Dear Parents - Stephen Perse...
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1 @SPFSchools senior.stephenperse.com 10 February 2017 Issue 8 Senior School news Dear Parents I enjoyed reading a definition of boys this week as ‘noise with dirt on’. It reminded me, if I needed a reminder, that in September the Senior School will contain both girls and boys. After laughing a little (especially since my boy Adam was living up to that definition quite nicely at the time), it also made me think that there is much work to do with staff to move beyond generalisations and stereotypes in order that we have sophisticated, thoughtful and reflective planning for the future. One of the things I was impressed with when I started in September was the varied programme of professional development that was on offer to the teachers here. Perhaps the best aspect of this was the culture of sharing the best ideas between staff, rather than thinking that the answers must always lie outside the Foundation. In many schools the ‘CPD’ programme is often seen as a box that can be most easily ticked by traipsing into a room and hearing a speaker talk for 2 hours with no real idea about the context in which the staff are working. Not here, thankfully, as we welcomed a colleague teaching boys in the Junior School to be our resident expert. Following a tremendously successful Entrance Testing programme where Senior School staff got to meet the boys who will make up half (well, nearly half) of Year 7 in September, there was a keen desire from staff to discuss what this will mean in the classroom. We devoted our whole staff meeting in the week to think about some of the aspects of the education on offer here that may be affected by our move to co-education. In groups we discussed curriculum and lesson planning, extra-curricular activities, behaviour, rewards and sanctions and our pastoral care. There was a sense of eager anticipation in the room, perhaps as a result of how impressed we were with the cohort of boys who had undergone the entrance testing. It was also great to reflect on what is special about the school at the moment and a determination to retain this into the new academic year. I appreciate that this may seem irrelevant for many reading this whose daughters will be largely unaffected by a few Year 7 boys in the school (in which case, thank you for getting so far down!) However, the fact that they are members of a wider community of learners will make their own experience all the better: a culture where teachers reflect critically on their own practice can only be a good thing. The advent of boys will stimulate this and will lead to even better teaching and learning across the Senior School. With kind regards, David Walker Head of Senior School
Transcript of Dear Parents - Stephen Perse...
1@SPFSchools senior.stephenperse.com
10 February 2017Issue 8
Senior SchoolnewsDear Parents
I enjoyed reading a definition of boys this week as ‘noise with dirt on’. It reminded me, if I needed a reminder, that in September the Senior School will contain both girls and boys. After laughing a little (especially since my boy Adam was living up to that definition quite nicely at the time), it also made me think that there is much work to do with staff to move beyond generalisations and stereotypes in order that we have sophisticated, thoughtful and reflective planning for the future.
One of the things I was impressed with when I started in September was the varied programme of professional development that was on offer to the teachers here. Perhaps the best aspect of this was the culture of sharing the best ideas between staff, rather than thinking that the answers must always lie outside the Foundation. In many schools the ‘CPD’ programme is often seen as a box that can be most easily ticked by traipsing into a room and hearing a speaker talk for 2 hours with no real idea about the context in which the staff are working. Not here, thankfully, as we welcomed a colleague teaching boys in the Junior School to be our resident expert.
Following a tremendously successful Entrance Testing programme where Senior School staff got to meet the boys who will make up half (well, nearly half) of Year 7 in September, there was a keen desire from staff to discuss what this will mean in the classroom. We devoted our whole staff meeting in the week to think about some of the aspects of the education on offer here that may be affected by our move to co-education. In groups we discussed curriculum and lesson planning, extra-curricular activities, behaviour, rewards and sanctions and our pastoral care. There was a sense of eager anticipation in the room, perhaps as a result of how impressed we were with the cohort of boys who had undergone the entrance testing. It was also great to reflect on what is special about the school at the moment and a determination to retain this into the new academic year.
I appreciate that this may seem irrelevant for many reading this whose daughters will be largely unaffected by a few Year 7 boys in the school (in which case, thank you for getting so far down!) However, the fact that they are members of a wider community of learners will make their own experience all the better: a culture where teachers reflect critically on their own practice can only be a good thing. The advent of boys will stimulate this and will lead to even better teaching and learning across the Senior School.
With kind regards,
David WalkerHead of Senior School
2 @SPFschools senior.stephenperse.com
News
Year 9 STEM trip to FlexEnable
Thirteen students from Year 9 went on a half day trip to FlexEnable last Friday as part of their ten week Go 4 SET project on ‘Our Electronics Environment’. The students learnt about new, clever technology using the durability and flexibility of plastics to generate useful products for the electronics industry.
This includes new flexible screens for tablets, signs, watches and other wearable technology. The students saw research and development labs where products are tested sometimes to destruction before they are unleashed onto the open market.
The projects for the students now continue up to the Assessment Event on the 24th March in Luton. They have been developing ideas for electronic solutions to problems in their school environment. A huge thank you to the scientists and engineers from FlexEnable for a wonderful trip and their continued support for the scheme.
