Derby Grammar School - Junior School Chronicle - Autumn 2018

Junior School

Chronicle Autumn term, 2018

In this issue: House competitions Trips Charitable work Remembrance Day Sports

Welcome To The New Academic Year

House Events

New Year, New Head Boy It’s so exciting being Head Boy! Lots of people have been supportive and I am really enjoying the role. It means lots of responsibility but I am working hard to be the best at it I can be.

I have helped at open days and taken people on tours round the school. It’s a great experience and I am still amazed at being the person I looked up to when I joined DGS in year 3.

If anyone is thinking of going for Head Boy then my advice is to go for it. Danny

Prefects, 2018-19 Head Boy - Danny Deputy Head Boys - Teo & Sam Senior Prefects - Tom & Hamza Atkinson - Dhruv Bemrose - Jonathan Blackton - Krishan Derby - Tharusan Sports - Alex & Joshua Music - Atri & Ali Drama - Omer & James Art - Elliot & Eisah Charities - Ahmad & Yusuf Library - Adan & Shivam

School Council Congratulations to Ben (Y3), Saadi and Ted (Y4), Sam (Y5) and Dhruv (Y6) for being voted School Councillors for this academic year. It doesn’t happen without the planning and preparation of a speech to their peers explaining why they should be chosen.

We’ve had two meetings so far and I have a long list of things the boys would like. Luckily no requests for ‘No homework’ or ‘Coming to School 3 days a week’, but lots of extra-curricular club ideas. Watch this space! Mrs Sly

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Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

Cross Country and Tug of War

House Events

The first House competition of the new academic year saw Junior School competing in Tug of War and Cross Country at our sports venue, Rykneld Sports Centre.

Bemrose won the Cross Country and Derby won Tug of War.

Read more and see pictures at derbygrammar.org/cross-country

House Art

Years 3 and 4

I was really pleased to be asked to judge House Art again this year. However, when I began looking at the entries, I was also filled with dread at the thought of trying to judge, because they were so good!

Well done to the winners, and to overall winners Atkinson House. Ms Sellors

1. Ted (Atkinson) 2. Srujan (Atkinson) 3. Ben (Atkinson) and Oliver (Blackton) Years 5 and 6 1. Tom (Atkinson) 2. Alex (Bemrose) 3. Shivam (Blackton)

Read more at derbygrammar.org/js-art

Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

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Y3 - National Stone Centre

Y4 - Tywcross Zoo

We went to a place that had lots of rocks! We had some bowls that had sand and gems in them and we did gem panning outside and after that made some really cool fossils, but sadly they weren't real.

We saw a life-size lion made of 65,000 lego bricks, monkeys, a kangaroo and a giant tortoise. Unfortunately the orangutans were hiding. My favourite animals were the chimpanzees. They were very cool - one of them had alopecia. We went to the butterfly house to see how it would feel in a hot and humid rainforest.

Next we did some jumping on the earthquake sensor.

Some people made the lines go really big, others made small vibrations.

Ben and Abhi

I had an awesome time at Twycross. I learned a lot from it and it was an epic trip! Srujan

Trips and Visits Y5 - Mosque

Y6 - Tara Buddhist Centre

I really liked it when Nahida talked about the fast. I learnt lots of new things, including that only VIPs can go into the Ka’ba, that Muslims go on a long walk called The Hajj which goes on for days, and last but not least that Muhammad was born in Makka. What I found interesting was seeing the cloth of The Hajj. The trip made me feel that whatever religion you are, no one should treat you badly or in a different way than they would treat others.

IĂłsaif

On 26 November, Year 6 visited the Tara Buddhist Centre in Etwall. We were met by Paul and he asked us about what we had learnt already about Buddhism. Paul was very impressed to see that we all knew an awful lot.

After that, we did some meditation - it was so relaxing that Yusuf fell asleep! Our favourite part of the trip was the meditating as it really calmed us down and made us aware of our surroundings.

Ali & Jonathan

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Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

Year 6 Visit Hollowford

Thank you for our brilliant trip to Hollowford, it was a great experience that I will remember for many years.

It brought our class together and helped us get to know each other better. It has helped us grow closer as friends and helped us to work together in a team.

Hollowford has taught us some life skills and experiences that will help us in our future. It has allowed us to be more independent, spending time away from our families.

Thank you Mrs Genders, Rev Paul and Miss Devine for coming on the trip with us.

Eisah

Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

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Bag2School

Books to Gambia

A HUGE thank you from me for sending in all your unwanted clothes for Bag2School. We raised ÂŁ212 which is split between the Tanzania project and the PTA.

We were really pleased to extend our charitable generosity to help the Gambian Schools Trust, a small educational charity who have similar values to our own Tanzania Project. Each year they ship educational books and learning materials from the UK to schools in the Gambia. We knew that we had resources that would benefit others and were no longer required in our curriculum. Coordinating with the Gambian Schools Trust we were able to fill a van with materials which have since been delivered to the Gambia and are already in use by many delighted students. This truly is an example of recycling at its best! Mrs Hamilton

Our next fundraiser in the Junior School will be the Bring and Buy sale at the end of January.

