Kirkham Grammar School Junior, Infant and Pre-School Issue 11 Thursday 24 March 2016 Dear Parents Although this term has been shorter than usual, it has been a very fruitful one indeed, particularly on the academic front. As I have visited the classrooms, I have been impressed with some of the outstanding academic work produced. In Sport, our Girls and Boys Hockey Teams both went through to the North of England Finals, the Girls becoming eventual winners and the Boys runners up. It was also lovely to see so many parents at our Cheese and Wine Performing Arts Evening. I am sure you will agree, there was a great atmosphere and I was as proud as always, of the wonderful performances from the children. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my staff, without whom none of these wonderful activities would take place. For those of you who are not already aware, last week, we welcomed Mr Daniel Berry, our new Headmaster. He has already visited the Junior School on numerous occasions, to spend time with both pupils and staff. I am sure you will join me in wishing him a very successful future at KGS. In the last week or so, I couldn’t help but notice that some of the children are now struggling with fatigue and minor ailments, and I therefore hope that after working so hard this term, they enjoy their well deserved Easter break (along with parents too!). Wishing you a peaceful Easter holiday. Mrs AS Roberts Follow me on Twitter: Annette Roberts @KGJShead
On Thursday 17 March, the whole school came together for a very special assembly, which included a skype call to Dawa in Nepal. The children told Dawa all about their fantastic fundraising for the school charity, Classrooms in the Clouds, and then Mrs Roberts presented a cheque to Sarah Hagan, a trustee from the charity. During her visit, Sarah was also given I2’s ‘peach’ which is making its way around the world. Sarah will now take the peach to Nepal and when she returns, the I2 children will learn about all the activities it has experienced while on its travels!!
On Friday 11 March, J3 had a WWII Tea Dance. We came to school dressed in WWII costume and hairstyles! Some children also brought in tasty treats they had created using WW2 recipes. We spent the morning preparing for our afternoon of fun; we made bunting out of old newspapers, coloured and painted Great Britain flags to wave in pride and a selected group of people made origami flowers for decoration. We also made some jam sandwiches, which were delicious! In the afternoon we met Miss Fontaine, aka Shelly, who taught us how to Waltz. We spent the afternoon dancing, singing WW2 songs and eating lots of yummy food. By Pippa McGregor & Hennie Thompson
More photographs are available to view on our KGJS Facebook and Flickr page!
J4Y have enjoyed their latest Design Technology project, building motorised cars. The project came to a fever pitch climax as they raced them in the school hall! The winning car was built and raced by Sam Broadbent. Well done to all J4Y!
On Tuesday 8 March, thirty members of the Kirkham Grammar Junior School Choir, along with Mrs Shuttleworth, Miss Evans and Mrs Tickle, travelled to Bury Grammar School for the AJIS Music Festival. This event tested the range, coordination and harmonies of the young voices and, with fourteen schools taking part, the level of competition was high! The adjudicator for the event was top Manchester opera singer, Tina O'Brien. During the course of the day, in both the morning and afternoon sessions, each school choir sang two songs. Kirkham Grammar Junior School chose to sing ‘The World’s Greatest’ and ‘The Rose’ and they sang their hearts out! Kirkham Grammar Junior School were the winners of the afternoon session and, after being judged as the overall winner of both sessions, were awarded the AJIS Music Festival trophy. This is an outstanding achievement! Following on from this event, on Thursday 10 March, the Kirkham Grammar Junior School Choir also took part in the ‘Last Choir Singing’ competition at Marine Hall, Fleetwood. Again the competition was high with seven schools taking part in Heat 1 and Kirkham Grammar being awarded the runners up trophy. KGJS Choir now go through to the ‘Last Choir Singing Final’ at King George’s Hall in Blackburn on Friday 17 June and will compete against schools from across Lancashire. Thank you to all the parents, grandparents and friends who came along to support! Well done to all the children who took part in these events!
