News list
The Choir of St John’s College Cambridge went on a festive tour to Budapest, Munich and Hamburg just before Christmas. Our 13 Choristers were accompanied by the rest of the Choir, two College Organ Scholars, as well as the Director of Music, Christopher Gray.
On the second day of term, our Form 1 children enjoyed a morning filled with educational experiences that tantalised their taste buds, sparked their creativity, and broadened their cultural horizons. Their 'Italy' Wow Morning combined a carousel of hands-on activities with historical insights and language learning, providing a memorable and enriching experience for the children before they learn more about this fascinating country throughout the term.
St John's celebrated Christmas Jumper Day with both staff and pupils eager to join in. With an array of reindeer, Santas and even the odd Grinch everyone looked festive-tastic! Pupils were encouraged to wear their favourite Christmas jumpers alongside their uniform for the small fee of £2. We were delighted to have raised over £700 for Jimmy's Cambridge.
St John's has hosted a wealth of informal lunchtime and evening concerts this term and the whole school community always looks forward to the two Services in Preparation for Christmas at St John's College Chapel in the final few days of the Michaelmas term. In the week prior to these Services nearly 40 talented musicians across Senior House performed at this year's Piazza Brass concert.
Our annual festive Service in Preparation for Christmas was held on 10th and 11th December in the magnificent Chapel of St John’s College. A range of carols, poems and readings were presented by St John’s children. Five of our Choirs sang, culminating in a combined performance of 'I Saw Three Ships', arrangement by Malcolm Archer, towards the end of each Service. Over £386 was raised for Home-Start Cambridgeshire and Castle School from the retiring collection.
Parents, friends and Byron House children were treated to a charming Nativity performance from our two Kindergarten classes with their version of 'Whoops-a-Daisy Angel'. The entire production was an enormous success with all the children happy and confident on stage, their first of many St John's Drama performances.
St John's Charities Committee spread festive cheer when children and staff members hosted their annual Christmas party for local care home residents. Both Byron House and Senior House members of the Committee provided such joy, engaged conversation and a variety of entertainment throughout this heartwarming event. The Christmas party is part of a rich and cherished tradition at St John's of helping the local community.
Form 4 raised £366 for the Cambridge Children's Hospital at their Victorian Fayre. The children chose the type of stall they wanted to run at this annual St John's community event and dressed in authentic Victorian costumes to add to the ambience of the event.
Form 6 visited Loughton Brook at Epping Forest to compare, velocity, channel width and depth, and load size and shape. This data will be used back in the classroom. Pupils also learnt the skill of being able to draw a field sketch, which is a useful method of qualitative data. It was a fantastic day putting theory into practice, and embedding the skills needed to progress to GCSE.
Form 3 turned back the clock to 1536 and experienced a typical Christmas under the reign of King Henry VIII donning costumes of the period to be nobility or servants. Children and staff left modern day Britain behind and travelled back to the Tudor era to explore life in the 16th century with a workshop run by 'History Off the Page'.