Forthcoming Events

New international students return on Monday 6th September.

Staff training on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th September.

Tuesday 7th September. Induction for: New international students - 9am,
Year 7 - 11am, and those new to the sixth former - 12 noon.

Boarders return between 2 and 5pm on Tuesday 7th September.

Lessons start on Wednesday 8th September.

No afternoon activities during this first week with buses leaving at 4.15pm.

During the school holidays Reception will be open Monday to Friday 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm. The school is being let to various groups throughout the holidays.

Draft Whole School Calendar for academic year 2010 to 2011 is now available. See link at top of this page or on Parents' Page or click here. Dates of Parents' Meetings and Reports are also available on the Parents' Page.

'Grow and Show Competition' For Years 6 and 7 going into Years 7 and 8 in September. Organised by the Science Department. How are your courgette and runner bean plants doing? Show on 13th September. Click here for an introduction, and click here for

News

A Level Results 2010 Friends’ School students and staff were able to celebrate excellent ‘A’ level results once again, building further on recent years’ successes. A remarkable 19.4% of passes were at the new A* grade and 38.7% at A* or A, while the 67.7% A* to B is in line with last year. Furthermore 86% of grades were A*-C and this year no grade was below a D. Click here for press release of our A level results.

Click here to download a summary of our A level and GCSE results.

GCSE Results 2010 Once again Friends’ School students performed well in this year’s GCSE exams. The school achieved a 100% pass rate with 84% of all grades being A* to C which was in line with last year’s cohort. Out of all the students in the year 84% passed 5 or more subjects at grade C or above. Click here for press release of our GCSE results.

Year 7 Activity Week 5 - 8 July 2010 Including actvities at Grafham Water, Harlow Outdoor Centre and Bowling. Click on the photo to see more.

Year 9 & 10 Friendly against SWCHS 22 June 2010

U15 Cricket v NFGS 25 May 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

U13 Cricket v SWCHS 13 May 2010   Click on the photo to see more.

Chidobe School Zimbabwe Click on the photo on the left to see why they are wearing our old school blazers and for an update of our support of this school in Zimbabwe through the Alex Ruffell Memorial Foundation.

		Friends' School 'Flashmob' in support of 1Goal Click here to find out how to do the World Cup WAKA WAKA dance. This happened at Friends' School at break time Friday 25th June. Click here or on the photo to see the video of this event on YouTube.

A 'flashmob' is an unexpected mass happening that is over in a flash. Click here to find out more about 1GOAL and click here to see a clip of singer Shakira's visit to a Soweto school in South Africa.

		Summer Newsletter 2010 This has been mailed to parents. Click on the image on the left to download a copy.

Friends' School Music Tour to Paris 5th to 9th July 2010 Click on the photo on the right to see more.

PTA AGM 1st July and Meeting 7th July 2010

Click here to visit the PTA page where you can see the minutes of our AGM on 1st July and our meeting on 7th July; plus our updated constitution, and dates for our next meeting and coffee morning.

Suffolk Year 12 Maths Competition

On Weds 30th June,  Alibek Abdrakhmanov, Jay Chen, Tracy Zheng & Jefferson Su   participated in the Suffolk Year 12 Maths Competition in Bury St. Edmunds.  The team worked together to solve problems on algebra, chromatic graph theory and various other topics.  We finished 15th out of 22 teams. Congratulations.

Latest House Totals

Lister: 3624, Mennell: 3740, Tuke: 3637

These includes the results for sports day. Summer term commendations, rounders, cricket and next week's 'Wind Power' D.T. competition are the remaining events for this year. The final housepoint totals are to be announced in the final assembly of the year on Friday 9th July.

'Midsummer Night's Dream' - Friends' School Play

Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th June. Click here or on the above photo to see photos taken at the dress rehearsals.

		Inter House Sports Day Thursday 17th June 2010 Mennell 900, Tuke 852, Lister 830 Click on the photo on the left to see more.

Music Department's Summer Soirée 10 June 2010 Click on the photo on the right to see more.

		Friends and Families Day 15 May 2010 Click here to view the speeches that were made on our speech day.

