Climate change and sustainability were on the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. While some of those attending described climate change campaigners as ‘prophets of doom’, it was the voice of teenage activist, Greta Thunberg, that gained the most attention. It was timely, therefore, that this week our pupils chose to highlight a number of environmental issues, in Monday’s whole school assembly.
In collaboration with our Catering Manager, Peter Burt, and Assistant Manager, Alex Paszylk, the Eco Committee focused on food waste and its impact on the environment. They reported that since the introduction of our food waste management system (Winnow) last year, we have reduced our food waste by 40% – the equivalent of 7,750 meals. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, on average, we produce 4,764kg of food waste per year at school – the weight of a medium sized elephant! This in turn produces over 22,000kg of CO2, a sobering thought for us all, as the committee members pointed out. As well as the CO2 footprint of food waste, the Eco Committee described how food waste is also a waste of water due to the significant volumes taken to produce certain foods (did you know that 1kg of chocolate takes over 17,000 litres of water to produce?!).
It was heart-warming to hear our own pupils provide such a thought-provoking assembly and speak so passionately about how every member of the school can have an impact on food waste. There were palpable gasps of amazement from the children when Mr Burt produced two enormous bags of food waste left over after Monday’s lunch.
New Term, New Topics
The start of a term brings new topics for the children to learn. Classroom displays are a wonderful way of our pupils presenting their work and creating talking points to stimulate discussion. From world maps in Year 4 to the English Civil War in Year 7, and Mind Maps on ‘The Pearl’ by John Steinbeck in Year 8 to witches spells from Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Year 7, it is clear that our pupils are delving deep into their topics and producing some beautiful pieces of work in the process. Here are a selection of the displays currently on show.
Activities
A new term also brings a different set of after-school activities. Eighty seven clubs are taking place each week, from Whizz Bang Science to Sign Language and Kung-Fu to Coding. I dropped in to a few this week to see how everyone was getting on. As you can see from the photos, they were having a wonderful time! The beautiful sand patterns were made in the Pre Prep Super STEM club using a Chladni plate which demonstrates how the plate vibrated in response to different frequencies (details of this fascinating activity are in the side bar of the newsletter).
Boys’ Gymnastics Teams Sweep the Board
What a weekend our boys’ gymnastics teams had at the ISGA National 4-Piece Championships in Surrey. All three of the boys’ teams won national titles and three of our boys – Viraj (U13), Max (U11) and Ollie (U9) – won their respective individual competitions. It was a clean sweep of victories for St Faith’s! Such an impressive set of results is of course a testament to the ability and hard work of the boys, the dedication of their coaches and the generous support of parents. Details of the results are in the side bar of this newsletter.
The boys will have little time to bask in the glory of their national titles. This coming weekend they will be joined by the girls at the Sports Acro and Tumbling Regionals in Milton Keynes, and the following weekend at the Milano Team Trios in London. In preparation for these events the gymnasts put on a display of their routines during house assembly this morning. As you can see they are all on top form and made a great impression on their fellow pupils.
Finally…
On a less competitive note, it was lovely to bump in to one of the Foundation classes on Monday, splendidly dressed in their wellingtons and waterproofs, as they explored ‘The Wild Place’ (in Tom’s Garden) for their very first time!
Whether you are out exploring or relaxing at home, I wish you a lovely weekend.
With all good wishes,
Nigel Helliwell
