Class Assemblies
In their class assemblies on Monday, children in Years 3-8 watched a presentation about the Easter trip to our partner school in South Africa, Makukhanye School. The pupils listened attentively and really enjoyed hearing about this memorable experience. In the presentation, staff also shared photos from the many sports and music activities in which the children had taken part, as well as the exciting leisure activities which were an integral part of the trip. For a more detailed report of the trip, please see the newsletter of the 19th of April. The families of those children who went on the trip will have the opportunity to see an exhibition of photos of the trip in the dining room after school this afternoon.
The highly valued partnership between St Faith’s and Makukhanye School was forged almost 20 years ago by former St Faith’s parent Anel Viljoen. We are also very grateful for the support of Mr Wessel Vosloo, The Chairman of the St Faith’s Trust, who together with the Dutch Reform Church, support the school community in so many ways. During the time of the relationship between our two schools, The Daily Food Programme has been able to serve vital meals to a growing number of pupils at Makukhanye School, as well as the provision of essential care at weekends and holidays for the many families who need this support. With the expansion in pupil numbers has come a requirement for improved facilities on the school site. These have included the building of the Sally Jones School Hall, the paving of the school courtyard, a new teaching classroom and sports court area. On this trip, representatives from St Faith’s had the pleasure of being able to open the new Medical Centre, as well as delivering vital equipment to furnish it. In addition, staff and children from St Faith’s donated various items, including 22 laptops and clothing for the pupils at Makukhanye.
Year 8 Buddy Sessions
Following class assemblies, the Year 8 children headed straight out onto the back field to begin their buddy sessions with the Years 3-6. Keen to demonstrate some of the games played in the playground at Makukhanye, there were lots of ‘circle’ activities taking place, with enthusiastic participation from children across all Year groups.
Foundation Local Area Walk
Our youngest pupils in Foundation enjoyed a delightful local walk on Thursday morning, using all their senses to recognise the arrival of the new season. Their route took them along Trumpington Road, before heading along Vicar’s Brook to take in the sights, sounds and smells of spring. A robin was heard singing to his bird friends, and sticklebacks were spotted swimming fast in the Brook. Muddy puddles were traversed with care and amongst the spring flowers spotted, colourful tulips, bluebells and forget-me-nots were all seen in abundance. The children also used their recent learning about ‘teen’ numbers to read house numbers and do some mental arithmetic (30 is 3 lots of 10!). They also counted cats basking in the sunshine and dogs walking. The pupils were back to school in time for a well–deserved morning snack after a lovely time in the fresh air! Many thanks to our team of parent helpers who also donned their wellies to join us.
FAH Class Assembly
FAH invited our friends from Pre Prep and grown ups from home to join us on the ‘FAH express’. We travelled through Michaelmas and Lent terms sharing our favourite poems, counting songs and stories. We met the Jellphant, Choctopus, Spagyeti, Meringutan and Alligrator from our favourite book ‘Don’t Put Your Finger in the Jelly Nelly’ and reflected on just how much we have learned since starting school, not least in being confident to speak about our learning from a stage. Next stop on the FAH Express Summer term!
Year 2 Visit Sedgwick Museum
Year 2 embarked on an exciting expedition to The Sedgwick Museum this week, enriching their understanding of dinosaurs. Bursting with curiosity, the children enthusiastically displayed their wealth of knowledge while exploring and examining the range of exhibits. They thoroughly enjoyed their hunt for fossils throughout the session. A real highlight was handling an authentic dinosaur tooth dating back a staggering 129 million years! Identifying the tooth from its size and shape as belonging to an herbivore, the children were thrilled to learn it came from an Iguanodon. Another memorable moment was handling a replica of a T-rex tooth, understanding that an original fossil, at 66 million years old, would have been too delicate (and sharp) to touch. It was a very inspiring visit for all!
In the Classrooms
Year 7 are diligently preparing for their forthcoming exam week and working very hard as they get ready to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum, whilst also developing the skills of working under timed conditions. We wish them the very best in their assessments. In their English lessons, Year 7 have been working on descriptive writing. The example below was inspired by an image of Leicester Square.
In the Pre Prep this week, Year 1 were learning about “quartering” numbers in maths, and I also joined a Year 1 Spanish lesson, where the children were learning (and singing about) farmyard animals. Meanwhile Year 4 were expanding their Spanish vocabulary of household words describing various detailed features of buildings. I visited Year 3 as they were learning all about soil in Science, whilst Year 8 were very keen to demonstrate how they have been using HTML to produce their own website pages this week. Year 8 are also learning to track fluctuations in share prices in Maths. Meanwhile the new inter-house initiative of “Book Bingo” in the Library is proving to be extremely popular across all houses, and the competition is encouraging a wide range of reading across a variety of genres.
Playground Committee Treasure Hunt
Our pupil led Playground Committee for Years 3 and 4 have been thinking about imaginative ways in which playground activities can be further enhanced. The Committee would like to invite pupils in Years 3 and 4 to participate in a treasure hunt on Tuesday 7th May. The cost of taking part will be £1 and the Playground Committee, with help from teachers, will use these funds to choose and purchase some additional playground equipment. The treasure hunt, (which will not be race!) will take place during break and from 12:45pm. Children can arrange for entry via their tutor and they must hand in the completed entry forms by the end of the day on Tuesday 7th May. In the case of bad weather, the event will be postponed.
SFPA Coffee Morning
On Tuesday, Year 5 & 6 families were able to enjoy their coffee and pastries ‘al fresco’ at last, as the improved weather allowed us to be outside in Tom’s Garden. Members of the SFPA committee shared news about some of the exciting events that are coming up this term, most notably the SFPA International Day, scheduled to take place on Friday, 24th May.
On the evening of the final Saturday of the summer term, June 29th, the SFPA summer party will be in full swing. This year the festivities will make a welcome return to King’s College (the last time the summer party was held there was in 2015). This always proves to be a highlight of the social calendar and I look forward to seeing you there.
Mixed Cricket report
Last week the U11 A-Team recorded their first victory in their opening fixture this season with a closely contested game v Culford Boys’ A Team. St Faith’s boys and girls in Year 6 are playing cricket together this term, with team selection based solely on ability. It was a real pleasure to observe the boys and girls mixing in fixtures, supporting one other, and all bringing their collective strengths together for a common goal. We look forward to the remainder of the term, to witness the positive impact this can have, with all of our pupils playing cricket in Year 6.
St Faith’s Athletics Meeting for U10 – U14
Yesterday, St Faith’s athletes were out in force to mark the official beginning of the athletics season. The children were raring to go in their first meeting of the season and spirits were high. We welcomed teams, and their families, from six local schools to this annual event, namely, Perse Prep, The Perse, St Mary’s, St John’s, Stephen Perse and King’s. Traditionally this is a track only event, offering opportunities for schools to try out their hurdlers, sprinters, middle distance runners and relay teams. Our pupils produced some excellent performances and their focus and hard work prevailed as the St Faith’s A team won the tournament overall. Well done to everyone who took part and clearly demonstrated how to be ‘their best selves’. The results can be found in the sidebar of this newsletter.
Continuing with the sporting theme, at the time of writing, St Faith’s pupils are involved in the IAPS Golf Tournament, while earlier in the week our U11 table tennis team performed very well in the IAPS National Finals at Edge Grove School. Well done to all of those representing our school.
And Finally….
Whatever your plans are for this Bank Holiday weekend, I hope that the weather remains warm and sunny and that you and your families have a very relaxing time. I look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday.
With all best wishes,
Dr Crispin Hyde-Dunn
