LSF.WEEK19 June 2020

Since we closed the School in March, we have delivered a consistently high quality online learning programme along with comprehensive provision for all our key workers, which involved Fairfield staff working over the Easter holidays, Bank Holidays and the half term break.

Andrew EarnshawHeadmaster

ThanksInterestingly, last week in the House of Commons, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “While we are not able to welcome all primary children back for a full month before the summer, we continue to work with the sector on the next steps, where we would like schools that have the capacity to bring back more children - in those smaller class sizes - to do so if they are able to before the summer holidays.”

Welcoming back everyoneIt therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that Fairfield Prep School will be only one of a few schools in the United Kingdom to welcome back children across every single primary age group, including our popular Kindergarten Unit from Monday 22 June.

Pupil PodsAs a school, Fairfield is in the fortunate position of being able to extend the ‘Pupil Pod’ system across the expansive school’s campus. Children currently attending the Key Worker Provision (KWP) based at Fairfield will be integrated into new pupil pods, along with other members of their year group re-joining the school at their allocated times, which will be staggered throughout the day.

Those pods in Kindergarten, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 that have already been successfully established since 1 June, will remain unchanged.

My staff have been working incredibly hard to ensure that our school environment is ready to welcome both the children’s and their parents’ return on Monday and we will do everything in our power to look after our pupils, educate them and keep them safe. It has been our guiding principle that every child deserves to have an uninterrupted education, we have worked tirelessly to provide this before, and during Covid and we hope that the children will be able to have a memorable end to what has been the most extraordinary of years!

June 1 saw the return of children in Kindergarten, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 by launching the highly successful ‘Pupil Pod’ System, where children were put into groups of no more than 15 children, to recommence their educational journey back at Fairfield.

Successful returnIn my many conversations with parents and staff since the 1 June, I know that many people initially experienced a whole gamut of emotions, ranging from relief to anxiety regarding sending their child/ren back to school.

We are all relieved that, after so many weeks at home, those children have made a wonderfully successful return to school and are enjoying life with their friends and teachers.

SupportHowever, the success of our partial reopening has clearly demonstrated the way in which we, as a staff, can fully support the mental and physical health of children who had missed the broader benefits that being at a school like Fairfield brings.

Julian MurphyHeadmaster

3d riversYear 5 have been studying rivers and were given the challenge to create a 3d model of a river showing its journey from the source to the mouth and explaining the water cycle.

They labelled each part and either wrote down or created a video to explain what was happening.

The resulting models ranged from plasticine and Lego through to computer aided design.

Here are examples form Amelia and Alex:

Science at homeMeanwhile, Year 7 have been doing some simple Science experiments at home. Last week they used red cabbage to make an indicator to test acids and alkalis around the house. Here are some pictures of Niamh’s experiment in its various stages:

HE and Careers workshopsYear 12 continue to enjoy various Higher Education and Careers workshops during lockdown.

Last Wednesday all Year 12 had a 90 minute zoom session with Millie Elliott, former Head Girl, who has just graduated from St Andrews with an English degree. Millie discussed with Year 12 the pros and cons of University life, GAP years, student finance and accommodation.

Also, last Thursday Amherst medics were able to talk to Doctor Christina O’Dowd who only this week has graduated as a Doctor from Liverpool University.

LAS is very grateful to all our recent alumni who have given up their valuable time to speak to students in person.

Huge thanks to Holly Newing, Frances Devine, Alice Baker, Millie Elliott and Christina O’Dowd.

Finally, I would like to say thanks to all staff, pupils and parents who took part in our special on-site catch-up day with Year 10 on 17 June. It was an incredibly useful day which allowed pupils and parents to touch base with us and discuss progress and concerns, but has also left us with much valuable feedback to inform our planning for September and beyond.

Young Enterprise team triumph You may recall that a couple of months ago our Young Enterprise team triumphed in the district finals of this year’s competition.

Last week the prizes from the East Midlands area final were announced, with Oly winning the prizes for ‘True Grit’ and ‘Teamwork.’

The team have proved themselves a perfect example of Minerva values in action.

Well done to all our Young Enterprise students and to Mrs Demitriou for guiding them to such great success this year.

Opening our doorsWe are really looking forward to opening our doors for the rest of the Prep School years (Years 2-5) on Monday.

It will be wonderful to see everyone again and great for the children to have a few weeks back in school before the summer holidays.

Animation ChallengeLast Friday we announced the winner of our House Animation Challenge, which was to create a stop motion animation based on the theme of Lockdown.

We had some fantastic entries and we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who submitted an animation.

After much deliberation, first prize was awarded to Niamh. Highly commended awards went to Katie and Naiya.

