Issue 10 Friday 23 March 2018

Junior, Infant and Pre-School Newsletter Issue 10 Friday 23 March 2018 Dear Parents It has been a short but incredibly busy term and I would like to thank all the pupils, staff and parents for achieving so much in so few weeks. There has been a tremendously high level of achievement, academically as well as in the arts and sport.

It was lovely to see so many parents at our Cheese and Wine Performing Arts Evening. I am sure you will agree, there was a great atmosphere and I was as proud, as always, of the wonderful performances from the children as well as some superb artwork which was on display. In Sport, our girls and boys Hockey teams both went through to the North of England Finals, the boys finishing 3rd and the girls coming 5th.

Our I1 and Pre-school children held a lovely Mothers’ Day Afternoon Tea and delivered a very special message to their mummies.

I hope that you have all managed to see our proposed plans for KGS which are on display at the front of the Junior School. The first part of our project is to put an extension on the Pre-School and to reconfigure the existing space. We are proposing that this will be ready for September and so we have some exciting times ahead of us. With this in mind, I would like to inform you that Mrs Blanco-Bayo will be leaving us at the end of the Summer Term and moving on to pastures new. We are in the process of appointing a new Pre-School Manager.

Finally, I will be spending the second week of the Easter holidays with our Ski Party in Austria which I am very much looking forward to. No doubt I will see some of you at the airport on Easter Saturday!

In the meantime, I hope that you all enjoy a very happy, and hopefully warm and sunny, Easter break.

I look forward to welcoming you back to a longer, but equally busy, Summer Term on Wednesday 11 April.

Annette Roberts Mrs AS Roberts Headmistress

Follow us on: Twitter: @KGJS_ @KirkhamGrammar @KGJShead Facebook: @kirkhamgrammarschool Instagram: @kirkhamgrammar

What an amazing Pre-School have had!

term

Alexander told his Pre-School friends all about his electrical circuit and showed them how to connect cables to turn a light on.

The children’s search for adventure took them all the way to the Chadwick Hotel. A pirate ship had docked at St Anne’s Pier and left little chocolate treasures in the hotel for the children to find. Chocolate coins, Smarties treasure chests, shark fruit salads and cheese and apple swords were eaten during a Pirate Afternoon Tea. Easter celebrations began with the arrival of a letter from the Easter Bunny. He is such a busy bunny, he asked the children and their parents to finish off some of his jobs. The PreSchool children designed their own Easter egg and decorated an Easter bonnet. What a fantastic way to end the Spring Term!

Dear Kirkham Grammar School Friend, I was on my way to delivering Easter goodies when I was called away to a very important Bunny celebration. I was in such a rush I didn’t have time to finish off the chocolate eggs and the bonnets I had prepared for you all.

I thought you would enjoy some Easter activities with a family member. Here are a few bits to get you started.

Have a lot of Easter fun!

The Easter Bunny

We were delighted to display such an array of talent to an audience of over three hundred and fifty at our recent Performing Arts Evening. The evening began with a wonderful Art Gallery of all our pupils’ masterpieces, accompanied by a wine and canapé reception. This was followed by a thoroughly enjoyable evening of music, dance and drama with every child from J1 through to J4 having the opportunity to take part. We witnessed beautiful guitar, vocal and piano solos. Each year group offered a variety of performances, including performance poetry, singing, ukulele choir and a medley from ‘Oliver.’ We had some excellent group performances from our percussion, guitar and violin ensembles. It was wonderful to hear our rock guitarists play their own composition and the orchestra playing four superb pieces. The cheerleading solo and dance duet were both outstanding and received huge applause from the audience. The AJIS Choir Champions entertained us with two expressive performances and the whole school sang together, along with a very enthusiastic audience who willingly joined in with the dance moves. The evening ended with a ‘bang’ as the confetti cannons provided an explosive finale! Thank you to all the pupils and staff for putting together such a memorable evening.

