Forthcoming Events

Provisional GCSE Timetable Summer 2010

Click here to download a copy of our GCSE timetable for written exams (not orals or practicals)

'Great Westgarth Run' in aid of Motor Neurone Disease - Sunday 28th March at Friends' School

		This is to be a tribute to Sue Westgarth, a teacher in the Junior School who has inspired countless children of all abilities over the years, to run. Sue has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and we want to raise as much money as possible to try to find a cure for this cruel disease. Two runs and a stroll are being organised for the 28th. Entry forms will be available from Reception. Click here for further details of the event and ways in which you can support us. Click here for further ways to support those with MND.

	Barracudas will again be running Activity Day Camps for 4½ to 16 year olds, at Friends' School during the Easter and Summer holidays. Click on the logo to find out more.

		PTA Quiz Night 7.30pm Saturday 8th May at School £10 per person, includes supper. There will be a bar for alcoholic and soft drinks. Click on the image on the left to download a flyer/order form

Quiz tickets available from Junior or Senior School Receptions. Please take in the completed order form on the above flyer by Friday 30th April.

News

Eastern Region Maths Competition

On Wednesday 10th March the Year 10 team comprising Harry Blackmore, Callum Fleming, Josh Greenwood and Anson Wong respresented the school at the Eastern Region Maths Competition in Chelmsford.  They took part in team exercises, a relay race and countdown challenges against other schools.  The team finished a very respectable 7th out of 14 teams.

		'Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' March 2010 Click on the image on the left to see photos of the dress rehearsal

U13 Football v St Mary's Bishop's Stortford 2 March 2010 Click on the photo to see more

Job Opportunites for September 2010.

Physics teacher and Assistant Head (Curriculum). Click here for more information.

		UK Mathematics Trust Intermediate Challenge 4th February 2010 The following Pupils were awarded certificates in the recent UK Mathematics Trust Intermediate Challenge:

Gold: Callum Fleming, Harry Jeffery, Alex Ma, Aidan Wright
Silver: George Irwin, Harry Blackmore, Sophie White, Rupert Hallawell, Matt Beaumont
Bronze: Calum Davie, Will Wilshere, Kim Wu, James Cochrane, Ross Donaldson

Callum Fleming also qualifies for the 'Pink Kangaroo' follow-on round. Well done to all

Click here to visit the UK Maths Challenges website. More information is also available on the Maths Enrichment page of our website.

1st XI Girls' Hockey v Freman College 24 February 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

		6ii Drama Examination Piece Feb 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

International Evening 10 February 2010 Click on the photo to see more

		1st XI Football Match against Newport Free Grammar School 10 February 2010 Click on the photo to see more.

Activities Spring 2010 - second half of term

Click here to download a copy of the activity sheet for the second half of this term

Haiti Earthquake Fundraising Events 25 to 29th January 2010 Click on the photo on the right to see how pupils raised over £1,500 for the Haiti Disaster Fund.

Nicholas Denchfield Visit - 29 January 2010

	World-renowned pop-up book designer, paper engineer Nicholas Denchfield visited Friends to show his work and witty ideas to the students of years 6 and 7 in a workshop. The students were shown examples of paper engineering and made a pop-up book of their own.

Friends’ School Charity Ball

Our Charity Ball held last summer, raised the impressive sum of £13, 500. This total amount was divided between Friends’ School and the charity, JDRF – Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The photo on the right shows Friends’ School Ball Committee presenting a cheque for £6750 to Hannah Scott and Catherine Shields from JDRF.

Hannah Scott took the opportunity to outline to pupils how the funds raised would help the foundation, explaining that it would pay for a whole month’s research, which meant, with their help, they were one month closer to helping children find a better way of living with diabetes. Such research for JDRF is crucial as there are over
25, 000 children with diabetes in the UK and incidence of type 1 is increasing by about 4 per cent each year, particularly in children under five. It is not known why this trend is occurring. Locally, Cambridge University are developing the Artificial Pancreas at Addenbrookes Hospital and after the first phase of testing, results are positive and very encouraging.

JDRF was founded by a small group of parents of children with type 1 diabetes who recognised that insulin injections are not the cure for this life threatening and lifelong condition. Its ultimate aim is find the cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications.

