Scroll down the page for: Wind in the Willows Fashion Show, Magic Maths, Entrepreneurship Masterclass, Arts Day for visiting Year 5's, Trip to France, Proms Concert, Dodgeball comes to Bethany, Masterchef Final, Inter-house Athletics, Bronze DofE Expedition and Viva España
Wind in the Willows
On Monday & Tuesday, 2nd & 3rd July, 30 students from Years 7 to 9 transported their audiences to the river bank, the wild wood and Toad Hall. They were taking part in the annual Lower School production which allows the younger students in the School to take leading roles.
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This year there were two sets of main characters, one set for each half of the performance.
Mrs Kirk, our Head of Drama, said that the cast and crew had all worked incredibly hard in a busy term to produce an excellent show, particularly since the majority of the show had been rehearsed during activities sessions twice a week.
The show included live music and Mrs Kirk thanked all those who had been involved for giving up their time to help make the production such a success. Particular thanks went to the Sixth Formers who helped out with the very effective stage make-up.
The older students should watch out as there are many talented actors and actresses lower down the School who were a real credit to Mrs Kirk and all their hard work certainly paid off.
Fashion Show
This year's annual Fashion Show took place on Parents' Day on 23rd June. Once again there were some stunning designs on display, enthusiastically modelled by pupuls from throughout the School. The event raised over £400 for the Hospice in the Weald.
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All the items modelled had been made by students in Years 11 to 13 and many were exam pieces. All the work on display was of an exceptionally high standard.
There was a huge variety of exhibits, not just dresses, but also jewellery, belts and trainers. As you can see the boys too got in on the modelling act. They certainly enjoyed themselves and entertained the audiences.
The two presenters did a wonderful job and had both been involved in the organisation of the event.
Mrs Kelly, our Textiles teacher, was delighted with the whole event and that over £400 pounds was raised for such a worthy cause. The students and visitors all enjoyed themselves enormously. She would like to thank Mrs Wood for arranging the delicious refreshments (pictures below) and Amy Saunders of the Lower Sixth for all her hard work in arranging and co-ordinating such a successful event and it was great to have so many enthusiastic male and female models.
The food on offer to those attending the fashion show was delicious. Special fruit cocktails had been invented especially for the occasion, named after the members of the Senior Management Team - "Dorey Delight" was a particular favourite!
Magic Maths
On 3rd July the Magic Maths Travelling Circus came to Bethany. Students in Years 7 to 9 attempted a whole array of maths' puzzles.
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The Year 7's were the first to have a go and they all thoroughly enjoyed the various challenges.
Several members of staff joined in too- judging by the perplexed look on Mr Cullen's face it's easy to see why he's an English teacher !
Entrepreneurship Masterclass
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Arts Day for Visiting Year 5's
On Friday, 29th June we were delighted to welcome 58 pupils from seven local primary and prep schools to an Arts Day. They all took part in either an Art, Drama or Music workshop and the theme for the day was "Under the Sea".
At the end of the afternoon their parents were invited to watch the music and drama performances and view the artwork. We were amazed with what the youngsters were able to achieve in such a short space of time and we hope that they all thoroughly enjoyed their day with us. The picture shows a piece produced by one the Art groups which was used as a backdrop for the Drama performance.
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Young linguists in France
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The rest of the trip was spent shopping at Cite Europe and a large number of carrier bags were spotted being carried off the coach when the group arrived back. The hypermarket was so busy that they missed their shuttle and were "forced" to spend another hour shopping the Channel Tunnel terminal.
Proms Concert
The Music Department held its first ever Proms Concert on Thursday evening, 14th June. It was a huge success and a thoroughly entertaining evening for the large audience.
The first part of the concert was a salute to America and the combined forces of the symphony orchestra and the concert band performed "Washington Post" and "Jurasic Park".
The Year 7 girls showed off their keyboard skills with "Swingin' the Blues"
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Year 9 is lucky to have a good group of talented musicians and they performed "Night Fever" to great applause.
The symphony orchestra performed "Great Gates of Kiev" and then Jupiter to start off the "proms" part of the evening, with audience participation for a verse of "I vow to thee my country"
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Mr Allen, who has contributed greatly to the musical life of the School, will be retiring at the end of this term. He marked his final appearance at a school concert with a solo of "Home Sweet Home" on his viola for which he received a standing ovation.
The flag waving commenced in earnest with "Rule Britannia" and we kept to tradition with soloists to sing the verses. The concert concluded with a rousing rendition of "Land of Hope and Glory". Mr Keeling asked the audience to raise the roof and they responded marvelously.
There were obviously some seasoned "promenaders" in the audience and everyone entered into the spirit of the occasion.
Next year we plan to make the event even bigger and better so if you missed this year's concert you'll be in for a treat. Many thanks to everyone involved but particularly to Mr Keeling and Mr Briggs.
Dodgeball comes to Bethany!
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The staff dream team started valiantly, but their hopes soon rested on just one man - Mr Bingham. The game is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
The Vertigo players were rather pleased with their victory but the game ended sportingly. The staff put their defeat down to the fact that Mr Thorpe wasn't able to wear his glasses!
The competition itself will take place during the last two weeks of term and eight teams have already been entered.
Masterchef Final
On Wednesday, 13th June, the winners of the three Masterchef heats competed for the title of (the first ever) Bethany Masterchef.
The chefs' task was to prepare two dishes using local produce. It was a very warm afternoon but all three contestants coped admiraly with the heat and the pressure of the competition.
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Alice, who is in Year 8 cooked:
Home produced organic fillet steak with a mushroom sauce
Served with new potatoes, carrots & French beans.
A "naughty but nice" chocolate tart with local strawberries
Michael, who is also in Year 8, prepared the following dishes:
Stuffed mushrooms served on a bed of rocket and cherry tomatoes, with a lemon and honey dressing
English stem ginger and cherry syrup cheesecake with sugar strands
Tom, who is in Year 9, cooked:
Kentish lamb with asparagus and hollandaise sauce
Rhubarb fool
To judge the competition we were delighted to welcome back Richard Phillips, chef/proprietor of Thackeray's Restaurant in Tunbridge Wells who is fast becoming a well known face at Bethany. He formally opened the Food Technology Centre in January and holds his own masterclass lessons at the School.
The chefs were judged not only on their finished dishes but on their organisation, their ability to keep to the time allocated and their presentation.
Richard Phillips spent some time deliberating before announcing the results. He told the chefs how impressed he was with the skills they had demonstrated and the quality of the dishes they had chosen to produce. They had all stuck to the brief exceptionally well.
As you can see, Richard finally declared Alice to be the winner, by the narrowest of margins and he presented her with her trophy. Alice will be presented with the trophy again on Speech Day. Mrs Wood then told all three chefs that they will be entered for a regional competition in the Autumn.
Richard is pictured above with Michael, Alice and Tom. Well done to all three of them and special congratulations to Alice!
Inter-house Athletics
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It was a gloriously sunny afternoon on 13th June for the inter-house athletics. The supporters were out in force and the winning house will be announced once some remaining field events have been completed.
Bronze D of E Expedition
During the weekend of 9/10 June, around 35 Year 10 pupils were let loose on the North Downs to complete the expedition section of the Bronze D of E award. They were very lucky with the weather and now look forward to their Silver Expedition practice in Dorset during the last week of term.
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