Issue 15 Friday 16 June 2017

Junior, Infant and Pre-School Newsletter Issue 15 Friday 16 June 2017 Dear Parents Welcome back to what may only be a very short half term, but one that will be very busy nonetheless, with many activities taking place. I hope to see you at our various events, in particular Prizegiving on 30 June at 1.30pm. Prizegiving is an occasion which looks back on the past academic year and where we not only hand out prizes to those children who have won trophies and awards but also to celebrate all of our children’s efforts and achievements. We will also officially wish J4 pupils every success as they move to senior school.

This is the time of year when many of our classes go out on trips. Last week saw our J4s heading off to Wales for their outdoor pursuits experience and I am delighted to report that the wet weather did not dampen their spirits and a good time was had by all. Meanwhile, our I2s visited Eureka Museum, J1s went to Chester and our J2s, Samlesbury Hall.

I am very much looking forward to the House Challenge Day next Wednesday, when all the children will be given the opportunity to take on various challenges within their houses.

I am delighted that we have been able to announce our staffing for next year. Earlier this week we held our transition afternoon where our boys and girls were able to meet their new class teacher for the next academic year. Next week, we welcome Dawa from Nepal as he comes into school to give us all an update on our International Charity, ‘Classrooms in the Clouds’.

Have a lovely relaxing weekend and let’s hope that the weather is kind to us all.

Mrs AS Roberts Headmistress Follow me on Twitter: Annette Roberts @KGJShead

Please could all library books be returned to school from Monday, ready for the end of term.

T he Spor ts photog raphs are now available to view in the school foyer. Please do pop in to have a look at them and place your order! Thank you.

Thank you to all the librarians for their hard work this year.

During the week prior to half term all the J4 pupils took part in their annual Enterprise Week. The week ‘kicked off ’ with a visit from Mrs Davies, a former parent of KGJS, who was influential in instigating the concept to KGJS several years ago. This got the children buzzing and raring to go! After dividing into six teams, the pupils began to cultivate a business strategy to develop, manufacture and market a fairground-style game to the remainder of the Junior pupils. Having appointed CEOs and Directors for specific roles, the businesses were judged on a presentation, gross and net profit from sales (Grammar Whammers only!) and team cooperation. We were delighted to invite Mr Chesworth in to school to assist with the judging of the presentations and to give the pupils an inspiring insight into the world of business. All of the pupils had a tremendous week in which they worked exceptionally hard and had a lot of fun along the way. The overall winners of Enterprise Week 2017 showed outstanding business acumen that wowed the judges. They also cleared the greatest net profit of the week through shrewd marketing and planning. Congratulations to the Animal Rescue! team of Sam Dunnington (The Boss), Heidi Aldeen, Luca Green, Wills Gut and Pippa McGregor, and to the whole of J4 for a truly inspiring week.

What a better way to show off our talent than by performing a story the children have written themselves! Our story scribing sessions have made Story Time very exciting and preparing for our Summer Production and Sports Day has also been amazing so far.

Children have had the opportunity to use positional language during PE lessons whilst sequencing a story about jungle animals to music. We have also been talking to each other about our dads and why they are special to us. It’s been fun to think about our daddies and do a surprise painting for Father’s Day. On Tuesday 13 June, we spent the afternoon in I1 and met our new teachers. We had a great time and can’t wait to start school in September!

To end their Science topic on 'Out of This World', the J3 children used their DT lessons to learn about the forces and design criteria required for a rocket to travel into space. After discussing aero-dynamics, thrust and weight, amongst other things, the children then went away to design and create a rocket of their own, based around an old camera film canister.

Using only effervescent tablets and water to fuel their rockets, the children had to calculate how much of each to use before setting off their rockets in a number of heats. The winning rockets (by height of launch!) were then put into a grand final. Well done to Grace Livesey who created the winning launch.

On Monday 5 June, J4, along with Mr Lewis, Mrs Tickle, Mr Butterworth and Mr Roberts set off for a once in a lifetime trip to Manor Adventure in Wales. After a five hour bus journey, the children were given a tour around Abernant Lake Hotel, where they were staying. They then enjoyed an evening of archery and going through a very muddy obstacle course! They were all very tired by now so, after tea, they went straight to bed. The next morning was an early start followed by a big breakfast and a morning of activities. The weather was not great but it still did not stop anyone from having lots of fun! After a hearty lunch, the children enjoyed an afternoon of stand-up paddle boarding and raft building with a drink of hot blackcurrant juice in between to keep them warm. Then as always, tea and bed. Wednesday morning was a morning of canoeing and kayaking. After lunch, everyone was surprised with a session of fencing. Even the teachers had a go at it!

