Issue 3 Friday 20 October

Junior, Infant and Pre-School Newsletter Issue 3 Friday 20 October 2017 Dear Parents Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter. Can it be possible that Half Term is already here? The first half term has gone very well and seems to have flown by. Everyone has kept themselves busy, as our newsletters have shown!

Thank you to all the Infant parents who attended our ‘Working Together’ evening last week. The feedback I have received is that parents found this very informative and gave them a good insight into understanding the way that English and Mathematics is taught within school.

On Tuesday 14 November, we will be offering a parenting session for any Pre-School and Infant parents who would like to join us for an open discussion about the difficulties of modern day parenting. Further details will be sent out after Half Term.

We have had a great two weeks of sport. Last week saw all our children running in the House Cross Country and Fun Runs and it was so lovely to see almost every child in the school taking part. Our U9, U10 and U11 Girls Hockey teams have had matches, as well as our U11 Boys. Netball and Football have also featured on the fixtures list! You can read the match reports in our Sports News section.

Staff and pupils really deserve to have a good rest over the next two weeks and I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and reinvigorated for all of the excitement planned for the second half of this term.

Annette Roberts

Thought for Half Term!

Mrs AS Roberts Headmistress

“There is no such thing as failure - just learning experiences!”

Follow me on Twitter: Annette Roberts @KGJShead

In Pre-School, they have been learning about ‘Favourite Foods’ and discovered where different types of fruits come from. They made fruit kebabs and worked out number patterns, counted pancakes and became friends with Maria Clara the pineapple that came all the way from Brazil. They also read some stories about fruits and were keen to learn about animals in tropical countries. The tigers, zebras, rhinos and lions came to life as we read the story ‘Rhinos Don’t Eat Pancakes’ and some fascinating stories were written using exciting materials.

Their trip to Morrison’s Supermarket was a great end to our topic on favourite foods. Maria Clara and many of her tropical fruit friends were there and they all waved at the Pre-School children when they walked through the fruit and vegetables section. Last Friday, they had a special visitor; Jack’s tortoise, Spotty! The children were very excited to meet Spotty and we hope that he enjoyed his adventure to Pre-School!

On Friday 6 October, Harry Ribchester, Oliver Kollard, Olivia Noblett and April Wright, along with Mrs Roberts and Mrs Tickle, visited Fylde Foodbank to take our Harvest donations. The volunteers explained the process and the children were able to see what happens to the food we have donated.

Thank you again to all who kindly donated food and toiletries!

On Wednesday 11 October, the J1s travelled to Chester Zoo for a Rainforest Adventure. They took a boat tour around the exotic islands, immersed themselves in the tropical rainforest realm, got up close and personal with some bats whilst exploring the bat cave and took part in a rainforest workshop where the children impressed the zoo rangers with their extensive knowledge of the rainforests and deforestation. They all had an exciting time and the children couldn’t wait to share all they had learned with their parents! Photographs from the trip are now available to view on the KGS Flickr page via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

On Wednesday 11 October, the I1 children were very lucky when they had a visit from Sam Morris’ mum. Miss Biddle is an archaeologist and brought along a range of different animal bones and Roman pottery for the children to dig out of the sand. All the children were very excited to take part and interested to find out how old the bones were and what animal they came from. A huge thankyou to Miss Biddle for such a lovely and informative afternoon!

In Design Technology, the I3s have been designing and making money boxes by constructing a cube with a wooden frame using wood, cardboard and PVA glue. Well done, I3! Your money boxes are amazing!

Lots of fun was had by all on Tuesday night after school at Mrs Anyon’s KGJS ‘Halloween’ themed Baking C lub !! T he c hi ld r e n thoroughly enjoyed decorating cupcakes and biscuits with Halloween decorations!!

As part of their 'Senses' Science topic, the KGJS I2s have been studying taste. They have had a wonderful afternoon learning about sweet, sour, salty and bitter foods. As you will see from the photographs above, there were some fantastic reactions! We hope that the children will use some of the scientific vocabulary they have learned to describe their tea tonight!

Well done, I2!

During their Maths lesson last week, the J1 children made a variety of 3D shapes using cocktail sticks and marshmallows!

Well done, J1!

All of the photos are available to view on our KGS Flickr page!

Last week, Kirkham Grammar Junior School held their annual House Cross Country races for all the pupils in J1 through to J4 and Fun Runs for the Pre-School and Infant children. Thankfully, we were blessed with fine weather and the previous days wet weather made the conditions underfoot perfect for cross country!! Medals were awarded to all of the fun runners. This year was the best turnout we have ever had with virtually every child taking part and it was a pleasure to witness their outstanding effort, no matter which position they finished.

The following achieved top three positions: J4 Boys 1st Mason Wilkins 2nd Harry Case 3rd Harvey Barber

J4 Girls 1st Georgia Nicholls 2nd Lily Hunt 3rd Frankie Margerison

The Cross Country is always the first House Competition of the year.

