Highlights 2018

HIGHLIGHTS 2018

New Nursery in Nanjing, China The school has embarked on an exciting project with a Chinese partner to open a nursery school (ages 3 – 6) in Nanjing, China. This has been 18 months in the planning and with the blessing of the St John’s College Council and the school’s Governing Body, we launched this new school in May and it will open in November 2018. There is a high demand for nurseries in China since the abolition of the ‘one child only’ law. The Chinese are looking for the very best in nursery education and are very open to the more holistic approach to education we have in this country and particularly in the pre-prep education at St John’s. St John’s College School, Nanjing, will be founded on our ethos, with the Emotions for Learning curriculum at its core. There will be an emphasis on an holistic and playful approach to education.

From the outset we have seen the potential of the project to create cross-cultural links for the children here in the UK and in China. It will contribute to our outreach programme which aims to share our philosophy with others and which we believe gives children such a good start to their educational journey. The income generated will go towards financing bursary support for children in the UK and will also help to fund the extension of our outreach programme in this country.

We hope that our partnership with China will have a positive impact on our children and give them a link to another culture where both sides can learn from each other. We have already seen the benefits of this with the school we are supporting in Ghana. We want our children to be outward looking and prepare them for the interconnected global environment in which they live; this can only be beneficial to all of us in the future.

Architect’s impression of the new St John’s College School, Nanjing Front Cover: Senior House Informal Lunchtime Concert Back Cover: Artwork by Yee Yee Ma (Form 6)

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Highlights 2018

Sustainability & Outreach 2

Philosophy

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Flexible Learning

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Mindset for Learning

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Mindfulness & Tai Chi

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Mindfulness Outreach

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Humanities

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Pupil Forum

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DEL & Computing

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STEM

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Child-led Learning

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Poetry

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Book Week

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Charities & Community

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Parents’ Association

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Forest Garden & Library 28

Clubs & Wonder Afternoons 30

Art

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Design Technology

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Music

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College Choir

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Latin Play

Drama

Sport

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© St John’s College School 2018

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63-75 Grange Road, Cambridge CB3 9AB

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www.sjcs.co.uk

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admissions@sjcs.co.uk

Sustainability At St John’s we aim to foster the aptitudes and nurture the growth of each child so that they can become their best selves.

To be one’s best self involves being compassionate and aware of the world so that one has the skills, ability and courage to re-envision the world and take action to right what is wrong. We want to encourage our children to find their ‘voice’ and to understand that they can make a difference. This is the aim of our sustainability development, which is a long-term development over the next five years and beyond. ‘Sustainability’ is used in its ‘integralist’ sense to include environmental issues as well as humanitarian concerns (social awareness) – care for the world and for each other.

Over the last year, in addition to our ongoing support for the work the Humanitas charity does in Ghana and raising environmental awareness amongst the children through the Recycling/Upcycling club, the outreach element of our sustainability programme has been launched including pupil-led activities such as Compassionate Action in the local community, sharing our Emotions for Learning and Mindfulness programmes with local schools, as well as our staff sharing their expertise in Drama and Art. You can read more about these in the pages that follow.

Compassionate Action Outreach One of our outreach projects for this year has been the Form 6 “Compassionate Action”. We have been teaching compassion in Form 3 for a number of years and the very definition of compassion, understood as the wish to relieve others’ suffering, led us naturally to the development of a plan for Form 6 children to take part in some action to improve an aspect of their local area. As one child said “Compassion is helping people and understanding their situations so later in life you can identify with these situations yourself”. Another child said “Compassion is the act of helping other people, being kind and being a generally good person”.

After some initial planning sessions and discussions around what Compassionate Action might look like, four groups of children formed. One group opted to paint a gazebo at a local school, another group decided to teach some Design Technology lessons to a group of Year 2 children at a local school and 2 groups went to visit some senior citizens at their local care homes. Some of these children helped to refresh a garden area whilst others performed music, poetry and spent time chatting and getting to know the residents.

Form 6 painting a gazebo at Linton Infants School

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During and following the project the children evaluated their activities and made video diaries to record their learning. One child who visited a care home said “We used to make jokes about stuff like this but when you get to know what life is really like for someone else it opens your mind”. Another child said “Practising Compassionate Action has made me more compassionate”. All of the children felt that they had learned a great deal from this project and they all recommended that it should be repeated next year.

“Compassion is helping people and understanding their situations so later in life you can identify with these situations yourself.”

“We used to make jokes about stuff like this but when you get to know what life is really like for someone else it opens your mind.”

Recycling A recycling and upcycling club has started this year. The members of the club have been instrumental in raising environmental awareness across the school, introducing differentiated rubbish collection to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, reducing food waste, introducing a battery collection site, spearheading a ‘Switch Off’ campaign to reduce energy wastage and starting the conversation about reducing our dependence on single-use plastics.

Form 6 gardening at a local residential care home

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Emotions for Learning Outreach Emotions for Learning (E4L) is a curriculum and an approach to learning and relating at school that has been developed uniquely at St John’s. We have created an entire social and emotional curriculum for our youngest children; based on research and evidence about how children’s minds and brains develop. It is designed to encourage children to express their opinions and feelings and give them the knowledge, skills and understanding they will need to be able to think creatively and problem solve effectively in all areas of their lives.

Another strand of our outreach programme, as part of our sustainability initiative, has been to share our Emotions for Learning curriculum with other schools, starting this year with Linton Infants School, a two form entry school in the heart of Linton village in South Cambridgeshire. The project has consisted of six training workshops on the most important aspects of E4L, for example ‘Active Listening’, ‘Dialogue’ and ‘Stilling’. Weekly visits to the school to lead Reflective Practice meetings, complete lesson observations and model best practice are supporting the embedding of the ethos and values of the Emotions for Learning way of being.

One Linton Infants teacher said “Stilling is a lovely calm end to the day. If we have had a hectic or fizzy session to see those children relaxed and calm is lovely.” The children themselves are noticing the benefits. A child who had been taught E4L practices such as ‘Turtle’, a three step approach to self-calming, was asked what to do with an angry feeling: “Well normally you can use the 3 steps and Turtle, breathe, say the feeling and say the problem. Then I feel a little bit better.”

“I wanted staff to have an understanding of the “You can use the 3 steps and ‘Turtle’, breathe, say importance of their role as an attachment figure the feeling and say the problem. Then I feel a little at this critical period in children’s development”. bit better.”

Mrs Kelly Harries, Headteacher, Linton Infants School 4

Linton Infants School pupil, aged 4

E4L Massage Course for Parents A five week massage course was open to parents with Pre-Prep children and was the perfect opportunity for parents and their children to enjoy some quiet time together. Parents had the chance to learn the Action Story massage strokes that are taught at school in E4L. Some of the benefits we have seen of massage at school include calmer, more empathetic children who are able to build up their reserves of physical and emotional well-being through touching and being touched kindly and gently. The course gave parents some ideas on how to bring a little bit of calm and nurturing touch into their daily lives with their children and also gave them some insight into how we teach peer to peer massage to the children.

