Category: IRELAND, GREAT BRITAIN & MALTA

This week Year 1 have been investigating puddles. They have been looking at weather patterns for the UK and discussing the weather needed for puddles. Sadly we had no rain this week so they had to make artificial puddles, but that didn’t stop Year 1. The children had great fun exploring the puddles and set up an investigation to measure the size of a puddle over two days. They have also been using this to support their work on solids, liquids and gases.

On Sunday 6^th February the Chapel Choir took a major part in the Portsmouth Music Festival Centenary Concert.  This was a high profile event and was performed in the presence of civic dignitaries as well as the local MP Flick Drummond.  The choir performed very well despite several absentees due to illness and their performance was commented on favourably by many people in the audience.  They were also joined by the Havant Clarinet and Saxophone Choir as well as many soloists who had gone on to make names for themselves both nationally and internationally.

Year 3 and 4 pupils have taken part in a variety of workshops and activities in preparation for Chinese New Year.

As a Boarding School with an international community, the Chinese festivity marks an important occasion in our School calendar. As we have welcomed overseas students from China for over 30 years and, due to a long history with the Chinese community in Portsmouth, we have long celebrated Chinese New Year, and this year is no exception.

Pupils spent the morning creating Chinese Zodiac headbands; designing paperchain Chinese Dragon puppets, and making ‘Lai see’ – red envelopes which contain money and are given to loved ones to wish them a safe and peaceful year. They also learned that these special envelopes are also known as ‘yasui qian’ meaning ‘supressing ghost money’.

St. John’s College

The visit to the Al Mahdi Centre, the Fareham Mosque, was beneficial and interesting to all. When we arrived we were surprised to see that there is no dome or obvious ‘mosque’ shaped building. Sheikh Fazle told us that there had been a great deal of planning with the local community and that the Centre is designed to fit in with the environment; it is of a similar architectural shape to the nearby Titchfield Abbey.  We were surprised to hear that solar panels are concealed on the roof and that copper pipes run through the grounds bringing hot underfloor heating. These things are in support of the desire to be a steward, a ‘khalifa’, on behalf of God.

Once inside were shown areas such as the prayer halls; the mihrab facing towards Mecca; the classrooms or ‘Madrassah’; the kitchen, where meals can be cooked for 300 people on special occasions, and the area for wudu or ritual washing.  In this room deceased members of the community are washed and prepared for burial – and this made us stop and think about our own lives.

Some memorable parts of the visit included when we all took part in the prayer positions, prostrating and placing our heads on the floor; listening to Sheikh from our class reciting the Qu’ran, and the very interesting question and answer session led by Sheikh Fazle where we could give our own views and develop a further understanding of Islam.

Mrs J Turner
Head of Philosophy Religious Studies & Head of Chaplaincy  

On Wednesday afternoon the Reception Class made the most of our wonderful coastal location by exploring Southsea seafront – just a ten minute walk from the College. As they walked across the beach, the children spotted many different landmarks including the Spinnaker Tower, Southsea Castle and even managed to spot the Isle of Wight through the misty fog.  As the wind picked up, and after a short diversion to see the tanks outside of the D-Day museum, the explorers headed back to school. Miss Hitchcock and the children are looking forward to many more trips to the beach over the next few months. We are extremely lucky to have this beautiful setting right on our doorstep – and our children always enjoy exploring new and interesting learning environments.