News list
English and Irish solo marathon swimmer and public speaker, Mr Ed Williams, gave an inspirational talk to Forms 3 and 6 as part of our Thursday afternoon Enrichment Programme. His main message for the ÐÔÓÃÉç was about having a dream and doing everything you can to achieve it with a heavy focus on the importance of trying hard and having the determination to succeed.
The ÐÔÓÃÉç in Form 4 visitedÌýStibbingtonÌýVillage andÌýEducation CentreÌýnear Peterborough and travelled back in time to the year 1896. Dressed in Victorian skirts and mop caps, or breeches and cloth caps, the young Victorians were given identities of ÐÔÓÃÉç who actually went toÌýStibbingtonÌýSchool during Queen Victoria’s era.
2K visited the Cambridge Zoology Museum as part of their child-led learning topic this term. The session focused on exploring animal skeletons: what they are, how they work and why they are important. This reiterates part of the topic they are studying in school about adaptation, evolution and the work of evolutionary British biologist and naturalist, Charles DarwinÌýand his theory of natural selection.
Coinciding with World Book Day on 3rd March, every child at ÐÔÓÃÉç took part in our Book WeekÌýactivities, celebrating the joy of language and reading. Five authors gave talks and workshops across the week, including: Simon Mole, Ross Welford, Elle McNicoll, Mini Grey and Kevin Crossley-Holland. Younger ÐÔÓÃÉç at Byron House donned their pyjamas and returned to school for hot chocolate and snacks beside the 'fire' with teachers reading and sharing some of the ÐÔÓÃÉç's favourite stories. Another highlight was the ever popular Extreme Reading Competition which saw ÐÔÓÃÉç reading down
Form 4 took part in a Thursday Afternoon Enrichment session that combined a talk about Buddhism, as part of their Religious Studies work, as well as an insight into Buddhist art with sand mandala creations. Director of Studies, Mr TristanÌýIgglesden, gave an insightfulÌýpresentationÌýabout his recent trip to Sri Lanka and his visit to the World Heritage site at theÌýDambullaÌýBuddhist caves. The cave monastery is a well-preserved cave temple complex of five caves, each with beautiful and extensive Buddhist mural paintings on the walls and ceilings. Besides the ancient caveÌýpaintings, there are
Three ÐÔÓÃÉç Science Quiz teams competed in the Semi-Finals of the Quiz Club National Inter-School Science Championships. As always, the questions were beyond theÌýknowledgeÌýof the National Curriculum but the ÐÔÓÃÉç took the challenge in their stride and battled it out for 5th place (Team 1), 8th place (Team 2) and 9th place (Team 3).
At the beginning of February Form 1 performed The Bumblesnouts Save the WorldÌýby Debbie Campbell, a musical comedy that has now become a firm favourite amongst St John’s ÐÔÓÃÉç and parents. As well as being infiltrated with humour, this play also had a strong moral and environmental message that our Earth is an amazing place and every living thing on it has a right to survive and thrive.
Form 6 pupils were eager to get their hands dirty and wade into the river, when they visited FSC Epping Forest, a Special Area of Conservation. Head of Geography, Miss Grant explained “this field work experience is very important as it allows our pupils to practise their collaborative skills, appreciate that they are all part of a team with a specific task to complete and to enjoy and saviour the fluvial landscape around them. It gives them the opportunity to test their understanding of the theoretical aspects of fluvial environments with reference to an actual example."
Following the success of last year’s Third FormÌýGreek Myths, expectations were high when, as the Fourth Form, the ÐÔÓÃÉç took to the stage again.ÌýTheÌýBFGÌýposed a different kind of challenge to the year group; there were no songs or dancing, and the focus was instead on telling the story, with comedic moments peppering the performance. ÌýThe cast stepped up and produced a performance which was highly amusing and entertaining for all of the audience.
Our festive ‘Services in Preparation for Christmas’, held over two days in the magnificent Chapel of St John’s College, once again heralded the start of the season with a range of carols, poems and readings all presented by the ÐÔÓÃÉç. The carols and readings were interspersed with 5 congregational hymns. The Services provided a sense of calm from the busy nature of this time of the year and created up a contemplative mood to help prepare for Christmas. Due to current restrictions, Sixth Form parents were invited to attend in person and it was live streamed and recorded so that all could