It was a real pleasure to see the children return for the start of the Lent Term and also to welcome new St Faith’s pupils and their families – I know you will soon feel very much at home in our community.
Start of Term Assembly
We began the term, and indeed the new calendar year, with our whole school assembly. Our theme was Epiphany, and we looked in detail at the famous painting ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ by Peter Paul Rubens, and considered what it represents. We also considered the meaning of the word ‘Epiphany’ and thought about lightbulb moments in our own lives. In particular, we recognised that sometimes lightbulb moments only happen when we are still and quiet, or if we have space and time to think, but that they have the power to change our lives.
St Faith’s Mission, Vision and Values Statement
Since the start of this academic year, we have been reflecting on and updating our St Faith’s Mission, Vision and Values. Staff have given thoughtful and considered input into our new updated Mission, Vision and Values Statement, which was shared with you as part of the Start of Term Information for parents. I do hope you find this statement valuable, and I am grateful to all staff for taking such care in its preparation.
Holiday Clubs
Before the start of term, many pupils in Years 3-8 enjoyed holiday activity clubs, including the Drama and Art workshop as a new initiative for this year, the Code Camp and Multi-activity courses, and the Pre-Season Hockey and Netball activities. Thank you to all staff who were supporting those courses.
The Leys Preliminary Assessment & Scholarship Interviews
For many of our more senior pupils, January is a time for focusing on entrance exams and scholarship interviews. As well as wishing all our pupils the best of luck in the forthcoming assessments, I would also like to congratulate all children taking assessments for their notable conscientious hard work during their preparations. We look forward to hearing the outcomes in due course.
Assessment Tests
Continuing the theme of assessment, we are holding our own prospective pupil assessments over the next two weeks for those children hoping to join St Faith’s in September 2024. I greatly appreciate the efforts of all our staff who are supporting the assessments and making prospective pupils feel welcome at our school.
Pre Prep Open Morning
We will be holding a Pre Prep Open Morning on Thursday, 25th April. A registration form will be available shortly on our website, so please tell friends and colleagues who might be interested in joining St Faith’s Pre Prep.
Home to School Transport
Please note that we will be working with a company called Kura from the start of the Lent term to provide a managed school bus service. For parents wishing to join the service for the first time, or wishing to find out more details, you can contact Kura on stfaiths@ridekura.com
In addition, as we continue with our ambition to make travel between home and school more convenient and environmentally sustainable, we would be grateful for your assistance. The HomeRun app is extremely valuable in helping us to understand transport modes in our community. The app provides essential travel data for the school, and a considerable amount of very useful transport related information. Please could we ask that you regularly log in to the app to update your details.
Pastoral Care Article in ‘Cambridge Edition’
We are always delighted to see aspects of life at St Faith’s attracting coverage in the local press. This month, the lifestyle magazine, ‘Cambridge Edition’, which includes regular features about education in Cambridge, contains a spotlight article on the important area of pastoral care at St Faith’s. Please read the full article here.
SFPA Quiz Night
Tickets for the the SFPA Quiz Night next Friday, 19th January, have now gone on sale. You can book your tickets here. It promises to be a fun-filled evening and a proportion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to our partner school in South Africa, Makukhanye. During the Easter holidays, a group of children and staff will be travelling to South Africa to visit Makukhanye School. It is a highly anticipated trip and the first St Faith’s trip to South Africa to have taken place since 2019.
New website – Focus Groups
As shared with you in previous weekly newsletters, the Marketing team is excited to have started the project to redesign the school website in time for the start of the next academic year in September. After a competitive tender process, we have appointed mso agency to deliver the new website and we look forward to working with key stakeholders over the next two months in the research and planning stage.
We would like to thank those parents who have already taken part in the focus groups that ran towards the end of last year. We will be holding one further focus group, together with mso, on Wednesday, 24th January and we are seeking a final cohort of volunteers to give their input at this stage. Please email marketing@stfaiths.co.uk if you are able to spare 30 minutes to be part of the focus group.
And Finally…
Next week, I look forward to our SFPA Committee and Old Fidelian Committee meetings, and staff and the children are also eager to begin our sports fixtures again. Whether you are spending the time brushing up on your general knowledge for the SFPA quiz night or enjoying the bracing January weather outdoors, I wish you a happy and relaxing weekend.
With all best wishes,
Dr Crispin Hyde-Dunn
