Junior, Infant and Pre-School Newsletter Issue 16 Friday 7 July 2017 Dear Parents As the school year comes to an end there is always a great deal to celebrate, and the last two weeks have been no exception. Last Friday, we held our annual Prizegiving where we heard of the considerable successes achieved in all areas of school life involving all our children in some way or another. This could not have been achieved without the guidance, support and encouragement given to our pupils by both parents and staff. We also held our wonderful Sports Days, despite the threat of rain and thunderstorms! As ever, my thanks go to our extremely hardworking teaching and support staff who make all of the wonderful events in school happen. We sadly say goodbye to Mrs Knowles and Mrs McGregor today and wish them both well in the future. We do however welcome Miss Knowles, Miss Hannis and Mrs Heatley to our staff in September. I would like to end my final letter of this academic year by wishing good luck to all our J4 pupils who leave the Junior School today. I wish you all every success for the future. Have a great summer!
Mrs AS Roberts Headmistress
Follow me on Twitter: Annette Roberts @KGJShead
It has been an exciting end of term at Pre-School! Their Sports Day-Production, “We are Going on a Lion Hunt” was a huge success and all of the children were amazing! They all remembered their words and completed the races by themselves. The true team spirit of our little Jungle Animals reigned and they celebrated once again that they are all winners! They have been to Blackpool Zoo to learn a few facts about some of their favourite animals and got the opportunity to chat to the gorilla and watch the giraffes eating their dinner. They learned to do some relaxation with Mrs Rowley, Ralph’s mummy, and they now understand how sometimes it is important to take time out to be calm so that we can feel happier when it is time to do important jobs. Pre-School say goodbye to some of the children who leave to continue their KGS journey in I1. Well done for a wonderful year in Pre-School! You are all little superstars!!!
At Easter, the I1 children were all given sunflower seeds to take home. One sunflower has quite literally reached new heights!! Well done Matilda Thompson, what an amazing sunflower you have grown.
On Wednesday 21 June, KGJS had their first ever House Challenge Day! All the children arrived in their school sports kit and were welcomed into a special assembly which included lots of singing and dancing to get everyone ready for the day ahead! There were four activities separately for the Infants and Juniors. The Infants did den building, making a mini house out of biscuits, then house collaging where they designed a poster to represent their house and finally made their school house name out of Lego! While the Juniors were enjoying cooking delicious meals as a house, making sculptures out of balloons, pretending to be paramedics climbing up Mount Snowdon to bring an injured climber back down on a stretcher and finally Sports Day Consequences with lots of running and Maths! At the end of the day, Mrs Roberts announced the prizes. Fylde won best teamwork award, Kirkham won best communicators award, School won most innovative award and Preston won most enthusiastic award, but the overall winner will be announced in the final assembly. Special thanks to all the teachers for arranging this amazing day and to the KGS Sixth Formers for helping out during the day! by Oliver Kollard & Charlie Wiltshire (J3)
J1 celebrated the end of their Roman topic on Tuesday 20 June with the ancient Roman tradition of feasting. The children came to school dressed as Roman Royalty, fearsome gladiators or mighty emperors and brought in a selection of food using authentic Roman recipes including Isicia Omentata (burgers) and Libum (honey bread). After enjoying the music, food and wine (grape juice), the children practised their Roman numerals and had the chance to try on some real Roman armour. They all had an incredible day and had fun living like a Roman for the day!
Well done to I1 who held a biscuit sale to raise money for our school charity, Classrooms in the Clouds. The children sold ‘cloud’ biscuits for £1 during breaktime. A fantastic £137 was raised for this very worthwhile charity. Thank you to all the parents for your support!
It was wonderful to welcome Dawa from Nepal and Mike from Classrooms in the Clouds to KGJS. The children sang ‘Golden Days’ and our Head Boy and Head Girl, James Stacey and Pippa McGregor, presented Dawa with a cheque for £2000. After the assembly, Dawa visited each class and was presented with a selection of gifts including some of the I1 ‘cloud’ biscuits! Thank you, Dawa, for visiting KGJS and we look forward to seeing you again soon!
