This week at St Faith's

26 May 2017

‘Serving the community’ has been a consistent theme in whole-school assemblies this year, so I was pleased see that the Foundation assembly this week focused on the importance of working together and asking for help.

Foundation Assembly

After a flurry of facts about seeds and plants, all of which linked to the children’s class work on ‘growing’, F51 acted out an engaging story about trying to pull a giant turnip out of the ground! Despite a lot of huffing and pulling, with all the pupils linked together in a long line, it was only when the class asked for help, and the mouse came to their rescue, that they mustered enough strength to extract the stubborn turnip from the undergrowth. It was a happy ending to a very happy way of beginning school on Wednesday.

We Will Rock You

There is no better example of pupils working together cohesively than this week’s production of ‘We Will Rock You’, performed by our top year group on Wednesday and Thursday evening. This was essentially a tribute to the rock group, Queen; a vibrant musical set in a fully computerised future with no real musicians or musical instruments, looking back at the glorious days of rock music. As the story line wove its way through the long repertoire of Queen’s hits, the dynamic acting, clever choreography, great humour and outstanding individual performances kept us all enthralled and fully engaged. The overall quality of the performances belied the age of the pupils and made me feel immensely proud. At the end, I felt like rushing home and putting on my old Queen LPs! Collaboration was the key to the success of the show. The pupils have worked together well over the past few months, under the expert guidance of Ms Allen, Miss Kennerley and Mr Gorick, with valuable help from Mrs Morecroft, a volunteer parent who has performed in musicals such as this in the West End. For our leavers this was a lifetime experience and one I will certainly always remember.

Art Exhibition

This week, the Ashburton Hall also hosted an art exhibition which pupils and parents were able to view prior to and during the intervals of the production. It has been a bumper year for creative art scholarships to senior school, with 10 in total. Everyone who had the opportunity to look at the art on display and see the production this week, will see why. Thank you to the children whose work was on display and many thanks also to our talented Art teachers, Mrs Bowes and Mrs Ankin and their valuable assistant Miss Smith. The standard of art work produced is simply remarkable and way above the level expected for pupils of this age.

Trampolining

Last weekend was a bumper time for our talented trampolinists when they competed in Croydon in the National Championships. We had many medal winners including the Boys’ U13 A team which won the national title! Many congratulations to Leo M, David C, Guy N and William B on this magnificent achievement. Further details of the event are in the sports section of this newsletter. Many thanks to Mr and Mrs North for all their expert coaching and continuing commitment to this relatively new sport at St Faith’s.

Tennis Tournaments

This week, the singles tennis tournaments have taken place. When I popped over to the Latham Road courts on Monday, the ball was fizzing over the net like a rally in a junior Wimbledon tournament. Congratulations to the winners of each age group competition: Anna Wheaton (Y8 girls), Freddie Bailey (Y8 boys), Beth Matthews (Y7 girls), Edward Hackett (Y7 boys), Emily Hill (Y6 girls) and Zac Jones (Y6 boys).

Careers Day

Today we held a careers day for our top year pupils. Representatives from businesses in Cambridge came to St Faith’s to talk about their professions and possible career routes in their fields of work. The company which coordinated the day put on some fine motivational career talks and provided challenging team-building exercises for the children. When I called in to the Hall, I heard a most interesting presentation on the need for young people to reflect on their motivational triggers when choosing a career path. The speaker emphasised the importance of motivation in converting qualifications and skills into a successful career. The thought-provoking nature of the day proved to be a fitting ending to a most successful and rewarding half-term for our Year 8s.

This evening I will be playing in the annual staff v Old Fidelian golf match at the Gog Magog Golf Club, where I hope to complete the course, in the company of colleagues and former pupils, without too much embarrassment.

I wish you and your family a most enjoyable and restful Bank Holiday weekend and half term.

With all good wishes,

Nigel Helliwell