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A Week To Remember.
This week, every individual in our school community remembered the individuals that gave their lives so that we may live in peace today.
We have had two incredible Services of Remembrance; the first in the Senior School Chapel, live-streamed to an audience of 1000 people all over the world, and the second in All Saints Church at the Prep School for Years 7 & 8. All pupils from Reception to Year 8 and from Year 9 to Year 13 came together outside for a moment of Remembrance on Armistice Day. The Nursery children talked with Mrs Steggles about why we wear poppies and then went to look at the poppies at the front of the school. The children noticed the poppies were different and they talked about how we are all individual as people.
On first impression, with a reduced audience very-well spaced across the Chapel, and a diminished choir from a single year group, again spaced at least 2m from each other in all directions, with faces covered by a mask at key points in the service, you might have wondered if our services might lack the emotion and poignancy of previous years? However, it became apparent that the feelings of togetherness, anguish, inspiration, peace and hope are not cast in physicalities. Rather, they were felt through the sunlight streaming in the stained-glass windows, the beautiful sound of togetherness from the choir, the beating of a drum, the footsteps of the flag-bearer, the transformational words of the sermon and ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ pricking the solemnity with the warmth of hope sung by Old Framlinghamian, Olivia Pitcher.
The College Service of Remembrance was filmed and broadcast live on YouTube for an audience of current pupils and parents, past pupils and their families of all ages, VIPs all over the world, Governors, staff present and former and the wider community. It is a virtue of the challenging times that we are navigating that we could for the first time, welcome an audience of well over a thousand people. And, we can continue to do this as it now sits on our YouTube channel if you would like to watch it - click here. It really was a wonderful service with a fantastically inspiring sermon from General, The Lord Dannatt, GCB, CBE, MC, DL.
We were very touched to hear from one of our Honorary Old Framlinghamians and members of staff now in a care home who sent this email of thanks: “I feel that I cannot turn off my computer without writing to you and asking you to convey my most grateful thanks to everyone who made it possible for me, at 84 years of age and now a permanent resident in a Care Home, to share with everyone at dear old Framlingham College in that most moving and beautiful Service of Remembrance in the College Chapel that I remember so well.”
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Giving Our Pupils Some Competitive Match Play – The Franchise Tournament.
The Franchise Tournament was born in response to the frustration that we have all been feeling at the lack of competitive play against other schools. It is an exciting and fast-growing concept in the professional sporting world, especially the Indian Premier League (cricket). Assistant Director of Sport and Head of Hockey, Jamie Kingstone says, “the most important learning takes place when the result actually matters, so the players are motivated to play their best. We were compelled to try something new”.
We wanted to get the entire College (Prep and Senior School) involved and maintain interest for our players. We have created four ‘Franchises’ for rugby and three for hockey. There are teams of mixed ability by age-group from all Houses together under each Franchise. It is an opportunity for teams to think creatively and strategically and to organise themselves to play to their strengths to win. Matches are being played over three weekends and the winning teams in each age-bracket will be awarded a prize.
It has been fantastic to see older, more experienced players leading and coaching younger, less experienced players and for everyone to get the opportunity to up their game.
Director of Sport, Nick Gandy, said, “The first set of matches last Saturday were really positive. The standard was much better than at recent House Matches. It was so good to see everyone playing and the pupils being supportive of each other.”
Hear Nick talk about how the event went last week by clicking on the video above.
By all accounts, it would seem that the atmosphere was electric and our young people really enjoyed it. Freddie Lindop and Georgie Cantrell tell us about the excitement that has been building and how it has been received by our pupils in the video above.
To keep every Franchise on their toes, the rules are being changed each week so that the teams have to adapt and think on their feet. We look forward to seeing how the players get on this weekend.
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The 360 Intelligence System Brings Unparalleled Opportunities.
We are the only school in the UK to have this 360 Intelligence system in place which gives our pupils an unparalleled learning opportunity. By exeat weekend, we will have 11 cameras installed constantly filming. Every pupil in the Senior School has a log-in and can watch their own playback via the app. Teams can review their play real-time from the astro. The benefit of seeing play on film is that the camera shows it exactly as it happened, not perhaps as different players or even the coach remember it happening! It greatly impacts coaching and learning.
The system is also a huge asset in lockdown. We know that parents are frustrated that they can’t come to see their children play matches either. This live-streaming gives some visibility back to parents at home or abroad.
Click the video image above for some of the best goals from last weekend.
Parents have emailed from abroad and at home alike. “This is such a great thing. It has meant that my family can watch in NZ and Jem’s folks can watch whilst they are shielding...and of course we can watch too!”
