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NewsletterIssue No 13 / 2013-14 Friday 16 May 2014 Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools
Dear Parents
Last week many of us were fortunate enough to hear Lucy Hawking and Stephen McGann speak at the most recent of our Inspire Me events – Cosmic George meets Call the Midwife.
Lucy Hawking, an alumna of the School and a journalist and novelist, provided a fascinating insight into the invention of her stories about science for a young readership in the acclaimed George novels.
Stephen McGann, best known to a young audience as the actor who brings us Dr Turner in Call the Midwife, blended autobiography with polemic in a talk which focused on the importance of bridging the gap between science and the arts and humanities.
Beginning with C P Snow’s famous 1959 lecture, which identified a damaging clash between two rival cultures – the ‘arts’ and ‘science’ - and deplored the lack of scientific literacy among the former, Mr McGann described his own extraordinary career (actor, Computer Science graduate, science communicator) as a life in two cultures and gave us numerous examples of the creative synergies in his own work between the two strands of his CV. And, in a refinement of Snow’s message, he called for greater awareness on both sides of the academic divide – scientists exploring arts and letters as well as artists gaining scientific awareness.
Cambridge is a crucible for the synergies he was promoting. Only think of the beating heart of the city – the Corpus Chronophage, which was unveiled by Lucy’s father, Stephen Hawking, in 2008. This bold art work, which has quickly established itself as a local landmark, combines the elegant precision of its grasshopper escapement mechanism with the unsettling beauty of its aesthetic.
Vice-Principal - introduction
Click here to go to our Inspire Me page where there is a link to some photographs
from the evening and also our news coverage in the Cambridge News.
NewsletterIssue No 13 / 2013-14 Friday 16 May 2014 Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools
Vice-Principal - introductionAnd, like the city of which it is very much a part, our school is greatly enlivened by the creative sparks struck in the adventurous interplay between the arts/letters and sciences.
A few of my favourite examples include:
-Year 7 working through mathematical problems in the form of a comprehension
-Year 8 dyeing fabrics to make a creative collage during the Science Sleepover
-A blend of history, geography, literature, art, music, science and technology (not to mention knitting and cooking) in the ‘Remembering World War I’ exhibition, currently showing in the Cabinet of Curiosities
-Year 9 learning about the efficacy (or otherwise) of Roman medical practices recommended by Pliny the Elder – for broken bones, apply the ashes of a pig’s jawbone; for fractured ribs, apply goat dung mixed with old wine; for nits, rub in dog fat
-GCSE Music students investigating the science of how the different families of musical instruments produce their sounds
-Year 7 exploring the medical facts – and fantasies – about the origins of the Black Death
-Year 10 Germanists visiting a demonstration in German of a Faraday cage in Munich during their exchange
-A GCSE Design student taking inspiration from the patterns of the cracks in shrinking materials, as they change from liquids to solids, to create a unique table top
Remembering World War I
GCSE Design
Science Sleepover
NewsletterIssue No 13 / 2013-14 Friday 16 May 2014 Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools
In the weeks to come, with the school exams behind us, there will be plenty of opportunities to combine the arts, humanities and sciences in new and exciting ways.
Year 7 will be mixing Chemistry with Art to produce flags, and Maths, Classics, Economics and Psychology will combine in a workshop on competitions, ancient and modern, in a series of integrated learning experiences based on a World Cup theme
Year 8 will be learning about ‘Egyptian Blue’, thought to be the earliest synthetic pigment and made by combining copper, bronze, quartz sand, lime and potash, and will visit the Fitzwilliam Museum to learn more about the pigment and the technology used to detect it in art works which have become discoloured over time.
Year 9 will be combining engineering and design skills with visual display and public speaking in their annual Projects Day
And, last but not least, Year 10 can look forward to a visit to the Cadbury factory to study, among other things, the science and economics of chocolate, followed by an iTunesU course in German on die Schokolade as a second course.
With best wishes,
Helen StringerVice-Principal (Curriculum)
Vice-Principal - introduction
Photo source: Fitzwiliam Museum
NewsletterIssue No 13 / 2013-14 Friday 16 May 2014 Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools
Design students go walkaboutYear 8 students have been looking at some of the great sculptures on the streets and in the colleges of Cambridge this week.
This work supports studies in design lessons where we critically analyse the purpose of sculpture in 3D design.
The girls will be developing their own themes and making their own sculptures after half term.
Our picture on the right shows a rather obscure sculpture, cast iron by Anthony Gormley called “Earthbound”. The soles of the feet seem to suggest that a body has been buried vertically upside down into the ground!
