Heritage Alumnus Competes in University Challenge

Heritage alumnus Harry Alderson was part of the winning team from the University of St Andrews during its recent competition against Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on the BBC2 quiz programme University Challenge. Harry, who attended Heritage from Year 4 and was in the first class of Leavers in 2016, is currently studying Physics at St Andrews. His team claimed a close victory during the exciting match, with a final score of 140 to Emmanuel College’s 135. Well done to Harry and the St Andrews team; we wish them the best in the next round!

You can watch the episode here:

2021 Exam Results

A message from Headmaster Jason Fletcher: ‘Congratulations to our Year 11 pupils on their outstanding IGCSE results received today. We are very proud of all of them for what they have achieved throughout their exam courses, especially given the severe disruption of the past two years. They have worked very hard and have demonstrated impressive resilience throughout. Our teachers, too, deserve praise for maintaining highly effective teaching amidst the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic. The strong results our pupils received today are thoroughly deserved and we wish them all the best as they get started on their A Level courses next month.’
 
A summary of our 2021 results can be found at www.heritageschool.org.uk/information-for-parents/exam-results.

Taking to the Stage Again

This half-term was full of drama. Drama performances, that is! During the final two weeks, classes performed their chosen  play before a small group of socially distanced family bubbles in Panton Hall on separate evenings. Each pupil played a part in the performance, with some of the  major characters changing between scenes in order to give everyone the opportunity to exercise their acting chops.

Year 7’s  performance of Shakespeare’s famous love story Romeo and Juliet was an abridged version that the pupils had whittled down to a mere 45 minutes in rehearsals (or 30 minutes for the live performance, when the adrenaline kicked in!) They  did a fantastic job of ‘dissecting it and giving us the quintessence’ of  the play, as Mr Burden noted afterward. Mrs Dingley, who worked with the class on their preparations, commended them not just for the performance itself, but also for embracing ownership of elements like the lighting and set as well.

During that same week, Year 8 delivered a thought-provoking performance of An Inspector Calls, written by JB Priestley and set in 1912, a mere two years prior to the start of WWI. The theme of the play was summed up in the chilling lines delivered by the titular Inspector: ‘We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.’ Mrs Dingley noted that, although this was a ‘challenging text, normally done at GCSE,’ the children understood it and were able to carry the story well.

Mrs Parkinson directed Year 6 pupils in an excellent performance of Macbeth the following week. The pupils opened the play with reminders to the audience cleverly delivered in Shakespearean language: (‘Stay in your bubble bubble or there will be toil and trouble.’) The abbreviated adaptation of the play was expedited by the use of a series of narrators who explained certain plot points to the audience, while the pivotal scenes were performed splendidly by the actors playing the part of each main character.

Restrictions on live musical performances compelled Year 5 to pre-record their musical, Greece Goes to Pieces, which was then shared with their families to watch at home. The story is set in Athens around 400 BC, telling the story of a pot maker named Peta who introduces us to famous Athenian scholars like Socrates, Plato, Hippocrates and Aristophanes. The lively tunes, sung beautifully by the children, contain tongue twisting lyrics like ‘Peta Potter picked the perfect spot upon the top of the Acropolis’ and ‘It’s the Pelo, Pelo, Pelo, Pelo, Peloponnesian war again.’

Sports Days

We are pleased that we were able to hold our Sports Days at the Leys’ outdoor sports facilities this year. Although this annual event had not yet returned to normal (Infants, Juniors, and Seniors competed on separate days, and the customary whole-school picnic was notably absent), parents were happily able to spectate this year, within their class bubbles. Older pupils provided support and helped to record the results for each event — Year 6 with Infants, Year 9 supporting Juniors, and Year 11s for Seniors — allowing an opportunity for interaction between age groups that everyone has been missing this past year.

Infant events included running, relay races, bouncing, jumping and throwing. Juniors competed in races of different length, as well as athletic events like the shot put and long jump. Seniors participated in running races, shot put, javelin, high jump, long jump, discus and javelin. Pupils were divided into teams competing for the top spot in each event, but despite the spirit of competition, good fun and festivity prevailed.

The final results are below. Mrs Eastwood writes, ‘Congratulations Red Team, but well done to everybody for amazing effort across all three sports days!’

Red Team Blue Team Green Team Yellow Team
Infants 624.4
Second		 624.6
First		 599.7
Third		 597.7
Fourth
Juniors 243
First		 183
Third		 181
Fourth		 195
Second
Seniors 220
Third		 230
Second		 241
First		 194
Fourth
Total 1087.4
First		 1037.6
Second		 1021.7
Third		 986.7
Fourth

Back to Camp

We think it is so important for pupils to get outdoors and engage with the real world  that each year our school fees include a school camp for  every pupil from Year 4 and up. Although we had to put these experiences on hold over the past several months,  this term we were able to offer a Senior Camp thanks to the extraordinary efforts and enthusiasm of our staff and parents.

During the last week of term, Seniors went to Patteson Lodge Centre in Coltishall near Wroxham in Norfolk, where they spent their days on a series of hikes, canoeing, raft building, bridge building, climbing and abseiling. Years 9, 10 and 11 had the opportunity to complete a DofE Expedition.

These experiences encourage pupils to be confident campers and to enjoy the outdoors. But just as importantly, relationships are strengthened by spending time with one another and undertaking challenges together in a new setting. Pupils are able to stretch themselves personally and have the opportunity to exercise leadership. This type of risk taking helps young people develop confidence that carries over into other areas of life as well.

Thanks to the staff and parents who made it all happen; Mr Appleyard,  Mr Atkinson, Mr Bell, Mr Burden, Mr Hulett, Mrs Lowe, Dr Martin, Mrs Pluke, Mrs Scarlata, and Mrs Strachan. Special thanks to Mrs Wren and her catering team – Dr Hadeler, Mrs van Wyk and Miss Bell – for feeding everyone. And of course, for the tireless efforts of Mr Fletcher from start to finish.