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St John’s School Weekly Newsletter
Issue 42
St John’s remembers
From the
Headmaster
Welcome to this special edition of the
newsletter. This has been a very
important week of remembrance. We
have been able to reflect on the wars
that have taken place and the sacrifices
that our armed forces have made in the
past and make now. St John's boys have
represented the School with
thoughtfulness and pride at the
Northwood Service of Remembrance
and while playing the Last Post. On
11th November Year 3 to 8 joined in
with the National Assembly which
highlighted the importance of
Remembrance.
I was fortunate to visit the Lambs once
again when they were learning about
food (funny that!) and also see the
impressive mosaic tables that Year 8
have been putting the final touches to.
The Year 8 boys have been working
hard on final preparations for their
mock examinations next week. They will
sit relevant papers for the schools of
their choice and this will help them to
identify the areas to work on. I would
like to wish them all the best.
One of many solemn moments in the past week when the St John’s community
has stepped back from the frenetic pace of school life to remember those who
sacrificed everything so that we can be free.
This last seven days has seen a busy
schedule of sports fixtures with no less
than 22 teams taking to the field for
rugby matches. I saw the 2nd XV play
with real determination and teamwork
against Davenies and was called up to
coach the U8s as they played in a
tournament yesterday. It was lovely to
see all of the boys and parents enjoying
the experience.
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November 14 2014
In school, all our assemblies in the last two weeks have
had Remembrance as the theme. Mr Robinson spoke to the
Pre-Prep about the importance of wearing a poppy and why we
must remember soldiers from a hundred years ago. The Lambs
even made their own poppies. Mr Russo shared family
memories of his great uncle with us on Monday and on Tuesday
(11th November) we joined in a National Assembly about
Remembrance which was recorded at the Tower of London on
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Monday afternoon. Our four best trumpeters led the whole
School at the poignant moment of 11am when they played 'The
Last Post'. All boys stood for the two minute silence in the
school playground. This responsibility for our trumpeters is one
that is eagerly sought after, and the aspiration of many boys.
Well done to the lads this year; they performed it superbly and
it was very moving.
November 14 2014
The Northwood Cenotaph in pictures
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November 14 2014
Ho, Ho, Ho! It’s the Christmas Bazaar
Saturday 6th December is the date - put it in your diary at
the same time as getting out your shopping list as the Bazaar
won’t happen without those tombola bottles, raffle prizes, toys,
games and books. The St John’s Association really needs your
help in providing bottles of drink (there will a prize for the Year
group which brings in the most and Mr Brown is judge), chocolates and lucky dip prizes. Check in cupboards for unwanted
books and games which are in good condition. These can be
placed in the containers found in the playground by the
drop-off zone. Most importantly the Association are looking for
raffle prizes such as restaurant or beauty vouchers, red letter
days, small electronic devices, jewellery and other quality gifts.
If you can help or have a friend or contact who may be willing
to make a donation please get in touch with Mrs Whistler on
[email protected]
Boys, do you want to run a stall?
If any boys have a fun idea for a game or activity and would like and allocate you a stall. Please can you contact Lorraine Ebanks
to run a stall in the Christmas Bazaar with their friends and
at [email protected] by Friday 21st November with
parents to raise money for the school we'd love to hear from
your ideas.
you. As space is always at a premium we'll choose the best ideas
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November 14 2014
Northwood 500 groundwork
These Year 8s are getting ready for the Northwood 500,
St John's very own action-packed obstacle course. They are
performing safety checks on the equipment we use to ensure
that all ropes and fittings are not being overloaded. The
electrical gizmo in Kieran Spellward's charge is a fancy tensile
load-transducer. The lads tensioned up a 3x3 block and tackle
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and, with the unit in series, recorded how much tension was
applied. There was a predictable sigh of relief when it was
established that at max tension, the load was many times less
than the strength of our zip-wire rope. Green light for go! Many
thanks go to the St John’s Association who have made a
significant contribution to the set-up costs.
November 14 2014
Baking day in the Lambs
The Lambs made bread rolls; we used flour, salt, sugar, oil, warm water and yeast to make a bread dough. Then we learnt how
to knead the dough and we put it in a warm dark place and the dough grew bigger. It was then put in the oven to cook. The rolls
changed colour, they were lighter in weight and not sticky anymore, they smelt and tasted delicious.
