Dear Parents,
As the first half of term draws to a close, we look back on a hugely successful and exciting Formula 1 Open Week. It is always very heartening to show the school off to prospective parents and every single one of them was glowing with praise about the work the boys were doing and how much they were absorbed by it.
One of the reasons that I enjoy STEM so much is that the basic principle behind it allows for experimentation and learning/perfecting through failure. The older boys took part in the St Edward’s speed challenge; they spent time during the week trying different designs and honing them until they had them just as they wanted - things had to go wrong before they got better. The message that it’s ok to fail and not always get things right is one that many adults find difficult to understand; how wonderful to see boys so young developing their growth mindset and embracing this as one of the more subtle teaching points from a fabulous week.
Next half of term, the focus shifts for many towards the arts as we prepare for the Woodley Choral Festival and the Year 3 and 4 production ‘Pirates of the Curry Bean’. I am sure that the boys involved will use resilience learnt in their STEM lessons and apply this equally to make their participation as good as it can be.
Mr Morgan-Nash.
To fire up enthusiasm, obtain knowledge and prepare for Formula 1 Steamed Week Pre-Prep took a trip to Brooklands Museum in Weybridge.
The boys were fortunate to be given guided tours of the car museum. Firstly we discovered that Brooklands racetrack was built 111 years ago in 1907. The racetrack is still there today around the perimeter of the museum and the boys got to walk along a section of it and were quite fascinated by the surprisingly steep slope. We learnt how many of the cars in the museum have been restored which is why they look so shiny and pristine. Our ‘Journeys on Land’ tour saw us explore a plethora of different vehicles:
Some of the earliest cars, such as horseless carriages;
A world land speed record holder; BABS;
Racing motorbikes;
Motorbikes with sidecars (these reminded us of Wallace and Gromit!);
Racing cars through the ages including the Grand Prix winner Delage and a replica of a modern Formula 1 car driven by Ayrton Seena – many of us were lucky enough to sit in this; Miss Walters and Mrs Swift even got to drive a Formula 1 car simulator based on a car Lewis Hamilton drove. They reached speeds of 250mph and Miss Walters beat the simulator lap record!
Other parts of our visit included visiting the bus museum where we saw and tried out buses through the ages. Our favourites were the horse-drawn carriages. Did you know that in 1900 there were about 40,000 horses pulling ‘buses’. That’s a lot of manure!
Finally we made and tested peg cars. We learnt about many different parts of a car during this process and it has inspired some of us to think about becoming car engineers.
Mrs Swift.
What a great end to the week it was to see a Year 4 boy crowned Formula 1 champion of the school! STEAMED F1 week has been amazing. Our boys were totally engrossed in designing, testing, evaluating and refining cars over the course of the week. Learning about aerodynamics in Science, budgeting in Maths and advertising in English, our boys are now ready to run their own F1 teams!
Everyone in school was involved in the racing of a car on the final day of the STEAMED week, with Years 4, 5 and 6 racing Carbon dioxide gas-powered cars down a 20m run in less than 2 seconds. In Celebration Assembly, we got to see some of the amazing work the pupils have done which will be on display at Parents Evenings throughout the term.
Put simply, it was incredible! Thank you to all the teachers for their hard work and all the boys for their enthusiasm and determination.
Mr Parsons.
Get those cameras out! Book Week is just around the corner and one of the highlights is our Extreme Reading Competition. You could be a winner! Time to get those extremely clever ideas caught on camera! Please send your entries to c.may@stedwards.org.uk by the 28th February. I know Mrs Arnold is thinking of a winning entry and Mrs Hunt is sure to not disappoint. Mr Parson’s is thinking of something extremely extraordinary.
Years 5 and 6 (plus a few very lucky adults!) got the chance to see how far STEAMED can take you when they visited the Williams Formula One Collection.
Williams F1 was originally founded by Sir Frank Williams in 1977 when he moved his racing car business from its origins in a Reading garage to Oxfordshire. Today, it is one of the most successful Formula One teams in the history of the sport and can count numerous world champions among its list of drivers.
The team has not forgotten its roots, and invests heavily in the promotion of STEM education giving many young engineers their first steps into the world of motor racing. It seemed therefore to be the perfect example to show the boys about how technical subjects, combined with an entrepreneurial spirit can reach the pinnacle of world sport and industry.
The boys got to see the largest private collection of Formula One cars in the world, charting the team's 30+ years of motor racing history. They were toured around the Trophy Room and visited the technology exhibition, looking at telemetry, pneumatics, aerodynamics, driver safety and a Formula One gearbox.
It was certainly a trip that the boys will remember for some time!
Mr Morgan-Nash.
On Thursday 8th Feb, St Edward's held its very first Prep School House Rugby competition. Many parents came along to support their boys in what was a very exciting afternoon of rugby.
The skill levels that the boys displayed showed how much improvement they have made this term. All boys put 100% effort into their House matches and it was a joy to be a part of this. Years 3 and 4 played touch, with the winning team being St George’s. Years 5 and 6 played contact and their result had to be settled with a 'Golden Try', which was scored by this year's winners, St Patrick’s.
A big thank you for all those involved in helping the afternoon run smoothly and to the boys who made it such a success.
Final standings:
1st: St George’s
2nd: St Andrew’s
3rd: St Patrick’s
4th: St David’s
Mr Bovingdon.