Beachborough Newsletter: Friday 7th June 2024
Head’s Blog:
“The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.” Bernard Law Montgomery
These words encapsulate the indomitable spirit of resilience and perseverance, demonstrated by those who courageously fought on the beaches at Normandy 80 years ago, in what was arguably the most significant victory of the Second World War.
“We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, … the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon.” President Ronald Reagan spoke these words to an audience of D-Day veterans and world leaders on the 40th Anniversary of this infamous battle. To me, it captures perfectly the atmosphere of an event that I am fortunate never to have experienced.
This morning, Form VIII, supported by Mrs Howard, lead a very special assembly to mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and shared with us the exploits of our very own second Headmaster, Eric Sprawson.
Eric was born in Wells, in 1910, and spent much of his childhood in India, where his father worked as a surgeon. At the age of 13, he travelled back to England to attend Rugby School.
In 1942, Eric joined the RAF and Bomber Command, as a Squadron Leader and shortly after was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. A medal awarded for acts of valour, courage and devotion to duty. On the 6th of June 1944, Eric was aboard a Lancaster bomber, having been given the objective of destroying two bridges at Caen. As his aircraft was running up to the bomb target, he was hit by tracer bullets and his Lancaster caught fire! Eric and his crew baled out and he safely landed in a small French village and was fortunate to be rescued by a group of French civilians. Incredibly, he hid with the residents of the village until he was rescued by the Allies.
At the end of the War, Eric returned to India with his family and served as the Headmaster of Rajkumar College, but with coming of independence in 1947, Eric returned to England and held a number of teaching positions, before in 1954, becoming the second Headmaster at Beachborough, following the 48-year tenure of Fredrick Chappell. It has always been believed that Eric introduced the term “Ghab” for the 11.00am snack, perhaps an Indian word learned in his childhood.
In the assembly this morning, we were very privileged to be joined by Eric’s son Robert and his grandson Rupert, who bought with them Eric’s original logbook and his medals for the children to see.
We felt that it was important for the Beachborough community to remember our brave former Headmaster, and we have had a special plaque engraved to be mounted on the wall in the Manor House, so that his incredible story will not be forgotten by future Beachburians.
My thanks go to Form VIII and Mrs Howard for sharing Eric’s story.
On Saturday, 25th of May, our fantastic Goblin Team participated at the Renishaw New Mills races and I am delighted to announce that we won! We are now all set for Goodwood or as Mr Perronet calls it “The Big One!” on the 30th of June.
Our best wishes go to the 15 pupils (5 from Form VIII, 7 from Form VII and 3 from Form VI) who are today representing Beachborough in the IAPS East Area Athletics Regionals at Bedford.
We also wish the very best of luck to Gabriel F, Beth J and Julia M for their participation in the IAPS National Swimming Championships at London Aquatics Centre, at the Olympic Park on Saturday. All have done exceptionally well to qualify from their regional heat and now get the chance to compete for Beachborough on a national scale. Miss Mulcahy and Mr Usher will be there to cheer them on.
Finally, thank you to all of you who completed the Parental Voice Survey, your comments and thoughts are much appreciated. We will now take some time to analyse the results and comments, we plan to share highlights from the feedback early in the Autumn Term.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Simone
On Saturday 25th May, the Beachborough Racing team competed again at Renishaw New Mills, in Wotton-Under-Edge, in Gloucestershire.
A bright but chilly day accompanied by a soft wicket greeted the teams today, as we took on our foes from just up the A422. THIS is the one I want! The toss or the new variation of rock, paper, scissors was won by the visiting captain, and he elected to bowl first, so in we went. Ben and Sam opened up and got off to a flourishing start, although the calling and quick singles left a little to be desired! We sauntered to 21 before the loss of Ben for 3, which was disappointing as I thought we’d started strong, and the boys were batting well on a very slow surface. Freddie strode in confidently at 3 and set about the bowling with some fine shots. We lurched on to 33 before Sam batted well, hitting a four and a six but came a cropper for 13 at the hands of their slower bowling. Freddie also hit a six and a four in his innings but again, succumbed to dawdling delivery and we were 44/3 off 6 – Will was next to fall, missing a sluggish straight one without the score moving on, although he had scored a nudged and nurdled 5 form 11. 44/4 and was I starting to fret! The batting order had been shuffled since our last match together, and in came Ralf, who would need a captain’s innings to rescue us from this mire… which to some extent he did, he and Raff combined to steady the ship and they put on a healthy partnership. Sadly, Ollie and Raff went too early. Ralf and Alex demonstrated how not to back each other up. Calamitous calling and a flukey throw saw Ralf run out, stranded halfway down the track – not what we needed. Nonetheless, it was a decent knock of 34 from 25 in which he hit two sixes and a four, which took the score onto 94/7, somewhat healthier now. The tail barely wagged, although Arlo was not out at the end with 14, which included a 6 and one for his memoirs a ‘5’, thanks to some sloppy WHS fielding, hey ho! We finished in the eighteenth over on 117 all out, which I’d have been pleased with at 44/4! A plethora of missed opportunities I feel, to go on and score substantially more runs by many in the team today.
On Wednesday 5th June, the U10A cricket team took part in the St Edwards, Oxford Cricket Festival. Our first game was against Chandlings School. We won the toss and chose to field. The matches were a 10/10 format with 8 ball overs and additional bonus points awarded for runs scored and wickets taken. Some excellent bowling from Beachborough limited Chandlings to 44-6 from their 10 overs. Wickets from Jamie S (3-4) and Fergus T (1-11) and 2 excellent run outs made scoring difficult. Beachborough then went into bat and made light work of the total, reaching 45-1 in 4 overs. In traditional cricket, the match would be over, but in order to get as many bonus points as possible, the match had to be played out. This gave an opportunity for others to get a bat. After 20 overs, Beachborough reached 93-2, comfortably winning the game and picking up 7 bonus points on top of the 10 points for the victory. It was an excellent start and a good team effort.
On the final day of the half term break, Sunday 2nd June, four pupils from Beachborough, Ralf B, Ben S and Emilie S in Form VI, and Isabella B in Form V, represented a select Prep Schools’ boys and girls team respectively in an U11 county cricket festival, for the Wynyard Gibb cup, held at St Edward’s School in Oxford. They played three matches against Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Hampshire and all of them performed exceptionally well on the day against high quality opposition. Ralf captained the Prep Schools boys’ side against Hampshire, whilst Ben took 2 wickets against Gloucestershire in 3 overs and conceded only 4 runs. Emilie and Isabella were part of the Prep Schools girls’ side, who beat both Oxfordshire and Hampshire and have come on leaps and bounds with their cricket this term, their selection for this event a reflection of that. Well done to all 4 pupils for being great ambassadors for Beachborough last Sunday!
U13A Girls’ making Beachborough History by playing the first ever Twenty20 Hardball Cricket Match
The deadline for our virtual pet show entries, has been extended to Monday 17th June!
