Alumni News: Fencing Silver for William

Earlier this year William Lauga, a 2021 Heritage Leaver, was selected to compete in the Cadet (under-17)  squads for the Commonwealth Fencing Championships 2022, which was held in London this past August. William, who currently trains with the London-based Newham Swords Fencing Club and previously with local club Cambridge Sword, took silver for England in the Cadet Junior Men’s Foil Team and 11th in the under-17 individual competition during the event. William, who began fencing at age 8, says ‘I have always been a fan of individual sports since its only up to you to win (and lose), but the main reason I like fencing is for the competitive side.  By nature I am very competitive so I love regularly being able to compete nationally and internationally.’

Featured Image: Heritage Alumnae Laura Burton earned a bronze for Great Britain at the World Rowing U19 Championships in Italy.

Alumni News: Laura Wins the Bronze in Rowing

This past summer, Heritage Alumnae Laura Burton earned a bronze for Great Britain at the World Rowing U19 Championships in Italy. During the women’s quadruple sculls final, she and her crew finished in an impressive 6 minutes 33.54 seconds, closely following behind first place Romania and second place Germany. This most recent victory for Laura comes after a busy 2021, during which she won in the girls’ singles sculls title at the National Schools Regatta in May and was selected for the British Rowing U19 squad winter training camp in December. Laura, a 2020 Heritage Leaver, attended sixth form at The Perse and is currently spending her gap year with the Leander Club’s prestigious rowing  programme in Henley.

Supporting Charities through Non Uniform Days

During this morning’s assembly, Junior Council members spoke to their fellow Infants and Juniors about UK charity BBC Children in Need. Noting that over 3.9 million children and young people across the UK are in poverty, the pupils described how Children in Need is helping to address this issue in a variety of ways; among them, by donating money to food banks and community kitchens, and providing essential items to families in difficult circumstances. In Cambridgeshire, Children in Need helps to fund counselling services to young people, support work around trauma, stress and social justice, practical and emotional support for very young children with difficult family lives, and bereavement support for young people. Tomorrow, Infants and Juniors are encouraged to participate in a non-uniform day in which the minimum donation of £1 per pupil will go towards this worthy cause. Children can wear their own clothes, with an optional ‘animal’ theme if they wish. Seniors will also be having their own non-uniform day on Tuesday, in support of Save the Children’s campaign to feed children suffering hunger in East Africa. Seniors should bring in £2 or more in cash to hand in during registration at the start of the day.

A Musical Start to the Week

This Monday, Infants and Juniors enjoyed some excellent musical performances by their classmates during the end of term Recital Assembly. Fourteen pupils played and sang the pieces they have been practicing on strings, woodwinds, voice and piano. The young musicians who participated represent just a fraction of the many at Heritage who are learning to play a musical instrument, either with our peripatetic music teachers or with outside lessons. 

As Mr Fletcher noted during the assembly, reading books and learning to play a musical instrument are two of the most valuable things that children can do from a young age. In fact, as outlined in this article from Tes magazine, ‘According to a growing body of scientific evidence, learning to play music, or learning to sing, is uniquely beneficial to students’ academic lives. Not only does it improve academic performance, but music learning also changes the brain and makes learning easier.’ Well done to all of the pupils who took part in the assembly, and to those who are taking the time to study and learn music. Keep up the good work!

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A Morning of Aesop’s Fables

During Monday’s assembly, Upper Prep shared what they have been learning this term.

The pupils first showed off some of their History and Art knowledge, with artwork showing a scene from the War of the Roses as well as rainbows they’d painted by mixing the three primary colours; red, blue, and yellow. The class recited the acrostic ‘Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain’, helping them to remember not only the colours of the rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) but also the unfortunate nobleman who  was defeated in the famous war. 

The children also showed off the poppies they wore on their shirts, commemorating Remembrance Day on the 11th of November and Remembrance Sunday on the 13th, to honor those fighting in the wars both now and in the past. Mrs Carter explained that the poppies represent the flowers grown on the battlefields after the First World War.

In Literature, the children have been reading Aesop’s Fables and learning about the famous storyteller Aesop, whose life remains a bit of a mystery but who is believed to be a slave living in Greece over 2,000 years ago. He was given freedom because of his great literacy and storytelling skills. Aesop knew bad behaviour when he saw it and wanted people to behave better. At the end of the fable, Aesop often included a lesson, called the moral of the story. Upper Prep pupils did a wonderful job acting out the following fables, with some very helpful morals!

  • The hare and the tortoise: Slow and steady wins the race
  • The lion and the mouse: You can help even if you are small
  • The wind and the sun: Don’t be boastful
  • The ant and the grasshopper: Don’t be lazy, do your chores on time
  • The boy who cried wolf: Don’t tell lies

Well done to the pupils for working so hard to learn lots of interesting things, and for so ably sharing some of it with their fellow Infants and Juniors. 

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