Student interviews bestselling authorYear 10 student Zehra fulfilled one of her dreams when she was asked by the Guardian to interview well known author Cassandra Clare.
New York Times bestselling author, of The Mortal Instruments series, Cassandra Clare was in the UK to talk to journalists on one day only at a hotel in Marylebone.
Zehra’s interview with Cassie was also filmed by her publisher, Walker books.
On 22 May Stephen Perse Foundation student Christina Stuart, Year 8, will be one of eight children cellists to perform the opening piece at the concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; playing Villa Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras, No. 5, for a soprano and 8 cellos.
This is part the educational programme by Cambridgeshire Music, an initiative of the RPO who are artists in residence for the year. The children are being tutored and will have a final rehearsal and a tutoring session with Julian Lloyd Webber are scheduled for the morning of the performance.
We are delighted that Christina has been offered this opportunity and wish her all the best for the concert.
Student to perform with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
NewsletterIssue No 13 / 2013-14 Friday 16 May 2014 Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools
The Exploration Society Summer ProgramThe classic “Buccaneer” sailing expedition on the Norfolk Broads was a great success with a number of the girls taking to a new “extreme” challenge of living aboard and sailing half-decker’s to some of the lesser visited broads. A video of their exploits can be found here.
The program for the Ascent group during the Summer term has a Viking theme and will culminate in a canoe and camping journey on the River Medway in Kent. Sign up details can be found here. The Exploration Society will also be hosting Summer Camps throughout August on the wonderful Osea Island off the coast of Essex. Further program details can be found here.
The Stephen Perse Foundation operates an online Uniform and Sportswear service with www.schoolblazer.com. This service provides all items of uniform and sportswear and also provides nametag application free of charge.
As the summer period is particularly busy, it is essential that all new parents have placed their uniform orders no later than Friday 18 July 2014, to allow time for returns, if necessary. Schoolblazer are offering free delivery on all orders placed between 30th June – 13 July 2014 as an extra incentive.
Uniform Purchasing 2014 - Free P&P
Coffee morning for parents and carers of Year 9 studentsFor parents and carers of Year 9 girls - welcome summer with coffee and a chat at Waitrose’s cafe, 50 Hauxton Road, Trumpington - we will meet on Tuesday May 20 at 9.00am.
Drop in and say “Hello” and catch up with each other and all the news in the Year 9 community.
Any questions contact Jane Biddle on [email protected] WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE !
NewsletterIssue No 13 / 2013-14 Friday 16 May 2014 Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools
Charity Quiz Night
We will be holding a quiz night on Friday 13 June in aid of Amantani www.amantani.org.uk a charity which provides education in Peru. Tickets available via all Stephen Perse Foundation school receptions or email Miss Taylor [email protected].
NewsletterIssue No 13 / 2013-14 Friday 16 May 2014 Follow us on Twitter: @SPFSchools
SPF Parents & Friends Book ClubOur next meeting will be on Wednesday 21 May, at 8pm (contact Jean Woods, 01223 313770). We will discuss ‘Almost English’ by Charlotte Mendelson, which was on the 2013 Booker Prize long list.
We always have a lively discussion and are keen to welcome new members.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Martha Crouch for details (mobile: 07768311015 or email: [email protected])
Photography competitionThe Governors invite students from every school across the Foundation to capture their experience of learning in a photographic competition.
Entries will be accepted in four age categories:
3-7 years, 8-10 years, 11-16 years & 17-18 years
All entries will be displayed in an online gallery on www.spflearning.com and the runners up and prize winners will be displayed in an exhibition at the Senior School, Cambridge.
Entries should be in digital format and be either named and uploaded to the Google Drive folder “What is Learning? Photo competition” (which will have been shared) - or if you do not have access to Google Drive please email your entry to your form tutor - by the closing deadline of Friday 13th June 2014.
We look forwards to seeing the entries!
Note: Photographs should be the work of the students, who can all submit up to a maximum of 5 entries each.
The Governors invite all students from across the Foundation to capture their experience of learning in a photographic competition
Entries will be accepted in four age categories:
3-7 years, 8-10 years, 11-16 years, & 17-18 years
All entries will be displayed in an online gallery on www.spflearning.com and the runners up and prize winners will be displayed in an
exhibition at the Senior School
Entries should be in digital format and be either named and uploaded to the Google Drive folder “What is Learning? Photo competition”
(which will have been shared with you) - or if you do not have access to Google Drive please email your entry to your form tutor - by the
closing deadline of Friday 13th June 2014
Images submitted to this competition may be used for internal marketing purposes as well as for staff leaving cards
What is learning?Stephen Perse Foundation photographiccompetition2014
First prize - £25 Amazon voucher
