Forthcoming Events

News

French Exchange 17 - 25 April 2004 Nimes Click on the photo to see more

Sports Afternoon 9th June Tuke 484, Mennell 479 and Lister 394 Click here to see photos

German Exchange 2004 Click on the photo to see more

Last day of lessons for Year 11 and 6ii

Good Luck in your exams

'Friends and Families Day' 22nd May - our speech day.
This was a great success - more to follow. Watch this space.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD BRONZE FINAL EXPEDITION

During the warm weekend of 24/25 April our 12 year 10 Bronze participants undertook a sucessful expedition on the Suffolk coast, hiking 30 kilometres from Snape Maltings through Rendlesham Forest , where they camped for the night, to finish in Woodbridge feeling quite exhausted! They all had a good time and were a credit to the school and themselves. They learnt the importance of thorough planning and the adoption of a positive attitude and now want to progress on to Silver.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge:

Change to February 2005 Half Term Dates

The dates for February half term in 2005 have been changed to run from the end of school on Friday February 11th until Sunday February 20th (boarders to return by 8.00pm). To find out more click here. 4 May 2004

May Bank Holiday 3rd May 2004 Click on the photo of the front of the school to enlarge.

New Tuck Shop/Milk Bar This will initially open during the morning break. It is aimed at healthier eating products with an emphasis on milk products, but no chocolate or fizzy drinks!

Joint Quaker Schools' Choir March 2004

A Great Success!! Click on the photos to see more.

Every 3 years the choirs of the 7 Quaker schools in England get together to perform a joint choral work. This year it was the turn of Sidcot School in Somerset to host the event, and Mendelssohn's 'Elijah' was performed in Wells Cathedral at 7 pm on Saturday 27th March.

Latest Newsletter for Spring 2004 This is being distributed to parents. To download a copy now and to see earlier editions please click on the picture on the left.

'Friends and Families' Day Saturday 22 May 2004

This is our annual 'Speech Day' and a chance for Old Scholars, parents and their friends and families to see around the school and to find our what has been happening over the last year. Awards are also made in our assembly at 11 am.

To find out more and to download an order form for a picnic click here.

A Famous Quaker In 2002 a new five pound note with Elizabeth Fry's image was issued.

Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) was a well-to-do Victorian woman with a concern for the reform of prisons and the treatment of offenders. To find out more about Elizabeth Fry click here or on the five pound note.

Parents' Notes

These are published at the end of each week during term time and can also be seen on this website under the Parents' section, or click here

Whole School Photo September 2003

Copies still to be collected from Reception. Click on this photo to enlarge.

Sunny days are not the best for school photos!

3 Minute Silence on 15th March 04

At 11 am today pupils and staff joined in the across-Europe 3 minute silent vigil to show sympathy for those who died or were wounded in the terrorist attack in Madrid last week.

Year 9 Art Trip to the Tate Modern, and to see the Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery 10 March 04 Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Check out these websites:The official Roy Lichtenstein website which has links to museums and other sites. The Hayward Gallery and the Tate Modern.

Year 11 Poetry Workshop

The staff of the English Department organised a very successful revision morning for their GCSE students. They were having practice at comparing poems, looking particularly at poetic techniques and using a range of learning styles. They focused on 4 poems and as a result of the morning each student had drawn up a clear essay plan which has since been written up.

Year 10 Play: Romeo and Juliet March 2004 Click on the photo to see more

Daisy the Cow

Year 7 pupils have been using their Religious Studies lessons to explore ways of making this a fairer world.This links in with Fairtrade Fortnight which this year runs from 1st - 14th March. As well as creating their own plays and news reports showing how buying Fair Trade goods in local shops can help give people in poor countries a better standard of living, they also took their message to the whole school and presented their findings in an assembly.

Daisy the Cow helped bring their message across with her starring role in "Jack and the Cocoa Bean Stalk", a play written by the students.

Fairtrade is about guaranteeing a better deal for producers in developing countries where often producers struggle to compete in an unjust global trading system.

This year Fairtrade celebrates 10 years of the FAIRTRADE Mark. To find out more click here.

Inter-House Charity Competitions

Tuke held their fund raising events during the morning and lunch breaks on Thursday and raised over £190 for 'Water Aid'. Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge and see the cake sale, and how hard some tried to hit the teachers with wet sponges! Watch out for Lister and Mennell in the next two weeks.

Ski Trip to Italy February 2004 Click on the photo to see more

Some places are still available for next year's trip to the Italian ski resort of Claviere which is situated near the French border, from Sunday 20th to Sunday 27th February 2005. Again the trip is being offered to pupils in years 5-8 plus a small group of sixth formers. Contact Jenny Allwood if interested.

