Cundall Kite Festival
What a delightful morning we had on last day of the Lent term. Children, parents and staff took to the playing fields with the most creative and colourful assortment of kites. The huge majority of the kites were homemade and as such displayed a wealth of engineering and artistic talent amongst our pupil body. Despite less than perfect conditions (this was one of those rare days when we would have welcomed a strong wind) the children made a sterling effort to launch their kites into the skies, many to great effect. It really was a wonderful occasion; how lovely to see so many “children” (including those amongst our parent and teaching body!) enjoying such traditional and enchanting play. Congratulations to those who won a prize for design, decoration or flying prowess, and thank you to every single pupil who took part in the kite festival.
Easter Egg Competition
Thank you to every pupil who entered the Easter egg decorating competition at the end of last term. The range and standard of entrants really was amazing. Congratulations all the winners: “Creative” Winner: Murron O’ Neill Runner Up: Rosie Barker & Hannah Bilton “Egfort” Winner: Anna Edwards Runner Up: Oli & Ben Tomalin
Easter Concert
Congratulations and thank you to every single pupil who took part in the Easter concert on the evening of the last Thursday of last term. We have such a wealth of musical talent at Cundall and was no surprise at all that this last ‘sell out’ concert attracted such a large and enthusiastic audience. Parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles had all packed into the school gym to enjoy a wonderfully diverse programme of music making. Every single age group in the Main and Upper School, and every single category of instrument was represented, along with some beautiful solo and ensemble singing. Thank you to Mrs Ford, Mrs Reece and all the music teachers for staging such a fabulous concert.
Form 1 Visit to Murton Park
On a rare sunny day, Form 1 dressed up as vicious Vikings and stormed the Dark Ages Village at Murton Park. They had a fantastic time exploring longhouses, training to be guards of the village, learning how to forage and hunt and even chasing off an invading Saxon. They had a raucous Viking banquet including entertainment and even saw their slave, Mr Townsend, enter the stocks for unruly behaviour! An extremely interactive and enjoyable day was had by all!
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.
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.
Latin scholars excel again
In February, four of our Latin pupils were recorded by Matthew Ford to enter a national Latin reading competition, organised by ARLT (Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching) for schools in this country. This the first time our school has entered this prestigious competition. Edward Kettleborough in the intermediate section, had to read a difficult 20 lines of Latin verse from Virgil Book 12 in the correct metre. The junior section was ably represented by Monty Powell, Felix Fawcett and Luke Mountford. Their task was to read a very emotional section from stage 17 of the Cambridge Latin Course involving the death of a slave boy defending a Roman citizen. All entries were judged on accuracy of pronunciation and the ability to convey the meaning and mood of the passage. Results have just been published. Luke achieved a “Highly Commended” certificate. This is especially praiseworthy as Luke was a late starter to Latin, so optime fecisti! Magistra Latina, Miss Kuit, is very proud of all of them and hopes our pupils will continue to enter in future years.