News list
The Byron House Big Room was transformed into the busy market place of Thebes in c. 1347 BC. The Form 2 Ancient Egyptians, splendidly attired, were preparing for the festival of the Nile at the court of Queen Nefertiti.
The Under 13s Girls’ Hockey team travelled to Millfield School in Somerset to take part in this year’s IAPS National Hockey Finals. 16 schools in total took part in the Finals and were divided into four groups. The SJCS team came second in their group and qualified for the main Cup competition. Head of Girls’ Sport, Mrs Nikki Taylor said, “After a tense golden goal the girls were delighted to leave the IAPS as the top 8 Prep schools in the Country for hockey.”
Form 1 came together for an interactive and hands-on learning experience to find out what Diwali is, who celebrates it and how it is celebrated. They enjoyed three activities including retelling the story of Rama and Sita, creating rangoli patterns and Indian dancing. They used masks and took on characters and acted out the stories in groups and performed this to their peers.
Parents and pupils alike were enchanted by T1’s rendition of their Russian Christmas story, Babushka. Babushka lived in the countryside and opened her door, one snowy night, to find three men standing before her. She wanted to join them in giving gifts to the King of Kings but had too much cleaning to do.
A group of Form 5 children took part in a Design and Technology (DT) trip to Oakham School to experience their state of the art facilities, including their workshop tools and machinery, electronics and their CAD software. The group, led by Head of DT Miss Kohler, alongside Oakham DT staff, had the opportunity to design and create their own iPod dock.
For their nativity play this year, St John’s Kindergarten performed The Grumpy Sheep, a re-telling of the Christmas story through the eyes of one of the shepherds’ flock.
Our festive ‘Services in Preparation for Christmas’, held over two days in the magnificent Chapel of St John’s College, once again heralded the start of the season with a range of carols, poems and readings all presented by the children. The carols and readings were interspersed with 5 congregational hymns. The Services provided a sense of calm from the hectic nature of this time of the year and conjured up a quiet contemplative mood to help prepare for Christmas.
Parents and friends of the School were treated to two Christmas musical feasts at our annual ‘Piazza Brass’ Concerts at Byron House and Senior House. Our brass players were also joined this year by many of our other talented young musicians to get the crowd into the festive spirit.
The St John’s Charities and Community Links Committee hosted its annual Christmas party for elderly people living in the Cambridge area to bring on the festive cheer. Committee members from both Byron House and Senior House provided merriment, conversation and entertainment for the guests. The Christmas party is part a rich and long tradition St John’s has of helping the local community.
On 14 November, 32 invited Sixth Form pupils delivered their vibrant performance of Twelfth Night, a Shakespearean comedy both revered and ridiculous, at the Shakespeare Schools Festival (SSF). Shakespeare originally wrote Twelfth Night for the close of the Christmas season and to lift spirits in the dreary winter months. The creative process of developing the play was thorough and challenging and few would deny its worth with the Headmaster, Mr Chippington, describing the production as ‘magnificent.’