I2 have started their new topic in Science, ‘Treasure Island’. To begin our topic with a bang, we built our own shelter. First, we discussed the importance of a shelter, should we ever be stranded on a treasure island. We all went outside on a glorious, sunny day, dressed with our bandanas on and we used poles, blankets, tarpaulin, string and cushions to build our shelter. Once it was done, we listened to pirate stories and imagined our own pet parrot, Neptune. Then we ate our snacks! Miss Kitt & Mrs Aldeen
Why not have a go at this Maths puzzle Crazy cut You are to make one cut (or draw one line) – of course it needn’t be straight – that will divide the figure into two identical parts.
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House
Sub-total
11.3.16
24.3.16
Total
Birley
1857
185
270
2312
Drapers
2098
229
379
2706
Colborne
1726
222
294
2242
Clifton
1789
177
235
2201
There was a lot of excitement in the I1 classrooms and around school, when KGJS took delivery of ten eggs! It wasn't long before the first egg hatched and a fluffy yellow chick popped out! The children were delighted when the other nine eggs all hatched in the coming days. I1 have been learning how to look after them, by cleaning them out, changing the water and feeding them. The chicks’ arrival inspired Katie from I1 to do a little homework on the subject and she brought in a wonderful collage she had made! Well done, Katie! Alice in I1 keeps three ducks at home and brought in a duck egg to show the rest of the class. We had a super class discussion about the differences between a duck egg and a chicken egg! The I1 children, along with the I2 children, who looked after the chicks last year, were delighted to welcome Tracey Ward into class, who brought in one of the chicks from last March. They were all amazed to see how the baby chick had developed into a fully grown hen!
More photographs are available to view on our KGJS Facebook and Flickr page!
AJIS Rugby 7s On Monday 7 March, KGJS U11 Boys Rugby team travelled to Merchant Taylor's to take part in the AJIS 7s. In the group stages we knew we had to be at our very best as we were in the 'group of death' with three previous winners! The first match against Kings Macclesfield was very tight and we did not touch the ball for the first three minutes! It was our outstanding defence which kept us in the game. When we did gain possession we put together some great passing and eventually won 15-5 with tries from Ben Wiggins, Aiden Hayward and Archie Dowds. The next game against St Ambrose from Altrincham we won comfortably 35-0. The final game against Kings School Chester was another tough game but we won 20-10, with tries from Charlie Read, Thomas Shuttleworth, Archie Dowds and Ben Wiggins, to top the group. In the quarter final we came across AKS and won 35-5 with five tries from Ben Wiggins and one from Charlie Read. We were now through to the semi-finals against Manchester Grammar School. We started badly and at half time we were 10-0 down and knew we had to score first in the second half. The next five minutes saw us score 4 tries to win 20-10 with two tries from Archie Dowds and one try each from Aiden Hayward and Ben Wiggins. We were now in the final against Birkenhead School who were a very physical team. We again found ourselves two tries down very quickly but we never let our heads drop and responded very well, putting together some fantastic passing and scored four tries by Archie Dowds. The final whistle blew and we were AJIS Champions, winning 20-10. This was a fantastic achievement and completed a unique double as we also won the AJIS Hockey earlier in the year. St Mary’s Crosby 7s On Friday 11 March, KGJS U11 Rugby team travelled to St Mary's Crosby to take part in the Daniel Davies U11 Rugby 7s Tournament. In the group stages we came across Merchant Taylors and won 30-0 with tries from Sam Abram, Charlie Read, Freddie Tarrant, Archie Dowds and Aiden Hayward. In our second game we continued our good form, beating The Grange 20-0 but only having to defend our line for the early parts of the game. The try scorers were Sam Abram and Archie Dowds. The final group game was against St Edwards from Liverpool and we recorded an emphatic 45-0 win with Louis Johnson scoring three tries, Sam Abram, two and Ben Wiggins, Aiden Hayward, Charlie Reed and Thomas Shuttleworth each scoring one. We had won our group and our semi-final opponents were St Ambrose from Altrincham. From the kick off we regained possession and continued to move the ball into space which resulted in tries for Thomas Shuttleworth (2), Archie Dowds (2) and Louis Johnson all of which were converted by Archie Dowds to make the score 35-0. We had reached the final where our opponents were Merchant Taylors whom we had played earlier in the group matches. Confidence was high and from the first whistle we took control, scoring four tries and converting three to make the final score 26-0. Try scorers were Archie Dowds (3) and Aiden Hayward. This was a fantastic achievement to win the trophy for the sixth year running. The B team were also involved and performed very well, managing to reach the Plate Semi Final having recorded two draws against A team opposition. In the semi-final they came across a strong Grange A team and, although they played well, they were unable to contain the more experienced side. They should be very proud of their performances.
