Week in Pictures
Dear Parents and Pupils,
From the Headmaster’s Study
We have been very fortunate with the weather at the start of the summer term, and it has been wonderful to see pupils making the most of our grounds. The sunshine has given me valuable opportunities to see pupils at play and to spend time getting to know them better in a relaxed and informal setting.
Our outdoor spaces provide a fantastic learning environment and play an important role in supporting wellbeing and happiness - values that sit at the heart of everything we do. Feeling safe, happy, and secure at school is essential if pupils are to enjoy learning, set goals, and make positive progress.
I have spoken with pupils about the importance of kindness and looking out for one another’s happiness. School life works best when everyone feels supported and valued. This is made possible through the excellent work of our pastoral teams, led by Mr Jackson and supported by our Heads of Section, alongside the daily care and commitment shown by all members of staff.
Life brings challenges for us all, whatever our age, and creating a positive environment in which these can be faced together really matters. By working closely as a team, staff help to ensure that pupils feel listened to and well supported.
One message pupils have shared with me is their wish for more opportunities to work together and to mix with different age gr oups. This already happens in some areas of school life, and it was particularly lovely to see Year 7 and Year 8 pupils working so thoughtfully together during the British Airways careers event on Thursday, organised by Miss Rothwell.
Over the coming months, I will be looking more closely at the range of formal and informal opportunities we can put in place to ensure that pupils across the school are working together to support pastoral progress, kindness, and fun. As ever, any sugge stions are very gratefully received.
Best wishes for the long weekend,
Mr Turner Headmaster
Duke of Edinburgh
“Over the weekend, pupils from Years 9 &10 took part in their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh practice expeditions. Blessed with sunny weather, pupils set up camp, stayed overnight, and completed their walks across the beautiful New Forest.
The evening was spent stargazing, while during the day they enjoyed the gorgeous sunshine, making it a memorable and enjoyable experience - and an important part of their Duke of Edinburgh journey. The next step is their assessed expeditions, which will take place in the coming months.” Mr Elliott, Lower Prep Teacher, DofE Co -ordinator and Mr Cornwell, Head of Design and Technology/STEM
Careers Day
Years 7 & 8 experienced a careers immersion day on Thursday - look out for more pictures and our full report next week.
Whole School Photo
What a glorious day for our whole school photo.
Junior Maths Challenge
“On Wednesday, our top -set Year 7 & 8 pupils took part in the annual Junior Maths Challenge. This competition is held across the country to try to find the best mathematicians. All the questions are meant to test and challenge pupils' knowledge and problem -solving abilities. Despite the difficulty, our pupils went in with a positive mindset and gave it their very best. We will receive the results in the coming weeks.” Mr Nish, Maths Teacher
Ski Success
“Zachary and Ben (Year 10) represented Ballard superbly at the English Schools Indoor Ski and Board Championships at Hemel Hempstead on Monday, competing against a strong international field featuring GB -level skiers. Ben finished an impressive 5th in the U19 category out of 18 racers, while Zachary secured 9th out of 36 racers in the U16 category, which included him finishing ahead of his older mentor from Snowtrax . Congratulations to Zachary and Ben, a magnificent achievement on the National Stage!” Mr Wood, Director of Sport
STEM @ Ballard
Reception Voyage to the Moon
“This link shows a short video of the soft toy that was designed and made for the Artemis 2 voyage, and where the SD card was placed, which had the Ballard School name included on it.” Mrs Edwards, Pre-Prep Teacher
Geometry
“Year 6 (Set 1) pupils switched maths topics this week and took a deep dive into geometry. In these photographs, they are exploring the relationship between area and perimeter, playing around with rectilinear shapes to see who can create a shape of 12 cm² with the greatest and the smallest perimeter. Next, they will be looking at the areas and perimeters of triangles and parallelograms and then investigating volume.” Mrs Brebbia , Specialist Teacher
Geometry
Try out one of their questions yourself…
Year 7 Sweet Machines
“Year 7 pupils have been designing and building sweet machines inspired by famous films and TV shows. The project has allowed them to develop their creativity and design skills while confidently using a range of machines and tools in the workshop, and their outcomes are already starting to look very impressive.” Mrs Skelton, DT Teacher
Year 9 Explore Energy Storage and Transfer
“Year 9 pupils used Hot Wheels tracks to see how energy is stored and transferred as the cars travelled along the track. They discussed how the chemical energy in the battery -powered launcher was converted into kinetic energy to set the cars in motion. They observed how gravitational potential energy at the top transformed into kinetic energy as the cars accelerated. As the cars moved, they also identified thermal energy being wasted due to friction between the wheels and the track.” Mrs Taylor, Science Teacher
Early Years Numeracy
It was a pleasure to welcome families to our Early Years Parent Workshop, where we shared how we support children in developing strong early numeracy skills. Parents joined us for a hands -on stay and play session, exploring activities that build confidence in counting, number understanding to 10, and early spatial reasoning through shape, space, and measure. The session offered practical ideas to try at home, alongside valuable insight into our curriculum and approaches, all in a relaxed and welcoming environment. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the session such a success.
Arts @ Ballard
Year 9 Explore Textures and Forms in Clay
“Year 9 have just started their clay fish project, where they will explore a variety of textures, shapes and forms using a range of clay printing and hand -building techniques. There has been a real focus on observational detail and surface pattern, with pupils thoughtfully applying tools and techniques to enhance their designs. I am really looking forward to seeing their final pieces and their growing confidence in working with clay.” Miss Jackson, Art Teacher
GCSE Drama
“GCSE Drama pupils have been busy with dress rehearsals of a selection of scripted works, ready for a final performance shared with parents this week.”
