Year: 2022

16th September 22

This week our School Reporters conducted a tell-all interview with Mr Ben… introducing Fin Freeman, Finton’s therapy dog!

At our Summer Prize Giving ceremony in July, Mr Ben announced the arrival of Fin, a cavapoo puppy who would join us in September as a therapy dog in training. Now, two weeks into the Autumn Term, our School Reporters Krish and Sophia ask Mr Ben their burning questions…

How did you find Fin, and how did you choose her from the litter?

I noticed a cavapoo belonging to a Finton family sat really calmly outside the school gate, and so I took the phone number of the breeder from the parent and made the phone call… it was perfect timing as a litter was expected in April, which worked amazingly well to then take a puppy home in July.

When choosing from the litter, there were four puppies left (two girls and two boys) but there were two other people ahead of us in the ‘queue’ and so they had first and second choice. When we saw Fin, the first thing we noticed was her colour. The second thing was that we saw a photo of all the puppies drinking milk – but Fin was lying on her back with her paws in the air!

What is the purpose of having Fin at school?

I used to have a black Labrador at my previous school, and children used to come in and say hello if they were feeling a bit low or upset. Dogs are great for children to read to and build their confidence, and dogs also always get up to funny things and make everyone laugh!

How often does she need walking?

At the moment we are being careful not to over-exercise her. She’s 4 months old at the moment and so she needs 20 minutes of good exercise a day.

You mentioned that Fin’s hair is quite hard to brush, so how do you groom her?

Well, firstly you need two brushes…

She has a toothbrush as well, but we haven’t quite tackled that yet!

What three words would you use to describe Fin?

Fluffy, fun and (at the moment) clingy!

You can follow all of Fin’s adventures on her Instagram, @finatfinton

13th September 22

1st April 22

In mid-March the Head Boy, Head Girl and Prefects wrote to the Finton House community with a proposition to help Ukrainian refugees.

The pupils had been touched by the operation at the White Eagle Club in Balham, which is a Polish centre local to our school that we have used in the past for events such as the Christmas pantomime. The White Eagle Club have been collecting donations for Ukraine with the help of numerous volunteers, and our pupils wanted the Finton family to support them by donating items from a list of those things most needed by refugees.

On March 22, the children travelled to the White Eagle Club in a mini bus packed full of donations that were generously brought in by our community. They were lucky enough to meet some of the wonderful volunteers and see the truly inspiring operation in action as they helped them unload the items. As the mini bus drove away, some of the volunteers gathered outside to clap and the children clapped back to them.

1st April 22

On Tuesday 22 March, Year 5 pupils visited their collaborative ‘A Place to Call Home’ exhibition at Southside Shopping Centre, Wandsworth.

Year 5 pupil Krish describes the event:

“This was a collaboration across Wandsworth with fifty other schools taking part. Each school brought something new to the table, whether it was self-portraits or even Covid particles with words on them that students thought described home (this was our idea; pretty cool right?). This exhibition brought a sense of community and hope as we emerge from this global pandemic – we’re all affected by this and we’re in this together. For me, it highlights how we have stuck together through the toughest of times and shown resilience.

We were inspired by Miss Sophie Potter who painted Covid particles and we were allowed the artistic licence to put our own spin on them. I was blown away by the artwork on display and as soon as we were allowed to look around, we all rushed to find our panel. It was a scramble, to say the least, as everybody was super excited. Our facilitator gave us all sheets and we were split into groups with one group per panel. We were told to draw a picture of one of the artworks on the panels’ and answer a few questions based on our chosen piece. I chose a self-portrait of a boy who I thought went into amazing detail with his mark-making and his use of cross hatching. We all gathered back up again and this time the facilitator gave us a soundscape to ‘watch’ or should I say listen to. A soundscape is a video recording of lots of different sounds that you want to hear, it sometimes makes you feel you want to be where these sounds have taken place. This was interesting as lots of us said we ‘saw’ something even though we did not see anything! This to me highlights the power of sound and how you can visualise things with sound in more detail – two senses are better than one.

Finally, we were split into groups again and created some self-portraits and put our favourite things around us. Overall, this was a really fun trip, and it was so good to work as a team with 50 other schools, and I hope we can all do more things like this in the future.”

1st April 22

It really was a fabulously Finton World Book Day this year.

Pupils and staff alike showed their creativity and personality through their World Book Day costumes this year (everybody knows that Fintonians love an excuse to dress up); from Willy Wonka to Madeline and from the Gruffalo to Gangsta Granny, we really did see it all! As is tradition, the Lower School, Middle School and Upper School all enjoyed parading in front of each other in the playground, clapping and cheering for each other’s costumes.

This year the whole school were treated to an assembly and class workshops with our visiting author, Sylvia Bishop, and illustrator Ashley King. Pupils were delighted to meet the author of much-loved books such as Erica’s Elephant and The Bookshop Girl, and even more so to ask questions to Ashley about being an illustrator. One great query was: ‘What comes first, the words or the illustration?’

