WEDNESDAY 13TH MAY 2020

DEAR PARENTS

Robert Teague,

Headmaster

I have been impressed with the way that most boys have

adapted to online learning in a relatively short space of

time. I know that every situation is different and that

some may struggle to have sufficient access to technology

but the majority are engaging well with their work and

making good progress.

None of us know how long the current situation will last

for but my hope is that we will be back to something

approaching normality in September. The Prime

Minister’s announcement on Sunday and the guidance

published subsequently raise the possibility of a return to

school for Years 10 and 12 later this term if certain

conditions are fulfilled - though this is still far from

certain. When the national position becomes clearer I

will ask for your views so that we can plot a course for

The Cedars which takes account of the needs and

concerns of our school community.

Year 11 finished their assessments last week and appear

to have made an excellent start to their A level courses

over the last couple of days. The assessment baton has

now been passed to Year 13 who will be taking a series

of online assessments over the next two weeks or so.

This week we started a new tutorial cycle focusing on

‘academic progress’. In some ways the timing is ideal as

the current situation will make more demands on your

son’s powers of self-discipline and diligence than normal

school life which constrains pupils to do the right thing at

the right time. The challenges they face now are an

opportunity for them to grow personally and

intellectually by managing their time and taking

responsibility for their own learning.

With all good wishes for the next week,

BALLADE BY J.F.F BURGMULLER

Click HERE to listen to Rafael Llull (11A) playing

'Ballade' by J.F.F Burgmuller on the piano.

Whilst we can't make physical visits to the many museums around London their doors remain open in the digital

world. The link below delves into the existence of the Megatherium. The natural history museum website is a treasure

trove of engaging resources to distract and educate. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-was-megatherium.html

VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

What was Megatherium? | Natural History Museum Megatherium americanum was up to 10 times the size of living sloths reaching weights of up to four

tonnes (similar to a present day bull elephant). On its hind legs, M. americanum would have stood a

full 3.5 metres (12 feet) tall. Megatherium americanum is known from Argentina, Uruguay and

Bolivia. Fossils of the animals have been found in deposits dating from the Middle Pleistocene.

Take a virtual tour here: www.nhm.ac.uk

Click on the picture below to hear today’s assembly

I am currently

reading...

A Little History of the

World by E. H. Gombrich

Gombrich’s bestselling history of

the world for young readers tells

the story of mankind from the

Stone Age to the atomic bomb.

It focuses on the sweep of

human experience, the extent of

human achievement, and the

depth of its frailty.

During the lockdown, Yale

University Press are offering a

daily A-Z serialisation of

Gombrich’s classic, for home

school use. https://

yalebooksblog.co.uk/category/e-h

-gombrich-a-z-of-the-world/

Gombrich was director of the

Warburg Institute of the

University of London from 1959

to 1976. The Story of Art and Art

and Illusion are among his other

international best sellers.

Mr Doran

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

It is an extraordinary (and long!) book, which is

regarded by many as one of the best books ever

written. A friend once told me a great book is

one which enables you to know the human

person better. That is what Tolstoy does in this

book. He manages to craftily construct a

fictional account of the Russian aristocracy

during the Napoleonic wars. Throughout the

book he gives a deep insight into Russian society

in the early 19th century, when Russia was

threatened by Napoleon. If you combine his

character development with his beautiful prose,

you get a truly epic book. It is not a book which

you can read in a couple of sittings; you have to

really savour the story and his (long!)

descriptions.

Early on in the book one gets a flavour of what lies ahead. I was amused when just

in chapter 9 Tolstoy takes his time describing the amazing battle of Austerlitz in

1805. Indeed, he is in no rush to get the reader where he wants to: he takes ten

chapters (!) to describe the fighting. You have to persevere to work your way

through the descriptions, names and places which Tolstoy refers to, to set his

story. However, it is tremendously rewarding. If my friend's definition is anything

to go by, I think this is a great book! Mr Hinojo

THE DIG TREE by Sarah Murgatroyd

At the time (1860) Australia's interior was a "ghastly

blank" – nobody had any idea of what it looked like.

Not only was this ignorance an embarrassment,

there was prestige to be had, and money to be

made, by linking Australia to the outside world by a

telegraph line crossing the continent.

The book describes the ill-fated expedition to cross

Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf

of Carpentaria in the north and back again - a total

journey of some 3,500 miles.

It is a fascinating account of valour, incompetence,

romantic ideals, drama and sheer back luck in one

of the most inhospitable places on Earth. A meticulously written and enthralling

book. Well worth a read. Dr Virgili

Physical Activity at Home – Trinity Week 3

THE WEEK BY NUMBERS

Runners = 108

Number of Runs = 93

Total Distance Covered = 536.1km!

THE CEDARS RUNNERS RECORD THEIR BEST WEEK YET

It was another great week for The

Cedars Runners on Strava. As a team

we covered a strong 536.1 Kilometres

which is a great achievement. Well

done to everyone who got involved

and contributed to our total last

week! Please see our leader boards to

the right. It was another week

dominated by the Parents and

Teachers, however it was great to see

a good variety of pupils going out for

runs last week. Let’s keep it up and

please encourage your boys to get out

and go running this week!