“It was a great opportunity to learn the techniques which my children had already being using. The massage is really helpful in calming the children before or in between studying time and we find the techniques useful at bed time as well.�

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Supporting a School in Ayensuako, Ghana with Humanitas Charity This year, St John’s has continued its collaboration with Humanitas and the school that was built in Ayensuako, Ghana, funded with money raised through our charity initiatives, including the ‘Grow a Pound’ campaign. Since opening the school, over 170 children are now receiving a formal education in an area where there used to be no schooling available.

The money we have raised this year has gone towards funding not only materials and equipment, but also two teachers’ salaries.

This page and opposite: Ayensuako School in Ghana

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St John’s pupils have sent ‘Hands of Friendship’ to the children of Ayensuako and have received messages from the children in Ghana in return, detailing what their hopes and dreams are now that they are at school: “I want to be a doctor and help my community”; “I want to be a teacher”; “I am going to train as an engineer”. Through this our pupils realised that these Ghanian children are the same as them and strive for the same goals. ‘I feel proud that I have helped to change someone’s life, not just by giving them money, but by giving them an opportunity’, commented one of the children.

“I feel proud that I have helped to change someone’s life, not just by giving them money, but by giving them an opportunity.”

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Drama Outreach Another strand of our Outreach programme has been offering the sharing of our Drama expertise in other schools, giving children the opportunity to participate in the Shakespeare Schools Festival with their own production.

Head of Drama, Mr Clarke, worked with 16 Year 6 children at Gislingham Primary School in Suffolk, culminating in a 30 minute abridged version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. His next outreach project will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“Throughout this process, the Gislingham children have become aware of the incredible possibilities of Drama and that performing a play is about being playful. They have also been empowered from using their own creative ideas as part of the process. This is a journey every child went on, on different levels, and they loved it and have become more confident and aware of themselves as a result.”

Both photos courtesy of Sally Johnston

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Philosophy Philosophy continues to be an important part of the St John’s curriculum for children aged eight onwards. We aim to teach the children to think philosophically by practising building logical arguments and counterarguments, linking ideas, questioning, thinking from different points of view, explaining your own viewpoint and discussing hypothetical situations. These skills are taught and practised in the context of a range of both topical and classical philosophical contexts from all the different branches of philosophy including aesthetics, logic, ethics, metaphysics and epistemology. Different stimuli are used to provoke discussion, such as films, newspaper articles, classical texts and paintings. Some of the topics covered in Form 5 and 6 this year are listed below. Children in Form 2 again benefited from a dedicated Philosophy Day, with a visiting speaker and a wide variety of activities and discussions.

Above: Optical Illusions during Form 2 Philosophy Day

“I enjoyed the brain stretchers, riddles, optical illusions and the philosophical questions on our Philosophy Day. They made your brain think in different ways.”

What is reality? How can we know what is real?

What is consciousness?

How are humans different from robots?

Is consumerism bad or good?

Can logic ever not make sense?

“I enjoyed our Philosophy lessons on logic. We considered statements and thought about if they were true or false and how we came to these conclusions. Is there a difference between truth that we can conclude ourselves and truth that relies on wisdom from others?”

“We thought about the question of existence and whether the concept of ‘nothing’ really exists.”

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Flexible Learning Research has shown that children’s attainment is improved where they are able to use meta-cognition to understand the process of their learning. With this in mind, the ‘Mindset for Learning’ development has sought to give children a vocabulary of meta-cognition with which to understand, talk about and improve their learning. One of the 12 key dispositions within Mindset for Learning is flexibility – the ability to change your mind, to try out and evaluate different solutions to a problem, to be willing to adapt and change a plan, to seek out ways to improve work and to be willing to learn from others. It is a skill that is increasingly important in a fast changing world. Teaching children to think flexibly is developed through direct teaching, through feedback and through reflecting on ways of improving learning. It is also being developed through the ‘My Mind’ curriculum, Mindfulness and Digitally Enhanced Learning which are profiled in the following pages.

‘My Mind’ Curriculum The aim of the ‘My Mind’ curriculum in Forms 2-6 is to teach the children the skills to think flexibly and adapt as the circumstances around them change. ‘My Mind’ consists of lessons in philosophy, study skills, mindfulness (including Tai Chi), critical thinking and PSHEE (Personal, Social, Emotional, Economic and Health Education).

Through different curriculum areas, the themes and objectives of each of these subjects are interwoven and include: understanding that you can change the way you think; meta-cognition, or thinking about thinking, supports creativity; training your mind and body can help you learn better; focus and attention are key to learning and to happiness; learning skills in attention, speaking, listening and argument can help us to learn better together and think more creatively through collaboration.

Across the different strands there is a combination of theory about the mind and self with practical ideas for implementing this theoretical knowledge. Whilst the ‘My Mind’ curriculum does prepare children for exam success, its scope is far wider and aims to help children understand themselves, their learning and their relationships in such a way as to be better able to manage themselves in the future.

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Mindset for Learning Last year we trialled the use of positive learning behaviours (learning dispositions), in one of the classes in Byron House, with a view to helping children develop the characteristics necessary to help them become effective learners in our ever changing and complex world. After a process of evaluation and discussion, twelve characteristics that underpin effective learning were identified and the resulting ‘Mindset for Learning’ programme has been introduced across the school.

In Byron House, these twelve mindsets are each linked to a particular animal that displays that disposition, such as a ‘Focusing Frog’ or ‘Curious Dolphin’, in order to provide an extra visual hook to support the children’s understanding.

The language of the Mindsets is now to be heard in every classroom and the dispositions are incorporated into all areas of teaching and learning. Teachers may look at which dispositions should best be applied in a lesson and make this explicit or deliberately plan a lesson to develop a particular disposition. Children are encouraged to think about which characteristics are a strength and which they feel they would like to work on. This form of meta-cognition (thinking about how one learns) has been shown to be effective even with the youngest children in school who have been heard to compliment their friends, for example, on persevering at an activity. Children have become adept at describing the disposition they are displaying and this helps them to focus on the process of learning rather than the outcome. They have also been observed relating these dispositions to people in history, for example commenting on the perseverance and compassion of Florence Nightingale and have even been using them to problem solve at home.

Form 3 PSHEE ‘Mindset for Learning’ lesson

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Mindfulness

Tai Chi

Mindfulness continues to be used across the school as a way of slowing thinking down, bringing attention to the present moment and reducing stress. Practising mindfulness has been shown to help at each stage of the creative process and therefore in addition to starting lessons with a mindful moment, mindfulness activities may also be used at different points of lessons or events, such as in preparing for a drama production. We use different mindfulness exercises to help children bring attention to the present moment, including focussing mindfully on breathing (using different taught breathing exercises), the body (using a body scan), an object, a piece of music or our thoughts themselves.

In Forms 2, 3 and 4 children continue to have a sequence of Tai Chi lessons as a way of helping to focus the mind through the use of the body in reflective and intentional movement. They are taught by specialists from the company Cambridge Kung Fu. While practising Tai Chi, the focus of your awareness in the present moment is on the movement of the body. This nurtures the connection between body and mind. It is a practice that is more easily carried out by children, for whom focussing on the breath might seem an abstract concept whereas whole body movements are more engaging than the more subtle practice of being still and focussing purely on the breath.