Movie night on Friday 2 March was a huge success! Sixty eight children from I2 through to J2 came back into school at 6pm in their pyjamas with sleeping bags, pillows and teddy bears to watch the movie ‘Sing’ and raise money for the NSPCC and MacMillan charities. Thank you very much for all of our donations. Mrs Rowley and I raised £365 which will help so many people. Please watch out for us on television when we run the London Marathon on Sunday 22 April!

Mrs Rowlands

KGJS is organising a Charity Triathlon which will take place on Saturday 14 April at Kirkham Swimming Pool and UCLAN Sports Arena. The event is for our J3 and J4 pupils and the entries so far have been magnificent. During the first week after Easter, we are also running a 'COPPER UP FOR CANCER' event. We are asking all pupils to collect 1ps and 2ps, in an attempt to fill the ‘Pink Wheelbarrow’! All proceeds will go to Brian House, in addition to all the funds raised from the Triathlon. It is hoped during your Easter Spring Clean you will come across all those unwanted 1ps and 2ps hiding around the house. It would be much appreciated if they could be donated to school for this worthwhile cause. The pink wheelbarrow will be placed in the car park/playground during the first week back. Everyone who donates will get the opportunity to guess the total amount collected and have the opportunity to win a super prize. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

During Monday’s assembly, we welcomed the RNLI into KGJS to talk about staying safe around water. The children and staff watched a video clip which demonstrated the important role the RNLI play in keeping people safe in and around water. They explained about the different coloured flags that are displayed on the beach and what these mean. Thank you for coming into KGJS!

The four KGJS 'Gazette Seasider Art Competition' prize winners went to a prizegiving at The Blackpool Tower Circus on Tuesday 6 March. The children received a medal and goodie bag for their outstanding artwork. The evening was a lovely occasion and the children from KGJS were very smart, polite and excellent ambassadors for our school. Congratulations to Sebastian Boughen, Bea Brookes, Hannah Crawley and Emilie Greenwood.

Last week, KGJS J3s enjoyed a fantastic Forensic Science afternoon. They welcomed Alison, a Crime Scene Investigator, into school and she told them all about her exciting job as a Forensic Scientist/Archaeologist.

Some children were given the opportunity to dress in CSI clothing and everyone was shown how to collect fingerprints and shoe prints. The J3s thoroughly enjoyed learning about this career and the impact that forensic science has on catching criminals! Thank you to Alison for coming into KGJS!

On Monday 5 March, the KGJS Ski Trip beginners, along with Mrs Roberts, Mr Smith, Miss Knowles, Mrs Tickle and Frank from TGM, had a very enjoyable and worthwhile trip to the Chill Factore in Manchester. The children coped brilliantly on the slopes and all improved throughout the session!

Well done to you all!

On Friday 2 March, the J3s took part in a WWII Tea Dance. They came to school dressed in traditional WWII clothing and they spent the morning making WWII decorations and a selection of sandwiches to enjoy alongside baked donations that some of their class members had contributed. All the food was based on WWII recipes. They had a wonderful afternoon at their tea dance, experiencing what a party would have been like during that era and the J3s would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Stott who taught them how to waltz and jive.

During the KGJS Pre-School and I1 Mothers’ Day Afternoon Tea, the children presented their mummies with a 'bag of love' and performed a special song.

After the children had returned to class, the mummies (grandparents and daddies) were able to enjoy a delicious afternoon tea!

A wonderful afternoon was had by all!

Our I2Y children have been reading a text, ‘All about Elephants’ and this afternoon they learned how to write a report, explaining what an elephant uses its trunk for. Their clearly labelled and detailed illustrations were superb.

Well done to all!

In I2X, the children have been learning about multiplication and division. To help with their understanding, everyone put real life stories into pictures and then wrote a sum to match their picture. We had a fantastic discussion about language, and some children spotted patterns in their counting, ‘Look!

Double 6 makes 12!’ and ‘I’ve noticed that just like multiplying, I can keep adding the same number over and over. You get the same answer.’

Well done to all the children who have produced some brilliant jottings in their Maths books this week.