The results were as follows: J4 Boys

J3 Boys 1st Alex Davies 2nd George Godbold 3rd Joshua Mulgrew

J3 Girls 1st Lola Cooper 2nd Leoma Gill 3rd Lucy Jones

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

J4 Girls 1st Kirkham, 2nd Preston, 3rd Fylde, 4th School.

J3 Boys 1st Kirkham, 2nd Fylde, 3rd Preston, 4th School.

J3 Girls

J2 Boys 1st Bertie Jones 2nd Oliver Littlechild 3rd Tom Bellamy

J2 Girls 1st Lola Huyton 2nd Isabel Tuck 3rd Zara Gilchrist

1st Fylde, 2nd Kirkham & School, 4th Preston.

J2 Boys 1st Preston, 2nd Kirkham, 3rd School, 4th Fylde.

J2 Girls

J1 Boys 1st Freddie Wiltshire 2nd William Thompson 3rd Samuel Smith

J1 Girls 1st Anna Vavoso 2nd Liberty Kirszanek 3rd Sophia Gough

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

J1 Boys

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

J1 Girls 1st School, 2nd Fylde, 3rd Kirkham, 4th Preston.

A fantastic effort was given by everyone throughout the week and it was lovely to see so many parents come to support all of our runners. After all eight races, the final positions were:

1st Fylde - 44 2nd Kirkham - 43 3rd School - 37 4th Preston - 36 Congratulations to Fylde. However, it is a long competition and there are nine more sports to go!

Good luck to all!

On Thursday 19 October, children’s author, Debi Gliori came into KGJS. The infant children had a lovely morning drawing their own penguins and were given the opportunity to purchase one of Debi’s books and have it personally signed by her.

Thank you to Debi for a wonderful visit!

KGJS certainly have some budding illustrators in the making!!

Staff/Parent Choir The staff/parent choir have made an excellent start! New members are still welcome after half term, 5.15pm - 6pm on a Wednesday evening in the Junior School Hall.

Music Rehearsals After Half Term, Orchestra rehearsals will continue at lunchtime on a Thursday, Vocal Ensemble on a Tuesday morning break and Junior School Choir on a Wednesday morning break.

Private music and drama lessons are available. If you are interested please pick up a letter/form from the Junior School Office.

U11 St Pius Netball Tournament On Friday 6 October, the U11 Girls travelled to Leyland Sports Association for the St Pius Netball Tournament. A great afternoon of netball was played and the first round results were as follows: v Pownall Hall won 7-0, Stockport lost 3-2 and Buchan B won 8-4 which took them through to the cup competition. They unfortunately lost to Kings Macclesfield 9-3. Well done to all who played and thank you to the parents who came along to support.

U11 Boys Football v Birkenhead On Saturday 7 October, the U11 Boys played their first ever football match v Birkenhead School. This was a great match, played in excellent spirits. Despite coming back from 3-0 down to 4-4, the match finished 7-4 to Birkenhead. Thank you to our visitors for a great game of football. There were certainly lots of positives to take away from the game. Harry Case was chosen as ‘Man of the Match’ by Birkenhead. Well done to all who played and thank you to the parents for their support.

U11 Girls Netball v Birkenhead On the same day as the boys football match, the U11 Girls played Netball v Birkenhead School. An excellent morning of Netball was played and the Kirkham Girls won 7-5. Well done to ‘Player of the Match’ Lilly Jones and to all the girls who played. As always, thank you to the parents who came along to support.

U8 Rugby It was a great morning of Rugby for our U8s on Saturday 7 October v Fylde, Preston Grasshoppers, Tarleton and St Mary’s Hall, with every boy in J1 representing the school.

Well done to all and thank you to the parents for coming along to support.

U11 A & B Girls & Boys Hockey v Cheadle On Saturday 14 October, the U11 Girls and Boys A and B Hockey teams travelled to Cheadle Hulme. All teams played well and some excellent hockey was played over the course of the morning. The results were as follows: U11 Girls A Team won 6-0, U11 Girls B Team drew 2-2, U11 Boys A Team won 8-0 and U11 Boys B Team won 2-0. Thank you to Cheadle Hulme for hosting and If parents take photographs at school also to all of the parents who travelled to support the teams. 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

Table Tennis On Monday 9 October, the J4 Table Tennis Finals took place after school. The girls’ winner was Frankie Margerison and the runner up was Grace Livesey. In the boys’ competition, the winner was Harvey Barber and the runner up was Ewan Huck. The following week, Harvey Barber won the final table tennis tournament against Oliver Kollard, who was awarded ‘most improved player’ over the course of the last seven weeks. Well done to everyone who took part.

U9, U10 & U11 Girls Hockey v Sedbergh A great afternoon of Hockey was seen on Wednesday 18 October, with five teams in action!

