The world looked a little different on Tuesday. No stripy blazers, no red Pre Prep sweatshirts, no House ties. St Faith’s without its uniform and all for a worthy cause. Last term, I received a beautifully written letter from Juliette in Year 8 suggesting a home-clothes charity day and after consulting with Mr Critchley and Miss Kennerley, we agreed that this would indeed be a good idea. Chaucer Choose-Day was born, a whole-school non-uniform day to raise funds for Chaucer’s chosen charity, the Arthur Rank Hospice. A wonderful array of colours and styles were on display in the playgrounds and classrooms, from sports kits to sequins. We are delighted that £758.15 was raised for this very worthy cause, not least because the Arthur Rank Hospice provided such excellent palliative care for Kate Allanson in her last months. Indeed, donations from staff members on the day went directly to dedicating a leaf on the hospice memory tree in Mrs Allanson’s name.
2JJ Class Assembly
Shake, shake, shudder, near the sludgy old swamp. The dinosaurs are coming, get ready to romp.
Singing, dancing and percussion provided a most entertaining back-drop to 2JJ’s lively and engaging assembly play, ‘Bumpus, Jumpus, Dinosaur Rumpus.’ The play was notable for the children’s clarity of voice and confident acting, as Mrs Smith noted afterwards. The theme of the assembly linked perfectly with this term’s Year 2 topic on dinosaurs and was a wonderful way to start the day. Many congratulations to all the children in 2JJ and their teachers, Mrs James and Mrs Gaastra.
It’s Behind You!
It was time for slap-stick comedy on Thursday afternoon when Year 4 performed a hugely entertaining series of pantomime sketches. The quality of acting, slick stage craft and great humour were a testament to the talent of the pupils. It was heart-warming to see everyone involved and enjoying the thrill of performing on stage. What fun the children had in putting these sketches together in their Drama lessons. My sincere thanks to Ms Allen, our Head of Drama, for all her effort and expertise in producing such an excellent show and of course, to the stars themselves – the children – who rose to the occasion so splendidly. Photographs of the performance can be found on the VLE via this link.
Gym
Our gymnasts were in fine form at St Catherine’s, Bramley last weekend for the National ISGA Girls’ Five-Piece Gymnastics Finals. Friday saw our U9 team finish a very commendable 4th (out of 11 teams) having put on a particularly impressive group sequence. On Saturday our U11 team finished 12th (out of 16 teams) having performed to the very best of their abilities all day. Poignantly our U13s, for whom this was their final National competition with many of them having competed for the school since Year 1, finished an unbelievable 5th (out of 16 teams). Emily deserves special recognition for finishing 6th individually out of over 80 competitors. Sunday saw a wonderful team performance from our U10 girls who were awarded the Team Spirit Trophy in recognition of their cheerful and supportive behaviour throughout the competition. In addition, Hannah accumulated an incredible score of 36.40 and came 2nd individually against over 80 girls.
Once again I would like to express my thanks and congratulations to the girls who clearly had a very successful weekend, and also to their parents without whose dedication and support these results would not be possible. Importantly I would also like to extend a very big thank you to Mr and Mrs North and Miss Butler who put in so much work to coach and support these teams as well as organising the extensive logistics behind the scenes; they truly reflect the spirit of St Faith’s.
Chess
Another Cambridgeshire Chess League season – the sixth since its inauguration – came to a conclusion last Saturday. I am delighted to report that our A Team finished in an impressive 4th place. Incredibly, our D Team came 9th, with our Bs and Cs in 16th and 19th respectively. Our pupils should be delighted with their performances over the season and we remain one of the top schools in the county, having finished 2nd, 2nd and 4th in the past three seasons. Of course none of this would be possible without the enthusiasm and dedication of our very own Chess Master, Mr Mitchell, who not only coaches our own players, but organises the entire league, for which we, and all the other schools, are extremely grateful. Many thanks also to the parents (on Saturday – Mrs Turner and Mrs Smith) who organise the refreshments for the children, staff and parents during each event.
Finally…
This week, we received from the grandson of an Old Fidelian, this enchanting film of St Faith’s Sports Day in 1933. There have been many changes in the school since then, but the stripy blazers remain!
With all good wishes,
Nigel Helliwell
