In a week when there were embarrassing dramas at the Oscars, I am pleased to say that the theatrical productions at St Faith’s ran very smoothly.
Drama Productions
On Wednesday afternoon, the mini-pantomimes by Year 4 were hugely entertaining, providing a much-welcomed and light-hearted series of comedy scenes. The quality of acting and slick stage craft were a testament to the talents of the pupils. Everyone in the year group participated and there was a real sense of team work as each class performed a ten-minute version of a well known pantomime. My sincere thanks to Ms Allen, our Head of Drama, for all her effort and expertise in producing such an excellent and entertaining show and of course, to the stars themselves – the children – who rose to the occasion. As they glided around the stage, recalling their lines with precision and performing with confidence it was easy to forget that they are only eight or nine years old. I don’t think I have been to a school production which made the audience laugh so much. Many congratulations to everyone involved.
Pre Prep Assemblies
2JJ’s assembly on Wednesday morning was also well produced, with clear narration, colourful costumes and plenty of interesting facts about space. The children presented a short play based on a book, ‘Bob, the Man on the Moon’ by Simon Barton, in which Bob met Billy from Mars and Sam from Saturn on his travels. During the show, aliens appeared from all directions and at the end of the assembly, the whole class joined together to recite the poem, ‘The Aliens have landed.’ Once again, the Pre Prep assembly proved to be the perfect start to the day.
Shrove Tuesday
This week is, of course, the beginning of Lent and the children certainly enjoyed celebrating Shrove Tuesday with the customary pancakes for lunch. When I called in to the Dining Room at lunchtime, the Foundation children were mesmerised by our Head Chef’s pancake-making demonstration, as you can see from the photos. The banana and chocolate pancakes were very popular, although when it comes to pancakes I am a traditionalist – lemon and sugar for me – delicious!
Sport Events
Sports events come thick and fast at this time of the year. Many congratulations to the U9 rugby team, pictured below, which won the tournament at Barnadiston Hall last weekend; the boys played really well and won all their four matches. Speaking of sport, I am relieved to say that I survived the annual staff v Old Fidelians football match last Friday evening, and delighted to report that the staff team continued their recent winning run. As you can see from the photo we were all just about standing at the end, and very grateful for the refreshments which followed.
Quiz
In last week’s newsletter I reported the excellent performance of our Quiz Team which came third in the regional round of this national competition. This week, we heard that our team’s score was sufficiently high to qualify for the semi-finals which will be held in the Summer Term. Many congratulations to the team, Toby G, Neal T, Ash G and Harry P, pictured here.
AcE Day
By the time you read this message, all children in Years 3 to 8 will have completed AcE (Academic Extension) Day, a one-day programme of special activities to enrich and extend the normal curriculum. Whether your child has been involved in the trip to the Harry Potter Studios, rehearsals for ‘Aladdin’, orienteering at Wandlebury, practical experiments in the Science labs, Roald Dahl Book Day or any of the other off-timetable events, I hope they had an enjoyable and fulfilling end to the week. Prize of the day goes to Miss Kleczkowska, our Year 3 and 4 Teaching Assistant, who travelled to work by train this morning, dressed as Mrs Twit!
New Appointment
Next week, our new Marketing Manager, Dr Kelly Pangalos joins the staff. Mrs Pangalos’ career includes work as Head of Communications for a large pharmaceutical company. She is a parent of two children in the school so she already knows us well!
Over the weekend, our chess teams will be in action tomorrow in the next round of the Cambridgeshire Chess League and the girls’ gym team will be competing in the national finals in Guildford. I wish our pupils lots of fun and success. Whether our girls win the nationals or not I just hope the medals are presented to the right teams!
With all good wishes,
Nigel Helliwell