Year 8 Global Outlook is taken over by the Linguists!
Earlier this term the Year 8s had the chance to learn some German, Mandarin Chinese, Russian as well as to practise their Latin derivatives.
Their usual global outlook slot was taken over by modern and classical linguists, so that all the students could have the chance to meet some new languages. The Year 8s will be making their modern language choices for next year by Monday 20th February. They can continue studying French and Spanish. However they can replace one of those languages with either German, Mandarin Chinese or Russian.
Whatever they choose, they certainly enjoyed all these aspects: learning more about the connections between Latin and English; the tones and characters in Chinese; getting to know the Cyrillic alphabet in Russian; and going on a lion hunt in German!
3 @SPFschools senior.stephenperse.com
Y11 Art and Design Galleries Trip
On Monday 6th February Year 11 students studying Visual Arts and Product Design headed off on a trip to the Tate Galleries and London’s new Design Museum. Gathering visual research for their GCSE examination project, students studied the chronological collection displays at the Tate Britain, before catching the Tate Boat to view the Robert Rauschenberg Exhibition at the Tate Britain.
Design students got to see the newly relocated Design Museum in Kensington, viewing the exhibition Fear and Love: Reactions to a Complex World, presenting eleven new installations by some of the most innovative and thought-provoking designers and architects working today.
Students enjoyed sketching, discussing and photographing the wide range of exhibits and will be using their research to develop ideas on their exam theme, ‘Beginning and/or End’. See their work in the summer exhibition in June!
4 @SPFschools senior.stephenperse.com
Our Japanese Exchange visitors from Keio Shonandai Fujisawa have been visiting four Year 10 students for the last two weeks. They have visited Junior School, City Pre-Prep and Madingley classes, teaching Japanese songs and origami, as well as doing assemblies in the Senior School speaking about their school, especially their clubs and school life, and have proved themselves very talented teachers! Our Year 10s have shown them London and Cambridge, including the Harry Potter studios, Madame Tussauds, choral evensong at King’s, the Botanic Gardens and a typical English afternoon tea.
Keio Exchange
The school has been alive with the sounds of chamber music for the last few days. On Wednesday last week we welcomed the violinist Steve Bingham and clarinettist and composer Paul Harris to school to work with our chamber music groups.
All of the groups had learned their pieces thoroughly in advance of this week’s concert, and our eminent visitors enjoyed coaching the groups, giving them a fresh perspective on some pieces and putting the finishing touches on others.
This week’s concert, in front of a full audience, was really impressive; students from Year 5 through to Lower 6 performed, and the repertoire was as diverse as baroque sonatas by Telemann and Hotteterre, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, Scott Joplin’s Pineapple Rag and Henry Mancini’s Pink Panther theme, which was given a spirited rendition by our saxophone quintet.
Chamber Music Day and Concert
They have visited York minister, watched the side-splitting Sixth Form play The 39 Steps, tried Zumba and more! We were so glad to give our visitors a Stephen Perse welcome and are even more glad to be heading off over half-term to explore Japan!
Visit the school blog to seemore of what they’ve been up to here in the UK. You can access this here. Current Year 9 and 11 students are invited to send a letter of interest to Miss Brown ([email protected]) for scholarship opportunities for the Keio trip next year!
5 @SPFschools senior.stephenperse.com
Five students from The Stephen Perse Foundation qualified to represent Cambridgeshire in the English Schools Athletic Association Anglian Cross Country Championships in Abington Park, Northampton.It was a gloriously sunny day, perfect cross country conditions and the students performed outstandingly. To reach this level of the competition is a great achievement in itself but all went a step further in showing their class.
In the senior girls age group Emma S produced a fantastically controlled run and displayed her running experience to achieve 6th place overall against class competition. Francesca T in the inter girls age group produced a gutsy run and picked off the opposition to come home in 36th place against a large field of competitors.
In the minor girls age group we had two runners, Lauren C and Iona C. Both were competing at this level for the first time and neither were overawed by the scale of the event.
Their enthusiasm and energy stood them in good stead with Lauren finishing in 20th place and Iona in 26th place, superb performances by the girls.
Congratulations to Emma Schaertlin Coffey and Francesca Topel who have now been selected to run for Cambridgeshire Schools at this year’s New Balance English Schools’ Cross Country Championships at Norfolk Showground, Norwich on Saturday 18th March. We wish them every success.
ESAA Anglian Cross Country Championships
Coffee morning
Please join the parents and guardians of Year 8 girls for a coffee and chat at Waitrose’s Café, 50 Hauxton Road, Trumpington on Friday 24 February at 9am.
Drop in and catch up with the summer happenings and latest news. Any questions, contact Jane Biddle at [email protected]. We hope to see you there!
Other spring term mornings: Monday 27 March at Fitzbillies.
Please note this is not an SPF event.