Form 2 focusing on the ping pong challenge in Tai Chi

Mindfulness Outreach As part of our Outreach development, 3 children from Form 6 (Year 8) visited Coton Primary School to share Mindfulness practices with their Year 6 children. Our pupils planned two hour-long lessons based on their personal experience of Mindfulness through their years at St John’s. Of particular note was how much they remembered from their early years at Byron House which they were then able to weave into their lesson plans. They then collected resources and taught the 2 lessons in the Hall at Coton. They led a counting breaths practice, some finger breathing practice and a mindful eating practice, using some chocolate which was, understandably, very popular. The children leading the lessons reviewed and assessed the first one in order to improve the second, showing confidence and excellent skills at self-reflection.

One of the Coton Year 6 children said “I found finger breathing very useful and I think I might use this when I am doing a test”. Another said “when I ate the chocolate mindfully I really savoured it”.

“I found finger breathing very useful and I think I might use this when I am doing a test.”

“It was a great learning process to see how it feels to be in the teacher’s position. It was challenging in the sense that we had to act as confidently as possible so that we sounded sure of what we were saying. It helped me to realise how much we have learnt about mindfulness over the years at St John’s.”

Global Goals The focus for The World’s Largest Lesson this year was on food, sustainability and hunger, asking children to think about how their food choices impact the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to pledge to make changes. From healthy eating to reducing wastage, eliminating plastic packaging, sourcing closer to home and checking on the practices of food producers, children across the world have been rolling up their sleeves and digging into Goals 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life below Water), and 15 (Life on Land). And not forgetting a call to them to fearlessly stand up for the children who are hungry right now and need our help.

The World’s Largest Lesson challenged pupils to think about the agricultural, rural, and fishing industries that produce their food across the world. It gave pupils a real insight into the different methods of farming, which provoked interesting discussions. Pupils were shocked to learn that human rights are violated in some countries, with people forced into labour, producing food that might end up on our plates. The children recognised that more needs to be done through international work to address this alarming issue.

Passchendaele Centenary To mark the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele the children took inspiration from the statue of the unknown soldier in Paddington Station. They researched the history of the battle and were then asked to consider who the soldier might have been, writing a letter to him as if he was their father, brother, son, friend, or a stranger wanting to ask questions. The exercise made the children think about the thousands of unknown soldiers who never returned and to empathise with the families and friends of these heroes.

“The statue holds great meaning for a great number of people as many soldiers’ papers were never recovered and therefore it could not be ascertained whether or not they had died in battle. The statue is significant because he can become any lost soldier for any family.”

“We could take on the character of a close family member and write to him as a loved one would. Or we could think about the scarf he was wearing, for example, who made it for him, why?”

Etching by Nella Porritt

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Humanities Competition 9 St John’s children took part in the Stowe School Humanities Competition coming 3rd out of 20 teams who competed for the Winton Cup. They faced questions such as, ‘Is scientific truth more important than religious truth?’, ‘How did propaganda work?’ and ‘Is Global Warming Fake News?’.

Townsend-Warner History Prize The Townsend-Warner History Prize, now in its 133rd year, is a national competition in which nearly 1000 pupils participated. The top 250 are invited to complete a second paper and of these, Max Hitchin (Form 6) came joint 38th.

Pupil Forum Listening to children and looking at the world through their eyes is at the heart of the St John’s ethos. The Pupil Forum has been developed as a vehicle for both listening to children as well as developing leadership skills and a sense of agency in their school. Representatives from each year group meet every week to discuss and plan ways of improving the school.

From September, girls at St John’s will have the option of wearing trousers at school and will have pockets in their skirts. These uniform suggestions were raised and discussed by the Senior House Pupil Forum last year, coming into effect next year. The children are learning by experience that changes are more time consuming to plan and carry out than they had initially realised. Next year will also see some new resources for the piazza at playtime, a climbing wall at Byron House and a talent show at Senior House, all planned in detail by the Pupil Forum.

Other ideas discussed this year include: clocks in Byron House playground; library monitors at Senior House; the use of plastic; lost property; outdoor waiters; SJCS pupil news; football at Byron House; reward systems.

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Digitally Enhanced Learning (DEL) Children are continuing to explore a range of digital technologies to enhance their learning at St John’s.

The wide range of tools at their disposal allows them to work collaboratively, to apply their research and critical thinking skills and to present their ideas in exciting new ways. Applications such as Quizlet, School Shape, Mathletics and Brainpop have also helped children to consolidate their learning, gamifying the content and increasing engagement.

The Google Classroom has also facilitated our ‘Challenge by Choice’ initiative where children are free to choose the level which they feel is most appropriate for them, and has made peer feedback more effective.

Form 5 children are particularly confident and adept at using these tools and have enjoyed a number of different DEL experiences this year, including using iPads in Physical Education lessons in order to reflect upon their performance. Digital tools have also enabled a number of child-led learning tasks to be completed. In Music, they have used the ‘Garage Band’ application to great effect to make recordings of their compositions. In Geography the Form 5 children have used mind-map software to capture information from multimedia sources about earthquakes and volcanoes. In Science Form 6 created their own radios to send messages using the BBC micro:bit computer, demonstrating the wireless transfer of energy.

“The ‘Garage Band’ software lets us visualise and edit our ideas and then add lots of different instruments to it.”

“Mrs Taylor filmed us playing hockey using the iPad; the footage really helped me to improve the timing of my swing.”

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Form 5 children have also taken part in a Carbon Management project as part of the wider sustainability development at the school.

The use of Google Classroom (and its associated apps) allowed the children to explore and share resources relating to transport, reducing emissions and green energy. The digital tools gave the children greater agency over their learning and ultimately helped them to prepare presentations for the governors that outlined their proposals for a more sustainable school. The year group has also used the chromebooks to explore issues surrounding the use of plastic in PSHEE lessons and to consider alternatives for the school and their wider communities.

“I chose to research global warming as I was interested in the science behind it. I was amazed to find out how many things produced carbon dioxide and how they threaten the Earth.”

Byron House Computing In the Pre-Prep the computing curriculum focuses on coding, logical thinking and sequencing skills. This is supported by using various ‘unplugged’ and ‘plugged-in’ activities which enable to children to move from the concrete to abstract successfully. Children work on the understanding of algorithms and how they are implemented as programs on digital devices. iPads, Chromebooks and laptops continue to be used across Byron House to further develop the use of information technology, to purposefully create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content. We have enjoyed creating eBooks with the Pre-Prep children and they look forward to sharing these with the older children.

Forms 1 and 2 continue to use their Chromebooks via Google Classroom and are now proficient at accessing online resources, sharing their work digitally and providing feedback to each other. Form 1 computing lessons are hands-on and the children are learning how to sequence, select and use repetition in programs, working with variables and various forms of input and output. To ensure they understand how computers are used to control things, all of the Form 1 children have carried out some physical computing, learning how to program a set of traffic lights.

“Computing is really important because if you have a bug you know how to fix it. You always have to try again when it doesn’t work.”

“An algorithm is a set of instructions used to solve a problem. We made our Beebots follow paths using algorithms we had created.”

“Computing is really fun! When you make a mistake you have to go backwards which is more fun!”

