Head News

Last Friday was an emotional day for all as the school celebrated the life of Mo Beyer with her family at a Memorial Service in the school chapel, beautifully led by Reverend Brice. Mrs Frances Marshall, Mo's Housemistress spoke beautifully about Mo's time in Stocks's and there were some lovely readings from some of Mo's fellow IB students. Following the service, Sixth Form IB students commemorated a bench in her name in the Stocks's annexe garden.

Last week was also the focus for many Year 8 students hoping to gain scholarships to Felsted School in September. We saw many pupils from the Prep School as well as from further afield who wished to be considered for either a Music, Art, Drama, DT or Sport Scholarship. The standards were very high and we hope to make the awards imminently.

The theme of Leadership Week this year is Poverty. The week began last Wednesday in a moving chapel assembly by Kate Snow, a representative of the Magic Bus Charity, set up by OF Matthew Spacie MBE. The theme continued as one of the General Assembly Debates in Felsted's first Model United Nations Conference, which took place earlier this week. Many of our pupils were involved in leading this event and it has been fantastic to see such a good number from both the Senior and Prep School debate on topical global issues such as the Haiti earthquake, capital punishment and the global recession.  

As our first official conference since joining the Round Square we were delighted to welcome pupils from Louisenland in Germany. We were also especially pleased to strengthen our International Baccalaureate links by welcoming students from Uptown High School in Dubai, a new IB World School.

We will be busy interviewing candicates for the new Deputy Head positions this Thursday and Friday and I hope to have an announcement to make on these in the next few weeks.

We are delighted to announce that Apple have chosen Felsted to be a Regional Training Centre (RTC) for Apple Education.

The partnership with Apple represents a huge vote of confidence in the school from one of the world's leading technology companies and we look forward to developing our relationship over the coming months. A detailed programme of events, including sessions for interested parents/guardians, will be published after half-term.

The initial focus for the Felsted RTC is History as a subject (we are the only RTC in the UK to have this specialism) and this is due to a recognition of the innovative teaching within the History Department and our creative use of ICT to enhance learning. Apple have provided 8 MacBooks for Felsted to use and train other teachers locally and nationally in exciting and innovative ways to approach the curriculum.

Written by Dr Dennis

Maths Challenge

Last Thursday almost 80 pupils in years 9, 10 and 11 sat the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. The challenge involves 25 lively, intriguing multiple choice questions, lasting an hour, which are designed to stimulate interest in Maths in large numbers of pupils. There are 3 levels of Maths Challenge (Junior, Intermediate and Senior) covering the secondary school range 11-18 and together they attract over 600,000 entries from over 4000 schools and colleges. Those pupils scoring well on the Maths Challenge will receive Gold, Silver or Bronze certificates, which are awarded to 40% of participants nationally. The most successful participants are invited to enter follow-on rounds which require full written answers.

We will keep you updated on the outcome!

Written by Mrs Suzanne Unsworth

Jack Petchey Awards

The following students have been given Jack Petchey Awards over the past few months:

Emma Nicholson in November for forging links between Felsted School and the local community, Tom Coleby in December for the survey of disability access around the school and Filip Bigos in January for his work on the Model United Nations Conference. Well done to you all.

Sixth Questionary 

The sixth questionary at Felsted has just taken place. This quiz is open to all pupils who wish to take part and consists of 100 challenging questions on a variety of topics, including recent news.

The first round was held on Monday 14th Dec 2009 and the 2nd Round on Monday 18th Jan 2010. The Pewter Cup is awarded to the winner with a £40 cash prize. A £10 cash prize is awarded to the winner of the first round.

This quiz saw the best ever scores: Sam Payne was an excellent newcomer scoring over the half marks. The leading three all would have won any of the last three years’ events; with 82.5 points Sam McArdle was third; with 84 points (the second highest ever score) Katie Sunnucks came second; and the winning score was an outstanding 87, by Alice Short of Manor. The cup will be presented later in the term.

