Bedales Students Excel in Music

HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND, July 02, 2011 (Press-News.org) Six students achieved very good results at Grade 8, including three distinctions (Callum Anderson (year 10) piano; Tabatha Curry (upper sixth) harp and Joe Pemberton (year 11) saxophone) and three merits (Daisy Cooper (upper sixth) saxophone; Poppy Duncan (year 9) cello and Georgia Reynolds (upper sixth) piano).

Students aged 13 - 18 took the exams, with very notable achievements including 13 year old Isabelle Binney who was awarded a distinction in Grade 4 singing having captivated the examiner.

Bedales students perform regularly at public concerts and are currently preparing for a one week concert tour of Tuscany during the summer holidays where they will be performing in the churches and cathedrals of: San Gimignano, Florence, Montepulciano, Cortona and Arezzo.

Commenting on the students' achievements, Nicholas Gleed, Bedales Director of Music, said:
"We are very lucky that, at Bedales, the musical ambitions and commitment of the students match those of the school. We therefore work in a very happy environment. These are really good results. All the students who took grade 8 will now move onto diploma work."

Bedales comprises three schools situated in Steep, Hampshire (UK): Dunannie (ages 3-8), Dunhurst (ages 8-13) and Bedales itself (ages 13-18). The vision of Bedales' founder, John Badley, was to create a school which would be profoundly different from the public schools of his day. From 1893, when Bedales began, there was a determination to shape the school around what was considered best for the individual child's educational welfare and happiness. Two strands predominated: breadth ("Head, Hand and Heart") and the cultivation of the individual's intellectual and personal qualities ("Intelligence, Initiative and Individuality"). Many of Badley's early innovations are now mainstream: co-educational boarding (at Bedales since 1898); the emphasis put on the Arts, Sciences and voluntary service; the importance of pastoral care; and listening to students' views (the Bedales School Council was established in 1916). Even so, the contrast between Bedales and other schools remains strong. We believe that our informality engenders a genuine sense of partnership between teacher and student - a shared excitement about ideas and educational discovery. Educational innovation continues today with our Bedales Assessed courses. http://www.bedales.org.uk.