Enrichment Week

Enrichment Week, the penultimate week of the academic year is one of the most highly anticipated in our calendar. Many of our pupils in Years 6, 7 and 8 have embarked on respective residential trips to Kinver (Staffordshire), Salamanca (Spain) and Rome and Naples in Italy. Meanwhile, all those pupils who have remained at school have also enjoyed a wide range of activities.

Enrichment Week is in fact the culmination of a series of extracurricular days that are offered throughout the school year. This includes our Academic Extension or AcE days, taking place in the Michaelmas and Lent terms, which offer pupils opportunities to develop and extend their understanding across a range of concepts within and beyond the set curriculum. As well as being able to visit places of national interest, trips closer to home also help the children to connect with our local area.

Years 3 and 4

On Monday, Year 3 visited Flag Fen, a Bronze Age Archaeology Park close to Peterborough, whilst and Year 4 went to Mountfitchet Castle, a reconstructed medieval castle and Norman settlement in Stansted.

On Tuesday, pupils came to school in fantastically imaginative costumes, to immerse themselves in Roald Dahl and Harry Potter days, with all sorts of spells being cast around the school!

On Wednesday there was awe and admiration when parents came to visit an exhibition of the amazing models which Year 3 & 4 pupils had created during the day using only Kapla planks with which to build. The planks are stacked without glue or clips and the children were encouraged to explore and challenge their limits, while also developing their creativity, ingenuity, logic and perseverance.

Year 3 then went on a local area walk on Thursday to hone their mapping skills, whilst Year 4 enjoyed a fascinating visit to Little St Mary’s Church in Cambridge.

Year 5

Turning to Year 5, in the Creative Arts, the Year group were encouraged to think about the interconnectivity of subjects with art and animation activities, the latter approached through the perspective of Engineering. Following this, on Tuesday, Year 5 were treated to a Musical Theatre experience day. This involved a musical theatre treasure hunt followed by musical theatre bingo. There were then acting and dancing workshops from West End professionals centred around the musicals ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Wiz’. On a similar theme, in the afternoon, Hobgoblin Theatre Company came to St Faith’s to perform ‘The Wizard of Oz’. The show was very dynamic, hilarious and fast paced. The pupils were captivated and after the production, they were treated to a short workshop which delved deeper into some of the key characters. Pupils were even awarded mini-Oscars for standout performances throughout the day.

On Thursday morning, Year 5 met with several of our current and former parents who came to talk to them about the jobs they do, and why they enjoy them. The children asked very interesting and insightful questions during this ‘Fantastic Futures’ event, such as ‘Is engineering dangerous?’, ‘What skills do you need to be an architect?’ and ‘How long did it take you to build your hovercraft?’.

The pupils always enjoy hearing about careers from members of our community, and during the Michaelmas term 2024, there will be a special careers event for Year 8 pupils. We would very much like to hear from parents who want to come and talk to the children about what they do. If you are interested, please do email Mrs Parker in the first instance, aparker@stfaiths.co.uk.

Fantastic Futures was followed later in the day by PowerHouse Games, when pupils in Years 5-8 took part in inclusive sports activities. The vision of the PowerHouse Games organisation is ‘a society where everyone can enjoy inclusive sport together’ and the pupils thoroughly enjoyed this valuable experience.

Years 6 – 8

Turning to the pupils in Years 6 to 8 who remained at school, Monday saw a trip to the Leys to participate in a wide variety of Games activities. In fact, sports activities were also interwoven throughout the week and these included golf, acrobatics, swimming, orienteering, as well as the PowerHouse Games. On Tuesday, the focus was to think about how we can support people around us in our local community. In the morning the children went shopping in a local supermarket – they had a budget and a shopping list and had to check prices carefully to make sure that they were getting the best value for money. Their carefully selected purchases were then donated to local charities: Cambridge City Foodbank, The Salvation Army and Listening Lantern Mental Health Training. Our donation will directly help to stock a food hub in the village of Girton. This is a no-questions-asked community resource to help people who are struggling to be able to afford the essentials to feed themselves and their families. Juliet Adloune, who runs the Listening Lantern food thanked our pupils for their generous donations and she explained the positive difference to the lives of others these provisions will make.

