions. It waslovely to see so many children enter therecital competition; a lot of hard work hadgone into the learning of some greatpoems and many children had tosummon huge courageto recite their chosenpoems in front of anaudience. We weredelighted that theSpeech and Dramapupils from Year 8were able to join us inthe afternoon to helpjudge the recital finalsand to recite their ownpoem for us. Theyounger childrenwatched in awe asthey recited “TheKing's Breakfast” byA.A. Milne. There werealso some super entriesinto the “Best DecoratedPoem” competition,which was an extremelydifficultcompetitionto judge!TN

Pre-Prep Poetry Day

THE

Young Ones

Hot and ColdScientists from Year 2 had great fun cooking upa storm in the kitchen and wrapping up warmin the outdoors in their investigations intoreversible and irreversible changes this term.

This term the Nursery children have taken part in a number ofshort, local trips to become acquainted with the localenvironment. Covering the ‘Understanding the World’ area oflearning, we have used our topics of ‘My world’ and ‘FairyTales’ as a starting point for our educational visits.

Our first trip was to Tiverton Pannier Market. The Nursery 1children were looking at the buildings and shops, finding outwhat they are used for and what shapes and patterns theycould see in the buildings. Nursery 2 had been reading ‘TheEnormous Potato’. They bought some potatoes from a marketstall and on returning to school made their own chips for anextra snack!

Next was a visit to Tiverton Castle. Many of the fairy talesthat the children read involved castles so it was with greatexcitement that we ventured into the castle and found outabout some of the Princes and Princesses that used to livethere long ago. A firm favouritewas trying on the helmets andtrying to lift the cannon balls.They had hoped to seeRapunzel in the tower, but wethink the Prince must havealready been to rescue her!

The Nursery 1 children alsowent looking for signs of Springon a trip to Tiverton Canal.They enjoyed looking aroundthe information centre andlooking at the flowers and canalboats. They had to be verycareful to stay with an adultwhen they were near the water!ELT

Out and Aboutwith Nursery

Screams of excitement couldbe heard from the Pre-Prep hallwhen Neil Vaughan made hisannual visit to the children inthe Nursery and Kindergarten.During his Really Wild Show thechildren had the opportunity tomeet some Giant HissingCockroaches, a Chilean PinkBird Eating Spider and a Blue-tongued Skink. They found outall about where they live, whatthey eat and other interestinginformation. Some of thechildren were brave enough tostroke the cockroaches or letone crawl up their arm! Many ofthe children carefully strokedthe Skink and one boy evenallowed Neil to place it on hishead! JKP

Really Wild Show

Children in KG had funcelebrating the ChineseNew Year. They learntabout Chinese food, mademoney envelopes, createdChinese music and eventried their hand at writingtheir names in Chinese.The most fun was hadwhen they workedtogether to create aChinese dragon. SMA

How To Tame Your Dragon

Youth TeamsYear 1 and 2 thoroughly enjoyed anafternoon of House Matches at the end ofterm. The children showed fantasticnetball and football skills. They provedthat not only can they be competitive butthat they are also very good sportsmenand women and all enjoyed the afternoonwithout worrying too much about thescore. Well done to everyone andespecially to Raleigh for winning theNetball and Drake for taking the Footballtitle. The children were particularlydelighted to finish their matches with adelicious healthy snack, and look forwardto experiencing more competitive sportsplay – and match teas – in the PrepSchool! SLJ

This year Year 2 tried something a bitdifferent and, as part of Creative ArtsWeek, they created their very own ‘Playin a Day’. Helped along by Kate from BigFoot Arts Education, the children createda performance to share with theirfamilies in less than six hours! Their play,based on the story ‘Voices in the Park’by Anthony Browne, was a greatsuccess. They are already excited aboutthe prospect of taking their Dramafurther in the Prep School! CAH

Very Young Voices

On Wednesday 15th March, there was greatexcitement in Year 2 as the children set off on atrip to visit Exeter Cathedral and Exeter Mosqueas part of the Religious Education Curriculumabout why some places are special. Lindsey, ourguide, took us on a very informative tour of theCathedral and the children saw many interestingfeatures including the font, stained glasswindows, various altars and the pulpit. Lindseywas delighted with the amount of information thechildren already knew and they asked some reallygood questions too. Later the children enjoyeddoing their own brass rubbings to bring back toschool before enjoying a delicious packed lunch.

