Art & DT Exhibition showcases pupil's talents
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I am very late writing this newsletter as I was completely captivated by the art and DT exhibition in the William Walton Hall. There was so much beautiful art and inventive design that I just couldn’t leave. Really so much talent was on display. As I approached the room, I heard a bouncing ping-pong ball which turned out to be part of the table football experience; I’ve never seen quite such an interactive exhibition before! Highly suited to a musical School, one wall was covered in wonderful deconstructed instruments, the sinuous windings of horns lay next to piles of violins stacked on top of one another. There was a collection of beaming Pirates, all seemingly with eye patches and, if anyone was unsure of the time, there was a wall of operating wooden clocks one with a cuckoo! I enjoyed a collection of exotic zoo animals, the snake towering over all the other animals, his red fangs hanging provocatively from his massive head. A cardboard Colosseum sat in amongst other carefully constructed models, while a momento Mori in the form of the Grim Reaper hovered alarmingly in the background. Rather more reassuringly, one remarkable picture showed a skull growing out of a tree which had a heart coloured shape showing various Christian symbols of love and peace. There was a lovely collection of self-portraits painted by the nursery children. I was fascinated to observe how they saw themselves! I could go on and on but have just tried to give you a sense of some of the artistic works on display. I would like to thank Mrs Elias and Mr Stacey so much for all their hard work. They have both been a great inspiration to the pupils and I’m thrilled by the standard of work on display this year.
It was a great joy to find myself on Merton Field on Wednesday where I was able to watch some cricket again. Life always seems better when our boys sport their whites again and despite some cold weather, it was thoroughly memorable scene. As ever members of the public stop to watch the boys something that tends only to happen during the cricket season. It occurred to me that cricket is such a brutal game. The long walk out to bat is often followed by a rather hasty return walk as another wicket falls. It’s a game that requires a real sense of maturity about it and I am certain that our boys learn so much from it. One often finds oneself having to move so rapidly from a rather slow paced period to a moment of high drama in a matter of seconds.
This morning in Cathedral we had the whole school including Pre-Prep and Nursery. The previous night I had been to vote, an act which involves putting a pencil cross on a piece of paper. I told the pupils that small insignificant looking things like putting a cross on a piece of paper can be great significance and I quoted Saint David who said “do ye the little things.” I suggested that doing certain little things like small acts of kindness or of Care were very powerful. I told the boys and girls that like one of the superheroes they too had superpowers. I asked them what superpowers they thought they possessed. One boy in Reception suggested that one superpower might be kindness. I told him that he might as well take over giving the talk as he had so clearly understood my message. It was only Mr Robards putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder that prevented him from getting out! Meanwhile, another of our boys put their hand up “Yes,” I prompted, “what superpower do you have?” A loud voice responded “backflips!” I suspect he rather misunderstood what I was getting at but I have to say I would love that superpower myself!
Have a gymnastic weekend!