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November 14 2014
Postcards from the Badgers and Eagles
This week in their literacy lesson, the Badgers and
Eagles wrote, addressed and stamped postcards to their parents.
They then walked to the nearest post-box to post their cards. Some
of them were lucky enough to bump into the postman, who kindly
agreed to pose for a photo. We hope that all their cards have reached
you by now. We did put a first class stamp on them!
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November 14 2014
Keeping warm in Year 4!
This week in Science we have been looking at our new topic, keeping warm. Year 4 boys have been investigating materials
which are effective thermal insulators. Wooden, metal and plastic spoons were put into a beaker of very hot water and the boys
had to test which spoon stayed coolest. This investigation was recorded in a strict scientific manner and included a prediction,
method, diagram and a conclusion.
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November 14 2014
Get on board with Calam Lalani (7J)
I began skateboarding with an old skateboard that I
inherited from my brother a few years ago. From the moment I
felt myself balancing and riding the board, I knew this was
going to be a part of my life and exercise routine. It is my
passion, giving me peace of mind and a release when I need
some time out; it is a way that I can express myself. It is a gift
that keeps unwrapping itself.
skateboarding is an art that is about skill, focus and motivation
and which is steeped with urban history and architecture, for
example the Southbank in London.
What would you rather see children spend time doing? Sitting in
front of a game console playing FIFA for hours on end or
grabbing a board, being active and learning new skills??
Skateboarding is accessible and inclusive – with just a board you
Over the years I have mastered many of the most challenging
can practise with friends or individually at any time of day,
skills, from flat ground tricks to ramps to stair sets and
anywhere in the world. As I discovered in Lisbon last summer
handrails. I am adamant that I will eventually qualify as a
where there was an awesome free style skate park built by a
skateboard instructor and will teach younger children and adults local council to promote skate sports in a safe, friendly space.
alike in my spare time. It upsets me that some people associate New regulated indoor parks like XC in Hemel, (great for
skateboarding with rebellious teenagers and drugs or as a youth beginners who don’t want to be on their own) are also
subculture. Don’t many sports have negative associations?
becoming increasingly popular, especially on rainy days!
When you participate in a sport you make a choice to take the
Watford Council is launching a ‘Get Active’ initiative offering
positive for yourself and hopefully leave the negative. For me,
free skateboard lessons to youths. So come on! Get on board!
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November 14 2014
Two out of three ain’t bad against Davenies
1st XV vs Davenies
Won 55 - 10
Scorers: Joshua Ogunnaike, 5 tries,
Adam Hart 4 tries, Sam Bickerstaff 5 conversions
Man of the Match: Sam Bickerstaff who was presented the award from
the referee. Joshua Ogunnaike and Adam Hart were also outstanding.
But this was a real team effort. We started very well and the forwards
and backs combined convincingly in attack and defence. The forwards
dominated the scrum and around the pitch they were able to win quick
ball at the breakdown. Sam Bickerstaff was excellent at organising his
back division and orchestrating the waves of attacks throughout the
match. In the centres, Adam Hart and Joshua Ogunnaike were very impressive and their powerful running and try scoring throughout the game
made life very difficult for the Davenies side. However, this was a real
team performance with the forwards playing well and the backs finishing
the tries with excellent passing and support play. Our exit strategies with
our kicking game was also impressive and we played the match in the
right areas of the pitch.
2nd XV vs Davenies
Won 33-21
Scorers: Haydon Carr 2 tries, Fiyin Akin 2 tries, Kieran Spellward 1
try;,Jamie Graham 4 conversions
Man of the Match: Haydon Carr & Anthony Stout
In the second match this season against Davenies the 2nd XV managed
to overcome a very spirited opposition and had to dig deep to secure
the win. Straight from the kick off you could tell that the game could go
either way as both teams moved the ball in an effort to score tries.
