From the Headmistress
Dear Parents
I thoroughly enjoyed our Probationers' Service last week and I hope the children and adults who came did as well. Sadly, as is so often the case these days, this open chapel service was only supported by the parents of those in the choir. The service was lovely, each of the Probationers promising to serve the choir with commitment, sing with the spirit and perform with joy in his or her heart. They certainly showed their talent in the succeeding anthems, hymns and Carmina Burana the next day. We enjoyed our annual thank you to the choir at the party afterwards.
The Reverend Colin Taylor really held our attention with his trick of seemingly being able to make water disappear. The first time he did this it went all over the floor. The second time, he asked which of us believed he could make the water disappear. Lots of us optimistically put our hands up, but he got Ed Reid to act on his belief and come and sit under the jug out of which he poured the water into the newspaper. It did indeed disappear! So it is no use believing he told us unless you are prepared to act on your belief!
Congratulations also to the Art and Design and Technology Scholars and Scholarship candidates who came and exhibited their work at the Arts Festival Exhibition held at the Ross Hall over the weekend. A wonderful moment! I hope you found a moment to enjoy it too.
We have had some tremendous sporting successes to celebrate this week. I hope you enjoy reading all about them and there are some fun pictures from World Book Day for you to appreciate. We have tried to teach pupils how international the fairy tale is, how magical, but also how gruesome. Please do share a few more together at home. Our statistics tell us that we could always do more reading, although time is a factor in our type of school. Years 5, 7 and 8 in particular struggle to read as much as we would like, so anything you can do at the weekends and in the holidays to support the love of literature would be great. Carmina Burana Concert
A short video of this amazing performance can be view here
“Emotional, outstanding, talented, extraordinary” – just a few words to describe the amazing concert that was held at Felsted last Sunday. The audience listened spellbound to the first half, which included an incredibly moving violin solo of Schindler’s List by John Li, a talented Sixth Form pupil.
After the interval James Lowry, Director of Music at Felsted, conducted Bolero, which again was outstanding, before he went on to conduct the main highlight of the evening, Carmina Burana, where over 100 pupils, parents, guest singers and musicians came together to perform this momentous piece by Carl Orff. From the standing ovation, you could tell that everyone was blown away by the performance and appreciated the hard work by everyone involved. The Preparatory School Choir showed huge maturity by being involved in this momentuous piece as did Tom Brown and Max Knudesn who played throughout the evening in the Orchestra.
A retiring collection raised over £1000 for Noonan's Syndrome Charity, Newlife. My daughter, Katie, who is in Yr 2, suffers from this most complex genetic condition with her most significant symptom being a heart defect called Pulmonary Valve Stenosis. Noonan Syndrome is relatively unknown and it is my greatest wish to raise money and awareness for the charity, Newlife, which supports this condition. Katie has had two procedures to widen her valve and I am hopeful she will be able to hold on until her teenage years before a new valve is needed.
Thank you to James Lowry, Director of Music at Felsted, Mrs Burrett and everyone involved in the concert and also to the audience who gave so generously to the charity. Our target for this year was to begin to fund genetic testing for NS, to set up a website and a forum whereby people can get advice or just support each other. Thanks to everyone involved we can now get this off the ground.
Written by Mrs Jane Harwood, Mum to Katie Yr 2 & Emily Yr 4
Sports Results
Felsted U11 Mini Hockey Tournament - the U11 girls won this tournament by beating Barnardiston Hall 2-1, New Hall 7-0, Alleyn Court 6-0, St Cedds 3-0 and Dame Bradurys 8-0. Well done & congratulations.
Netball
U9 v Bishop's Stortford College - A team - lost 1-8, B team - drew 4 - 4
U13 & U12 v Brandeston Hall - U13A - drew 20-20, U13B - won 12-17, U12A lost 6-4
Hockey
The U9 girls battled with great determination and will power to gain the joint 3rd place in the Felsted Mini Hockey Tournament on Friday. Their knowledge of game play improved greatly; they never gave in once, not even against the eventual winners who were far more experienced.
U9A Boys v Dame Bradbury's Won 3-0
U11v The Abbey, Woodbridge
A team - won 5 - 2, B team - drew 0 - 0, C team - drew 1 -1, D team - drew 0 - 0. U11 E/F v Friends School 'A' team (incl. 2 county players!) - lost 0 - 7
U13 v Woodbridge:
1st XI - won 4-2, 2nd XI - drew 3-3, 3rd XI - won 2-1, 4th XI - won 6-0, 5th XI - lost 4 - 2, 6th XI won 6 - 0.
Swimming Gala v St Johns (U12/13 Boys & Girls)
St John's 137 to Felsted 114. A very competitive and enjoyable Gala. Lots of very strong swims and very close races. Felsted came first in:
U13 Boys Freestyle - Callum Macdonald, Butterfly - Tom Cherry, Backstroke - George Botright. U12 Boys Butterfly - Freddie Evans, Freestyle - Alex Gilham. U12 Girls Breaststroke - Sophie Butler, Butterfly - Rachel Freedman.
Well done to all the swimmers who put in a very determined swim.