Graham Wigley, thanked the Ball Committee for all their hard work and commitment to raising funds for both the school and JDRF.

		"Friends' School - A Hundred Years at Saffron Walden 1879 - 1979" by former Head John Woods This booklet has now been scanned and can be seen on our website by clicking on the image on the left.

Year 8 RS Trip to a Hindu Temple Jan 22nd 2010

		Year 8 travelled to London to see a Hindu Temple and enjoyed a visit to an Indian sweet shop and had lunch at an Indian vegetarian restaurant. Helen Golden, Head of Religious Studies said, "This visit gave pupils first hand experience of Hinduism and insight into another way of life. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to reinforce what we learn in school, especially about respect and understanding for other cultures. Some comments from Year 8 students: "The building

A huge 'thank you' from the PTA

		All the Christmas puddings were sold. Many thanks to all parents and members of staff that bought one; we hope you enjoyed eating them. The sale raised £280 for PTA funds. A huge thank-you also to all the dedicated parents of both senior and junior school pupils who helped in both the preparation and on the day at the Junior School Christmas Fayre on Friday 11th December. Also thanks to everyone who donated gifts and made cakes and other goodies for the day. It was a huge success, raising over £488.00 profit, which will be used to buy much needed play equipment for the junior school playground.

Activities Spring 2010

Click here to download a copy of the activity sheet for the first half of this term

Pupils using our school buses in snowy conditions

		Welcome to our new Gap Students for 2010 Both join us from Australia.
Cassandra Wotherspoon	Dougald Coulson

		Latest Avenue Newsletter Autumn 2009 Our Autumn Newsletter was mailed to all parents at the end of term. If you would like to download a copy then please click on the image on the left.

School Development Plans - December 2009

Click here or on the image above to find out more about our latest Development Plans.

Snow Hits Schools in Saffron Walden

			More photos on Junior School News page

Amnesty International

On 11th December 150 cards were signed by pupils and staff, and £62 raised towards the postage. Thank you to all who supported us. We do this every year to help raise the awareness of political prisoners throughout the world.

Autism Talk Ros Blackburn, a nationally acclaimed speaker on autism visited Friends' School on 1st December 2009. She talked to the whole school about the ways autism has affected her life, and encouraged students to be patient, accepting and understanding towards others with this condition.

		Quaker Faith & Practice The latest 4th edition of this book is now available online. Sometimes referred to as "The Red Book" or "The Book of Discipline", Quaker Faith & Practice is now online, and with search facilities. Click on the image of the book on the left to access the online version.

German Exchange in the UK 18 to 24 November 2009   Click on the photo on the right to see more

Quiz victory for Friends'

		Pupils at Friends’ School Saffron Walden are celebrating, having managed to gain first place in the 19th Strachan International Inter-school Quiz, hosted this year by Helena Romanes School in Great Dunmow. The quiz is held every year and hosted by four local schools in rotation. In previous years the County High School in Saffron Walden and Newport Free Grammar have hosted the event and it will fall to Friends’

U15 Rugby Match v Stoke College 17 November 2009 Click on the photo to see our Year 9 and 10 boys in action.

Year 8 pupils studying Hinduism

The above photos show Year 8 pupils making saltdough models of the elephant headed god of good luck - Ganesha. Click to enlarge. 11 Nov 09.

	London Central Mosque On Tuesday 10th November Year 9 visited Regent's Park Mosque - left, and shared their picnic with the pigeons in the park afterwards - right.

		An Evening of Music Thursday 22nd November

Year 7 at Harlow Outdoor Education Centre July 2009 Click on the photo to see more

		Friends' School PTA Christmas Puddings Order your delicious homemade puddings by Friday 13th November in time for Christmas and help raise funds for the PTA. Click here or on the photo on the left for details.

U13 Rugby Matches v Stoke College and HRS 15 & 22 October 2009 Click on the photo to see our Year 7 and 8 boys in action.

		Life - BBC Wildlife Series You may be interested to know that the Producer of this series is Martha Holmes who was a pupil at this school from 1971 to 1976, and has been making wildlife programmes for almost 20 years. The 10 part series, which is narrated by David Attenborough started on Monday 12 Oct on BBC1.