Davenies made the breakthrough when some weak tackling by St John’s
allowed them to score under the posts. This was what was needed to
shake St John’s into action and tries by Fiyin Akin, Kieran Spellward and
Haydon Carr saw us go in at half time 19-14 up; Jamie Graham converted two. In the second half we were able to use our superior fitness to
grind Davenies down and further tries by Fiyin and Haydon secured the
win. Again Jamie was successful with two conversions. There were some
outstanding performances in the forwards; once again Anthony Stout
was a thorn in the side of the opposition stealing a lot of ball and Jayme
Patel, who was returning from a long term injury, acquitted himself well
in the loose. Rishabh Goenka had another powerful game carrying the
ball on many occasions to make a lot of ground and Jack Grimes did well
in his first full outing for the 2nds. A good team performance all round
and with one more game to go this season we should finish on a high.
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June 6 2014
3rd XV find Davenies a bridge too far….
3rd XV vs Davenies
Score: Lost 60-0
Man of the Match: Harry Whistler
Another difficult game for the 3rd XV
against a fast running Davenies. In
the first half we missed many tackles
and didn’t get quickly enough to the
breakdown of the ball.
However in the second half we layed
our best rugby. We were much more
positive and aggressive and there
were some promising runs from
Harry Whistler and Adam Chatoo.
Harry also made some excellent
tackles and he was deservedly man of
the match.
Another tough match for the 3rd XI
and if we are going to challenge our
opposition and maintain possession
of the ball we must continue to
improve our tackling.
Under 9’s impress at Caldicott tournament
Under 9 C vs Caldicott Lost 20-30
Scorers: Joseph Pressinger 2 tries, Shaan Fisher 1 try, Zain
Ahmed 1 try
Man of the Match Joseph Pressinger. This was a match which
we let run away from us, when it could have gone either way.
We scored first with fantastic passing and offloading, which
caught Caldicott completely unaware, leading to Joseph
Pressinger running through five tackles to score the try.
However, Caldicott came back strongly, scoring three
successive tries before we got another. The team can take a lot
away from this first contact rugby performance, giving
themselves a big pat on the back. They could have taken more
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from it, however I am positive they will go into their next few
matches with the same vigour and go from strength to strength.
Vs St Bernard’s ‘A’ Lost 15-25
Scorers: Joseph Pressinger 2 tries, Zain Ahmed 1 try Man of
the Match: Aryan Patel
We started this game poorly with missed tackles left, right and
centre. However, we came back into it with some good running
and passing, whilst our defensive line was more effective in its
formation. This was a game we were always going to find
difficult, although Aryan Patel at Scrum Half played well,
making darting runs evading the opposition. It is clear to see
these boys have potential, we just need to improve on our
tackling to have a more all round game.
June 6 2014
Under 9’s win Plate Final at St Columba’s
Under 9 A
Game 3 v
Chesham Prep
St. Columba's College Under 9 Rugby
Lost 15 – 0
festival
Chesham had
Place in Tournament: Winners of the
beaten other teams
Plate Final against Caldicott
by 6 tries and this
was certainly going
Man of the Tournament: Netanel
to be a tough
Lawrence-Ojo
match. The St.
Game 1 v Bedford Prep Drew 5 - 5
John’s side played
very well and
We dominated large parts of this game
and Rohan Patel picked up the ball from Netanel Lawrencea ruck and sprinted from inside his own Ojo broke a
number of tackles
half to score an excellent try. Netanel
and almost scored
Lawrence-Ojo was outstanding and his
tackling, running with the ball and work but lacked support to finish the move.
moment on we dominated the match and
at the breakdown was fantastic. In the last Mason Harding always looked dangerous
Netanel Lawrence-Ojo powered his way
play, Bedford Prep managed to score a try from scrum-half and his darting runs
over to score another try. A good win.
helped the side hugely.
to draw the match.
Game 6 Plate Competition Final
Game 4 Plate Competition Quarter-Final
Game 2 v Claire's Court Drew 5 - 5
Caldicott Won 15 - 10
Berkhamsted Drew 0 - 0
This was good match between two sides
Andrew Strauss and Sir Matthew Pinsent
A battle between our forwards and the
and St. John’s defended very well. St.
were watching their sons in the Caldicott
Berkhamsted forwards and a very tight
John’s scored a very good try when
team but it was a St. John’s scrum five
Netanel Lawrence-Ojo powered his way game. When we moved the ball we
looked much more dangerous and created metres from the Caldicott try line and
over the line. However, Claires Court
excellent attacking opportunities. Netanel Mason Harding picked up the ball and
managed to score a try but fantastic
Lawrence-Ojo broke a number of tackles found the gap to score an excellent
defence from Alex Leith, Reece Jones,
James Curtler certainly helped the side in and looked as if he was to about to score opening try. Caldicott came back and they
but ran over the dead ball line, therefore scored in the corner. The tackling was
this match.
fierce and Netanel Lawrence-Ojo, Reece
no score.
