From the Headmistress
Dear Parents
It has been lovely to see all the Year 6 parents having a ball with their children in 'Cinderella and Rockerfella' this week and I am confident that we are all agreed that this was a wonderful production and a true piece of teamwork. All the children deserve congratulations and the cast party that they are to enjoy this Friday afternoon. Lots of Oscar nominations there! You will hear all next week!
We are building up to our examinations now, especially the significant year 8 Transfer Examinations, so do keep talking about what the children are doing at home. The more that they can articulate what they are learning in an informal way, the more it sticks. Don't force it though! Official revision is coming for half term.
Thank you to our Parents' Association for their help on Open Day and for your magnificent children. I have received so many compliments about them and it was with great pride that I was able to stand up in front of at least 90 families and tell them of the 'work hard, play hard' ethic of the School and all that we get up to and stand for. The guides in year 7 and 8 told their individual stories and the younger pupils modelled the activities. This is a vital community day and one where our Young Felstedians really seem to appreciate the education you give them.
I am delighted that the reputation of the School is so positive. We know that word of mouth is key and thank you for your pride in the School that you send your children to. Please keep being active about improvements! The results of the survey are coming soon, but we would value a greater response so draw your attention to the link once more - here is the link.
Mrs J M Burrett
Felsted Preparatory School Awarded for Excellence!
Felsted Preparatory School awarded by Soil Association's Food for Life Partnership Programme for outstanding achievements.
Felsted Preparatory School in Felsted has been adorned with the Food for Life Bronze Award this term, for transforming their school's food culture in line with healthy eating, growing and sustainable food sourcing.
Under the guidance of Catering Manager, Daphne Murdoch, the school has made enormous progress in finding local, organic and animal welfare friendly products for their kitchen, banned all 'nasties' from the menu and flourished with their cooking skills.
"Felsted Prep School is one of only eleven schools in the whole of East Anglia to receive the prestigious Bronze Award with Food for Life", said Ian Nutt, the Soil Association's programme Coordinator for the East of England. "They are an amazing ambassador to other schools in the region and have managed to achieve the award with very little assistance, which proves their dedication to the pupils’ welfare and education through food".
Sports Results
SUCCESS FOR CHESS TEAM!
Four of the school's chess players spent a long Sunday at King's School Ely, competing in the area Mega Final of the British Land UK Chess Challenge, the largest of its type in the world. Tom Gallian and Samuel Hart scored good wins in their six matches as did Oliver Craig (year 2), who was competing against children a year older than him. Harry Nicholls scored four points out of six, which qualifies him for the Southern England Giga final at Wellington College. The boys have made remarkable progress since chess club was launched last September. Nineteen keen chess players now take part every Thursday.
Mr B P Hays
5th & 6th XI Cricket v The Perse
5th and 6th XI fixtures don’t come along that often but when they do they are always highly entertaining and well worth it! We took the Perse School on at home and both teams proved triumphant.
In the 5th XI game the Perse batted first and were restricted to 47 runs. Ed Gable took 3 wickets for 10 runs, Angus Upton 1 wicket for 11 runs, Ollie Salmon 2 wickets for 3 runs, James Hoile 2 wickets for 3 runs and Jamie Smart 1 wicket for 9 runs. Jake Boulton and James Murphy also bowled well. In addition Ollie Salmon took an outrageously good catch at full stretch and the fielding in general was sharp and effective. Ollie Kiersnowski had a great debut as wicket keeper. And so the run chase began. James Hoile scored 5 before being caught and James Murphy was run out on 1. Ollie Kiersnowski scored 3 before being caught and Jamie Smart was bowled on 11. Callum Remmington then played a match winning innings and was retired on 19. Connor Joyce scored 5, Angus Upton 12, Ed Gable 0 and Jake Boulton 2 before also all being retired to allow everyone to bat. Ollie Salmon and Sam Mitchell did not score but saw us safely home for a great victory.
The 6th XI game followed a similar pattern. Good bowling and fielding limited the Perse to just 35 runs with James Austin, Deo Simcox and Alex Austin all taking 2 wickets each. Adam Sheehan also bowled well. This total was quickly reached and bettered with Alex Austin scoring 13 before being bowled, Adam Cooper and George Botwright were both retired having scored 7 and 6 respectively, Louis Howard was bowled for 0 and Sebi Anderson scored 8 before also being bowled. Adam Sheehan and Deo Simcox finished the innings scoring 1 and 3 respectively.
Overall a great fun afternoon when cricket was definitely the winner!
Mr M C Stringer
RESULTS
Rounders v St Johns - U13 A & B - Won, U13/12A - Lost, U13/12B - Won, U13/12C - Won. U11 A - Won, U11B - Drawn, U11C - Lost.
Rounders v Felsted School - U13 A & B - Won.
Rounders v Orwell - U13/12A - Lost, U13/12B - Won, U9 - Lost. The U12/13C - played in a mixed school friendly. U11/10A, B & C/D - All Won.
Rounders v St Faiths - U13/12A, B & C - all Lost. U11/10A & B - Won.