Past winners: Alisa Crisp 2004 and 2005, Tim Poston 2006 & 2007; Sarah-Jane Horne 2008.

Written by Mr Alan Chamberlain

Upper Sixth Classics

Study Day

Early on the morning of the 27th January, the bleary-eyed Upper Sixth Classical Civilisation class gathered at Bishop’s Stortford train station for an epic day out in London. Having managed to navigate the London transport system with ease, we arrived at Francis Holland School for a day of lectures on Virgil’s “Aeneid”. The pupils admirably survived the traditional (and very informative) lectures in the morning and were rewarded with the humorous and lively lectures of Bob Cowan (Balliol, Oxford) in the afternoon; until Bob pointed it out, I had never noticed the similarities in prose between Augustus and recent politicians (Hitler and George W. Bush to name a few!). Hopefully, Bob Cowan will be coming to Felsted soon to amuse the rest of the Felsted Classicists on the topic of “Love ‘em and leave ‘em; Aeneas, Odysseus and their women”!

Written by Miss Sarah Bushby

Year 11 Poetry Day

It was with some reservation that a group of Year 11 students accompanied staff from the Support for Learning Department to a GCSE poetry revision day held at The Corn Exchange in Cambridge. However, our doubts proved to be unfounded as the poets read and discussed their work in a way which was lively, entertaining and often amusing. 

John Agard started by saying that we are all ‘cool’ and then went on to illustrate this with an amusing reading of his poem ‘Half Caste’ which makes the point that we are all unique and valuable individuals. He then read some of his animal poems which describe animals by giving them human characteristics. His poem ‘Hippo’ was particularly good.

We all enjoyed Simon Armitage, a northerner who talked about Yorkshire. He really entertained and involved us with his lively and friendly manner.  Similarly Gillian Clarke, who had a strong Welsh accent, told us how her experiences as a mother influenced many of her poems and in particular ‘Katrin’ who is her daughter.

Carol Ann Duffy, who has recently taken over from Andrew Motion as Poet Laureate, was rather more serious in what she said and Moniza Alvi who, although she has lived here since she was very young, talked about her cultural roots in Pakistan and how they have influenced her.  

The day was rounded off by the Chief Examiner, who gave us very practical instructions on how to do our best in the examination. His tips included the advice to always do a plan and to make sure we answer the question set and not the one we wished we had been asked. 

Written by Will Tunstall-Prince and Jasmin King, Year 11

Stocks's and Gepp's Evenings of Entertainment

Two evenings were organised by Stocks's and Gepp's last week. Both were very well attended and many thanks go to parents for their support, both physical and material.  They raised just under £1800 for the "Mo Beyer Memorial Charity" and a cheque for this amount will be sent to Professor and Dr. Beyer as soon as possible. Rebecca Mansfield, Jil Thuir, Abi Claydon, Lucy Coward Whittaker and Ann-Catherine May performed a song entitled "Viva Colognia" as this was a particular favourite of Mo and was part of the Cologne Carnival that she so enjoyed.

There were many fantastic acts from pupils of both houses and all those attending were kept very well entertained.  Harry Kingham conducted a very successful auction during the evening and was ably supported by Scarlett Mott-Brown and Olivia Roberts.

Written by Mrs Frances Marshall, Housemistress of Stocks's

Student Review below, written by Dominic Oxnam, Year 11

The Stocks's and Gepp's evening was held in honour Mo Beyer and to raise money for a charity that she was fond off.  It came at the end of a sombre day for us all but it was very uplifting for all involved and everyone who knew Mo confirmed that she would not only have enjoyed the event, she would have been a major part of it too.

The hosts for the evening were the Magnificent Mrs Marshall aided by Mr ‘Yorkshire’ himself, our own Housemaster, Mr Smith. Stocks's girls gave us superbly scintillating performances while Gepp's lads gallivanted gregariously through an aggregation of acts!  Although the evening was not adversarial, the flame of competition flared briefly as old rivalries were revived between the thoughtful and musically complex offering of the Stocks's Part Song and the humorous Gepp's effort which was, simply, the best song in the world! 

