Footloose Wows Packed Audiences!
It was a joy and a pleasure to see the most inspiring, joyful, and refined performance of Footloose last night. I cannot remember an evening in a school theatre that has gone as quickly as last night did; that was down to the sheer pace, skill and talent of all involved whether the cast, the band, the director, producer, choreographer, and backstage team. It was a herculean team effort, and I am in awe of what they have achieved given the time constraints and pressures. I laughed, smiled, had a tear, and sat on the front of my seat as the beautiful music captured all of us in the moment.
It was wonderful to be able to see it sat with one of our most long-serving and loved governors, Lin Le Versha. Lin for those that do not know her, was a senior leader in schools across London and Surrey and is now a highly successful crime writer whilst also directing the Southwold Arts Festival. Lin sent me an email this morning which sums up everything about this brilliant performance. Within minutes the production moved up from a school play to the polished performances typical of the Edinburgh Festival. All of the actors gave 100% concentration, commitment, and energy. In so many school productions, the actors are costumed parrots, but your students owned their roles and, more importantly, loved telling us the story. It was a brilliant show! Please convey my congratulations to the cast, the directors, choreographer, the musicians and all those involved in FOH or working backstage. Every element was excellent and contributed to an outstanding evening. I hope that the members of staff and students who created this joyful show will have a good rest over half term- they certainly deserve it after all they have achieved this week. I would like to add my own personal thanks for all students and staff who were involved but also to the parents for your unstinting support bringing them in for extra rehearsals and encouraging them in their Performing Arts development; it means a lot to them and us, and what an uplifting way to end the first half of term.
The annual Saint Felix Spelling Bee was held in a packed Gardiner Hall on Thursday morning and as always, it was a thrilling and hard-fought encounter that brought out the very best in our young spellers, who grappled with a range of difficult words. Their performances suggested that if spelling is an art, it is one in which analytical skills are to the fore. When the dust had settled three winners emerged. In Key Stage 3 (Years 7 and 8) Charlie M fought off a brilliant recovery from Hettie S. In Key Stage 4, Imogen T pipped John P, whilst in the expanded Key Stage 5 section Grace R needed a 100% score to fend off Freya J. At a time when the value of spelling is decried, this was a most heart-warming event. Our thanks go to Mr Lynch, Mr Perry and Miss Sheard for organising and hosting such a magnificent competition.
It is so heartening to receive letters from the local community where we have looked to engage with them on service projects as part of the new curriculum. This was the case earlier this week when Mrs Meldrum (Assistant Head – Boarding, Community and EDI) showed me some correspondence that had come in from the Old Hospital in Southwold where our Year 10 students have been involved in a number of different initiatives and ideas. Rather than trying to paraphrase what they said, I will let the words themselves do the talking.
For this year’s group, I just wanted to say how fantastic they have been and how much we appreciate their efforts. It’s not always easy to see the immediate impact of volunteering work, but I’d like them all to know it is really significant. The Allotment Team has transformed the space, creating three incredible growing plots—far beyond what we could have achieved alone. This expanded growing area will allow us to host multiple workshops for young growers, teaching local children how to garden. The produce will directly support our Sunday Community Lunch and Family Tea Club, providing over 100 meals for those in need. The Tea Club Planners have designed weeks of fantastic activities that our children eagerly look forward to. The club continues to grow each week, undoubtedly thanks to these new additions, which wouldn’t have been possible without their creativity. The Art Team has crafted a beautiful tribute plaque honouring over 180 former staff members, which will be a really meaningful piece for their families and friends. They’ve also made remarkable progress on a timeline art piece showcasing our hub’s history dating back to the 1890s. Their work will be treasured by us and our community, and they should feel incredibly proud of their contributions. The students will always be welcome at The Old Hospital, and we hope they’ll visit us in the future to see the incredible impact of their work firsthand.
As service becomes even further embedded into the curriculum, there will be many more opportunities both locally and onsite to engage with meaningful projects that will help our students to develop their life skills whilst potentially finding areas of passion and interest that could provide a career route or passion for life.
In sporting news, Cody H won the ISA (Independent Schools Association) Regional Event and qualifies for the Nationals next month, as does Megan C who finished 8th with the top ten from each region qualifying. Grace R (11th) and Bear C (16th) both narrowly missed out on qualification but competed with great credit. Meanwhile our Under 8-11 cross-country students went to Norwich Lower School for a competition where Aurora D won Gold in the Under 8 race and Charlie H won the Bronze medal in the Under 10 event with a special mention to Beatrice S who came 4th in her Under 9 section. Our Prep students have now gone on to compete in their ISA Regional Event today and we hope that they have run well; more details after half term! Our Under 17s Football team made the long journey to Gresham’s School where they put up a valiant effort narrowly losing 1-0 in a closely fought contest. Bearing in mind that Gresham’s is well over twice the size of Saint Felix, this really was an outstanding performance. On the academic side of sport, in order to see the professional world in operation as part of their A Level course, our Sixth Form PE students had a fascinating visit to Norwich City FC this week where they were able to have a tour of the first team facilities, observe a training session and conduct a Q and A with the medical staff; what an amazing learning opportunity for them and I know they found it inspirational as they begin to consider university courses or the working world. Thank you to Mr Borrer and Dean Rastrick (ex-Tottenham which I am sad to currently say is my team!) for organising.
Please can I remind you all to fill in the parental survey as it will gives us some incredibly useful information as we reflect on the various areas of school life and begin to plan for September and the start of the new academic year already! I have just attended my last official event of this first half of term, the Prep Department Valentine Disco – what a fun way for them to end a fruitful six weeks with Miss Wong spinning the tunes and Miss Barker-Harrison martialling the limbo competition. A lovely reminder as we go into the half-term break that education is about more than what just happens in the classroom and that fun is an essential ingredient!
I hope that you all have an enjoyable half-term break.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew Oakman
Head
