Haberdashers Monmouth has become the first school to win the Junior Challenge for the fourth time. The event, which was hosted by Bredon School, involved teams from seven local primary and preparatory schools.

The challenge is an annual event with a range of activities from the assault course and map-reading in Bredon School’s grounds, near Tewkesbury, to a technology task with a difference. This year children had to construct a wigwam and a costume for a Native American brave and squaw using only newspaper, sellotape, string and two sticks.

The children shared a barbecue lunch by the independent school’s swimming pool followed by a general knowledge quiz in the afternoon.

“The Junior Challenge is a real highlight in our calendar and we always look forward to welcoming children and teachers from other schools to Bredon,” said Principal  David Keyte.

The teams taking part this year were hosts Bredon School, Longdon St Mary’s CE Primary School, Haberdashers Monmouth, Christchurch Primary in Cheltenham, Eldersfield Lawn CE Primary School, Malvern Preparatory School and St John’s-on- the-Hill.

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Issued on behalf of Bredon School by Edge Media

MEDIA CONTACTS: Mr David Keyte, Principal, on 01684 290208 or Paul Herbert at Edge Media on 01453 842657

Bredon School is at the forefront of national moves to develop education in the great outdoors.

The independent school has set aside part of its grounds for a group of pupils to develop an “Eco Area” as they work towards an international environmental award.

The project comes as the Government urges all schools to look at opportunities for outdoor education. Education Secretary Alan Johnson recently launched the Government’s Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto, which included a package of measures including the creation of the independent Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.

Bredon School’s Principal, David Keyte, said: "We have long recognised the educational, health and social benefits of outdoor education and have always looked to make the best use of our 84-acre grounds and working farm. This conservation award seemed an ideal opportunity to combine that with our students’ very real concern for the environment. I’ve been very impressed with how hard the youngsters have worked, and how much they have enjoyed the project.”

The John Muir Award is a scheme focused on wild places, which encourages the discovery and conservation of natural habitats. There are three levels of the award. At Bredon School, which is just outside the village of Bushley near Tewkesbury, girls and boys in Year 9 are currently working towards Level 1, while five members of Year 11 are nearing completion of Levels 2 and 3. Under the guidance of Houseparent Simon Birbeck, Year 11 pupils have been clearing paths, helping to erect reed fences, establishing a pond area, planting ground cover and putting up bird boxes and feeders. They have also developed a ‘mini-beasts’ paradise, which includes logs for woodlice and a ladybird hibernation box.

"We’re only at the beginning," said Year 11 pupil James Pine. "At the moment it looks quite bare, especially round the pond, but conservation is about the long term: you’ve just got to have the imagination to see how it will be in a year or 10 years’ time.”

In the future, the plan is to expand the Eco Area and have longer walks to encourage the younger children at Bredon to discover and enjoy a wild space.

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School Principal Mr David Keyte (pictured right) shakes hands with school Clerk of Works Mr Martin Roberts

The two-storey building now under construction is the biggest development at the independent school near Tewkesbury since the mid 1990s.

Due to be completed later this summer, the £600,000 building will have eight study bedrooms on the first floor, as well as a Sixth Form Centre where pupils can relax or study between lessons. The ground floor will feature eight fully equipped classrooms.

School Principal David Keyte said: “We are very proud to be able to make this investment in the future of the school. I know that many staff and pupils are very excited about these improved facilities, particularly the senior boy boarders and the sixth-formers who will use the first floor.”

Mr Keyte is pictured shaking hands with Martin Roberts, the school’s Clerk of Works, to celebrate the traditional “topping-out” of the building as the roof is made watertight. Mr Roberts is supervising the contractors working on the building. The principal contractor is Clever Building Solutions, based at Upton-upon-Severn, which is headed by Bredon School parent Graham Fisher.

The new steel-framed building is in the grounds of Pull Court – the mansion at the heart of Bredon School – and faces across a grassed courtyard to a large sports hall and classroom block completed in the mid 1990s. It has been carefully designed to complement the existing block, using the same attractive combination of red and buff-coloured brick with a slate roof.

It replaces a number of temporary buildings and will be linked to the school’s existing boarding accommodation in the estate’s old Stable House. It includes a lift, and is designed to provide full disabled access.

Bredon School is a non-selective day and boarding school with around 220 boys and girls aged 7-18. Traditionally, it caters for children who may not be academic high-fliers, but who benefit from Bredon’s individually tailored approach to education. The school offers a very broad curriculum, featuring a wide range of sports and vocational courses as well as traditional academic subjects. It is set in 84 acres of landscaped grounds just outside the village of Bushley. The school also has an international reputation for its work to help children with dyslexia and other Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD).

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Issued on behalf of Bredon School by Edge Media

MEDIA CONTACTS: Principal Mr David Keyte on 01684 293156 or Paul Herbert at Edge Media on 01453 842020

Bredon School’s ever-popular May Fete will be raising money in support of an ex-pupil’s battle against cancer.

Hundreds of visitors are expected at the event on Bank Holiday Monday 7 May, which this year incorporates a Country Fair, as well as dozens of attractions for all the family.

Proceeds from the day will be donated to Cancer Research – the chosen charity of Old Bredonian Justin Morton, who left the school in the late 1980s. Justin, of nearby Hanley Swan, is fighting acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, a very rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The day’s events at the school at Bushley, near Tewkesbury, get underway at 10am with a competitive clay pigeon shoot. The shoot forms part of the all-day Country Fair, which will feature attractions including air rifle shooting, archery and gun dog displays and clothing stalls.

The Fete itself runs from noon until 4pm and has a huge range of attractions for all the family, including:

• 4x4 rides on an off-road track in the school grounds
• Air cannons
• Bouncy castles
• Fairground rides
• Pig roast
• A vintage tractor display
• Coconut shies
• Weston Cider’s historic horse-drawn dray
• Sales of plants from the school’s greenhouses

Organiser Doug Sharp, the school’s Admissions and Development Manager, said: “It should be a fantastic day for people of all ages, whether they want to take on their friends in a gladiator-style contest, or simply sit and enjoy a cream tea in the delightful surroundings of Pull Court, the mansion at the heart of the school.

“We are also very pleased to be able to raise money for Cancer Research and would like to send our best wishes to our former pupil, Justin Morton.”

Admission to the event, which includes car parking, costs £2 per car.

• For more information about Justin Morton, click here.

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Issued on behalf of Bredon School by Edge Media

MEDIA CONTACTS: Mr David Keyte on 01684 293156 or Paul Herbert on 01453 842020