However, he went through on Jones and Matthew Hodes stopped
numerous attacks. Out wide Yuri Zykov,
count back.
James Curtler, Josh Fletcher and Rohan
Game 5 Plate Competition
Mangat all played their part in the final.
Semi-Final
Alex Leitch ran a wide line and
St Benedict’s Won 10 - 0
outflanked the Caldicott side to score in
the left corner. The game was evenly
Alex Leitch took the ball
balanced at 10 – 10 when Netanel
from the start from Mason
Lawrence-Ojo made a superb break. He
Harding and outflanked the
managed to off-load the ball to Reece
St. Benedict’s defence to
score in the corner. From this Jones who showed magic feet to score
and win the match.
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Nov14th 2014
Tough going against Berkhamsted
Under 10 A v Berkhamsted
Draw 10-10
Scorers: Daniel Barnet 1 try and Ben
Kleiner 1 try
Man of the Match: Charlie Hannam
We were outplayed in many departments
by a very well organised Berkhamsted
team. Unfortunately Harry Bridgewater,
our captain and fly-half, was unable to
play and we really struggled without his
organisation and leadership.
This was very obvious at the start of the
The match was hard fought and ended at game, where our forwards were able to
two tries a piece. The team tackled hard
win the ball only to see it turned over very
making the opposition struggle to move quickly in attack. We made a few errors
the ball. On a small pitch the need for
at the start of the match, particularly not
strong physicality was always top of the
fielding Berkhamsted’s long clearances
list and Charlie Hannam used his
downfield. Mr Russo was pleased that we
physicality in the scrum and to great
improved our rucking and fought
effect. The team were disappointed not to strongly for the ball at times. Our best
get the win having had four disallowed try period of play was at the beginning of the
appeals but they continue to improve and second half. We kept the ball and Daniel,
are now a good tight team.
Michael and Jordan really ran onto the
passes and made good inroads into
Under 10 B vs Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted’s defence. Jordan finished
Lost 40 - 35
off a really pacey move to score an
Scorers: Alexander Bainbridge 2 tries;
excellent team try. We struggled to
Ethan Nwanko 2 tries;
maintain this level and lost a little
Dare Amos-Oluwole 2 tries; Nicholas
confidence as an attacking move down
Lewis 1 try
the wing went wrong and resulted in
Man of the Match: Ethan Nwanko for Berkhamsted running the length of the
field and scoring. It is important that,
some good running on the wing.
regardless of the score, we keep making
A somewhat scrappy game with neither
our tackles and competing for the ball.
team dominating play. In the first half,
after conceding two soft tries, Ethan
Nwanko scored twice to get us back in
the game. Second half we lost our way a
bit but did really well to come back to
nearly level the score. A good effort!
Let us hope for an improved performance
on Friday against St Columba’s.
Colts B vs Berkhamsted
Lost 31 - 0
Man of the Match: Thomas Lemon
We started well and looked positive with
the ball in hand. However, the St. John’s
players took contact rather than moving
the ball away from the opposition tackler.
Berkhamsted moved the ball into space
and were able to score tries much more
easily. Our scrum was very good and we
pushed Berkhamsted backwards. On our
own ball we looked good but lack of
support at the breakdown when we
moved the ball wide meant we always
struggled to win second phase ball.
Thomas Lemon made some excellent
tackles and battled away in defence.
Danial Sayani ran very well and looked
threatening with the ball in attack. We had
a much better second half and on a
number of occasions we almost scored
but again we were held up in contact or
the ball was lost.