The J2s organised ‘Bingo’ for their Classrooms in the Clouds fundraising. They played a game of bingo in each Junior classroom after practising it last week in class. The winners were Grace Livesey, Hannah Crawley, Ethan Davies, Bella Wiggins, Angus Martin, Callum Sumner, Morgan Cuthbert and James Stacey. Even Mr Smith, our caretaker, joined in! It became very exciting in some classrooms as lots of people were waiting for just one number to get a full line. Well done J2, for organising and running the games. A fantastic £60 was raised. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Rounders & Cricket Well done to the J4 and J3 girls who took part in three Rounders matches on Thursday 27 June v Lancaster Girls Grammar School. The results were as follows: A Team: won 12-11 Player of the Match Hennie Thompson B Team: lost 11½-7 Player of the Match Lily Hunt C Team: lost 21-13 Player of the Match Anya Kiely Thank you and well done to the mums and dads who joined the J4 and J3 boys and girls for the Rounders and Cricket matches on Friday 23 June. The results from the Rounders matches were 19-13 and 16-12½ to the mums and in the Cricket match the dads won 260-201. ‘Catch of the Day’ went to Owain Heathcote-Jones and ‘Shot of the Day’ to Stewart Case. Thankfully we only had one injury!! A great evening of sport!
Tennis has been very popular this term with all our J3 and J4 children taking part in our annual Tennis Tournaments. All matches were keenly contested and over 100 games were played during lessons, lunchtimes and Thursday evenings. It was very encouraging to see how much the pupils improved, not only in their playing ability but also their officiating and umpiring skills. The results were as follows: U11 Boys U11 Girls U10 Boys U10 Girls
Winner Winner Winner Winner
Alexander Kane Jessica Cole Harvey Barber Mia Carmichael
Runner up Runner up Runner up Runner up
Alex Maude Emily Marsh Oliver Kollard Anya Kiely
U11 Boys U11 Girls U10 Boys U10 Girls
Plate Winner Plate Winner Plate Winner Plate Winner
Oliver Greenwood Pippa McGregor Harry Case Frankie Margerison
Runner up Runner up Runner up Runner up
Luca Green Hennie Thompson James Shuttleworth Sarah Chatwin
Congratulations to all our winners and everyone who took part.
Below are the House Sports final totals after three terms of exciting and enthusiastic competition in which every pupil from J1 through to J4 participated in ten different sports. House Sports Results from the Summer Term are as follows:
Swimming
Athletics
1st Preston 2nd School & Kirkham 4th Fylde
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Tennis
Cricket
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
1st School 2nd Fylde & Preston 4th Kirkham
School Kirkham Fylde Preston
Fylde School Kirkham Preston
Rounders 1st Kirkham 2nd Fylde & School 4th Preston
The final totals for the year are as follows: 2016-17 House Champions
1st
Kirkham 258
2nd School
251
3rd Fylde
250
4th Preston
221
Well done to all!
Despite the rain the day before, this year’s Infant Sports Day was a lovely occasion and the sun shone. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves, showed real enthusiasm and competed with true sportsmanship. Thank you to Hamza Choudhury (Leicester City FC) and Mr Adrian Long for presenting the prizes. As always, thank you to parents, family and friends who came along to support!
This year’s Junior Sports Day was certainly challenging with the event taking place over two separate days due to the weather! Despite this, the children all thoroughly enjoyed themselves while the Pre-School and Infant children watched on and showed their support for the older children in school. The Junior children all competed in true team spirit. Thank you to Mrs Knowles for presenting the prizes.
Photographs from both Sports Da ys are ava ilab le to download on our KGS Flickr page.
For their final Design Technology project, the J4 pupils have been visiting the Senior School workshops. Their brief was to design and manufacture a clock. With a choice between either a BB8 or Minion, pupils used the 2D design software in the computer lab to trace out their designs. The individual designs were then cut and etched out by the laser cutter before the pupils used the line bender, painted and finally assembled their clock mechanisms. The project has been a tremendous learning opportunity for our J4 pupils and also proved to be an excellent additional transition opportunity. Thanks must go to the Senior School Design Technology department for their support in this tremendous project.
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 Jason Soar and Lucie Wilson (horse riding) and Liberty Kirszanek and Gabriella Pearson (dancing). Owain Heathcote-Jones recently produced a series of outstanding performances in the pool at the Kendal Open Swimming Competition, winning five gold medals and one silver medal. He also set four new personal best times. Owain started incredibly well with an excellent swim in the 100m individual medley event, winning the silver medal in a new personal best time. Not satisfied with the silver medal, Owain followed this by winning gold in the 50m backstroke, the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle and then again in both the 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly events. Owain finished the competition as the top ranked swimmer of the meet. Well done, Owain.
