The last few weeks have been a busy and exciting time in the Junior School.
Choirs have performed on local and national stages, our dance group has qualified for a national final and our sports teams have performed brilliantly across the sporting spectrum; and in all of these external events, our pupils have conducted themselves impeccably, making all the staff involved feel very proud.
This Messenger is also packed with reports of the children’s endeavours within school, from Year 5’s excellent performance of Peter Pan in the theatre, to the outstanding Art project work produced by all year groups. As when representing the school in competitions, the children continue to approach their studies and extra-curricular activities in school with enthusiasm, determination and resilience.
I hope you enjoy reading the Messenger and I wish all Hymers families a very restful and enjoyable Easter.
Peter Doyle | Headteacher of Junior School
Year 6 Choir at the National Finals
On Tuesday 4 March, the 34 members of the Year 6 Choir, travelled down to Birmingham to compete in the finals of the Barnardo’s National Choral Competition. This is the largest choir competition in the country and attracts entries from all over the UK. Once again, for the 13th consecutive year, our Year 6 Choir was one of only 16 choirs selected from over a hundred entries, which is a tremendous achievement. The venue was the spectacular Symphony Hall which was filled with excited children and an appreciative audience.
The choir sang their two competition pieces; Winds by Laryssa Kuzmenko and It Don’t
a Thing (If It
Got That
by Duke Ellington. Judges described their first piece as having committed story telling with good attention to detail, and having a lovely, atmospheric ending which was strongly controlled. Their second piece was described as very theatrical and catchy with a great finale, bringing home some great energy. Although they did not bring home an award on this occasion, to be amongst choirs of such exceptional standard was an achievement in itself. The children had an amazing experience and should be exceptionally proud of themselves.
Mrs Redhead
Easter in France: Did you know?
There is no Easter bunny in France. Les Cloches de Pâques (the Easter bells) is a popular tradition.
Legend has it that on Good Friday all the church bells fall silent in mourning for the death of Jesus. The bells grow wings and fly to the Vatican in Rome where they are blessed by the Pope. The bells then fly home, bringing with them chocolate eggs which are dropped in gardens along the way. On Easter Sunday the bells begin to chime again.
Happy Easter in French is Joyeuses Pâques.
Mean
Ain’t
Swing)
Mrs Exley
The Great Big Dance Off
Regional Champions
The Year 6 Dance Group, led by Mrs Marsden, travelled to Halifax on the 1 April to take part in the regional heats of the Great Big Dance Off. The 20 girls pulled off a stunning and creative performance of Sweet Dreams to a packed theatre and were absolutely thrilled to be announced as the winners! They will now take part in the National Finals to be held in Oxford in June.
Music Festival Success
All three of our Junior School Choirs have competed successfully at a variety of Music Festivals during February and March.
The Year 5 and 6 Choirs travelled to Huddersfield to compete at the Mrs Sunderland Music Festival. Here they met a variety of top-quality choirs, including the very well-know Lindley School Choir, at the beautiful Huddersfield Town Hall. The Year 5 Choir came away with a second place in the School Choirs 11 and under class for previous non-winners. The Year 6 Choir came away with a third place in the Hymn and Sacred Song class and were delighted to place second, one point behind Lindley, in the School Choirs 11 and under class with an outstanding mark. This was extremely pleasing as the choir was severely depleted in numbers that day.
Hymers hosted the Cottingham Music Festival School Choirs classes for the first time. All three choirs sang a range of songs to an experienced adjudicator and all three came away with an array of trophies.
The Year 5 and 6 Choirs travelled to the Albermarle Music Centre to perform at
the regional round of the Music for Youth Festival. The Year 5 Choir performed All is Found from Frozen 2 and Cantamos! and the Year 6 Choir sang Winds and It Don’t Mean a Thing. Both choirs received outstanding feedback, and they enjoyed the morning listening to a variety of musical performances from other schools.
The Year 3/4 Choir also travelled to the Albermarle, but this time to compete in the Hull Music Festival. They sang two hymns, The Butterfly Song and Abba Father, beautifully, winning their class. Following on from this, they went on to sing Earth, Sea and Sky and Whisper with total engagement and a true sense of performance, which gained them another first place.
Very well done to all the children who participate voluntarily in the various choirs in the Junior School. To be able to sing at such a high level with un-auditioned voices is amazing and I love teaching every single choir. A huge thank you to all the children and the parents who have supported the choirs so far this year.
Mrs Redhead
Year 5 Perform Peter Pan
The children in Year 5 have written reviews of their recent performance on Peter Pan...
On Wednesday 26 March, the whole of Year 5 took part in the spectacular performance of Peter Pan in the theatre. My favourite part is the scene where Hatty (Peter Pan) did her solo Do You Believe in Fairies and the lights turned off and there was a spotlight on her with other lights flickering round the theatre. It really felt magical and I was so proud of her. I liked all of the play and what I really enjoyed as well was the opening scene.
I loved the opening song Tell Me a Story; they all did really well. What I think I have learned from this is that even when you are not saying your words you still need to act and when you do say your words you don’t just say them. I really connected with my character and I feel like I am her.
Thank you to all the cast and to everyone who made the play work, especially Mrs Redhead who directed it.
