Without Self-Discipline, Success is Impossible, Period! – Lou Holtz (American Football Coach)
Last week, our students from Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 took part in the Worlingham U9 and U11 Cross Country Event. The U9 Girls team shone brightly, with Beatrice S taking 1st place and Aurora D securing 2nd contributing to a well-earned Team First position. The U11 Girls displayed true grit in a highly competitive field, helping the team to achieve an impressive Team Third overall. In the U11 Boys category, some impressive performances enabled a strong Team Second position. Overall, the combined effort of all our athletes earned us a brilliant Second Place in the event. Our cross-country prowess was also evident with the individual performance of Cody H who claimed second place and the Silver Medal at the AA Eastern Championships competing against boys a year older than himself from seven counties across the region. An amazing achievement! It was also wonderful to hear that Ronnie L had performed with such skill and bravery in his debut for Southwold RFC 2nd XV (playing against those much older than him) that he was awarded man of the match.
Meanwhile, the 1st Netball team played a competitive match against Tunstall Netball Club on Monday evening and narrowly lost 35-31. The girls showed real class and determination from the start and quickly got an early lead in the first quarter. Freya J and Isla W led the attack well and were supported well by Lucia F-K who worked tirelessly to receive the ball high up the court to feed each of our attacks. Holly R-W, Lilly R-W and Matilda W defended well against a very strong Tunstall attack to keep the scores close going into the last quarter. The girls pushed hard to the very end and displayed excellent teamwork and cohesion throughout. The girl of the game, as chosen by the opposition, was Skye S who covered lots of ground in the centre of the court! The girls should be extremely proud of their efforts, and this is a good benchmark to set heading into the fixtures to come. Well done all.
In Football, our 1st XI had a significant win over Woodbridge School, a victory for perseverance after two league defeats. The game was won in the first half with Axel K scoring twice in as many minutes. Jan C-C made it 3-0 before half time with Evan A nearly making it four after a 30-yard shot crashed against the cross bar. Oscar C and captain Billy J were rocks in the centre of defence helping keep a first half clean sheet. In the second half Marcus B made it 4-0 and whilst Woodbridge scored a couple of late consolation goals, Saint Felix had the game in the bag by then. Kuziwa Z, Evan A and Axel K were the men of the match in a great team performance. The deafening singing on the way back showed how much the result meant to the boys! The U13 boys also played Woodbridge last week and performed well, only narrowly losing the game by one goal. The boys played with real desire and should be extremely proud of their efforts. Herbie S-C scored a great goal after beating two defenders to drive the ball into the top corner of the net. They pushed Woodbridge right to the end of the game but couldn’t find the equaliser to draw the match. The final score was 2-1 to Woodbridge but it was certainly a performance to be proud of and one to build on. Well done to everyone that represented the school.
In our final introduction to the new faculties, we are delighted that Mr Ben Willaims has joined us as Head of Humanities and Social Sciences. He has taught in a wide range of educational settings across Essex over the last eleven years and is deeply passionate about Geography being one of the most important subjects for young people to study, with many of the world’s most pressing issues being covered in the discipline. He has a particular interest in geopolitics and enjoys exploring the ways in which the geography of the world influences political decisions and current affairs (topics which are explored in detail in the new A Level Geography specification). He is working across the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty to explore ways to integrate the curriculum across departments, work which is already underway with the designing of departmental and faculty-based curriculum maps. He is also deeply passionate about Teaching & Learning and developing this across the school to enhance the quality of education offered at Saint Felix. He is a strong believer in the holistic education of young people and look forward to offering students a range of trips as well as embracing the rich co-curricular life of the school. One such example in this faculty was seen last week when our Year 13 Economics students visited the Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, for a conference. Presenters included Tim Harford author of “The Undercover Economist” and Dr Swati Dhingra, “Member of Monetary Policy Committee”. They focused on forecasting for the future, economics is for everyone and government tax and spending. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting conference for all the students and showed the importance of the subject in a different light and context.
One new addition to the newsletter that you will notice is the important dates ahead at the end each week (please see below); I hope that you will find this useful and informative!
Have a lovely weekend!
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Oakman
Head
