Early Years Garden
The children of Nursery and Reception took advantage of the sunny weather and got busy in the garden. The children dug and weeded the flower bed, then worked together to plant Pansies and Primroses. They then took turns to sprinkle some spring flower seeds and water the garden. The garden was then decorated with some brightly coloured windmills and a couple of garden gnomes.
Cundall’s New Scout Group
On Thursday 23rd April, 1st Cundall Manor Scout Group had its first Investiture Ceremony, during which four leaders and 22 cubs were welcomed into the Scouting community. The ceremony was conducted by the District Commissioner for Easingwold, Andrew Garner (also known as ‘Wolf’). It is wonderful to see so many young children starting out as cubs and we hope that the pack can go from strength to strength. The future for the Scout group is to extend downwards to create a Beaver Colony and then perhaps look at Scouts as we become more established. The investiture meant that the 1st Cundall Manor Scout Group could then take part in Sunday’s St George’s day parade through Easingwold. Scout leaders Mr Bayne and Miss Baggaley escorted the pack as they joined the rest of the local scouting community for this memorable event. (You can see a video clip – courtesy of the lovely Sue Johnson – on our Facebook page)
Pre-Prep celebrate St George’s Day
Pre-Prep children had a great afternoon on Thursday 23rd April in Around the World Club celebrating St George’s Day. After hearing the story of George and the Dragon, the children learned about London and the royal family. Then came the best part, afternoon tea. The children were treated to cucumber sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, strawberries and cream and fruit loaf whilst listening to Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem. A perfect enrichment for a sunny summer afternoon.
Boarding House News
Another fun filled weekend was had by all in the Boarding House. After Saturday School and a lovely lunch from Edna, they set off for an afternoon at the cinema and of course a trip to their favourite supermarket to stock up on supplies for the weekend. At the cinema they enjoyed watching The Avengers with sweets and pop, followed by a delicious supper back at the Boarding House. Sunday was another hectic day. A hearty breakfast was followed by Prep, then a trip to see the Angel of The North and time to take lots of photos. Afterwards we carried on to The Metro Centre where we stocked up on items that were needed for the Summer term. KFC won the vote for lunch then a lovely drive in the sunshine back to the House to chill before the start of school again on Monday.
Summer Fair
This year we are holding three competitions at the Summer Fair and we are looking forward to all ages getting involved. Pre-Prep – Fruit/Vegetable Animal This competition is open to all ages in Pre-Prep from Nursery to PP2. Please make a Vegetable/Fruit Animal of any kind or size. Please bring your entry to the Summer Fair by 12noon and ensure that your name is clearly marked on the under-side of your entry. Entry fee £1, Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Forms 1-4 – Miniature Garden Create a Miniature Garden in a seed tray. Please bring your entry to the Summer Fair by 12noon for judging and ensure that your name is clearly marked on the bottom of the seed tray. Entry fee £1, Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Places. Forms 5 and Upwards (Including entries from parents and relatives over 13 years) To celebrate the splendour of our county, photographers young and old are being urged to get out their cameras and capture images depicting “Yorkshire”. All entries must be mounted on card and submitted to the school office by Friday 15th May. Your name should be clearly marked on the back of the card and, if not a pupil, then you should state who you are related to at Cundall Manor School. All photographs will be returned after the competition. Entry fee £1, Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Home Produce Stall As well as these competitions there we also be a ‘home produce’ stall where we would be very grateful for any donations of home-made food items such as fresh vegetables, home-made chutneys, jams, eggs etc. Any donations can be made during the week commencing 11thMay or on the day at the Summer Fair, donations of cakes and other freshly prepared produce can be delivered to the kitchen on Either Friday 15thMay or on the day of the Fair itself. As usual the Fair will include a children’s toys and games stall; please can any donations of toys, games and DVDs be left in the foyer of Main School and/or Pre-Prep. The Friends would appreciate as much help as possible on the day of the Fair. If you can spare a few hours please email Susan Edwards (susanedwards03@yahoo.co.uk.) for more information. Thank you
Easter Concert