Situated beside the River Lee, the trip to Rye Meads Nature Reserve on Wednesday supported both the Science and Geography curricula. Rye Meads is a wetland reserve that is home to Common Terns, Kingfishers, Water Voles and so much more.

The whole week culminated in the Joint Houses Outreach Day today. In the morning some of the children were engaged in litter picking on the school site and around the local roads. The children also made cards for our visitors from Age UK and the Royal Albert Homes, which they distributed to our guests at the Junior Concert which took place in the afternoon. Pupil-painted flowerpots containing geraniums, were delivered in the afternoon to the Cambridge Cancer Help Centre and the Arthur Rank Hospice. Following the Junior Concert, the children then enjoyed some games and well-deserved ice creams on the school field.

Foundation Wild Place Drop-in and Picnic

This week in Foundation there was excitement to welcome some of our grown-ups to join the children for a typical ‘Wild Place’ session. The session began by explaining to the parents the children’s agreement of how to use the space respectfully and stay safe using the equipment. Then the children spent time enjoying mud kitchen, hammocks, rope bridge, fairy houses, scavenger hunts, making ‘Forest Friends’ and taking a photo by ‘Papa Pine’. The session was rounded off with a story and a delicious picnic in Tom’s Garden. Everyone was very thankful for the sunshine this week which really enhanced the enjoyment of being in the school’s designated Wild Place.

Year 1 Trip to Hedingham Castle

On Wednesday, Year 1 visited Hedingham Castle as a fantastic way to end our topic on Castles. Hedingham Castle is one of the best-preserved Norman keeps in England. The children took part in many different activities finding out about life in medieval times. The highlight was listening to medieval instruments as well as finding out to how attack the castle – but watch out for boiling water! The children all agreed it was the best day ever. Many thanks to the parents who kindly came to help.

Hindi Club

This week, as part of the Pre Prep Hindi club, we were visited by a grandparent who is a native Hindi and Gujrati speaker. The children impressed the speaker with some phrases they had learnt this year as well as being taught some new ones. The children also listened to traditional Hindi stories (Jataka Tales) and talked about famous festivals of India, Indian dresses, and jewellery adorned by people of India during weddings and special occasions. This enriching experience not only broadened the children’s cultural horizons but also sparked a newfound appreciation for the diversity and beauty of Indian heritage.

Junior Concert

This afternoon the Junior Concert took place in Ashburton Hall and it was a huge pleasure to welcome so many parents and younger pupils, as well as our guests from Age UK and Royal Albert Homes. We were delighted by the breadth of repertoire on display from the Junior Brass, Junior Strings, Junior Voices and Recorder Ensembles, as well as the beautiful singing from Years 3, 4 and 5.

Rugby School Poetry Competition

Our Year 5 pupils have earned great success this year in the Rugby School Poetry Competition. One of our pupils achieved second place and was awarded a beautiful poetry book. A further three pupils achieved highly commended, and all four winners will attend a poetry workshop at Rugby School next term. Congratulations to all of them on such a fantastic achievement.

Year 7 and 8 Religious Studies

Year 7 and 8 have covered a range of topics and faiths in Religious Studies this year. An engaged Year 7 class made the most of their ‘grill a vicar’ lesson, politely asking questions which included ‘why did you become a vicar?’ and ‘why do you believe what the Bible says?’. In their study of Hinduism, the pupils made ‘Top Trumps’ style cards to help to learn about the variety and roles of different gods and goddesses. One Year 7 pupil shared photos of her family’s shrine and talked through how her family carries out worship. A Year 8 pupil gave a memorable presentation on Islam and, shared her experiences of travelling in the Middle East. Year 8 then completed their overview of the six major faiths by creating and playing board games based on the life of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

Y8 Charity Challenge

Once again, our Year 8 pupils have risen to the challenge of running their own small business to raise money for charity. They received a £5 loan from school and were able to trade for 6 weeks before returning their loans and all profits to school. Their collective efforts have raised an absolutely staggering £4843.07 that will be split between our 2 chosen charities, Meseret for Women and Power2Inspire. Congratulations to all the pupils who took part and thank you to the parents, family members and friends who encouraged and supported them in this endeavour.

