Junior School - Forthcoming Events

'Great Westgarth Run' in aid of Motor Neurone Disease - Sunday 28th March at Friends' School

		This is to be a tribute to Sue Westgarth, a teacher who has inspired countless children of all abilities over the years, to run. Sue has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and we want to raise as much money as possible to try to find a cure for this cruel disease. Two runs and a stroll are being organised for the 28th. Entry forms will be available from Reception. Click here for further details of the event and ways in which you can support us. Click here for further ways to support those with MND.

	Barracudas will again be running Activity Day Camps for 4½ to 16 year olds, at Friends' School during the Easter and Summer holidays. Click on the logo to find out more.

		PTA Quiz Night 7.30pm Saturday 8th May at School £10 per person, includes supper. There will be a bar for alcoholic and soft drinks. Click on the image on the left to download a flyer/order form

Quiz tickets available from Junior or Senior School Receptions. Please take in the completed order form on the above flyer by Friday 30th April.

Junior School - News

To see 'News and Events' for the Senior School click here

Click here or on the image on the left to see the latest copy of 'The Crocus' newsletter for parents

Click here to see the latest copy of whole-school newsletter.

British Aid for Deprived Children The Junior School presented George Mills with a cheque for £725 for this local charity which helps deprived children in poorer countries in Europe.

		Year 2 enjoy Egyptian Day – Thursday, 11th February Year 2 went back in time, in fact, over 3000 years ago, to the age of the Ancient Egyptians. The children spent the day investigating how the Egyptians lived by cooking, dancing, writing in hieroglyphics, painting and researching. “I liked everyone’s costumes”, Tia; “The bread was fantastic”, Sophie; “I liked looking at the Gods on the computer”, Sadie. Click on photos.

New Addition to Year 5

As part of learning about reptiles, Year 5 have welcomed a small visitor into their classroom – ‘Gizmo’, the leopard gecko. The children change her water daily and enjoy watching her hunting for crickets. While they were studying Macavity in Literacy, they even wrote a verse about her!

"Gizmo is a great gecko, she’s very small and stout,
She likes her temperature just right and likes to sniff about.
She’s loved by all of class 5B and Mrs B too,
Before she eats her locust food, she jumps out and says “BOO!”.

Nicholas Denchfield Visit - 29 January 2010

	World-renowned pop-up book designer, paper engineer Nicholas Denchfield visited Friends' to show his work and witty ideas to the students of years 6 and 7 in a workshop. The students were shown examples of paper engineering and made a pop-up book of their own.

Friends’ School Charity Ball

Our Charity Ball held last summer, raised the impressive sum of £13, 500. This total amount was divided between Friends’ School and the charity, JDRF – Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The photo on the right shows Friends’ School Ball Committee presenting a cheque for £6750 to Hannah Scott and Catherine Shields from JDRF.

Hannah Scott took the opportunity to outline to pupils how the funds raised would help the foundation, explaining that it would pay for a whole month’s research, which meant, with their help, they were one month closer to helping children find a better way of living with diabetes. Such research for JDRF is crucial as there are over
25, 000 children with diabetes in the UK and incidence of type 1 is increasing by about 4 per cent each year, particularly in children under five. It is not known why this trend is occurring. Locally, Cambridge University are developing the Artificial Pancreas at Addenbrookes Hospital and after the first phase of testing, results are positive and very encouraging.

JDRF was founded by a small group of parents of children with type 1 diabetes who recognised that insulin injections are not the cure for this life threatening and lifelong condition. Its ultimate aim is find the cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications.

Graham Wigley, thanked the Ball Committee for all their hard work and commitment to raising funds for both the school and JDRF.

A huge 'thank you' from the PTA

		All the Christmas puddings were sold. Many thanks to all parents and members of staff that bought one; we hope you enjoyed eating them. The sale raised £280 for PTA funds. A huge thank-you also to all the dedicated parents of both senior and junior school pupils who helped in both the preparation and on the day at the Junior School Christmas Fayre on Friday 11th December. Also thanks to everyone who donated gifts and made cakes and other goodies for the day. It was a huge success, raising over £488.00 profit, which will be used to buy much needed play equipment for the junior school playground.