Our Summer Fete on Sunday 25 June was a huge success. The morning rain stopped in time for the start of the event and there was a wonderful atmosphere in our grand marquee! Musical performances, including solo performances from our musicians, the Junior School Choir and the Musical Theatre group entertained our guests, while they browsed the vast array of food and craft stalls on display. Guests enjoyed the culinary delights from our Catering Manager, Mr Ian Vevers, and a glass of Prosecco or Gin from Fizz and Flute! Thank you to everyone who came along to support this event.
J1 and J2 have been busy making kites during Arts Afternoon. The children loved flying them, but unfortunately they managed to pick a day without much wind!
After weeks of practice, the I3 Concert took place last night. The children dressed in their party clothes and there was lots of dancing and singing. Some children played duets and solos using an array of instruments including the piano, flute, violin and drums! All the money raised from the concert and raffle went to ‘Classrooms in the Clouds’. Thank you to everybody who came along to support the event.
On Tuesday 27 June, a number of children from Mrs French’s Percussion group took part in a showcase in front of parents and family. Well done, you were all amazing!
The annual J4 Heptathlon took place on Tuesday 27 June with fantastic performances from everyone. Each athlete performed in the long jump, high jump, shot, throw, hurdles, 3 lap race and 60m sprint, with points awarded for each performance. This year’s Heptathlon Champions are Jessica Cole and James Stacey. Boys 1st James Stacey 2nd Alexander Kane 3rd Owain Heathcote-Jones 4th Wills Gut 5th Oliver Greenwood 6th Alexander Maude
581 557 543 507 497 486
Girls 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
556 510 501 486 480 472
Jessica Cole Hennie Thompson Pippa McGregor Emily Marsh Maisie Bailey Rachel Watson
Well done to everyone who took part!
On Monday 3 July, the J3 children, dressed as Ancient Greeks, performed a short play to the whole school during assembly. This taught the children about how the Greeks lived and all about the Greek Gods. They then went on to enjoy a full day of Greek themed activities, including learning how to dance in traditional Greek fashion, making Greek masks ready to perform a short skit to the rest of the year and ending with a delicious Greek feast. All the children fully embraced the day and enjoyed this finale to their Greek History topic. Well done, J3.
The members of the School Council met last week for the final time this academic year. They had a breakfast meeting with chocolate croissants and chocolate milk and James Stacey and Pippa McGregor gave a vote of thanks to the council for all their hard work this year. Well done to every member of the School Council for being superb representatives and for all your wonderful ideas!
The I2 children have done a fundraiser for our international charity, ‘Classrooms in the Clouds’. They decided to do a competition called ‘Guess the number of Jelly Beans in the Jar’, for £1 a go. The children managed to raise just over £140! Thank you so much to all the Infants, Juniors and Staff who took part. The winner, Ben Firth in J3, guessed the exact amount of 1810 Jelly Beans! He wins the jar and a game of Bean Boozled. Congratulations, Ben! I2 have also enjoyed a variety of STEM activities. Once again, on STEM Tuesday this week, the children have been excited little engineers and designed and created a paper aeroplane. They learned about the shape of the aeroplane and about low pressure being on the top of the wing and high pressure pushing up above the wing. This combined with a strong engine enable it to fly into the sky. Once again, it was all about team work and helping each other. The children put their own designs onto their aeroplanes and then they had a competition to see which one would travel the furthest! Their very last STEM activity this term was a ‘Drop the Egg’ competition. The children selected a variety of materials to encase a real chicken’s egg in a padded structure. Everybody worked excellently within their teams and used initiative. The children then tested their creations outside on the playground and we all watched excitedly to see the results. Some eggs were padded in so well they just wouldn't crack!!! Well done, everybody!
On Friday 30 June, our annual Prizegiving was held in the Summerlee Hall. The whole school family gathered together for one of the highlights of the academic year. The afternoon began with a few words from Mr Berry, the KGS Headmaster, followed by ‘A Musical Medley’ from the KGJS Orchestra. After Mrs Cartwright’s address, the Vocal Ensemble performed ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ which led nicely into Mrs Roberts’ speech. Part way through her speech, the I3 children beautifully sang ‘Sunshine in my Heart’ and Music Scholar, Oscar Harkins, entertained guests with his talented instrumental performance on the trumpet. Richard Rhodes then presented this year’s prizes and trophies before entertaining the audience with his witty account of his days as a headmaster. Head Boy, James Stacey and Head Girl, Pippa McGregor, gave a vote of thanks and the penultimate performance was from the School Choir, performing ‘Ever Wonder’. The whole school then finished the afternoon by performing ‘A Whole New World’ and ‘Golden Days’. Afterwards, a delicious buffet was served for all the J4 children, their parents and invited guests in the Senior School dining room. This occasion was a fitting conclusion to the J4 children's time at KGJS who will be moving on to new adventures in September! Thank you to everyone who joined us on Friday afternoon.