After lunch, we got back on the coach andtravelled the short distance to Exeter Mosquewhere the Imam met us. He explained the way inwhich Muslims in Exeter use the Mosque, notonly for prayer but also for learning Arabic atweekend school for children from five to fifteen,youth clubs for boys and girls and women’s yogasessions. We were invited to watch some Muslimmen pray and the children sat quietly andbehaved respectfully, as they observed the ritualsthat they had heard about at school. The Imamthen offered refreshments to the staff andchildren before we went on a tour of the Mosqueto look more closely at different areas, such as thewomen’s prayer area and the washrooms. All thechildren listened very carefully and they had theopportunity to ask questions about what they hadseen and heard.

Year 2 had a very interesting day and thechildren were very keen to share all the thingsthat they had enjoyed on our return to school.DMK

Exeter Cathedral and Exeter Mosque

1J had great fun learning about the colourfulIndian festival of Holi for their class assembly.Instead of following the traditions of paintingeach other, they covered a huge piece of paperwhich the children thoroughly adored doing.Whilst covering the paper, they answeredquestions about Holi Week in order to move onto using their next colour! SLJ

THE

Young Ones

HOLI DAYS

Medical SchoolChildren in the Pre-Prep werethrilled to meet paramedics andlook inside a real workingambulance when it visited at theend of term.

Great Fire of London

Year 1 thoroughly enjoyed their Great Fire ofLondon day. They learnt to write with a quill,studied the coins and clothes used duringthe 17th Century and created a drama pieceretelling the events of 1666. The children alldecided that they would much prefer to be arich person than a poor person during thereign of King Charles II! SLJ

Year 1 also enjoyed their Outdoor Learningday where, following the theme of theirhistory topic on ‘The Great Fire of London’,they collected all the necessary sticks andwood to light a fire from a spark. Theyfinished the day making music to ‘London’sBurning’ using claves whilst having adelicious hot chocolate! SLJ

Spark Out

Pre-Prep singers were delighted to join with thePrep School for the annual House MusicCompetition this term. Congratulations to all ofour very youngest singers who enjoyed singingtheir hearts out – and a special well done toRaleigh for coming out on top on the day!

VOICES IN THE PARK

news

Congratulations to Jessica Barnes, Georgia Baxter,Toby Butler, James Clarkson, Alexander Fewtrell,Archie Joyner, Hector Marr, William Maunder,Amelia Mitchell, Isobel Morrison and HarrySouthgate for gaining Academic Awards to theSenior School.

Academic Scholars

Congratulations to Jesse Aldridge, WilliamMaitland-Walker, James Saunders and HectorMarr for taking the Blundell’s Quiz Club teamto first place in the regional heats at Millfieldthis term – the first time that a Blundell’s teamhad achieved this success! The team nowprogress to compete in the National Semi-Finalat Beaudesert Park School in June. We wishthem luck!

QUIZ MASTERS

Many thanks to all who contributedto the School Stalls at the ChristmasMarket, Tea Towel sales and theCarol Services, we were able tosend a donation of more than £2000to Blood Bikes. The children weredelighted when Mr. Nash fromDevon Freewheelers was able tobring his bike into school this termand explain how the Bloodbikescharity would use the money to helpfund emergency transportation ofblood, breast milk and othermedical supplies to those in need.

BLOOD BIKES

Speech and Drama continues to go fromstrength to strength at the Prep School withthe pupils achieving some fantastic results intheir LAMDA exams. A group entertained andimpressed an audience of family and friendswith a poetry and prose recital that showcasedtheir talent brilliantly this term.

Across the School, children had fun celebratingShrove Tuesday by making and racing pancakes…culminating in the fiercely fought House PancakeRaces, won this year by Raleigh!

PLAIN SPEAKING

Out of the Frying Pan

Den building, camp creating,fire lighting, barbecuecooking, pond dipping, naturetrailing, willow weaving,dream catching, moorwalking, photo snapping, artappreciating, team playing…pupils at Blundell’s Prepcontinue to make the most ofthe outdoors in their learning,both close to home and furtherafield, finding everything theyneed and using everythingthey find to complementlessons learned in theclassroom with life lessons inthe real world.

