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This Week at St Faith’s
Advent Services
At our school assemblies on Monday we celebrated our Advent services. We were reminded that Christians make the Advent Wreath in a circle to represent God’s unending love, while the four candles represent hope, peace, love and joy. It is a tradition at St Faith’s that the two youngest children in the school community light the first candle of the Advent wreath. This act symbolises the start of our journey through Advent, a time of waiting and reflection, where Christians anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. We listened to a Bible reading which encouraged us to consider our actions and attitudes and reflected that Advent is not only a period of waiting and anticipation, but it is also a time for seeking to help others.
Our Junior Voices choir took part in the first service with their fine rendition of “The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came” while our Chamber choir sang Angels’ Carol by John Rutter. We also drew inspiration from the famous painting “The Light of the World” by William Holman Hunt, as a visual reminder of the hope and light that Advent brings.
Tea Time Recital: A Harmonious Evening
Monday’s Tea Time Recital was a delightful showcase of musical talent, featuring the Junior String Orchestra and Intermediate String Orchestra. For forty-five minutes, a full audience enjoyed a variety of performances, including tuba, chanter (bagpipes), French horn, piano, trombone and a sibling cello duet. The concert also highlighted the musical skills of several trumpeters.
The joy of music-making was palpable throughout, creating a relaxed and supportive atmosphere that is characteristic of our Tea Time Recitals. The stunning solo performances and mature musical interpretation and expression were a testament to the performers’ dedication and practice. The recital also served as the perfect preparation for those with forthcoming ABRSM and Trinity exams.
Continuing a musical theme, for those who were unable to attend the wonderful St Cecilia’s Autumn Concert, please find a link to the video here: St Faith’s School
Year 5s Adventurous Journey Back in Time
Year 5 had an exciting visit from Mrs Critchley this week, who shared stories of her 1992 voyage to the Americas. The journey was a tribute to Christopher Columbus’ historic voyage westwards to the Americas in 1492, exactly 500 years earlier.
Mrs Critchley’s five-week adventure on a sailing boat across the Atlantic was a fascinating tale that captured the children’s imaginations. They were intrigued by the various roles and duties such as ‘galley duty’, watchers, the Bosun, daily chores, scrubbing the decks, sewing sail repairs, and cleaning the ‘heads’ (toilets), as well as the comparison of provisions.
The voyage was not without its challenges. Mrs Critchley and her crew faced the force of the weather from the tail end of a hurricane, with rain, high winds and rough seas. It required all 28 people on board to control the ship under these extreme conditions. The children learned about how modern-day sailors wear harnesses for safety in such weather, while Columbus’ crew in 1492 did not have such equipment. Mrs Critchley also explained what it was like climbing the rigging, giving the children a vivid picture of the physical demands and heights involved. The children were particularly interested in the Mrs Critchley’s stops at Harbour Island and the uninhabited Cat Island. They enjoyed hearing about the challenges of baking a lopsided cake, using clean water sparingly, and washing hair in sea water.
It was a truly memorable and educational experience that brought history to life and highlighted the differences between Mrs Critchley’s voyage and Columbus’ historic journey. Year 5 are already looking forward to their next adventure!
Year 8 Art Enrichment Workshop
The Year 8 Art Enrichment Group have been busy preparing Art Scholarship portfolios for their future schools this term. In lessons, the pupils have explored dry-point printing and have created some mixed-media portraits of famous literary figures throughout history. In their after-school sessions, the pupils have painted realistic cherries using acrylics, and they captured atmospheric landscapes using oils. On Tuesday, the pupils worked alongside artist Adam Bridgland and learnt more about screen-printing and typography. They spent the day creating individual monoprints and then worked collaboratively to create a giant mural for the English Department.
St Faith’s Greenhouse
Despite the weather getting chillier, the St Faith’s greenhouse has been a hive of activity. Pupils have enjoyed growing a wide variety of plants, including beans, coriander, sage and sunflowers. Every break time, a group of enthusiastic pupils can be seen merrily sowing, potting and watering. One pupil reported “I really love gardening. It makes me feel so calm”, and our pupils can’t wait until spring for the next planting season!
Eco Committee Leaf Masks
The Eco Committee had a wonderful time creating leaf masks from fallen leaves. They enjoyed selecting them for their beautiful colours and layering them creatively. It was also a pleasure to see the ways in which our older committee members were a great help to our younger members. As they created, they played birdsong in the background, to transport their minds to a forest setting! Everyone left feeling very autumnal and in agreement that fallen leaves are a wonderful art material.
In the Classrooms
Year 4 pupils have enjoyed some hands-on work in Engineering – building a bird box or a hedgehog house out of wood, and in Science, they have been learning how paperclips can be used to make electric circuit switches. Meanwhile in English, I joined Year 4 pupils as they were undertaking a comprehension exercise – demonstrating their understanding of facts from a passage, as well as developing their skills of inference. Year 3 have been busy with their 4x and 8x times tables in Maths, whilst our Year 8 pupils were studying different tenses when I joined them in their Latin lesson.
Year 5 English
In English, Year 5 have been reading Firework Maker’s Daughter by Philip Pullman. They have worked together to make a ‘found poem’. A found poem is made by collecting words and phrases around a theme and then using them to make a collage and the pupils showed excellent collaborative skills in doing so.
