Pre Prep Sports Day
The sun was shining on Tuesday as we welcomed Pre Prep families for an afternoon of sport. Enthusiastic participation, coordinated cheering and a host of ingenious races made for a most entertaining and convivial occasion. The appreciative spectators smiled and clapped as the children completed sprints and a variety of activity races with great gusto. The excitement of the assembled crowd grew as the afternoon unfolded, and rounding off events, families were able to enjoy a beautiful afternoon tea in front of Southfield. My sincere thanks to the Pre Prep staff, Mrs Wakefield and Mrs North for all their work in organising this occasion.
Little Inventors
On Monday, Year 2 came to the Engineering Workshop for some inventing, inspired by the ‘Little Miss Inventor’ character. The activity was based on understanding how engineers look to nature for inspiration for their new inventions and in particular how minibeasts can be a source of inspiration. The pupils started by inventing their own minibeast, and then considered the types of minibeast ‘superpowers’ that might inspire engineers. Some of our Year 8 pupils were also on hand to help the Year 2 children with their creative designs. The children also studied a list of options to work out which materials they would need to create their invention, including special consideration of how to create features such as encased wings or spiny exoskeletons. Construction was a flurry of focused activity, and the diversity of creations and superpowers was extremely impressive.
Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’
In their final drama production here at St Faith’s, Year 8 brought alive for us the wonderful world of Willy Wonka, owner of a magical, mysterious and very famous chocolate factory. In the story shared with the audience, Willy Wonka excelled at making sweets and chocolates, but he was ready to retire and was seeking a “bright spark” to continue his confectionery creativity. Could that “bright spark” be Charlie Bucket?
In answering this question, the audience was invited to enter a world of “pure imagination” and we were treated to a visually spectacular, highly professional and thoroughly enjoyable production. On both evenings the quality of the performances was truly superb and many congratulations to all involved.
Age UK
In March of this year, 60 springtime cards, made and written by St Faith’s children, were distributed to local Age UK service users, many of whom live alone. Age UK provide help to support elderly people in their homes and also facilitate day centres to enable older people enjoy time together. We were delighted to hear from Bev Young at Age UK Cambridge & Peterborough, who reported that they had received lots of lovely feedback from service users who had received our cards.
One of the wardens supporting a lady called Ann passed on the message that Ann was “overwhelmed by the children’s kindness and her heart was touched with the beautifully written poem in her card and made her feel unforgotten”. Ann wanted to thank the children for their kindness in making the cards, so she kindly decided to make a ribbon wreath for them to celebrate the coronation. Miss Kennerley is organising a thank you card from the children to be sent to Ann with a photograph of them with the wreath, accompanied by a bag of her favourite sweets – marshmallows!
Shape
This week, Year 4 pupils have been studying shape in Maths. They have compared and classified geometric shapes, including quadrilaterals and triangles, based on their properties and sizes. They have also been exploring different angles – identifying them as acute and obtuse, ordering them by size and comparing them to right angles. During some of their lessons, the pupils have also been using geoboards to create different triangles and quadrilaterals.
William Heaton Cooper
Meanwhile Year 6 have been finishing their watercolour studies inspired by the Lakeland Impressionist William Heaton Cooper. I hope you enjoy these beautiful examples of their work.
Year 8 Beetle Buddies
The Year 8 children who were not directly involved in the Year 8 Drama production have been very busy with a variety of activities across the school whilst rehearsals have been taking place. One particular lesson was allocated to preparing a surprise for a Year 4 class.
First, the older pupils were introduced to the novel: Beetle Boy, by M G Leonard – a firm favourite of Miss Johnson our librarian and Mrs Switsur from the English department. Then, they paired up to create a range of fantasy beetles including a fact file to accompany each 3D model. As you can see, great care and attention was taken to create lifelike beetles or imaginary species! Their beetles are now on route to their new home in Year 4 where we hope that their new adoptive parents will look after them with great care.
If you are inspired to learn more, please enjoy this video from the author M G Leonard explaining her love of beetles.
