News list
A Year 5 pupil, Madiwa Adjepong-Boateng (aged 10), has received an award for his novel-writing efforts at a ceremony at the Cambridge University Faculty of Law. Madiwa was presented with a certificate by Dr Nikhil Seth, a senior United Nations director, for writing novels for the UN’s Voices of Future Generations children's book series (VoFG), marking the anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The certification event celebrated the first three child authors in the VoFG series and their contribution to human creativity and
35 excited children and 5 eager staff packed their ski gear and headed to La Thuile in Italy for the Â鶹Դ´ 2015 ski trip. The group arrived at the resort to find beautiful views of the Aosta Valley and the Mont Blanc Massif and, from the top of the ski area, of the Tarantaise Mountains in France and the Matterhorn on the Italian/Swiss border. Skis and boots were fitted, ready to test the pistes the following day, and the remainder of the afternoon was spent getting to know the resort.
During the Easter break, a group of Senior House Geographers and Scientists set out to explore the wonders of Iceland. The children investigated volcanic activity, lava fields, hot springs, geysers, stunning waterfalls and dark, mysterious beaches.
This year’s Passion Play proved to be a worthy successor to those of years past, with strong and moving performances throughout the Sixth Form cast. Chronicling the final week of Jesus’s earthly life and culminating in his condemnation, torture and crucifixion, the production offers a first-hand and very personal account of the suffering of Christ. The play demands the utmost in dramatic intensity and professionalism from a relatively young group of children and Â鶹Դ´ Sixth Formers were not found wanting: the result was a stirring ensemble performance that served as the ideal
The Â鶹Դ´ passion for books and reading was confirmed once again across a wide range of book-related activities, all designed to increase the children’s enthusiasm for all things literary. The Byron House Book Week is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and, most importantly, of reading.
The Fifth Form show at Â鶹Դ´ is traditionally one of the most highly-anticipated and much-hyped events on the school calendar, and anyone who attended this year’s The Jungle Book, a dramatic adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s timeless work by Neil Duffield, will understand why: a tour de force from start to finish, this wonderful production brought together some of the best theatrical talent the school has to offer with wonderful costumes, a dazzling backdrop and mesmerizing choreography in an engaging and hugely entertaining feast for the eyes.
An impressive £1,711.40 was raised from various events throughout the school in the Lent term for Comic Relief charity www.comicrelief.com. The children dressed ‘funny for money’ on Red Nose Day, spent money at the Easter Fair stalls and dressed as their favourite book character as part of our Book Week and Literary Festival, with all money donated going to the well-known charity.
Over 60 Â鶹Դ´ parents attended our first Emotions for Learning (E4L) Morning in Byron House. Parents were invited to watch aspects of our E4L curriculum and Mindfulness programme in action during the day, experiencing it with the children, as well as listening to key presentations from the staff.
The T1s (Year 1) visited the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) as part of their Antarctica topic. The tragic events of Captain Scott’s last expedition were made even more realistic for the children with a question and answer session with the famous explorer’s granddaughter, Dafila Scott, who is an artist in residence at the SPRI.
The Fourth Form has been learning about Sikhism since the beginning of term and had a wonderful opportunity to see so much of what they had been studying on a recent visit to the Cambridge Gurdwara, the first such visit made by St John's as there has been a Gurdwara in Cambridge for only two years.