Summer Concert
As Bob Marley remarked, ‘One good thing about music is when it hits you, you feel no pain.’ It certainly hit us hard at the Cambridge University Concert Hall on Monday night. Seventeen ensembles provided a medley of music for the large audience of parents and staff to relish. From saxophones and cymbals to clarinets and choirs the evening was a wonderful showcase of musical talent in the upper years of the school. Classical pieces such as Allegro – Concerto Grosso No. 8 and Ex Ore Innocentium were interspersed with contemporary renditions of Queen, George Ezra and Stevie Wonder. It was a bitter-sweet evening for our Year 8 musicians, for whom this was their final St Faith’s concert, but what a way to go! In a delightful twist, three Old Fidelians made a return to the Concert Hall stage to perform alongside the Concert Band, in what is becoming quite a tradition and one that we all hope will continue. As I expressed on the night, evenings such as this are not possible without the dedication of both the pupils and their Music teachers. Many congratulations to everyone who took part – well over 100 pupils – and thank you to Mr Gorick for this entertaining concert which was a fitting finalé to a fantastic year of music for our senior pupils. Well, almost the finalé – the Senior Brass Ensemble chose to rehearse in the glorious sunshine on School House Field this lunchtime, which got some of the Year 8s dancing! We now look forward to the Pre Prep Summer Concert on Thursday.
UK Maths Team Challenge
On Monday, our Maths team travelled to London for the UK Finals of the Maths Team Challenge. Combining mathematical, communication and teamwork skills, the competition, which saw thousands of entries, was whittled down to just 88 schools for the final. Our Year 8 pupils, Kuankuan, Daniel, Juliette and Amelia, excelled themselves and, with their pre-prepared poster on Compass and Straight Edge Constructions, finished a very respectable 58th on the day which, considering they were competing against Year 9 pupils, is a significant achievement. Well done to the team and their Maths teacher who prepared and accompanied them through this competition, Mr Mutucumarana.
FLW Class Assembly
Mrs Wakefield’s class charmed us at their assembly on Wednesday morning with a re-telling of ‘The Enormous Turnip’. Showing off their confidence and performance skills, the children described the essential ingredients for growth. After freeing the enormous turnip from the ground, they went on to tell us how they themselves have grown during their first year at St Faith’s, both in terms of height and also what they have learnt, from reading to writing and riding a bike to running. Many thanks to the children and their teachers for such an uplifting start to the day.
Speech and Drama Tea-Time Recital
Pupils in Years 3 to 8 entertained us with a variety of poetry recitals, mimes and acting pieces on Tuesday evening at the Speech and Drama Tea-Time Recital. From reciting comic poetry to acting moving war-time stories, our pupils showcased their talents and demonstrated confidence in their performances. Well done everyone and a big thank you to Miss Tucker for all her Speech and Drama coaching this year.
Move Up Morning
Yesterday morning there was great excitement when all pupils ‘moved up’ to meet their teachers, tutors and new class mates for next year. In addition, pupils who will be joining the school in Years 1 to 7 from September experienced their first morning at St Faith’s and were warmly welcomed by our Prefects who showed great empathy and sensitivity as they settled our visitors on their arrival.
Sports Round Up
What an amazing day we had on Friday at our annual Sports Day at the Cambridge University Athletics Track. The weather was kinder than it had been all week, for which we were very grateful and all our competitors rose to the challenge admirably. Six school records were broken: Oliver broke both the U9 75m and the 150m records; Jack the U13 Discus, Lucy the U14 Javelin, Ned the U13 75m Hurdles and Ellie the U9 Girls’ Ball Throw. Latham were crowned House Champions and celebrated in suitable style. Well done to all who took part and strove to be their very best on the day, supported their friends with such gusto and reflected the spirit of St Faith’s so well. My sincere thanks and appreciation to Mr North and Mr Mageean who orchestrated the event so efficiently.
Sports Day Gallery all photos for current parents
Last Sunday we hosted the annual ‘S’ Club gym competition, a friendly 5 school competition for girls in the U9, U10 and U11 age groups. All competing schools names begin with ‘S’ (St Albans High, Stamford, St Mary’s Hampstead and Stormount), hence the name. Many congratulations to all who took part and once again to the gym staff for organising this event.
Eighteen pupils have qualified to compete in the National Prep Schools Athletics Finals at Birmingham Stadium on 1st July. We wish them every success a week on Monday.
Enrichment Week
Late this evening, 59 pupils from Year 7 and seven members of staff will be setting off to the Ardèche region in France, for a week of team building and outdoor adventure activities. In the early hours of tomorrow morning 39 Year 8 pupils will be accompanied by five members of staff as they head off to Rome and Pompeii, for a week of immersion in the world of Classics. And finally, at a slightly more civilised hour on Sunday morning, 41 pupils from Year 6 and five members of staff will be departing for a week of Spanish lessons and cultural experiences in Salamanca. We wish everyone the safest of journeys and look forward to hearing about their adventures on their return next week.
For those staying at school, next week’s Enrichment Week looks set to be another action packed series of activities, from STEM days and creative media workshops to outdoor adventure activities and Robot Olympics, culminating on Friday with our annual Makukhanye fund-raising day.
Finally…
Welcoming visitors from other schools and organisations to see St Faith’s in action, particularly the STEM subjects, has become a regular occurrence. In recent times, our guests have included the Chief Executive of the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools, Christopher King, and this week, the Chief Executive of the Independent Schools Council, Julie Robinson. In the final week of term, we will be hosting a visit from 14 senior education figures in Bejiing who are keen to see our Engineering lessons.
With all good wishes,
Nigel Helliwell