British Council Film Coding In support of the British Council, the School welcomed a group of journalists and a film crew from TV stations from six western Balkan countries. They visited to observe and report on the teaching of Computing at the school and the use of Google’s G-Suite for Education. The results of their research were used as content for the production of a series of dedicated TV programmes that will focus on coding and how it can support learning at a young age.

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STEM STEM lessons (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) have continued for children in Form 2 this year, giving them the opportunity to take ownership of the curriculum and make connections across different disciplines with projects that often culminate in designing, building and testing a physical model.

“STEM helps you solve problems rather than rush to ask for help. You learn to work independently and to share ideas at times too. We have done everything from program on Scratch, create our own light-up lighthouse, fly hot air balloons and learn about what makes bridges strong.”

This year a new topic has been added entitled ‘flight’, where the children have researched and made models of planes, rockets and hovercrafts.

“I love STEM because each project is different but all are exciting and encourage us to explore, work together and enjoy learning in a practical way. These are important skills for our futures.”

“I found it quite interesting that the designs needed to be perfect. There was a challenge to see how they would fly. It was helpful to see other people’s ideas.”

STEM Flight project

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Bar Modelling in Maths This year we have trialled the use of Bar Modelling in Maths.

A bar model is one way of representing a mathematical problem in pictorial form to help children visualise that problem, make sense of it and so be able to move on to select the best method for calculating the answer.

Bar models are diagrams, constructed in a specific way using rectangles, to represent known and unknown amounts and are designed to contextualise any facts represented in a question.

The bar model method is an approach that has been adopted worldwide and evidence suggests it provides children with a powerful tool for solving problems that can assist them through every level of their Maths learning.

It deepens their understanding of how or why the Maths works, rather than just applying a rote method of calculation and this is essential if they are to be able to apply their skills and knowledge to a wide range of problems.

Above: STEM Lighthouse project

Maths Challenges The Primary Maths Challenge is a national competition designed for pupils in Forms 3 and 4. Gold certificates were achieved by David Edgington, Isabelle Egerton, Felix Forsberg, Jamie Kruppa and Eleanor Newitt in Form 3 and William Buttery, Inigo Cunningham-Reid, Ella Davidson, Kit Denison-Smith, Caspar Emerson, Freddie Fish, Arabella Fox-Watson, Tamsin Loose, Sacha Mackenzie, Angus MacPherson, Myles O’Reilly, Eleanor Pottle, Marennah Prempeh, George Shapiro, Jack Shaw, John Standley, Emma Tomlinson, Thomas Watkin, Ben Wigan, Harry Winn, Arthur Woodhull and Tess Woodhull in Form 4.

“I am a very visual person and I find it hard to do Maths in my head but if I do it on a piece of paper with the bar method I find it easier. ” 19

Child-led Independent Learning In Byron House, the children in each year group from T1 to Form 2 have continued to choose their own topic for one term each year.

This year, these covered a diverse range of subjects including the Sea, Space, Sport, Films, Beaches and Oceans, Unsolved and Unexplained Mysteries, Australia and Robotics. The children are given the freedom within the topic to further their learning in areas that interest them and planning by teachers responds to this. As in previous years, high levels of motivation, engagement and involvement have been observed. The children take ownership of their learning and can often be overheard chatting animatedly to each other about their topic outside of lessons.

The child-led topics also provide opportunities to further embed the thinking skills that are taught in discrete lessons across Byron House, covering questioning, information skills, critical thinking, creative thinking, decision-making and memory skills. The purpose of these lessons is to foster higher level thinking and encourage independent, active thinking and learning skills, skills that will serve the children for life. You can read more about one specific example in Robotics below.

Robotics Workshop in Form 2V The children explored their topic of robotics using BBC micro:bits.

Micro:bits were introduced into the Computing curriculum last year and are pocket-sized codeable computers with motion detection, a built-in compass and Bluetooth technology, which are able to connect to a Raspberry Pi computer.

During the first activity the children created a simple sensor pad using wire, aluminium foil and a paper clip attached to a micro:bit. They wrote an algorithm to run as soon as pressure was applied to the mat, triggering various visual and audible alarms. The children considered how this basic equipment might be improved and extrapolated for use in motion sensors to detect earthquakes.

Building on their skills, the second activity involved constructing a robotic creature where one body part had to move. The children used block code to programme the motor attached to their creations.

They filmed their efforts, using the footage to review their work.

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Child-led Learning in Art

Mythical Creatures child-led art topic

Our child initiated learning topics have been extended this year to Art lessons in Form 3 at Senior House. Allowing the children to select the topic has generated more focused and creative work and both independent and collaborative learning has flourished.

The process of selecting the topic was democratic; proposals were debated and discussed, with common themes drawn together under unifying titles and mind maps and sketches used to flesh out concepts. Following a vote, the topics selected were Landscapes, Sculpture and Mythical Creatures. Trips to Wicken Fen, Churchill College Sculpture Garden and Kettle’s Yard helped to provide inspiration for the children’s work.

“I enjoy child led topics because each one is different. I like doing diagrams of how all the parts of the topic link up.”

Drawing at Wicken Fen Nature Reserve

“Child-led learning allows you to think freely and to decide on how you want your art to develop.”

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Poetry Evening & Art Exhibition St Mary’s Creative Writing This year’s Form 6 Poetry Evening featured poems written by the children in response to a wide variety of different sources, including poetry by Charles Causley and Ogden Nash, to name but a few, together with four choral poems. Alongside the humour of parodies they included moving poems about the refugee crisis and another group performed Shel Silverstein’s The Whatifs… which deals with the anxiety generated by uncertainties and worries. There was also a lyrical performance of Edward Lear’s classic The Owl and the Pussycat. In addition to performing their own poetry, the children performed moving choral readings of four classic and modern poems in keeping with the overall theme of the evening. The event coincided wth an art exhibition which featured artwork by Form 6 pupils.

“Poetry Evening was a great learning experience for me as well as a night of enjoyment. It helped me to get over my fear of public speaking.”

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The competition was open to boys and girls from Year 5 to Year 8 across Cambridgeshire and the entrants were invited to write creatively, inspired by the subject of ‘The Future’. Their efforts were judged in two categories Years 5 & 6 (Forms 3 & 4) and Years 7 & 8 (Forms 5 & 6), each of which came down to short-list of the 6 best pieces. Rohan Kainth (Form 4) came first and Olivia Howard (also Form 4) was one of two runners up out of nearly 300 entries in the younger age group. Fergal Cochrane (Form 5) was shortlisted in the older category.

Betjeman Poetry Prize The Betjeman Poetry competition invites entries from 10 -13 year olds across the UK to write on the theme of ‘place’.

Lucy Pettifer (Form 5) was shortlisted and placed in the top 50 out of over 2000 entries. Her poem, That Tree Is Me, is included in the annual Betjeman Anthology.

Book Week Book Week is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and, most importantly, of reading.

Author and illustrator James Mayhew inspired the children with his upside-down illustrations workshop. Forms 1 and 2 gained creative writing skills with author Lauren St John. The children also enjoyed inspiring talks from some of the Senior House Literary Festival authors. ‘Book at Bedtime’ was again a resounding success, as was the ‘Extreme Reading Competition’. The week closed with ‘Dress as a Book Character Day’ in aid of the charity Humanitas.