The results were as follows: U9A won 3-0 (Player of the Match - Emily Greenwood, Goal Scorers - Lola Huyton (2) & Issy Gut) U9B drew 0-0 (Players of the Match - Meesha Almodaka & Evelyn So) U10 Girls lost 4-0 (Player of the Match - Nikita Murthy) U11A won 8-0 (Player of the Match - Evie Mellon. Goal scorers - Lilly Jones (4), Alexa Anderson (2) & Evie Mellon (2)) U11B won 5-0 (Players of the Match - Olivia Noblett & Eva Berry. Goal scorers Eva Berry (3), Megan Rollinson & Chloe Mustow) Thank you to all of the parents who came along to support and to Sedbergh for being excellent hosts. Well done to all who played!

During J1’s Arts Afternoon last week, the children were looking at newspaper headlines. They were divided into groups and had to devise and improvise a news report featuring four headlines.

They used ‘Green Screen’ technology to put the reporters in the studio and out at the locations throughout the world.

Well done, J1!

This week, J2’s Hannah Crawley organised a ‘Guess the Name of the Pandas’ competition to raise money for our school charity, Classrooms in the Clouds.

Infant and Junior children were able to have a go for a £2 donation. In total Hannah raised £130. J4’s Alexa Anderson and Grace Livesey also organised a Halloween game at break time on Monday to raise money for the same cause. A grand total of £100 was raised.

The School Council organised a half term treat with a Halloween themed tuck shop.

This idea was discussed at one of the Thursday morning meetings. Ben Firth and Oliver Kollard took the lead, organising posters and ordering the products to sell from Mr Vevers, the Catering Manager. The School Council will need to calculate expenses and any profit made. Thank you to the School Council for being such fantastic entrepreneurs and organising such a super Halloween tuck shop!

Thank you to all who supported this very worthwhile cause and well done to Hannah, Alexa and Grace!

The ‘red sun’ over lunchtime on Monday created a lot of interest on the playground! It was lovely to hear the children come up with their own thoughts and ideas as to how this effect had been created…

"Is it the sun, or the moon, or the sun behind the moon?" More information and a full explanation was discovered on the internet, upon returning to the classroom!

For more information please visit... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41635906

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

I1X

Sofia Beaver, Emilie Greenwood, Erin Littlechild

I1Y

Felix Martin, Noah Taziker, Emily Townsend

I2X

Henry Dawson-Gerrard, Jacob Mulgrew, Hattie Walker

I2Y

Eleanor Bullough, Nia Murusidze, Isaac Taziker

I3X

Bea Brooks, Esme Lawson, Joseph Mahoney

I3Y

Torrin Anderson, Jasmine Langley, Billy Margerison

J1X

Samuel Smith, Jasmine Stirrup, Anna Vavoso

J1Y

Daisy Bellamy, Sebastian Clarke, Evie Mannion

J2X

Issy Gut, Adam Jackson, Evelyn So

J2Y

Hannah Crawley, Regan Lowe, Harley Marginson

J3X

Zachary Barker, Poppy Dodds, Ava Reed

J3Y

Morgan Cuthbert, Olivia Langley, Freddie Stott

J4X

Ewan Huck, Grace Livesey, Harry Ribchester

J4Y

Ben Firth, Dotty Hackett, Bella Wiggins

Congratulations to you all!

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 Liberty Kirszanek, Freddie Butler (swimming), Olivia and Sophie Noblett (dancing), Nikita Murthy (photography-more details below), Raia Trend (skiing), Isabelle Campbell (ice skating) and Madelyn McGarry (horse riding).

Congratulations to Nikita Murthy in J3X who came runner up in The Society of Heads National Photography Competition. Her stunning photograph of a peacock wowed the judges! The Society of Heads organisation is a dynamic and vibrant community of independent schools, who share innovative ideas and approaches to learning. Nikita came runner up to a winner from an independent school in Cyprus!

Well done, Nikita.

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

The image above (from the last newsletter) can be found by the playground gate! Well done to all who managed to locate it!!

Monday 6 November - School re-opens Thursday 9 November - U11 Rugby v Sedbergh (A) 4pm Pre-School Parents’ Evening 4pm-6pm Friday 10 November - U10 & U11 Football & Netball v The Buchan School (H) 12.15pm Saturday 11 November - U10 & U11 Rugby v Merchant Taylors (A) 10am Monday 13 November - U10 AJIS Rugby (A) 12 noon Remembrance Assembly Tuesday 14 November - Sixth Form Open Evening 7pm-9pm Wednesday 15 November - U8 & U9 Rugby Festival at Sedbergh 2pm Thursday 16 November - J2 Residential to Castle Head departs 8.30am (returns Fri 17 3.30pm)

St Mary’s Hall U11 Cross Country (A) Friday 17 November - U11 Girls Hockey v AKS (H) 4.15pm KGS Celebrate Sports Ball, Summerlee Hall 7pm 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) Wednesday 29 November - AJIS Swimming