I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easte
r and trust that your son or daughter has settled back in to the daily routine of school life. The Summer Term is, for many, the best time of the year when we can make the most of our spacious green site. It is great to see the fields and open spaces full of happy children at break times. Here is a photo of some Year 5 girls who were making the most of the sunshine at lunchtime on Wednesday.
Future Events
There are also plenty of special events to look forward to this term, including concerts, drama productions and sports days, so please do keep a close eye on the calendar as we really appreciate it when you take the time to support these occasions. We save the biggest event to last – Speech Day and Prize Giving on the morning of Friday 7th July, a celebration of the year and a formal farewell to our Year 8s, to which all parents are invited. This year, Professor Lord Mair will be returning to his former school to present the prizes as our Guest of Honour.
Professor Mair, one of the country’s most eminent engineers, would be impressed by the construction of the School’s racing car this year. There is still some fine-tuning to be done, including the fitting of the chassis, but the racing team is in a confident mood and anticipation and excitement are building as the race season approaches. The photo shows the Racing Team exhibiting their battery-powered car at the Hauser Forum, as part of the Cambridge University Science Festival at the beginning of the Easter break.
Holiday Courses
As usual, St Faith’s was a hive of activity during the holidays with many children enjoying the various holiday courses (including a cookery school pictured below) and our support staff carrying out valuable maintenance work to prepare the school for the new term. My assembly on Wednesday morning focused on the importance of ‘service’ to a community, exemplifying the work of our support staff and emphasising to the pupils how good manners and kindness are essential in maintaining a harmonious community.
Golf
This term started a little earlier for our golfers, twenty-one of whom enjoyed a great day at Royal Worlington Golf Club on Monday. This is one of the most famous nine-hole courses in the world, where Cambridge University Golf Team play all their matches. Following on from learning golf in PE lessons this year, the Year 7 and 8 children played some stunning shots and holed some tricky putts. There were also some Year 3 to 6 pupils who were invited to play and clearly they have a great future in the game. Many thanks to Mr Rusted for organising this special day for the pupils and to the teachers who volunteered to coach the teams on the course.
Food Superheroes
Despite this being a shorter week for the children, there is plenty of news to report. Yesterday, the Pre Prep was buzzing with the arrival of Hydra the Water Bottle and Sadie the Sweet Corn (pictured here) who, with the help of Mr Burt (Catering Manager) provided advice and encouragement to the children about eating a healthy diet.
New World Board Games
Later in the day, the Ashburton Hall was awash with board games, made by the Year 6s as part of their Humanities work on 15th and 16thcentury explorers – Columbus, Balboa and Cortes. It was great to see the quality and creativity of the games and the clear enjoyment that the pupils had derived from learning in this interactive way.
Good News
Since the previous newsletter, there has been plenty of good news for the St Faith’s community, including a marriage and two babies! Mr and Mrs North are now officially married – the wedding was as joyous and lively as you would expect and a truly memorable occasion for all involved. Also on a happy note, Miss Digby, our Foundation Teacher who is currently on maternity leave, had a little boy on 21stMarch and I am delighted to say that both the mother and child are in good health. The boy’s name will be confirmed soon and in the meantime, Miss Digby has nicknamed him ‘Hamlet’. Miss Brookes, our Pre Prep Teaching Assistant, also had a child over the Easter break, on 3rd April, – a little girl, Mattis, Elsie, who is also in great form.
OF Success
During the Easter break we also heard that two former pupils, Katie Curtis and Tess Howard, played for their age-group England hockey teams. Katie represented England U16s and Tess captained the England U18 side. Many congratulations to both of them.
Speaking of former pupils, a highly selective team of Old Fidelian chess players will be pitting their wits against the School Chess Team after school today. The Old Fidelians will be hoping to improve on their recent poor form in this annual match but Mr Mitchell and his chess team have other ideas! I will be there to see battle commence.
Midland Championships – Gymnastics
Finally, I wish our gymnasts lots of fun at the Midland Championships in Stamford this weekend. We have over 60 boys and girls competing, ranging from our experienced 13 year-olds to our 6 year-old novices. It should be a great couple of days and once again, I am grateful to Mr and Mrs North and Miss Butler for giving up both days this weekend to be with the children. It is commitment like this which makes our community as strong as it is.
With all good wishes,
Nigel Helliwell