Literary Festival The Senior House Literary Festival welcomed five visitors: Kevin Crossley Holland, Sarah Mussi, Julian Sedgwick, Lauren St John and the Heffers Book Fair. There was also great excitement as the winners of the School’s 500 word short story competition were announced.

This year the festival was shared with the Cambridge Sensory Support Team and a group of young visitors with hearing impairment and visual loss. As part of the day St John’s pupils took part in a sign language workshop.

Extreme Reading Competition

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Charities Money has been raised this year for a variety of good causes.

Nearly £2,000 has been raised by the ‘Grow Your Money’ project since the Easter holidays. The money raised will go to the Humanitas charity to continue supporting a school in Ghana.

The retiring collection at the Services in Preparation for Christmas raised £1,608 for EACH (East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices) and Blue Smile Charity.

The Byron House Harvest Collection raised £265 for Cambridge City Food Bank.

The Byron House Easter Fair and Summer Fair raised £227 and £689 respectively, shared equally between Humanitas and Bridges to Belarus.

The Victorian Fayre and Dress as a Book Character Day raised £595 and £192 respectively for Humanitas.

Christmas Jumper Day raised £640 for Children in Need.

The David White Memorial Concert raised £92 for the Aplastic Anaemia Trust.

The 5th Form Drama production of Oliver! and the Form 6 Charities Morning raised £806 and £592 respectively for Cambridge Children’s Charity Week Fund.

The Form 2 Enterprise Project raised £1,161 for the RhinosUp Charity.

Above: Form 1 Country Dancing at the Summer Fair Below: Pensioners’ Christmas Party

Planting seeds for RhinosUp at Coleridge Recreation Ground

‘RhinosUp’ Charity RhinosUp ‘living flowerbed’ was planted at Coleridge Recreation Ground by the charity’s founder, Frankie Benstead (T2).

The RhinosUp campaign was started by seven-year-old Frankie in a bid to save the last three northern white rhinos from extinction.

Form 2 raised over £1,100 for the charity with their Enterprise Project. They were each given a budget of £10 to start a ‘business’ to sell a product or a game at the Summer Fair. They learned how to market and promote their businesses to maximise the amount raised.

Grow Your Money The ‘Grow Your Money’ initiative, now in its sixth year, is designed to encourage each child to discover and develop their entrepreneurial skills, by converting the £1 they are each given into more money for charity. This year nearly £2,000 was raised for Humanitas through the initiative.

“I always look forward to this project each year because it is a chance to give back and to raise money in different ways. You can also team up with your friends and combine your ideas! This year I made cupcakes and sold them at a coffee morning and made more than I have ever made. “ It is a good feeling.”

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Parents’ Association The Parents’ Association have had a fun and busy year with well supported events from Choral Evensong, Fireworks to the fabulous Charity Fun Day. This year from the events, Christmas cards and an art project, parents have raised nearly £9,000 for Macmillan, Cambridge Children’s Charity Week, Cambridge Young Carers Fund and Youth Music.

This page, clockwise from top left: Canvas Art project; Macmillan Coffee Morning and Fireworks Night, Opposite page: Charity Fun Day (photos courtesy of Lucie Milton)

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Byron House Forest Garden Now in its second year, the planting in the Forest Garden is now starting to mature. The garden is designed around a circular teaching and meeting space, surrounded by an alley of hornbeam, which is large enough for an entire year group to sit and discuss and learn together. The design mimics the natural ecosystem of a woodland, with nearly 3,500 plants.

The rambling roses that were planted last year are beginning to make their way up into the canopy of the winter flowering cherry and the mature holly where they will grace the foliage with long trusses of blooms in June. Rosa ‘Seagull’ and R. ‘Bobbie James’ are joined this year by the repeat flowering

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rambler R. ‘Phyllis Bide’ which has been planted to grow up into the lower branches of the mature walnut tree. We have been very pleased to see that the elder has begun to produce seedlings, as the plant material is useful for creating whistles, instruments and bug habitats due to the natural soft core in the centre and the plants ability to replenish itself at speed.

The children in Gardening Club have been hard at work looking after the garden, tying the hornbeam into the wide arch and using their computational thinking skills to make light work of the tricky challenge of building new supports for our climbing plants.

Byron House Library The Byron House ‘New Room’ was transformed this year into a brand new library for all children to enjoy from Kindergarten to Form 2. This light, spacious room now has fitted beech shelving units around the walls which curve to add to the aesthetics of the space. New colourful rugs and large comfy cushions also add a homely feel.

A specialist library architect was involved in providing plans for the bespoke fittings and the library now includes tilted shelves and space for more forward-facing books for the children to delve into. The fixed shelving units have also been cleverly designed to keep the books at the front of each shelf so they can be clearly seen and they are all at child-friendly heights. Three units in the centre of the library can be moved to make way for meetings and more space if this is required.

There are three ground level large wooden boxes which contain picture books aimed more for the Pre-Prep children to enjoy.

Mrs Julia Clarke, Byron House Librarian, has a recommended ‘Book of the Week’ section, one chosen by the children and one by her to encourage the children to try new authors and to read a wider range of books for pleasure. One of the many benefits of the library having a brand new space is that children can come and change their library books throughout the day and at break times too.

“The new library is like stepping through the wardrobe in ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ except you do not walk into an icy cold forest but a land of books.”

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Extra Curricular Clubs Over 90% of children in Forms 1 - 6 have again benefitted from a wide range of extra-curricular activities each term, with nearly all pupils participating in at least one club across the year and approximately 40% participating in three or more clubs each term, in addition to after school play rehearsals and music ensembles. Over 70 different extra-curricular activities are on offer throughout the year, covering the areas shown below.

Reading Debating German Greek Mathletics Maths Clinic Spanish Coding Game Maker Programming ICT Physical Computing Programming Raspberry Pi Art Byron House Cookery Drawing Club Design Technology Gardening Club Kitchen Garden & Food Tech Club Inventions Club Jewellery Making Textiles Choreography Club Musical Theatre Club Drama Shakespeare Schools Festival Board Games Chess Lego Challenge Warhammer 30

3rd and 4th Form Choir Chamber Choir Junior Choir Music Composition Grade 5 Music Theory Pop Choir Potential Music Scholars Mindfulness Kung Fu Pupil Forum Athletics Gymnastics Running Boys’ and Girls’ Cricket Football Golf Boys’ and Girls’ Hockey Multi-Sports Saturday Sports Netball Rowing Boys’ Rugby Softball Squash and Fives Swimming Tennis

Wonder Afternoons Forms 3 to 6 Thursday Wonder Afternoons for children in Forms 3 to 6 have covered a variety of subjects. A sample of some of the talks, trips, workshops and activities is shown below.

