St John’s School Weekly Newsletter Issue 46 Christmas Carol Service From the Headmaster This has certainly been an action packed finish to the term. I felt so proud last night during our Carol Service at Emmanuel Church. It was a memorable occasion as a full congregation joined with the orchestra and organ to sing traditional carols and hear the story of the birth of Jesus. Our musicians and choirs have also been busy entertaining in the community: the residents of Erskine Hall and the children at Sunshine House gave the boys and staff a warm welcome. I would like to thank the music team for their incredible efforts. I know all the boys enjoyed their class parties and the Christmas Jumper Day. The Christmas Lunch and the tuck shop were particularly popular. We also raised over £600 for Save The Children. Thank you very much for your support. In final assemblies it was my pleasure to award the first Gold certificates of this academic year to Prashant Pandya and Iowan Dale and the "I did my best!" cup to Alex Wasserstein. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Parents Association for organising and running the wonderful St John's Christmas Bazaar. Everyone enjoyed a festive family morning. In sport, congratulations to all of the boys who ran well in the House Cross Country events, in particular the medallists. There is a more detailed report describing some highlights of this term on the website. After such an exciting term I wish you all a restful Christmas and look forward to welcoming you back in 2015. 01 01 Last night Emmanuel Church in Northwood was full to the rafters as we held our annual Carol Service. Our musicians were again in action with the Guitar Group, Senior Recorders and the Chamberlain ensemble playing in the foyer as the congregation arrived. The service itself took us through the Christmas story with boys from Year 3 to 8 reading Bible passages and poems. The Orchestra and Brass Band led our singing whilst the Senior Choir and Year 3 and 4 boys performed beautifully. Our distinguished guests including Mr Armstrong (Chair of Governors) and Mr Everson (Headmaster of Merchant Taylors’) were very complimentary about the whole evening. Well done to all involved - a fitting start to the Christmas holidays. December 16 2014 Christmas Friday St John’s certainly knows how to celebrate and it was all happening last Friday. Our Brass Band opened proceedings playing Deck the Halls as boys filed into assembly wearing their Christmas jumpers. Then it was the turn of our male members of staff to lead the singing of Good King Wenceslas from the stage and they really put their hearts into it. After morning break Years 5-8 changed for the House cross country race, a challenging event for many but everyone rose to the occasion to gain those valuable points for their House. (More details on pages 12 -13.) Mrs Foley and her team surpassed all expectations with a delicious Christmas lunch, complete with crackers and party hats and the boys expressed their thanks with the traditional 02 three cheers. Waiting in the Norman Hall for boys needing a sugar boost were the St John’s Association volunteers and the tuck shop. It was surprising how much was consumed after such a massive lunch! At 2pm the serious and highly competitive Christmas House Quiz began for Years 3-8. Mr Brown compered each round which was made up of questions devised by members of staff. Boys from different year groups worked together really well and it was a close result but the eventual winners were Oates. A great end to a super day which demonstrated the true community spirit found in our school. Incidentally, we raised £642 for Save the Children through the Christmas jumper collections. December 16 2014 Buzzing Christmas Bazaar You know it's nearly Christmas when you walk into the St John's Christmas Bazaar. Last Saturday the whole school was in a festive mood, from the outside lights and flags through to a rare sight of Father Christmas in the grotto. There was something for all ages with the children working through their Christmas shopping list in the secrets room with Miss Morgan and her band of merry helpers, followed by very competitive games of Scalextrics organised by Mr Lawrence. The gym housed a giant game of inflatable football which proved popular with the young and young at heart! The legendary human fruit machine (with guest appearance from William Blunt) caused 03 much hilarity and the many stalls were really well supported. Aman Arya, Sebastian Wynn, James Coop, Ramy Nawar, Joshua Shackleford, Edward Blunt and James Watson were the only St John’s boys to organise and run a stall called Sweet Memory which raised £132. The boys have very generously donated their profits to WaterAid. Well done! And….let's not forget our compere for the day, Mr Robinson, who seemed to really enjoy being on the mic! Massive thanks must go to the Association headed up by Mrs Whistler and Mrs Budhdeo who have worked tirelessly for weeks organising what was a fantastic day. Thank you from everyone who enjoyed a wonderful event. December 16 2014 Christmas jumper day in the Pre-Prep The Pre-Prep also got into party mood with snowman decorating, Christmas lunch and a special assembly with Mr Robinson in his Christmas jumper. Congratulations to Alexander Wasserstein who won the ‘I did my best!’ cup for his determination and enthusiasm both in and out of the classroom this term. 04 04 December 16 2014 The ‘Corn Potatoes’ inspire our violinists Yesterday morning the School was treated to a visit from 'The Corn Potatoes'. This is a trio of American musicians who play traditional American Country music dating from the 1920s to the 1950s. They have just finished a European and British Tour and fitted us in for a quick show before flying back to America. Their music on violins, voices and guitar was great fun to listen to and the boys especially liked the really fast fiddle playing from Liam. After assembly twenty six violinists had a chance to learn more from him in a Master class, and, as well as learning a traditional American tune they learnt how to make bird noises on their instruments! 