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Pathways to Excellence Beyond The College Across our Co-Curricular Offering.
MUSIC
This week has seen lunchtime recitals at the Prep School, individual performances in Chapel, choir performances at our Services of Remembrance, formal auditions for the National Youth Choir GB and ABRSM Online Theory exams. We are also very excited that three of our choral scholars who sing at St Mary le Tower – long recognised as a centre for choral excellence alongside many of our country’s most famous Cathedral choirs - recorded some Christmas Carols this week for St Mary Le Tower along with their Music Director and Organist. See the video above for a sneak peek.
College Director of Music, Lucy Bloore believes passionately that the music department should play a crucial role in readying our young people for their adult world.
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St Mary le Tower Carols Sneak Preview
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If they choose to pursue a career in Music, their success will be in part due to the skills and knowledge developed from our seamless curriculum from the Prep through to Senior School; our pupils grow in confidence by embracing the opportunity to perform and interpret music in their own style, and they learn how to lead by being an example to others.
However, Mrs Bloore, Mr Nunn and Mrs Hankey also search for and create opportunities beyond the College, supporting our pupils to seize opportunities to enhance their learning and progress their talents. For example, The National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Choir, Aldeburgh Singers and St.Mary Le Tower.
Lucy Bloore said, “Our pupils' ability to work with all sorts of different people and take direction from different directors will set them apart when they leave the College.”
We will keep you posted with regards to the selection results for the National Youth Choir. Only 150 children are chosen across ages 9 - 15, nationally so it is a tremendous accolade to be selected.
SPORT
The selection process for the England Hockey Squads has been very different this year. Schools were allowed to nominate players leading to over 700 players attending a gruelling three days assessment camp during half term. However, we can now say very proudly that seven of our pupils have been selected for the England Hockey Phase Two Assessment Camp. Owen Lloyd, Year 13, continues to represent Wales Internationally too. Ten of our Prep School pupils have been invited to train with their county Academy Centres in the U13 age group.
It is wonderful news that allows greater exposure to the game for these pupils and is indicative of the depth of talent within College sport. We await news later in the month of cricket selections.
Georgie Kingstone comments, “We recognise the importance of player pathways and encourage our pupils to enter the county, regional and national frameworks as soon as possible. We have an extraordinary reputation with local Constituent Bodies, National Governing Bodies and Professional Clubs, added to excellent relationships with some of the key decision-makers in these areas. We are an Official Education Partner of Northamptonshire CCC, host an MCC Foundation Hub and work closely with Saracens Mavericks, Northampton Saints and Suffolk Cricket. We host coaching partners such as JK Hockey and the Andy Northcote Cricket Academy. Many of our teachers are heavily involved with sport in the local area be it through community coaching and/or talent identification. This enables us to support our pupils in their progression with selection in mind. We believe the more exposure to the game, the better and we are always looking for opportunities to further our pupils’ strengths and passions.”
DRAMA
According to her Aunt, Isla Johnston was always dramatic, even at the age of two when she could feign illness with amazing conviction! It was because of this that she took Isla along to an audition for Jurassic World at her cousins’ school four years ago. (Isla had had no training or acting experience).
Although she did not get the part, the Casting Director was so impressed by her raw talent that she helped her find an agent. Isla then began to be selected for a series of small parts. Her first was for a BBC drama. “I didn’t know how to feel as it was my first ever role, but I loved it!” Isla says.
She went from strength to strength and really enjoyed playing a troubled young girl in the short film “Unmourned”, directed by Tessa Sheridan.
Isla’s big break was securing a key role in a popular mini-series that has just been released on Netflix. She is now being inundated with audition requests and having to be quite selective about what she goes for…. She has just turned down six months filming in Hawaii!
Isla, who is new to Framlingham College in Year 9, said, “Framlingham College is being really supportive and working with me to enable me to pursue my acting and keep up with my academic work. I have never moved school before, but they have made it really easy and I have settled really well.” Her advice to other young people interested in acting, “Keep going to open auditions. Your break will come.”
ART
Faye Lok has been recognised by Ipswich Arts Society as an Anna Airy Award winner for her work “A Dancer Dies Twice”; a multi-media piece featuring life-size wings and a film. The first Anna Airy Award was made in 1964 following the death of Anna Airy who was not only one of the most distinguished female artists of her day, but an inspirational teacher and a lifelong champion of young artists. On her death IAS raised funds for an award in her memory to be given to a young artist of promise. As a result of the close collaboration between IAS, the University of Suffolk, and sponsorship from TASSES this annual exhibition for young artists has in recent years gone from strength to strength. It is now a prestigious and highly acclaimed event attracting up to 200 submissions each year.
