Issue 238
Senior Maths Challenge
Another fantastic year for the students who entered the
Senior Maths Challenge last month. 15 students from both
Year 12 and Year 13 took part in the challenge, with 12
gaining an award. Collectively they gained 3 Gold awards,
7 Silver awards and 2 Bronze awards. A brilliant set of
results.
Gold awards went to Tony Zhang, Ying Chen and Dominika
Kardasz, with Tony making it through to the second
round. Silver awards went to Roger So, Kojo Asamoah,
Bowen Wei, Dave Chen, Amy Dedman, Tom Yang, Chloe
Batchford and Iris Zuo with Aleks Wiltshire and Rowen
Beswick both gaining Bronze awards. Well done to
everyone who took part.
Mrs D York, Head of Mathematics
Santa Fun Run
Star Power Helps Dimbleby Cancer Care
Raise £3,145
Broadcasters David and Jonathan Dimbleby hosted a night of
carols, in aid of the charity (Dimbleby Cancer Care) founded in
their father’s name, on Monday 7 December.
More than 250 people joined the brothers at St Mary Magdalen
church on Bermondsey Street, for an evening of Christmas
readings and festive songs, which were led by the Junior School
Choir from Farringtons.
Special guest readers included radio broadcaster Vanessa Feltz,
who read Twelve Days of Christmas, Correspondence by John
Julius Norwich and the Mayor of Southwark, Cllr Dora DixonFyle, also joined the charity for the evening. The Service was
followed by a drinks reception and mince pies.
The event raised £3,145 for Dimbleby Cancer Care which is
based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London. It gives
practical and psychological support to people living with cancer
and to their families and carers.
Following the success of last year's Santa Fun Run, on
Tuesday 8th December the Senior School took part in the
2015 event. Our charity and philanthropy prefect, Alice
Griffin-Beat, did an excellent job encouraging people to
take part, all in aid of The Teenage Cancer Trust, a very
worthy cause.
Many people took part and we were able to raise lots of
money for our charity!
Josephine Deeks, PR & Marketing Prefect
Jonathan Dimbleby, chair of the charity said, “It was a magical
evening and a wonderful way to start the Christmas festivities.
We are so grateful for the support the local Southwark
community has given us this year and also everyone who came
along last night, especially the children's choir from Farringtons
School and of course, all our fantastic readers.”
Head, Mrs Nancekievill, said, ‘‘I am incredibly proud of the Junior
School Choir, who really worked hard and gave an outstanding
performance.’’
Farringtons in the Community
Where Are They Now?
For the last three months I’ve been
studying veterinary nursing at the Royal
Veterinary College London, based in
Potters Bar, and what an experience it
has been. Freshers’ week took place in
London, with different activities such as
laser tag, film night, zoo party and
Cirque du Soleil, all at cheap prices.
On 14th November, I was selected to
represent Bromley in the London
Youth Games at Parliament Hill. It
was a very hard course due to the
rain, but I came 3rd gaining a Bronze
medal against 200 runners and also
got Gold for helping my team win the
Under 13 Championship.
Morgan, Year 8
Kiki (Pre-Reception) & Roxy (Year 2)
competed in their first Gymnastics
competition
on
Sunday
29th
November as part of the JGA
Academy Interschools Championships. Kiki was 1st overall in her age
group, 1st on Floor and 1st on vault.
Roxy was in the hardest category
against over twenty gymnasts and did
herself proud by finishing in the top
ten.
Now university isn’t all about the
socialising (though people may think it
is). There are also clubs, societies and
the main reason, the course. My course
is definitely not for people who want an
easy ride. Every day, 9 to 5, you’re in the lecture room, learning about nutrition,
accommodation, drug calculations, blood tests, restraint and many more
complex aspects in a vet clinic. Once the day is over at 5, you’re still working until
at least past 9; finishing lecture notes, reading textbooks or writing essays. Having
said that, it’s extremely enjoyable if you love animals! Once a week you have a
practical, handling fluffy and slithery animals, or administering insulin to a stuffed
dog. Yet, even with all this, there is still time to talk to friends and even join
societies. I’m grateful to be in the badminton and netball teams, as well as the
zoological society.