Blundell’s Prep News

OUTSOURCING

Every year Blundell’s has a Grandparents’morning when grandparents can come intoschool and help their grandchildren withsome of their lessons. It is really nice for thegrandparents to see what goes on in school,and also for the children to spend some time working with theirgrandparents. In the morning the grandparents got to have yummy cakesand coffees and teas, then they were invited in to watch Assembly beforethey met up with their grandchildren and went off to join in with somelessons. Many different activities were taking place inside – and outside – ofthe classrooms, and between them the grandparents got to join in with Art,Cooking, Computing, Maths, English and Science! The generation gap wasseen at work in one English lesson looking at how vocabulary changes overtime: “What do you think ‘wireless’ means?” asked the teacher, and therewere some very different responses from the grandparents and theirgrandchildren! Jasper Winsley and Alexander Fewtrell, Year 6

he NSPCC Number Day saw children fromacross the school working together toinvestigate and solve a range of numberproblems both inside and outside the

classroom; a particular highlight was the visit by Year9 pupils from the Senior School who worked withYear 6 to teach the tricky subject of ‘Pythagoras’Theorem’ – they were absolute stars, showing greatpatience and understanding throughout. Year 6then got to help some of the younger children whenplaying Maths games with Year 3! Other activitiesincluded tessellations, Maths stories, building‘gnome homes’ and cracking codes. In the Pre-Prep, children arrived in their old clothes and wetweather gear, ready to tackle a number ofmathematical challenges. In the speciallyconstructed sand areas the question was: Whichgroup could build the tallest sand structure andwhich would have the largest perimeter? Thechildren worked together producing a range ofstructures and with the assistance of some Year 4children, they were able to measure and recordthem. A second challenge involved makingsymmetrical pictures using the resources aroundthem. The staff were very impressed by theinnovative ideas and the final pictures theyproduced. The shape hunt was extremely popular.The children donned their waterproofs and welliesand shrugged off the rain to explore the schoolgrounds to find the hidden shapes and numbers.Once this had been achieved they returned to TheHub where they worked together to crack a code.Throughout the day,the children werefully engaged withthe activities and itwas such apleasure to seethem all working soco-operativelytogether andembracing theoutdoor learningopportunities. DJM & SMA

Grandparents’Morning

OUTNUMBERED

T

Year 3 had a fantastic dayexploring and recallingmany aspects of theAncient Egyptian culture.The great Pharaoh Tillybecame mummified,watched over by Anubis(Sammy). They decoratedan Anubis headdress andrecalled his important job.After that they decoratedsarcophagi with beautifulEgyptian patterns. Theyalso made clay amuletsand learnt how to make'paper' using the papyrus plant which is grown alongthe Nile. They wrote their name on this papyrus inhieroglyphic writing. This great day really brought theancient past back to life!

Blundell’s Prep News

Year 4 put on a greatperformance during CreativeArts Week with their Play in aDay: ‘The Jolly Roger andthe Monster’s Gold’. Anactress from the Big FootTheatre Company helped todirect the play with manyYear 4 pirates and lots ofdifferent parts. The audiencefully appreciated the effortthe children had so obviouslyput into the day and the finalperformance was givenrapturous applause. TMC

Jolly Roger

ANCIENT EGYPT

“I ENJOYED PLAY IN ADAY BECAUSE I GOTTO BE THE HEAD OFTHE SEA MONSTER. I HAD TO WEARMAKE-UP!” Zaynah Singh

“IN PLAY IN A DAY I ENJOYED DOING THEDRAMA WARM-UPS BEFORE THEPERFORMANCE. MY PART WAS BEING ANARRATOR. I LOVED PUTTING FACE PAINTON BECAUSE IT MADE ME FEEL MORELIKE A PIRATE AND MORE INCHARACTER.” Harvey Cronkshaw

Year 6 were transported back in time as they joined the ranks at PowderhamCastle for a Victorian Day to remember. They were immediately put to workby the very strict Housekeeper and had to polish boots, beat carpets andscrub the floors, jobs that they performed with great enthusiasm, although thetime spent in the kitchen making griddle cakes was possibly more to theirliking. We also had a super tour of the castle and a privileged look behind thescenes, exploring some of the hidden doors and passage ways through thisbeautiful 600 year old home. ADS