05 051 December 16 2014 What a musical week! Every day last week was filled with Christmas music. At the assemblies the Orchestra and Brass Band accompanied the School as we prepared our carols for the St John’s annual Carol Service. On Tuesday, seventy boys visited Erskine Hall BUPA Care Home. Here we entertained the elderly residents with songs and music provided by our Senior Choir, Senior Recorders, The Chamberlain Ensemble and the Brass Band. Afterwards we had a drink and a chat with the residents. This is always a highlight for us, and we are very grateful that they can 06 accommodate so many of us! On Wednesday, the Brass Band, Guitar Group and Chamberlain Ensemble visited the RNIB Sunshine House School. Here, the boys played to the children and shared their musical instruments with them afterwards. Our visits there are a real privilege, and we thank the staff and pupils for their warm reception. Thursday after school saw the Brass Band playing Christmas Music for charity in the playground as the light was dimming. We raised £153. Thank you to all the boys and staff. December 16 2014 He’s behind you! Last Tuesday the whole of the Pre-Prep and Junior departments went to the pantomime in Radlett. The boys enjoyed a super production of Cinderella. It was full of colourful costumes, songs that everyone could sing along to and of course Prince Charming and a fairy godmother. The outrageous ugly sisters made everybody laugh and the Pre-Prep boys particularly liked Buttons because of his funny dancing and jokes. All the boys had an ice cream in the interval. In the second half the children and staff all joined in with a singing and dancing competition. Fortunately, Buttons declared a draw! 07 December 16 2014 Christmas party in the Pre-Prep There was an air of excitement in the Pre-Prep on Thursday. It was time for the Christmas Party and there were rumours that a certain gentleman with a white beard and a bright red suit was going to make an appearance. The boys played a variety of party games, including Pin the Nose on the Snowman, Musical Statues and finished off with a Christmas disco with Miss Morgan’s glitter ball! They ended the afternoon with crisps and chocolate in the Norman Hall. It was an afternoon of fun, noise, excitement and Christmas cheer! 08 December 16 2014 Hannukah celebrations in the Lambs Mrs Wasserstein came into The Lambs to talk to us about Hanukkah; she told us that Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday which comes in early winter and is to remember the miracles that happened a long, long time ago. She read us some stories, sang some songs and explained the meaning of the menorah. We tasted latkes and doughnuts and she also showed us how to play the dreidel game. All great fun! 09 December 16 2014 Party time in the Juniors Last Wednesday the Junior department held its annual Christmas Party! Mrs Hallett organised a variety of games including pass the parcel, buzzwords and snowballs. To start the party off, the children paraded their Christmas hats which they had spent the morning making. (Results below) Mrs Emery then had the difficult job of judging first, second and third places for the most inventive and stylish hats in each class. The children had lots of fun and there were many prizes, of the chocolate variety, to be won! 3C 1st place – Vishal Thakar 2nd place – Gabriel Bickle 3rd place – Rohan Pankhania 10 3H 1st place - Ben Cook 2nd place - Oliver Southon 3rd place - Samvir Shergill 4W 1st place – Krish Patel 2nd place – Slava Bulin 3rd place – Adam Ansari 4M 1st Place – Ollie Pratt 2nd Place – Daniel Shannon 3rd Place – Yuri Zykov December 16 2014 Fascinating Year 3 Christmas projects Year 3 has completed excellent projects about the festival of Christmas. There were brilliant designs, colourful pictures and detailed writing about all aspects of Christmas celebrations. The aliens these booklets were designed for would have learnt a lot about Christmas dinner, presents, Santa and the Christmas Story. There were also Christmas jokes, poems and puzzles. The Year 3 teachers had a wonderful time reading the projects and were able to award lots of smiley faces and chocolates as prizes. Well done, Year 3! 