Form 1 Around the World Week
Form 1 had an excellent introduction to the week when Mrs Duree came in to talk about India. The children got to try on traditional wedding attire, look at the beautiful jewellery warn by brides and smell and taste delicious spices. With the help of Jaya and India, Mrs Duree went on to talk about their recent trip to India where the children were able to see some amazing photos including seeing the girls on safari.
English Speaking Board
Forms 2 and 4 have been working very hard over the last few weeks to polish thief performances for the ESB exams. Their friends have learned such a lot while listening to them rehearse and perform. They have learned that Runswick Bay suffered from landslides, how to cook a scallop, all about the Blue Cross and the history of walking-sticks, to name but a few of the wonderfully diverse presentations. Along with the most beautiful reading of some of children’s most popular literature and the reciting of some tremendously difficult poems, the children have certainly met the ‘Cundall standard’ that the examiners have come to expect. We await the grades with baited breath…
Form 1 trip to Menwith Hill
Following their Indian experience, Form 1 went to visit the American Base at Menwith Hill. They were fortunate enough to be able to visit the school where they were ‘buddied up’ with an American student and found out all about where they came from and what they enjoyed doing. The pupils went on a tour of the information systems and got to go inside their famous ‘golf balls’ to see the satellite inside. Form 1 then enjoyed an all American lunch with their new friends; pizza and chips hit the spot after a long morning! Before leaving for Cundall, the children even managed to sneak in a quick game of bowling! It was a fantastic opportunity and extremely enjoyable day where Form 1 were able to have a real taste of America, all made possible by the very kind and generous help of Mr and Mrs McIntosh.
Cundall’s Call My Bluff
Whilst Cundall prides itself on offering a broad and varied curriculum for our pupils, it was a lucky gathering of Cundall parents who whose educational horizons were broadened earlier this month when they came together for a Call My Bluff style wine tasting evening. In the cosy setting of the School Library and with a truly fabulous selection of wines provided by Johnnie Pearson, the team of wine ‘buffs’ (Johnnie, Richard Notman and Simon Vale) entertained the assembled guests with their novel and often hilarious appraisals of each bottle, the novelty and hilarity increasing exponentially as the evening (comprising four red, two whites and an increasingly redundant spittoon) progressed. A huge thank you to the Friends of Cundall who made the evening possible, to those who provided the scrumptious cheese boards and nibbles to accompany the wines; to those who so generously donated raffle prizes, and to all those parents who supported what proved to be a truly entertaining – and educational – evening.
D of E Bike Maintenance Course
The D of E bikers attended a bike maintenance course, kindly run by Paul from Chevin Cycles from Otley. The group got lots out of it, ready for their expedition that weekend. By the end Paul wanted to come out and see the group in action, as they had kept him amused throughout the session. But his knowledge and the session did its trick as all members of the team could fix any technical problem they had at the weekend.
D of E Practice Expeditions
The silver Duke of Edinburgh group went out on their practice expedition this weekend into the North York Moors. This year is the first year Cundall have let students bike their expedition as well as walk. Friday night was spent in Low Dalby with the luxury of having a bbq and homemade seats to sit on. Saturday morning both teams headed out, with both not having the greatest of starts, with one biker falling off 200m down the road from the campsite and the walkers finding more bogs than decent paths. But the day got better for both teams. The second night was spent in Goathland, which is truly a step back in time, into the Heart Beat series. We had perfect weather conditions on Sunday which led to a great day. Both teams did well throughout the weekend. Miss Whalley was particularly proud of the bikers who really stepped up a gear this weekend, working brilliantly as a team, sorting any bike problem that occurred and fighting any hill they came up against (of which there were plenty!).
The Boarders’ Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
The boarders’ Mad Hatter’s tea party started off calmly with a game of croquet on the front lawn and a fill the tea pot race. Afterwards they sat down to a spread worthy of the Mad Hatters table, put on by April and Linda. Then the madness began with a carousel of activities, which included- pin the grin on the Cheshire cat, playing card house building and crawl through the rabbit hole to find the tiny keys (which I think there still some left in the library, finders keepers!). The best team in the team activities were the Upper School, very suprising they could fit through the rabbit’s hole the quickest (well a polytunnel from Pre-Prep!) and the best playing card builder was Poppy Allister. The evening was finished off with decorate your own cupcake- some very psychedelic designs were being produced. A great night was had with some day pupils looking in and overheard comments from other day pupils that they wanted to start boarding.
Form 5 Production: The Sound of Music
Form 5 trod the boards recently to great acclaim with a production of The Sound Of Music at the Galtres Centre. The cast had worked tirelessly over the term with limited rehearsal time to bring together the well-known tunes of Richard Rodgers with the moving story of Maria Rainer and the plight of the von Trapp family. We have some talented performers in this school and it was fantastic to see them all shine. The chorus was excellent at providing such perfect climaxes to such numbers as “Do Re Mi” and “The Lonely Goatherd”. Many of the smaller roles were played well including the invading Berliners who decide to ruin a good party! We loved the nuns led by Sarah Sullivan’s superb singing and also the von Trapp children who were brilliant. Touching moments were provided by Niamh Watkins and Henry Calvert during their classic duet and Ben Earley was a marvellous Captain von Trapp along with Dylan Blundell as Max Detweiler. One of the most memorable performances will be Francesca Banks as Maria. She excelled in her role, conveying all the doubts, fears and hopes of Maria in her journey towards happiness. A big thank you must go to Wendy Ford for her musical direction and Stephen Weld for his set design.