PP2 Explore Ripley Castle
Last Tuesday PP2 went to Ripley Castle. The children wanted to find out all about the castle so they could compare it with the castle on the island of Coll which they have been learning about. We were given a fascinating tour of the castle and the children particularly enjoyed going through a secret door and climbing up some step spiral stone steps to a room full of armour. Here they were lucky enough to try on a gauntlet which was made in the armouries of Henry VIII. We also found out about the family coat of arms and why it shows a wild boar. In the afternoon the children braved the rain to go on a walk through the grounds to create their own journey stick. They enjoyed searching for objects to attach to their sticks which would remind them of their journey. On their return to school the children used their journey sticks to create linear maps as part of our map making work in Geography.
Sports Report
The last couple of weeks of results have been positive again with the highlight being the victorious under 16 Girls Hockey team being crowned County Champions. This is a magnificent feat given the numbers of girls available at the schools that they beat along the way. In the other school Hockey fixtures the girls have beaten Ampleforth College 3-1 at Under 16s, St Martin’s Ampleforth 6-1 at Under 11As and drew 2-2 at Under 11Bs. Against Ripon Grammar School the Under 13s won 7-0 and the Under 12s won 8-2. The Under 13s and Under 12s also recorded victories over Durham School. At Hill House, the Under 11A team lost 1-7 and the Under 11B team reversed matters with a 4-2 victory whilst against Silcoates School the Under 9s recorded wins by 3-0 and 4-0. The Under 14s encountered tougher opposition in Red House when they went down by 1-4. In netball, against Ripon Grammar School, the Under 14s lost by 5-22 and against the Minster School, the Under 12s lost by 3-12. In boys’ rugby in Upper School, the Under 14s recorded another win in beating Hill House by 49-33; the Under 16s fought valiantly in their 17-44 loss to Yarm as did the Under 15s in losing to Red House by 33-54. The Upper School boys also got their football season off to a positive start with a 2-2 draw against Ackworth School. In Main School Rugby the Under 12s finished a very respectable 8th out of 16 at the Tait 10’s tournament at Barnard Castle and the Under 11s and Under 9s recorded easy wins against St Martin’s Ampleforth by 50-0 and 10-1 respectively. With several players unavailable due to injury the Under 12s suffered defeat to the hands of Hill House by 4 tries to 1, however they made amends in recording a fine victory against St Martin’s Ampleforth by 25-7.
Super Sunday in the Boarding House
Super Sunday boarding was a great success which saw thirteen boarders enjoy a trip to the Laser Quest and Ten Pin bowling in York. The red team thrashed the green team in the laser arena whilst the winning team for the bowling included Joseph Barker, Rex Worthington and Harry Turner who each stacked up a high score. The bowling was followed by a hearty supper of burger, chips and lashings of Pepsi, then back to the Boarding House for movies and popcorn. All of the boarders said they had a great afternoon and would love to do it again.
Pre-Prep Playtimes
This term we are putting out different activities each week to make playtimes exciting for the children. Last week the Pre-Prep children had lots of fun at playtime learning to build walls. They know how to make the cement mix, use a trowel and build a strong wall. The children can carry the bricks safely and always remember to wear hard hats and high vis vests!
PP1 visit Beningbrough Castle
On Monday 6th October PP1 went back in time to Beningbrough Hall to learn about the Great Fire of London. First they had a tour around the hall from Samuel Pepys’ maid called Jane. They then heard extracts from Samuel Pepys’ diary and even had the chance to try on some Samuel Pepys style wigs! Afterwards the children had a go at creating their own Fire of London pictures using pastels. After lunch they practised drawing their own portraits of Samuel Pepys’s and then wrote diaries just like Samuel Pepys would have done using a quill and ink. Despite all the rain PP1 had a fantastic day and showed plenty of enthusiasm for experiencing life in 1666!
PP1 visit Ripon Fire Station
On Monday 29th September PP1 had a great time visiting Ripon Fire Station. The fire fighters kindly gave the group a talk about fire safety and showed them the four different fire engines that are kept at the station. During our visit the children learned about the job of a fire fighter and how to keep safe at home by using smoke alarms. They all got the chance to sit in a fire engine, look at the breathing apparatus and try on some of the uniform. To end the visit, PP1 all had a go at pretending to put out a fire using the hose from a fire engine. It was a very enjoyable and informative trip.
Macmillan Big Coffee Morning
What an incredible start to the week last week. Whilst the rest of the school joined Mr Sample for morning assembly, the Form 4 parents joined their children for cake and coffee. The Big Coffee Morning was in support of Macmillan Cancer Support, a cause that touches the hearts of so many of our families, and the strength of feeling towards this cause was evident not only by the number of parents who attended, but by the sheer volume of cakes and biscuits that had been so generously baked and donated for the event. Such was the generosity of our multi-talented bakers that the Form 4s had to host a second cake stall at the end of the day to clear the cake pantry! A huge thank you to all the bakers and buyers who helped us raised a superb £424.45 for Macmillan.
Pre-Prep Football
On Thursday 2nd October PP2 travelled to Highfield to play a much anticipated football match. The children all played with determination and demonstrated some great team work to win two matches, draw one and lose one narrowly, making them overall winners. They also took part in some football skills activities which were great fun. After the matches the children enjoyed meeting new friends at match tea and returned home full of stories about their first match for Cundall.
Form 2 visit the Synagogue
Form 2 enjoyed their trip to the Sinai synagogue in Leeds where they learned about Judaism and looked carefully at their magnificent Torah Scrolls. They were amazed to hear that these scrolls took six years to write and that after being read for perhaps as many as 70 years, they will be buried in sacred ground rather than thrown away. Our thanks goes to Mr Michael Barrie who so kindly worked with Form 2 throughout the morning and who taught them all so much.
Our Harvest Festival Services
Pre-Prep children and their families enjoyed a lovely harvest festival service in Cundall Church last Thursday. The church looked beautiful decorated with sunflowers, fruits and vegetables all generously donated by the parents. Thank you to Mrs Blair, Mrs Lee and Mrs Scagell for arranging them and decorating the church. The theme of the service was team work at harvest time and the children excelled themselves with some enthusiastic and tuneful singing and a version of the Little Red Hen told by all of the children. Amelia Lee and Charles Calvert both read poems in lovely clear voices and the service was rounded off with the presentation of the harvest gifts. Amelia Lee, Oliver Lee, Archie Blair and Charlie Blair then took the harvest gifts to the care home in Boroughbridge. With the proceeds of the collection from their Harvest Festival Service Pre-Prep have come up with a novel way of helping the farming community at large; through Christian Aid they are providing a farming community in Africa with ten chickens, a goat and two piglets. The chickens will provide eggs, a valuable source of nutrition and income; the goats will provide milk to drink and sell, as well as fertiliser for crops; and rearing pigs will provide an income during the low harvest season. On Friday, it was the turn of the Main and Upper School to come together to celebrate harvest time and to reflect upon how lucky we are to be so well provided for. It was heart-warming to see so many parents join us for this special service; Topcliffe Church was positively bulging at the seams. The two choirs sang beautifully and the congregation heartily. There were other accomplished poetry recitals by George Rycroft, Jemima Telfer and Matthew Greenwood, as well as an assured Bible reading by Sophie Lake. The service was made even more special this year by the Form 2 pupils who shared with the congregation their own poems about harvest. A huge well done and thank you to all our pupils and parents for making our Harvest Festival services so special.