Michaelmas Term Art trip to Imperial War Museum at Duxford Michael Brennan-Wood Design Technology workshop Passchendaele Letter Writing Shakespeare Schools Festival Sustainability: Compassionate Action outreach Talk by author and illustrator Paul Geraghty Talk by British climber Ian Beaton Talk by Consultant ENT surgeon Isobel Fitzgerald O’Connor Talk by English wildlife conservationist & filmmaker Fergus Beeley Talk by Hugh Anderson MD (UK and Dubai) of Godolphin, international thoroughbred bloodstock organisation Talk by Michael Andrews on news and social media Talk by Senior Director of ‘SustainAbility’, Matt Loose Wimpole Art Trip Work on Global Goals: Sustainability Young Shakespeare Company Workshop Lent Term Cambridge Buddhist Centre visit Cambridge Gurdwara visit Cambridge Synagogue visit Epping Forest Geography Trip Life skills talk by Lavinia Sais Brown Literary Festival Music composition workshop Online Safety Science Dome Stibbington History Trip Sustainability: bee project Sustainability: carbon management Talk by CEO and co-founder of Redgate Software, Simon Galbraith Talk by historian Mike Downer Talk by physicist and astronomer Professor Malcolm Longair

Summer Term Art trips to Churchill College, Wicken Fen and Kettle’s Yard Cambridge Mosque visit Fitzwilliam Museum visit French Market House Debating Magic of Maths Maths challenge Museum of Classical Archaeology Visit Sustainability: Compassionate Action outreach Talk by opera singers Joanna Marie Skillett and Ed Ballard Talk by paediatric cardiac surgeon Shafi Mussa Talk by retired judge John Andrew Phillips CBE Talk by travel writer and broadcast journalist Simon Parker Talk by vet and charity worker Ella Stekly Upcycling trip

“Miss Fitzgerald O’Connor is an ENT surgeon and her talk was fascinating. She showed X-rays of problems including the swallowing of foreign bodies. She has removed all sorts of things from patients’ ears, noses and throats including Lego parts, blades, peas, pins and many other objects.”

“I loved the author and illustrator Paul Geraghty’s talk as he spoke about his process of writing and it was brilliant to watch him draw one of his dinosaur characters. He also gave us tips on how to improve our own drawing skills.”

“I never knew how many people were involved with the sport of horse racing. Mr Anderson explained what thoroughbred horses need for training including exercise, stables, transport and how they maintain the horses’ health and fitness to be able to race them all over the world.”

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Art The Art department has continued to flourish this year with the children producing a wide range of work in multiple media. Pictured here are just two sets of examples of work produced this year.

Form 3 investigated Claude Monet and Impressionism, drawing inspiration from the styles and colours of the paintings on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum and incorporating them into their own large paintings in school. They compared and discussed both the Impressionist paintings and those in adjoining galleries from other art movements of the 19th Century, learning at first hand the radical changes Impressionism introduced.

This page clockwise from top left: Amelia Hughes, David Edgington, Felix Forsberg and Caitlin Blakesley and opposite: Lucas Mackenzie, Matilda Parsonson, Edward Allpress and

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Vera Edgington

Form 5 made dry point etchings inspired by their production of Oliver! and the original illustrations for Dickens’ Oliver Twist. They used a wide range of mark-making techniques and experimented with different colours of ink, wiping it from the plate to create varying atmospheres and tonal ranges.

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Design Technology Design Technology has continued to thrive with a wide range of exciting projects across all year groups; a sample of these is shown here.

Top and bottom left: Transition 2 Wind-up Nursery Rhymes and top and bottom right: Form 1 Catapults

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Clockwise from top: Form 4 Fluffy Toys with LED eyes; Form 5 Chocolate Boxes; Air Boat Race; Form 3 Ball Mazes

Music Music in the school goes from strength to strength and, through its many curricular and extra-curricular strands, remains at the heart of the daily life of our community. 70% of children in T2 upwards are learning at least one instrument in school, and a good number of the remaining pupils learn outside school. An all-time high of over 375 instrumental / vocal lessons per week have been taught this year. 50% of children in T2 upwards are involved in optional weekly choral activities and 40% of the same year groups are involved in optional weekly instrumental ensembles.

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We have staged nearly 60 concerts this year, including various evening concerts, fund-raising performances and an informal lunchtime concert series which continues to thrive.

Approximately 220 children from Form 1 to Form 6 took part in the annual Summer Concert at the West Road Concert Hall, an event which richly reflects the school’s commitment to achieving enjoyment, inclusivity and excellence in musical activity. Highlights included a complete, pupil-only performance of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto.

In January, there was also a special, one-off opportunity to take part in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Snowflakes, given by the combined Byron House and Senior House Chamber Choirs, who had been invited to join with the Sinfonia of Cambridge under the baton of Howard Williams at the West Road Concert Hall. The children performed brilliantly to a full house.

“I play the harp, clarinet and piano and they are some of my main passions along with singing.

I love chamber music and I play in the wind quintet. I love it as you get to know each other Many children have taken part in musical workshops with really well.” leading musicians, including an orchestral workshop with one of the conductors of the National Children’s Orchestra.

Harry L’Estrange (Form 3) was privileged to take part in a violin masterclass with Tasmin Little, one of the pre-eminent international violinists of her generation, in the Michaelmas Term; having worked on his Handel repertoire with Tasmin, pupil and teacher enjoyed an impromptu performance of the 1st Movement of the Bach Double Violin Concerto.

Our young organists were privileged to be invited to perform again in the organ recital series at St Lawrence Jewry in the City of London. Adam Chillingworth (Form 6), Alan Chen and Jaylen Cheng (both Form 5) and Thomas Watkin (Form 4) gave an outstanding concert in a series which is otherwise offered by the leading senior public and specialist music schools. Opportunities for our young organists also included recitals at OLEM Church in Cambridge and at St Mary’s, Saffron Walden.

Ed Kirker (Form 6), David Edgington (Form 3), Vera Edgington and Adekoya Okusaga (Form 3) are members of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and Vera has been offered a place on the highly prestigious Aldeburgh Young Musicians programme. Hugh Chippington (Form 5), Matthew Chippington (Form 3) and Adekoya Okusaga (Form 3) are members of the Jesus College Chapel Choir and Ella Davidson (Form 4), Flora Harrison (Form 3) and Eliza Robson Brown (Form 2) are members of the St Catharine’s College Girls’ Choir. Flora Harrison has also been offered a place in the Pembroke College Girls’ Choir when it launches in September 2018.

“I really enjoyed performing in the huge concert at the West Road Concert Hall. I also took part in the Scholars’ Concert and played the second movement of the Mozart ‘Clarinet Concerto in A’.”

Services in Preparation for Christmas Our festive Services in Preparation for Christmas, held over two days in the chapel of St John’s College, once again heralded the start of the season with a range of carols and readings all delivered by the children. As ever, the 11 choral carols and congregational hymns were interspersed with readings involving every child in Form 6. The carols offered a wide selection of music performed beautifully by children from a range of choirs including the Choristers of the College Choir, Senior House Chamber Choir, 3rd and 4th Forms’ Choir, Byron House Chamber Choir, Byron House Junior Choir. Amongst the highlights was the final carol, Malcolm Archer’s arrangement of I Saw Three Ships, sung with huge energy by all 150 children in the various choirs.

Before and after the services, organ music was played by Senior House pupils: Thomas Watkin (Form 4), Alan Chen and Jaylen Cheng (both Form 5) and Adam Chillingworth (Form 6) performed seasonal repertoire by Grayston Ives, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Christopher Tambling, Jeanne Demessieux, Dieterich Buxtehude, J S Bach and Francis Jackson.