Colts A vs Berkhamsted
Lost 40 - 5
Scorers: Jordan Hui
Man of the Match: Daniel Odejinmi
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June 6 2014
Under 8’s enjoy day out at St Columba’s
Under 8A at the St Columba’s
This was a great day
Tournament with Davenies and Gayhurst out for all the boys
who all contributed to
Scores: Lost vs St Columba’s 6-9; Lost to
an excellent festival of
Davenies 4-10; Lost to Gayhurst 7-9
rugby. We passed the
Man of the match: Whole team for the ball nicely but failed to
best try of the tournament, making at
run with confidence.
least 4 passes and then Salman Muktar
However, after we
scored. This was the Under 8’s second
settled into the match
outing of the season and they were
we did score some
straight into it against St Columba’s after very good tries with
arriving late. However they didn’t let that some excellent passing
bother them and started well trying to
and running onto the
move the ball. The one thing we had
ball. However, we
talked about was passing the ball and we were not able to catch up with St
started to get the hang of it as the
Columba’s. Our second match was a very
matches went on. Nathan Hedges was
even game and could have gone either
difficult to stop as he made some mazy
way. We just needed to make our tags
runs with the ball at great speed, as was
and move forward in attack. Our last
Krish Dixit. In our second game we
match was against Gayhurst, which we
played Davenies who had some very fast won. Arjun Shah scored 6 tries in this
boys who were difficult to catch and we match and really was the difference
struggled against them losing by 4 tries to between the two teams, he improved with
10. In our final game against Gayhurst we every match. Saam Hashemian also
played really well in the first half and were scored a number of good tries and, as
leading 6-3 at half time but we ran out of captain, led the team very well. Jadon Lee
steam by the end eventually losing 7-9.
also scored a few very good tries and
We did however score the best try of the made some very important tags. All the
tournament when we passed the ball
through the hands at least 4 times for
Salman Mukhtar to score. Other
members of the team contributed with
good running and passing including Zac
Addison, Sebastian Ashman-Rodgers,
Krish Mangat, Oliver Southon and Aaron
Patel. A big thank you to all the parents
who came to watch, I think we were the
best supported school.
boys tried their very best to pass the ball
and use the space and on occasions we
played some magnificent rugby. The
squad consisted of Jadon Lee, Henry
Carpmeal, Saam Hashemian, Keeyan
Suleman, Ben Cook, Rohan Pankhania
and Arjun Shah. You could tell by the
excitement that all the boys really enjoyed
the experience of playing against other
schools and they will learn a lot from this
tournament. Well done boys.
Under 8B at the St Columba’s
tournament with Davenies and Gayhurst .
Scores: Lost vs St Columba’s 12-10; Lost
vs Davenies 8-7; Won vs Gayhurst 13-11
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June 6 2014
Under 8’s Festival of Rugby!
Under 8 C Team.
Rugby festival against St.
Columba’s, Davenies and
Gayhurst
Man of the Tournament:
Bradley Nwabudike
Vs Davenies Drew 40 -40
A good first match outing for the
side and we scored some
excellent individual tries. Good
tagging and a draw was a fair
result against Davenies.
Vs St. Columba’s Won 50 – 15
We were simply too strong for
St. Columba’s and our powerful
runners managed to score a
number of tries when we ran at
gaps. Impressive running from
Bradley Nwabudike and Vikash
Sumon enabled the side to score
a number of tries. However there
was some great tagging from
Louis Rosenbaum and his
support play was excellent.
Vs Gayhurst Won 25 – 5
Another strong performance and
the side defended really well.
Again our strong runners
powered their way through to
score a few tries. But it was the
excellent defence in terms of our
tagging and not allowing the
opposition to run that enabled us
to win this game.
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June 6 2014
Under 8 D, E and F teams also come out fighting
What a fabulous afternoon of running rugby in a friendly competition which got all the boys involved. The afternoon in pictures.
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June 6 2014
Years 5,6 and 7 display their wares
Year 5 boys have finished their book
ends now. They had to make a 90 degree
wooden finger joint and then add an
interesting idea to go each side of the
book ends. With careful painting the end
results were very nicely done.
Year 6 has been looking into the
properties of acrylic and boys have
designed and made a clock with a
working mechanism.
Year 7 has been working on a Matisse
inspired tray. The boys have made a tray
and designed a collage that they have
varnished to give it a hard wearing
finish.