Rugby 1st Preston 2nd School 3rd Fylde 4th Kirkham

Netball 1st School 2nd Kirkham 3rd Fylde 4th Preston

Hockey 1st School 2nd Fylde 3rd Kirkham 4th Preston

I3 Indoor Athletics 1st Preston 2nd Kirkham 3rd Fylde 4th School

OVERALL POSITIONS AND POINTS (After Cross Country, Rugby, Hockey, Netball and Indoor Athletics) 1st 2nd 4th

School 132 points Fylde and Kirkham 125 points Preston 118 points

Next term, each house will participate in Swimming, Rounders, Cricket, Tennis and Athletics.

KGJS U11 boys became Lancashire Champions on Monday 5 March at UCLAN Sports Arena by winning all their games v Ashbridge, Sedbergh, Scarisbrick Hall and Rossall. This took them through to the North of England Finals in Leeds, please see the report later in the newsletter to find out how they got on. Well done to all!

KGJS U11 Boys took part in the Rugby Sevens Tournament at Rossall on Wednesday 7 March. After topping their group with a 100% record, they unfortunately lost in the final to St Mary’s Hall. A medal was awarded to the best player in each team.

Well done to Ben Firth who was awarded it for Kirkham. Many thanks to Rossall for organising a fantastic tournament!

Congratulations to our U11 Girls who won the St Mary’s Hall Hockey Tournament on Wednesday 7 March. The girls played four games in the group stages: v Belmont Grosvenor won 6-0, v St Mary’s Hall U10s won 5-0, v St Mary’s Hall U11 won 6-1 and v King’s Chester 1-0.

These results meant Kirkham had won their group and faced Rossall in the semi final, winning 2-1. The girls faced AKS in the final and after no score line after full time and extra time, it went to penalty strokes which KGJS won 3-2. Well done to all who played.

KGJS U11 Girls Hockey team competed in the National Schools North West round on Thursday 8 March at Manchester High School for Girls. In the group stage KGJS played 3 games: v Hill House won 1-0, v King’s Macclesfield won 6-1 and v Withington won 9-0.

These results meant Kirkham had won their group and progressed into the semi-final, against King’s Chester, which they unfortunately lost 1-0. The girls played King’s Macclesfield for 3rd/4th place and won 3-2 to finish 3rd overall which took them through to the North of England Hockey Finals in Leeds!

On the same day, the annual match for the Kirkham/Buchan Challenge Shield took place at Preston Grasshoppers on their magnificent artificial pitch! Buchan, from the Isle of Man, were victorious in a fantastic match, 30 points to 20. Well done to all who played!

Every boy in J4 has now played Rugby, Football and Hockey for the school this year!

KGJS U10s Rugby team played Rugby v Preston Grasshoppers and Fylde RC on Saturday 10 March. Kirkham had two teams which meant all teams played three matches on Preston Grasshoppers artificial pitch. Thank you to both clubs for a great morning of rugby!

The U11 A & B Hockey teams took part in the AJIS Hockey Tournament at UCLAN on Monday 12 March, in what was a great day of Hockey, played in very wet conditions! Congratulations to the A team who were AJIS runners up and well done to all who played.

The U10 boys and girls played two very good games v Preston Hockey Club on Saturday 17 March at Fylde Hockey Club’s fantastic new facilities at Mill Farm. The honours were shared with one win each.

Thank you to both Fylde and Preston Hockey Clubs for a great morning of Hockey.

On Tuesday 20 March, the U11 Boys and Girls travelled to Leeds for the North of England Hockey Finals. In the group stages, the U11 boys were undefeated beating Hymers 1-0, Altrincham Prep 3-0 and Cundall Manor 1-0.

These results meant they won their group and progressed to the semi-finals where, unfortunately, they lost 1-0.

Kirkham played Ashville for 3rd place and drew 1-1 which placed them equal 3rd in the North of England.