Some individual performances should be mentioned: Guitars at Dawn featured a strum off between Mr Coppel and William Walter which was declared a brilliant draw. Virtuoso violin performances were given and James Butterworth took us from a jolly, toe tapping jig to a sad and haunting lament. Mr Bennett led from the front with an eye-watering performance on the hose pipe and funnel and as Mr Smith commented, on the basis of that performance, the lunatics are obviously going to remain happily in charge of the asylum.  In fact excellence in the Smith department was a minor theme of the evening with Esme and Andrea (both of separate Smith persuasions) showed us the range and scale of their singing ability.  Andrea sang  Don't Cry for Me...’ but I’m sure Mr Smith nearly did, this being his final Gepp's and Stocks's show.  All in all this was, we hope, a suitable send off not only for Mo but also for our esteemed Housemaster.  Many thanks go to him, Mrs Marshall and everyone who came together to make this such a special and memorable evening.

Prefects Burns Night Supper

The annual Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems and once again, it was celebrated at Felsted in a true Scottish fashion. It began with the Prefects, Governors, Deputy Head Master and a few members of the common room having a formal photo to remember the evening.  We started the six course meal with anticipation for what was to come; the haggis went into a duel with Andy Ross (Andy Ross won) and those who thought a sheep's bladder would not be their favourite dish were soon converted. Beautiful songs and jollities were sung by most of the prefects and Mr Lauder amazed us all with his terrific Scottish song. Ali Marshall charmed everyone as usual with her angelic voice and although it was only learnt that morning, it was amazing. For those who did not participate in the musical side of the evening, a poem, "To a mouse" was passed around the tables and it was amusing to hear everyone's rendition of Scottish poetry.  As the evening came to an end, we were reminded that it was Mr Thomson's final Burn's Night and being a Scotsman himself, we hope after many years at Felsted, this final celebration will truly be remembered.  At the end of the evening, there were toasts to both ladies and men made by Mr Lauder and Mrs O'Brien both of which were thought provoking and very funny.  We are very grateful for the privilege of attending such a fantastic evening and it was certainly an evening that will not be forgotten.

Written by Rebecca Spence & Alycia Gundersen, Upper Sixth

Kieran competes in British Schools Ski Championships

Kieran Norris, Yr 9 from Gepps's House, is away competing on the ski circuit this winter. We have received the following update from his father, which we share with you below ....

"It’s been a season of up and down moments for Kieran so far which tends to happen when you are pushing hard for the top positions. Kieran has been training really hard and has been making considerable progress. He has consistently produced runs in the top 10 this year. He has had some really excellent runs, but unfortunately has not always been able to get the two good runs he needs. However each race counts for points, so he has worked hard at reducing his points and improving his start number. He is now in the top 15 starters for most races.

In the Welsh Championships Slalom, the first run put Kieran in 10th Place, but because he was pushing hard for a place he unfortunately straddled a gate in the second run. In the Giant Slalom he was again 10th after the first run; this time he managed to push hard in the second run finishing 4th, which gave him 7th Overall.

He then went on to represent Felsted at the British Schoolboys Championships in the GS. He had an amazing first run putting him into 2nd Place. But he was not settling for that and while pushing really hard on the second run he unfortunately came out. Obviously he was very disappointed at missing a podium opportunity, but you have to give it 100% in each run.

His next event is the English Champs in Bormio - we will keep you posted!

Well done Kieran and good luck in your forthcoming races!

Trip to Krakow 

Airport, at 4 o’clock in the morning? You have to be joking? Well, Dr Lee wasn’t. On Saturday 30th of January we set off to go to Krakow in Poland. Looking out the aircraft windows we noticed the snow on the ground. We had been told to expect weather conditions of -10° and snowing..... brilliant!  Despite that, everyone seemed to have smiles on their faces and were ready to go.