Mr Evans
St David's Day
Mr Owen celebrating St David's Day with two of our pupils.
Stewart House Information
The highlight of this week has been our celebration of World Book Day. The children and staff arrived at school as fairytale characters, dressed in an amazing variety of imaginative costumes. Each class has read and studied fairytales, and it was interesting to note how these traditional tales are less well known by the children than in the past. We hope that our day has made them more aware of their literary heritage, as well as being an enjoyable excuse to dress up!
We have received some delightful letters from grandparents who visited last week. We are very grateful for their kind and appreciative comments:
“I am sure you must be aware how special such occasions are for pupils and grandparents alike. The activities gave us all an interesting and stimulating time, and the children loved showing us how well they can work and introducing us to their teachers and friends. As in previous years, Grandparents’ Day contributed to our growing bank of happy memories of times spent with our grandchildren.”
“My Mum had a fantastic morning on Friday. She really enjoyed the activities and thought it is wonderful thing to give the grandparents an opportunity to see the school with their grandchildren. She wants to know where Mrs Randall gets her energy from!”
Gold Book Awards were given to Gus Latham, Emily Isaacs, Rory Alexander and Gabriel Mifsud last week. Awards this week went to Charlie Payne, Lewis Isaacs, Poppy Tydeman, Flora Nicholls, Daisy Cartwright and Ismenie Howell. Well done to them all for their hard work and excellent attitude in school.
Please remember that The Pre-Prep Concert will be held on Thursday 18th March at 1.30pm. All the children will be taking part, and for many it will be their concert debut as a soloist or dancer!
Friday March 19th is Sports Relief Day. Children may come to school wearing sports kit of their choice, and will pay £1.00 for the privilege.
Mrs West
Last summer, the Year 2 children (now in Year 3) wrote acrostic poems about water for a regional competition. Many of these were chosen to be published and we received a complementary copy of the book this week, which was very exciting! It will be proudly on display in Oak Trees Library.
Mrs Feldman Ffrome Court News
Years 3 and 4 celebrated St David's day with an assembly led by 4CL. It included listening to a Welsh male voice choir, tasting Welsh cakes, practising Welsh and learning many new facts about Wales illustrated by a power point.
Year 3 now have a bird table to tend thanks to the generosity of the
Annual Development Fund. The Nature Garden and the Pre-Prep also have new bird tables.
Year 4 enjoyed trying on Roman costumes as part of their study of
Roman everyday life. They thought that they would probably prefer to wear their school uniform in this weather!
News from Cloisters
Congratulations to Oliver Walker 6TR who has been selected to train
with the Southend United Junior Squad.
Passport - Year 6 are well underway with their efforts for the Passport 2010. Reports confirm that many bedrooms are being tidied, pets well feed and groomed and even three course meals prepared!
Hannah Barratt 6TR has been working on the environmental challenges with a very thought provoking report on car parking.
Please continue to encourage the Passport activities at home and do
let me know of any achievements or PowerPoints etc.
Mr Phelan
Courtauld House News
On Friday evening at the Aubrey Charity Art Exhibition our proud Art
and Design and Technology Scholarship candidates joined numerous local artists in displaying their collections at a private viewing before
the public were able to view their work over the weekend. Harry Allen, Gabby Doughty, Sarah Lewis, Isabelle Moore, Lawrence Davey, Grace Prior, Sam Mitchell and Tom Latham had their art displayed in their own small collection and I have to say the standard was breathtaking.
The Design and Technology display by Dom Latham, Ben Malden, Olly
Chaplin, Charlie Duke, James Murphy and William Rowntree-Taylor also showed an incredibly high standard of achievement and great credit must go to all the pupils for their hard woprk and their dedication.
A huge thank you also goes to Miss Mitchell and Mr Simpson for their never ending enthusiasm and guidance. I hope all the pupils enjoyed the opportunity to display their work and that future generations have been inspired.
Mr Stringer
National Science Week
It’s almost the start of National Science and Engineering Week 2010 and people all over the country are gearing themselves up for ten days packed full of talks, hands-on activities, shows and workshops. At Felsted we are getting involved too. Pupils should go to the board outside Science Lab 1 to find out about all the activities that will be going on in school between the 13th and 20th March.
Here you can sign up to watch a rat dissection, a heart dissection, make perfume, make bath bombs, learn about the Solar System, find out about DNA structure, make electrical circuits, find out about forensic science, drop eggs in parachutes, taste pink pancakes and many more fun activities. (Please note no child below Year 5 will be allowed to watch the dissections).
There are also lots of things to try at home during National Science and Engineering Week. Have a look at the suggested website activities. LOG ONTO :
http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/nsew/index.htm
for the full National Science and Engineering Week events programme. Let the science department know which activities you are going to get involved with and EARN SOME EXTRA COMMENDATIONS.
