Dear <<Salutation>>

I hope you are all well, and staying positive in lockdown. I must say, we are very impressed with all of our boys, and proud about how well they are doing in these trying circumstances. They are a resilient and calmly determined bunch, who are almost making this remote learning look normal.  Credit to the teachers, too, for their continued positivity and very hard work to keep all this running whilst also looking after their own families. I realise that for parents, too, this is a difficult period of time, trying to keep boys learning whilst facing a range of trying circumstances. A big thank you to everyone, and thank you, as ever, for the feedback from parents, which has been very encouraging and helpful. I know some boys are finding the current conditions very difficult, and they should be congratulated for persevering, and learning new skills, particularly the ability to learn independently, and find out how to do things themselves without the instant fallback to their teachers. It is brilliant to hear how they have supported each other. Some boys are even asking for more work to do, and I would point them to the General Resources to Enrich Remote Learning which they can access in the Remote Learning section on Firefly. 

We will continue to think about what we are offering remotely, with the proviso that it is a different type of education to the one we would/will offer whilst we are in school. We will continue to seek your views via a survey, as we did at the end of last term. We are also looking at what we can do when schools can go back, and will respond as quickly as we can to whatever conditions are put into place by the Government and are already planning for various scenarios.

Finally, whilst the majority of us have not been physically present in school, the school has been very busy acting as a sorting office for the vast quantity (150,000 and counting) of Captain Tom Moore’s birthday cards. The Great Hall has become a hub for journalists around the world to visit and report on the amazing story of our new National hero, Captain Tom Moore, and his effort to raise over £30 million for NHS charities. It has been a privilege to be a small part of this great story. He has been a beacon of hope and has helped to remind us, as a Nation, about how important it is at times like this to be resilient, to think of others, and, above all, how important it is to be kind. He has also helped to throw a spotlight on the work of our NHS. 

Have a good weekend, and keep on keeping on!

Enrichment Sessions
A word on enrichment sessions. Feedback suggests that they are good for boys in a number of ways. They are designed to ensure that boys do not have to be on screen all day (which follows a strong feeling from a vast majority of those surveyed); they also allow boys to pursue their own interests and research, and partake in some of the current challenges that have been offered. Some boys are keeping a journal of what they have learned and got up to over the last few weeks, which will be invaluable to look back on as a record of a unique (and hopefully never to be repeated) time in history. Others are enjoying the time to read or be inventive and creative in other ways. It has been brilliant to dip in to tutor times and listen to what boys have got up to, including cooking delicious recipes, some tough physical challenges, some inventive Challenge 100s, incredible art and watching documentaries. 

Equally importantly, the enrichment sessions allow time for boys to catch up on work that they have not fully understood, or work which has been delayed by technical issues. And these sessions ensure that boys have the time to make sure they have completed the work to the absolute best of their ability. Furthermore, they allow teachers, who are definitely finding the preparation of online resources far more time-consuming, to spend a little more time planning. Our research from schools abroad, which had gone to remote learning before us, allowed us to avoid the pitfalls which were common to some schools which didn’t allow this space. However, this may not be everyone’s experience, so we will continue to monitor this as the term unfolds. If boys need some suggestions of what they could be getting up to, they should speak to their tutor, and are welcome to use the huge variety of enrichment resources General Resources to Enrich Remote Learning which they can access in the Remote Learning section on Firefly.

DRAW-A-DAY-THROUGH-MAY 
The PS Art Department has an Instagram account that will post a drawing challenge for every day through the month of May. This is for any boy in any year group at BPS, their siblings, parents and even staff (I know there are some talented and creative souls in the Common Room!). Each drawing challenge is designed to take 20 minutes but can take longer if you would like. Perhaps you can use one of your enrichment sessions during the week to complete. There is an 'advanced' version of each task for those of you who like a challenge! For each TWO entries posted, boys will receive a MERIT. Please post images of your drawings to PS Art Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bedfordprepart/ OR email Mr Studd at school pstudd@bedfordschool.org.uk  - we would love to receive as many artworks as possible!
 
HOUSE ART 2020 - 'Heroes and Icons'
Full details of the House Art Competition can be found on the PS Art FireFly site. Dates for the deadline and the exhibition itself have been deferred until we know more about a return to school. The theme of 'Heroes and Icons' will remain and it would appear fitting in light of recent events! If it is not possible to hold the exhibition during the Summer Term 2020 then the competition will run into the Autumn Term 2020, allowing you all (including current Y8s) the time and opportunity to express your thoughts, ideas and feelings on this subject. We have already received images of pupil entries in Y3, Y4 and Y6. With more, we can begin an online exhibition if an image of your artwork (plus a completed House Art entry form) is sent to Mr Studd's email address. 
 
Prep School Sport - Summer Term 2020
A letter from Mr Phillips, Director of Sport, regarding ‘remote’ sporting activities being offered can be found here. 
 
2004unk Choir: Songs so far. Please record Song 7 next
Well done to everyone who has recorded the songs so far. If you are yet to record song 3, 4 or 5 please do so on your mobile and email to Mr Groom (agroom@bedfordschool.org.uk) as soon as possible. 
To record please watch the videos wearing headphones and sing along with the right bits recording the audio on your phone using voice recorder (android) or voice memo (iOS). Then email to agroom@bedfordschool.org.uk the audio file. It should only be a few megabytes so email should be fine. I'm pleased to let you know songs 1 and 2 are totally finished and you can listen by clicking Song 1 and Song 2. So, please don't send any more recordings of 1 and 2.

Thought for the Day
To access the Thoughts for the Day for the week gone by, please click here.