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November 14 2014
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
18
1.
This beautiful ink parrot has been drawn by
Husain Tayeb (8W) during Portfolio Club.
2.
Skye Pagnini (4W) now understands tinting and
shading.
3.
Year 7 is learning how to draw the perfect
self-portrait. Shiv Parmar (7J) is concentrating
on drawing his eyebrows in the correct place.
4.
Niyam Shah and Ben Hellewell (5G) have
finished their cat pieces in the style of Gustav
Klimt.
5.
Zack Hershman and Jamie Minkoff (8T) have
been very busy tiling their tables.
November 14 2014
Calendar and important dates
17th November: Year 8 Mock Exams (Norman Hall)
Year 4 Parent Consultations (timed appointments) (4.30pm)
18th November: Year 8 Mock Exams (Norman Hall)
Rugby v Davenies U9 A (a), U9 B (a), U9 C (h),
U9 D (h) (2.30pm)
Year 4 Parent Consultations (timed appointments) (4.30pm)
19th November: Year 8 Mock Examinations
(Norman Hall)
Rugby U11 Prep School Rugby Tournament at
Whitgift School (10.00am)
Year 5 Outing to Regents Park Mosque (9.00-1.00pm)
Rugby v The Beacon 1st XV (h), 2nd XV (a),
3rd XV (a) (2.30pm)
5G Parents’ Evening (Norman Hall) (6.00pm)
20th November: Rugby v UCS: U8 A (h), U8 B (h),
U8 C (h), U8 D (h) U8 E (h) (2.30pm)
Arts Evening Drama Rehearsal & Tea (4.00-7.30pm)
23rd November: North & Midlands U9 Rugby Regional
Festival at Warwick School (10.00am)
Contact details
Updates: please continue to visit
www.st-johns.org.uk for all the latest
information on sports fixtures and results.
The website will have
announcements in case of
emergency. You can also
follow us on twitter
@stjsnorthwood.
Rizwan Hameed (7H) is one of
our keen photographers. He
took this photo whilst visiting
the Tower of London poppy
display last week.
Mailings: if you have received The Lamb
from someone else and would like to be
sent your own copy direct each week,
please email: Lamb Editor. Let us know
your contact details and you will be added
to the list.
Photographs: Do please continue to send
in any photographs which could be
included in The Lamb.
Notices and Reminders
Christmas Lights in Northwood Hills. All performers have
been given their instructions on where to go this Saturday, 15th
November, but if you also wish to come along and join in the
singing you are really welcome! There are the following
activities laid on:
Santa’s Grotto outside Intoto Kitchens, Tombola Stall to the
right hand side of the Namaste Lounge building from 2.00pm
and Children’s Craft-making in the library from 2.00 –
3.00pm. Mulled cider and mince pies are available for the
audience from 2.30pm. Singing starts at 4pm and the lights are
switched on by the Mayor at 4.30pm. We hope you have a really
good time. Please remember that the area will be extremely busy
and parking spaces will be limited.
Mr Vince’s videos. To view his videos you can click on the
following links:
Classical Fireworks Night
Year 6 trip to Northumberland
St John’s YouTube channel
Guitar group video
Yr 5 Chinese New Year video Yr 8 Bikeability video
St John’s Sevens video
Sam Katz interview
Year of 2008 at Knapp House Year of 2014 at Knapp House
Chicks are for kids!
Year 8 mock exams. Hopefully boys are feeling confident and
prepared for the exams next week. They are designed to be as
much like the real thing as possible. They will be held in the
Norman Hall and each boy will be assigned a desk for the three
days. A few last minute tips; use the last two or three days
sensibly, don’t overdo it and eat and sleep well over the
Senior Drama. The Arts Evening production is on 27th
November and you are all warmly invited to what promises to weekend. Make sure you have all the necessary equipment and,
be a great evening. A reminder to boys in Senior Drama that the in the exam, read the paper carefully. This may sound obvious
but it is surprising how many boys make careless mistakes
rehearsal next Thursday ends at 7.30pm. There is also a
because they have not taken sufficient time at the start of the
rehearsal on Sunday 23rd November 9.30am-1.00pm.
exam. Keep calm, do your best and try to enjoy the weekend!
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November 14