			Click on the thumbnails to enlarge

		Infants' Nativity Play 'The Star Attraction' 9th December 2009 Click on the photo on the left to see more.

Pupils using our school buses in snowy conditions

Parents of pupils who travel to school using school transport are asked to ensure that their children have a warm coat with them. particularly during the current cold spell. It is possible that minibuses may become trapped through icy or snowy conditions. In such circumstances the school's policy is to get pupils out of vehicles to safe ground rather than leave them in a vehicle which is vulnerable to being hit by other traffic. Remote though this possibility is, it is important that pupils are equipped for the cold weather.

		Latest Avenue Newsletter Autumn 2009 Our Autumn Newsletter was mailed to all parents at the end of term. If you would like to download a copy then please click on the image on the left.

School Development Plans - December 2009

Click here or on the image above to find out more about our latest Development Plans.

Snow Hits Schools in Saffron Walden

Gosfield School’s Cross Country – Wed 25th Nov

“On Wednesday, 21 children from Years 5 and 6 took part in the ‘Cut Hedge Park’ Cross Country. We did rather well again! Tom Cropper won the boys’ race and can add another medal to his growing collection. The Year 5/6 girls’ A team came 1st, led home by Alice Bromell. The Year 5/6 boys’ A team came 2nd, which meant that we came 1st overall. The teams were delighted to bring the familiar trophy back to School for 2009 (previous wins were 2005 and 2006). We done to all concerned and keep running!” Jane Manley

Reception and Year 1 visit the Library in Saffron Walden – Wednesday, 18th November

		Reception and Year 1 went for a fun trip to the Library in Saffron Walden. They learnt about all the different types of books available to them and how they can find them easily. Their library session was finished with some exciting stories. Reception also went to Gluttons Café as part of their trip into Saffron Walden. They are learning about our local area and about the different houses and buildings you might find. The children particularly enjoyed catching the bus into town.

Uttlesford Cross Country – Wed 18th November

“Last Wednesday, 30 children from Years 3 to 6 took part in the Uttlesford School Sports’ Partnership Cross Country Championships. A special mention should go to Tom Cropper, who won the Year 6 boys’ race, and to Alice Bromell, who won the Year 5 girls’ race. Year 6 girls ran exceptionally well as a team coming 1st, and Year 6 boys came 2nd in the team event.
Year 6 girls: Claire Pimblett (10th), Megan Lewis (12th), Charlotte Cross (14th) Rosa Scholfield (34th), Tilly Collecott and Becky Ford.
Year 6 boys: Tom Cropper (1st), Ed Candler (13th), George Pitfield (19th), Matt O’Callaghan (24th), Richard Hall (29th) and Andrew Chong (45th).” Jane Manley

Year 4B’s visit to The Mandir Temple – Monday 16th November

“Last Monday, Year 4B were driven to London to visit the Shri Swaminarayan Hindu Mandir.  The class are learning about Hinduism in Religious Education, and it is just such a worthwhile trip because it brings everything to life for the children.The following quote from Michael Griffiths encompasses how we felt as we entered the temple, “we went into the Temple and I just stood there in awe – it was so beautiful.” It is indeed where beauty breathes, silence speaks and peace is no longer a dream! Jacky Branch”

		Quaker Faith & Practice The latest 4th edition of this book is now available online. Sometimes referred to as "The Red Book" or "The Book of Discipline", Quaker Faith & Practice is now online, and with search facilities. Click on the image of the book on the left to access the online version.

Year 3’s Visit to Colchester Museum – 12th November Year 3 enjoyed going back 2000 years to the time when Romans ruled Colchester. We listened to the story of how Boudica and her tribe, the Iceni, fought the Romans. We built a Celtic house and a Roman villa, and practised being archaeologists. “It was fun at the museum”, enthused Savannah. “Boudica’s chariot and the dressing up was interesting”, said Florence.

