C.U. at Heritage

Between 30-40 children come to the Junior Christian Union in The Hall every Wednesday and whilst eating lunch, we play a game – with a tenuous link to a Bible story or thought about God! This term, we are working our way through The Gospel Story, by watching a short section of the stop motion animation ‘The Miracle Maker’. Juniors are also invited to suggest ideas or themes that they might like to explore each term and everyone is very welcome! [Mr Catley]

The Senior Christian Union also meets weekly on a Friday lunchtime in The Hall. Last term we explored the topics of destiny, beauty and friendship using the resource ‘Table Talk’. We also looked at Mark 1: Good News and Ephesians 2: God’s Masterpiece. We were delighted to have two visits from Pete Alston of Lymington Rushmore holidays who led a study on ‘Identity’ and then came back later in the term to tell us all about Lymington Rushmore camps.

Numbers range from 10-40 (with popularity of a C.U. session being increased dramatically when food is on offer). We aim to create an atmosphere where all are welcome, doubts and questions can be raised and the truths learned can be practically applied to our lives.

This term we are looking at the Youth Christianity Explored course, using the SOUL DVD series, with breaks in the course for some outside speakers. With Year 11 particularly in mind – in this their final full term, our hope is that the SOUL course will help pupils to understand for themselves, the gospel that has inspired so much of what they have been part of at Heritage. [Mrs Pluke]

Birdwatching with Lower Prep!

The Lower Prep children recently enjoyed a story about the migration of birds. This led them to thinking about how the birds, who stay here in our gardens and near our school, manage to find food in the winter. They got to work making bird feeders, using fir cones and filling them with a mixture of fat and seeds that a variety of birds would like to eat. On their Nature Walk last week, the children carried their bird feeders carefully to an area where they have observed different birds on previous Nature Walks. By watching and listening, the children were able to identify the bushes and trees where there were birds, and then carefully hang up their bird feeders there.

Year 10 Geography Field Trip to Eddington

Year 10 Geography pupils spent a chilly, but very interesting day in Eddington, attempting to gather enough primary data to answer the following research question;
“What impact has Eddington had on the surrounding environment?”. Pupils used a number of methods to gather their information. These included mapping the area, conducting traffic and pedestrian counts, questioning over 60 people to gather their opinions on Eddington, taking photos to compare with historical data of previous land use, and having an hour’s tour of the area. Pupils are now busy analysing and interpreting the data with the use of graphs, secondary data and GIS etc. On the whole, we found that Eddington is a very innovative and environmentally friendly development; however most of the pupils felt that the designs could have been more aesthetically pleasing!

A Wonderful Nativity and Christmas Concert

Term ended with a beautiful Nativity from the Infants, accompanied by narrations from a small group of Seniors and the rest of the school singing a wonderful selection of carols.  Thank you to parents for all the costumes,  to pupils for all their rehearsing and to the staff who worked so hard to bring it altogether.

Mrs Zurcher says ‘Well done to all those involved in the Christmas Concert.  Pupils sang brilliantly, performing with energy and making a fantastic sound. We look forward to hearing more enthusiastic singing in the new term!’

Photographs from the rehearsal and the evening are now available for parents via GALLERIES on the Parent Portal.

Ashurbanipal at The British Museum

In early December, Years 7 & 8 celebrated the end of their exams with an all-day enrichment trip to London. We took in two special exhibitions, one at The British Library and the other at The British Museum. In the morning we visited the British Museum’s I am Ashurbanipal exhibition, which illustrates with a truly stunning range of exhibits the passions and world of this mid-7th century BC leader who claimed to be not only king of Assyria but of the whole world.

Ashurbanipal prided himself not only on being a fearsome hunter but also a scholar, an accomplishment he showed off on his friezes by having himself portrayed with a stilus tucked into his belt as he killed his lions! Indeed Ashurbanipal was one of the only kings at the time who could read and write and he was very proud that he had mastered the fiendishly difficult cuneiform script. They even had in the exhibition a rather crudely formed letter he had written to his father as a thirteen-year-old! A floor-to-ceiling case of cuneiform clay tablets referenced the fact that at Nineveh Ashurbanipal gathered a library of over 10,000 clay tablets, covering magic, epic, medicine, history and much more. In addition the exhibition contains some stunningly intricate ivories and other treasures from Phoenicia which the Assyrians had acquired through their empire that stretched from Egypt to Iran.

A highlight was the tremendous frieze of the Battle of Til-Tuba (653BC) which in symphonic manner shows both the great sweep of this pitched battle whilst at the same time picking out the individual story of the Elamite king Teumann and his son Tamaritu. The Assyrians rush down a hill and engage in infantry and cavalry action which culminates in their Elamite enemies being driven into the swirling waters of the River Ulai. In the midst of these chaotic scenes we see the ill-fated Teumann’s chariot wrecked, his son defending him in vain before they are both brutally decapitated. On a later frieze we see Ashurbanipal and his wife enjoying a banquet in a beautiful garden with Teumann’s head hanging off a near by tree like a Christmas decoration!

The last part of the exhibition deals with a double destruction of Assyrian culture, first at the hands of the Babylonians and Medes (Nineveh fell in 612 BC) and more recently at the hands of Daesh in cities such as Nimrud (Mosul), as well as the efforts of the British Museum together with Iraqi partners to preserve what is left of this remarkable civilisation.

We finished our morning with a brief tour of the Parthenon sculptures, drawing links with what students had studied in Year 7 history of the Persian Wars and Athenian Democracy, and reflecting that the Athenians, at least in their portrayal of their power, appeared more humane than the Assyrians.

In the afternoon we were privileged to have British Library staff lead us around the wonderful Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War exhibitions. To quote their own website:

Treasures from the British Library’s own collection, including the beautifully illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels, Beowulf and Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, sit alongside stunning finds from Sutton Hoo and the Staffordshire Hoard. The world-famous Domesday Book offers its unrivalled depiction of the landscape of late Anglo-Saxon England while Codex Amiatinus, a giant Northumbrian Bible taken to Italy in 716, returns to England for the first time in 1300 years.

This was a truly stunning exhibition with a veritable argosy of priceless manuscripts and objects of breath-taking beauty. The exhibition both gives helpful historical context for the exhibits whilst at the same time allowing the objects themselves to brilliantly illumine a period traditionally thought of as Dark Ages. Alongside the history is the equally fascinating development language from the mysterious runic script, the crystal clear Latin scripts of the Anglo-Saxon bibles and the first documents written in English.

This was a deeply enriching day for both pupils and staff.  Both exhibitions remain on through the Christmas period and beyond. I have already booked to go back to see more. I heartily recommend you book to go as a family and let your son or daughter show you round!

Jonathan Burden  (Teacher of Latin & Greek, Head of Seniors)