Leckby’s London trip
Earlier this month, the whole of Leckby, accompanied by Miss Baggaley and Mr Kirby, spent three fun-packed days taking in the bright lights of London. After an early start in York train station, the group tackled the tube and made it to the hotel. A walk to Buckingham Palace and The Mall was followed by lunch in Leicester Square before a quick shopping trip to Oxford Street. The evening entertainment was War Horse which everybody thoroughly enjoyed and only a few tears were shed! After a filling breakfast on Tuesday morning we headed off to the Natural History and Science Museums for the day. These were both informative and great fun and they certainly provided plenty of table talk in the evening. After a hearty tea at Pizza Express, we went to see Matilda which everyone agreed was absolutely fantastic! Wednesday morning was spent exploring the history of The Tower of London where we caught a glimpse of the Crown Jewels; there was much debate amongst the girls as to which crown was the best! Lunch at Borough Market followed where we all succumbed to the temptation of the giant cookies! We all agreed it was a super three days, the children were fantastic company and great fun was had by all.
GCSE Certificate presentation evening
We were delighted to welcome so many of last year’s Thornton pupils back into school last Thursday evening for an evening of celebration and presentation of their hard earned GCSE certificates. The Library buzzed as former pupils and their parents caught up with one another and brought their old GCSE teachers up to date with the latest news of their A level studies and Sixth Form adventures.
Learning Spanish with their Eyes Closed!
Miss Baggaley’s Leckby Spanish group enjoyed a whole new experience of Cundall last week. As part of their Spanish studies they have been learning about directions. So, to put their knowledge into practice, they blindfolded their partner and led them around the school using only Spanish directions. After a few potential stumbles and a lot of shouting ‘¡para!’ (stop!) they all found their way back to the classroom in the end.
Thornton’s Textiles trip
Last week Thornton textiles group visited the Knitting and Stitching Fair in Harrogate. It is a show that never seems to disappoint those excited by the latest innovations and possibilities within the world of textiles and craft. The fair afforded our Textiles students a brilliant opportunity to check out the work of textile artists, view workshops and see the work of new university graduates, not to mention the possibility of sourcing materials and trims. The stand-out work for many was that of Renate Keeping whose textile apples were amazing. All in all, a very worthwhile trip.
GCSE Art trip to Paris
Last weekend Mrs Pearson and Mr Vale accompanied the Eldmire Art group to Paris for their GCSE Art trip. The trip proved to be both busy and inspiring. Amongst the many attractions that we saw was the Musée du Louvre. The evening atmosphere of Paris was wonderful and the pupils were excited to see the Mona Lisa. The following day we went to the Musée de l’Art Moderne and then on to the Pompidou Centre where the group’s eyes were opened to some of the more challenging conceptual art. A trip down the river provided us with an excellent opportunity to see the sights and learn more about the history of Paris, including the Revolution and the bridges over the Seine. For many, the highlight of the trip was seeing the collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces found in the Musée D’Orsay. A wander through the Tuileries Gardens back to the airport was also a perfect ending to a memorable trip.
Conker Cup 2014
What a sight it was to see the whole of Main and Upper School take to the quad for the inaugural whole school conker competition just before the exeat weekend last month. Equipped with the requisite conker on a string (all 200 of which were patiently prepared by Mr Bayne and his team of able Teaching Assistants!) every single pupil took on another pupil from another house in a knock out competition. It was good to see that age offers neither advantage nor disadvantage in the battle for conker supremacy as younger pupils pitted their skills against older pupils to whittle the field down to just two competitors from each House. These final eight competitors then faced each other one morning break time just before half term in the Conker Cup final, where again, older pupils found themselves being challenged by some of our youngest competitors. Huge congratulations go to Form 1’s Harvey Auckland who took on Thornton pupil Pippa Cook to win the Conker Cup 2014.
Halloween disco
As the sun went down and dusk fell on Cundall Manor, all manner of ghost and ghoul, witch and wizard, vampire and werewolf made their way to the darkest recesses of the school gym for the annual spectacular that is the Halloween Disco. Organised by Thornton and Mrs Hall, the Halloween Disco is a major event in the Upper School Expedition fundraising calendar and it was wonderful to see so much effort going into the event and so many children supporting it. Mrs Hall is very proud of the Thornton crew who decorated the gym, ran the tuck bar, and laid on an array of attractions for the children including a ‘tattoo’ parlour, nail bar and glow stick stall. Special thanks must also go to Mr Smith for all his help and support, ex pupils Will and Louis Shaw for their fabulous disco, Mrs Edgar for running the photo booth, and Miss Creed for keeping the dancing going! Thank you too to all those who attended and helped Thornton raise over £400 for their summer expedition.
Cundall Girls Excel in County Hockey Competition
Our U16 hockey girls went to the U16 county championships on Monday 13th October as winners of Hambleton and Richmond Area. After the group stages in the morning they went in second place to the semi-finals at Queen Margaret’s School. They beat Scarborough College in the semis and went on to meet St Peter’s in the final. This was a hard battle with both teams showing signs of fatigue but Cundall fought on and won by one goal, to become U16 County Hockey Champions. This is a truly remarkable achievement for our girls who are selected from a much smaller cohort than their final round counterparts, and as such is testament to their individual sporting calibre. We wish the team every success as they progress to the North of England semi-finals.
Pippa’s Baking Club
It is fantastic to see our Upper School pupils taking on responsibility for their own enrichment as Pippa Cook leads the way in the baking room. Having already gained her Food Hygiene Certificate, Pippa has organised a programme of baking and is instructing and working alongside her peers to create delicious cakes. Mr Bayne managed to get hold of one and stated that they were the best cakes that had been made in the kitchen. (Watch out Mr Kirby, someone is out for your crown!) The young bakers are intending to use this opportunity to raise funds for their Canada Expedition at the end of the school year.
GCSE Geography Field trip
On Tuesday 7th October sixteen Thornton pupils who are taking GCSE Geography went out into Swaledale to investigate how Cogden Gill changes as it moves downstream. Conditions were perfect for collecting fieldwork data unlike their first attempt on the Monday which resulted in very soggy pupils returning to school due to monsoon like conditions! Well done Thornton we got there in the end.