16 - Issuu

from The Columban 2020

Other Destinations

Developing Life Skills

At St Columba’s we pride ourselves not only on academic and sporting excellence, but facilitating the formation of well-rounded young people who are equipped to deal with the many trials and tribulations which the modern world can throw at them. In the Prep, this is particularly visible through our Life Skills Programme. Staff work closely to ensure that the pupils experience a rich and varied curriculum which affords them many opportunities to try new things, acquire new skills and push themselves in often challenging circumstances, stepping out of their comfort zones and confronting their fears. Once pupils reach Prep 5 they have a weekly timetabled Life Skills lesson, which covers a wide range of topics and culminates in the Prep 6 trip to the Lake District. Here, each pupil is encouraged to set their own goals and to reach (and in many cases exceed) their expectations, facing their fears and finding out who they really are and what they are capable of. It may be something of a cliché, but our Life Skills Programme creates true Columbans!

Mr. E. Sullivan-Pond and Mr. M. Turpin

Team Building and Problem Solving

Pupils work together to overcome a range of challenges and obstacles, whilst understanding how we all have different skills and abilities, all of which have value.

Orienteering and Map Reading

The pupils learn to navigate, orienteer and read maps using coordinates and compass bearings.

Exploring our Natural Surroundings

Pupils learn to identify trees and plants, conduct tree surveys, grow herbs using homemade propagators, and explore the medicinal properties of herbs and spices in the now infamous tasting session. Lessons cover everything from sewing on buttons to simple seams, and making the ever-popular Sock Monkeys! Essential practical skills including wiring plugs, fixing punctures, safe fire lighting and cooking are taught.

Engineering Skills

Challenges include building the tallest tower, the infamous egg drop challenge and other group construction projects.

Communication

During the remote learning programme, the pupils explored cryptography, using semaphore and Morse Code to effectively send and receive messages.

First Aid

The pupils are equipped with the knowledge to deal with a range of emergencies, including CPR, the recovery position, bandages and rapid response treatment.

Harrison and Oscar in Prep 6 show their models of the respiratory system

Prep Sport

This was a fantastic year that was cut short from an incredible finish. Unfortunately, the entire cricket and athletics seasons and some of the rugby and football seasons were cancelled.

We had some excellent fixtures throughout an exceedingly busy football season, with all boys from Prep 3 to 6 taking part. The Colts A team had a fantastic season; they were runners-up in the ISFA Herts Regionals and qualified for the ISFA National Finals, to be held at St George’s Park (England’s training centre).

Later in the season they faced Wheatfields in the St Albans area final of the Wix 7-a-side Cup competition. This was a tight affair and was 0-0 at half time, before the teams exchanged three goals in 7 minutes with St Columba’s taking a 2-1 win! The team’s other success was in the Wix 9-a-side County Competition. They played a tough semi-final at King James School that was deserving of a final; at full-time the teams were level at 2-2. In extra time the boys finished the game winning 4-2, securing their place in the final. Unfortunately, the Wix 9-a-side final was also cancelled, but nevertheless what a season the boys had! Our swimming team hosted a large number of strong swimmers in Prep 6 who put in some excellent performances at various galas. However, the season was cut slightly short, but our Prep 6 team would have been very close to winning this year.

Cross Country

The cross-country season was a successful one with our U11 team winning three of the five races and coming second in the other two, which was good enough for them to be announced as overall winners of the St Albans

District league! In rugby we managed to complete a whole season before unfortunately losing our 7s season to the pandemic. The major focus in all of the age groups has been to equip boys with the fundamental skills to make good decisions when under pressure, and then to apply this learning in inter-school fixtures. A major highlight of the rugby season continues to be the annual Prep 6 non-selective, five-day Dublin Tour. All the boys improve their skills with extended training sessions and matches against three fantastic rugby clubs: Navan, Malahide and Coolmine. On the tour, the boys also had the opportunity to learn some traditional Irish games, including Gaelic football, Hurling and Handball!

List of Prep Sports:

Football Rugby Cricket Swimming Athletics Basketball Hockey Rugby 7s Tennis

Cross-Country Fencing

List of Prep After School Clubs:

Art Basketball Brainiac Chess Coding Computer Construction Cooking Fencing Funky Fingers Golf Gospel Gang LAMDA Mindfulness Mini Enterprise Musical groups (Strings, Choir, Band, Samba, Bells & Ukulele) Puzzles Rugby Tots Science Quiz Warhammer

Mr. M. Turpin Head of PE & Games, Extra-Curricular Activities Co-ordinator Twitter: @StColumbasPSpo

Prep Music and Drama

The sound of music can always be heard in the Prep School, and boys enjoy music making, learning through a broad range of practical musical experiences drawn from different times, places and cultures.

All pupils sing in various year group choirs and give at least two major performances in the year. Many join the extra choirs and bands that rehearse during lunchtime and take part in extra performances at concerts and events. Music goes beyond the school as we venture out to watch musical performances, or to give them in the local community. Visiting professionals also join us to engage the boys, such as during Creative Arts Week, which this year featured street dancing and beatboxing. This year, we also had two wonderful nativities from the Lower and Upper Prep. They performed brilliantly whilst also learning about Advent. Sadly, the Prep Concert and Inter House Music Festival were cancelled. However, this didn’t stop the music making as the pupils still engaged in practical tasks at home. They sang songs, learnt mini-musicals and had weekly family junk band performances of famous pieces of music, including the Can Can, William Tell Finale and Baby Shark! Prep 5 and 6 learnt and recorded their end of year musical, Porridge, and the recordings were mixed together to combine vocals for a virtual performance of the show.