I love being here at RVC, but it was a tough journey. When taking my AS
Levels, I thought I was doing all right, yet when the day of August 13 th 2014
arrived, I saw that I wasn’t. I failed AS Biology. I thought that I would NEVER get
into the RVC and do the degree I always wanted to do, so I knew I had to turn my
life around. I worked extremely hard during my A2 Levels and then, a year later, I
received confirmation from the RVC that I had a place. I wasn’t concerned at that
point what my grade was, I just knew that I had worked hard to get in. Then, I saw
my grade, C in Biology. Going from a U to a C, what a miracle! The point of this
story you may ask? Well, to the current Sixth Form students, whether in Year 12
or 13, working hard will get you where you want to go. Keep trying and trying,
and one day your dreams will come true, like mine did that day.
Michaela Vinales,
Former Deputy Head Girl
Christmas Market
On 21st November, the annual Farringtons
Christmas Market took place. As usual it was a
huge success, with much fun had by all.
Congratulations to Eloise who won a
competition to design the Petts Wood
Gazette cover.
The Sports Hall housed a variety of stalls,
including the Farringtons FPA stall, tombola, art
stalls, bath bomb stalls and a raffle. All the
stalls were great, and with the Christmas music
playing it got everyone in a festive spirit.
The Christmas Grotto really got upgraded this year. Children not only got to meet
Father Christmas, but also wrote a letter to him and were told a story by the Elves.
Children also had an opportunity to create a Christmas themed decoration of their
choice with the help of the Elves. The Elves this year were volunteers from Years 7
to Sixth Form. They did a great job helping the children and made the experience
really enjoyable for them.
Outside was possibly the most unique feature of the day, a Selfie Taxi! This taxi photo booth took everyone's Selfie game to the next level. With Christmas themed
props and green screen backgrounds it had to be, for me, the best part of the day! I
have to admit, I may have gone on it a few too many times.
Overall the Christmas Market this year was a huge success and everybody had a
great time!
Emily Snowling, Year 10
Lest We Forget
On Wednesday 11th November, our Junior School children
held a service and 2 minute silence to remember those who
have given their lives during wars. The planes, which the Key
Stage 2 children had beautifully decorated, were displayed
within the trees of the orchard and around the Junior School
reception. The poppies, again beautifully decorated by Key
Stage 1, Reception and Pre-Reception, were presented on a
large poppy, which stood within the orchard during our
service. The large poppy will be going to the Chislehurst War
Memorial, where it will remain for a while.
During our service, Olivia Mabibi 4T recited the poem ‘In
Flanders Fields’, Matilda Fox 6H recited ‘Dulce et decorum
est’ and Rev’d Quarmby read ‘The inquisitive mind of a child’.
Jonathan Peters 6H gave us the famous words:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
These words marked the beginning of our 2 minute silence.
Thank you to Mr Rayner for playing ‘The Last Post’ and to
Rev’d Quarmby for the gospel reading, Kohima epitaph, prayer and blessing.
Miss J Taylor, Year 4 Teacher
On Monday 9th November, 6H presented their assembly
about Remembrance Day. Firstly, they told us about what
things are important that we should remember. Then they
read a few poems including ‘In Flanders Fields’, written
during the First World War by John McCrae. We learnt about
the importance of remembering those who lost their lives
during the two world wars and other conflicts.
Mr T Ruffle, Year 6 Teacher
Sizzling Science Quiz
This is a photo taken by a family from the
Junior School when they visited Malawi
during the summer holidays. Mr and Mrs
Hooper along with their daughter, Julie, took
with them all the white shirts that parents
had donated for resale and I was delighted
to receive this photo showing how well they
have been received.
Mrs L Johnston, FPA
On Monday 23rd November, eight pupils were very excited to be taking part in an Interschool
Science Quiz which was
being hosted at Farringtons
for the first time ever. The
children participating were
Daniel,
Tobi,
Tamara,
Breanna, Anna, Eleanor,
Ruby and myself.
Some of the questions were
very tough, but we all
worked really well as a team.
The A Team managed to come 5th overall and the B Team came 9th.
We definitely put our brains to work and were very proud to
represent Farringtons. At the end of the competition we were given a
goodie bag with some delicious snacks.