Some photos from the School Disco December 2003 Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge

Some recent GCSE Original Music Compositions Alex Vindis "The Source of Beauty" Otis Doyle "So Far Away" Joanna Pedley "Latino Flute" Joanna Simper "The Western Cowboy" Kiran Chakravarti "French Rustique" Click on the above (64 kbps) mp3 files to listen to them..

Job Vacancies

Part time Assistant Bursar required, and for September Head of Drama. Click here to find out more.

Over 50,000 hits!
We have had over 50 000 hits to the website from different IP addresses since the counter was reset two and a half years ago in July 2001. (Feb 04)

Tesco Computers for Schools 2004. The vouchers will be given away in Tesco stores from Monday 23rd February 2004 until Sunday 2nd May 2004. Please help the school by collecting the vouchers and dropping them off in Reception.

Year 7 Art Trip to the Cambridge University Zoology Museum, and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. 21 January 04 Click on the photo to see more

3 new Job Opportunities from September 2004

Click here to find out more.

Our Seasonal Words and Music 10 Dec 2003

Newsletter Autumn 2003 Click on the image on the right to see a copy of our latest newsletter.

Non-Uniform Day 21 November 2003 Over £450 was raised on our non-uniform day to support the Alex Ruffell Memorial Fund ( which supports a school in Zimbabwe) and 'Children in Need'. Click on the photo to find out more

Chess Match against the Philip Morant School 28 Nov 03. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge. Photos by Sally Kikaya.

Year 8 and 6th Form Geography trips to Epping Forest November 2003. Click on the photo to see more shots of Epping Forest in its magnificent autumnal colours.

International Evening November 2003 Click on the photo to find out more

Sixth Form Trip to the Bowles Outdoor Centre 12 to 14 September 2003, Tunbridge Wells, Kent Click on the photo to see more

Extracts from the Autumn Concert 2003

Click on the tracks below to sample the highlights (or right click and then click 'save target as' to save to your hard drive.) Click on the slides to enlarge.

Inter-House Great Egg Challenge October 2003

Click on the photo on the left to see more about the Great Egg Race between Lister, Mennell and Tuke.

Year 10 Geography Field Course in the Lake District October 2003

Click on the photo on the right to find out more

Sixth Form Drama Trip to the Globe Theatre September 2003

	Here are the 'Groundlings' standing by the stage waiting for the performance to begin.
View of the stage from the galleries. Groundlings would pay one penny to stand in the open yard in front of the stage. However, the wealthy would pay higher prices to sit in the galleries with a roof over their heads.
	The stage is quite ornate and made entirely out of oak - even the 2 pillars supporting the roof. You can see underneath an elaborate painting of the heavens, including the sun, moon and stars.

If you would like to find out more about Shakespeare and The Globe visit this website www.shakespeares-globe.org
Photos and account by Annabelle Roberts.

Sixth Form Southern Schools' Quaker Pilgrimage Sept 2003. Click on the photo on the right to find out more.

Year 7 Trip to Sheringham July 2003

Click on the photo on the right to see some of the photos from last Year's Year 7 trip to Sheringham.

Year 11 Geography Field Work September 2003

Click on the photo on the left to see photos of the present Year 11 doing field work in Saffron Walden and Thaxted

Year 10 Work Experience Summer 2003

Click on the photo on the right to see a few more shots of last year's Year 10 students at their work experience placements.

A Potter Picnic

An excited group of Friends' School pupils met last week to enjoy an informal lunch and to discuss the latest Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Magic potions (aka ice cream sodas) and a special cake were on the menu for those students who signed up for this event.

The lunch was organised by English teacher, Lesley McLean and Librarian, Janice Weatherall, both of whom entered into the spirit of the event by wearing their witch's hats and cloaks.

Click on these photos to enlarge:

"Who says boys don't read?" wondered Lesley McLean "They do at Friends' School. Only one girl booked a place - the other 14 were boys."

"It was a very animated discussion," she continued, "with almost all of the group enjoying the book right from the very beginning. The love story, however, between Harry and Cho did not excite too much interest, but they all thought the character of Dolores Umbridge, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, was fantastic - really evil!"

"As to what happens next? The Potter Picnickers came up with lots of ideas and are full of enthusiasm for the next two books. Just one request to J.K.Rowling - we all missed Hagrid in the Order of the Phoenix. His role was not so important as in previous books, so we hope he will feature much more prominently in the next books."

Years 10/11 History Trip to the First World War Battlefields
24 - 27 September 2003

Click here to find out more.

School Transport for Pupils Our school transport service has proved extremely popular and is growing year by year. We currently provide transport for over 50 students to and from the School on 3 routes. Click here to find out more.