During the Pre-School and I1 Mothers’ Day Assembly, the children presented their mummies with a special bunch of spring flowers and then sat with them to enjoy a drink and cake. They then performed a special poem and each of them told their mummy why they love her so much!
Mrs Anyon’s Baking Club children have been incredibly busy over the last half term with Mothers’ Day Lavender biscuits, Pancakes and Dorret Conway’s Special Cookies being just a few of the tasty recipes they have tried out! The smell which travels from the I1X classroom after school has been simply divine! We are not sure who gets to eat the delights upon arriving home though….the children or the parents?!
St Mary’s Hall Tournament On Wednesday 9 March, Kirkham U11 Girls Hockey A Team travelled to St Mary’s Hall to play in a tournament. The Kirkham defence was superb and the forwards scored an abundance of goals. The Kirkham keeper didn't concede one goal throughout the tournament. The results were as follows; v Sedbergh won 6-0 v Liverpool College won 3-0 v Kirkham B won 1-0 v SMH won 1-0 In the semi-final KGJS won 3-0 against AKS. The final was a tough game against SMH but Kirkham just won by a fantastic goal by Talia Armstead. Thank you to all the parents who came along to support us. U11 Boys & Girls at the North of England Hockey Finals On Tuesday 15 March, Kirkham Grammar Junior School U11 Boys and Girls Hockey teams travelled to Leeds University to take part in the North of England Hockey Finals. The boys’ competition was divided into two groups of four. In Kirkham’s first game against Cullercoates they managed a 1-0 win. In their second game they faced Kings School Chester and soon went into a 1-0 lead. However Kings struck back with two well taken goals to win 2-1. KGJS’ final game was against St Olaves which they had to win to progress through to the semi-finals. Kirkham continued to play good hockey and, despite the opposition goalkeeper being in fantastic form, eventually won 1-0 to progress to the semi-finals. In the semi-final, Kirkham met Martongate from Northumberland and began to play their best hockey of the season in which they created lots of goal scoring opportunities. Again the goalkeeper was in fantastic form. The score was 0-0 at full time and it took penalty flicks to decide who would progress to the final. Fortunately, KGJS were successful and made the final. Altrincham Prep were their opponents and Kirkham again played fantastic hockey with every member of the squad playing their best game of the year. At the final whistle the score was 0-0. Penalty flicks would decide who would be North of England Champions. The final result was a victory to Altrincham Prep but all the boys should be very proud of how they played and all were a credit to the school. In the girls’ competition, Kirkham’s first match against Barnard Castle was close with both teams playing well and it ended 1-1. Their second game was against Kings Macclesfield. While Kirkham’s start wasn't as strong as in their first game, they managed to secure a 1-0 win. In the third and last game of the group they faced Wakefield Girls High School with both teams fighting hard for the win. Kirkham scored the only goal of the match to finish 1-0 up. These results meant Kirkham had won the group and went into the semi-final to face Yarm. This was a slightly easier game which KGJS won 2-0. Kirkham progressed to the final along with Cundall Manor and after full time the game ended 0-0. Due to the tournament running late, it was decided that both teams would share the title so Kirkham were crowned joint North of England Hockey Champions! Thank you to all the parents who travelled to Leeds to support both teams!
