News list
Form 3 have been working on a collaborative English and Art project which has focused on studying minute details of our world and using these thoughts and observations to create artwork and poetry. In Art, this was inspired by William Blake’s ‘To See a World in a Grain of Sand’ and poetry entitled ‘On the Palm of My Hand’ which was centred on the idea of observing and wondering.
Form 1’s annual DT Puppet Making event returned this year with an even bigger explosion of felt, fur, sequins and other embellishments. The New Room was transformed into a textiles and construction workshop as the children brought their characters to life and learnt how to make a working rod puppet.
Two St John’s Year 8 musicians recently had the opportunity to take part in a masterclass with internationally acclaimed pianist Mr Peter Donohoe CBE, at The Leys School. St John’s College School pupils Blake Chen and George Balfour performed the final movement from Maurice Ravel’s Sonatine and Gabriel Fauré's Andante quasi allegretto from the Pièces Brèves respectively, with George's performance featured on Classic FM's Facebook page.
Form Four presented ‘Three Greek Plays: An evening of Tragedy, Comedy and Temptation’. Each of the plays, Pandora's Box, Beast in the Basement and Jason and Jargonauts, combined the scripts with music and dance developed in music lessons, to provide a brilliant set of plays.
The St John’s College Choir disc, Deo, has been nominated for the Choral Award in the 2017 BBC Music Magazine Awards. The winner of the award is decided by public vote, which is now open until 24 February 2017. Please follow the link if you would like to vote for this award (please bear in mind that once you have selected your choice, you have to add your details at the bottom for the vote to be registered). The winners will be announced at a ceremony at London’s Kings Place on 19 April.
Senior House has welcomed three outside speakers who have visited as part of the children’s Thursday Enrichment Programme. Mr Nick Butler, a civil engineer working presently for the firm Tideway Tunnels; Mr Stuart Sadler, a master diver and Mr Rowland White, a historical writer. The series of speakers is aimed to provide talks on a diverse range of careers for some of the children at Senior House.
Form 6 pupils were eager to get their hands dirty and wade into the river, despite the heavy rain, when they visited Epping Forest Field Centre, a Special Area of Conservation. Head of Geography, Mr David Palmer, 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 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 term. Last term the children had been given an introduction to the key Buddhist concepts and practices. The Buddhist hosts at the Centre built on this by answering the children’s questions and putting across the ‘flavour’ of a modern Buddhist life.
The Byron House Big Room was transformed into the busy market place of Thebes in c. 1347 BC. The Form 2 Ancient Egyptians, splendidly attired, were preparing for the festival of the Nile at the court of Queen Nefertiti.