Issue 4 Friday 17 November

Junior, Infant and Pre-School Newsletter Issue 4 Friday 17 November 2017 Dear Parents Welcome back after half term and I hope that you all had an enjoyable time.

I am delighted to say that the enthusiasm of the children continues to be a major feature of the school, despite the wintry conditions. Many sporting fixtures have taken place which have been enjoyed by a large number of pupils. The school is also starting to prepare for all of our Christmas events, details of which you will receive soon!

On Monday, we held our special Remembrance Assembly led by Reverend Bunday and I have to say I was incredibly proud of the children who showed great respect in observing the minute’s silence.

Earlier this week, we hosted our very first ‘Parenting Forum’. This is an exciting new initiative at KGJS and both Mrs Blanco-Bayo and myself were delighted with how this first session went and plan to host another one in the New Year.

Finally, a couple of reminders! Please could you ensure that children come into school with their winter coats as the weather has now turned very cold. Please could I also remind you that school will be closed on Monday 20 November for our annual speech day holiday.

Wishing you a relaxing weekend.

Annette Roberts Mrs AS Roberts Headmistress

Follow me on Twitter: Annette Roberts @KGJShead

What an exciting couple of weeks we have had in Pre-School!! Mrs Blanco-Bayo has recently returned from spending two weeks in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. Last week, the Pre-School children were given the opportunity to dress in Indian costume that Mrs Blanco-Bayo brought back with her.

Some fascinating creatures have visited Pre-School and have left a very sticky green goo. The children think they must be aliens but we are still looking for clues to find out who they might be.

After painting and making some super aliens, very funny stories were role-played during our creative curriculum afternoons. Playdough and green goo have become alien food and counting how many donuts an alien can eat is the challenge of the week.

Excitement is definitely in the air and the children are wondering whether these visitors will return soon‌

During their Art lesson, the I2s have been creating their own Wassily Kandinsky concentric circles. Well done I2...they look amazing!!

On Monday, KGJS held their own special Remembrance Assembly, in which Reverend Bunday spoke to the children about remembrance. He then led prayers, before the whole school fell quiet for a minute’s silence, followed by ‘The Last Post’ played by sixth former, James Nash. Head Boy, Oliver Kollard, Head Girl, Alexa Anderson and the Senior Prefects, Grace Livesey and Harry Ribchester also read beautifully during the assembly. Thank you to Reverend Bunday for taking the time to come into school to conduct our Remembrance Assembly.

The I3s were busy making poppies for Remembrance Day during their Art lesson last week. Well done, I3...a wonderful idea.

The J1s had a wonderful time at Pizza Express in Blackpool on Tuesday 7 November, learning how to make their own pizzas. Thank you to Tom, the chef, and all the other staff who made this a truly fantastic experience for the children (and the teachers!). The photographs are now available to view on our KGS Flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/ kgsphotos/

I1 had a super trip to Park View last week, where they took part in activities involving using their senses. Julie, the activity leader, told the children that a rainbow had cracked into tiny pieces and she had been lucky enough to find all the pieces for the children to look at. They were given the challenge to find something in nature that was the same colour as their piece of rainbow. They then used their sense of touch when one child was blindfolded and guided to a tree. They had to touch the tree and describe it to the rest of the group. Once their blindfold was taken off, they had to identify the tree they had been feeling. The children had so much fun at Park View that they did not want their nature adventure to end so, in the afternoon, I1 took another little trip over to the Senior School grounds. Everyone collected autumn objects and made an ‘Autumn Soup’ for the hedgehogs for when they go into hibernation. What a fantastic day they all had!

KGJS welcomed a very special visitor into school on Monday afternoon for a surprise visit...BBC Children in Need's Pudsey Bear and the children were delighted to see him! Head Boy and Head Girl, Oliver Kollard and Alexa Anderson were also interviewed by Radio Lancashire. As part of Radio Lancashire's 'Pedal for Pudsey' Challenge, the children have raised £1123.75 by filling in their ‘Pudsey Coin Fills’ and collecting old round £1 coins. Thank you to everyone who has supported this very worthwhile cause!

Mrs Rowlands and the I2 children have been working on Reasoning in Mathematics. This week, they worked on cracking an NRICH problem, which was to find out if their packet of dominoes was a full set. The children worked really well in their groups to see various ways of working through the problem.

The winning group, who cracked it first, were Bea, Isabelle, Sienna and Lois. The answer was 28.

Well done!

U13 Lancashire Hockey Teddy Bowker, Harvey Barber, Bruno Bowker, Mason Wilkins and Harry Case were selected to represent Lancashire in a series of U13 Hockey matches against Cumbria at UCLAN Sports Arena over half term. Well done to all!

U9 & U11 Hockey v Preston Hockey Club On Saturday 11 November, the U9 and U11 boys played Hockey against Preston Hockey Club. Thank you to Preston for hosting us. A great morning of Hockey was seen.

U11 Rugby v Sedbergh On Thursday 9 November, the U11s travelled to Sedbergh to play their A and B Rugby teams. Every boy in J4 played and performed very well!

Congratulations to all and thank you to all of the parents who went along to support.

U10 & U11 Football & Netball v Buchan School On Friday 10 November, the U10s and U11s played Football and Netball against The Buchan School from the Isle of Man. Thank you for coming to see us during your visit.

U10 AJIS Rugby Festival On Monday 13 November, KGJS U10 Boys played in the AJIS Rugby Festival at Merchant Taylors’ School, Crosby. The squad played four matches against Merchant Taylors A and B, Birkenhead School and Newcastle under Lyme. All the boys played very well, winning two, drawing one and losing just one match.

Well done to all who took part.