There were a few standout performances from our boys. Tooting

Bec Common appears to be the

fastest area to run with a seriously

quick 5k run by Nick Boyle after

Juan De Alzaga’s record 5k time

last week at the same venue. Also well

done to the Harrington brothers

who covered the most distance in a

single run with a very strong pace

over a hilly course!

BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND GARDEN GAMES

Over the bank holiday weekend we encouraged households to enjoy their time

together in the sun and get outside for some Garden Games. This was inspired by a

video received from the Linton Household which saw Austin and Louis vs their dad

and younger brother in a game of chair football. Like that video some of the results

were extremely entertaining but I was also impressed with the skill level on display

(even from the Parents…).

We particularly enjoyed the improvisation of garden equipment being used as sporting

equipment – we saw a water butt used as a wicket and a parasol used as a football

tennis net. Sometimes you just have to make the best of a bad situation. Overall is was

a pleasure to see our families getting together and enjoying their time with each other

in lock down! Some of the results are below:

Chair Football at The Linton Household

The video that inspired the bank holiday Garden Games. It couldn’t be simpler - 2v2 Football with a chair in the mid-

dle of the pitch, to score you must pass the ball through the chair legs from any angle. This looked very competitive

but great fun – sometimes the family created games are the best games!

Father vs Son Battle in the Ager Brook Household

Son, Joe Ager-Brook and Dad, Brian Brook engaged in a

fierce battle for bragging rights in the Ager-Brook household!

It was a three legged event with Joe taking a narrow victory

in the football tennis before Brian fought back with a tough

23-21 victory in the table tennis which Joe certainly made

him work hard for! It would therefore be a Penalty Shoot-

out to decide the Garden Olympics and in sudden-death with

a Penalty Kick to take the victory Joe narrowly pushed the

ball wide (John Terry 2008 like…) however, Brian couldn’t

slot home the next penalty so Joe took the WIN! It looks

like the sporting torch has been passed in that household…

Zonal Foot Cricket with The Allen's

In the Allen house we saw the creative use of their water butt as a wicket with a sport created by themselves – Foot

Cricket! Using a football, a fielder bowls the ball at the ‘batsman’ who scores points by kicking the ball into certain

coned off areas (see scoring method below). This displayed great creativity, not just the improvisation of the water

butt but more so, the creation of their own sport.

A Spin Bowling Master Class with Shiv Taylor

In another video we witnessed a spin bowling masterclass from Shiv Taylor who displayed a very impres-

sive ability to turn the ball with his leg breaks. A sad reminder of what would normally be happening during

the summer term, however it’s great to see Shiv utilizing his time and working on his skills so he can be

ready for next season!

Other photos from our pupils keeping active:

FRIDAY FITNESS CHALLENGE

For the Friday Fitness Challenge last week the boys took on the ‘Lateral Quickness’ test on the

Home Court App. Moving side-to-side across the screen knocking over the virtual cones (as shown

above), this test of agility is a fun and addictive activity which will help improve your quick feet, reaction

times lateral speed and certainly burns the legs. There are also a number of other activities you can do on

this app which will help you as a sportsman and is mainly focused towards basketball fitness. We received a

number of entries and it pains Mr Ashton to inform you that yes, he was beaten by a Year 7. Jack Allen

recording the highest score of 282, with both Rok Grant (219) and Ethan Santana (208) recording

excellent scores over 200! Well done boys!

WE ARE CONTINUINING TO UPLOAD CONTENT

PLEASE FOLLOW US AND STAY ACTIVE!

The Cedars Daily Fitness

For all our daily fitness sessions please follow our ‘The Cedars

Sport’ Instagram account.

This is a private account so you will need to be accepted to follow

us. If I haven’t accepted you yet or if you have an IG name I will

not recognise, please email me.

All skills challenges and fitness challenges are posted to this

account as well.

This is the best way to keep in the loop with all things sport at

The Cedars!

Send us your pictures or videos of your

family/household workouts… It would be great for the school community to see what everyone is

up to, whether it’s a Joe Wick’s morning Body Coach Workout or

your household attempting the weekly skills/fitness challenges, all

images or videos would be welcome. If you are happy to do so,

please send them to my email: cashton@thecedarsschool.org.uk

SPORTS WATCH OF THE WEEK

Building Jerusalem combines scintillating match action, extraordinary

original interviews with the key players including Jonny Wilkinson, Clive

Woodward, Martin Johnson and Matt Dawson with never-before-seen behind

the scenes and match footage. It is an astonishing story of pressure,

expectation and courage, tracing the roots of success back to the

professionalization of the game in the 90s, culminating in the glorious World

Cup campaign of 2013 that turned Woodward’s poised chalice into a golden

cup! I could not recommend this highly enough to a rugby fan or general

sportsman! Building Jerusalem is available on Amazon Prime.

SPORTS READ OF THE WEEK

In The Talent Code, award-winning journalist Daniel Coyle draws on

cutting-edge research to reveal that, far from being some abstract mystical

powers fixed at birth, ability really can be created and nurtured. In the

process, he considers talent at work in venues as diverse as a music school

in Dallas and a tennis academy near Moscow to demonstrate how the

wiring of our brains can be transformed by the way we approach particular

tasks. He explains what is really going on when apparently unremarkable

people suddenly make a major leap forward. He reveals why some teaching

methods are so much more effective than others. Above all, he shows how

all of us can achieve our full potential if we set about training our brains in

the right way.