Issue 13 12 May 2017

Junior, Infant and Pre-School Newsletter Issue 13 Friday 12 May 2017 Dear Parents I hope you are all making the most of the lovely warm spell of weather we are enjoying – here’s hoping it bodes well for a good summer!

The last fortnight has once again been busy with lots of activities in school. We enjoyed a wonderful House Swimming Gala last week in which every Junior pupil was able to participate. We had our whole school photograph taken last week which, hopefully, you will have received a proof of. What a challenge to get over 1000 people stood still together! Some of our pupils have also had the opportunity to participate in the AJIS Sings and AJIS Proms; two collaborative workshops held in conjunction with other independent schools in the North West.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated to our ‘Copper Up for Cancer’ appeal which has raised £176.94 for charity.

Finally, may I please remind everyone to be careful and considerate when driving into and out of the Junior School car park.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Mrs AS Roberts Headmistress

Follow me on Twitter: Annette Roberts @KGJShead

Twelve teams took part in the U9 Athletics Competition at Ashbridge School last week, with each school having four boys and four girls in each team. A variety of events took place which involved throws, jumps, agility races and sprint relays. Each one of the team performed really well and should be very proud of their performances in this new event. KGJS were placed 4th out of 12 teams with Cleveland Prep from Bolton winning the trophy.

Thank you to Ashbridge School for organising the competition and all of the parents who came to support.

On Tuesday 9 May, fourteen excited children had a very early start for the annual AJIS Sings event. AJIS Sings is a superb event where representatives from all the North West independent schools meet and perform in a massed choir. The children hadn't seen the songs before arriving at Kings Macclesfield school and spent the day in rehearsals culminating in a wonderful concert in the afternoon. The choir, made up of nearly 200 voices, was truly remarkable and it certainly was a memorable experience for all involved. All of our children actively participated and were an absolute credit to the school.

KGJS Ski Trip to Zell am See, Austria Saturday 31 March to Saturday 7 April 2018 for our current J1, J2 and J3 pupils

A presentation evening by TGM Sports, who are organising the holiday for us, has been arranged for any parents who wish to find out more about this wonderful opportunity, on Tuesday 16 May 2017 at 5pm in the Junior School. More information has already been sent home.

We very much hope that your child will wish to join us on this exciting trip!

Every boy and girl in J1, J2, J3 and J4 was selected to swim at last Friday’s Junior House Swimming Gala. With everyone guaranteed to swim in at least one individual race and one team relay, this was a very inclusive House Gala. All the races were keenly contested in every age group and it was one of the closest contested galas for years, with only a few points separating all four Houses. The races comprised of front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke and relays. The relays also included paired float races and linked up breaststroke. After two hours of racing and lots of shouting the individual year group positions were as follows: J4 (U11) =1st Preston and School 3rd Kirkham 4th Fylde J3 (U10) 1st Preston 2nd Fylde 3rd Kirkham 4th School J2 (U9) 1st Fylde 2nd Kirkham 3rd School 4th Preston J1 (U8) 1st Kirkham 2nd Preston 3rd School 4th Fylde

It was clear, with everyone winning at least one age group, that it was going to be very close but no one expected that only five points would separate all four houses!

The final totals were as follows: 1st Preston 119 2nd Kirkham and School 117 4th Fylde 114 A fantastic gala which was enjoyed by everyone. Well done to Preston and to all who took part!

When the children became excited about jungle animals, we decided to plan our activities around this topic. We have read many stories about different types of animals and we are searching for a few more already.

We are learning all about different animal patterns and have started to design our own animals. Doing paintings of giraffes, tigers, zebras and crocodiles has been fascinating and we are slowly finding out what happens when you mix some of the prime colours. We have been singing some super jungle songs and we are even turning into animals during our PE lessons.

On 2 May, J4 raced their homemade cars in a great tournament. The winner was Owain Heathcote-Jones, closely followed by Hennie Thompson in second. Both classes worked very hard on this particular project and it took weeks upon weeks to build and rebuild the cars, sawing and sanding wood and measuring lengths over and over! Everyone tried their hardest and put in maximum effort. All the cars were raced in a mini grand prix and the body work designs were amazing, too, with personalised plates and individual designs.

Special thanks must go to Mr Eagle and Mr Lewis, who organised this project and made it so memorable.

By Sam Medhurst and Oliver Greenwood J4X

On Monday 8 May, I3 set off for their trip to Brockholes Nature Reserve. They were met by Phil, their guide for the day, who took them to the classroom and started with a quiz, asking questions about some of the animals and plants found in the reserve. Everyone then went outside and played games which taught them about what plants need to live and how bees pollinate plants. The children then made plant pots out of old newspaper and planted poppy seeds in them. After lunch, the I3s had fun on the adventure playground and then went back into the park to try some nature art. They took rubbings of tree bark, made tree spirits with clay and things they had found in the forest and finally, in groups, made larger ‘Art Attack’ pictures using logs as a frame. They were lucky to have such beautiful weather and Phil taught them lots of new information about plants and animals. I3 had a great time!