As soon as we stepped off the plane, Dr Lee had his camera out, of course, and everyone felt the cold. We hopped on the coach for a journey to Auschwitz (Camp 1).  As soon as we walked into the camp everyone went quiet and realised what we came to Poland for. I think everyone’s faces really said it all. The most memorable thing for me was the endless amounts of hair, shaved from the heads of prisoners, and little children’s shoes that were left and now put on display. I don’t think anyone really expected what we saw. After that we were shown the places where the prisoners in the concentration camp slept, ate, drank, and were murdered. It was shocking. Next we were off to Auschwitz Birkenau, which was so big it shocked us. We were shown the living conditions of the prisoners and how poorly they were treated, and then we were taken to the remains of the gas chambers, which left people speechless.

The next day we got up, had breakfast, packed our bags and were out the door. Firstly to the factory of Oscar Schindler, made famous in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List; then to a surviving piece of the Ghetto wall, Krakow’s Jewish Museum, before finally stopping off at Krakow’s Jewish 16th century Remuh Synagogue and cemetery. We were informed about Jewish customs and teachings and sat for a while to think and just realise what had happened. Shortly after we left to have the opportunity for shopping for knick-knacks and souvenirs at the huge Craft Market. After a bit of singing on the streets, spending money and more pictures by Dr Lee we left to collect our bags and head to the airport. Everything was going smoothly till the first of Tim Stiles’ problems occurred. Where was his passport? He didn’t know! Well it didn’t end there.

We finally arrived back home, everyone was exhausted and were thinking back to what a good weekend they had had. We all got through passport control. Then suddenly, where was his wallet? Timmy didn’t know. Dr Lee sat us down to say our goodbyes and brought up the topic of cameras. ‘Anyone lost their camera by any chance? Timmy?’ Believe it or not, it was his.

So that was the end of our amazing trip to Krakow: we laughed, we cried, and took lots of photos. We also managed to hit all four of Dr Lee's 4 targets for a successful trip: lots of learning, shopping, eating and having fun!

 Written by Brogan Ball, Stocks’s

OF Charlie Pitcher on track for record solo Atlantic crossing!

OF Charlie Pitcher (son of Dick OF '36-'43 and father to Tim OF '07-'09), is leading the field by an extraordinary amount in the Woodvale Challenge Atlantic Rowing Race. He is on Day 38, with 1705 nautical miles behind him and only 905 miles to go!  Please link here to his website where his daily blog really is inspirational.  Any words of encouragement or donations to Addenbrookes Kidney Unit really make a difference to his motivation in the isolation of the Atlantic Ocean!

Charity Organathon

Rupert Gosling, The High Sheriff of Essex will be performing in the School Chapel on Thursday 11th February at 2.30pm.  He is a keen amateur organist and has taken up the challenge of playing as many organs in Essex as possible in order to raise money for the Essex High Sheriff's Fund which to date has supported 317 local charities from grants totalling over £220,000.  Admission is free, all welcome.

For details about the High Sheriff's Fund contact Jo Murphy at Essex Community Foundation on 01245 355947 or visit www.essexcommunityfoundation.org.uk 

Felsted hosted its first Model United Nations Conference over the past two days, in association with Magic Bus. Approximately 170 pupils took part from Felsted and from schools in Essex, the UK, Germany and Dubai. Amongst the topics up for debate were human rights, saving the blue whale, the global recession and world poverty. Here is a full schedule of the event. A full review will appear in the next enewsletter.

Emma Hilton, Secretary General, opening the MUN conference

Opening Ceremony

Some of our Sixth Form Student Officials at the Opening Ceremony

Mr Tom Vignoles, Assistant Head and organiser of the Conference, along with two Felsted Sixth Formers, Emma Hilton and Filip Bigos were interviewed by BBC Essex on Tuesday. They managed to talk their way through almost ten minutes of air time, educating listeners on the benefits of such a conference! Click here to download full interview (MP3 File, 8.8MB).     

