New School Website is Live

On Tuesday we launched our new school website, www.stfaiths.co.uk. We have received many positive comments about the appealing design, and the content has been enhanced by many brand new pages, including ‘Digital Innovation’, ‘The Importance of Year 7 & 8’ and ‘A Tailored Education’. We do hope that you enjoy using the new site – your feedback and ideas for additional content would be very much welcomed by the Marketing department at marketing@stfaiths.co.uk. I would particularly like to thank the Marketing & Admissions department for delivering the project so effectively.

School Council and Eco Committee Assembly

At the start of the week our whole school assembly gave us the opportunity to congratulate all the pupils who had put themselves forward, and have been elected by their peers, to join the School Council and the Eco Committee this year. Both committees give opportunities to articulate ‘the pupil voice’ and to work on projects that have come from suggestions made in consultation with pupils across the school.

The theme for the Eco Committee this year will be ‘trees’. Vitally important in contributing to a healthy equilibrium in the Earth’s atmosphere, we are extremely fortunate to have such a variety of trees on our beautiful campus. From the magnificent beech tree that also features on our new website, to the giant redwoods that match those in the University Botanical Gardens, we appreciate them in many different ways. From Forest School in Pre Prep, to provision of shade or shelter depending on the weather, and the spectacular sight of the changing colours in autumn, we enjoy the trees all year round. We look forward to learning more about the importance of these natural giants of nature as the year progresses.

This is also an appropriate moment to remind you that over the summer period we were awarded our ‘Green Flag’ with distinction by Eco-schools. Some of the wide-ranging initiatives which contributed to this award were the plastic-free snacks promotion, reducing food waste, the community litter-pick and the creation of a vegetable and herb garden. We really look forward to supporting the work of the Eco Committee and School Council this year.

Pre Prep School Council

Continuing the theme of School Council, the newly appointed Pre Prep School Council met for the first time this week. Their inaugural meeting helped them to understand their roles and develop their active listening skills. The children were presented with their special badges and they are now looking forward to working with their friends across Pre Prep to decide what their first project will be.

This School Council acts as a voice for all the pupils in the Pre Prep School and there will soon be a Council notice board located in Southfield where parents will also be able to see all the latest information.

Year 1 Dentist Visit

Continuing with the Pre Prep theme, Year 1 were lucky enough to be visited by a Year 1 parent and dentist, Dr Chokshi. She spoke to the pupils about the importance of visiting the dentist twice a year and brushing teeth for 2 minutes twice a day. They all received a goodie bag and then practised cleaning teeth in class.

Reception Play Session

On Wednesday, we held one of our ‘assessment play sessions’ for children who hope to join St Faith’s in September 2025. The sessions are relaxed and mirror a play session in a nursery setting, enabling us to ensure that St Faith’s is the right school for each child. The Early Years team spend a very enjoyable hour with the children, whist parents remain onsite for refreshments.

Pop-in & Play

A new initiative this year for prospective families who are interested in joining us for Reception 2025, are the ‘Pop-in & Play’ events. As the name suggests, they offer a relaxed play session where parents stay with their children, but they also have a chance to chat to the teachers and see the lovely Pre Prep facilities at Southfield.

If you have friends or colleagues who could be interested in what a St Faith’s education has to offer in the Early Years, do please pass on the dates. These sessions are taking place on 17^th October and 14^th November (both Thursdays) 09:00-10:00 and places can be reserved at Reception – St Faith’s Cambridge (stfaiths.co.uk).

In the Classrooms

Our Year 2 pupils have been developing their skills in Maths, whist Year 4 have been practising their comprehension and learning about inference in English. Our Year 7 Latin students have been learning about etymology, including the origins of words and the ways in which the meanings of words can change with time. Our youngest St Faith’s pupils have begun their phonics journey, and when I joined them this week they were working on the “S” sounds. Elsewhere in Year 3, pupils have been exploring ancient Egypt in their Humanities lessons, whilst our Year 5 engineers have been working on tangram mathematical puzzles this week.

Year 7 English

Year 7 pupils are investigating poetic devices used in poetry. One class explored Pie Corbett’s poem, ’City Jungle’. Using this poem as a springboard, they wrote their own poems about wonderful attractions in Cambridge. I hope you enjoy this selection.

Poems

Rugby School Poetry Prize Workshop

Three St Faith’s pupils had a fantastic visit to Rugby School last week to celebrate their success in the Rugby School Poetry Prize, winning second place and highly commended awards. Here they are standing by a statue of Thomas Hughes, whose Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857) sets the template for the school story tradition. They enjoyed a poetry workshop run by Rugby’s Head of English, a delicious lunch and a treasure hunt in Rugby School’s library, the Temple Reading Room. Congratulations again to our prize winners.

Year 7 Poetry Recital

Continuing with the poetry theme, I look forward to joining the Year 7 poetry recital after school today. The pupils have been practising very diligently at school (and at home too, I imagine) for the event. It is an impressive feat to stand up in front of one’s peers to recite a favourite piece of poetry, and I am confident that all the pupils taking part will do very well. Good luck Year 7!

Year 8 Creative Arts Theatre Technical Taster

One of our Year 8 pupils writes,
“This week, we went to The Leys Great Hall Theatre to figure out how to ‘work backstage’. We learnt to rig lights high in the ceiling of the theatre and became a sound engineer for the day. To rig the lights, we went up into the roof, went on to a tension wire grid above the auditorium and focused the lights to face the stage. To be a sound engineer, we figured out how to set up the microphone and change the pitch, altering bass and treble with the sound board. It was incredibly fun to see the work that goes into backstage at a real theatre and that being an actor is not the only path you can go down in the Creative Arts.”

SFPA Coffee Morning

The final SPFA coffee morning for this term took place for Year 5 and 6 parents on Tuesday. Although the weather forced us to retreat into the dining hall, it was nevertheless a very convivial event. As well as sharing news about the forthcoming SFPA and school events, we heard from Mrs Parker about our school’s important Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) programme. I was also able to share with parents an overview about how the curriculum broadens out even further from Year 5. This includes introducing Latin in Year 5 and French in Year 6, in addition to the ongoing teaching of Spanish. As part of our Tailored Education provision, Year 5 is also the point at which we introduce academic setting, and our pupils are taught by specialist teachers for each subject. The ever-popular Science sleepover is also a highlight of Year 5 – scheduled to take place on Thursday 24^th October, just ahead of our half term break. In addition, this academic year, Year 5 parents can look forward to dramatic performances of David Walliams’ stories for children, whilst preparations are already underway for a exciting Year 6 production of Shrek. There is also an expansion of our school sports fixture programme in sport and further opportunities for musical concert performances.

Year 6 PSHCE

In Year 6 PSHCE this week, the topic was ‘what is it to trust and be trustworthy’. The pupils came up with their definitions of what the words trust and trustworthy mean and compared them to the dictionary definition – which was remarkably close to theirs.

To demonstrate what it means to trust and be trustworthy, the pupils went outside and stood in a circle. Instructions were for each person to hold two different people’s hand. This caused a big knot that the pupils then had to undo without letting go of either person’s hand. Year 6 worked collaboratively and learned important lessons regarding teamwork and trusting each person to do their part – as you will see from the pictures.

And Finally….

We are keeping a keen eye on the weather forecast in the hope that it will be blue skies over Cambridge on Saturday for the SFPA Scavenger Hunt. This is when our Foundation children and new joiners in Years 1 and 2, having spent their first few weeks familiarising themselves with their school, now have the chance to show their families around the campus, whilst picking up some clues along the way. Happy hunting to everyone!

With all best wishes,

Crispin Hyde-Dunn