Ellie
Peter Pan is a show that the Year 5s have done based on the classic story. Personally, my favourite part of the play is the very start of the show. We sang Tell Me a Story and that song was where Mr and Mrs Darling had a solo. John, Michael and Wendy mess about whilst the parents sing and then they beg for a story about the amazing Peter Pan! I think I have gained lots of confidence from doing this play as when you perform you have to be very loud and clear. I also think I have a better understanding on more professional acting and how to talk to a big crowd.
Fifi
I think I have gained more confidence in my acting because I’m louder. I don’t look as scared on stage.
Amelia
Spring Has Sprung in the Art Room
The children have produced a wonderful array of cards celebrating spring blooms. Focusing on colour, they have used collage and paint to create joyful bouquets.
Year 3 are painting with scissors, carefully cutting out collage to recreate paintings
from their visit to the Ferens Art Gallery earlier this term.
After creating patterns with paint, Year 4 have used painted paper to create some colourful contemporary still life collages.
Year 5 have been painting and drawing ‘en plein air’ in a variety of locations around the
school site and in a variety of weathers! Combing mono-printing, pen drawing, paint and collage, Year 6 have created detailed self-portraits revealing their personalities through layers of colour and print.
Mrs Rowland
Readathon 2025
The Junior School recently held a two-week-long Readathon.
This was a sponsored read designed to promote reading for pleasure and to raise money for charity; providing books for children in hospitals around the country. As expected, the children responded brilliantly, reading for a total of 51,565 minutes over the two week period.
Prizes were awarded for the most minutes read in each class. Guy-Vihaan in 6O was crowned the overall winner with an amazing total of 3,315 minutes.
Sponsorship money is still being collected but so far has reached over £450. Thank you so much to all the children who took part and to those who sponsored them. Don’t forget to keep on reading!
Miss Clark
Making History
Rosslyn
Park 2025
On 28 March 2025, our U11 Boys Rugby 7s team descended on Rosslyn Park National School 7s competition and played five games against some strong opposition. It was the culmination of a busy season of 7s in which the boys took part in no fewer than six tournaments and festivals. This came off the back of strong performances in the HMC NE competition in which we placed 4th, followed by an excellent win at the Ashville 7s competition.
The whole squad has worked fantastically well all year. The 12 boys who were selected to go to Rosslyn did not let the squad down. They played some incredible rugby, winning four of the five games, losing just the one in an epic contest against Littlegarth School by one try. They scored plenty of very impressive tries in the process, demonstrating unmatched ability to move the ball into space and play as a team in true 7s style!
Rivers and the Water Cycle Topic
4W have finished off their Rivers and the Water Cycle topic. To conclude their leaning, they constructed their own rivers. They used blue food dye to show the water flowing down the river, which was very
exciting to see it twist and turn!
Alanna said: “The thing I enjoyed the most was pouring the water because it was so fun watching it meander!”
Mrs Hammond
Girls Rugby
History was made at Hymers this Spring Term, as for the first time we are participating in girls rugby fixtures! We have had plenty of interest in girls rugby, with approximately 20 Year 6 girls coming to the club on a regular basis.
On Tuesday 1 April, the squad travelled up to Newcastle to take part in a tag rugby festival at Dame Allan’s with the girls meeting Dame Allan’s themselves again at Wetherby RUFC for a standalone fixture.
Excitement has been rife amongst the girls, and this excitement has been made more potent by the introduction of some fantastic new shirts, kindly sponsored by Edwardson Associates. The girls are looking forward to playing in their new kit.
Mr Hodsdon
HymersJuniorSchool
The team was a joy to take away and I am looking forward to working with them again in Year 7! Well done all.
My thanks to all the parents who came to support, as well as Mr Newton and Mr Doyle who accompanied me.
Mr Hodsdon
Key Dates
April
Tuesday 22
Thursday 24 – Friday 25
Tuesday 29
May
Tuesday 6 – Friday 9
Friday 9
Monday 12
Tuesday 13 – Wednesday 14
Thursday 15
Thursday 15
Friday 16 – Sunday 18
Monday 19 – Friday 23
Thursday 22
Friday 23
Success for Girls Sport
The U9 girls took part in their first netball festival at Pocklington. Undefeated all day, they didn’t concede a goal. Meanwhile, the U8 netball team played in their first netball festival and had a fantastic day winning every match and not conceding a goal!
The U11A girls hockey team won the Yorkshire round of the In2Hockey competition and then progressed to the North East round and after some tough competition came 4th.
The U11B girls football team won the Bowl in the Invitational tournament for Hull and surrounding areas, whilst the U11A girls football team had a fantastic tournament and became the overall Cup winners.
Congratulations to the U11A girls football team who became HMC champions.
Summer Term commences
Year 4 Residential Trip
Junior School Chamber Concert (5:30pm)
Year 6 Residential Trip
Pre-School to Year 6 Open Event
Hymers Hessle Mount and Year 3 Swim Gala
Junior School Assessments
Junior School House Swimming Gala (Years 4-6)
Parenting in the Digital Age: Ask the Experts (Pre-School - Year 6 Parents) 4pm