In 2020, they asked schools who regularly enter work to select just one worthy winner. We chose Faye because of her beautiful work but also because she carried on creating regardless of the difficult challenges both personal and global this year.
Faye made her wings whilst recovering from an illness earlier this year. Once home in Hong Kong, she made a film of her sister wearing them while dancing in the isolation of their apartment. The dance movingly illustrates her ‘rebirth’ from weeks of ‘imprisonment’. The title A Dancer Dies Twice comes from a quotation by the dancer Martha Graham. It continues, and the first time is more painful than the second…
Congratulations Faye!
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Developing a Vibrant Learning Culture and a Rich and Diverse Curriculum.
Framlingham College Year 11 English Essay Prize
Interview with Leo Goldsmith, Head of English.
Q: Why have you run an essay competition? What is important about it?
A: With the reformed GCSEs in English Literature having no coursework, we wanted all pupils to have the chance to experience the ‘redrafting’ process. (Redrafting is the process of producing a new draft from a previous draft involving re-reading your draft and thinking about how you want to change it, receiving comments from others and deciding what you are going to do with them, and then making changes to your existing draft to produce a new one).
Q: What is the brief? Do the pupils choose any subject?
A: The pupils studying ‘A Christmas Carol’ look at an extract from another Dickens novel - Oliver Twist this year. The pupils studying Jekyll and Hyde look at an extract from RL Stevenson - the non-fiction Edinburgh Picturesque this year.
Q: Why is it of benefit to the pupils?
A: It is challenging. They get no input into the extract and have to read and plan themselves. They often relish the competitive aspect too. The study also gives them some wider reading which might help them in their exam responses. It is especially useful for those wishing to study English Literature at A Level.
Q: Is there any significance of the timing of it in the year?
A: They do the reading and 1st drafts in the Summer between Year 10 and 11 – it is good for keeping them thinking and learning. They then redraft it in the Autumn Term of Year 11.
Congratulations to all who were Commended, Highly Commended and Winners. It was great to see the effort that went into these essays.
Leo Goldsmith says, ”The top three were very impressive indeed. Ruby and Chi-Chi managed to blend analysis of language with relevant and fascinating context – judicious extra research clearly undertaken. Annabel’s winning essay also did this but just had the edge in the way she was able to construct her argument and some of the insights into Stevenson’s craft were very skilfully explored.”
Our A-level Students Attended an Immersive Digital Conference Real World Science Projects for Years 7 & 8
Also this week, our A-level students attended an immersive digital conference on the ‘Love through the Ages’ A Level paper. They had the opportunity to hear academics present on ‘love in literature’, to gain an insight into a range of texts and how they link together and to hear writers reading their own work in an engaging and often moving way.
As a virtual event, it was extremely successful, providing both a useful and an engaging opportunity for the students to immerse themselves in the ‘Love through the Ages’ A Level paper.
We would normally go to the conference, but there were huge benefits to watching it online – we could briefly discuss points as they came up, or share appreciation of an idea – not possible in a large lecture hall. And there was still a sense of joining in with something ‘big’ because of the accompanying chat function.
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Real World Science Projects for Years 7 & 8
With the move away from Common Entrance examinations, we now have the ability to ask very different things of our Year 7 & 8 learners. We want to foster a culture of inquiry through the delivery of knowledge-rich, engaging lessons. We want our pupils to develop skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity enabling them to become more reflective and independent learners. We also aim to look in greater detail at contemporary issues which impact their lives by considering how concepts and ideas are linked across subjects.
With this in mind, this term we have been bringing learning to life through ‘Real World Science’. As part of our Forces topics, we studied the INEOS Team UK’s challenge for the 2021 America’s Cup (sailing). Pupils initially looked at different aspects from the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace, to the History of the America's Cup, to the materials used in the construction of the boat and the forces involved in sailing the boat, to the competitors' nutritional diets and safety clothing and finally Life Cycle Assessment [LCA]. The pupils then went on to focus on one specific area of the INEOS Team UK and designed and created a project. They presented them in a wide variety of formats from PowerPoint and posters to models of the Brittania boat and the sailors' nutritional food plates.
A huge well done and congratulations to all of the pupils involved in producing such fantastic projects and good luck to INEOS Team UK in bringing the America's Cup home to Britain where it all began.
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Principal's Weekly Address
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Rifleman Thatcher's Letter Home
Tuesday 10 November 2020
Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher was killed on 2 June 2009. He was one of the youngest soldiers to die in the Afghanistan war. I am going to read the letter that he wrote to be delivered to his family if he died.
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