Category: Lower School

6th September 19

Sicily, Year 6 School Reporter writes: “On the first day of term Mr Ben welcomed us all back to school. We felt excited to be top of the school as we found our seats in Trinity Chapel. We sang ‘A Little Bit of Kindness’ by Mark and Helen Johnson and everyone remembered the words from last year. When we got our responsibilities it was a great surprise, looking around all of our faces were smiling. Then we sang ‘Thank You for this World’ by Niki Davies and headed off to start our new year.”

9th July 19

What a day! After a year of hard work, it was time to celebrate endeavour, effort, progress and achievements across the school. Assembled in Wandsworth Town Hall prize giving started with some beautiful performances by the choir, recorder ensemble and Upper School band. A variety of prizes were awarded on the day both for academic subject areas as well as rewarding excellent behaviour, diligence, enthusiasm, perseverance, resilience and initiative.

Although prize day is an occasion to celebrate, it also means saying goodbye to our leaving classes. At the end of prize giving, Year 6 could not hold back the tears when watching the film premiere with memories of their seven-year journey at Finton. A very emotional moment for the children! They will be very much missed and we hope that they will visit and tell us all about their senior schools next year.

5th July 19

With a sunny day and an enthusiastic crowd, all children from our four houses battled in field and track events on Friday morning. The colourful display of house flags and fantastic atmosphere on the fields encouraged the children to give their very best for their house. Sports Day is not only fun for the children but it is also the perfect opportunity to teach them about teamwork, fair play, and how to overcome one’s own limits. The children certainly did us proud with their ‘I can’ attitude and enthusiasm on the day.

It is priceless to see the excitement when children cheer on their friends from the sidelines. They feel a real sense of belonging and love to be part of their team. The children do not run for their own personal success but to represent their house. The team spirit on the day was exemplary!

The much-anticipated announcement of the winners was accompanied by loud cheers from Charrington who were the overall winners of the day. Hip Hip, Hooray!
All children had a fantastic day and the main credit for this lies with our PE team who have once again organised a brilliant sports event for the children. Thank you!

20th November 18

23rd October 18

In aid of the Rainbow Trust

One of the most cheerful mornings at Finton must be the Thomson House Crazy Hair Day! It was fantastic to see the children arrive at school with bright, colourful hair which definitely attracted some attention in the neighbouring streets.

After all the early morning excitement, Upper School children were quickly ushered inside to attend their usual Friday assembly. (We have never seen a more colourful assembly at Finton!)

A big thank you to our Year 6 House Captains, Miss PJ and Miss Anna for a fabulous organisation of another fun Crazy Hair Day!

26th April 18

Finton House School were tasked with a challenging space mission on their STEM Day recently. The children arrived at school in the morning to discover a crashed spaceship in the playground which had appeared overnight. This rapidly fuelled some early morning speculation as to what may have happened.

The children were then quickly ushered into assembly where a newsflash told them that an alien had apparently crash-landed at Finton House. A few CCTV clips showed the alien in various parts of the school, including sitting at the Headmaster’s desk. As the assembly continued there was sudden uproar as the alien walked past the window behind the presenter. Clearly something had to be done.

Throughout the day, children completed various problem-solving activities (relating to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to return the alien to its home planet. Our young engineers in Year 1 helped the alien by designing their own rockets and making straw rockets with fins to give them stability. Working in teams, Years 5 and 6 used Spheros (controlled by the iPad) to calculate and programme a route through a giant map of the universe back to the alien’s home.

Everyone visited the giant Science Dome, which was like a planetarium, to see footage of the space station, enjoy a journey to each planet and even a rollercoaster ride through the rocks and ice of Saturn’s rings. “It was totally awesome” reported one Year 3 pupil.

Another highlight of the day was the self-built rockets launching in the playground. To the amusement of the children, one of the rockets was so well built that it landed on the School’s roof.

At one point in the afternoon, a UFO was spotted in the sky: “Perhaps that’s the alien’s friend coming to rescue him”, cried the children in Year 1.

It was a very memorable day filled with valuable hands-on learning experiences, engaging the whole school and every member of staff!

Ben Freeman, Headmaster of Finton House, said: ‘there’s nothing like this kind of immersive learning to trigger massive enthusiasm for a whole range of subjects. It takes a great deal of planning and resource, but the dividends are incalculable.’

5th February 18

After a very busy week of practising ‘Friends Forever’ in Sign Language, our pupils finally got the chance to perform it in the playground and at Trinity Road Chapel to an excited audience which included Sign2Sing Chief Executive James Watson-O’Neill and members of the Sign2Sing fundraising team.

Sign2sing is in its 8th year, helping fund projects that improve the lives of vulnerable deaf children and adults by helping them access help and advice on the things that matter to them in Sign Language. Imagine living in a world where you cannot communicate with the people around you, from your doctor to someone in a shop. That’s what the world is like for many deaf people. Deaf people can often feel isolated, unable to access information and advice that can help them live happy and healthy lives. Something hearing people take for granted.

23rd January 18

Year 3 pupils discovered one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world.

Guided by local indigenous guides, Year 3 pupils were transported in seconds to Australia in an exciting Virtual Reality Workshop. Not only was the workshop a lot of fun, but the children also learnt a lot about Dreamtime stories, Aboriginal dances and Australian scenery in a full 360 degrees view. One child commented that it felt like she was actually in Australia experiencing everything for herself.

The workshop leader encouraged interesting discussions about the aboriginal life pre 1788, which showed just how much our pupils already knew about the topic. But the workshop definitely expanded their knowledge even further and deepened their learning through incorporating historical facts in 3D experiences.

The workshop definitely also made a few of the staff interested who dropped in to have a go themselves!

Miss Bridget, Deputy Head at Finton, commented: “While it was a cold and wet morning here in London, our children were transported to hot Australia in seconds which was an exciting experience for them all!”

18th January 18

What started with a rather long and complicated French introduction and lots of puzzled faces; ended up being one of the most entertaining shows the children have ever seen. Not only did they burst out in laughter on a number of occasions, but they also were impressed by how many French words they recognised. The play was performed by two actors, one Native English and one Native French. The children were perfectly able to follow the story in both languages, which certainly boosted their confidence about their language skills.

Lyra (Year 4) wrote a lovely review about the performance:

5th December 17