Arnold's got plenty of talent

I have been in London this week attending the UCST and ULT Group Education Forum. This is an exciting conference where Heads of Schools in our expanding group share best practice and ideas. I returned home full of inspiration on how we can further improve standards at Arnold.

As a pragmatic Economist, I am in awe of our students' artistic accomplishments and Michael Smith in Year 9 recently certainly showed tremendous flair when he entered the annual BAE Systems Photography Competition. Michael entered photographs into the under 16s competition and achieved three 1st places in the Nature, Holiday and Abstract categories. His winning pictures will be part of a 2011 calendar, and all profits will be donated to 'The Soldiers' Charity'. Do click here to view his winning photographs. They are captivating.

Skill and creativity was also high at this week's 'Arnold's Got Talent' show. This event was a huge success and raised important funds for Village Aid. You can watch the highlights on Arnold School TV. From a very accomplished field, the well-deserved winner was Joe Walker who entertained the large audience to noisy appreciation.

You may recall that, in September, Arnold's MFL students entered the 'All European Language Olympics'. This online global competition was organised by the Association of Language Learning, and more than 30,000 students competed. Many of our pupils took part and I am delighted to announce that, out of all the schools participating worldwide, Arnold came 5^th on average score, which is a fantastic achievement. Kiah Jones, Charlotte Lane and Emily Jeffery received Gold Medal certificates since their performances placed them in the top 1% of all entrants. Well done to the talented linguists who contributed to Arnold's success.

Last night's Parents' and Friends' Christmas Party provided us with a welcome opportunity to relax with other members of the Arnold family. Everyone was particularly appreciative of the Girls' Choir, who sang so serenely before our delicious Christmas feast. I am grateful to the PFA team for organising this lively social event, which raises valuable funds for the benefit of Arnold pupils.

This weekend also saw the Fylde in the face of some challenging Artic weather but, although the frost put a stop to our busy weekend sporting programme, the school was still packed with activity as the cast of 'Calamity Jane' rehearsed in the Memorial Hall. My star-struck daughter and I headed there this afternoon and found ourselves transported back in time to 19th Century Deadwood, in South Dakota. We were spellbound; this is going to be an outstanding production. Click here for information about the few remaining tickets. It's not only our Senior School actors and musicians who are occupied at the moment because our Infants are busily rehearsing for their forthcoming Nativity, which this year is the imaginative 'jesus@bethlehemstable.com'. For many of us, the Infant Nativity is a unique and poignant occasion and I may not be the only one to greet the sight of the stable and its humble inhabitants with slightly teary eyes.

We launched Arnold's 'Big Bulb Plant' this week, although the frosty weather presented us with a horticultural challenge or two. A dedicated team of ground staff and senior pupils will plant a total of 4,500 crocus bulbs in the school grounds to flower in time for 'Purple Pinkie Day' next February. As many of you will already know from our previous fund-raising events, the purpose of 'Purple Pinkie Day' is to raise money to rid the world of Polio. It seems fitting to end a week of inspiration and creativity by imagining masses of these beautiful flowers in all their fleeting glory around Arnold's fields and lawns in springtime.

I look forward to seeing many of you at 'Calamity Jane' this week.

Best wishes

Jim Keefe, Acting Head

Posted by: J E Keefe
Date: Sunday 28/11/2010