Kate Burke, Year 5
Poetry Recital Competition
Our first poetry recital competition brought together
participants from every year group and married the interests
of those studying poetry with those who composed poems
inspired by the refugee crisis on the theme of 'Home'. We
therefore awarded prizes both for performance and for
composition. The English Department were impressed with
the quality of confidence in reading to an audience and with
the level of experimentation with poetic form. This year, the
most successful had shown the courage to use elements of
free verse as well as more traditional rhyming patterns.
Mr B Coulthard, English Teacher
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Best Reading: (Year 10-11) Isabel Gately ‘To the
Snake’ by Denise Levertov
Excellent Performance: Year 10-11 Emily Sullivan ‘A
Home to call Home’
Best Reading: ‘Home’ poem (Year 7) Crystal Bunyan
‘If I was a Migrant Child’
Best Reading: own choice poem (Year 7) Hannah
Bode-Zannu ‘She Has Gone’ by David Hawkins
Excellent Performance: (Year 7) Monty Eldridge ‘The
Night Before Christmas’
Excellent Performance: (Year 7) Kainetochi Ene
‘Never Again’ by Scott Beer
Best Reading: (Year 8) Emily Hollands ‘Home’ (own
poem)
Best Reading Own Choice Poem: (Year 8) Oliver
Frampton ‘Still Life’ by Elizabeth Daryush
Excellent Performance: (Year 8) Mac Egan ‘No More
War’ (own poem)
Excellent Performance: (Year 8) Gracie Egan ‘No
More War’ (own poem)
Best Reading: (Year 9) Lorenzo Morabito ‘Fly
Away’ (own poem)
Best Reading Own Choice Poem: (Year 9) Darcee
Norman ‘Laughter’ (own poem)
Excellent Performance: (Year 9) Abishai HansenSackey ‘Dear Haters’ (own poem)
Excellent Performance: (Year 9) Shaoib Salim ‘I
dream’ (own poem)
Excellent Performance: (Year 9) Raffaele Savino ‘Cry
for Help’ by Ranon Sahi (9GC)
Excellent Performance: (Year 9) Dominic Blake
‘Walking’ (own poem)
Certificate of Appreciation for:
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Megan Petrie ‘Shine’ (own poem)
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Kimberley Chitereka ‘Poppies in the Meadow’ (own
poem)
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Louise Nhema ‘Remember’ (own poem)
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Buse Ipek ‘Remembrance’ (own poem)
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Eric Nwadike ‘Remembrance poem’ (own poem)
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Lola Newman ‘We’re all a kind of family’ (own poem)
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Georgia Bloise-Hamm ‘Remembrance’ (own poem)
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Lois Wynter ‘The Ring’ (own poem)
I drew inspiration from a diary entry I found from the Second
World War. I wrote the poem very carefully, using techniques
Mr Coulthard had taught me in Creative Writing Club, to have
rhythm, but not rhyme the words of the end of each line to
make it more distinctive.
Emily Sullivan, Year 11
Shakesperience
Although he has been dead for almost 400 years,
Shakespeare’s work is still very much alive at
Farringtons! On Thursday 19th November, 20 boys
and girls from Years 7 to 9 took part in the first House
‘Shakesperience’. Most had prepared their monologues and duologues independently, while others
had
further
support
provided
by
the
English Department and Mrs Freeston, the Speech
and Drama teacher. However, they all had something
in common; each piece was written by Shakespeare.
Some of the students’ performances were extracts
from ‘Hamlet’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’,
‘Othello’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Titus Andronicus’ and
‘As You Like It’ – the range of tragedies and comedies meant that the competition was really varied.
While these were performed, we were filmed for the
first round of the English Speaking Union’s national
‘Performing Shakespeare’ competition.
I performed with a friend in a duologue from ‘As You
Like It’ in which I was Rosalind who had fallen in
love; Emily was Celia who was trying to talk me out
of this madness. I was extremely embarrassed by
some of my lines and I think anybody who had my
script would have been too, but when it came to the
actual performance I really enjoyed it.