Mrs O’Connor
White, Head of Drama
Mornington Court Mini Summer Concert
It was a wonderful afternoon for our mighty musical duo, Isaac and Daniel (Year 8), who provided the residents of Mornington Court Care Home with a fabulous selection of music, showcasing their incredible range and talent. Well done to you both.
Sport @ Ballard
This Week’s Team of The Week
Gang Warily
“Well done to our fantastic Year 5 & 6 runners who competed at the New Forest Cross Country event at Gang Warily on Thursday. In glorious sunshine, the team tackled a challenging 1.8km course with great determination and team spirit in jam packed races of over 100 runners.
Congratulations to our top 10 finishers: Evie, Austin and Josh, who all achieved an outstanding 5th place; Jasper, who finished 7th; and Oran, who crossed the line in an excellent 10th place. Our Year 5 boys also won silver in the team competition!
A huge congratulations to the whole team for their effort and enthusiasm: Year 5 – Evie, Tommy, Jasper, Sterling, Oran and Austin. Year 6 - Ella, Talia, Iris and Josh. You all represented the school brilliantly and we are very proud of you all!” Mr Wood, Director of Sport
Reception PE
“In PE, our Reception class started practicing for their sports day events. Today they focused on their running events, sprinting and running a bend on the athletic track. The children worked really hard, challenging themselves and encouraging each other. It was lovely to see the class enjoying being outside in the sunshine and making the most of the grounds at Ballard.” Mrs Stickley, PE Teacher
Co -curricular Highlight - Golf
“Our Golf activity group has begun, the first session was a putting lesson that aimed to ease the players into the simplest, yet often most frustrating , element of the game. Tom (Year 8) confidently demonstrated his skills in the initial challenge.” Mr Winch, Lower Prep Teacher
Life @ Ballard
Kindergarten Kite Making and Flying
“Kindergarten helped to fold paper and cut it to make a kite shape, then attached wool and took them outside to find out which way the wind was blowing using our senses, while having fun.” Mrs Verdon, Kindergarten Teacher
Year 4 Study Rudyard Kipling
“This term, Year 4 are studying Rudyard Kipling. We started by looking at his life story and his famous poem "If". 4JEL have produced their own version, providing advice to our current Year 3 pupils to prepare them for moving up into Year 4 next year.” Mr Elliott, Lower Prep Teacher
Year 6 Rainforest Creations
“Year 6 pupils have thrown themselves into our rainforest topic with an impressive burst of creativity, producing a stunning collection of rainforest models that have brightened our classrooms. Many pupils went the extra mile by preparing detailed models of rainforest creatures at home, arriving armed with jaguars, toucans, rafflesia flowers and even the occasional poison dart frog to incorporate into their scenes.
What has stood out most, though, is the purposeful and mature way they have approached their work in class. From carefully planning the layers of the rainforest to thoughtfully selecting materials that would bring their ideas to life, they have shown real focus and pride in what they are creating.” Mrs Wright, Geography Teacher
Year 6 Explore Medieval Medicine
“Year 6 are trialling a new unit focusing on Medieval Medicine and the Black Death, to enhance their engagement in History and get them ready for Key Stage 3. Since Easter, we have been looking at where medieval medical ideas came from and how they would diagnose patients. Today, they were looking at the Four Humours and the Urine Chart. Doctors would compare the colour of urine to the chart, smell the urine to see if anything stood out, and then have a quick taste. I trialled it in front of the class to make sure it was memorable for all involved!” Miss Elisabeth Crook, Head of History (Fear not - it was chamomile tea!)
Some amazing new additions have appeared in Pre-Prep. Nestled in our Reception outdoor area are some beautiful baby robins, whose arrival has brought much excitement. Do not worry, we are keeping their area safe and quiet until the fledglings have flown the nest. You can watch them here.
Pre-Prep Visitors
Year 8 Migrant Talk
“This term, Year 8 are studying “The Jungle” by Pooja Puri, a powerful novel that follows child refugees in the Calais camp as they navigate the dangers of immigration, separation, and survival. Last Friday, we were very fortunate to welcome Sarah Dineley, Chief Crown Prosecutor and National Lead for Organised Immigration Crime, who delivered an engaging and highly interactive talk exploring the themes raised in the book. Pupils gained exceptional insight from her deep knowledge, expertise, and the vital work she does supporting vulnerable people affected by immigration crime.
Next half term, pupils will continue to broaden their understanding when Mr Blake shares his own experiences of working with migrants in Calais through the charity Care4Calais.” Ms Maughan, Head of English
Schools for Sierra Leone
“Schools for Sierra Leone has been created by Ballard School as a sub -charity in conjunction with the charity Street Child. Last year, we raised funds and purchased a shipping container to fill with obsolete educational items that we would then ship to Sierra Leone for schools in need. So far, Ballard has worked with other schools, with our minibuses bringing items from far and wide. St Neots Prep, Sandroyd, Royal High School Bath, Plymouth College and St Mary's Calne have all donated items.
With the container nearly full, we were waiting for the weather to improve so the Ballard DT and Art pupils could paint it. This was completed yesterday with great enthusiasm and some collateral damage to clothing... The container still has some residual space which once filled will then trigger the shipping to Sierra Leone. We will keep the community abreast of any updates.” Mr Robinson
Schools for Sierra Leone
“Year 8 pupils are continuing to develop their cultural exploration and pattern -generation skills by designing their own henna-inspired patterns. As they put the finishing touches to their vibrant Alebrijes animal sculptures, pupils are now looking to Indian culture for inspiration, exploring traditional motifs, symbolism and flowing decorative designs. This project is helping pupils make thoughtful connections between different global art traditions while extending their confidence in pattern, line and creative expression.” Mrs Hitchens, Head of Art
Eco @ Ballard