Lower Sixth visit Harlow Group

The Lower Sixth Form recently visited Harlow Group to see the computer aided production facilities. The day started with an overview of the designing and costing processes of the company and involved looking at the processes the company utilise for the prototyping and development of a new product and the control systems used to manufacture a final design using CNC fabrication techniques including laser profiling and painting and powder coating techniques.

Harlow group is one of the leading UK manufacturers of precision sheet metal component products and electro-mechanical assemblies and use the latest computer aided design equipment from laser sintering to computer aided folding techniques to produce high quality products for a wide range of customers including Boeing and Sony.

Students were then able to see the wide range of processes used in the manufacture of products taking place on the shop floor and students were able to look at the engineering and quality assurance processes used to check the construction of constructing and paint spraying processes first hand. The trip highlighted the high level of skills required in the design and development of new products, which will support students fully as they consider their own design solutions for their own products currently under construction in our own workshops.  

We would like to thank Bill Thompson, Managing Director and David Russell, Manager of the paint shop, for their informative presentations, along with all of the staff of Harlow group for allowing us access to their manufacturing facility and taking time out of their busy schedules for us to see the manufacturing processes first hand on our guided tour. 

Written by Mr Peter Nash

Year 9 Work Education Day

Last Thursday 83 Yr 9 pupils spent the day visiting a range of businesses, with the aim of gaining an appreciation of the world of work. 

Group 1 had a factory tour and presentation at Molton Brown before going on to CPL Aromas and learning about fragrance testing. The girls also received a number of free samples for their mums! 

Group 2 had the opportunity to visit Boddingtons, a specialist plastics business that makes plastic products from corn and potato starches and not the usual oil-based raw material; after this they went on to hear about the marketing and development of Benefit Cosmetics.

Group 3 went to Albany, a specialist hygiene business and were not only given a run through on the businesses operations and development, but also took part in some market research for the company. 

Group 4 were London bound and visited a number of 'City' institutions, who not only allowed them access but gave talks and tours which were really appreciated by the pupils. They included: Swiss Re at the Gherkin; Lloyd's of London; The London Metal Exchange and also the Bank of England.

These events were only possible because of the support of Felsted parents and friends who offered their time and enthusiasm to make the day such a positive success. If you would like to help with any of the work education programme do please contact Peter Golden (pjg@felsted.org).

The next event is the Year 10 'Meet The Professionals' morning on March 20th.

Written by Mr Peter Golden

CCF Dinner

On the Exeat weekend of the first half of this term,  the very first Upper Sixth ‘Combined Cadet Force’ dinner took place. It happened to be a very merry occasion organised by Major Winter and myself, where the entire Upper Sixth of Felsted school CCF came together with the senior officers to reminisce on the times that we have spent together as a contingent, with special guests; the Headmaster Dr. Michael Walker, the Reverend Jonathan Brice of Felsted School and Nicholas Hinde, a man who as a former member of staff led the navy section at Felsted.

The dinner consisted of a three course meal with cheese and coffee afterwards, finishing with toasts to the Queen, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Anglian Regiment and the Combined Cadet Force of Felsted School. After the toasts, there was a small break before speeches were given by myself, followed by the Contingent Commander. The common theme in both speeches is what it truly means to be in the CCF and both speeches contained many highlights of our four years taking part in the school’s ‘hard option’. It was a brilliant night and a complete success enjoyed thoroughly by all and we hope that it will become a regular tradition as a way of ‘seeing off’ the senior pupils of the CCF.

Written by William Jarvis WO1 (RSM) 

Hockey Results

v Bishop's Stortford: A clean sweep!

First XI W6-1, Second XI W6-0, CCA W3-0, CCB W2-1, U16A W3-0 U16B W2-1, U15A W2-1, U15B W2-0, U14A W3-2, U14B W3-0

vs Oundle: 1st XI  D1-1, 2nd XI D2-2, CCA W1-0, CCB D1-1, U16A L0-2, U16B L0-2, U16C/U15D L1-5, U15A W3-2, U15B W6-0

v Uppingham in the Boarding Schools Cup: 1st XI W 4-2

Netball News

V Great Baddow: U14A W21-3, U15A L24-14, U16A L34-17.

