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In keeping with The Royal British Legion’s request that schools, colleges and clubs commemorate the sacrifices of those who fell at the Battle of the Somme in this centenary year, we made this period of the First World War our focus when we gathered for our Remembrance Assembly on 11^th November.

Mrs Vagh, 6A’s class teacher and our English coordinator, opened the assembly with a fascinating presentation about the immense contribution of Ulstermen to the battle, which raged from 1 July until 18 November 1916. We learnt of the heroic endeavours of Irish soldiers and also, very sadly, that there was not a street in Belfast which did not suffer a loss at the Somme.

As a special mark of respect this year we invited Claudia, a Year 11 student from the Senior School, to play The Last Post before our two minute silence at 11am and The Rouse afterwards. Claudia professed to being quite nervous but is to be congratulated on playing extremely well.

Zoo animals come out for Year One's assembly

On the 6th of October Year One had the opportunity to share their learning with their parents and the rest of the pupils.

Year One did their assembly about Animal Kingdoms. Children designed their own animal masks and sang a song inviting others to go to the zoo with them.

Then they shared all their knowledge about the Woburn Safari animals reading big posters aloud. We learned lots of new facts about them! They used labels and captions to summarise the information.

A few weeks ago I was given the incredible opportunity to have a Skype conversation with Sandra Smith, translator of Suite Française by Irene Némirovsky.

This novel is not only a definite favourite of mine, but is also the focus of my French Extended Essay. It was incredible to speak with Sandra about Némirovsky and her immense talent as an author. 

She explained in such amazing detail Némirovsky’s experiences and life; information which at times was passed on from Némirovsky’s daughter, Denise Epstein, who Sandra got to know during her work with Suite Française.

To hear about the opinions and experiences of Némirovsky’s daughter was incredible; her opinions on her mother’s work provided me with a fascinating and very real insight into the reasons behind Némirovsky’s literary choices.

A representative from the University of Buckingham will be visiting the Sixth Form on Monday 3^rd October, at 4:15 pm, to give a talk about their MB ChB programme.

Sandy Fong will join us on Tuesday 20th September, 12.05pm to 12.55pm, to talk about participation of women and youths in peacebuilding processes, and the need for dialogue particularly in building understanding and relationships in multicultural societies, and highlight some of the peace and conflict issues in Fiji and the Pacific.

"I am from the Fiji Islands and currently living in Geneva. During 2012 - 2013, I was a Rotary Peace Fellow with the University of Bradford, where I did my MA in Conflict Resolution. Prior to Bradford, I had set up a small organisation called Dialogue Fiji and facilitated dialogues across Fiji for over 3 years. I sit on the board of PeaceWomen Across the Globe, and in 2005 was part of a project that nominated 1000 women from around the world for the Nobel Peace Prize. We did not win the prize but we were able to share stories of 1000 women doing amazing work from local to international level.

For this project, I was responsible for coordinating the stories of the 36 women from the Pacific who were nominated. Fiji is often seen as just a holiday destination and not a place for 'peacebuilding' work. While there is no armed conflict in Fiji, we have suffered under 4 political coups, 3 of which were due to race relations and nationality issues and these coups have deeply divided a multicultural society and the race card has been heavily politicised.

At the moment, I am working with the Better Cotton Initiative in Geneva. It's a little different from my human rights and peacebuilding background and work. I am still engaged with work back in Fiji on a voluntary basis with the Fiji Women's Rights Movement Emerging Leaders Forum and at the international level with PeaceWomen Across the Globe."

Please contact Shahzad Rahman for more information.

The U11 rugby teams played their final match of th calendar year against St Margaret's and both teams came away with victories against a spirited home side.

Families in need from Eastern Europe have been given gifts and essentials from Dame Bradbury's school pupils after they filled 80 shoeboxes for charity.

Dame B's Cross Country teams (Y3 boys, Y5 girls, Y6 boys & girls) took part in the Uttlesford District finals having qualified from the Saffron Walden Schools competition two weeks ago. There were some excellent team and individual performances by the boys and girls in what were fiercely contested races. With close to 100 runners in each year group race, there were stand out performances from many of our runners but most notably Ben Inglis (2nd) and Daisy Whooley (3rd) who gained medals for their efforts.