BEETLE BUDDIES
Swimming v King’s Ely
We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of outdoor swimming at King’s Ely on Monday. No easy feat for the backstrokers, who only have the moving clouds to help (or not help!) them navigate their way down the lanes. Nevertheless, the team were inspired to a narrow victory in the final gala of the year, by 137 points to 127, which means the swim team is undefeated this academic year!
Dynamos Cricket Festival
On Tuesday a group of boys and girls in Year 5 were selected to take part in the Dynamos Cricket Festival taking place at Histon Cricket Club. The festival is designed to inspire young cricketers to play an exciting and fast paced brand of cricket that follows the new ‘Hundred’ format. The team arrived in beautiful sunshine and were set to play 3 games against a variety of local primary schools. It was incredible to watch pupils from every school playing such an enjoyable format of the game, and with such a variety of experience, from pupils who play club cricket to beginners, it catered well for all.
St Faith’s ran out eventual winners, but each game was closely contested, and we hope that those in attendance learnt a great deal from the experience, not only in cricketing terms, but also social skills such as humility, resilience, and sportsmanship.
Well done to everyone involved, each pupil was a fantastic ambassador for the school and demonstrated all the core values we come to expect from a St Faith’s pupil.
Congratulations also go to our U11 Girls’ cricket team for qualifying for the quarter finals in last weekend’s IAPS Cricket Festival.
Tennis Finals for Years 4-6
Last Friday evening after school, the Years 4-6 Boys’ Doubles and the Years 4-6 Girls’ Singles finals were played on the school courts. The boys’ final ended in a definitive victory 6-1 for one of the pairings, with the levels of both the tennis and the sportsmanship extremely high. The boys played the game competitively but also very fairly. On the next court along was the girls’ singles final and the standard of tennis was very good. The final score was 6-1, with both girls contributing fantastically to some super rallies and points.
Thank you to all of the parents for the support and encouragement for their children – we are also grateful that the weather was kind to us! Our tennis season will continue after half-term with the Years 7 and 8 Doubles tournament on Monday, 5th June and then their Singles tournament on Tuesday, 20th June.
Midlands Independent Schools Gymnastics (MISGA) Championships
Last Saturday our gymnasts travelled to Stamford school for the two-day Midlands Independent Schools Gymnastics Championships. The weekend gave a excellent opportunity to all of our teams to compete, from the U7 boys and girls all the way through to the U13 teams. They did superbly well in both individual and team events.
We are now almost at the end of the gym season, during which we have had much success this year. Many thanks to the staff involved in the care and coaching of all the gymnasts and also to our parents for their support. The final two events of the season will be S Club Invitational Gymnastics for the U8 to U11 girls on 10th June and House gymnastics on 20th June.
IAPS Triathlon Championships
Last Sunday, 8 triathletes competed at the IAPS Triathlon at Monkton prep school in Bath. Every pupil competed with determination, stamina and good spirit across the three disciplines, swimming, cycling and running. For some members of the team this was their first triathlon, making their performances all the more impressive. The cycle course was particularly demanding as it included steep inclines and sharp descents. The warm conditions added to the challenge of the race, but the cheering, supportive parents spurred everyone on to perform at their very best. The results were tremendous in what was a competitive and strong field in each age category.
St Faith’s Sports Feature in ‘Cambridge Edition’
Following recent positive coverage of the St Faith’s STEM and Creative Arts curricula in ‘Cambridge Edition’ we are delighted to report that this month it has been the turn of Sport. You can read the full article here.
And Finally…
This evening after school, the SFPA are hosting their inaugural International Day Event. There will be eighteen different stalls, each representing a different country, including Chile, Italy, Kenya, China and Wales. The stalls will showcase a variety of features from each country, including opportunities for the children to learn about the culture, language, special foods and traditions associated with the diverse range of countries represented in our community. Chartwells has very kindly sponsored the event, with various food samples to whet the appetite!
As we reach the half-way point of this term, and begin to enjoy the warm summer evenings, may I wish you a refreshing break and I look forward to seeing the children returning to school in June for the final, and arguably most exciting, weeks of the academic year.
With all best wishes,
Dr Crispin Hyde-Dunn