Some photos from the day can be found on our Instagram .

1st April 22

We celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week 2022, the theme of which was Growing Together, in many different ways this year.

We started the week with assemblies about the importance of growing not just physically and intellectually, but growing emotionally and finding ways to help each other grow.  Pupils considered how trying new things and taking on challenges helps us all to grow emotionally. During PSHEE lessons, each child was given a circle drawing replicating the growing rings on a tree trunk and then filled in the names of all the people who have helped them to grow and supported them through their lives.

As this was celebration of Growing Together, each member of the school community was given a sustainable pot containing a Love Plant bulb to take home and nurture.  As the plant continues to grow, it is our aim for everyone to give the ‘off shoots’ to someone special in their lives.

Finally, we wanted a whole school project to bring all year groups together and represent us growing together as a community. We commissioned local artist Tim Norris to produce a ‘Tree of Wellbeing’; made from rebars (reinforcing steel bars), the tree is now a permanent feature in the front garden. Throughout the week the children produced a specially designed, handcrafted item to go on to the tree, representing our collective growth and reminding us that looking after our mental health should be a permanent feature in our lives. This project is ongoing, and over time the tree has started to ‘blossom’ and will soon be populated with birds.

8th March 22

On Monday 28 February, pupil and staff representatives from Finton House joined the launch of Asthma + Lung UK’s new campaign: #FightingForBreath.

Year 5 pupil Sophia is a British Lung Foundation young ambassador. The organisation, which has recently joined Asthma UK to form Asthma + Lung UK, invited Sophia to parliament to celebrate the launch of their new #FightingForBreath campaign. Sophia was accompanied by fellow Y5 pupil Isla, alongside other pupils from nearby Hornsby House, and they were joined by MPs and senior staff from Asthma + Lung UK.

Sophia said, “It is so important that we continue fighting for clean air, especially as children growing up in a polluted city like London”.

Sophia’s mother, Marium, is an NHS worker. She said, “Over the past few years, Sophia has used her initiative and taken on the responsibility to raise awareness for lung health in the local and school community. She has also been involved in some much needed fundraising for Asthma + Lung UK to be able to provide essential support and resources for those with lung conditions and to invest in research. Air pollution and climate change affects everyone. We can all be Clean Air Champions!”

To see some photos from the visit, see the post on the Finton House Instagram.

To read about our Finton House Ethos & Aims, please click here.

25th January 22

On Monday 24 February, Finton House was visited by the author Steve Tasane to kick off Poetry Week 2022.

Steve delivered some enthusiasm-filled assemblies to excited audiences across the whole school, and then ran poetry workshops with the Upper School throughout the day. During lunchtime, some of our Librarians and School Reporters managed to grab him for an interview…

What makes a good poem?

I like words that dance. It’s important to me that words dance when being spoken aloud. I always remember what a fabulous poet Roald Dahl is with his dancing words, and I also go onto YouTube and listen to Michael Rosen’s No Breathing In Class which really comes to life when it’s being read out loud.

What/who inspired you to become a poet?

To be honest it’s a combination: firstly of those dancing words I mentioned, and I also started writing poetry because I got upset by things and writing poems about them made me feel better about them. You might feel sad or angry but when you write using tools such as alliteration, onomatopoeia etc. it makes you feel happy when you start reading them. At school I was used to poems being read to us whilst we sat up straight at a desk, not the vibrant poetry we know today.

What’s your favourite poem that you’ve written?

In terms of my children’s poetry it has to be the alphabet rap, as that’s the one people enjoy the most. I think other poems have more importance perhaps, but I never get bored of the alphabet rap!

How long did it take you to learn the rap?!

I wrote the alphabet rap in my head over the space of a weekend. I had the starting line “ABCDEFG, my name is Steve I’m an evil MC” and then I’d go on walks and try to come up with more lines. The lines we remember easily are the lines which are the best/cleverest.

What tips do you have for young poets?

When you’re writing a poem, think about how it sounds when you read it aloud. A good poem will sound like speech – if it doesn’t sound like you’re sharing a secret with your best friend then you probably need to try again. Also – don’t try and rhyme TOO much!

To watch a clip from one of Steve’s brilliant assemblies where the audience got involved in his poem, click here!

11th January 22

Finton House pupils and staff sported their finest Santa hats on the last day of the Autumn Term to raise money for St. George’s Hospital, Tooting.

A few weeks prior to this event, Year 6 pupil Mathilda wrote to Mr Ben to ask if Finton could take part in St. George’s annual Santa Hat Day. Mathilda (pictured) took it upon herself to raise awareness by creating a poster to display around School and in the weekly newsletter.

As the gates opened on the last day of term, a rush of Santa hats streamed through the gates. The end of term Prize Giving ceremonies were a sea of red and white, as was the playground at the end of the day when the whole school gathered to say goodbye to Miss Maria (former Head of Music).

Finton House is delighted to have raised a total of £359.26 for St. George’s Hospital.