Music Collaboration with Shirley Community Primary School
On Wednesday, 14 Year 5 pupils from Shirley Community Primary School in Chesterton took part in their first instrumental music lesson. They each took home a clarinet or saxophone to keep for the school year to enable them to practise between lessons. Lessons took place in groups of 2 or 3, led by our very own Mr Newman. This is a very positive and exciting collaboration between our schools and we now look forward to planning a joint rehearsal and performance with some of the St Faith’s instrumentalists next term!
The World’s Worst
On Thursday our busy Year 5 pupils were showcasing their acting talents. In their form House classes, the children performed their interpretations of some of the iconic characters from David Walliams’ ‘The World’s Worst Children’ books, with the characters of Mrs Splatt, Nigel Nit Boy, Belinda Brag and Bertha the Blubberer bursting onto the stage. Each of the productions was extremely well delivered, with great expression and skilful choreography. Please see below the recording of the show.
Green Goblins Guest
Also on Thursday, Year 6 welcomed a very special visitor. The motor racing driver, Oliver Jarvis, two-times winner of the prestigious 24-hour Le Mans race, enjoyed driving one of our ‘Goblin’ cars, with pupils taking turns to race against him. Back in our Engineering ‘Hub’ he talked the pupils through some of the pieces of motor racing equipment he had brought with him – including a hi-tech steering wheel and racing helmet. Oliver also answered questions from the children about his career in racing – ranging from how easy it is to get in and out of a le Mans car to having a custom seat made for racing. It was a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to spend time with a professional race winning driver, and Oliver certainly inspired our Green Goblins to strive for pole position!
Cambridgeshire County Cricket selection
We are extremely pleased to announce that a large number of St Faith’s pupils have been selected to be part of the Cambridgeshire County Cricket set up this season. Boys and Girls from Years 5-8 were nominated (or were returning) to attend observation days in October, which consisted of some indoor net sessions, assessing their bowling and batting. All attending pupils should be proud of their performances. Due to the high level of interest in this opportunity, some of our pupils are still awaiting the observations and we wish them the best of luck.
Once selected these pupils will go on to have some indoor training sessions with Cambridgeshire over the winter months and older children will represent their county in matches in Summer 2025.
The Cricketer Magazine
We are delighted to be included in this year’s Cricketer Magazine as one of the ‘Top 50 Prep Schools for Cricket’ in the country and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our teaching staff, as well as our ground staff (both at St Faith’s and Latham Road). Ensuring all pupils have access to our excellent facilities, expert teaching and inclusive philosophy has created an environment where Cricket at St Faith’s is truly thriving, where we aim to deliver a positive and meaningful experience for all. We believe it is a game that promotes invaluable life skills and is an integral part of our curriculum and life at school. We will continue to innovate our programme to keep us at the forefront of the sport, as well as maintain the traditions that set the game apart from all others. Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to a glorious summer of Cricket in 2025.
ISGA 2piece Gymnastics Competition
Mrs North writes:
“Despite threats of terrible weather from Storm Bert last Sunday and in a brand-new venue, the ISGA 2-piece competition was a huge success. Over the course of 8 hours, 96 teams from The Netherlands and far-flung areas of the UK battled it out in 13 divisions to be crowned national 2-piece team and individual champions.
St Faith’s was very well represented with 5 teams of boys and girls involved, along with Mr Mageean, Mr Johnson and Miss Butler coaching, Miss Buchanan announcing and Mrs Oxborough scoring. Mrs North was the competition organiser, so oversaw proceedings on a challenging but satisfying day.
In the U13 girls’ category, the team finished 3rd in the morning division and a creditable 6th overall. One of our gymnasts finished 11th out of a field of over 50 gymnasts.
In the Under 9 girls’ category, the team had a fabulous day, finishing 6th in the morning division and 10th overall. Special mention goes to a gymnast who had her competitive debut. Thanks also to Mrs Carpenter who manned the door for an hour during the day.
In the Under 14 boys’ category, the team was excited to see their boys take the top 5 positions, with one pupil crowned as the individual champion. The team also took the team trophy, finishing as U14 team champions.
In the Under 11 boys’ category, one gymnast narrowly missed out on 1st place, taking the silver medal, another finished 5th, and the team took team silvers behind Davenies School.
The Under 9 boys produced a remarkable performance, moving up in the ranks since their last competition in early November. They proudly earned bronze medals, with one gymnast finishing 4th and another in Year 2 finishing in 8th position. The vaulting was faultless, and they performed their floor sequences with care and confidence.
All in all, it was a very promising performance from everyone representing St Faith’s on this occasion. Our thanks are extended to our hosts, Haberdashers’ Girls’ School, for organising such a fantastic event. For individual results, please see the side bar.”
And Finally…
This Sunday will see members of our St Faith’s chess teams competing in the Cambridgeshire Chess League fixtures hosted by The Perse Upper School. We wish our pupils the very best of luck.
As we approach December, alongside the ongoing purposeful study, there is also a sense of festive anticipation. The pupils are already rehearsing for the ‘Last House Standing’ inter-house competition. There are Christmas carols in the air and before then, we look forward to our SFPA Christmas Fayre next Friday.
Whether you are starting your Christmas preparations or taking a bracing winter walk, I wish you a happy and restful weekend.
With all best wishes,
Crispin Hyde-Dunn