This week at St Faith's

23 June 2017

As temperatures soared this week, the grass turned brown, faces went red and the playing fields were awash with coloured polo shirts as the children competed in their house cricket matches. It has been lovely to see so many parents in school, enjoying the Mediterranean weather and supporting the various events that have taken place.

Sports Day

It seems a long time ago since Sports Day last Friday, when so many of us gathered at Wilberforce Road for a day of athletics. As usual, the whole event ran like clockwork, the staff worked together superbly and the pupils ran their hearts out. Sports Day is a keenly contested house event but what I like most about the day is the supportive spirit amongst the children, the family atmosphere and the tradition of the event. Latham House won, but for me all the children deserve a medal for the way they pulled together to make this such a wonderful occasion. Many of the trophies awarded to the winners go back a long way; one of the pictures in this gallery is of Freddie G who won the U12 Triple Jump cup and his father who won it thirty years ago. Thank you to every parent who came along to support and contributed to this great family event and of course, we take our hats off, once again, to Mr North and the Sports Department for their outstanding organisation. The last race of the day was the icing on the cake – a 4x100m relay between the U13 boys and the staff, which the boys won for the first time ever, to the deafening cheers of the partisan crowd when the final runner of the boys’ team (Robert Gwilt) crossed the finishing line. We all went home happy, especially those who enjoyed an ice cream!

Summer Concert

On Thursday evening it was the turn of our musicians to showcase their talents as we congregated at the Cambridge University Concert Hall for the big music event of the year – the Summer Concert. Jazz groups, big bands, percussion groups, wind, string and brass ensembles, three choirs and a huge concert band provided a wonderful range of entertaining music for the large audience to enjoy. Watching the children perform with so much confidence and clear enjoyment made me very proud. The sheer quality of music belied the age of the pupils and the whole evening was a superb celebration of St Faith’s music and a great testament to the talents of our pupils and music staffThe event also had a tinge of sadness as it was the final musical performance for our very capable Year 8 musicians. I have fond memories of the Year 8 pupils playing in the Junior Concerts and on tour in Liverpool and it has been wonderful to see them grow in to the fine young musicians, and people, they now are. Many congratulations to every child who took part in this year’s Summer Concert and thank you to all the music staff, including our Director of Music, Mr Gorick, for organising this super evening and working so well with the pupils throughout the year. Not surprisingly, I have received a great deal of positive feedback from parents about the high standard of the concert.

Enrichment Week

There will plenty of special events next week, as all pupils in Years 3 to 8 enjoy an off-timetable programme of enrichment activities, designed to extend the normal curriculum. Two residential trips will be departing this weekend; the Year 6s are off to Salamanca to spend mornings in a Spanish School, and the afternoons seeing the sights of this beautiful city, portrayed by many as ‘the Cambridge of Spain’. The Year 8s will be in Rome and Pompeii, visiting many of the sites they have been learning about in their Classics lessons.

Thank You & Achievements

Thank you to Miss Dow for a splendid assembly on Martin Luther this week, to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation; good luck to the group of Year 6 Scientists who have been asked by the Royal Society to review a selection of children’s Science books (this is one of many benefits we receive as an Associate School of the Royal Society) and many congratulations to the U11 girls cricket team which won the County Cup this week.

Walking around the school, I am always hugely impressed by the quality of work that the children produce in their Art lessons. For those of you who didn’t manage to see the recent Year 8 art exhibition, here is a selection of the pictures that were on show.

 

Finally, here are some lovely pictures produced by our Year 2s, who have been studying ‘Kings and Queens’ this term. Next week I have the honour of judging the many thrones which have been made by the children and now sit proudly in their classrooms. Until then, I wish you a lovely weekend.

With all good wishes,

Nigel Helliwell