Troy: Myth and Reality

Year 7 and Year 8 pupils spent a wonderful day at the British Museum exploring their major Autumn exhibition: Troy, Myth and Reality. The galleries are full of stunning art, artefacts and sculpture which tell the story and reflect changing responses to the great Trojan War through the ages.  Having examined The Origins of the War pupils were amazed by the replica of the wooden horse that led to The Capture of Troy . The reconstruction of Heinrich Schliemann’s trench then beckoned the group on to  The Excavation of Troy  before the final gallery containing many pieces of modern art sparked a lively discussion about what really constitutes art at all!

Year 7 then went on to look at the Parthenon sculptures while Year 8 looked at the ‘Top Ten items to see at the Museum’ and voted on the Aztec Double Headed Serpent as their favourite.

INSPIRE 2020

Heritage is thrilled to have had work chosen for this exciting exhibition showing in The Octagon Gallery of The Fitzwilliam Museum, from 10 December 2019 – 22 March 2020. The museum invited local schools across Cambridgeshire to respond creatively to one painting, Cupid and Psyche by Jacopo del Sellaio.  Led by Mrs Robertson, Heritage pupils from Year 4 – Year 7 have been inspired by the costumes, the textures, the colours and the figures in the painting to create an amazing array of artwork including miniature pieces of Renaissance furniture to fill a 3D Renaissance bedroom.  Using recycled materials, pupils have been making beautiful chairs, beds, wedding chests filled with tiny clay pots, miniature portraits and paintings for the walls depicting details from Sellaio’s original painting. (The Heritage bedrooms on display will contain work from across the classes.)  We hope that you will be able to visit the exhibition to see the imaginative and collective response of so many children to this wonderful painting.

Environment Awareness Day

Infant and Junior pupils took part in an Environment Awareness Day. The purpose of the day was for the children to have a chance to think about the wonderful world we live in and how we can all be part of a mission to take care of it. School Council decided that for one day only, pupils could come to school dressed in recycled materials or as something in our environment that we need to think about taking care of.
The children came in many different kinds of costumes including endangered species, jewellery made out of recycled materials, the ocean and many more. We were able to enjoy looking at the tremendous effort everyone put into the day as we gathered for an assembly together. The School Council announced that funds raised would be used for purchasing owl boxes for The Cam Conservancy to put up around our local area.  Many of their old boxes have been damaged in the recent weather so the new boxes will provide a safe and warm place for owls such as Barn Owls to nest and hunt from in the winter months.
We are very excited to be able to contribute to our local environment in this way and to continue as a school to think about how we can be faithful stewards of this earth. (Miss Owens)

Much Ado!

As the strains of Widor’s Toccata thundered through Panton Hall, Year 8 embarked on the performance of their lives. Taking on Shakespeare’s classic comedy, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ was a demanding challenge, with some characters having to learn pages of 400-year-old English wit.

Who can forget the horror of the wedding scene, where Claudio (Ben K) callously cast aside his would-be bride, Hero (Livia L-H) in utter humiliation, or the witty banter between Benedick (Edmund R) and Beatrice (Emma L).  The Watch, led by the inimitable Dogberry (Lissy S) and Verges (Taylor T) had everyone in stitches with their nonsensical speeches and horse-play.

Many thanks to the audience, who understood the jokes and laughed in all the right places. Every single member of the class excelled themselves, each playing their part with aplomb, and contributing to an enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

An Evening of Greek Tragedy

The Cambridge Greek Play 2019

Pupils of Latin and Greek from Year 9 to Year 11 went recently to see the Cambridge Greek Play at the Arts Theatre.

Every three years since 1882, Cambridge University students, now with professional direction and staging, put on a production of a play in Ancient Greek. This year it was the tragedy Oedipus at Colonus, the story of the final moments of Oedipus’ life. Self-exiled from Thebes and self-blinded after discovering he had killed his father and married his mother, Oedipus arrives at a sacred grove near Colonus, a city not far from Athens with his daughter and guide Antigone. When Theseus, king of Athens arrives, Oedipus promises Athens great blessing if he is allowed, stay, die and be buried there. 

Meanwhile Ismene, his other daughter, arrives with the news that the king of Thebes, Creon, and Eteocles, one of his sons, want Oedipus to return there so that they might secure his blessing. Creon shortly arrives, threatens war, and holds the daughters of Oedipus hostage. However Theseus, drives Creon off and rescues Antigone and Ismene. Polynices, Oedipus’ other son, arrives and asks for his father’s blessing in his war to regain the Theban throne from his brother and Creon. Instead Oedipus curses Polynices and prophesies that he and his brother Polynices will die at one another’s hand.

Suddenly Oedipus hears thunder and declares that his death is at hand. This was signalled in this production by the increasing flashing of the oversize operating lamp that hung above the stage and a massive increase in sound effect volume. Oedipus withdraws and only Theseus witnesses his death and miraculous translation. Antigone and Ismene return to Thebes hoping to avert war and civil strife. 

This production married authentic pronunciation of the ancient Greek text with a modern, even futuristic set design which set the play in a hospital with Oedipus based in or around the hospital bed for the entire play. The chorus were situated all around the bed at microphones and sang the ancient poetry to powerful modern music as well as beat-boxing many of the sound effects.

We were also  fortunate to attend the pre-show lecture by Professor Simon Goldhill which usefully set the play in its context  and explored fascinating ideas such as the hero as outsider which both unlocked key texts in the play but made links to its political impact then (for Greek tragedy emerged alongside Greek democracy) and had resonances with narratives to do with the outsider in modern politics! 

JJW Burden