January 2020
Jan 2020
The U13 1st VII boys’ hockey team were crowned County champions on 29 January 2020 after taking part in the Cambridgeshire County Hockey Tournament at Wilberforce road. The team have now qualified for the Regional round, due to take place on 12 March.
The 1st VII have presented great promise since the start of the hockey season and, in such a short period of time, have shown commitment as a team in all their training sessions. Their focus has been to develop shape and tactical understanding in order to enable them to utilise their skills more effectively during match play. Their hard
Jan 2020
T1s visited Europe’s first ‘Eco-Mosque’, based in Mill Road in Cambridge, as part of their exploration about special places and the idea of a sacred space as part of their Religious Studies curriculum. The mosque can hold 1,000 worshippers and has a wealth of sustainable features including air-source heat pumps, rainwater harvesting and solar panels.
The children discovered that environmental concerns have been paramount in the design of the Cambridge Mosque as Muslims feel a strong imperative to protect the environment, as they believe it is a gift from the Divine. T1s learned about
Jan 2020
Music that echoed, imitated and celebrated birdsong was the inspiration for the Sinfonia of Cambridge’s winter concert on 26 January 2020 at West Road Concert Hall. The young violinist Emma Lisney played the solo part in Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and Song of the Birds, a Catalan folk song arranged by the orchestra’s musical director, Howard Williams, for which the St John’s Senior House Chamber Choir and the Form 3 and 4 Choir joined the soloist and orchestra.
This was the third time our choirs have sung with the Sinfonia of Cambridge at the West Road Concert Hall. Director
Jan 2020
The Sixth Form were eager to get their hands dirty and wade into the river, despite the chilly weather, when they visited Epping Forest Field Centre, a Special Area of Conservation for their Geography Field trip. Head of Geography, Miss Grant explained, “We practised working together in groups, learned about delegation of tasks, our role of responsibility to the group as a whole and how to sustain interest and high quality work in inhospitable surroundings, whilst also learning about the changing course of rivers”.
The young geographers were encouraged to get thoroughly muddy as they
Jan 2020
The Fourth Form had a wonderful opportunity to enhance their understanding of Buddhism with a trip to the Cambridge Buddhist Centre on the first day of the Lent Term. The was following the introduction to the key Buddhist concepts and practices in the Michaelmas Term when they discovered more about the Buddhists’ way of life. The learned that Buddhists observe the steps of the Noble Eightfold Path, the meaning of the Four Noble Truths, the story of Siddhartha Gautama and the meaning behind the symbol of the Eight Spoked Wheel.
The Buddhist hosts at the Centre answered the children’s
Jan 2020
The St John’s Charities and Community Links Committee hosted its annual Christmas party for elderly people living in the Cambridge area to bring on the festive cheer. Committee members from both Byron House and Senior House provided merriment, conversation and entertainment for the guests. The Christmas party is part a rich and long tradition St John’s has of helping the local community.
Guests and their carers enjoyed mince pies, cakes, sandwiches and drinks, as well as a programme of varied entertainment provided by the children. The Committee members helped create the wonderful
Jan 2020
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 children. 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.
Before and after the services, organ music was played by Senior House pupils including works by Grayston, J M Bach, Jeanne Demessieux