As a finale to the I3 topic of Healthy Eating, the children washed, chopped and prepared a selection of vegetables. They fried the onions with turmeric and garlic, added chicken stock and vegetables and made a mouth-watering pot of vegetable soup. Every child tasted it with most coming back for seconds! Our very own Mrs Berry also made a guest appearance! Well done, I3...what a delicious dish you made!!
The Infant and Pre-School children and staff surprised Mrs Knowles with a party picnic to celebrate her forthcoming retirement. Mrs Knowles was decoyed by Mrs Shuttleworth while preparations took place and the children placed their picnic blankets and teddy bears on the field. Mrs Knowles was so surprised to find her mum, husband and daughter had joined her for the celebrations. A lovely afternoon was had by all which included an outdoor DJ, party games and singing and dancing to some old favourites! It was a truly magical afternoon and a fitting occasion for a wonderful lady spent with staff and children with whom she has devoted a significant number of years to.
J2 performed an amazing production of the West End musical ‘Matilda’. Under the directorship of Morgan Cuthbert, many children auditioned for their part in the play. In their own time, they began the process of learning lines and practising songs. The children put together some super costumes and Morgan kindly had some outstanding scenery made for all the children to enjoy. Thank you to everyone who took part, both on the stage and helping in the wings. It was a truly memorable J2 experience that we will never forget!
In Music and Drama, J1 and J2 have been performing twisted fairy tales. George Godbold (the evil wizard), Lucy Jones (the narrator), Sam Goodman (King Arthur), James Hall (Guard of the Stone) and Ethan Davies (the good wizard) performed ‘King Arthur’ to their class, which was a huge success. Well done to all!
Well done to the following children who were awarded a Merit Certificate at the end of this half term: I1X
Isabella Asquith, Thomas Jackson
I1Y
Harry Bowen, Roman Holmes
I2X
Torrin Anderson, Katy Townsend, Lucas Tuck
I2Y
Isabelle Campbell, Joseph Mahoney, Harry Rawlinson
I3X
Jack Gillett, Joshua Wong
I3Y
Theia Chesworth, Sophie Noblett, William Thompson
J1X
Darcey Borrow, Lola Huyton, Regan Lowe
J1Y
Adam Jackson, Oliver Parker, Gabriella Pearson
J2X
Joel Ashton, Lola Cooper, Morgan Cuthbert
J2Y
William de Klerk, Dylan Misell, Leon Neal
J3X
Rebecca Allan, Mia Carmichael, Bella Wiggins
J3Y
Ewan Huck, Lily Hunt, Lilly Jones
J4X
Sophie Birchall-Farr, Tom Drury, Luca Green, Alexander Kane, Henry Taylor
J4Y
Sadie Drury, Daisy Gibbs, Mae Hurst
Congratulations to you all!
Today, we said a fond farewell to our J4 children. On Wednesday they performed their ‘Memories Assembly’ which was a lovely finale to their time at KGJS. We wish you all the very best as you continue your educational journey! Keep in touch!
Tuesday 5 September - Autumn Term begins Monday 11 September - Book Week begins Thursday 14 September - KGS Speech Day Saturday 16 September - U11 Rugby Tournament (H) 10am Tuesday 19 September - U10 Rugby v Casterton (A) 4pm Thursday 21 September - Parents’ Social & Information Evening in the Junior School Hall 7pm Saturday 23 September - U9 & U11 Girls Hockey v AKS (A) 9.30am U10 Rugby Tournament (H) 10am Sunday 24 September - Open Afternoon Junior School 1pm-3pm & Senior School 1.30pm-4.30pm Wednesday 27 September - J3 Bushcraft Trip departs (returns Friday 29) Friday 29 September - Macmillan Coffee Morning in the Junior School Hall 8.30am-10am Saturday 30 September - U9 Rugby Tournament (H) 10am
Wishing you all a wonderful and restful summer! New term starts on Tuesday 5 September