Karate Grading
There were lots of nerves and excitement last Saturday as four members of the Karate Club were graded for their Red Belt. Sensei Court 7th Dan was the external examiner overseeing the grading although the grading itself was conducted by our own Leckby pupil and Sensei 2nd Dan Isabella Mallon-McCarty. Isabella, an experienced Black Belt and qualified teacher/instructor, was responsible for training the boys being assessed and in charge of their actual grading. Isabella is offering her expertise and skills to the Karate Club as part of the Volunteer section of her Duke of Edinburgh Award; she said she was delighted with their attitude and the standard they achieved. Congratulations therefore to Hugo Hynd, Thomas Stringer, Henry Scagell and Alex Twibill who all performed extremely well and passed their Red Belt grading with flying colours. Mr McCarty was very pleased with the grading day and would like to thank Sensei Hunzinger Black Belt 1st Dan for his help, support and expertise.
Pumpkin Competition
A huge thank you to everyone who submitted their wonderful entries into this year’s pumpkin competition. We had a bumper crop of entries in both Main School and Pre-Prep, with prizes awarded as follows: Pre-Prep: Largest pumpkin: James Craig Smallest pumpkin: Gabe Collier Ugliest pumpkin: Ram Pisharody Best Decorated pumpkin: Annabel Mindenhall Main School: Largest pumpkin: the Wilkinson Family Smallest pumpkin: Freddie Marston Ugliest pumpkin: Cian Armstrong Best Decorated pumpkin: Hannah Barker
GCSE Art trip to Barcelona
Just before half term, this year’s new GCSE Art group went on an exhilarating trip to Barcelona and the Costa Brava to gather inspiration for their Portfolio Unit. The bijou group stayed in the heart of the Barri Gothic district which meant that they could fully absorb the atmosphere of Europe’s oldest medieval centre, with its amazing architecture and characterful streets. From there they had easy access to the rest of the sights of Barcelona including the Parc Guell, Miro Foundation, Picasso museum and of course Gaudi’s masterpiece the Sagrada Familia. A highlight of the trip was a day excursion to Figueres to the Dali museum followed by a visit to the coastal fishing villages of Cadaques and Port Lligat, where they toured the home where he lived for most of his adult life. Both places were incredibly inspiring and at times shocking, being full of the works and possessions of the great surrealist. Great weather and some delicious tapas were the cherry on the cake for what was a very busy and stimulating visit. We look forward to seeing how the trip inspires their work in due course.
Scarecrow Festival
Congratulations to everyone who came and joined in our inaugural scarecrow festival just before half term. The fabulous fruits of their labours added an extra dimension to life around the school grounds (there were several double takes to check whether these unfamiliar characters on the premises were in fact real!) in the run up to the half term break.
Cundall’s new cookery room
There have been the most wonderful smells drifting across Cundall Manor School this week….chocolate, pancakes, cookies and buns. All made by the pupils in our beautiful new kitchen. We are the proud owners of a fantastic new space all thanks to the generosity of The Friends, Mr & Mrs Greenwood, a few other kind benefactors and, of course, the site team. The new kitchen is fully equipped with two hobs, two ovens (Bake Off style!) and a stunning range of colourful utensils. The pupils who have used the kitchen so far (and they range in age from our youngest Main School pupils to our oldest Upper School ones!) have been very excited. There is doubt that everyone who uses it will benefit enormously.
Rotary Club Technology Tournament
Early Tuesday morning a minibus of intrepid engineers set off for the annual technology tournament at Catterick Leisure Centre. This year saw the intermediate teams defending their trophy with much hope and optimism. With 6 schools represented by a number of teams the tournament started with the aim to build a working model of a cable car. With much pondering and scratching of pencils and heads, the Cundall teams came up with some excellent ideas, especially the team comprising Harry Hodgson, Tom Dicken, Josh Hall and Sam Youmans who came a very creditable 3rd in their competition. Well done to all of the competitors.
Debating Masters
Congratulations to the Upper School debating team who won last Wednesday’s heat of the English Speaking Union’s annual public speaking competition. James Gordon chaired proceedings with great authority, Ross Sullivan spoke very ably on the topic of whether minorities can ever be safe within democracies, and Edward Kettleborough questioned the speaker from St John Fisher’s School to great effect and . The team have won a place in the North of England finals at Leeds Grammar School in early March.
Shrove Tuesday celebrations
Whilst the Early Years celebrate Pancake Day… The children of Reception and Nursery took part in a pancake relay! The Reception children competed to earn points for their house, and it was a very close contest! Normans got off to a great start on the first run, with George Hill taking an early lead. Tom Moody put the Stuarts out in front with a fine second run. Tudors fought back in the 3rd, with a fantastic effort from Austen Clarke. However, the Stuarts proved difficult to beat and, despite a late surge by Emilia Sample for the Saxons, the Stuarts were crowned Pancake Relay Champions! Well done to Tom Moody, Jack Potter, Harry Baxter and Alfred Abbey! …Leckby celebrate Crepe Tuesday Mme Cooke’s Leckby French pupils from Leckby celebrated pancake day French-style. In the new kitchen, they learnt the names of the ingredients and followed the recipe in French. The highlight of the afternoon was obviously eating the very tasty ‘crepes’. Nutella (a French favourite) was generously generously spread over them and pupils commented: “C’est délicieux!”. All pupils involved had a fantastic time and would like to thank the Friends of Cundall for allowing us to have such a fantastic resource as the new kitchen.
World Book Day
Last Thursday was a colourful day. Pupils from Pre-Prep all the way up to Thornton dressed up in costumes reflecting their favourite literary characters in a mass celebration of World Book Day. At the top end of Upper School, the theme appeared to be ‘Fairy Tales’ and girls and boys alike entered into the spirit of the theme with gusto. It was an extraordinary sight seeing Mr Sample teaching in full costume (Long John Silver?) and Mrs Ballantyne (Miss Haversham) and the rest of the English department leading by example. In Main School, the costumes were as varied as they were plentiful, with some amazingly colourful and inventive creations on view. In Pre-Prep, the theme was ‘Where’s Wally?’ and it was lovely to see all the children in their costumes. After a competition to design a new outfit for Wally, the winners were Joely Kay, Xenia Nettleton and Imogen Newbould, well done girls!
Harrogate Festival of Speech and Drama
Congratulations to all the students who took part in The Harrogate Festival of Speech and Drama last weekend. The competition was stiff, with Cundall competing against some very experienced and skilled performers from specialised drama schools and other establishments from all over the north of England. Henry Calvert wowed the judge with his confident and humorous performance from the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe and received a distinction, closely followed by Ben Early, who achieved a commendation for his well-pitched portrayal of the Pied Piper. Francesca Banks also excelled, achieving a distinction for her reading and poem and Niamh Wilson and Niamh Watkins performed brilliantly, both receiving a commendation. Just as we thought Cundall had peaked, Alannah Creed triumphed in her reading class, winning first place and a trophy, and Jake Telfer followed up his success last year by winning distinctions in all three of his classes. Laura Aspinall bravely went solo and was commended for playing the role of Martha from The Secret Garden and not to be out done, Charlotte Hoggan and Cordelia Longstaff also did well, achieving a commendation from the judge. Finally, Quentin England and Shanna Majewski rounded off a very successful weekend with their very enjoyable (and unusual) piece called Skungpoomery by Ken Campbell. Many thanks to parents and pupils for giving up your weekend and thank you also to Mrs Fearn for producing such well- prepared performers and entertaining drama.