Valerie Pannier, Year 8
Father Christmas Visits
Farringtons
Pictured above are the Year 4—6 pupils who took part in the Primary Maths
Challenge, a national competition taken by thousands of school pupils
nationwide.
Congratulations to Year 5 who
made Christmas decorations for
the Christmas market.
Congratulations to Emily
who won ‘Cuddles’ in the
‘Guess the Bear’ raffle,
pictured with Head of
Junior School, Mr Charlton.
Learning About Baptism
On Thursday 26th November, both Reception classes went to the Chapel to baptise their class babies. Reverend
Quarmby led the service and babies Lily and Holly were welcomed into the Christian family. We talked about who
has been christened or baptised and Reverend Quarmby found Mrs Benjamin and her twin sister’s names in the
Baptism Register from 1988!
Mrs E Benjamin, Year 1 Teacher
The FPA would like to thank all those
who helped make our annual
Christmas Event a success!
Escher Exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
We are so grateful that the whole
School community pulled together
and made the day so enjoyable.
The school staff and in many cases
their partners, made every effort to accommodate our requests
for help and lent a very big helping hand, both before and
during the event.
 Thank you to Mr and Mrs Nancekievill, for their enthusiasm
and very hands-on help throughout the adventure, they kept
morale high!
 Thank you to Mrs Vail for her expertise with marketing and
artwork.
 Thank you to Mrs Grima for her support with pulling together
the School community (and Mr Grima who provided excellent
photography skills on the day).
 Thank you Mrs Cox for the many updates during the
organisational process and help with the raffle on the day!
 Thank you Mrs Sergison for your daily support with turning
around notices and collecting goods/tickets for the event.
 Thank you to the teaching staff who lent a hand on our Mince
Pie & Mulled Wine stalls.
 Thank you to the ladies on Senior Reception who met us with
smiles when we cluttered up Reception with donations and
deliveries.
 Thank you to the Maintenance Team who provided fantastic
hauling and logistics help.
 Thank you to Mr Condie and Mrs Mirkovic who have been on
hand throughout the process to guide us.
 Thank you to the catering staff who took care of the
refreshments.
 Thank you to all those who performed in the Community
Choir (we hope the first of many more performances).
 Thank you to Mrs Walker for organising the School Choir
performances; these were very much enjoyed by all our visitors and friends who joined us on the day.
 Thank you to our Elves from the Senior School and their very
dedicated teacher, Miss Scott-White who helped run our
Christmas Experience!
 Thank you to the School staff who supported us with sound
equipment and photography equipment – this helped to
really set the scene on the day and provided a professional
edge.
 Thank you to Reverend Quarmby who spoke at our opening!
 Thank you to the students that helped set up, get our dinner
and supervise our smaller children on Friday night setup.
 Thank you to all those people who provided support to make
the day very special.
 Lastly, thank you to all those parents and friends who gave
generously and provided raffle prizes, nearly new toys, books
and new items which we were able to sell on the day and also
raise money for our school and a very important charity Wateraid, which provides support to those people struggling
to have clean water on daily basis.
The FPA welcomes everyone to come and join with us to support our School in all it endeavours to help make our children’s
school life the best it can be! We welcome you to our next FPA
get together on Saturday 27th February at 7.30pm for our Quiz
Night.
The FPA
On Wednesday 18th November, Year 10 and Sixth Form Art
students went to the Dulwich Picture Gallery to view the
great works of MC Escher. When we arrived at the gallery
we were greeted by the wonderful staff, who showed us
around and we saw some of the works by the Old Masters
Rembrandt, Poussin and John Constable.
After looking at and drawing amazing works by some
phenomenal artists, it was finally time to view the Escher
exhibition where we saw a wide variety of his pieces for
inspiration for our own work. We saw his works on stars and
his studies on snakes, as well as his tessellations and we also
tried to draw some of these ourselves.
We really appreciated this visit and the opportunity to see
works of art up close. We would like to thank Mrs Allen for
organising and making this trip possible, and Mrs York and
Mr Imrie for accompanying us.
