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.
Form 3 visit Easingwold
All of Form 3 had a trip into Easingwold last week to carry out a survey on the types of buildings and shops both in the market square and on Long Street. The children also carried out many questionnaires on the general public in order to collect data to bring back into the classroom to analyse. It was an enjoyable morning and the children enjoyed having the hands on experience, freedom and trust to collect research themselves. It was lovely to have so many positive comments from the residents of Easingwold regarding the politeness of our children.
Eldmire Trip To Nestle York
Eldmire GCSE Business Studies students enjoyed an enthralling and rather tasty visit to Nestle in York last week. Students were astonished to see how small a number of employees was needed to produce the thousands of Kit Kats produced every day. They satin a mock up kitchen and living room to see all of the nestle products on display – so many given that they are the biggest food and beverage company in the world. The PR manager, James, asked the pupils to represent a local supermarket and walk around a staged store with Nestle products stocked on shelves. All tummies rumbled and fingers were well and truly licked when they learnt how to temper chocolate and make their own Kit Kat.
Cundall Manor and Yorkshire Aid Convoy help orphans in Romania
Ever wondered what happens to discontinued and unwanted second hand uniform? If you thought it was just skipped, think again. Working with Jim Ruddy, (father to Cecily and Tilly) and the Yorkshire Aid Convoy charity, we have been able to make sure all items of serviceable uniform are put to very good use. Jim and the Convoy team have just returned from another epic trip to Romania where they were able to hand our unwanted uniform over to representatives from several orphanages who rely on such donations to keep their children warm and decently clothed. The photograph shows children from a school in Sighisoara, Romania happily sporting their new kit.
Upper School Spanish trip to London
Last Thursday, the Eldmire and Thornton Spanish students boarded the train to London to visit The British Museum. As part of their intercultural learning they have been studying Colombia and learning about its history of gold and the culture that surrounds it. In London the pupils saw a stunning exhibition about Colombian gold and learnt about the history of Colombia. They then went to see a rather unusual German Art exhibition. After the exhibition, they all enjoyed lunch and a discussion of what had been seen that morning, in the glorious sunshine outside the museum. A big thank you to the staff that assisted on the trip, a fun and informative day was had by all.
Hogwarts comes to Cundall.
The children were treated to a magical menu at lunchtime last Friday, when the cuisine took its inspiration from the hallowed dining halls of Hogwart’s. Children were able to select from a choice of what might well have been Harry Potter’s own favourite dishes: Hogwarts Hog Roast, Slitheryn Salmon, Quidditch carrots, Hedwig bird seed pudding were some of the highlights.