Library Webpage

Our Library Webpage is located under Departments. Click on the above photo to view this page and see the latest books that have been added to our library.

Recent UK Mathematics Trust Junior Maths Challenge Awards 29 April 2010:

Bronze: Year 7: Luke Fennell, Hannah Irwin, Millie Taylor, Zak Davies and Alex Turnbull. Year 8: Max Fawcett, Ben Winfield and Thailah Joseph.

Silver: Year7: Toby Harris & Grace Pike. Year 8: Josh Rand & Ella White.

Gold & Best in School: Jessie Harris in Year 8.

Mark Caddy 28 May 2010

		PTA Quiz 8 May 2010 Thank you to everyone who came to the PTA Quiz Night and helped to make it such a success. This was a sell out and around £1000 was made. Special thanks go to Andrew Holmes for being a wonderful Master of Ceremonies,to Donna Thomas for a fantastic meal, and Liz Powell for a set of interesting,

House System Update

'Pride in their Work' Housepoints. The following pupils got the highest number of 'Pride in their Work'housepoints for this half term
Yr 7: Luke Fennell, Elysia Wells, Hannah Irwin
Yr 8: Lissy Ford, Ella White, Yasmin Malik
Yr 9: Priya Ladwa, Bronwyn Marrison, George Irwin
Yr 10: Josephine Lohoar-Self, Jessica Gray, Christina Wong, Lily Taylor
Yr 11: Will Rolls, Will Wilshere, Alice Irwin
Sixth Form: Callum Moore, Owen Harlow

Code Cracking Challenge: Last Friday, each House had to enter one pupil from each year into a code cracking challenge - organised by the Maths department. Lister won the event, with Tuke second and Mennell third.

Quiz: This Tuesday was the latest quiz- this time on the subject of World Cultures. Mennell and Tuke were neck and neck and eventually after several tie-breaker questions Mennell were the victors.

The House Poetry competition is underway. Subject is 'Friends'. Deadline next Friday 14th May. Max 12 lines

Latest House point totals: Lister 2378, Mennell 2537, Tuke 2397

In the second half of term we have the Summer Soirée and the DT competition as well as Sports Day to look forward to.

7 & 28 May 2010

		Parliamentary Election Friends' School assembly hall being used as a polling station on Thursday 6th May. Our students also had their own opportunity to cast their votes in our mock election during the day. Parties represented were, Labour, Liberal, Conservatives, Democrats, The Green Party & UKIP.

Fashion Show Wed 28 April 2010

Emma Taylor organised a very successful Fashion show on Wednesday evening. A number of day students, boarders staff, parents and guests filled the Assembly Hall to see students and staff on the runway modelling a variety of clothes ranging from tops, casual wear, party dresses to evening wear. The event was in aid of 'The Rainbow Trust' which supports terminally ill children and proceeds of over £350 from ticket sales will be presented to this charity.

Thanks to Matt Miller for these photos

Year 8 History Trip to Hampton Court 27 April 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

		Girls' Hockey & Netball Tour of Holland 12 to 16 April 2010 Click on the photo on the left to see more

House System - Update

Well done to the following pupils who were awarded 'Pride in Their Work' Housepoints in 7 or more subjects for last half term:

Year 7 : Charlotte Douglas, Grace Pike, Elysia Wells, Hannah Irwin
Year 8 : Lissy Ford, Lottie Ovenden, Sian Beeston
Year 9 : Maddie Hanson, Minnie Folland, Priya Ladwa, Annie Scholfield

The current housepoint totals are as follows: Lister 1777, Mennell 1917, Tuke 1772

		'The Avenue' - Our Spring Newsletter These have been posted to all parents. However, if you wish to download a copy then please click on the image on the left. To see previous editions of the Avenue click here.

		Boarders learn to Scuba Dive Sunday 28 March Friends' School pool

Friends' Schools' Joint Choirs' 27 March 2010

Some photos of the rehearsals and concert for the Friends' Schools' Joint Choirs' Festival at Leighton Park School are shown below below (click to enlarge):

Our choir joined those from the other 6 Quaker schools in this country in a performance of Verdi's Requiem at Reading University on Saturday 27th March. Gavin Greenaway, Edward Dodge and our students left for Leighton Park in Reading on Wednesday 24th for three days of rehearsals in preparation for the Saturday performance. This triennial concert rotates amongst the English Quaker Schools, and we hosted this event in 1998.