Shyam Patel and Harry Ilsley, Year 10
Gynaecological Awareness Talk
On Wednesday 2nd December, Year 13 were excited to
take part in a workshop, delivered by Kath Mazzella OAM,
a gynaecological cancer survivor and advocate for women
challenged by gynaecological, sexual and related mental
health conditions. She is passionate about increasing the
level of awareness of these challenges and wants to break
down the associated barriers and stigmas. We firstly
listened to a talk by Kath, in which we found out about
the gynaecological issues that women face and that it was
okay to talk about them. Her message was very powerful
– we need to move past the
secrecy and create a new
vocabulary that empowers
women and generates better
health outcomes. We then all
took part in her ‘Undies for
Better Understanding Campaign’ and created our own
designs. It was great fun and
we would like to thank Kath
for coming to share her
important message with us.
Mrs R Frances, Head of Upper School/
MFL Teacher
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IN ACTION
For the first time last week, FIZ Club opened its doors to all parents and
guardians whose children have been taking part in our various activities this
term. Our guests had an opportunity to watch the children learning,
performing and training, meet our instructors and even get involved in
activities!
 The Circus Skills Workshop was great fun and the ‘skills’ were much
harder than the adults thought they would be!
 It was fantastic to see the children showing off their linguistic skills in
Russian, Spanish or Mandarin.
 The spoken word with great acting, dancing and singing was very much
part of Theatre and Dance when both groups performed ‘Cinderella’.
 There was a lot of giggling, music and laughter coming out of the
Interactive Story Time area.
 Tae Kwon Do ‘Little Dragons’ and their older more experienced Tae Kwon
Do friends were kicking high and low, blocking and executing
reverse punches. A very impressive display indeed.
 Everybody was looking forward to seeing our young Irish Dancers twirling
and hopping to the enchanting music…and no one was disappointed – it
was a super performance, encore!
 There was no stopping our young gymnasts showing off their great
flexibility and strengths, balancing on one leg, doing splits, rolling and even
doing handstands. Wow!
 Vibrant colours and different materials were used to create two different
Arts and Crafts projects; 3D stars looked very impressive and the winter
scene collage made you feel all festive, thinking about snow and
Christmas holidays.
 Our colourful theme carried on to the next classroom, where children
were busy Knitting. Julie wrote ”Myself, Arabella, Ruby, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Amelia and Ralph attend Knitting Club on Fridays at FIZ. Recently we
have been creating Christmas cards and scarves; phone cases and purses
are next. I like Knitting Club because it is fun and we get to make things”
A lot of hard work and patience went into knitting different Christmas
shapes, to create beautifully unique and very special cards. So keep
knitting and well done!
 It was relatively quiet in the next classroom, as the children were really
concentrating on their next Chess move.
 Judging from the wonderfully spicy smell lingering from another area, we
knew that Christmas was just around the corner. Our Cookery and Bake
Off young chefs were very busy making scrumptious sweet treats. The
older pupils made a very impressive gingerbread house. I hope it tasted as
good as it looked, yummy!
 Being messy is not usually a good thing, but in LEGO Club, colourful bricks
being scattered everywhere tends to bring out the children’s inner
creativity and engineering talents.
 Sadly, our Tennis and Badminton participants couldn’t show their
coordination, footwork and back hand skills – perhaps next time.
I would like to thank all parents and guardians who came to see us, your
continuous support and co-operation is much valued and appreciated.
My special thanks go to my colleagues and external coaches for their hard
work and dedication and Mr Scott for providing refreshments.
Have a wonderfully relaxing, peaceful and fun-filled Christmas break and see
you all next year.
Ewa Wiltshire, FIZ Club Manager
You can see more in the FIZ Club photo
gallery on our website under
‘News/Events’
An Amazing Evening for West House
Boarders
On Thursday 19th October, Mr Wilson
organised a special activity for Sixth
Form girls in West House. It was a Murder Mystery Night with a lovely meal
(Asian fusion take-away) followed by a
special treat from Mr Wilson himself, in
the form of a brilliant chocolate cake.
During the evening, we had to solve a
murder. In the case, my so-called
‘husband’, Pierre Dupre, and I had to
question each other on different topics,
finding out our characters deepest
secrets. By the end of the night, we
found our murderer who was J Stephen
Peek, played by Virginia and Linda.
All of the girls would like to say a huge
thank you to Mr Wilson for organising
such an amazing activity for us and we
hope that we can do it again!
