Form 3 Trip to Easingwold
Form 3 spent a lovely, sunny morning in Easingwold carrying out research to support their local area studies. After doing a traffic survey, the children then went on to ask local residents their opinions by carrying out surveys from which they were able to gain lots of important information about the area. One group also completed a land use map to see the variety of ways that buildings were used. Although it was a beautiful morning, it was rather chilly so the children finished their trip with a much welcomed hot chocolate and slice of cake in Tea Hee. Lots of useful information was gained that the children can now use in future lessons.
House 24 Competition
The House ‘24’ competitions seemed to be more fast and furious than ever this year. The teams of four have to make a total of 24 from four numbers, which may seem simple, but when all numbers have to be used the answers are not always so easy to see. (Try 5, 2, 5, 8) Once the team have completed a sum, they race to have it checked before being given the next one, and so it continues for around one hour. Clearly, lots of stamina is essential! Saxons just pipped Normans to first place in the Upper School competition but Tudors romped home to a very clear win in the Forms 5 and 6 competition. The houses in Forms 3 and 4 were close but Tudors, after a slow start, managed to finish in the lead. Overall Normans and Tudors tied for first place with 60 house points each, Saxons came in third with 50 points and Stuarts brought up the rear with 40 points. Well done to everyone who took part, it was great to see such determination from all. Normans Saxons Stuarts Tudors US 2nd – 20 1st – 25 3rd – 15 4th – 10 5+6 2nd – 20 3rd – 15 4th – 10 1st – 25 3+4 2nd – 20 4rd – 10 3rd – 15 1st – 25 Total 60 50 40 60
PP2 Skype the European Space Agency
On Friday PP2 had the chance to talk to Kim Nergaard via Skype. He is a rocket scientist who works for the European Space Agency and is Head of Advanced Mission Concepts. He told the class about his job which includes designing Eurobot, a robot which can be controlled from space. British astronaut Tim Peake, who will be going to the International Space Station in November, will be one of the astronauts trialling this new technology. PP2 were able to ask lots of interesting questions like ‘How far into space have we explored?’ and were surprised to find that ESA has been beyond our solar system. They also found out about Rosetta and what it has told us about Comet 67. We now know that comets are not spherical and that the water on comets is different from water on Earth. There was only one question which couldn’t be answered which is ‘Where does space end?’ No one knows the answer yet! Being able to interview a real life scientist has inspired PP2 to design space craft (This takes about ten years) and to aspire to work in space (ESA picks 10 astronauts each year out of 20,000 applicants!) PP2 love learning about space!
Chinese New Year Celebrations in the Boarding House
The Termly Boarders were treated to early Chinese New Year celebrations this weekend as they welcomed in the Year of the Sheep. Tim, Gabriella and Lucy, alongside their Guardians and Mrs Conway, cooked up a feast including everyone’s favourite dishes of crispy duck with pancakes and Chinese hotpot! The super supper was served to twenty guests in the school’s library and entertainment, in the form of some wonderful piano playing, was provided by both Lucy and Tim. The evening was a great success and Mrs Conway and Mr Coates would like to thank everyone who got involved and supported the evening.
Francesca does it again!
Hot on the heels of celebrating her award of a musical scholarship to Stowe last week, we are, once again, delighted to bring news of Francesca Banks’ second Scholarship Award! This time the musical supremo has been offered a full Music Scholarship to Uppingham. Again, Francesca has had to practise and rehearse very hard for this award, and according to Uppingham’s Musical Director, gave a very good account of herself at her recent assessment and interview. Uppingham has a very well deserved reputation for excellence in all aspects of music and musical theatre and it is no surprise that Francesca has opted to take up this scholarship rather than the Stowe one, perhaps even less so since Francesca’s two brothers both moved on from Cundall to Uppingham. Congratulations Francesca on another remarkable award!
Our Open Day Scientists
Pupils from throughout the school were keen to demonstrate their scientific skills and knowledge during Saturday’s Open Morning through a series of experiments: Gabriella was extracting DNA from peas, strawberries and kiwi fruit; Lucy was testing indigestion remedies to see which was the most effective at neutralising acid; Freddie and Isobel were dissecting the heart and lungs of a sheep and Charlie had a great time observing many features of creatures under a microscope, his favourite being the fruit fly. Our younger visitors on the day were very keen to get some gloves on and get stuck into the dissection, whilst parents looked on and were fascinated by Mrs Roberts’ explanation of the anatomy. Thank you to the budding young scientists who helped demonstrate the Science labs on the day.
Lunchtime Concert
Well done to all pupils who performed in the concert last Friday. Once again, we had a wonderful array of music and a lovely combination of instruments and voices. Some children were performing for the first time and some were extremely nervous, but all gave a competent performance and there were a lot of smiles afterwards. It is not easy to perform to an audience – it can feel very lonely and stressful, but the audience thoroughly enjoyed the concert and people always really do appreciate hearing what our children are learning and how they are progressing. It was also extremely cold in the church so extra praise goes to the brass players who had to contend with the low temperature as well!
Emma Bridgewater Potteries trip 2015
Last Monday, Form 5 enjoyed a day trip to Stoke on Trent, the home of British pottery production. The first stop was the Emma Bridgewater factory where they had a tour of the factory to learn about the production of our favourite mugs, plates and jugs. It was fascinating to see that they are still hand-made and decorated, each pot passing through thirty processes before it is completed. The staff in the factory were incredibly welcoming and happy to explain how everything worked. After lunch the pupils had the opportunity to decorate their own piece of Emma Bridgewater ware using the sponges and underglazes to create their own design; the results are now hanging in the School Office. Form 5 finished the day with a visit to the Potteries Museum which houses a world class collection of Staffordshire pottery and gave an opportunity to see the history behind the industry and the work of all the manufacturers in the area. All in all a very interesting and fun trip!
ZooLab Visits Pre-Prep
As part of the Early Years’ Animals topic, the whole of Pre-Prep enjoyed a visit from ZooLab. The children learned about the animals’ characteristics, their habitats and their life cycles. They also had the chance to get up close and personal with Ed the Madagascan Cockroach, Roy the Giant African Snail, Petunia the Corn Snake and Tracey the Tarantula!