Over 75% of music exam results in the last twelve months were merits and distinctions, with nearly 40% in the distinction category.

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One of Form 5’s two Pupil Composition Lunchtime Concerts

Music Examination Results

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Grade 8 Blake Chen Jaylen Cheng

Organ Piano

Distinction Distinction

Grade 7 Matthew Brown Isabel Millhouse

Piano Piano

Distinction Pass

Grade 6 Miles Benyan Matthew Brown Adam Chillingworth Lucy St Clair Holborn Eloise Parton

Singing Violin Piano Flute Violin

Distinction Distinction Merit Merit Pass

Pupil Compositions

Grade 5 Edward Kirker Toby L’Estrange Susanna Millhouse Jamo Morrill Polly Casey Michael Gildenhard Edward Kirker James Lewis Beatrice Shaw Thomas Watkin Eleanor Beaton James Buttery Harry L’Estrange Yee Yee Ma Philip Tomkinson

Singing Theory Theory Cello Horn Theory Trumpet Clarinet Descant Recorder Theory Theory Theory Theory Piano Theory

Grade 4 Grade 3 Grade 2 Grade 1

3 4 6 17

Distinctions Distinctions Distinctions Distinctions

Merits Merits Merits Merits

3 4 16 20

Distinction Distinction Distinction Distinction Merit Merit Merit Merit Merit Merit Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Passes Passes Passes Passes

4 4 7 5

Non-classical musical activity and pupil composition continue to develop and to bring new faces of performers and audience alike into our performance venues. Early in the Summer Term, pupils in Form 5 took part in an informal lunchtime concert to perform the group compositions they had created and practised during the Lent Term.

“I really enjoyed performing the compositions we wrote with my group. We decided to do our song about refugees' journeys and lives. We had all seen enough pictures to know that it was a crisis which we all felt strongly about. Our first ideas for the song were in an incredibly messy mind-map with lines going everywhere! We had an idea for the chorus and what we wanted to include so we built it up from there. I feel like I learnt a lot from other people, like how to fit in the harmony and where and when it is effective.”

College Choir Release Vaughan Williams CD St John’s College Choir’s latest album featuring the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams - including the Mass in G Minor - was released to critical acclaim on the award-winning ‘St John’s Cambridge’ label. In the first week of its release, the disc reached number 2 in the UK Classical Specialist Charts.

The disc has received favourable reviews in Record Review and MusicWeb International and 5 stars from Choir & Organ and Planet Hugill. It has been included on Spotify’s ‘Classical New Releases’ playlist and Gramophone’s ‘The Listening Room’ playlist.

St John’s College Choir performing at the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, as part of their tour to the Far East (photo courtesy of James Beddoe)

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Arts Award

Latin Play Competition Winners

St John’s has had several successful years of entering candidates for the Bronze Arts Award, which invites children in Forms 5 and 6 to submit a portfolio of work for accreditation in this nationally recognised qualification.

A group of St John’s Form 6 pupils were crowned the victors in the 39th Ludi Scaenici competition, held at The Perse School, where they performed a play delivered entirely in Latin, entitled “Duo fratres. Una fortuna.”

Arts Award inspires young people to grow their arts and leadership talents and is particularly suitable for children who are self-motivated to pursue artistic endeavours in their spare time. In much the same way as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award places a strong emphasis upon young people’s ability to take the initiative as part of a team and individually, the Arts Award aims to inspire candidates to devise their own programmes of activities and self-manage their workload. This early taste of independent responsibility is the perfect preparation for managing the demands of life at senior school and beyond.

This year’s participants have entered with the following subjects: Art, Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, DT, Music, Music Technology, Music Video, Photography, Sculpture, Singing and Structures.

Vocab Express Challenge 21,000 pupils took part around the world.

St John’s reached 4th place overall for French and Latin combined, which is the highest St John’s record ever achieved since the School began participating 5 years ago. St John’s came 3rd in French and 7th in Latin, in its class, competing against other schools with 151-500 pupils.

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Sixteen pupils created the storyline and wrote the script themselves from language and situations which they encountered while studying Cambridge Latin Course Book 1. It was an ambitious and epic storyline which boasted two alternative endings based on the flip of a coin which a member of the audience performed. Two twins were separated by fate and, after growing up in different strata of society were reunited in a thrilling gladiator fight in the arena.

The ownership they took of the play throughout the process and particularly the way they all contributed to both the plot and the directing impressed the judges and the teacher.

“There were five schools competing, all with well planned and choreographed stories and good pronunciation. Going on stage was different to what we had anticipated but we coped well.”

Shakespeare Schools Festival - ‘Romeo and Juliet’

A group of Form 6 pupils took part in the national Shakespeare Schools Festival for the fifth year running, performing Romeo and Juliet at Anglia Ruskin’s Mumford Theatre. Pupils involved have the opportunity to prepare and present their own approach to Shakespeare’s theatre as well as to watch and learn from productions offered by other schools. In the St John’s interpretation, contrasting black and white elastic along with two wooden frames were used to create all the scenery within the play. Instead of an exchange of fists in the fight scenes, the families in opposition became bound in elastic, using their bodies to contort and twist, creating a very palpable feeling of tension. Live music performed by the pupils (composed and conducted by St John’s Music Teacher, Ms Drusilla Harris) added another dimension to the action on stage.

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Drama In Drama we encourage the children to express themselves. Mistakes are seen as opportunities and improvisation is encouraged as part of the development of any play. The giving of a stunning performance, the mastery of oneself and the expression of oneself through a performance are all deeply memorable experiences that remain with children forever. The children learn the vital skills of collaboration and communication, resourcefulness, responsibility, rigour, resilience, risktaking. We utilise the collective imagination of the children and share and develop ideas, ending up with performances that are full of physical and visual energy and go far beyond words on a page.

Both pages: Form 5 - Oliver!

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Kindergarten - Not Such A Silent Night

Transition 2 - Pinocchia

Form 2 - Rhino Wars

Transition 1 - Babushka

Form 1 - The Bumblesnouts Save the World

Form 3 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Form 4 - A Grimm Night of Theatre

Form 6 - Passion Play

Sports It has been another busy and successful year of sporting endeavour. The older children were involved in a wide range of tournaments and festivals in all major team sports. There have been some strong performances both collectively and individually this year. Junior (Forms 3 and 4) and Senior (Forms 5 and 6) House competitions in team sports are, as ever, a highlight of the year, full of competitiveness, talent and sportsmanship.

In keeping with the school’s aim of instilling a love of learning in our children, we want every sporting session, whether it be training, a match or simply a fun activity, to be a positive learning experience. We want sport to be inclusive and our hope is that physical activity is something each child will enjoy and will want to carry on in their next school and into adulthood. As with any learning experience, the best way of learning is in an environment where it is acceptable to make mistakes. We are a school that wants the children to celebrate and enjoy participating in sport and improve their skills, not simply focus on winners and losers. We also want to give a breadth of choice and many of the successes come from individuals pursuing a wide variety of physical activities outside of the main team sports.