Please save any toys, books, cds and DVDs that you no longer need to help raise money. It is a lovely afternoon and we would love to see you - I'm always looking for helpers! Thank you in advance for your support!

Mrs Genders

Charities & Charities Week Collecting for the Copper Trail

Spencer Penalties Winner, Y5&6

Aladdin

Wet sponging

Gunging Lukesh Penalties Winner, Y3&4

Connect4 Final

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Aladdin

Sponsored Swim

Sponsored Swim

Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

Forest School

Rebecca Hill, a trained Forest School teacher, gave Juniors an experience of the outdoors this term.

She taught the boys about safety and the three layers of building a ‘waffle’ fire. The boys then got the chance to toast marshmallows or fruit bread over the fire.

Rebecca will be running a Forest School Club in Spring term on a Tuesday night from 4 - 5pm. Next September we hope to use her expertise as we open our new Reception and Key Stage 1 facility with a Forest School embedded within the curriculum.

Mrs Sly

Omer and his winners trophy.

Remembrance Day Service April

At our Remembrance Day Service to mark the 100-year anniversary of the end of WWI, Rev Paul led the School in giving thanks for those who had given their lives for others.

He encouraged everyone not to just remember them today, but every day and to think about how they can each individually say thank you.

Year 6 pupils, Omer and James, read the poem Please Wear A Poppy.

Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

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Mrs Monk runs Nature club. We have planted some plants and we’ve dug up some invertebrates. George

We do different challenges every week in Lego Club, like building a vehicle. Spencer

Clubs Galore!

One of the reasons I went to Chess Club is because I have it at home and I really like it. People who don’t know how to play have help from Mr Allen. Sam

Book Club is new this year. I go because I like reading and I like breaking down stories. I find you can do marvellous things with it and imagine a bit more. Danny

Ash is a really nice soccer coach and he trains everyone well. We normally have a tournament at the end of each week after training. It’s really fun. Ahmad

I go to Choir because I like singing. The songs are really fun. We’ve done a lot of songs at Choir. My favourite thing is competing at Derby Arts Festival. Tom

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Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

Preparations are in full swing for the House Carol Competition. Each House is preparing a rendition of a (usually) extremely obscure Christmas song with accompanying movements and outfits. As well as this, Junior School will be singing two Christmas songs and Junior Band playing a number of seasonal tunes. The week after, we will be singing songs as part of the Carol Service in Derby Cathedral.

Music

The Choir have been singing a wide range of pop songs, old and new. They seem to be favouring the ‘rock anthems’ from the 70’s and have sung songs by Queen and Status Quo as well as the Beach Boys and (slightly) more modern songs by John Legend.

Many pupils are having instrument lessons. Mr Coley runs the Junior Band and works hard at accommodating a wide and varied range of instruments so as to include as many players as is possible, which is no mean feat! and hisand winners trophy.

MrsOmer Hamilton I have also been working on the songs for the Young Voices concert in the New Year. There is a lot to learn but the boys are incredibly good at remembering words and the concert in January will, I think, be a spectacular event.

Mr Wilford

Goodbye Apriland Hello Goodbye to Mrs Hamilton

Hello to Mrs Penny

We are all very sad to say ‘Goodbye’ to Mrs Hamilton who leaves us at the end of this term.

She has been our Year 5 teacher for three years following a period of supply and volunteer work. Her sons, Lewis and Ethan, have come through the Junior School. I had the pleasure of teaching Lewis when I was Year 3 teacher and then took him to Tanzania this year.

We welcome Mrs Penny who joins us to step into the Year 5 class tutor role.

Let’s find out a little about her…

Mrs Hamilton previously worked in business and came to teaching as a mature student. She brought with her lots of life experience and the ability to put into place policies and practices with ease. Her calm nature within the classroom has had a positive effect upon her tutees and it was always a pleasure to walk into her room. We wish her the very best in her new role.

Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

What were you doing before you joined DGS? I was a full-time mum looking after my son, Chester, who’s now moved in to Senior School here at DGS. What is your favourite topic?

That has to be English as it’s my specialism and I absolutely love reading.

What is your favourite Christmas film?

Definitely Polar Express!

What’s your favourite memory of school?

Being in the school Christmas plays, and playing the oboe in the orchestra.

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News From The Rugby Pitch We have had a great Autumn Term of rugby this term with some excellent team performances across the year groups. As always, the boys have been working hard on developing our core themes of catching, passing, tackling and game understanding.

Year 3 have been introduced to the rules of the game and have been working on their evasive and supporting skills, while Year 4 have enjoyed adding tackling to their skill set. The ‘senior boys’ within the Junior School, Years 5 and 6, have been developing and improving their off-loading skills out of the tackle and getting to grips with rucks and mauls!