V Bishops Stortford - there were some very close high scoring matches, but the only victory was the U14B team who won 23-2.

Felsted Fastnet: The first ever Felsted Fastnet Netball Tournament was held last Saturday consisting of slightly different rules and fancy dress! The winners were the Butterflies Team led by Becca Spence, followed by the MMM Team, lead by Ali Marshall, in second place.

Best dresses went to Brampton's Bandits and the most enthusiastic went to Abi Claydon and Ali Marshall. Most 2 point goals scored (outside the D) came from Team MMM. Thanks to all for a lovely afternoon of some great and funny netball.

King's Canterbury Tournament: the 1st VII played Roedean, King's, Brighton College and Benenden. They won 1, drew 1 and lost 2.

Football Dinner and Awards

The Felsted Football Dinner took place on Sunday 31st January in the Common Room Dining room. The dinner was a reflection on a good football season with Julian Thake receiving Player of the Year and Niclas Karan getting most improved player.  The Captain for next year is Carlos Pohle who will be supported by Billy Ince as Vice Captain.

Written by Stephen Drain, Upper Sixth

Interhouse Basketball

The Junior Competition was won by Deacons with more enthusiasm than skill while the Senior competition was comfortably won by Gepps with the Kolb-Niebecker brothers, Max and Otto playing outstanding basketball.  The senior final between Gepps and Deacons was played to a particularly good standard.  The main event this season will be the short tour to Germany next month although we are also looking forward to the Old Felstedians match on Sunday 21st March. If any Old Boy wants to play, please get in touch with me. (iwg@felsted.org).

Written by Mr Iain Gwyther

Felsted Arts Festival secures major names

We are once again looking forward to the annual Felsted Arts Festival.  There are so many wonderful events this year that we have extended the festival to ten days.  This will be running from 25th February to Saturday 6th March. 

Major highlights include author Alexander McCall Smith, percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, two art exhibitions and much, much more. Tickets are selling fast, particularly for the big names! Please click here for the full brochure.

Most tickets can be purchased through the Bookroom on 01371 822635 or email bookroom@felsted.org.

Spring Courses

You should now have received a copy of the Spring Courses Booklet for Easter Holiday Camps and other interesting courses. For those that didn't receive one or you can't find it, please find an electronic copy here.

Two popular adult courses which are running in February/March are:

Beginners and Improvers Pottery- Monday 22nd February - 29th March and Pottery Skills Development - Wednesday 24th February - 31st March. Both cost £80.00 with an extra charge for any items glazed. 

Learn to Develop your Singing Voice - Wednesday 3rd March - 7th April, this costs £75.00 and Creative Textile Evening Workshops - Wednesday 3rd - 24th March, this costs £50.00 with an extra charge for materials.

Please book early to avoid disappointment. 

Charity Shopping Trip

Samantha Cochrane a Year 5 mum is organising a trip to Bicester Shopping Village on Thursday 18th March.  The coach will collect anybody interested from Felsted at 8.30am and return at 5.30pm.  The price is £20 per head and any remaining funds once costs are covered will be donated to the Haiti Fund.

For further information please contact Samantha Cochrane on 07715 000005 email: sam71mc@hotmail.com

Schoolstrader.com

School community trading is booming and for those of you who have not yet given it a go, www.schoolstrader.com, the free-ads website for school communities, is the place to start.  

Schoolstrader has a vibrant independent section covering most independent schools across the UK, including Felsted.

Parents, staff and alumni can trade with each other free of charge - everything from musical instruments and houses to ski gear and holiday homes. 

The site has been featured in The Sunday Times, as a Top 50 website in The Daily Telegraph and online in Which.