Congratulations to Cundall Manor who went on to win the final. In the group stages, the U11 girls played against Scarborough College losing 1-0 in a close game against the eventual winners. In their second game they faced Wakefield Girls High School losing 3-1 and the last group game against King’s Chester finished 1-1 in an exciting attacking game. These results meant the girls finished 3rd in their group and faced 3rd in the other group, King’s Macclesfield, winning 1-0, placing Kirkham 5th in the North of England. Congratulations to Scarborough College for winning the competition. All the boys and girls played very well and were a credit to themselves and the school.

On Wednesday 21 March, KGJS hosted the U10’s Hockey Tournament. Both of the KGJS A and B teams took part. The A team went through to the plate competition and successfully progressed through to the final against AKS B team. The game went to golden goal and just a few minutes into the first half, Kirkham scored. This meant they had won the plate competition. The afternoon of Hockey saw every J3 girl take part. Well done to you all.

On Thursday 22 March, the J3 and J4 children went over to Summerlee Hall to watch the KGS production, ‘Famous and Forgotten’, the story of the Dick, Kerr Ladies’ Football Team. The cast retold the story of a group of women from Preston who contributed so much to the war effort through fundraising for injured soldiers by playing football.

After World War I, in 1921, the FA decided to ban women from playing football in an official capacity.

For this reason, the success of this early Preston team has, for many years, been forgotten. It was wonderful to see so many of our former KGJS pupils taking part. Well done to the cast, who retold this unique story superbly.

CRICKET Tracksuit Bottoms, white cricket shirt (from the school shop), white training shoes and white socks ATHLETICS Normal PE kit TENNIS Girls: White PE top, skort, white training shoes and white socks Boys: Cricket shirt, PE shorts, white socks and white training shoes ROUNDERS Normal PE kit Please may we ask that all PE kit is named as this really helps to return lost/ misplaced items back to the pupil.

Next term, we will be holding random kit checks to ensure all items are named. It would also help if parents would take the time to check that their son/daughter has the correct kit for each activity. If you are in any doubt about which kit is required, please contact Mr Oddie direct or speak to him any morning between 8.40am-9am.

On the following Fridays, Swimming kit will also be required: 13 April J3 & J4 20 April J1 & J2 27 April J1, J2, J3 & J4

Please remember that training shoes have to be predominantly WHITE and socks need to come OVER the ankle and NOT the type that you wear on holiday!

Thank you for your support.

If parents take photographs at school events/sports fixtures we would love to see them! They may even get used in school newsletters, on the website and in press releases.

Please email them to Michelle m.tickle@kirkhamgrammarjnr.co.uk Thank you

Tickle

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Can you work out where this photo was taken within the KGJS building?

The image to the right (from the last newsletter) can be found next to the I1 classroom by the outside door.

Well done to all who managed to locate it!!

To view an electronic copy of this newsletter, including previous newsletters, please scan the code to the right. There are a variety of QR Readers available for Android and Smart phones and other electronic devices.

The Vocal Ensemble, made up of thirty J3 and J4 pupils, represented the school at the AJIS Music Festival. Competing against nine other junior independent schools, KGJS were awarded first prize. The adjudicator, John Powell, a renowned conductor, singer and adjudicator congratulated our Vocal Ensemble on their ‘committed and musical’ performance. Well done to all the children who represented the school at this exciting event and congratulations on being awarded first place.

On Wednesday 14 March, the KGJS Choir performed two pieces at the Last Choir Singing Competition in the Marine Hall, Fleetwood. Both performances were absolutely stunning and the children should all be very proud of themselves. Well done to all who took part….you are all winners in our eyes!!

Congratulations to all the pupils who took their LAMDA examinations at the beginning of February. There were twenty distinctions and twenty five merits; an excellent achievement. Well done to all!

KGS and KGJS pupils thoroughly enjoyed a visit from author, Katy Birchall on Tuesday 20 March. She read extracts from her latest book, ‘Secrets of a Teenage Heiress’, before pupils were given the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of one of her books. Thank you to Katy for visiting KGS!

I3 had great fun at Myerscough College’s Plant World on Wednesday. They are learning about plants in Science so it was very interesting to find out about plants growing in different zones, such as temperate, desert and tropical environments.