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 Tickle at:

m.tickle@kirkhamgrammarjnr.co.uk Thank you

U9 & U10 Rugby v Sedbergh The U8s and U9s took part in a Rugby Festival held at Sedbergh Prep. The U8s played five games in total and won all five. The team were represented by William Thompson, Freddie Wiltshire, Jack Gillett, Sebastian Clark, Leo Paraskeva, Sam Smith and Ellis McNamee. All boys played really well and displayed good potential for the future.

The U9s played 6 games in total and won 3 and lost 3. All boys developed their skills throughout the afternoon and played really well. The team was represented by Henry Allison, Bertie Jones, Jack Dawson-Gerrard, Tom Bellamy, Oliver Littlechild, Alex Fuller, Oliver Clark and Ethan Davies.

Thank you to Sedbergh for organising an excellent afternoon of Rugby.

U11 St Mary’s Hall Cross Country Championship

The U11 Boys and Girls competed in the St Mary’s Hall Invitational Cross Country Championship on Thursday 16 November.

The course was very demanding for all the runners and over eighty took part in each race. The boys were represented by Harry Case, Harvey Barber, Jensen Stott, Charlie Wiltshire, Oliver Kollard, Teddy Bowker and Alex Davies. The girls were represented by Georgia Nicholls, Lily Hunt, Evie Mellon, Alexa Anderson, Eva Berry, Megan Rollinson and Claudia Allison. On this occasion we did not gain a team place but everyone gave 100%.

Thank you to St Mary’s Hall for organising a wonderful event and to all the parents who came along to watch.

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 Polly Hargreaves (equestrian), Samuel Morris (swimming), Charlie and Freddie Wiltshire, Leoma and Rosa Gill (Green Drive Junior Mile).

On Wednesday 15 November, J1 had a very special visitor. Mr Hancock, Philippa's dad and teacher at the Senior School, came to speak to the year about his expedition into the rainforest. He gave an informative and extremely interesting account of his time spent in South America, visiting the Amazon rainforest, the Colca Canyon and Machu Picchu. Mr Hancock described the incredible sounds of the rainforest, spoke about the four layers and showed J1 photographs of him trekking through the rainforest itself. The children in J1 loved asking Mr Hancock questions about his time spent in South America.

Thank you Mr Hancock for an exciting and engaging morning.

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our ‘Parenting Forum’ on Tuesday evening.

We hope you found the event helpful and have taken something away from it. Mrs Roberts and Mrs Blanco-Bayo are very much looking forward to future events where we can discuss other parental concerns and help to support you along the way.

For those who were unable to make it, we hope to see you next time...on the right is a little ‘thought’ from Tuesday’s event!

The ‘Countdown to Christmas’ has begun at KGJS! The Junior School Carol Concert is on Thursday 14 December in Summerlee Hall, starting at 7pm. The children are continuing to practise hard and this event is always a very enjoyable evening.

Rehearsals are underway for the Infant Production which this year will be, ‘Christmas with the Aliens’. This takes place on Wednesday 13 December at 2pm in Summerlee Hall and is always an excellent start to the festive season!

We hope you will be able to join us at these upcoming events!

During half term, Joel and Archie Ashton met His Royal Highness, Prince Harry, who had travelled to UCLAN Sports Arena to visit the Sir Tom Finney Preston Soccer Development Centre, which works in partnership with UCLAN and the Students’ Union to provide football coaching for all. During his visit, the Prince met representatives from the organisation who play and train in local leagues with a view to building new and unique friendships.

Joel and Archie both play for the Sir Tom Finney Football team which is charity-based and the Prince was meeting volunteers and team members to find out about the work they do.

In Maths, the J3 children, working in pairs, used interlocking plastic tiles to translate a repeating pattern.

They were asked to challenge themselves with the complexity of their initial starting pattern. In Science, they have been investigating the thermal insulating properties of foam. They were treated to a fun packed, foamy afternoon! In Art, the J3s have investigated colour, line and pattern and have produced some amazing animal art and colourful autumnal leaf collages.

Atomic Alana, from Mad Science, visited KGJS this morning to demonstrate some of her ‘Travelling Through Time’ Science Experiments to the children. They all thoroughly enjoyed it, with some being given the opportunity to take part in the various experiments.

Letters will be sent home soon regarding an after school club which is taking place at KGJS in the Spring Term.

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

The image above (from the last newsletter) can be found in the school hall. Well done to all who managed to locate it!!

Saturday 18 November - U11 Rugby v St Mary’s Hall & Richmond House, Leeds (A) SMH 9.30am Monday 20 November - Speech Day Holiday Thursday 23 November - U9, U10 & U11 Swimming v Westholme (A) 4pm

Saturday 25 November - U9 & U11 Hockey v St Mary’s Hall (H) 1.15pm Wednesday 29 November - U10 & U11 Boys & Girls AJIS Swimming (A) 12 noon Friday 1 December - U11 AJIS Boys Hockey (H) 12 noon-3.30pm FKGS Winter Fair, Summerlee Hall 4pm-6pm Wednesday 6 December - U9, U10 & U11 Swimming v Bolton (A) 4pm Monday 11 December - U10 Boys & Girls Indoor Athletics v Lytham AC (A) 5pm Tuesday 12 December - Infant Production Dress Rehearsal, Summerlee Hall 1.30pm Wednesday 13 December - Infant Production, Summerlee Hall 2pm Thursday 14 December - Pre-School Christmas Craft Morning 9.30am-10.30am Junior School Carol Concert, Summerlee Hall 7pm Friday 15 December - Whole School visit to the Pantomime Monday 18 December - Infant Christmas Party 1.30pm-3.30pm Tuesday 19 December - Junior Christmas Party 1.30pm-3.30pm Wednesday 20 December - Term ends 12 noon, coaches depart 12.15pm No late room. Pre-School remains open.

The next newsletter will be published on Tuesday 5 December