Service Included

he ‘Blundell’s Adventure, Leadership and Service Award’, orBALSA as it is more commonly known, is a scheme whichrecognises pupils in Year 6 who are willing to go a bit ‘above andbeyond’ to help others, are keen to challenge themselves and

looking to do things that they mightnot normally do. This year, for the firsttime, bicycle safety was introduced asa new BALSA initiative. At the start ofMarch, thirty seven of our Year 6 pupilscompleted their Bikeability Level 1 and2 courses. Working in small groups,they braved the elements to learn howto ride a bike safely on the roads. Thecourse began on the school playground,with children demonstrating to theirinstructors that they could ride a bike.They also studied the checks that theyshould make before heading out for aride – are their brakes working, are thetyres safe, etc. On the second day of thecourse, they went out onto the roads ofTiverton – learning in a controlledenvironment how to signal and turn, howto position themselves on the roadsproperly and finding out what differentroad signs mean. The children behavedthemselves brilliantly, and really didimpress our fabulous instructors, Sam andChris. The course was very hard work, butwhat an important life skill these childrenhave gained! DJM

The children in Year 5 were very luckyto be visited at school by none otherthan King Henry VIII himself! Duringthe morning King Henry explainedabout his and his family’s life and heentertained the children with stories ofhis six wives. He also told tales of lifein Tudor England including stories oftorture, execution, punishment and variousillnesses and their cures. It goes without saying that this was aparticular highlight for most of the children! In the afternoon,the children competed against each other in a joustingtournament. It was fiercely contested between teams of boysand girls but in the end the boys came out as winners. TheYear 5 children had an amazing day and special mentionmust go to Amara Lilley who displayed fantastic knowledge ofthe Tudors. She won some of ‘Good King Hal’s’ jewellery whenshe correctly answered his questions! GJR

Pedalling SuccessKING FOR A DAY

T

An action packed Creative Arts Week began with abang and a slap this year as Mr Punch took to thestage in all his glory to inspire the children andbegin their week of seaside art and puppet making.Armed with their ideas, children created puppets ofall shapes and sizes and artwork that beautifullycaptured underwater and seaside scenes. The weekcontinued with acting, outdoor learning, music andpoetry performances. It was certainly a busy andinspiring week! But as Mr Punch would say… ‘that’s the way to do it!’ CAH

CREATIVE ARTS WEEK: Life’s A Beach

…acrylic fish, batik, claybeach huts, clay seacreatures, computeranimations, concertinapuppets, dark roomphotography, filmmaking, monoprints,papier mache puppets,pastel and inkseashells, photomontages, seascapecanvasses, seasidemosaics, screen prints,shadow puppets, tie-dye designs, wax reliefmarine scenes, willowfish weaving…

Thanks to all the willing parent volunteers and visiting artistswho swept into school on a wave of enthusiasm to whet ourappetites and fan tidal currents of creativity across theschool…

has been another busy term in themusic department, providing avariety of musical opportunities forthe children.

On Friday 27th January 70 of ourYear 5 and 6 children travelled to Birminghamto take part in the National Young VoicesConcert at the Genting Arena. The childrenjoined 6700 other children to sing together inwhat is the largest series of school choirconcerts in the world. They performed avariety of music including a Pop Medley, a FolkMedley, a South African song and a JazzMedley. The children were joined by artistsincluding Tabby Callaghan (who reached thefinals of the X Factor), dance company UrbanStrides and the amazing Beatbox Collectivewho had us all beatboxing along with them.The children sang and danced to a packedarena. It was a fantastic experience for allinvolved, giving us a real taste of what it is liketo perform in an arena concert!

Our House Music Competition took placeduring Creative Arts Week. Songs performedthis year were Can’t Stop The Feeling – JustinTimberlake, Everybody – Backstreet Boys,History – One Direction and Troublemaker –Olly Murs. Small groups also performedincluding wind groups, guitar groups, stringgroups, piano trios/quartets and small singinggroups. The children and staff, as always,worked hard to perfect their performances andthe enjoyment from all was very clear to see.The Pre-Prep also performed with childrenfrom Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 singingThe Prehistoric Animal Brigade. Mrs Smith,

one of our violin teachers, had the difficult taskof judging the competition. It was very closebut in the end Raleigh were announced theoverall winners.