Click here to find out more about the concert on Leighton Park School's website.

		6i AS Drama Performance 22 March 2010 Click on the photo on the left to see more.

Years 9 & 10 STEM Careers Show 22 March 2010 Pupils from Years 9 and 10 enjoyed a touring theatre company's presentation on 'STEM', where they learned about the importance of studying for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and the variety of careers that involve skills in these subjects. Spoofs included both the 'Gadget Show' and 'Who wants to be a millionaire' in this entertaining

Year 7 Trip to the Tower of London 22nd March 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

Inter Schools One Day Equestrian Event at Poplar Park Woodbridge on 21 March 2010

Two teams and various supporters set off to the 15th annual Inter Schools One Day Event near Woodbridge on Saturday 20th March, with the majority staying overnight in horse boxes or local accommodation.

Lani Hunter, Imogen Candler and Nathan Gibbs made up the team in the Mini Eventer Trial, all going clear in the show jumping section. Imogen had a couple of stops cross country but the teams combined score put them 6th out of 15 teams. Lani was also 6th individually.

Tabitha Northover, Ella and Becky Westerhuis, and Rupert Rixon made up the Novice Eventing Team. With some good dressage scores the team went into the show jumping phase in a strong position. Rupert and Becky lowered one pole but Tabby and Ella secured their position with a clear round. All of the team completed the cross-country phase clear and well inside the time. Their consistent jumping meant the team came home 2nd out of 28 teams, with individual honours to Tabitha who won her arena on her dressage score of 25.5 penalties. Ella came 5th and Becky 10th in their arenas: an outstanding result at the end of a long but enjoyable weekend.

		Creative Writing Competition Friends' School won a £500 prize for coming second in the Mini Sagas 'The Adventure Starts Here' creative writing competition in which over 1,000 schools competed. Well done. Click here to find out more about what was involved.

Interhouse Activities and Competitions

Tuke won: lower school football, Ready Steady Cook and the Easter Quiz

Mennell won: photography and judo

Lister won: netball, photography and upper school football

Coming up next term: Poetry competition, Maths Challenge, Fashion show (tbc), Drama as well as all the sporting contests including Sports Day.

Junior UKMT Maths Challenge

U15 Football v Stoke College 23rd March 2010 Click on the photo on the right to see more.

		German Exchange to Bremerhaven 12 - 18 March 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

Sixth Form Art & Photography Trip to Paris 25-28 February 2010 Click on the photo to see more

		Head Chef brings home top award Our head chef at Friends’ School, Bobby Nanda recently beat off international competition in London to win a major cooking award. Competing at Hotelympia in Salon Culinaire, a world-class culinary competition for chefs, Bobby brought home two medals. He won the silver medal in the British Pepper and Spice 'Millstone’ Ethnic Class but it was the next competition that

Bobby Nanda said, “Because no one expected me to be there I felt no pressure, I was relaxed like I was cooking at home. When you cook in these competitions you normally need weeks of practice and preparation. I had only overnight to think about it so I created my menu as I walked around the supermarket looking for ingredients on the morning of the competition.”

Bobby Nanda’s winning menu of aromatic lentil rice on a bed of kale served with rump of lamb in Sri Lankan curry sauce accompanied with grilled tomato salsa impressed the judges so much they awarded him top prize. There were 10 chefs competing, including two top chefs from five star hotels in Dubai as well as two chefs from top London restaurants.

“I felt very proud to win, especially as a school chef who was up against top restaurant chefs. To win at one of the largest internationally respected cooking competitions was a thrill.”

House Photography Competition

The first House Photography Competition was on the subject of patterns around the school. Entries were submitted in black and white with a focus on shape,

Tracy Zheng from Lister and Zak Davies from Mennell won the prize with Seb
Miller, Seb Scarr and Toby Harris entering highly commended images.

