Around School

Keep Quizzing A team of Year 5 and 6 boys attended the annual AJIS Quiz event, where they achieved second place after answering questions across diverse topics: map symbols, letter abbreviations, emoji maths, code breaking, identifying logos, fruits and leaves, and even building of a tower from nothing but paper straws and tape! Boys also took part in the regional heats of the QuizClub.

Hajj Workshop The whole of Year 6 learned all about Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, through an engaging presentation. They moved around the hall to reproduce the different stages of the five days of Hajj, discovered the religious significance of each place visited, and found out how the pilgrimage works in real life from someone who has experienced it. Young Engineer ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ 32,000 children from across the country tried to answer that very question as part of a national competition, including the Junior Boys’ Year 6 Challenge Group. Ziyad and his ‘Pram Power’ invention, designed to help prams move easily up and down stairs, was chosen as one of two Years 6 winners in the Greater Manchester area!

Torah Presentation Year 5 enjoyed a presentation about the Torah from a member of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester. Michael Lowe visited the school to explain what the Torah is, how it is more than just a book or scroll and why it is important to Jews like him. This formed an important part of the boys’ religious studies learning, which in Year 5 is focused on holy books. Remembrance In 2019, Old Boy Kenneth Lee shared his experiences in WWII with a group of boys, who went on to produce an ebook about his time as a soldier to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day in 2020. Kenneth kindly made a donation to the school, and after consultation with Year 6, the school decided to buy a bench for the quiet area of the playground in his honour. Though Kenneth sadly died in 2021 aged 96, his daughters visited the school to unveil the bench on his behalf at the school’s Remembrance Day assembly. At 11 o’clock, the boys came together outdoors on the playground, close to Kenneth’s bench, to hold a two minute silence in remembrance of those who have fought and died in wartime.

Maths Challenge Congratulations went out to a group of boys who won medals in the UK Junior Maths Challenge! Boys at Park Road earned two gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals for their effors in the competition, and one Year 5 boy was invited to compete at the next level, the Junior Kangaroo, in London!

Extracurricular From the high-octane to the more serene and cerebral, the Junior Boys’ School likes to cater for every ‘type’ of boy and provide them with something, outside of lessons, that really captures their imagination. The boys could choose from traditional sports training sessions, snowboarding lessons at the Chill Factore, paddleboarding and sailing at The Anderton Centre, dance lessons from a professional, drama classes at LAMDA, science fun in STEM club, young engineers at Strawberry Pi club and chess – to name but a few! Some new clubs appeared this year: gardening club grew and tended sunflowers and vegetables in the Quiet Area, the Eco Committee went from strength to strength. Congratulations to several Park Road boys who have excelled in their hobbies this year: Flynn Humphreys (Year 4) performed on the Euro Disney international performance stage with his dance troupe, skier Jasper Daniels (Year 3) came 3rd in the GB Race Series and 2nd at the National Schools Race, and Aryan Nayyar (Year 3) has been involved in the exciting sport of go-karting! Green Flag Award Mrs Lowe, Mrs Winstanley and the Eco-Committee have worked tirelessly to achieve a distinction in the Schools’ Green Flag Award, which recognises all of the hard work that goes on at Park Road to promote sustainability and reduce waste. Younger pupils must now ‘pick up the baton’ and carry on the hard work!

Bikeability Boys in Year 6 learned important road cycling skills and developed their cycling proficiency through the Bikeability course.

Ancient Egypt Year 3 stepped into the shoes of archaeologists and pretended that they were discovering an Ancient Egyptian tomb for the very first time in an exciting workshop. They handled replica artefacts and tried to find out as much as they could about this ancient civilisation from the items themselves.