In last term’s Review I spoke about the FlashMob performance given by the LondonChamber Orchestra. This was followed thisterm with the opportunity for some of ourmusicians to take part in a workshop given bysome of the members of the LCO. Ourmusicians spent the afternoon playing with theorchestra, working on both pieces andimprovisation which would be performed in theSpring Concert. They were also given aninteresting insight into what it is like to play in aprofessional orchestra.

The Spring Concert took place a couple ofweeks later and provided the children with awonderful experience as they played alongsideprofessional musicians and students from theSenior School. The children played SimpleGifts and some of our other musicians formed

a small choir to sing the very well knownmelody line. It was a fantastic evening ofmusic and I know that the children were veryexcited to be involved. It was an experiencethat they will remember for a long time.

Our Tea Time Concerts have continuedthroughout the term, providing an opportunityfor many of our children to perform, whetherthey have been learning for a few months or afew years. It is so important for the children tohave the opportunity to perform to anaudience and it amazes me how confidentlythe children rise to this challenge.

We have also had children taking AssociatedBoard and Trinity Exams this term. We hadthree children audition for Music Scholarshipsat the Senior School and all three wereawarded scholarships. Well done to SophiaRochfort, Harry Southgate and Toby Low.

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

Blundell’s Prep Music

MUSICAL NotesIt

Blundell’s Prep Music

Science dominated the curriculum during British Science Week, and the children loved it!Senior School Head of Chemistry, Mr. Mead, put on a chemistry show to end allchemistry shows, with those ‘awe and wonder’ moments that we look to bring to thelives of the children in their learning exploding one after another with apparent chemicalabandon! The children were also enthralled when Dr. Matt Pritchard presented his‘Surprising Science’ show. He used everyday objects to perform various magic tricks andScience experiments that the children could safely replicate at home. They wereencouraged to think about how the experiments worked and put forward their ideas.When an empty biscuit tin was seen to roll up a slope there were many theories as tohow it might happen from invisible threads pulling it to a hamster running around in thetin! The children in the Pre-Prep focused on ‘change’ as they pursued a number ofscientific investigations (many involving cooking!) and in the Prep School the SeniorHeads of Chemistry, Physics and Biology took it in turns to run workshops whichincluded such diverse activities as identifying microscopic creatures, exploring differentchemical reactions, testing for friction and launching rockets! All enjoyed a fascinating,hands-on week of Science and were left clamouring for more! ADS & JKP

BRITISHSCIENCEWEEK

Blundell’s Prep Science

“Senior School Head of Chemistry, Mr. Mead, put on achemistry show to end all chemistry shows, with those

‘awe and wonder’ moments that we look to bring tothe lives of the children in their learning exploding one

after another with apparent chemical abandon!”

The weather never puts off a tourist! And certainly this year thewind and snow didn’t stop the Blundell’s Prep tour of Jersey! Butonly a day later the children were paddling in the sea andbuilding sand castles on St. Helier’s golden beach. From frozenhands to warm smiles, Jersey has it all!

Tough matches were played against ‘international opposition’!The girls battled valiantly against Jersey’s national teams, and theboys put up great defence and gutsy attacks against St. George’sPrep, St. Helier’s and Jersey’s first team.

The hotel was as luxurious as ever and very welcoming to all ofus. Throughout our time on tour everybody we met commentedon how well behaved and what great ambassadors the childrenwere for the school in particular and for young people in general.These compliments were seen by all as a sign of the growingmaturity of those on tour.

We were bowled over by the high scores in bowling, splashedwith spirit in swimming, full after the pizza challenge, engagedand enlightened by the visit to Jersey’s conservation zoo,captivated by the castle trip, taken aback with the stories aboutthe War Bunkers but overall we enjoyed the companionship ofthose around us. SGS

JERSEY SPORTS TOUR

“We had to meet at Exeter Airport at 4:30 am! Then we hadto go through security and finally we boarded theaeroplane. Then we were off to Guernsey then… finally…we arrived in JERSEY!”

Marinka Lambert-Gorwyn

The Year 2 girls alsoplayed some competitivenetball this term, whenthey took part in afriendly tournament withSt. Peter's, ExeterCathedral and MountKelly. There were manymini-matches, a fairamount of scoring andlots of learning duringthe afternoon, andeveryone thoroughlyenjoyed the experience!