Nursery Visit to Hatfield Forest - 11th November

		The Nursery had a lovely trip to Hatfield Forest. They learned all about hedgehogs on an Autumn walk and spent the afternoon building dens and getting very muddy! “I liked pulling the big logs and making dens”, Ollie. “I liked bouncing on the log with Daisy”, Freya. “I liked the boot washers as our boots were very muddy”, Lucy

Year 1N Visit the Toy Museum – 10th November

This term Year 1 have been learning all about old toys and comparing them to modern ones. On Tuesday 10th November they visited Stansted Toy Museum and enjoyed seeing the huge collection of trains, cars, dolls, teddy bears, models, games and best of all… Stars Wars Memorabilia!

		Our Apple Juice Once again all the children from the Junior school gathered together to collect as many apples from around the school as they could.  These were taken to be pressed, a label was designed and the bottles of our very own apple juice are being sold at our Harvest celebration.

This year we produced 586 bottles!  Bottles containing 100% apple juice are on sale in Reception for £2 a bottle. Click on the photo to see more.

Harvest Celebration - Friday, 23rd October
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Harvest Celebration at the end
of last half-term. The whole School took the stage and, with a mixture of
songs and readings, celebrated Harvest Time. George Mills spoke movingly
about the help he is giving to the children in The Ukraine, and we were
able to sell our own harvest in the form of 586 bottles of apple juice
produced from the apples in the School grounds. We will be donating 50p per bottle towards George’s charity on top of the collection of £477.00 which we collected at the door. The children sang and spoke with their usual enthusiasm and skill led by Martin Wilson.

		Langley Prep 5-a-side Football Tournament – Friday 9th Oct “Friends’ Junior School began their football season with a very impressive win at the Langley Prep School Football Tournament held in Norwich last Friday. Ten teams took part in the competition. FJS won their group and then won a tense semi-final penalty shoot-out against Langley Prep. The final was played in good spirit and FJS won 3-1.

Year 5 Trip to Colne Valley Railway Wednesday 7th October 09.

Year 5 dressed up in Victorian costume when they visited the Colne Valley Railway. The visit also included a Maths lesson in a Victorian classroom, and a traditional Punch and Judy show. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

Year 5 Trip to Norfolk 28 September to 2 October 2009 Click on the photo on the right to see more.

		Year 6 Trip to Wales 14 to 18 September 2009 Click on the photo on the left to see more.

Quaker Schools' Week and the release of Peace Doves

Today, Friday 9th October, 15 Doves (representing our 15 year groups) were released at the front of the school to mark the end of an action packed Quaker Schools' Week.

PTA Annual General Meeting

This was held on Tuesday 29th September 2009. Click here to download a copy of the minutes, or click here to visit our webpage and find out more about our PTA. .

Friends' Junior School National Curriculum results 2009

	Our New Prospectus Click on either of these photos to download a copy of our new prospectus online.

Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate, visited Friends’ School on Friday 18th September to perform her magical story, ‘The Princess’ Blankets’.

Over 200 primary school children from six schools in the local area enjoyed a creative workshop run by Friends’ School English and Art Departments during the morning, in preparation for the afternoon’s performance.

The workshop, taking its inspiration from the book, involved all the children making large blankets out of a variety of materials. They had a wonderfully creative time working together to produce some outstanding pieces of art.

Carol Ann and her accompanying musican, John Sampson, then treated the children to an exciting and entertaining rendition of ‘The Princess’ Blankets’.

Carol Ann and John who have performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, were delighted to be at Friends’ and commented how impressed they were by the friendliness and manners of all the children at the event. Each child had the opportunity to meet Carol Ann Duffy and have a book signed at the end of the show.

The Avenue - Summer 2009 Click on the image on the left to download our Summer 2009 Newsletter. This was also been mailed to parents.

		Scheherazade or The 1001 Arabian Nights - Years 5 & 6 Play - June 2009. Click on the photo to see more.