Dear Parents,

Induction day for new pupils

It was a real pleasure to welcome some of next year’s intake to the school on Friday:

A good number of them – 40 in fact - came in for team-building activities. A great time was

had by all and the consensus among staff was that they are a great bunch!

Cedars teaching under the spotlight

On Thursday we welcomed Christine Counsell to the school. Christine is an academic from

the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge. A winner of Cambridge’s Pilkington

Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Christine is an educational ‘big hitter’ by any standards,

having significantly influenced national policy in several important areas. In September she

takes up a new post as Director of Education for the Inspiration Trust, one of the largest

academy chains.

Parents’ Bulletin

Week commencing 13th June 2016

Dr Counsell with Dr Radice

It was a great honour, therefore, that Christine had travelled so far to spend an entire

morning in Dr Radice’s classroom. She was impressed by what she saw – to put it mildly –

and I quote from the follow-up email sent to me on Friday: “Nothing disappointed. It was an

inspirational morning. The verve and joy of the boys …, their systematic training in grammar and

writing, and their growing ability to talk about literature, in informed, rich and mature ways, all

amounted to some of the most exceptional and productive teaching I've ever seen. It was also

fascinating to see how [Dr Radice] attended to the strengths and deficits right across the

attainment range, stretching the strongest and pushing the weakest relentlessly at every opportunity.

It was a moving experience.”

Christine also met up with other humanities teachers and was similarly impressed: “[Mr]

Davis was inspiring in his vision for setting a high base-line of geographical knowledge for all, as

basic necessity for any educated person. He is the first geography teacher I have come across with

such a developed rationale for this and the beginnings of a practical way forward in curriculum and

pedagogy.”

Claire Heald, the headteacher of Jane Austen College in Norwich joined Christine

Counsell for the visit and echoed many of her sentiments: “As an English specialist myself I found

the quality of teaching and the enthusiasm and commitment of the students so inspiring.” As a result of

today’s visit, we have agreed to collaborate with the Inspiration Trust in future, an

arrangement which I am sure will give a great boost to the curriculum development that is

taking place at The Cedars. Exciting times!

It never rains but it pours! Dr Spencer spent Thursday at a CPD event held at the

Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith. He was pleasantly surprised to receive a

handout on The Science of Successful Learning, quoting our own Dr Radice!

I have never been in any doubt of the talent within the Cedars Common Room but it is

hugely encouraging to learn that it is now starting to be acknowledged far and wide.

Staff v Parents Cricket

You will have probably have heard already of the parents’ triumph! It was all going so well

for the staff until just before the start of the match. As we strode confidently on to the

pitch, we saw four athletic and improbably-young-looking men limbering up. None of them

were familiar from key parent functions but it appears they had somehow satisfied Mr

Adamson’s strict eligibility criteria for inclusion in the parents’ team. Their impact on the

game was decisive. My first ball – which I thought was a good one as it left my hand – was

casually despatched for 6. I was later informed by a boy in Year 7 that this mysterious

quartet was made up of some “uncles” of his. When I asked – only half-joking – whether

they were professionals, he told me, in a reassuring tone, that they weren’t, but then added

that they play at the level immediately below the Indian Premier League! Consequently, Mr

T has now been removed from umpire duty for the re-match, as we look to strengthen our

squad.

There were also a few surprise packages on the staff side. One of our gap-year students,

Mr Hadley, from the University of Notre Dame in Illinois, impressed with a belligerent

display of baseball-style big-hitting and fierce throwing in from the boundary. Dr Spencer’s

unorthodox bowling style raised eyebrows initially but later proved to be devastatingly

effective.

The week ahead

Another busy week beckons as we host the Independent Schools Association’s regional Art

Competition on Thursday; exam week for Year 9 and 10 is in full swing.

Have a good week,

Mr Robert Teague

Headmaster

News in brief

Harlequins Rugby

Congratulations to Huesan Chan (7α) on his selection to the Harlequins U13 rugby squad

for 2016-17!

Cricket

Well done to our U12 and U13 cricket teams who both won convincingly on Saturday

against teams from St Benedict’s, Ealing. Sabih Abdul shone for the U12s while an

electrifying bowling display from Joshua Gray made the difference for the U13s. Joshua

was ably supported by Lucas Torre, Edward Barnett, Noah Agbinbone, Kameron

Taylor and Matthew Watchorn, all of whom bowled economically.