Outstanding talent was showcased at our bi-annual Cheese and Wine Performing Arts Evening on Thursday 17 March. Well done to all who performed, you were all fantastic! Guests enjoyed a selection of fine cheeses and nibbles, while sharing a glass or two of wine with friends! The event had a lovely atmosphere and the finale, ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, brought the roof down!! Thank you to all the parents, friends and our wider school community who came along to enjoy this wonderful occasion and for all the very generous donations which totaled an amazing £629, towards our KGJS Performing Arts. More photographs are available to view on our KGJS Facebook and Flickr page!
On Wednesday 23 March, some of the J2 children took part in a Cycling Proficiency course. This was an exciting opportunity for them to develop their road safety awareness and cycling skills. All the children involved thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learned plenty of skills to use beyond the playground!
U10 KGJS Hockey Tournament On Friday 18 March, Kirkham Grammar Junior School hosted the U10s Hockey Tournament at the Senior School. Three teams took part from Kirkham with all J3 and J2 girls participating. Seven other schools from Lancashire, Cheshire and the Isle of Man joined our A, B and C teams for an enjoyable and hard-fought day of Hockey. All the girls are to be congratulated on their effort, especially those who had never competed in a Hockey match before. Queens School from Chester beat our A team in the semi final and then shared the trophy with AKS. Thank you to all the parents who came along to support. More photographs are available to view on our KGJS Facebook and Flickr page!
U8 Rugby On Saturday 19 March, Kirkham U8s were invited by Fylde Rugby Club to play on the first team pitch prior to their league game and at half time. This was a great experience for all our boys. In the matches they played they scored some wonderful tries and drew many positive comments about their style of play and elusive running. Out of the three matches they played the boys tell me they won all 3! But who's counting!!! Thank you to Fylde for a wonderful afternoon of Rugby and excellent refreshments of sausage and chips!! AJIS Rugby Cup 9-a-side match On Monday 21 March, KGJS U11 Rugby team travelled to The Grange School in Cheshire to play in the semi-final of the AJIS 9-a-side cup. Kirkham were lucky to have a full strength team available, especially when you consider the amount of tournaments all the boys have been involved in recently. Kirkham won the toss and elected to kick and soon put The Grange under pressure. The Kirkham passing and running was met by some excellent defence but they eventually scored with a well taken try by Archie Dowds. From the restart, KGJS regained possession and continued to play some excellent Rugby, and it was not long before we scored two further tries, both of which were scored by Thomas Shuttleworth. By half time Kirkham were 15-0 up and feeling quite pleased with themselves! However, The Grange were not ready to give KGJS victory and soon hit back with two tries making the score 15-10 with 10 minutes remaining. Kirkham knew they had to respond, and a period of excellent Rugby, both in attack and defence, resulted in two further tries, one from Aiden Hayward and the other from Sam Abram to make the score 25-10. The final whistle blew and KGJS are now in the final against Manchester Grammar School, which will be played after the Easter break. All the boys played well with Ben Wiggins, Matthew Oddie and Louis Johnson distributing the ball well and Freddie Tarrant and Charlie Read once again putting in a fantastic defensive display. The substitutes of Harry Jones, Josh Langley and Sam Broadbent all made an important contribution when they came on. Thank you to all the parents who came along to support!
J1X
The I2X children dressed as various fruits as part of their assembly. They explained all about the ‘Eat well plate’, performed some songs and even tested the whole school’s knowledge with a quiz, before a little audience participation!
I2X I2Y performed a wonderful assembly based on the play of Jack and the Beanstalk. Each class member had a speaking part and everybody worked hard to learn their parts in a short space of time! They entertained the audience with wonderful singing and dancing that was energetic and enthusiastic.
I2Y Inspired by their work in Design Technology, researching, designing and building emergency vehicles, J1X decided to create an assembly about people who help us. Working in pairs, the children wrote their own scripts about a variety of people including the police, doctors, nurses, farmers, firefighters, teachers, dentists, mountain rescue and the RNLI. Many of the children wrote about their own parents or family members.
J1X J1Y based their assembly on team work. They played a team game and sang the High School Musical song ‘We are all in this together’. The team game meant the children had to work together to collect chocolates in the time allocated. They spoke about the importance of teamwork and how this is used every day, in both childhood and adult life!