Thank you to Brockholes for making our learning so much fun!

A huge thank you to all pupils and parents who made the ’Copper up for Cancer’ such a success with your generous contributions of 1ps and 2ps for our ‘Pink Wheelbarrow’. The total amount raised was £176.94 and the winner for the closest estimate was Lachlan Hutchings in I3 who was incredibly close with his guess of £175! This fantastic amount will be added to the Triathlon sponsorship which we estimate will be in excess of £1,000 and this total amount will be donated to Brian House. Well done everyone on your fantastic efforts for this very worthwhile cause.

Kirkham hosted Westholme for our annual Athletics fixture in glorious sunshine. The many parents who came to support were treated to some excellent races and field events which included sprints, hurdles, long distance, long jump, triple jump, high jump, shot putt and cricket and rounders ball throw!!!! The competition was then completed with some outstanding relay races from both teams. The results were as follows: U11 boys Kirkham 105pts- Westholme 49pts U11 girls Kirkham 86pts- Westholme 68pts Congratulations to both schools on their performances during the match.

Thank you to Miss Cooper and Mr Butterworth for their help on the night.

It is always lovely to hear about the children’s achievements outside of school. The children have certainly been busy over the last couple of weeks!

Well done to Zachary Barker (cubs), Lily Hunt (football) and Alice Bunday (hockey).

Some of our musicians spent Sunday 23 April at Bolton Junior Girls School for an AJIS Proms event. They had a very busy day, with sectional rehearsals in the morning, followed by a full orchestra rehearsal in the afternoon and a concert for parents and guests from 4-5pm. The conductor was Mark Heron who was most impressed with their efforts throughout the day and the standard achieved. The pupils had practised hard to prepare the music for the event, including exciting pieces such as Mars from Holst's Planets, Stravinsky's Firebird Finale, Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, and, of course, the National Anthem. This was a fantastic opportunity to play wonderful music alongside seventy other musicians, all juniors, ranging in standard from Grade 2 to Grade 7.

Well done everybody!

Last week, the I3 children had a go at producing their own ‘impressionist paintings’ in the style of Monet. Well done I3...they are amazing!!

The Science topic in J2 this half term is 'Electricity' and the children have been enjoying testing out different circuits. They have explored how many batteries are needed in a circuit to make a lamp shine brighter, and then how many lamps can be added to a circuit with only one battery, as they become progressively dimmer.

Creating posters to remind us all of the dangers electricity can pose has been interesting and they are now displayed around the school for everyone to see!

The I2s have been busy in their 'STEM' lessons again making marble runs using a variety of materials. They investigated speed, measurement and force, and they all designed and made their very own marble mazes! The children really enjoyed testing out their marble runs. Well done, I2!

Family & Friends are invited to...

The Friends of KGS ‘Spring Sizzle’ Friday 19 May 3.45pm Kirkham Grammar School Recital Hall

BBQ Cakes

Stalls Refreshments Competitions Prizes

Please could any parents willing to run a fundraising stall at the Spring Sizzle, or who could pledge a cake for the cake stall, please contact s.hancock@kirkhamgrammar.co.uk There is a cress competition and a decorated lunch bag competition.

Each pupil has already been given a lunch bag and some cress seeds to get them started!

Aladdin DVDs The Aladdin DVDs are on their way! The very last date for orders is Monday 15 May at 4pm.

The Infants’ performances are also included on this DVD! Please see the School Office if you would like to order one.

House

28.4.17

5.5.17

12.5.17

Total

Fylde

154

176

122

477

Kirkham

199

183

151

570

Preston

157

205

175

594

School

176

135

138

488

Don’t forget to visit our Facebook and Twitter pages for all the latest news and information!!

Saturday 13 May - U10 & U11 Rounders v St Mary’s Hall (A) 11.30am U11 Cricket v St Mary’s Hall (A) 11.30am Thursday 18 May - U11 Rounders v Westholme (A) 3.15pm U11 Cricket v Westholme (A) 3.15pm I1 Trip to Martin Mere Friday 19 May - House Singing Celebration U11 Rounders Tournament v St Pius (A) time tbc FKGS ‘Spring Sizzle’ KGS Recital Hall 3.45pm Monday 22 May - J4 Enterprise Week begins Wednesday 24 May - U10 Cricket v St Pius (A) 1.30pm Thursday 25 May - J3 Trip to Waddow Hall J4 Wales Meeting 5pm Friday 26 May - Half Term begins at 3.45pm Monday 5 June - School re-opens Monday 5 June - J4 Wales Trip (returns Fri 9 June)