On Friday 14 October we hosted our annual Fireworks night at our playing fields. A great time was had by all who attended, and £1658 was raised on the night for charity. 

It is hard to believe that the first half of the Rugby season is coming to an end, especially considering the wonderful weather that we have had throughout. 

Our Junior teams played against Oaklands and achieved two sets of wins in what is always a competitive fixture. Our seniors played against Milton Abbey, with the 1^st XV and Under-16 team travelling to a beautiful setting in Dorset.

On Thursday 13 October our Under 9s team played Boundary Oak. The St John’s team started off strongly and scored in the 1^st quarter through Goal Attack Georgia Allport. Just before half time, and after a lot of pressure, Boundary Oak equalised.

The Music Department of St John’s College is hosting their annual Autumn Concert on Tuesday 18 October at 7pm in the New Benildus Hall.

The concert titled ‘Music for an Autumn Evening’ will feature performances from the College Orchestra, the newly formed Girls’ Choir and other groups and ensembles, together with several post-grade 8 pianists and the award-winning St John’s Chapel Choir.

On Wednesday 12 October Year 3 pupils visited Nesbits Estate Agents in Southsea to support their Geography topic on Houses and Homes.

During ‘Kids Can Cook Week’ pupils from Reception to Year 6 were invited to prepare and taste various dishes from around the world. In groups of 10 – 12 pupils spent part of a morning / afternoon preparing, making and, finally eating the delicacies they had made.

On Monday 10 October our Passport to Success pupils took part in their second challenge. The task was to prepare arguments on four topics selected by the Lord Mayor, which they later debated in the Council Chamber. Before they set to work the Lord Mayor stressed the importance of democracy, and told pupils how in the past her own Grandmother didn’t have the right to vote as she was a woman.

On Friday 7 October Year 3 pupils visited Fishbourne Roman Palace as part of their History work on the Celts and the Romans. They spent the morning in a workshop building arches, writing on wax tablets, spinning wool, working as slaves in the kitchen and dressing up as Romans.

On Monday and Thursday of this week, Year 6 pupils have visited The News Centre as part of their course on Journalistic Writing.  Using an advanced Desk Top Publishing package, children went about producing a front page of topical news.

Our Politics Society welcomed Sir Bernard Ingham as guest speaker on Thursday 6 October.

Sir Bernard Ingham became Margaret Thatcher's Chief Press Secretary in 1979 and remained in post until 1990. Known for his directness of manner as well as his well-honed presentational skills, the man who handled the press for the Iron Lady did not disappoint. The audience enjoyed a number of anecdotes which illustrated the character and achievements of Mrs Thatcher. Afterwards a number of our students had the opportunity over lunch to quiz Sir Bernard further about his time at the centre of great national events.

The St John’s Sea Cadets have just returned from training on the TS Royalist. Six pupils were on board the ship from 24 – 30 September, along with 8 other young people.

All of Pre-Prep, including Nursery, enjoyed their special 'Five-a-Day-Friday' on 30 September.  The children enjoyed exploring a variety of fruits and vegetables with activities including potato printing, making fruit smoothies and decorating veggie faces.  They considered the different ways fruits and vegetables can be combined and prepared to help achieve a healthy diet.  

Stephen Haines, founder and chairman of the multi-million pound greeting card company Carte Blanche shared the secrets of his success to Business and Economics pupils from Independent Schools across the South at St John’s College yesterday.

Over the weekend our rugby teams played a block fixture against Ryde School, winning four out of six matches. Highlights included the first team, where Captain Sam Berridge scored 36 of the 56 points, and the Under-13 match, where we were too strong for their opposition – a final score of 48 - 5.

On Tuesday 27 September our pupils played their first chess match against opponents from a visiting school.