Dear <<Salutation>>

I hope all is well with you and your family. I have written about the next phase of re-opening this week, and we look forward to inviting Y3, Y4 and Y5 boys back to school, to join Y6 boys and sons of key workers, on Monday 22nd June. There is a small possibility that we are able to invite Y7 and Y8 for a morning (or, at most, a day). If it is at all possible, we will; however, there is much planning for this to happen.
 
I hope the boys enjoyed finding out who their new tutors for next year are, and, for some, meeting their new classes.  This is a chance for the boys to start dreaming about how next year can be even more successful than this.
 
As you will see, there is plenty still happening, and I really enjoyed listening to the speeches at the recent Come Dine With Me evenings with 8IB and 8F.  I would also like to record a huge thanks to our wonderful Prep Guild for donating a significant sum to the House charities.
 
Have a great weekend.
 

Moving up to Y6
We hope the boys enjoyed meeting their new tutor yesterday. If they would like to listen to Mr Silk and Mr Loader’s talk again, please see the link below.
https://www.bedfordschool.org.uk/year-6-move-up-film/
 
Poetry Recitation Grand Final, Wednesday 24th June
Good luck to the boys who will be competing in the Grand Final at 1pm on Wednesday. The Y5 finalists are
Isaac West
Toby Coles
Nathaniel Fletcher
Oliver Barbour
 
Library Books
When boys return to school next week they can return any library books that they have finished with to the table outside the door to lost property on their way into school or at morning break. All books issued before the lockdown will be due back in September so do not need to be renewed. If boys need some different books to read, please get in touch with Mrs Lumley-Wood. They can request a specific book or Mrs Lumley-Wood can select something for them. Follow the link on the library Firefly site to the library catalogue if you want to find out what is available. Please make sure your book has a copy available in the Inky Library.  Mrs Lumley-Wood will let you know when books are ready and boys can collect them from the table at lunchtime or afternoon break.

Speech Day - Change of plans
In normal times, Saturday 27th June was marked as the date for our Prep School Speech Day. However, for obvious reasons we will not be holding a live event. Instead, in a change to published plans, a remote Speech Day will take place on the last afternoon of the Summer Term, Friday 3rd July. Final details will be forwarded to you and the boys shortly. We have some wonderful guest speakers, as well as speeches from the Head Boy and me, and we look forward to announcing this year’s prize-winners.
 
However, there will be no lessons on Saturday 27th June.
 
Next Term - Uniform
Whilst we are not in a position yet to give any clarity about how next term will operate, we have already made a decision that we will start next term with Summer Uniform. This is to comply with current guidelines about wearing clean uniform each day. Blazers and ties will be needed at some point (hopefully half-term), but I wanted to get this out to you as early as possible ahead of buying uniform for next year.
 
House Sport Challenges
There will be a series of House Sport Challenges issued to all age groups next week which we would like your son to complete between Monday 22nd and Sunday 28th June. Your son’s results can then be uploaded into a google sheet which can be accessed through his Bedford School account. This sheet will be shared with the pupils in his Year’s PE & Games Google Classroom.
 
Each entry will receive a House Point and the winning House will be calculated from the results uploaded. Results must be witnessed by an adult and, please, only post honest achievements! Also, please do not change any entries made by other pupils.
 
Prep Guild
The Prep Guild have very kindly donated £2000 in lieu of the money which would normally be raised at our annual Fun Day in the summer term. At a time when charities may be struggling, it means that our four nominated charities this year (Bunyan: Great Ormond Street Hospital, Harpur: Animals in Need, Howard: Riverbank Ward Bedford Hospital and Whitbread: Primrose Unit Bedford Hospital) will still receive sizeable donations. We would like to thank the Prep Guild for their generosity.
 
The Prep Guild works tirelessly throughout the year supporting the school and they are looking forward to welcoming new and existing parents in the new academic year.
 
House ‘Funny Photo’ Competition
Just a reminder that we are still accepting entries for the Funny Photo Competition. Thank you to those boys who have already entered. The photos should be taken by the boys themselves and their best one should be submitted to their Housemaster by email. (Feel free to add a caption to increase comedic value.) The photos will be judged independently, the winner(s) will be announced and there will be an overall House Competition winner. If we receive sufficient entries, we may run separate year group competitions as well. The House with the most entrants will also be rewarded with additional House points. House points won will all contribute to this year’s main House Competition. The closing date is Tuesday 30th June and we look forward to seeing your entries.
 
Y5-8 Choir 2004unk Remote Recording Project - Final Week
All members of the choir are asked to contribute their recordings of songs and dialogue. All details are on google classroom here (code qsqkyes). The deadline is this Friday.
 
Weekly Music Competition and Concert (every Sunday at 5pm) - Final Week
To enter the final Weekly Music Competition, simply film yourself playing/singing the piece you are practising and upload the video here. Alternatively, email the video to agroom@bedfordschool.org.uk  using google drive, onedrive, icloud, wetransfer or any other service you feel comfortable with. The deadline for submissions is 3pm on Friday. Don’t forget that every entry will receive a merit and the winners go into a fantastic concert which is broadcast live on the Bedford School Music Facebook page every Sunday at 5pm. You can view previous concerts here. Please tune in to support your friends and celebrate the outstanding music here at Bedford School. We look forward to hearing lots more fantastic entries. If you have any questions please contact Mr Groom.
 
Virtual Choral Evensong
Members of the Chapel Choir have been busy over the last few weeks making their own individual recordings of six different pieces of choral music to create the school’s first ever virtual Choral Evensong. Twenty-six boys have been recording over 120 separate tracks – it has been quite a mixing job! All churches (including our own Chapel) have been closed for worship so we thought that it would be good to continue the 400-year tradition of Choral Evensong, but in a pre-recording virtual context. We hope that you might find time this weekend to enjoy listening to the fruits of our labours! To listen, you can click here.
 
Thought for the day
To access the Thoughts for the Day for the week gone by, please click here.