Co-Curricular
We provide a wide range of co‑curricular activities that nurture critical thinking, teamwork and personal growth. From sports and the arts to exciting trips, pupils are given opportunities to explore their interests and thrive outside the classroom.
BGI Sport
The School has a long history of promoting sport for all, having won the Independent Schools Association’s (ISA) award for “Outstanding provision in sport”.
We understand the importance of sport for all abilities and our aim is to instil a love of physical fitness and wellbeing in our pupils and encourage them to maintain an active-body throughout their school years and into adulthood.
Art & Design
We believe that art and design skills support critical thinking and emotional intelligence. They help children develop technical proficiency and visual literacy. Art, photography and design are popular subjects and our pupils consistently gain high grades at both GCSE and A-level.Pupils have their work submitted to competitions run by the Independent Schools Association (ISA), where the school has had many winners.
Pupils enjoy trips to London galleries, such as The Tate Modern and The Photographers Gallery, together with local exhibitions in order to inspire their creativity. Our aim is to allow pupils to freely express themselves within their artwork and, for some, we help to prepare them for further study and careers in the creative industries.
Performing Arts
We consider the performing arts to be an important part of the curriculum as they can help to boost the confidence and resilience of our pupils. Pupils can participate in drama, dance and music. We also offer individual or group lessons in speech and language, together with peripatetic instrument classes.
The pupils take part in competitions run by the Independent Schools Association (ISA). We have many winners, such as our choir won their A Cappella competition. We host ISA events, such as their National Dance Competition. Our pupils also compete at The Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama, where we regularly win categories.
Across the age-groups pupils have the chance to participate in our in-house productions, which include musicals such as Bugsy Malone, Matilda and High School Music, together with plays such as Twelfth Night and Lord of the Flies.
Trips
Our pupils have the opportunity to attend residential trips from Year 2 upwards, starting with one night away and building upwards as they gain confidence. Wales in the venue for some of our outdoor-pursuit trips, whilst we also use PGL facilities closer to home for the younger year groups, together with Bushcraft in Oxfordshire. The idea is for pupils to develop independence, whilst enjoying the great outdoors.
Our annual ski trip is always popular and we allow parents to come along too if they wish. We also have subject specific trips, which help to embed subject knowledge, such as sixth formers visiting a geography centre in Dorset and a GCSE hospitality and catering trip to France, sampling the delights of French cuisine.
More local day-trips take place in line with the curriculum, such as the ever-popular trip to The Harry Potter Studios and the Roald Dahl Museum, which ties in with the books junior pupils are studying in literacy lessons. Whilst in history, trips range from Stibbington where juniors learn about the experiences of evacuees in World War II, to the sixth form trip to Berlin.
Our trips are designed to raise cultural awareness, build peer relationships and develop critical thinking skills outside the classroom.