Tracy's strong compositional image of Girls' House Stairs and Zak's thoughtful
and quirky response with our minibuses, were clear winners this year."

U16 Football v Stoke College 9th March 2010 Click on the photo on the right to see more.

Eastern Region Maths Competition

On Wednesday 10th March the Year 10 team comprising Harry Blackmore, Callum Fleming, Josh Greenwood and Anson Wong respresented the school at the Eastern Region Maths Competition in Chelmsford.  They took part in team exercises, a relay race and countdown challenges against other schools.  The team finished a very respectable 7th out of 14 teams.

		'Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' March 2010 Click on the image on the left to see photos of the dress rehearsal

U13 Football v St Mary's Bishop's Stortford 2 March 2010 Click on the photo to see more

		UK Mathematics Trust Intermediate Challenge 4th February 2010 The following Pupils were awarded certificates in the recent UK Mathematics Trust Intermediate Challenge:

Gold: Callum Fleming, Harry Jeffery, Alex Ma, Aidan Wright
Silver: George Irwin, Harry Blackmore, Sophie White, Rupert Hallawell, Matt Beaumont
Bronze: Calum Davie, Will Wilshere, Kim Wu, James Cochrane, Ross Donaldson

Callum Fleming also qualifies for the 'Pink Kangaroo' follow-on round. Well done to all

Click here to visit the UK Maths Challenges website. More information is also available on the Maths Enrichment page of our website.

1st XI Girls' Hockey v Freman College 24 February 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

		6ii Drama Examination Piece Feb 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

International Evening 10 February 2010 Click on the photo to see more

		1st XI Football Match against Newport Free Grammar School 10 February 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

Activities Spring 2010 - second half of term

Click here to download a copy of the activity sheet for the second half of this term

Haiti Earthquake Fundraising Events 25 to 29th January 2010 Click on the photo on the right to see how pupils raised over £1,500 for the Haiti Disaster Fund.

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.

		"Friends' School - A Hundred Years at Saffron Walden 1879 - 1979" by former Head John Woods This booklet has now been scanned and can be seen on our website by clicking on the image on the left.

Year 8 RS Trip to a Hindu Temple Jan 22nd 2010

		Year 8 travelled to London to see a Hindu Temple and enjoyed a visit to an Indian sweet shop and had lunch at an Indian vegetarian restaurant. Helen Golden, Head of Religious Studies said, "This visit gave pupils first hand experience of Hinduism and insight into another way of life. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to reinforce what we learn in school, especially about respect and understanding for other cultures. Some comments from Year 8 students: "The building

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.

Activities Spring 2010

Click here to download a copy of the activity sheet for the first half of this term

Pupils using our school buses in snowy conditions

		Welcome to our new Gap Students for 2010 Both join us from Australia.
Cassandra Wotherspoon	Dougald Coulson

		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

			More photos on Junior School News page

Amnesty International

On 11th December 150 cards were signed by pupils and staff, and £62 raised towards the postage. Thank you to all who supported us. We do this every year to help raise the awareness of political prisoners throughout the world.

Autism Talk Ros Blackburn, a nationally acclaimed speaker on autism visited Friends' School on 1st December 2009. She talked to the whole school about the ways autism has affected her life, and encouraged students to be patient, accepting and understanding towards others with this condition.

		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.

German Exchange in the UK 18 to 24 November 2009   Click on the photo on the right to see more

Quiz victory for Friends'

		Pupils at Friends’ School Saffron Walden are celebrating, having managed to gain first place in the 19th Strachan International Inter-school Quiz, hosted this year by Helena Romanes School in Great Dunmow. The quiz is held every year and hosted by four local schools in rotation. In previous years the County High School in Saffron Walden and Newport Free Grammar have hosted the event and it will fall to Friends’

U15 Rugby Match v Stoke College 17 November 2009 Click on the photo to see our Year 9 and 10 boys in action.

Year 8 pupils studying Hinduism

The above photos show Year 8 pupils making saltdough models of the elephant headed god of good luck - Ganesha. Click to enlarge. 11 Nov 09.