This was followed by survival skills. Unfortunately, Mrs Tickle had to leave on Wednesday night so Mrs Roberts came just before everyone had an early night. Thursday morning was extremely exhausting for everyone as they had to cycle down a bumpy, 9 mile cycle track!

The afternoon was abseiling followed by a disco! They were all surprised as Mrs Tickle returned for the disco as she decided she just couldn’t miss it and wanted to finish the trip off with everyone! Everybody had a fantastic time but were really tired afterwards, so they were all fast asleep straight away. The fifth and final day of the week was crate stacking and ‘Manor Olympics’. It was good fun but quite sad.

Next, a big lunch and a long journey home. Every single child and teacher had the most incredible time. There were some times where people got nervous about some of the activities, but they were all determined to try absolutely everything. This trip was so memorable and it was something that nobody will ever forg et.

By Siôned Jones-Blanco

On Monday 12th June, J2 went to Samlesbury Hall.

They were met by Mistress Marjory, the lady of the house. She told them that she didn't like the boys!

They had a tour of the house and found out what life was like for the peasants and the Lord's family, who enjoyed lots of feasts in the Great Hall. The children were a little scared by the ghost stories and George acted as a Catholic priest hiding from the King's soldiers. Everyone enjoyed their lunch outside in the courtyard and then designed their own shields and scary gargoyles. They ended their super day in the outdoor play area.

The I3’s Literacy project has been based on the story ‘Penny Dreadful and the Rat’. They have written some wonderful adventure stories about a pet that goes missing and also completed some non-fiction projects on ‘How to Look after a Pet’.

Each child has presented their work in a different way, either as a book, model, poster or through digital presentations. They are all absolutely brilliant and the children are proud of their finished products. The work is in the foyer of school on display; please take a look. Well done I3, we are very proud of you – your work is of a very high standard and has been a pleasure to read and watch .

What a brilliant day I2 all had at Eureka last week! The children were an absolute credit to the school! The museum was so interesting, exciting and interactive and they had such a great time. First they went to an Energy Workshop and learned that energy can’t be made or destroyed, it can only be changed from one type to another. After that they were given some free time to play in the Post Office and M&S Shop and visit the bank, petrol station, house and dark mirrored room! Then the children had a yummy lunch and Mrs Rowlands learned that you should open a banana upside down like monkeys do, so you have a handle to hold onto! After lunch the children were given the chance to look round the gift shop before visiting the top floor which was ‘All about Me’. This was so cool and they saw giant mouths, brains and noses! I2 had a really fun day with lots of learning opportunities!

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 Esme Lawson (horse riding) and Gabriella Wise (dancing).

I1 are holding a biscuit sale next week to raise money for our school charity, Classrooms in the Clouds. The children will be able to buy a pack of three ‘cloud’ biscuits for £1 during Tuesday breaktime for the Infants and Thursday breaktime for the Juniors.

Thank you in advance for your support!

U9 Cricket v St Mary’s Hall An enjoyable game of Cricket was played on Friday 9 June featuring our U9 boys against St Mary’s Hall, with everyone being given the opportunity to bowl and bat. Thank you to St Mary’s Hall for being excellent hosts and to all the parents who came along to support.

U11 Boys & Girls Athletics v AKS Great performances were seen from all the athletes when Kirkham went head to head with AKS for an Athletics match on Monday. The event was a perfect warm up event ready for the AJIS Athletics Championships that took place later in the week. The final scores were KGJS Boys 100 - AKS boys 54 and KGJS Girls 94 - AKS Girls 61.

Thank you to all the parents who came along to support.

AJIS Rounders Well done to KGJS U10 girls who finished 3rd in the AJIS Rounders Plate Competition on Wednesday 7 June. The girls were fantastic, playing against girls a year older than themselves due to it being an U11s competition and filling in for the older girls who were away in Wales. Many thanks to all the parents who came along to support and to AKS for organising a super tournament.