Mrs C F Bury |
HM's Commendations
Congratulations to the following pupils who were awarded Commendations in this week's assembly - Scarlet Booty, Chloe Green, Robert MacLennan, Owen Thomas, Amber Aitken, Gemma Wood, Emily Harwood, Alex Martine, Suzie Cronk, Ollie Stonham, Molly Bones, George McKelvey & Louis Mather for their work in History with Mrs Lee and Hannah Barratt for her project on car engine Pollution in our car parks (please click on the link to read - her key message is - "don't leave your car engine running in the car park - don't be a choke!").
Well done also to Oliver Williams, Sam Mitchell, Dominic Latham, Ben Malden, Gabby Doughty, Emma Sweeney, Tom Kingham & Isabelle Lowe who were also awarded commendations for their performance in the recent Year 8 trial Maths examinations.
Battle of the Bands!
It was a battle, and nobody was banned as Felsted Preparatory School put on a rockin' display to celebrate the latest Battle of the Bands. The judge was Mr. Rees, and what a task he had! Pupils had worked hard to produce a variety of pieces that engaged and showed commitment. The Head of Ceremonies was Izzy Brooks, and she did a sterling job in introducing the acts with just the right amount of ad lib and humour.
Among the acts that we saw were The Cherries (a singing and dancing act) who told us that 'The Boy Does Nothing'. They were rewarded with the title of best dance of the evening. Hannah and Saskia walked off with a joint award for the best female vocals for their version of 'Don't Go Breaking my Heart', while best male vocals went to Pranjal Roy who sang lead on an acoustic number from Guns 'n' Roses. This was performed by D.K.R and included Oli Kiersnowski, who won best instrumentalist for his fluid guitar work.
Before the overall winners of the evening were announced, the house band (The Full Stops) led all the performers in a rousing rendition of 'Mamma Mia'. On leads vocals were Georgia Willson, drums Ben
Maldon, Bass was Davide Mansfield and a shy chap on guitar who kept his back to the audience.
Finally, Mr. Rees delivered his results; in third place were the immortal V.I.P's. They have demonstrated continuing progress and shown that they are really 'in the zone'; also they had nice outfits. Second were D.K.R. for their variety and subtelty and fine delivery.
Winners of the 2010 Battle of the Bands were Four Months. They delivered a song that they had written themselves entitled 'You'll Be Mine'. This catchy ditty had the whole audience rocking in their seats, and they certainly looked the part of rock heroes.
Congratulations to all those who took part, to all the teachers who supported, to Mr. Rees for being an excellent judge and to all you parents who came along to enjoy the evening and support the pupils.
Mr A J Harries
Head of Drama (and still hoping to be discovered as a latter day guitar hero!)
World Book Day
All children dressed up as book characters to celebrate World Book Day on Thursday. Each league chose a different book and had much fun dressing up for the day!
Some Ffrome Court Red Riding Hood Characters! Busy Beavers!
On Monday 1 March, the Beavers visited Hatfield Forest to make a start on their Adventure Badge. They took part in a map reading session, using the key on the map they had to identify letters on posts to help them solve a crossword. Well done to Conner Jewiss who brought his group home first.
Charity News
Helen Rollason Coffee Morning
The coffee morning was a great success and thanks to those who supported in person this morning - I believe there were 20 of us. I know many of you sent apologies and many came bearing cakes - thank you. Thanks also to those who could not come but who did send cakes and to those who made donations.
Thanks to Kathryn who helped with the drinks duties and Sarah for keeping me informed. A total of £226 was raised - thanks to everyone. This was passed onto Nicola Douglas from the charity who attended the coffee morning and have a short talk about the worhty work of this charity.
The charity also has a charity shop in Braintree and Witham and is always looking for items to sell - even furniture.
If you would like to make a donation or find out more about the charity then please visit their website :
Healthy Tip of the Week!
Red peppers contain more Vitamin C than green peppers! Boarding Weekend
The boarding weekend which was scheduled for the end of March has been cancelled. Family Exchange
A family based in France who is well known to a 'Felsted' family are interested in the possibility of doing an 'exchange' for Jean for the summer term.
The family have 4 children in total : Jean (10/12/1998), Nathan (19/11/2000), Axel (10/02/2004) & Juliette (20/10/2005). They live in a small village about 25 miles South of Bordeaux. Their house and garden is more than adequate for them, and the four-legged family (dog, cats, alpagas, llamas). They also have a family home on the coast at Cap-Ferret.
Anna is British by birth, Alex is French, and runs his own wine business. They would like to send Jean to the UK in the Summer and have a boy of similar age, come back to them. They would be pleased to hear from any interested families.
If you are interested in this then please contact the office who will be able to send you their contact details.
Thank you. Easter Rugby Camps:
13th & 14th April for ages 12-16, 15th & 16th April for ages 8-11.
10.00am - 4.00pm
Cost £70.00.
The camps will provide boys and girls of all abilities the chance to experience a broad range of rugby skills from ball handling, kicking to evasive running and tackling. The camps aim to be a fun, safe way to learn about and enjoy planing rugby. Felsted's Head of Rugby, ex-professional Andrew Le Chevalier, will run the camps along with other coaches who have all played rugby at a high standard.
Further details can be found here or from the Courses Officer on courses@felsted.org or 01371 822634. Please book early to avoid disappointment. |
