Headmaster's Welcome
The job of a Headmaster involves a lot of looking forward and planning events that are yet to happen. Currently, the staff and I are carefully preparing the format for our next Saturday Open Day which will take place very early next term on the morning of Saturday 22nd April. The theme for this will be ‘Space’ and this will continue as our STEAMED theme for the rest of the term. It is therefore a good time to stop looking forward for a moment and consider the wonderful work the boys have done in past STEAMED topics.
Without a doubt each topic gets more exciting and the work studied is integrated further into the curriculum to give a consistent focus. This term, boys got to learn how to fly a plane when the flight simulator and volunteers of The Joystick Club came to visit the school. During this themed week the boys got to build model aircraft, visit an aviation museum and learn about the work of flight crews from those that used to work on board Concorde. Now, later into this term, I have witnessed several hot air balloons being made, from Year 2 studying the Montgolfier brothers to the older boys actually testing out different materials and building scale-model balloons in STEM lessons.
Virtual Reality was the theme for the first term and the painted canvases around the school give just an indication of the creativity this inspired. The resulting computer games and coding that took place all through the school was fabulous to see and indeed has inspired much of the computer science work now showcased each week in Celebration Assembly.
Boys have built scale-model radio controlled cars, modified then raced them, visited museums, theme parks and aquariums. They have used 3-D printers and silhouette cutters, laptops and tablets, to name but a few. This term, our oldest boys are busy writing business plans and are preparing to spend a day trading to fulfil the enterprise side of the STEAMED initiative.
I could not be more proud of them and all that the school achieves in this area of learning – it is safe to say that they are becoming fully prepared for the future and the world that will await them when they leave school.
I hope you have a restful half term break. With best wishes,
Jonathan Parsons, Deputy Head Academic: This term’s STEAMED week was an absolute success. Launched in the hall through an exciting video experience pupils went on to take part in some fantastic activities. Pre-Prep had a great time at the Berkshire Museum of aviation and as well as taking part in exciting activities all week planned by their teachers, Dr Cane-Honeysett delivered a scientific afternoon for the boys. The Prep School took part in some exciting activities including, air resistance experiments, kite making, aerial mapping and flight computer game creation. However, the star of the show was a light aircraft that had been converted to a flight simulator and was brought to the school by the Joystick Club for the pupils to learn to fly in. The photos below show the boys enjoying some of these activities.
STEAMED WEEK
Reception boys created stories for their computer games
STEAMED WEEK
Every boy got to try out the flight simulator that came to school. As you can imagine, this created much excitement!
STEAMED WEEK
The Prep boys even got to construct their own model plane
STEAMED WEEK
Let's go fly a kite! More interactive lessons on flight.
Review of ‘The Tempest’ RSC, Stratford-on-Avon – 12 January 2017 by Adam Richmond-Coggan, Yr6
Bang! A thunderclap jolted us into what was to be a truly memorable theatre experience. As the stage was lit up we could see the wreck of a ship which seemed as if it had been pulled apart by giants and strewn at the sides of the stage. The first scene set on board the ship was a bit talky but as the storm grew so did the excitement as the cast threw themselves around on the precarious ledges that made up the ship. Characters walked through the audience on a raised walkway to and from the stage.
The special effects were amazing, particularly in the way they used cloth suspended from the ceiling with still and moving images projected on to them, used as a prop or to allow Ariel to fly. Projection was also used to create images on the back wall and floor which set the scene while giving the actors lots of space. Trapdoors in the glass floor were used very effectively, particularly Caliban's entrance where he burst out of his 'rock' to gasps of surprise from the audience. Lighting under the glass floor changed the mood of the scene such as when Prospero let loose his hounds and the lights shone orange so that the sand appeared black which added menace to the atmosphere.
I enjoyed the way in which Ariel's abilities were portrayed as if he was discovering them as we watched. Although he seemed quite bleak and devoid of emotion, I think this was to symbolise him being different from the human characters. Prospero was played as a sadder character than I had expected. He seemed a loving father and man who just wanted right, rather than a power mad sorcerer. This made me see the play from a different perspective, knowing why Prospero acts in the way he does – doing it all for Miranda.
I was interested to see how Miranda was played as I will be taking that role myself. She was very strong-willed, didn't back down easily although I found it funny how scared she was of Caliban – she kept running away and hiding behind Prospero. I intend to be a braver Miranda than the one I saw today!The most powerful scene for me was the final scene where everyone came together and everything was forgiven. After the bleak, violent start to the play it was a warm and happy ending.
I can't wait to get started on rehearsals for our school production. Although our budget may be a bit tight to achieve the same effects, I'm sure we will all be keen to have a go! Adam Richmond-Coggan
LAMDA RESULTS:
LAMDA Introductory Graded Examination, Solo Introductory Stage One: Daniel Hunt (Distinction), Nathan Nargunam (Merit)
LAMDA Introductory Graded Examination, Solo Introductory Stage Two: Max Williams (Distinction), Olamilekan Alao (Merit), Ethan Miot (Distinction), Jordan Ndungu (Merit), Dylan Wastney (Distinction)
LAMDA Introductory Graded Examination, Solo Introductory Stage Three: Musa Ahmed (Merit), Oliver Elliot-Clarke (Merit), Adhrit Ghargi (Merit)
LAMDA Level 1 Award in Performance Acting Grade 1 - Solo: Avi Pasikanti (Merit), Abeer Gogia (Merit)
LAMDA Level 1 Award in Performance Acting Grade 3 - Solo: Pierce Brown (Merit)
LAMDA Level 1 Award in Performance Miming Grade 2 - Solo: Anton Pappenberger (Distinction)
LAMDA Level 1 Award in Performance Miming Grade 3 - Solo: Samuel Redman (Pass)
Brilliant Brains Open Week focused on what an outstanding education actually is.With so many exciting, interactive lessons, St Ed's had a lot going on, from catapulting cars to learn about force in Science, to all things Pirate on The Good Ship Pre-Prep. One family were ‘so very impressed with what we saw we didn’t want our son to miss out for any longer than necessary, so we enrolled him straight away!’
MATHS CHALLENGE - On Tuesday 24th January, four Year 6 boys had the privilege of taking part in a local Maths Challenge organised by Douglas Buchanan at Eagle House School. In total 77 teams took part in an afternoon of Maths challenges: ‘Find the Values’, ‘Counting Down’ and ‘The Big Event’. After 90 minutes of brain boggling fun and relay running (to give the markers their answers) the boys waited anxiously for the results during the prize giving. St Edward’s Nonagons team (Oliver Ireland and Nathan Green) came seventh out of 39 teams and the Hexagons team (Avighna Mandadapu and Maulik Ahlawat came tenth in their group of 38 teams. A fantastic result for St Edward’s for our first Year 6 Maths Challenge of the year - Well done, boys! Mrs Hunt