Cubs & Beavers Enjoy The Seashore
The Cubs & Beavers enjoyed a talk from The Wildlife Trust on Monday evening. They talked about our local seashore - what to find, where to find it, what to eat (and not !) Here they are digging about to find crabs, whelks, mussels, cuttlefish and lots more !
News from Cloisters
Congratulations Alex! Alex Dalman got on his bike to cycle 10 miles in April in aid of the Just Care's Uganda Project. To date he has raised £200.00. He became interested in the Project when talking to his relative, Pamela Dalman, who explained to him that a team of ladies has been set up through her church, "Emmanuel's Knitters", were knitting garments for the children in Uganda who have nothing. They have been using odd ends of wool, and moth bitten balls found in peoples lofts; having to join pieces as they knit.
Alex decided that he would like to attempt a cycle ride to raise a bit of money to buy wool for the ladies to knit. They are delighted with the amount he has raised, and some of the wool will also be used to knit hats and scarves for "Operation Christmas Child". Alex spoke to pupils in Cloisters about this in a recent year group meeting.
Well done Alex, it is great to see our Young Felstedians making a difference to the lives of others. To find out more about Just Care's Uganda Project follow the link http://www.justcare.org.
Mr Lewis speaks to pupils from Cloisters about life in the Police force.
As part of the PSHCE programme for pupils in Cloisters we were joined last Friday by DS Mark Lewis of Scotland Yard. His presentation was extremely well received by both pupils and staff and we all learned a great deal about the work of the modern Police force and how we each can make a contribution to keeping our communities safe.
Tom Walker of 5RC particularly enjoyed the talk and volunteered to be interviewed about the talk.
What did you enjoy about the talk?
I liked the way that Mr Lewis had different objects like a shield and different helmets. He let us put them on at the end of the talk and I could not believe how heavy they were! I also loved it when he said he had to ride a bike and take his coat off at the same time!
What did you learn that you did not know before?
Mr Lewis said that helicopters have a special camera that can see people even in the dark. He said that when a helicopter is flying away from you it is still watching. He also said that his favourite car to drive was a Saab because it helped him to catch lots of criminals.
Would you recommend this talk to other friends?
Yes, it was great. I went home and found out about helicopters, motorbikes and cars that policemen use. I even found some pictures of special boats they use in London.
I would like to thank Mr Lewis for his talk and the materials he prepared, it was thoroughly excellent.
Mr J W Phelan
Congratulations to Mikey Barton and Angus Muir - following an earlier article about Mikey Barton and Angus Muir from Year 6 riding 40K for the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity, I am pleased to inform you that the boys raised in excess of £1300! A fabulous effort that has been celebrated by the whole school and in year group assembly.
Well done boys!
News from Stewart House
A new Stewart House pupil has been seen in the Reception classes this week! Jorge, the Spanish puppet, has come to help Mrs Sugden with her Spanish lessons. He will be telling the children about his native country and introducing them to aspects of Spanish culture. His first visit this week was very well received by the children, who were intrigued to speak and listen to the child-sized puppet. We look forward to seeing Jorge regularly this term.
We had another exciting visitor on Thursday in the shape of a beautiful cow called Primrose, with her calf, which the children have named Lara. Mr and Mrs Uthwatt-Bouverie brought them to school to help the Year 2 pupils who are discovering where food comes from as part of their topic on healthy living. All the pupils were delighted to meet them and were very excited to see a cow at close quarters.
Our Year Two Rugby stars showed their recently acquired trophies in assembly this week. Gus Burton, Michael Freeman, Fergus Wootton and John Surguy are all members of Braintree Under 7s Rugby team who have won four tournaments in the last month.
Do not miss the chance to see a professional production of Burglar Bill at the Hunt Theatre next Wednesday afternoon. Some tickets are still available from Dr C R S Lee (crsl@felsted.org).
Monday 17th May is Russia Day in the Prep School. If you have any Russian artefacts, books or pictures we would be delighted to be allowed to borrow them for the day.
Many thanks,
Mrs J. West
Felsted Music Schools gains Patron
Julian Lloyd Webber has agreed to act as patron to the Felsted Music Department.
Julian is one of the world’s most renowned solo cellists, and has played and recorded with many of the world’s most accomplished musicians – from Yehudi Menuhin, Lorin Maazel and Georg Solti to Elton John and, of course, his brother Andrew Lloyd Webber.
He has made many recordings of the cello concerto repertoire – one of his most well-known and most highly regarded recordings is that of the Elgar Cello Concerto conducted by Yehudi Menuhin.
Julian has given many world premieres of works by important contemporary composers including Philip Glass, James MacMillan and Gavin Bryars.
Julian is a passionate advocate of music education and music in schools. He co-founded the Music Education Consortium in 2003 with James Galway and another old friend of Felsted, Evelyn Glennie.
In 2008 Julian became the chair of In Harmony, a project designed to bring music into more deprived schools which is modelled on the inspirational Venezuelan idea ‘El Sistema’ which has led to the developments of one of the most extraordinary youth orchestras in the world, the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.
Julian will be performing at Felsted in March 2012 as part of the Arts Festival.
Written by Mr James Lowry