(Not) spreading like wildfire Brendan in Year 10 has appeared on a BBC World Service series called “People Fixing the World”, describing his computer program that predicts wildfires based on historic and socio-economic data, and up-to-date meteorological information.

This follows his success alongside two High School students as 2019 Young Engineers of the Year for their Music Splash project.

Act of Kindness Well done to all the Year 7 boys who appeared alongside Mr Parton on East Midlands Today’s coverage of the Coronakindness 525 initiative.

Your efforts in surpassing your target of 525 acts of kindness in your communities are hugely appreciated.

Duncan ByrneHeadmaster

Lockdown research It has been wonderful to hear about how many LGS boys have used the extra spare time they have on their hands to engage in detailed research into their intellectual passions. Sixth Formers have created a superb History magazine and younger boys have been just as creative: Mustafa in Year 8 has started an Aviation Blog and a group of Year 7 boys have produced several editions of a magazine on railways (model and real). The LGS Isolation handbook has been popular throughout the last 3 months with considerable interest from boys in language learning via the Duolingo App. Finnish, Japanese, Russian, Welsh and Swahili have all featured. STEM success

LGS has had great success in the TeenTech competition over several years, and we’re delighted to announce that 3 teams have made it through to the finals.

Brendan (Y10) has already been mentioned for Project Wildfire (Data Science category), but congratulations are also due to Ashish (Y9) in the Digital Skills category and to Rory, Zak and Jaden (all Y9) who are finalists in the Transport category for Project Elexobelt.

Helpful Hands As part of his virtual Thomas Burton Award, George in Year 8, is leading the way with two great projects that he has completed in the Helpful Hands club. This club seeks to encourage boys to put their practical skills to good use in order to help others.

In his first project, George volunteered to help an elderly next door neighbour, whose existing frames for her raspberry plants had gone rotten. George cut the wood and made new frames complete with diagonal braces, which should last many growing seasons to come! For his next project, George has helped to support local wildlife by constructing a bird-box, and finishing it to a really professional standard.

Students wishing to emulate George’s design can follow his instructions on the Helpful Hands Firefly page, where they can also learn other skills, such as how to make a wildlife feeding table, how to re-wire a plug, and how to give old garden furniture a new lease of life.

Fiona MilesHead

Fancy Dress FridayYear 8 girls have thoroughly enjoyed Fancy Dress Friday’s. They have had a lot of fun creating designs and thinking resourcefully about their costumes.

It’s been a brilliant way to bring the form groups together…it is almost like we’re in school for Own Clothes Days once again! Please see photos from 8EKC and 8JAG.

Year 8 girls have also enjoyed a fantastic ‘Catchphrase’ inter form competition led by Mr Lewis! 8SZF were victorious with the efforts of Miss Calvert bringing 8EKC to a close second place. Thank you to Mr Lewis for organising such a brilliant event. His Gameshows club continues on a Friday lunchtime.

CodebreakersYear 7 and 8 have entered the world of secrecy, spies and subterfuge, and are working on a Code Breaking project during their Maths lessons.

For girls who enjoy this project there is an opportunity for them to take part in the British International School of Phuket’s Code Breaking Competition. Sadly, this doesn’t involve a trip to Thailand.

For current Year 7 girls there will be an opportunity to take part in the NCSC CyberFirst Girls’ Competition next winter/spring, and this project is the first stage in preparing them for that. It would be lovely to repeat the success we had in the competition this year when one of our Year 8 teams reached the Grand Final in Cardiff and have now been invited to 10 Downing Street.

Virtual lessonAll year 7 and 8 joined the TeenTech Virtal lesson on gaming and game design.

This was an international event with students joining from all over the world. They were set a challenge to think about a game they could create, the focus being on accessibility and inclusiveness. It hopefully inspired the girls to think about different careers in the gaming industry.

Anyone for tea?Maya in Year 7 has produced a dramatic interpretation of an afternoon tea research task. In an imaginative role play, she educated us on the dos and don’ts of afternoon tea etiquette.

Our Developers have been busy creating handprint crabs for their ‘Fun in the Sun’ display board. The children are also looking forward to making 3D coconuts and parrots too. We can’t wait to see how they turn out!

This week our Investigators and Pathfinders have been busy producing colourful paint splats for their new art display. Using a variety of sponges, the children had fun designing their amazing artwork to decorate their room.

Milking CowsWith all the restrictions in place at the moment our annual trip to the farm had to be postponed. So as not to disappoint the children in Pioneers, the staff decided to bring the farm here instead. Mrs Holford made their very own milking cow! What fun they had trying to milk it. The children researched how cows are milked by hand and machinery.

They also made their very own chicken coop and each morning the children have to look in and see how many eggs have been ‘laid’.

We have loved welcoming more of our children back to Nursery this week and we know they have really enjoyed seeing their friends again.