The Year 3 girls have had a mostsuccessful Netball season. The arrival ofHeidi Robinson, Edie Munro and IllianaLane has greatly strengthened the squadand we have been in the lucky position tobe able to field two teams each week.There has been a good mix of festival stylegames and competitive fixtures enablingall of the girls to have maximum time oncourt, to develop their skills and form abetter understanding of the rules of thegame. The progress that has been made byall of the pupils is something they shouldfeel proud of. We have seen someaccurate shooting from Mae Millington,Mimi Griffiths, Issy Joyner, Tilly Horan,Heidi and Bea Squires. Daisy Faulkner,Harriet Hyde, Illiana and AntoniaTimperley have all worked hard toincrease the pace and accuracy of theirpassing and Ruby Corbin, Edie and SofiaZurita Crowe have been a force to bereckoned with in defence. I mustcommend all of the Year 3 girls for their‘sportsman’ like behaviour and willingnessto change positions to allow opportunitiesfor others. Enjoyment and participation arefirst and foremost and it is safe to say theYear 3’s have thoroughly enjoyed theirnetball, however, it is also nice to win agame or two. Well the girls have certainlysurpassed all expectations and both teamshave finished the season unbeaten! Verywell done and have a thoroughly deservedEaster break! FLE

U8 NETBALL

NETBALL

Blundell’s Prep SPORTS

What an outstanding netball season the U9Ateam has had this term! The girls have won allof their weekly matches and managed tosecure two more trophies for the trophycabinet, winning both the Exeter and theQueen’s tournaments in the same week. Theyalso travelled a little further afield to theMillfield Festival where they were againunbeaten and scored 31 goals in five matchesand only conceded one. This was anoutstanding achievement. They have showngreat determination and team workthroughout the term with Sydney Boyde andRuby Lane scoring over 100 goals betweenthem. Scarlett Brock, Sophia Rushton,Jemima Sides and Amelia Churcher havebeen a tough defence to break through for theopposing teams and Anni Butterfield and BeaMorrison have supplied the shooters withsome super passes into the D in order to helpthe team on their way to such great victories.Well done for such a superb effort! LB

The U9B team had a tough first match of theseason against St.Peter’s where we lost 17-2.Putting this defeat behind us, the girls showedreal determination to win their next gameagainst a tough opposition: King’s Hall. Sureenough we secured a 4-2 win, with both AliciaPerry and Lana Johnson contributing to thegoal scoring. Our next match against Stoversaw an even greater improvement of basicskills such as footwork, movement into spaceand accurate passing. Excellent scoring anddefending from all involved resulted in a 15-0win. This time Amelia Churcher and Ophelia

U9 NETBALLThorpe also scored some of the 15 goals. Thiswas a great team effort. Needless to say, I wasecstatic! In the second half of term we playedThe Maynard, Exeter Junior School,Wellington, Exeter Cathedral and Plymouthand the girls again showed grit anddetermination along with strategies of what todo when faced with giants on the netballcourt. The last game of the season wasagainst Mount Kelly which we won 17-1. Thiswas a great way to end the season, with everygirl contributing to our success and eachplayer having made massive improvements intheir ball skills, footwork and tacticalawareness. Well done! I look forward to seeingyour Rounders skills next term girls! CFH

The U11A team kicked off the season with acompetitive tournament at BryanstonSchool where they really stepped up to theplate, winning all six games in their pooland qualifying for the cup semi-finals. Herethey met PGS who were a well drilled teamwith plenty of fast play and who really putthem to the test. It was the hardest matchof the day and the girls played with greatdetermination and strength, only losing byone goal on the final whistle. From here,they went on to win every weekly matchthey played bar one against Queen’s. At theMillfield Tournament they were againwinner of their pool but unfortunately wereknocked out of the final by a strong Millfieldside. The regional qualifiers at King’sBruton School were a real highlight of theseason where the team played their bestnetball of the term. They were confrontedby some very strong teams from across theregion and finished 5th overall, narrowlymissing out on the National finals by oneplace and only one goal in the finalmatches. Well done to all the girls, whohave been an absolute pleasure to teachand a great deal of fun! LB

