News list
Two current St John’s pupils and two past pupils have had their poems shortlisted for the 2018 John Betjeman Poetry Prize. Their poems will be published in the annual anthology, together with the other 50 shortlisted poems. The annual John Betjeman Poetry Prize is a National Competition open to 10-13 year olds.
A delegation of four pupils were invited to The Palace of Westminster by UNESCO and ‘Voices of Future Generations’ to discuss key worldwide issues such as Sustainability and the Rights of the Child with children from schools around the country, focusing particularly on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Two of our talented pianists had the opportunity to take part in a Steinway & Sons piano masterclass at Steinway Hall, located in Marylebone, London. The day included a masterclass with Charles Owen, Steinway artist, a tour of Steinway Hall and the restoration centre, and an opportunity for the pupils to play on the Steinway’s world famous, concert grand pianos.
Form 2 experienced life in Ancient Egypt as Byron House Big Room was transformed into an Ancient Egyptian market, where the children had the opportunity to make many Egyptian artefacts and experience skills used in the era.
Form 4 visited Wandlebury Country Park, a 110 acre estate in the Gog Magog hills, just south of Cambridge for an orienteering activity and to learn about the history of the park and park management. The children spent the morning discovering that orienteering is an adventurous sport, as well as being incredibly competitive! The children learnt new map reading skills in an exciting and energetic way. They used accurate yet speedy observations to relate features on the ground to symbols on the map.
In the run-up to national Poetry Day at the start of October the whole of Byron House was treated to a fabulous Assembly led by acclaimed children’s poet, Paul Cookson. None of the children could resist joining in with the catchy rhythms and repeating lines in his amusing poems. Although he does not describe himself as a musician, he brought his poems to life by putting them to music played on his electric ukulele while encouraging plenty of audience participation. The children were given an insight into the works of the poet as he spent time sharing his top creativity tips.
The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan’s biggest fundraising event, where the charity asks people across the UK to hold a coffee morning and raise money for people living with cancer. In 2017 the charity’s coffee mornings raised over £27 million. Since the first Coffee Morning in 1990, the Coffee Mornings have raised over £200 million for Macmillan.
An action-packed trip to Leicester Tigers Rugby Football Club served to inspire some of our Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Formers to strive to become the premiership rugby stars of the future. The day began with an intensive coaching session run by Leicester Tigers’ Academy Coaches, which focused on handling, defensive organisation, tackling and evasive running skills.
The School is proud to announce that the Headmaster, Mr Neil Chippington succeeded Mr Paul Smith, Headmaster of Hereford Cathedral School, as Chairman of the Choir Schools’ Association (CSA) on 1st September 2018 in its Centenary Year. CSA is the umbrella organisation for 35 choir schools educating choristers for cathedral and collegiate foundations in the UK. A further 11 choral foundations and schools have Associate members to CSA which was founded in 1918 to oversee the welfare and educational needs of choristers.
The music scholars' concert seeks to provide an excellent opportunity for the potential music scholars to perform their audition repertoire in front of a supportive audience in the days and weeks before their auditions take place.