11 December 16 2014 Cross Country success for Churchill The first event was the Junior Cross-Country which had all the year 3 and 4 pupils running for their respective houses. All the boys ran well but the first three places went to the following boys: Year 3 Race 1st Place: Nathan Hedges (Lawrence) Time: 14.07.61 2nd Place: Oliver Southon (Churchill) Time: 15.53.00 3rd Place: Rohan Pankhania (Lawrence) Time: 16.03.01 Year 4 Race 1st Place: Rohan Mangat (Lawrence) Time: 12.58.11 2nd Place: James Curtler (Churchill) Time: 13.53.52 3rd Place: Reece Jones (Oates) Time: 14.35.40 In the Senior house Cross-Country we had some excellent results even though the course this year was slightly longer and all the boys managed to run around the 1.5 mile course. Year 5 Race 1st Place: Alex Bickerstaff (Lawrence) 12.01.78 2nd Place: Daniel Barnett (Lincoln) 12.35.14 3rd Place: Louis Rich (Lincoln) 14.57.64 Year 6 Race 1st Place: Matthew Crow (Oates) 11.20.87 (NEW SCHOOL RECORD) 2nd Place: Daniel Sayani (Lawrence) 13.16.65 3rd Place: Max Davies (Churchill) 13.33.57 Year 7 Race 1st Place: Luke Kenny (Lawrence) 14.24.31 2nd Place: William Crane (Churchill) 3rd Place: Rizwan Hameed (Lincoln) Year 8 Race 1st Place: Sam Bickerstaff (Lawrence) 11.25.13 2nd Place: Kieran Spellward (Lincoln) 13.17.71 3rd Place: Joseph Rich (Lincoln) 13.55.68 01 12 June 6 2014 House Cross Country in pictures OVERALL HOUSE CROSS-COUNTRY RESULT 2014 1st Churchill - 2nd Lawrence - 3rd Lincoln - 4th Oates 02 13 June 6 2014 Au revoir, Miss Gillen It is with mixed feelings that we say farewell to Miss Gillen for a while. We send her our very best wishes as she awaits the imminent arrival of her baby but we will miss her smiling face and enthusiasm, not only in the Art studio, but all around the School. Mr Vince enlisted the help of some of her young protégées to produce a lovely film celebrating all things artistic. Please follow this link: Au revoir, Miss Gillen Come back and visit us soon, Miss Gillen, with your new addition. 1. 2. 1.Ollie Pratt (4M), Rahul Pau (4W), Joseph Dias (4W), and Matthew Hodes (4M) have been transforming into little elves during Art Club this week. 2.Yr 5 has been practising their tinting and shading. These winter snowmen pictures have been drawn by Ben Hellewell (5G), Niyam Shah (5G) and Noah 4. Collings (5S) 3.Kyri Matsangos (6L) is taking his bronze owl sculpture home for Christmas. 4.These beautiful snowflake pictures are finally finished. Well done Sebastian Ashman-Rodgers (3H)and Rohan Pankhania (3C) 3. 14 5.James Edwards (5G) is very pleased with his glittery Christmas 5. card. December 16 2014 Calendar and important dates Contact details Monday 5th January: Staff Inset 4+ Assessments 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. Tuesday 6th January: Staff Inset 4+ Assessments Wednesday 7th January: Beginning of Spring Term (8.25am) Aldenham School Entrance Exams Thursday 8th: Haberdashers’ Entrance Exams John Lyon Entrance Exams Saturday 10th: Mill Hill Entrance Exams Monday 12th: Swimming begins at MTS U11 & U13 York House Cross Country (2.00pm) Tuesday 13th: 4+ Assessments (2.30-3.30pm) Wednesday 14th: Hockey v Aldenham U12, U13 (h) (2.30pm) Thursday 15th January: U9 Cross Country at York House (2.30pm) Second Hand Uniform Sale (Library) (2.45pm) Friday 16th January: School Council Meeting 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 Charity round up. Thank you to everyone for their generous giving to our charities this term. So far we have raised over £1080 for WaterAid, £332 for the Royal British Legion, £666 for MacMillan Cancer Research and £642 for Save the Children. House Music Festival. A reminder to all boys who learn an instrument that this festival is held in the Spring term. The preliminary rounds begin early in the New Year and all boys who learn an instrument in School are automatically entered. If Mr Vince’s videos. Make sure that you watch Mr Vince’s latest you have lessons out of School you are still most welcome to enter. Please let Mrs Selwood know if you are interested. Every video celebrating all the artwork which is created at St John’s. Click on the first link below. To view his other videos you can entrant will receive a house point which counts when adding up points in the Final on 26th March. Keep practising over the click on the following links: Christmas holidays! Au revoir, Miss Gillen Wind Band goes West Those lovely exams! You are all looking forward to the end of Year 6 trip to Northumberland St John’s YouTube channel Guitar group video Yr 5 Chinese New Year video term but you have that nagging feeling because over the holiday you will need to persuade, coerce, bribe or threaten your son Yr 8 Bikeability video St John’s Sevens video Sam Katz interview Year of 2008 at Knapp House into doing some revision if they are in Years 6-8! Please read the revision guides which can be found via a link from the front Year of 2014 at Knapp House Chicks are for kids! page of the website. Remember that little and often with lots of IMPORTANT contact details update. Enclosed in the repetition is best and start early. envelope which your son has brought home is a form regarding your contact details. Please complete accordingly and After School Activities. All after-school activities will return to your Form Teacher/School Office at the beginning of commence week beginning Monday 12th January. You will be sent an email over the holidays containing the activities list. next term. First issue of The Lamb next term. This will be published on Very best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a peaceful 2015. Friday 16th January, at the end of the first full week of term. 15 December 16 2014
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