Eco Committee Assembly
One of the issues that members of the Eco Committee have decided they would like to highlight this year at school is ‘plate waste’. During Monday’s assembly, pupils presented some sobering statistics to the whole school about our daily plate waste, or in other words, the amount of food that has to be disposed of at St Faith’s every day because it has been left uneaten by pupils and staff on their plates at lunchtime. As part of our commitment to sustainability, we monitor our food waste, and on Monday, we learned that a total of 27kg of food was left on plates and wasted. For the month of September, the total was 460kg. Once again this term, we will host ‘plate waste day’ (Newton House were the eventual winners last time) and the whole school target for that day will be to achieve a level of waste that is below 10kg.
To support our Eco Committee’s efforts to reduce our food waste figure, we were joined by our Catering Manager Mr Burt, and Molly the Sustainability Representative from our catering partners, Chartwells. On a global scale, Molly explained that an incredible one third of all food produced globally is wasted. Although many people live in food poverty and do not have enough to eat, in places where food is more plentiful, an enormous amount goes to waste. As our food is the end product of a large production chain, this means that some of the investment in land use, production, packaging and transportation is also wasted. This leads to negative consequences for our planet including deforestation and habitat loss. To help the children visualise the scale of food waste, Molly asked the children how many times Wembley stadium could be filled with the food that is thrown away each year in the UK, and we learned that the answer is an astonishing eight times.
We then considered ways in which we could each take responsibility for reducing food waste and the pupils suggested that we could all take smaller portions initially and return for more food if we seek another serving. We could also be a little more adventurous with trying any new foods that we are offered and we should take time to ‘appreciate’ our plates and ensure we savour our food. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 have also been thinking about other environmental impacts of our food, and suggested eating more foods grown locally and sustainably, growing our own food and herbs at home, eating more plant-based proteins and not buying foods wrapped in plastic packaging.
Foundation ‘Books and Biscuits’
From the beginning of their journey at St Faith’s, we aim to foster and encourage a love of reading amongst all of our pupils. Our Foundation children experienced this firsthand with the three ‘Books and Biscuits’ events this week. This is a new initiative which began last year and welcomes families to the Library to share favourite books with their children, whilst enjoying a delicious treat and talking with our librarian, Miss Johnson. It was a very enjoyable end to the school day!
1CSH Class Assembly
We all greatly enjoyed 1CSH’s assembly today where the children recited a poem, helped us to think about our place in the world and acted out the story of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy.
Year 2 Visit The Scott Polar Museum
On Wednesday, Year 2 embarked on a journey to the Scott Polar Museum in Cambridge, walking all the way there and back with great energy. This engaging field trip provided the pupils with valuable insights into the wonders of polar exploration and the natural world, and it also supported the work they have been doing in class on polar regions linked to the topic Fire and Ice. Through their topic work, the children have examined many different ways to learn. They can recognise that firsthand experiences, visiting museums and speaking to experts are all valuable sources that can support what we read in books and online. The children were very well behaved throughout the visit, and excellent ambassadors for St Faith’s.
Parent-Teacher Meetings
The first of our Michaelmas term parent-teacher meetings took place on Thursday in Ashburton Hall for Year 6 parents. Parent-teacher Meetings are an opportunity for our parents to meet their children’s teachers and to discuss their progress and Learning Habits as part of our partnership between home and school. I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet so many parents and hear how much the Year 6 pupils have been enjoying this term.
World Mental Health Day
On Tuesday, we celebrated World Mental Health Day and the children were invited to wear something yellow, emphasising the importance of mental well-being for our pupils and staff.
The yellow theme was in recognition of the work of the charity Young Minds in their #HelloYellow campaign. If you would like to make a donation to this very important cause, please follow this link: #HelloYellow | World Mental Health Day | YoungMinds
IAPS U13 Girls’ Hockey
Today the Year 8 girls travelled to Oundle School to take part in one of the regional qualifying events for the IAPS U13 Girls’ Hockey Championships 2023. We wish them luck and look forward to hearing how they got on.
2024 Application Deadline
Please note the deadline for applications for Years 1-7 for September 2024 entry is 30 November 2023 and the entry assessments will take place in January 2024 (dates to be published on the school website). The Prep Open Morning on Wednesday, 1st November 11:00-13:00 is now full, but if you, or anyone you know would like to be included on the waiting list, please email our Registrar, Claire Anderson, at admissions@stfaiths.co.uk.
Next Week
As we approach half-term, we are looking forward to an Academic Enrichment Day on Thursday as the children enjoy a day of stimulating ‘off-curriculum’ activities, including, amongst others, visits to the Egyptian galleries at The Fitzwilliam Museum for Year 3, The Centre for the History of Computing for Year 5 and Inclusive Engineering for Year 7. I also look forward to meeting many of our families from Pre Prep, as well as parents from Years 3, 4 and 8 at their respective parent-teacher meetings.
And Finally….
This term has seen the start of a new ‘podcast’ club, in which pupils will be recording and editing a range of podcasts to share with our school community. I had the pleasure of meeting some of the members of the team when they interviewed me yesterday for their inaugural podcast – I look forward to tuning in later this term!
With all best wishes for a relaxing autumnal weekend,
Dr Crispin Hyde-Dunn