The U11B team has had a great season.Including the tournament at Millfield, thegirls have played thirteen different schoolsand have won eight of those matches! Theopposition at Millfield was particularly toughbut we still managed to beat Port Regis,Sherborne and Millfield. Marinka Lambert-Gorwyn, Alex Heathman and Daisy Parkershowed real stamina to play so manymatches in one afternoon and Georgia

U11 NETBALL

The U10A team has experienced a mixedseason of highs and lows, winning fourmatches and losing three. During theirmatches, they displayed some fast flowing andfluent netball which showcased their improvedpassing and movement. However, the teamalso faced some challenging opposition who allseemed to be so much taller than them! Theteam entered two tournaments and again therewas a fair share of wins and losses. At theExeter School tournament, the team came thirdin their group, winning two matches and verynarrowly losing the other two. Amber Tuckerand Maya Corbin have defended wellthroughout the season and Gracie Horan hasshown that she is a very versatile player,whether attacking or defending. Amara Lilley,Lucy FitzHerbert and Molly Duckworth-Chadhave all played their role as shooters well andhave scored a total of 46 goals during theseven matches played. Well done to the wholesquad for putting so much effort into all theirmatches and tournaments. JER

The U10B team had a very solid andsuccessful netball season this term.Throughout the season they have securedvictories over Millfield, Wellington and King’sHall, with closely fought draws against Tauntonand The Maynard. This season they havesuccessfully scored a wonderful total of 45goals. The squad showed a lovely positive teamspirit, developing the understanding of flexibilityby playing in a variety of positions. This allowedthem to develop their knowledge of the role ofeach player and the importance of spacing andmovement. This will create a strong foundationupon which to progress as Year 6 netballers. A brilliant effort this term girls, well done to allof you! HGM

U10 NETBALL

Withey and Lucy Squibb played reallyimpressive, determined netball, feeding theball consistently and accurately into the D,into the safe hands of Hattie Barnes andLucy Vaux to score. It was a pleasure towatch. A few of the girls were new to theschool or new to netball this season andhave made fantastic progress. IsabellaWren’s accurate throwing, Marinka’sdetermination, Alex’s competitive spirit andDaisy and Zia Singh’s skills in defence allcontributed to our successes. The lastmatch of the season against The Maynardwas a particular highlight for me seeing aculmination of great skills. Amsi Sims was astandout defender and Bronte Dash andFlorence Chapman’s shooting wasincredible, scoring 13 goals between them!All the girls have been great to work with:positive throughout, showing perseverance,a great sense of humour, lovely team workand beautiful singing in the bus! CFH

Blundell’s Prep SPORTS

U11 HOCKEYThe key element of ‘teamwork’ is organic,cohesive, yet it has to be formed,moulded and spread evenly for it to showits true potential. The U11A teamcertainly doused themselves in thiselement, as their play was more like thatof one collective than separateindividuals. With the addition of someelite tactical input from Mr. Jones, theteam scored a huge number of goals.The IAPS regional hockey tournament atClifton College saw the team testedagainst similar teams from other localschools. With no losses the team wasdenied progression to the National Finalsby the eventual winners on goaldifference alone. But they had certainlymade their mark. After this fantastictournament Hector Banton was awardedhis hockey colours. This is unusual as itwas midterm but Hector is an awesomeplayer, who would be the first to say theteam around him enable his dazzling ballcontrol and accurate passing to be sosuccessful. Well done to the whole U11squad, which benefitted from theopportunity of allowing B team players tostep up and play their part in the A teamtoo. Many thanks to all of the supportingparents at every game. SGS

The U11B team enjoyed a wonderfulhockey season during the Spring Term.They enjoyed significant victories againstMount Kelly, Taunton, and a draw againstMillfield. The boys developed their skillsincredibly well and improved theirunderstanding of the game immensely.All the team should be proud of theirefforts and look forward to playing hockeywhen they move to the Senior School.Well done boys! ARC

HOCKEY

If winning matches were just down to commitment, hardwork, enthusiasm and sheer determination to improve,the U10 A team would have won every game thisseason. Unfortunately scoring goals also helps, but thiswas not something we found easy to come by! At timeswe did everything right but could not finish with puttingthe ball in the back of the goal. We played some verystrong opposition who had been playing for a number ofyears. However, this did not dishearten the boys, whoplayed some truly lovely hockey throughout the seasonand deserved more than some of the score linessuggested. Well done to all those who played and goodluck with your hockey in the future. SPH

