The Henry Beaufort School Parent Portal - Newsletter

During the first four days of the October half term, 46 Year 10 students embarked on a WW1 Battlefields tour, visiting sites on the Somme in France and the Ypres Salient area of Belgium.

Day one saw a super early start with a departure time of 4.30 am from The Henry Beaufort School. After crossing the Channel, we ventured to Lijssenthoek Military Hospital Cemetery. As we walked through the gates, our students were struck by the enormity of where they were and what they were seeing. Approximately 10,000 men are buried here and one woman, Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler. Not only is Nellie the only woman buried here, she is one of only two women to have died as a result of the fighting in the Ypres Sailient during WW1. From here, we visited the death cells and execution pole at Popperinghe where many deserters were shot at dawn. Here we heard the story of Private John Bennett, from the Hampshire Regiment, who was executed for cowardice despite clearly suffering from shell shock. Our last stop of the day before retiring to our accommodation was the Essex Farm Cemetery. Once a casualty clearing station and the inspiration behind John McRae’s famous ‘In Flanders Fields’ poem, now home to 1,200 soldiers. One of these is Valentine Strudwick. At the same age as many of the students on the trip, Valentine lied about his age to fight for King and Country and died in action at the age of 15.

Day two began with a stark reminder of the loss suffered as we ventured through the gates of Tyne Cot. With 12,000 neat, white headstones on the once battlefield and the names of 34,000 missing soldiers inscribed on the walls; Tyne Cot is the largest British and Commonwealth Military Cemetery in the world. Each row is decorated with flowers from the soldiers' home country, giving a quaint English country garden feel. From here we visited one of four German cemeteries in the Ypres Sailent, Langemark. Far from the country garden feel of Tyne Cot, Langemark was one of our most shocking stops. Not only is the cemetery dark and bare, but it is home to 40,000 German soldiers with 25,000 of them being buried in a mass grave. Unlike the British cemeteries, the Germans who were lucky enough not to be in the mass grave still had to share their plot with seven others.

After lunch, we visited the Passchendale Memorial Museum and Sanctuary Wood, where we were able to walk in the original British trenches. From there, we went back to the hotel for a game of football before an early dinner. We spent the evening at the incredibly emotional Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, which is a memorial to 54,000 missing soldiers in the Ypres Sailent. During the ceremony, two of our students laid a poppy wreath on behalf of staff and students at The Henry Beaufort School.

Sunday was another early start as we drove to France to visit Vimy Ridge, Thiepval and the Lochnagar Crater. At Vimy Ridge we went deep underground on a guided tour of the tunnels used by the Canadians, French and British as they fought the Germans here to gain control of the ridge. After lunch, we visited Thiepval, the largest memorial to the missing in The Somme with the names of 74,000 soldiers commemorated here. Our final stop of the day was Lochnagar Crater – the largest crater made by man in anger at 30 metres deep and 100 metres wide. Now a memorial for those who died there, it is dedicated to Peace, Fellowship and Reconciliation.

Throughout the trip, the students were superb and their polite and respectful behaviour was commented on by members of the public on five separate occasions! They were both a credit to themselves and to the school – well done to all those that attended!

On Wednesday 13^th November we had our first Cultural Capital day.

The purpose of cultural capital days is to ensure our students have a broad and balanced curriculum, with all future pathways kept open. We offer three Cultural Capital Days per academic year. Through Year 7-9, students have a 10-hour exposure to option-based subjects. The content is developed with elements of the National Curriculum and designed to be ambitious for all. Through Year 10-11, students are taught life skills, experience life as a university student, understand the impact of core subjects in society and improve their memory retention; all of which broadens our students’ horizons and provides skills for their future.

Year 7

This day celebrates European Day of Languages. Students learnt about the importance of languages, learn a new language in a taster session, which was Mandarin, and learn about how language and culture intertwine.

Students are asked to attend school on that day in some form of dress that reflects the culture of another country. This could be as simple as dressing in the colours of the flag of another country or wearing the flag of another country, wearing the football kit of another country or, as in previous years, coming into school in the national dress of another country. There were lots of different outfits and the MFL teachers embraced the challenge!

Year 8

The focus of this day was Expressive Arts. Students took part in the following sessions:

Music - students participated in a workshop based around the Balinese Gamelan
Art – students take part in workshops learning about and creating Balinese-style shadow puppets.
Photography – students participated in a photo shoot using miniature props.
Drama – students participated in a workshop and watched a performance delivered by Box Theatre

Year 9

The focus of the day for Year 9 was Humanities.

All the Year 9’s went to Portsmouth for the day. Students had the opportunity to experience three different sites that reflect the three different Humanities subjects of Geography, History and Religious Studies.

Students conducted Geographical Fieldwork at Gunwharf Quays Shopping Centre; visited the Apprenticeship Museum and Boat House 7 in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and learnt about the modernising of places of worship at St George’s Church.

The students were fantastic and a credit to the school.

Year 10

Year 10 spent the day focusing on life at post 18. The school welcomed Winchester University who, in the morning, delivered sessions on all aspects of University Life including budget, life as a student and post 18 options.

In the afternoon, the whole of Year 10 headed to Winchester University for a tour of the campus and the opportunity to visit a lecture theatre.

Thank you, Winchester University for this amazing opportunity.