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Main Team Sports Old Buckenham Hall Rugby Sevens Competition Colts A won 6 out of 7 matches Rugby 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Colts A Teams Won all bar one game each across the whole season Rugby Colts B Teams Unbeaten season IAPS Boys’ Hockey Under 11s qualified for the IAPS Eastern region and came 5th Boy’s County Hockey Tournament Under 11s and Under 13s both reached the Finals Old Buckenham Hall Girls’ Hockey Tournament Under 13 A team came 2nd overall Girls’ County Hockey Tournament Under 13s reached the semi-finals IAPS Girls’ Cricket Under 11s came 5th overall

Colours and Individual Achievements Senior Rugby Colours

Colts Rugby Colours

Matthew Brown, Matthew Campbell, Charlie Cobb, Monty Lovell and Joey Taylor Matthew Campbell and Joey Taylor have been selected to be part of the Under 13 Northampton Saints Developing Player Programme.

Hugh Aubrey and Oliver Sawtell got through to the Under 13 Junior Academy Centre with Hugh Aubrey being chosen for the competition squad.

Kit Denison-Smith, Emerson Gilbertson, Harry Winn and Arthur Woodhull

Senior Girls’ Hockey Colours

Junior Girls’ Hockey Colours Senior Boys’ Hockey Colours

Colts Boys’ Hockey Colours

Sienna Cutts, Evie Marchant-Lane and Beatrice Salmon Tamsin Loose, Audrey Galbraith, Nella Porritt and Charlotte Mann all got through to Under 13 Junior Academy Centre with Nella Porritt and Charlotte Mann being chosen for the competition squad.

Catriona Beaton, Tamsin Loose, Marennah Prempeh and Isla Thompson Hugh Aubrey, Matthew Brown, Charlie Cobb and Joey Taylor Hugh Aubrey and Oliver Sawtell are both part of the Under 13 Junior Academy Centre with Hugh chosen for the competition squad.

Kit Denison-Smith, Sacha Mackenzie, Oliver Sawtell and Harry Winn

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Senior Netball Colours Junior Netball Colours

Sienna Cutts, Gaia Greenwood, Charlotte Mann, Evie Marchant-Lane and Beatrice Salmon Ella Davidson, Tamsin Loose, Priyanna Morrill, Marennah Prempeh and Isla Thompson

Senior Cricket Colours (Boys)

Hugh Aubrey, Matthew Brown, Ed Kirker and Joey Taylor Hugh Aubrey, Oliver Brown, Edward MacLean and Harry Winn play for the county.

Colts Cricket Colours (Boys)

Cosmo Benyan, Oliver Sawtell and Harry Winn

Senior Cricket Colours (Girls) Junior Cricket Colours (Girls)

Lucy Davies, Charlotte Mann, Evie Marchant-Lane, Abby Orchard and Jemima White Freya Cameron, Ella Davidson, Tamsin Loose, Priyanna Morrill, Marennah Prempeh and Isla Thompson

Swimming Colours Sam Blakesley, Lucy Davies, Charlotte Mann, Jamo Morrill, Joey Taylor and George Travis Leo Moore and Priyanna Morrill are both on the county swimming team Athletics Stowe Athletics Competition

Under 11 Boys and Under 12 Girls both finished 1st out of 8 schools

St Faith’s Athletics Competition

Senior team came 4th and Junior team came 6th

EAPS

Isla Thompson, Marennah Prempeh and Hugh Aubrey reached the national finals in 100m, 200m and discus respectively.

Senior Athletics Colours

Hugh Aubrey, Matthew Brown, George Buchanan, Matthew Campbell, Sienna Cutts, Lucy Davies, Gaia Greenwood, Monty Lovell, Charlotte Mann, Evie Marchant-Lane, Joshua Robson-Brown, Johnnie Rudd, Beatrice Salmon, Joey Taylor, Pippa Watkins and Jemima White

Junior Athletics Colours

Cosmo Benyan, Ella Davidson, Kit Denison-Smith, Freddie Fish, Emerson Gilbertson, Arianne Glass, Elliot Moran, Marennah Prempeh, Oliver Sawtell, Isla Thompson, Harry Winn, Arthur Woodhull and Tess Woodhull

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Football Tom Hodge and Harry Winn are both on the Norwich city squad. Oliver Brown is part of the Cambridge United Shadow Academy and Joshua Robson Brown is part of the Cambridge United Regional Development Centre.

Gymnastics Ted Traynor competed in the Peterborough Gymnastics Floor and Vault Competition and achieved Silver for Floor and Bronze for Vault in this regional competition Marennah Prempeh is on the county gymnastics team Karate Harry Wood-Rubio achieved his black belt in Karate Tennis Cosmo Benyan, Thomas Coates, George Fell, Emerson Gilbertson, Marennah Prempeh and Joshua Robson-Brown are all on the county tennis team. Thomas Coates reached the finals in the regional competition.

Cross Country Cosmo Benyan is on the county cross country team.

Basketball Michael Gildenhard is on the East Regional squad.

Triathlon Leo Moore competes in the triathlon for Cambridge and Elliot Moran competes for Saffron Walden.

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Sailing Joey Taylor has enjoyed another successful season sailing his Optimist class dinghy. He finished the season ranked 37th in the UK, qualifying him for one of the Royal Yachting Association’s national winter training squads. In addition he was selected for the GBR teams for 3 international regattas: Palamos (Spain), Braassemermeer (Holland) and Flanders (Belgium). Joey and Johnnie Rudd competed in the IAPS Sailing Regatta (Under 13s) in May and came 3rd for St John’s in the Feva Class.

Form 6 Sports Coaches 15 Form 6 children took part in a new activity to coach younger members of the school in T2 and Form 1 in hockey, netball and cricket. They had initial sessions on ‘what makes a good teacher’ and on how to set up sessions in different sports. They researched drills and skills to teach the younger children and groups of children gained much from the experience.

Leavers’ Destinations & Awards 43 boys and girls are leaving for Senior Schools. They are proceeding as follows: 8 to The Leys; 7 each to The Perse Upper and King’s Ely; 5 to St Mary’s Cambridge; 3 to Stephen Perse Foundation; 2 to Oakham; 1 each to Ardingly College, Berkhamsted School, Eton College, Haileybury, Heritage School, Norwich School, Oakham, Oundle, Rugby, Winchester and Uppingham 17 awards were achieved as follows in a total year group of 43: Matthew Brown Henry Burbridge James Buttery Adam Chillingworth Charlie Cobb Charles Dawes Max Hitchin Tabitha Hobson James Lewis Ed Kirker Monty Lovell Yee Yee Ma Johnnie Rudd Isobel Standley

Music Scholarship STEM Scholarship Music Scholarship Music and Organ Scholarships Music Scholarship Art and Drama Scholarships Martineau Exhibition (Academic) Drama Scholarship Music Scholarship Music Scholarship Drama Scholarship Art and Academic Scholarships STEM Scholarship Art Scholarship

Berkhamsted School King’s Ely Uppingham Norwich School Uppingham The Leys Eton College St Mary’s Cambridge Winchester Perse Upper Oakham Ardingly College King’s Ely St Mary’s Cambridge

Where a child has gained an award in the same discipline for more than one school, only the award for the destination school is recorded.

Highlights is written by St John’s College School staff and designed, produced and edited in house by Mrs P Dely and Mr A Loria.

© St John’s College School 2018