	London Central Mosque On Tuesday 10th November Year 9 visited Regent's Park Mosque - left, and shared their picnic with the pigeons in the park afterwards - right.

		An Evening of Music Thursday 22nd November

Year 7 at Harlow Outdoor Education Centre July 2009 Click on the photo to see more

		Friends' School PTA Christmas Puddings Order your delicious homemade puddings by Friday 13th November in time for Christmas and help raise funds for the PTA. Click here or on the photo on the left for details.

U13 Rugby Matches v Stoke College and HRS 15 & 22 October 2009 Click on the photo to see our Year 7 and 8 boys in action.

		Life - BBC Wildlife Series You may be interested to know that the Producer of this series is Martha Holmes who was a pupil at this school from 1971 to 1976, and has been making wildlife programmes for almost 20 years. The 10 part series, which is narrated by David Attenborough started on Monday 12 Oct on BBC1.

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 which included workshops, special assemblies and extended silent worship. Visitors from our local Meeting joined us for Wednesday Assembly and our Meeting for Worship on Thursday and everyone enjoyed hot chocolate and Fair Trade cookies at Recess.

Click here to find out what we did in Quaker Schools' Week.

Year 11 Coursework Deadlines

Click here to download deadlines for this academic year.

(Coursework deadlines will not apply in the same way for Year 10, as the new GCSE specifications require coursework to be completed in school under supervised conditions.)

Year 10 and 11 trip to the WW1 Battlefields October 2009 Click on the photo on the right to see more.

		Year 10 & 11 Geography Field Trip to the Lake District 14 to 17 Sept 2009 Click on the photo on the left to see more.

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.

Individual & Class Photos Form teachers are handing out proofs and order forms. These need to be returned to formteachers by 15th October for collection by the photographer.

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

Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy visits Friends’

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.

Activities.

These started on Monday 14th September. Click here to see a list of the activities on offer. Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 need to choose at least 2 activities to do each week - more for boarders. The programme will change at half term.

GCSE Results August 2009

Consistently good GCSE results were once again achieved by students at Friends’ School, with more grades at A* and A than in previous years. Amongst those celebrating were Amy Branch, Charlotte Dodsley, Will Fawcett and Emma Stanbury, ‘straight A’ students who achieved 41 top grades between them, though the vast majority of students in the year achieved results higher than those expected at the start of the course.

‘We’ve enjoyed the excitement and celebrations that go along with results day,’ said Head, Graham Wigley. ‘They arrive looking anxious, then before we know it there are smiles everywhere. I know that the students themselves are really appreciative of the help and support they have had from their teachers.’

Results at Friends’ continue to be well ahead of national averages with 85% of all grades being A* to C.

Click here to download a summary of our 2009 exam results.

A Level Results August 2009

	Photos showing just a few of our A level students after opening their exam results.

Friends’ School, Saffron Walden’s A level results were excellent this year.  For the fifth year in a row students achieved a 100% pass rate, with 34% A grades, 69% at A or B and 88% at A-C, continuing the school’s consistently strong showing over recent years.

Head Graham Wigley said that the headline figures are all improvements on last year’s impressive results and rival the school’s best ever results from 2007.  He added, ‘Once again our students did themselves and their teachers proud, with excellent grades across all subjects.  It was a pleasure to receive results like this knowing what each set of grades means for each individual student.  I’m delighted that they are able to move on to the universities of their choice, particularly this year which, as the press have highlighted, is particularly competitive.’

Click here to download a summary of our 2009 exam results.

		A Level and GCSE Art Exhibition Summer 2009 Click on the image on the left to see more.

A & AS Level Photography Exhibition Summer 2009 Click on the image on the right to see more.

		Year 8 trip to Normandy 29 June to 2 July 09 Click on the photo to see more.

Year 9 & 10 German Exchange to Bremerhaven 15 - 21 June 2009 Click on the photo to see more.

		Newsletter Summer Term 2009 Click on the image on the right to download the latest copy of our Newsletter. This is being mailed to all parents at the end of term.

Sports Day 12 June 2009   Click on the photo on the right to see more