Summer Term Newsletter 2023/2024

Dear Landmark Community

We have reached the end of the eighth year of Landmark International School! It has been another successful, busy and exciting year and has seen the school community continue to grow, develop and thrive. The summer term has, as always, flown by and been packed full of events and achievements.

Events and Community

The term kicked off our second annual International Day. The festivities began with a whole school procession around the playground, with students parading and waving their national flags to an internationally-chosen soundtrack - more than 30 different countries were represented! The action then continued for the students as they visited a variety of workshops set up around the school. Led by teachers and parent volunteers, children had the opportunity to learn about the cultures, food and crafts of a wide range of countries. At lunchtime they enjoyed a delicious, regionally-inspired lunch cooked by Gemma. That afternoon the students were joined in the playground by their parents and family members. Everyone enjoyed an amazing array of food from all around the world, generously provided by our parents.  

We continued to forge our relationship with Kaetsu Ariake Senior School from Tokyo, Japan with what has become an annual afternoon of cultural exchange with our year 9 and 10 students. The afternoon was a great opportunity to share cultures and make connections. Our global student body had the opportunity to learn about Japanese culture from the Kaetsu students and the Japanese students enjoyed sampling a range of the sports enjoyed by Landmark students at the Fulbourn Recreation Ground.

We held our annual Careers Day and were very grateful to the parents and members of the school community who came into school and talked to us about their careers. These included a high profile Sales Director, a Research and Development Scientist working in synthetic biology and automation, an Acupuncturist, a Mobile Apps Software Developer, a Computational Biologist and a Research Scientist working on algorithms to programme robotic explorers on Mars for organisations such as NASA, and with the International Climate Control Committee on helping predict the effects of the melting of the Antarctic ice caps. During the afternoon the students rotated around a number of career based workshops delivered by our Secondary teaching staff; these workshops tested their practical and cognitive skills and exposed them to a wide range of career opportunities. 

At the end of the term our parents and staff were treated to a musical performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This was performed by the Secondary Drama Club interspersed with music performed by the Primary school and with the addition of music that had been composed and produced by members of the music GCSE course. It was a wonderful, humorous and vibrant performance which was received with great enthusiasm.

We finished our term with our annual Sports Day, a celebration of sport at Landmark. Students from Reception to Year 9 participated in a range of track and field events, which were supported by our Year 10 students. It was lovely to see so many parents supporting and we are thankful to the PTA for providing refreshments.

Beyond the Classroom

Our summer term is always a busy one for school trips, with a number of our students heading off on residential trips.

Our Year 5 and 6s returned to Eaton Vale for the annual primary residential trip. This year, students stayed in the outdoor chalets in Alpine Village. It was amazing to see the students fearlessly join in with activities like trapeze, the climbing challenge, and watersports (including lots of jumping and splashing in the river afterwards!). The students (and teachers!) always have a fantastic time at Eaton Vale and we can't wait to take the next group in 2025.

On the 11th June, at the crack of dawn, 25 students from Years 8, 9 and 10 made their way to Stansted airport for Landmark's first trip to Barcelona. They did wonder whether they had actually arrived in Wales rather than Spain as they were greeted by torrential rain on arrival! The students visited Park Guell, a stunning park created by Antoni Gaudi and spent an afternoon (in the sunshine!) at Barceloneta Beach. They also spent a morning at a language school, travelled on a town rail whilst interviewing locals and then hopped on the metro to the Spotify Camp Nou stadium and museum, home of Barcelona FC.  They enjoyed a delicious tapas meal on their last evening and caught an impromptu street performance on their way back to the hotel.  Lastly they visited the Sagrada Familia, arguably one of the world's most beautiful cathedrals, and another example of Gaudi's mastery and imagination. The students were a delight to take abroad, and we hope their memories of Landmark in Barcelona will stay with them for years to come.

During the residential week of term the Year 7 students, together with those who were not in Barcelona, had the secondary school to themselves for the year 7 activities week. The students took part in a range of exciting activities including a chocolate challenge, a drama session, a visit to our local youth centre, a treasure hunt and a fantastic trip to Norfolk for a day of Bushcraft and Adventure.

We had a number of exciting day trips over the term, these included Robin Class going to Shepreth Wildlife Park. They went to learn about food chains for their unit of inquiry and came away with an impressive knowledge of primary predators, carnivores, herbivores and omnivores - amongst other things! 

Toucan class went on a trip to the Raptor Foundation. It was really fun seeing all the raptors and learning about their adaptations. The children asked many questions of the keepers. Getting to see them up close was amazing as we could actually see the parts quite clearly. The children especially enjoyed the 6 month old Eagle Owl that hopped around us.

Our Year 7 and 8 students visited the Cambridge Mosque as part of their Religious Studies curriculum. During their time in the Secondary Department the students have visited the places of worship of all six of the major religions.

Celebrating Learning

The summer term is always a very busy one in terms of exams; the public IGCSE and GCSE exams were held throughout May and June.  We are very proud of our students, who have met the challenges of these exams with purpose and resilience. The secondary students in Years 7 to 10 also sat their end of year exams during this term - the timetable and organisation of the whole exam series went very smoothly and we are grateful for the efficiency of the team for making this happen.

Eagle class students took part in their Bikeability training. Despite challenges with the weather, the students enjoyed the course and worked hard to achieve their certificates.

Every year Landmark participates in the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust competitions. Students from Landmark compete in the competition alongside students from across the United Kingdom. We compete in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Mathematical Challenges and we were very proud of students from across the Upper Primary and Secondary Departments who were awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold awards across the categories. 

The school's second Nrich Maths Fair took place during activities week. Students in the primary department delved into exciting mathematical enrichment activities throughout the morning and were supported by a group of students from Years 7, 8 and 9. Everyone had so much fun completing each of their age-related tasks.

We finished the term with the PYPX, a wonderful celebration of the culmination of our students' learning in the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme. Students presented their learning in a range of areas, focusing on the central idea. The event was a wonderful celebration of learning that the whole community had the opportunity to access and enjoy. Well done to all the students for their hard work.

Goodbyes

On Thursday the 20th June we held an assembly to say goodbye to our Year 11 students. Their parents and our students enjoyed seeing photographs of their journey from when they joined Landmark - some joined as early as our Primary Department - through to the articulate and confident young people they are today. We will miss them but feel sure they will embrace the next stage of their educational journey with positivity and confidence. 

We also say goodbye to Lena, who is returning to Ukraine, Zeke, who is moving to America, Sabir, who is moving to Uganda, Emile, who is moving to France and to Timo, Danyil and Ryan, who are moving to other schools in the area.  We say goodbye to two of our learning support assistants Ayra and Megan and wish them the best in their next steps to becoming teachers. 

We are very sad to say goodbye to Mary Greer, a Founder of Landmark International School and our Registrar. The reason we are thriving today is due to the hard work, dedication and care Mary has put into growing Landmark. We are all thankful for all she has done and she will be sorely missed. Mary is moving into a more part time role as a Civil Celebrant but will continue to support the Landmark community. We are looking forward to her supporting events and the school as we move forward.

As always, we are grateful to you for entrusting your children to us and for being such loyal and supportive members of the school community. We wish you a wonderful and relaxing break and very much look forward to welcoming your children back to school for the new school year on September 4th.

With warmest regards

Gareth and the team