They learned such a lot about the various plants that live there, whilst looking at life cycles and eco systems. The children were excited to see coffee, tea and fruit growing, too, especially oranges, apricots and pomegranates. They saw a selection of animals in the Animal Centre, although the warthogs were a bit grumpy! They also visited the weather recording station, the edible garden area and an engraved totem pole in the woodland area.

The I3s loved the maze in the ornamental gardens and thoroughly enjoyed an early Easter picnic, with our favourite teddies!

Our J4 children had a wonderful Harry Potter Themed Day on Wednesday 14 March at the Senior School. The day included making magic potions (Science), creating magic spells (English), re-enacting scenes from Harry Potter (Drama) and the History and Reality of Witchcraft! They all enjoyed a Hogwarts lunch and, in the afternoon, played a game of Quidditch on the lawn, before being presented with a certificate by Mr Berry as a momento of their day.

The I2s have been learning about capacity by looking at litres, half litres (500ml) and quarter litres (250ml) using different sized containers.

Thank you to the parents who sent in equipment and containers from home...thankfully the children didn't get too wet!

Zea (J3) and Raia Trend (J1) represented Kirkham Grammar Junior School on Saturday 17 March at Pendle Ski Club at the North West Ski Federation Schools Race. Sixty two schools were represented with one hundred and seventy athletes in attendance on an extremely cold (-7ยบC) morning. Zea and Raia were in the Junior category and as such, competed against J1, J2, J3 and J4 girls.

Neither managed to get on the podium for the Junior category, however Zea was 3rd placed female in the J3 girls and Raia was 1st placed female in the J1 girls category. Well done, girls!

Well done to the following children who were awarded Distinctions at the end of this half term: Poppy Dodds

Rowan Edwards Leoma Gill Josie Trow

Ava Reed

Freddie Butler

Hattie Brooks Morgan Cuthbert

Well done to the following children who were awarded a Merit Certificate at the end of this half term: I1X

William Coward, Maximus Vavoso

I1Y

Jenson Langley, Holly Norcross, Jessica Thompson

I2X

Esme Brookes, Ava Gallagher, Alexia Trachillis

I2Y

Isabella Asquith, Polly Hargreaves, Monty Shaw

I3X

Hamish Gilchrist, Samuel Morris, Charlotte Pickervance

I3Y

Charlie Hawe, Charlie Oliver, Imi Osborne

J1X

Isla Battersby, Rosa Gill, Samuel Smith

J1Y

Amy Hodson, Ellis McNamee-Sloggett, Sophia Melling

J2X

George Aldeen, Oliver Clark

J2Y

Darcey Borrow, Jack Dawson-Gerrard, Poppy Pickervance

J3X

Leo Kirkbride, Brooke Medhurst, Zea Trend

J3Y

Trishala Akundi, Sophie Rawlinson, James Singleton

J4X

Harry Case, Taran Mathauda, Olivia Noblett

J4Y

Rebecca Allan, Mia Carmichael, Jake Pedley

It is always lovely to hear about the children’s achievements outside of school. The children have certainly been very busy over the last couple of weeks! Well done to Olivia Noblett, Sophie Noblett (Dancing) Liberty Kirszanek (Dancing & Doodle Maths), Oliver Clark, Zea Trend, Lola Cooper, Jack Gillett, Poppy Pickervance, Harvey Tennant, Harley Marginson, Raurie Sumner, Joseph Mahoney, Jasmine Stirrup, Matilda Howard and Madelyn McGarry (Doodle Maths), Alexia Ayrton, Oliver Parker and Ralph Rowley (Swimming) and Theia Chesworth, Darcey Borrow, Zachary Barker, James Shuttleworth, Jack Short and George Godbold (Lytham St Annes Festival of Performing Arts).

Saturday 31 March - Ski Trip departs, meet at Manchester Airport 8am (return Saturday 7 April eta 5pm at Manchester Airport) Summer Term begins Wednesday 11 April 2018 Monday 4 June - J4 Residential to Manor Adventure Lockerbie 10am depart (return Friday 8 June eta 4.30pm)