An Alternative Mode of Transport!

On Thursday morning, one of our local pupils arrived at school in a very unusual vehicle. For those of you with memories of the 1980s, you may recognise from the photograph, the Sinclair C5. In some ways Sir Clive Sinclair’s C5, a one-person battery electric recumbent tricycle, was ahead of its time and its distinctive wedge shape offers a vision of sharp-lined futurism. Parked in the Hub appropriately alongside our current Green Goblins, the C5 certainly generated plenty of interest in the school and for some, brought back some fond memories of 1985!

Olympic Assembly

On Friday, in preparation for the Paris Olympics this summer, Mr and Mrs Thompson led an Olympic themed assembly. Their talk included memorable Olympic moments over the years and information about their experiences inside the Olympic Village. Mr and Mrs Thompson competed for Great Britain at hockey in the 1996 and 2008 Olympics, respectively. Some pupils had the opportunity to parade the official kit from those years as part of an Olympic catwalk!

Swimming at St Faith’s

Gala v Culford and Ipswich
Many congratulations to all our swimmers as they secured their final victory of the year over Culford and Ipswich High School, by 2 points! The Year 6 team were particularly dominant in their races, winning both relay races and many individual events. This was a special occasion for Year 4 as they took part in their first gala for St Faith’s. We have not had a mixed medley relay team compete at U9 level before, so a brand-new school record was created by the four swimmers in lane 2. A further new school record was set in the boys U11 25m butterfly, a record that has been broken three times this year (by the same chap!) Well done everyone, this gala was a lovely way to round off another year of brilliant competitive swimming.

Results:

U9 – U11 Gala v Culford and IHS
1st St Faith’s: 268
2nd IHS: 266
3rd Culford: 219

House Swimming
Year 7 and 8 took part in their annual House Swimming Gala on the Friday before Enrichment Week. It is always a lovely occasion, and this year did not disappoint. The House canon relay started the gala off, and we saw the lead shift between all four teams at some stage! There was some wonderfully friendly rivalry between all four Houses and Newton were the convincing winners in the end, with Latham, Bentley and Chaucer following close behind respectively. In the final race of the day, the U13 50m freestyle, we saw all four swimmers (who have been competing for St Faith’s since at least Year 5) finish the race in under 35 seconds – it was a super finale to the whole event.

We also had our first ever House Swimming Gala for Year 4 on Thursday afternoon and it was a welcome break for the children from the heat! They also entered into the spirit of a House Competition and it was a truly enjoyable afternoon of competitive swimming. The final result in Year 4 was first Latham, followed by Newton, Bentley and Chaucer.

‘Meet the Class’ Foundation 2024

The new Foundation children for September 2024 came into Southfield today to ‘Meet the Class’. Whilst the children were in the Foundation classrooms, their parents enjoyed refreshments in Tom’s Garden, where there was an opportunity to meet members of the catering and medical centre teams, the SFPA and of course, to chat to one other.

Although the children have already visited Pre Prep on previous occasions, today was the first time that they had met everyone in their new class, as well as meeting their form teachers for September. We are excited to see the next generation of St Faith’s pupils so eager to join us.

At the other end of the school, our Year 8 pupils and their parents are preparing for their final week at St Faith’s. For some pupils and parents, association with St Faith’s stretches back to the Foundation classes nine years ago, and even earlier for those with older siblings. Over the coming days there will be many celebrations and special occasions to savour. The Summer term will culminate in our Prize Giving event next Friday 5th July.

St Faith’s Parents’ Association Summer Party

The long-awaited parent social highlight of the year, the SFPA summer party, has finally arrived and will take place tomorrow evening, in the fine setting of King’s College. With a favourable weather forecast, it promises to be a truly memorable event.

So, while this will be the final weekly newsletter of the academic year 2023-24, over the next few days, starting with the SFPA Summer Party tomorrow evening, I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in the coming days.

With all best wishes,