Quaker Schools' Week and the release of Peace Doves

Today, Friday 9th October, 15 Doves (representing our 15 year groups) were released at the front of the school to mark the end of an action packed Quaker Schools' Week which included workshops, special assemblies and extended silent worship. Visitors from our local Meeting joined us for Wednesday Assembly and our Meeting for Worship on Thursday and everyone enjoyed hot chocolate and Fair Trade cookies at Recess.

Click here to find out what we did in Quaker Schools' Week.

Year 11 Coursework Deadlines

Click here to download deadlines for this academic year.

(Coursework deadlines will not apply in the same way for Year 10, as the new GCSE specifications require coursework to be completed in school under supervised conditions.)

Year 10 and 11 trip to the WW1 Battlefields October 2009 Click on the photo on the right to see more.

		Year 10 & 11 Geography Field Trip to the Lake District 14 to 17 Sept 2009 Click on the photo on the left to see more.

PTA Annual General Meeting

This was held on Tuesday 29th September 2009. Click here to download a copy of the minutes, or click here to visit our webpage and find out more about our PTA.

Individual & Class Photos Form teachers are handing out proofs and order forms. These need to be returned to formteachers by 15th October for collection by the photographer.

	Our New Prospectus Click on either of these photos to download a copy of our new prospectus online.

Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy visits Friends’

Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate, visited Friends’ School on Friday 18th September to perform her magical story, ‘The Princess’ Blankets’.

Over 200 primary school children from six schools in the local area enjoyed a creative workshop run by Friends’ School English and Art Departments during the morning, in preparation for the afternoon’s performance.

The workshop, taking its inspiration from the book, involved all the children making large blankets out of a variety of materials. They had a wonderfully creative time working together to produce some outstanding pieces of art.

Carol Ann and her accompanying musican, John Sampson, then treated the children to an exciting and entertaining rendition of ‘The Princess’ Blankets’.

Carol Ann and John who have performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, were delighted to be at Friends’ and commented how impressed they were by the friendliness and manners of all the children at the event. Each child had the opportunity to meet Carol Ann Duffy and have a book signed at the end of the show.

Activities.

These started on Monday 14th September. Click here to see a list of the activities on offer. Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 need to choose at least 2 activities to do each week - more for boarders. The programme will change at half term.

GCSE Results August 2009

Consistently good GCSE results were once again achieved by students at Friends’ School, with more grades at A* and A than in previous years. Amongst those celebrating were Amy Branch, Charlotte Dodsley, Will Fawcett and Emma Stanbury, ‘straight A’ students who achieved 41 top grades between them, though the vast majority of students in the year achieved results higher than those expected at the start of the course.

‘We’ve enjoyed the excitement and celebrations that go along with results day,’ said Head, Graham Wigley. ‘They arrive looking anxious, then before we know it there are smiles everywhere. I know that the students themselves are really appreciative of the help and support they have had from their teachers.’

Results at Friends’ continue to be well ahead of national averages with 85% of all grades being A* to C.

Click here to download a summary of our 2009 exam results.

A Level Results August 2009

	Photos showing just a few of our A level students after opening their exam results.

Friends’ School, Saffron Walden’s A level results were excellent this year.  For the fifth year in a row students achieved a 100% pass rate, with 34% A grades, 69% at A or B and 88% at A-C, continuing the school’s consistently strong showing over recent years.

Head Graham Wigley said that the headline figures are all improvements on last year’s impressive results and rival the school’s best ever results from 2007.  He added, ‘Once again our students did themselves and their teachers proud, with excellent grades across all subjects.  It was a pleasure to receive results like this knowing what each set of grades means for each individual student.  I’m delighted that they are able to move on to the universities of their choice, particularly this year which, as the press have highlighted, is particularly competitive.’

Click here to download a summary of our 2009 exam results.

		A Level and GCSE Art Exhibition Summer 2009 Click on the image on the left to see more.

A & AS Level Photography Exhibition Summer 2009 Click on the image on the right to see more.

		Year 8 trip to Normandy 29 June to 2 July 09 Click on the photo to see more.

Year 9 & 10 German Exchange to Bremerhaven 15 - 21 June 2009 Click on the photo to see more.

		Newsletter Summer Term 2009 Click on the image on the right to download the latest copy of our Newsletter. This is being mailed to all parents at the end of term.

Sports Day 12 June 2009   Click on the photo on the right to see more