Carla BrindleyNursery Manager

IN THE NEWS...

EXECUTIVE UPDATELast week we invited you to contribute your thoughts and experiences to inform the work to be done in response to the recent concerns of racism reported both to the school and in the media.

It is really important that we take time to listen to, and hear from, as wide a group of stakeholders as we can and we would like to thank those of you who have already contacted us with thoughts and ideas to our dedicated email, diversityandinclusion@lsf.org.

Whilst it is not possible to respond individually to each email, we want to reassure you that we are listening and noting the feedback that we are receiving.

Every suggestion will inform our future action.

The Board of Governors will meet next week to consider the feedback received, and will be discussing and agreeing the next steps.

We will continue to share our thinking with you and after the Board meeting, we will ensure that you receive details of our plans and considerations for the way forward.

Duncan ByrneFiona MilesJulian MurphyAndrew EarnshawJim Doherty

Update and Music

SAXOPHONE PLAYERSLoughborough Schools Music presents the Saxophone Choir performing ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’.

This heart-warming digital performance can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQioNDYGBlQ

VIRTUAL EXAMDuring Natasha’s harp lesson last week, she sat her “virtual Grade 2 exam” and was graded with a distinction by Soraya Vermeulen. Congratulations to Natasha from all of us!

IN THE NEWS...

RAINBOW SOCKSFlorence who is in Year 6 at Fairfield and Freddie who is in Year 9 at the Grammar School have been helping their family to design and sell a limited-edition Rainbow sock range to raise funds for the NHS. Florence also drew the artwork for the packaging.

They organised a ‘driveway’ sale to sell the socks to their local community and have also been selling them to family, friends and neighbours. Their venture started on 8 June with a target of raising £20,000.

Florence and Freddie have been very busy promoting the charitable initiative and Florence was interviewed on BBC Radio Nottingham.

Their fundraising efforts currently stand at £18,000, which is a fantastic achievement!

The socks can be bought for £10 for a pack of 3 styles, at: www.orrsum.co.uk and all the money is donated to the NHS.

DRAMA SCHOOLKyla and Olly, are Drama Prefects, and also applicants for Drama School.

On Friday 12 June they gave current Year 12 students a masterclass in selecting the right course, choosing audition material and preparing for interview, auditions and workshops.

The Year 12s learnt a lot and were very grateful for all of the advice.

JURY DUTYCurrent Year 12 and incoming Year 11 students preparing for A Level took part in the online immersive theatre experience Jury Duty by Exit Productions.

All A Level students from Amherst, Grammar and High Schools study the developing genre of immersive theatre and this was an excellent introduction or consolation of their research so far.

Under the current lockdown situation, the premise is that remote juries are being seconded to administer justice, in this case following a fire and a death.

The two groups studied evidence, interviewed the defendant, intercepted messages from key players in the drama and searched the police database before reaching a verdict.

News in pictures

IN THE NEWS...

Loughborough Schools Foundation3 Burton WalksLoughborough LeicestershireLE11 2DU

Loughborough Schools Foundation is a Company Limited by Guarantee, number 4038033, and is registered in England and Wales. It is also a Registered Charity, number 1081765. The Registered Office is 3 Burton Walks, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 2DU

T: 01509 283700 www.lsf.org

@LboroSchFdt

News in pictures

WHAT A LEGEND!Pupils at Fairfield were set the task during Sports Week to write 10 questions for an interview with a sportsman or woman of their choosing.

Oscar in Year 4 chose his hero Jonny Wilkinson and emailed him with his questions. Much to his surprise, he received an audio message back from Jonny answering all of his questions, as well as a written transcript, a signed photo and an article with kicking tips! Oscar is thrilled and is spending every spare minute kicking the ball over his posts and practicing his tackling ready for when rugby training can start again.

ANYONE FOR TENNIS?Great to see that training has started again at Loughborough University for our LTA tennis players and we look forward to welcoming them back soon to Hahn House. #TeamLUNTA

JUNIOR BAKERSOne of the activities that the pupils in Year 5 at Amherst have really enjoyed during the lockdown period has been baking. They have therefore decided that they would write down the recipes they enjoy baking and create a Year 5 Lockdown Cookery book for the parents and pupils.

#KINDNESSMATTERSDuring lockdown, Rashmi at Amherst, has been supporting her neighbours who are shielding.

Meanwhile, Grace in Year 7 has been busy growing plants and baking for her family.

Pre heat oven to 180 C.In a bowl, Cream the

butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the flour and cocoa

and stir well.

Add the chocolate

drops here if you are

using them.

Ingredients

200g soft butter

200g plain flour

70g caster sugar

30g cocoa powder

2 cups cornflakes

50g chocolate drops

Chocolate buttons to

decorate