The U10 B team made tremendous progress duringthe season and achieved some wonderful results, themost impressive perhaps being their wins over Queen'sCollege at the end of the season. Having started theterm with no experience of hockey, the boys workedhard to hone their skills and very quickly understood theneed to maintain their shape across the field. Asconfidence grew, they began to expand their game andit was great to see them enjoying dribbling the ball andtaking on opposition defences. Millfield for their firstmatch was a big ask but the team responded well and itended up being a close affair. We then enjoyed a seriesof quadrangular matches, allowing all of the boys to getlots of time on the pitch against a range of opponents.At times it was rather a baptism of fire against the moreexperienced hockey playing schools, but what wasnoted by all of our parental supporters was the progressthat our boys made in very quick time. They were asuper group to work with and can feel very proud of allthat they achieved. I look forward to seeing how they geton next year. ADS

U10 HOCKEY

The Year 3 boys had a wonderful term learning hockeyskills for the first time and representing the school inseveral matches. All the boys made significant progressin their skill level and understanding of the sport, whichbodes well for the future. Victories against Mount Kelly,Exeter Cathedral and West Buckland were particularhighlights as was the tournament at Millfield where thewhole year group played incredibly well. ARC

U8 HOCKEY

Eight teams lined up at the start of the Blundell’sYear 1 & Year 2 Tag Rugby Festival, all eager toscore tries and take tags. Once the warm-upswere complete the first games were started.With children running in numerous tries it waswonderful to watch rugby being played with suchenthusiasm. Those watching couldn’t help but beimpressed with the skills and gamesmanship ondisplay. Dummy passes, offloading, tagging asprinting winger and scoring tries from tightangles were some of the great moves seen.Everybody playing in the festival was red facedand blowing deeply by the end, having playedhard but fair throughout each match. With a finaladdress and presentation of certificates from theHeadmaster, all tucked into their well-earnedmatch tea. Many thanks to PCSO Dave Wallerand the community police team for their supportand refereeing. SGS

The U7’s playeda mini festivalagainst St.Peter’s, MountKelly and ExeterCathedral. Theywon all of theirmatchesshowing greatteam spirit andfootballingskill. Thepositions wererotated aroundthe field soeverybodyexperiencedplaying indifferent roles. It was a wonderful afternoon ofsport for the young stars of tomorrow! SGS

FOOTBALL

The Year 4 squad was madeup of a highly motivatedgroup of individuals whocame together to form twoclose nit teams. Enthusiasmwas boundless as wasencouragement for eachother. The game plan,followed to the letter, saw theteam produce an epicperformance in the Millfieldhockey tournament. All ofthe boys have had theopportunity to play indifferent positions, gainingexperience and a tacticalawareness about how thisultimate team game needs tobe played. From thisexcellent introduction to thesport, all of the boys will goonto become great hockeyplayers in the years ahead.SGS

U9 HOCKEY

Blundell’s Prep SPORTS

TAG RUGBY

Over 600 runners from 18 schools across Devon andSomerset took part in the Larkman Cup cross country racethis year. The weather played its part too, with a rainshower just before making the course soft enough toenable all to wear spikes for added traction, and then sunfor each race! The spectators welcomed the fineconditions and refreshments along with the determinedrunning on show. The Blundell’s team consisted of 8runners in all age groups from U9’s to U13’s: a big squadof talented runners, who each challenged themselves torun faster than ever before. The final result saw Blundell’sregain the Larkman Cup, beating Queen’s, Mount Kelly,Exeter and Wellington in a close fought battle.

The House Cross Country course was awash with green,red and blue t-shirts, as everybody in the School tookpride to represent their House in the race. From first tolast, everybody’s score counted, and with manydetermined runs, the scoring was close for an overallwinner. The course was very muddy, meaning thateveryone was challenged to step out of their comfort zone.All tried their hardest but in the end Drake won the HouseCross Country by a small margin. Well done to all therunners, and many thanks to the great number ofspectators, course marshals and staff for making CrossCountry at Blundell’s such a success. SGS

Blundell’s Road, Tiverton

Devon EX16 4NA

Telephone: 01884 252393

Email: prep@blundells.org

www.blundells.org/prep

Cross Country