We have had a busy schedule of fixtures. Year 4 took part in their first ever competitive contact rugby matches performing well against Lichfield School and Nottingham High School. Year 5 impressed with some superb performances against The Elms, Lichfield School, Nottingham High School and Denstone Prep and were magnificent throughout The Elms Rugby Festival which took place in November. A special mention to Iósaif and Spencer who both took home player awards for their individual performances during the festival! Year 6 have been superb and put in in some excellent team performances against The Elms, Lichfield School, Nottingham High School and Denstone Prep.

Overall, we have had a fantastic first term of Junior School sport and I would like to both welcome and thank our two new Sports Prefects for the year, Alex and Joshua , who are doing a great job thus far. Thank you gentleman.

Mr Smyth

The Launch of Holiday Club!

At the end of November we had our first two days of Holiday Club. The uptake was amazing and all pupils and siblings who attended, as well as parents, fed back that they had really enjoyed their time with us.

The first day was themed Nature. We all went on a scavenger hunt and then used items to build a raft in teams. The children also made bird feeders to take home. Friday’s theme was Advent and the start of Christmas. The children were very excited to help festoon the Junior School with Christmas decorations and also created their own advent calendar.

After such a resounding success we are looking forward to our next Holiday Club over the three days leading up to Christmas, the 19th, 20th and 21st of December. There are some spaces left. If you would like to reserve a place, please contact myself or Miss Devine and we will direct you to the booking form.

Mrs Murphy Page 10

Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

Achievements October and November’s Achievement Assemblies celebrated all of the fantastic accomplishments by our pupils, both inside and outside of school. Just some of these are: 

Sam and George, who are both keen tennis players, showed us trophies from their latest tournaments at David Lloyd.



We awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze Certificates to our top performers in the recent Primary Maths Challenge.

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George has won a special award for his help and support in running the Minecraft club.

Read more and see pictures at derbygrammar.org/october–achievements and derbygrammar.org/november–achievements

Golden Table September

November

October

Class Assemblies In the Autumn term, both Year 6 and Year 5 had their Class Assemblies. We welcomed parents to watch and share the recent experiences of their sons.

Year 6’s assembly on 12 October was about their residential visit to Hollowford. The boys recalled the fun and the challenges of their three day action-packed trip and we were treated to a photo gallery at the end, to the amusement of all.

Year 5 had their assembly on 23 November which was all about their history topic on the Aztecs. We learnt many facts through the drama that played out on the stage. Particularly impressive was the number of lines all the boys had to learn.

Honour Points Honour Point race for this term: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Derby Atkinson Bemrose Blackton

865 693 599 527

Congratulations to our class high scorers: Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Abhi George F Alex Adan

83 49 45 57

(Results as at 07.12.18) Junior School Chronicle | Autumn 2018

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A Final Word From Mrs Sly It has been a very exciting term with Dr Norris joining us as Head and the announcement of a new facility for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 from September 2019. She has great vision for the School and she has already begun to have an impact. We look forward to the future with enthusiasm.

One of the things that both Dr Norris and I wanted was a Forest School. We have such amazing grounds and, having explored those parts that are currently ‘out of bounds’, there is a lot of scope to develop areas previously untrodden! We met with Rebecca Hill whose love of Forest School was obvious from the start and our first taster day took place in December. The weather, though cold, stayed dry so that we could light the fire and toast marshmallows. I loved to see the boys learning in the natural environment and I am looking forward to the next step in our Forest School development.

Holiday Club has also launched this term. We were all delighted to see it so popular for its first two days in November. All the children said they had really enjoyed it (“the best holiday club ever!”) and we will continue to provide this facility for our parents in the future. As with all ventures though, it does depend upon numbers so please consider us when looking for childcare during School holidays. Our Christmas Holiday Club is open for bookings on 19, 20 and 21 December.

I am always hugely grateful to our parents for their generosity with the various charitable events that we hold. For a small school, we raise an amazing amount of money annually for the YMCA and the Tanzania Project, as well as the Royal Derby Hospital, our own PTA and for our Junior School through initiatives such as the Christmas Card Project and the Book Fair. Thank you for all of your donations, big or small, during the Autumn term.

We’ve recently had student teachers in School and their observations of our boys have been that they are “so polite, focused and helpful”. Both Mr Lewis and Miss Cheetham said they’d had a great start to their training with us.

Their comparisons to schools they had previously been in was good to hear and I do think we, as staff, often take for granted the fact that we have such a lovely environment to work within, with children who want to learn.

Last, but not least, we’re looking forward to Mrs Penny joining us in Year 5 in the Spring term. She is a teacher with many years experience and who is familiar with Junior School having had her son with us prior to his move to Year 7 last September.

I wish you all, boys and parents alike, a very happy Christmas and a peaceful holiday.

Mrs Sly, Head of Junior School

Reminders for Spring term 

Sports kit changes to Hockey



Please ensure your son has his blazer in school. He should be wearing his school coat, and tracksuits should be worn to all PE and games lessons.