On the evening of 26th March (the last Thursday of term) we held our Easter Concert in the gym. It was a wonderful evening, with so much talent on display. The Chamber Choir opened the concert with an extremely competent and sensitive performance of ‘Scarborough Fair’. The two parts were beautifully held and the tone was pure and strong. They then sang one of their favourite songs ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from The Titanic. Again, this was sung with great feeling and sensitivity. Brass Group then gave a sound performance of ‘Au Clair De La Lune’, followed by a very lively ‘Gospel Rock’ with each member demonstrating their improvisational skills! It was great fun and it was good to hear how our brass players are progressing so well. The Junior Choir were tremendous. They sang Cesar Franck’s ‘Panis Angelicus’ which is demanding for children of such a young age. They then had a lot of fun with their rendition of the traditional song ‘The Mermaid’. Our soloists for the evening provided us with a great variety and range of music, from the Chinese guzheng, which Gabriella plays so magically, through to piano, cornet, clarinet, guitar and singing. We had a few guitar/vocal ensembles and the Boys’ Choir brought the evening to a rousing finish! It was an evening which showcased some of our greatest musical talent and there certainly was plenty on display, from Form 1 all the way through to Thornton. It is so exciting to witness our children’s musical progress and the great maturity with which some of them perform, especially some of our singers – Alannah Creed, Sarah Sullivan, Hollie Potter and, of course, Francesca Banks. A special mention must also go to Olivia Turner who was extremely brave and gave a very accomplished performance, accompanying herself on guitar in ‘Someone Like You’ (Adele). A further highlight of the evening was Charlotte Hoggan’s rendition of FourFiveSeconds and also Sophie Helferrich singing Black Velvet. These two girls have performed in many concerts throughout their school life at Cundall and their confidence and competence was a pleasure to witness. Many congratulations to all who took part and for making this such a memorable evening.
Easter Egg Competition
There were some wonderful entries into this year’s Decorated Easter Egg competition and we are always grateful to all those pupils whose incredibly imaginative creations brought so much colour and humour to our entrance tables in Main School and Pre-Prep. The winners, who all received their chocolate prizes are as follows: Main School: 1st Prize: George Dunn 2nd Prize: Emilia Praud 3rd Prize: Amelia Bullock Thank you every one who took part in the competition.
Trebuchet Challenge
With so many budding engineers (and equally enthusiastic and practically minded dads) in our midst, the Easter trebuchet Challenge promised to be quite a spectacle. As trucks and trailers started to convene in the main school car park on the last day of term, it became quite apparent that the assembled crowds of spectators from Pre-Prep up to Thornton, would not be disappointed. (Virtually) all homemade and (virtually) all adhering to the underlying counterweight dynamic, the apparatus ranged in size from tiny (fitting into the palm of a Pre-Prep hand) to enormous (based on a full size pallet), and in material from Lego to bamboo! As the competition unfolded, it became apparent that size does not necessarily matter as some of the largest contraptions failed to reach the distances recorded by some of the more diminutive devices, the unpredictability adding to the excitement and suspense of the spectacle. Although not technically a trebuchet, full credit must be given to the enormous entry designed and built by our most senior physicists, Thornton pupils Antony, Ben and Grayson. Such was the force with which their catapult expelled its cargo that the humble egg disintegrated in flight! (Further attempts with an orange, whilst not permitted within the rules of the challenge, did demonstrate the catapult’s impressive trajectory.) Thank you to everyone whose sterling efforts made for such an entertaining morning and congratulations to our winners – the Throup siblings and Wilkinson brothers.
Egg and Spoon Race
There was much scrambling of eggs around the grounds of school as pupils from Pre-Prep all the way through to Thornton took part in a succession of egg and spoon races. Staggered by age groups, the races saw pupils hurtling around the main school buildings and the lawns whist simultaneously trying to keep their crème eggs from falling out of their spoons (for which various methods, of varying degrees of legitimacy, were employed). Most eggs and runners made it to the finishing line, some rather worse for wear by that point than others!
Waterbabies Coffee Morning
We were delighted to be able to host our second coffee morning for the Waterbabies swimming group who use our pool for their baby and toddler swimming lessons. Just before the end of term, the youngsters and their parents joined us for Easter themed refreshments and a recital in the library; The junior choir offered a short but perfect programme of amusing and uplifting songs on a waterbased based theme, all carefully selected and accompanied by Mr Fitzsimons.