Music

MR SCHELLHORN'S CONCERT AT WIGMORE HALL

Monday 13 June at 7.30pm. Mr Schellhorn would be delighted to see some friendly faces

there! https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/the-monday-platform-201606131930

Choral Workshops

The boys of the Schola enjoyed a wonderful workshop with Mrs Korfker-Neal last week.

The final one of the year will take place this Tuesday 14 June at 3.45pm. Please let Mr

Schellhorn know if you would like to take part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUuBB8OIP84

Instrumental Lessons

There is still considerable forgetfulness surrounding co-curricular music activities. Boys

who are receiving lessons must make it their business to check the boards and communicate

with their teacher if they foresee problems. This includes the ensembles.

Bassoon Lessons

One of the priorities for me as Director of Music has been to expand instrumental tuition.

As I know it is an instrument that many boys enjoy I appointed an excellent and very

pleasant professional bassoonist and teacher this year – Mrs Lorna West. So far we have

not had any applicants. The bassoon is a wonderful, rich-sounding instrument that is in

great demand in orchestras. You can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassoon. We have had one new application for this wonderful

instrument in September but we need two more boys to apply in order to make the work

worthwhile for the teacher – and then hopefully it would grow, too. Please would your son

consider learning this instrument? Kindly let Mr Schellhorn know as soon as possible.

Music Department Website

Coming soon! …Watch this space.

Spanish

In order to help boys to prepare for our end of year Spanish tests, there will be a revision

club at lunch time on Monday and Thursday from next week. The boys are welcome to

come with unresolved questions on the work we have covered, or to get advice on how to

prepare their essays and answer the questions for the oral exam. (This would be

particularly helpful for Year 9s and Year 10s). The club will take place from 1.30pm until the

end of lunch break for two days. Please encourage your boys to attend and benefit from

this opportunity to get some extra help.

.As You Like It! – School Production on Friday 1st July at 7.30pm

Please contact Mr Strinati on: cstrinati@thecedarsschool.org,uk if you are able to help with

any of the following items:

1. Prop List

A stylish cane or walking stick;

A pair of velvet trousers;

A colourful bow tie;

A flamboyant wig;

Any old-fashioned headwear!

2. Make up on 1st July

Further details about tickets to follow shortly.

Classics

Latin 'emails' from the first century AD.

Once more Latin is in the news. The national papers in the half term week revealed the

discovery by archaeologists of the oldest known examples of handwriting in Britain. Over

four hundred wooden tablets, found on a demolition site in the City of London, had once

been covered in wax for writing messages. The wax has long gone but Latin scholars were

able to decipher the impressions left on the wood. The oldest tablet dates from between

AD 43 and 53. One tablet is inscribed simply with the alphabet and was possibly used

for writing practice by a child. The Times reported Sophie Jackson from the Museum of

London suggesting that this was possibly the first evidence of schooling in Britain. Ms

Jackson said, 'What we found completely blew us away. You get a picture of early London,

which was full of merchants and traders. These tablets were like the email of the Roman

world’. The objects from the excavation will be on display in an exhibition in the City in the

next academic year and I hope to organise a Cedars trip there.

Dr Tom Spencer

Teacher of Latin

Upcoming Events

Monday 13 June

End-of-Year Exams (Y9 & Y10) – all week

As You Like It – rehearsal – 3.45pm

Tuesday 14 June

Cricket v St George’s Weybridge U14(a) – 2.30pm

Evening of Recollection for dads – 7.30pm

Wednesday 15 June

Build-a-Computer workshop – 7.30pm

ISA regional Art Competition – 4.30pm

Thursday 16 June

As You Like It – rehearsal – 3.45pm

Friday 17 June

Glyndebourne at The Cedars - POSTPONED

Important dates 2016

Some key dates for the current academic year are listed below:

Friday 24th June 2016 Sports Day (School Field)

Friday 1st July 2016 School Production, As You Like It, 7.30pm

Saturday 2nd July 2016 The Cedars Summer Party, 2.00pm

[Cite your source here.]

The last word…

“From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow”.

Aeschylus