J1Y
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As many of you know, Pre-School have been working on an on-going project for a few weeks now. They have finally completed the Pre-School Igloo, which initially was going to be a small one, but soon increased in size! All the Pre-School children and their parents have been drinking lots of milk, so that the igloo could be built! The children soon found out that they needed more than they originally thought, and Mrs Sumner came to the rescue when she decided to get Blackpool Victoria Hospital involved in the project. Everyone at the hospital, including patients and their families, doctors and nurses and other members of staff, were told all about the Igloo project. As a result, Pre-School received so many milk cartons, that their igloo was big enough to fit six children inside! Many thanks to Mrs Sumner and Blackpool Victoria Hospital for drinking so much milk, and helping with the project! Following our topic on castles and palaces, Pre-School ventured into a world of dragons and ponies and learned lots about these creatures. The children and staff visited Clitheroe Castle where they met professor Theodora Dragonora and Professor Christmas. They taught the children everything there is to know about dragons and they even got to communicate using swords, chanting “to the sky, to the nose, to the ground”. You might not think dragons exist anymore but if you look around you might see them! Yesterday, the children all thoroughly enjoyed participating in an Easter Egg hunt, particularly when their parents joined them to help them read the clues! Lots of fun was had by all!
Kirkham Grammar Junior School have their own Facebook page! Please visit and ‘LIKE’ our page for all the latest news, photographs and information. Our Facebook page name is ‘Kirkham Grammar Junior School’ and can be easily identified from our KGJS logo.
On Friday 18 March, Infant Ensemble performed a popular piece of music called ‘Annie’s song ‘ which they have been practising this term. Their chosen instruments included keyboard, xylophone, glockenspiel, flute and recorder. The musicians were able to read their music, count beats and rests and listen to others in order to play together effectively as a group. The performance was amazing and the infant audience enjoyed listening. We are extremely proud of you all for your hard work and efforts.
House Sports Results 2016 Throughout the Spring Term all our pupils from J1 to J4 have been involved in Rugby, Hockey and Netball House matches. All competitions have been keenly contested and played in a tremendous spirit. There have been 54 Hockey games, 24 Netball games and 24 Rugby games. The results were as follows: Hockey 1st Drapers 2nd Birley 3rd Colborne 4th Clifton Rugby 1st Birley 2nd Clifton & Drapers 4th Colborne Netball 1st Birley 2nd Clifton 3rd Colborne & Drapers I3 have also been involved and had their own Indoor Athletics competition which incorporated 10 races, including relays. Indoor Athletics 1st Colborne 2nd Drapers 3rd Clifton 4th Birley The current overall positions after Cross Country, Hockey, Rugby, Netball and Indoor Athletics are as follows: 1st Birley 150pts 2nd Colborne 127 pts 3rd Drapers 126pts 4th Clifton 117 pts Well done to Birley who are currently in the lead but next term there will be Swimming, Tennis, Rounders, Cricket and Athletics with over 100 points available!
Mrs Riley made over 100 crocheted chicks to raise money for Classrooms in the Clouds. The children were give the opportunity to buy one and received a raffle ticket to enter a draw to win a Lindt Easter Egg! A fantastic ÂŁ151.50 was raised for this very worthwhile cause!
It has been an outstanding and competitive season for KGS Hockey, with all age groups being crowned Lancashire Champions. The results from all matches have been excellent from our U11 girls and boys here at KGJS, straight through to our U18s at the Senior School.
Summer Term begins Thursday 14 April 2016 Thursday 21 April—Infant Royal Day
Saturday 23 April—U11 Cricket v St Mary’s Hall St George’s Day Parade Wednesday 27 April—U11 Cricket & Rounders v AKS Tuesday 3 May—Tempest Class Photographs Wednesday 4 May—Parents’ Evening 4pm-6pm (NO LATE ROOM) Thursday 5 May—Parents’ Evening 6pm-8pm Saturday 7 May—Charity Triathlon 8am-11.15am Wednesday 11 May—J3 Trip to Waddow Hall
Saturday 14 May—FKGS Spring Fair 12 noon-2.30pm