U11 Cricket v St Pius Wednesday 14 June saw a pleasing win for our KGJS U11 Cricket team when they played St Pius. Everyone was given the opportunity to bat and bowl and we would like to thank St Pius for being excellent hosts.

Brian House Presentation A fantastic £1396.50 was raised from the triathlon and the Copper up for Cancer appeal. It was wonderful to welcome Emma from Brian House into school during the assembly on Monday where she was presented with a cheque for the monies raised. A huge well done to everyone on your fantastic efforts for this very worthwhile cause.

On a glorious day in Blackpool, Kirkham Grammar Junior School took part in the annual AJIS Athletics Championships which involved over 20 schools from throughout the North West. The competition is always very strong and each member of the team had trained really hard in lessons, lunchtimes and evenings and were eager to perform and represent the school with pride.

They did not let themselves down and achieved the following performances: GOLD Ben Firth U10 Boys Hurdles Harry Case U10 Boys High Jump Jenson Stott, Mason Wilkins, Ben Firth & Harry Case - U10 Boys 4 x 100m Relay SILVER James Stacey James Stacey Mason Wilkins Evie Mellon

U11 Boys Cricket Ball Throw U11 Boys Hurdles U10 Boys 150m U10 Girls High Jump

BRONZE Alexander Kane Mason Wilkins Ewan Huck Harvey Barber Lilly Jones Frankie Margerison

U11 Boys Long Jump U10 Boys Long Jump U10 Boys Cricket Ball Throw U10 Boys 600m U10 Girls 80m U10 Girls 150m

Everyone performed really well and were a credit to the school and Mr Oddie and Mrs Farquharson are really proud of their achievements. We would also like to thank Rossall School for organising the Championship which ran very smoothly.

On Wednesday 7 June, the J1 children enjoyed a fun packed visit to the Chester Grosvenor Museum. The day started with an exciting workshop in a room full of Roman artefacts. The children learned all about how the Romans entered Chester and what daily life was like. They were then able to take part in lots of interesting activities such as wearing Roman costumes, building with Roman bricks, working in a Roman kitchen and digging for Roman artefacts. Jack was chosen to be a Roman soldier and he was very lucky as he was given the opportunity to wear Roman armour and hold Roman weapons. He looked fantastic! After lunch, everyone else was able to dress in armour and the children each had their own shield. They were led through the streets of Chester by their very own Roman Centurion who was excellent at shouting commands and keeping his new army in order. The children learned lots of Latin army commands and how to process as an army. The day ended with a trip to the museum gift shop where everyone was able to purchase a souvenir to take home as a reminder of their day. Everyone had a fantastic time!

We will be holding a Chocolate Tombola at the Summer Fete and would appreciate it if each child could kindly bring in a ‘chocolate’ donation. Thank you in advance for your support with this.

It was transition afternoon on Tuesday 13 June and the children thoroughly enjoyed meeting and spending time with their new teachers ready for September. It was also lovely to welcome our new I1s and parents to KGJS. We hope you all enjoyed the afternoon in preparation for starting in September!

Wednesday 21 June - House Challenge Day Thursday 22 June - U11 & U10 Rounders v Lancaster Royal Grammar School (A) 3.30pm Friday 23 June - Mums v U11 Girls Rounders Match 4pm Dads v U11 Boys Cricket Match 4pm Saturday 24 June - Pre-School Production & Sports Day/Lunch 11.30am FKGS Summer Ball 7pm Sunday 25 June - Summer Fete, Summerlee Hall 1pm-3.30pm Monday 26 June - Infant Sports Day Practice 9am-12 noon J3 Taster Day 9.30am-2.30pm Tuesday 27 June - Junior Sports Day Practice 9am-12 noon Author Visit, Summerlee Hall - All Juniors 1pm-3pm Friday 30 June - Prizegiving 1.30pm Tuesday 4 July - Junior Sports Day 12.50pm-3.30pm Wednesday 5 July - Infant Sports Day 1.30pm-3.30pm Thursday 6 July - Sports Day Reserve Date Friday 7 July - End of Term 12 noon (no late room but Pre school remains open) New Term begins Tuesday 5 September The next newsletter will be published on Friday 7 July