Masha Orlova, Year 12
YEAR 5 FOOTBALL
On Thursday 5th November, 12 Year 5
and 6 girls attended the annual
Bromley
Schools
Girls
Football
Tournament, which was held at Bromley Football Club. This year there were
21 schools represented in the competition, there were 3 pitches with 7 teams
on each. Farringtons played 6 games
and overall we came 3rd in our group,
which was a fantastic achievement and I am incredibly proud of each of
the girls and the way in which they played together as a team.
Despite a downpour of rain, all of the girls remained in high spirits and
were focussed on the matches as well as encouraging each other. A big
thank you to all of the parents who braved the weather to come to support
and cheer on the girls. A special thanks to Miss Whitehead, who drove us
there and back in the minibus. Overall, it was a worthwhile experience for
the girls particularly in working collaboratively as a team.
Miss S Cox, Year 3 Teacher
BROMLEY SCHOOLS CROSS
COUNTRY
Saturday 21st November
On the first snowy day of the year, 15 brave
children from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, and 1
enthusiastic child from Year 1, took to the
muddy course at Crystal Palace, to
compete in the Bromley Primary Schools
Cross Country event.
The weather blew the officials tent and finishing post down, but it did not deter
our children from layering up and racing their best.
We had some fantastic results with children beating their previous positions and
the younger members of the team securing good places to inspire their training for
the next event in March.
Due to the weather conditions there was no awards ceremony and we are awaiting
the final results. However, special congratulations to Jessica who came 5th in the
Year 5/6 girls race and to Piper (Year 1) who competed in the Year 3 girls race.
Miss K Randall, Year 3 Teacher
Please visit our website for up-to-date sports results:
www.farringtons.org.uk/sports-results
YEAR 4 NETBALL
On Friday 20th November, the Year 4
Netball Team competed in a netball
tournament at Blackheath High.
The girls played very well and the
results are as follows:
Farringtons V Colfe’s
Lost 2-7
Farringtons V Blackheath High
Won 8-0
Farringtons V Blackheath Prep
Lost 0-1
Overall, we finished 3rd out of 4
schools.
A special mention to Amelia Higgins
and Tia Ritchie, who are both Year 3
children and played in the Year 4
netball tournament.
The star player who shone throughout the tournament was Ava Nargi,
4T. Congratulations!
Miss J Taylor
Year 4 Teacher
Year 3 & 4 Swimming Gala
Years 3 and 4 took part in a swimming
gala at Merton Court against Merton
Court and Breaside.
All the swimmers swam extremely well
and we finished 2nd overall!
Tate Ferdinand finished 1st in his front
crawl race and Martha Perrett from 1J
was incredible, representing Year 3 in
the front crawl race. She finished 2nd.
Well done to all of the swimmers!
Miss J Taylor
Year 4 Teacher
Junior School Inter-House Sports Results
Year 3 & 4 Netball: 1st Wilson, 2nd Davies, 3rd Fisher
Year 3 & 4 Rugby: 1st Davies, 2nd Wilson & Fisher
Year 5 Netball: 1st Fisher, 2nd Wilson, 3rd Davies
Year 6 Netball: 1st Wilson, 2nd Fisher, 3rd Davies
Year 5 & 6 Rugby: 1st Wilson, 2nd Fisher, 3rd Davies
Overall: 1st Wilson, 2nd Fisher, 3rd Davies
Cross Country
Year 3 Boys : 1st Fisher, 2nd Wilson, 3rd Davies
Year 3 Girls: 1st Davies, 2nd Wilson, 3rd Fisher
Year 4 Boys: 1st Davies, 2nd Fisher, 3rd Wilson
Year 4 Girls: 1st Davies, 2nd Wilson, 3rd Fisher
Year 5 Boys: 1st Davies, 2nd Fisher, 3rd Wilson
Year 5 Girls: 1st Fisher, 2nd Wilson, 3rd Davies
Year 6 Boys: 1st Fisher, 2nd Wilson, 3rd Davies
Year 6 Girls: 1st Davies, 2nd Fisher, 3rd Wilson
Overall: 1st Davies, 2nd Fisher, 3rd Wilson