To hear a recent student recording of the Concert Band in rehearsing 'Jesus Christ Superstar' click here. (A higher quality version can be downloaded by clicking here. If this takes too long to download then right click on the link and click 'save target as' and save to the hard drive on your computer)

New Term Dates for 2004 to 2005.

An early Easter in 2005. Click here to download latest dates.

Whole School Photograph

Our biennial whole school photograph was taken on Wednesday 17th September 2003.The proof can be seen outside Senior School Reception. Order forms will be sent out at half term. The costs are: Mounted and Framed £45, Mounted (unframed) £25, Unmounted £20.

Exam Results August 2003

'Another good crop of exam results reflecting personal achievement'. With a 98.4% pass rate at A level nearly everyone has managed to get into the university of their first choice. Over half the A level grades were A or B grades. Well done.

At GCSE our pupils achieved a 100% pass rate with 70.6% achieving 5 or more A* to C grades, and 73.6% of the grades obtained overall were A* to C grades. In nearly all cases these pupils exceeded predictions. Well done.

To see a summary of the results click here.

To see the Junior School's National Curriculum Key Stage 1 and 2 results click here.

Year 11 and Sixth Form Summer Ball June 2003

Click on the photo to see more

Year 8 Trip to Normandy July 2003

Click on the above picture to see more

Lower Sixth Form Geography Field Trip July 3rd 2003. Greenfield and Brownfield Sites

Click on the picture to see more

Bed Time Stories

Books and reading were celebrated last week at Friends' School Saffron Walden.

Not only had a Readathon been organised by the English Department but students from the school's Book Clubs conducted a staff reading survey; a special reading assembly was held; and on Wednesday the Librarian organised bedtime reading sessions in the library - with a real bed.

"Peace at last!" was the reaction of Janice Weatherall, librarian at Friends' School Saffron Walden when it was all over.

"I wanted to promote the idea that reading is fun. Too often, especially at this time of year, it's all about reading to pass exams. I wanted the students and staff to relax, to have fun and to remember that reading is still a pleasure"

"If you wanted to get into bed during the day you had to read a story to everyone else. And it worked! The students really entered into the spirit of the event and read stories which they remembered their parents reading to them. We had old favourites such as Each Peach Pear Plum, and Peace at Last, newer titles such as Fix-it Duck and Farmer Duck as well as excerpts from Roald Dahl and J. K. Rowling.

The amount raised by the pupils for Readathon came to almost £220.

Readathon money is donated equally to Sargent Cancer Care for Children and The Roald Dahl Foundation, who between them spend it primarily helping children and young people in Britain suffering from cancer, leukaemia, epuilesy or head injury.

Saffron Sight Year 7 PHSE lessons (Personal, health and social education) were given an extra dimension last week with the visit from Saffron Sight. They had been learning about people with disabilities and particularly about the lives of blind people and those with impaired vision.

David Padgett and Paul Atkins from Saffron Sight spoke to the students about being blind. David got the pupils to wear special glasses which simulated loss of sight and then showed them that walking around a room using a white stick was not at all easy. Paul Atkins, who was accompanied by his dog ROZA, spoke to the children about living with a guide dog and looking after it.

"I really enjoyed the talk" said Daisy Johnson " and it made me think about what it must be like to be blind."

"It was fun being blindfolded", said Sam Richardson, "but it did let us know what blind people feel like. You really have to trust the person who is leading you."

Buddhist Centre Visit - Year 8

As part of their Religious Studies course, Helen Golden organised a trip for the Year 8 students to visit the Cambridge Buddhist Centre at the beginning of June.

Click on the images to enlarge

Some comments from the students:

· "I thought the Buddhist Centre would be big and grand, like the Hindu Temple we visited earlier this year, but it was a small building and very plain." said Matthew Hemes

· "The Prayer room was the heart of the Centre and surprisingly plain. The focus of the room was a simple shelf with a statue of the Buddha, a bunch of flowers and two candles on it," said Gabriel Polley.

· "I found meditating quite hard at first," said Leo Cunningham-Baily, " There were too many distractions around us. But by the end I felt refreshed and as if I had got everything in my head under control."

French Exchange at Nimes May 2003

Click on the picture above to see more

New Website

Welcome to Friends' Schools' new Website which was was uploaded on Saturday 19th July 2003. Please be patient as there are still links to be sorted and material added.

Martin Hugall

A'Level, AS Level & GCSE Art Exhibition 2003

Parents are invited to the 2003 end of year exhibition. The A' Level work will be displayed in the 6th Form art room, and the AS and GCSE groups are showcasing their work in the Octopus Gallery. Exhibition open 9am to 4pm Monday 16th to Friday 20th June 2003 Click on the photo to see more of the exhibition