To the Parents Happy New Year

A very happy New Year to you all and to your families; I hope 2016 will be a happy and successful year for you as I am sure it will be for the School. I also hope that you made the most of the Christmas break and enjoyed spending quality time with your families. We are of course delighted to have your children back in school and it has been the usual explosive start to the term with trips, visits and other mysterious happenings taking place to launch the new topics. We extend a very warm welcome to our new pupils and their families and I am sure that Aimee, Carson, Miles and Owen will all feel part of the JS community very soon.

The Arch The bulk of the work on the main archway is now complete ensuring a greater level of security for the School. There are still minor works to be completed and we will spend the coming weeks assessing how best to manage the flow of traffic in and out of the School through the new glass doors and under the new arrangements. I am sure you will agree that as well as making the school site more secure the look of the glass under the unique archway brick structure is quite striking.

In Good Voice You may have read articles and letters in the broadsheets over the Christmas period reflecting concerns over the future of Choir Schools and a threat to this very British tradition. I am pleased to report in this newspaper that our Cathedral Choir is as strong as it’s ever been and as well as attracting students from across the country also involves an impressive number of our own Senior and Junior School pupils.

I was privileged, along with the whole of the Junior School teaching staff earlier this week, to attend a special presentation and performance at the Cathedral by Dr Price and the Choristers. We came away impressed not just with the performance, but equally with the confidence of the boys to talk to a large audience about their choir experiences and especially the many skills they had learned from being part of the programme. PGS is now a full member of the Choir Schools’ Association and is looking forward to hosting the CSA conference in May.

Parents’ Forum

Our Parents’ Forum meets on February 4th and I look forward to Mrs Squire giving a presentation on Learning Support at that meeting. If there are any whole school issues you think worthy of discussion then please pass your thoughts to one of the PF

Reps; a full list is available on MyPGS.

Curriculum Plans

You will receive an e-mail today with two attachments. One is a start of term letter containing some useful advice and information pertinent to your child/ren’s year group about the coming term. The second is a curriculum plan, highlighting the main areas of learning for your child/ren for each subject area. Copies will also be posted on MyPGS

E-Safety

We are hosting a talk on e-safety by Karl Hopwood, an international expert on e-safety concerns and member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. Mr Hopwood, who has visited the school before and was well received by parents, will be speaking in the Bristow Clavell Science Centre Lecture Theatre at 7.30 pm on Monday 1 February. PGS was one of the first schools to achieve national accreditation for e-safety, and this event is part of an ongoing education programme for pupils and parents. I do hope that you will be able to join us.

iWatches

It has been noted that some of the children must have been very good last year as Santa brought them an iWatch for Christmas. Unfortunately, they are not appropriate for school as they are capable of sending and receiving messages and alerts, and therefore I would ask that children do not wear them.

Looking Forward

We have a great deal to look forward to this term and I am sure the children will enjoy their learning as the weeks progress. Just to remind you that Easter comes early this year and that the second half of the term is a short one as a result. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Peter Hopkinson Headmaster

Rory’s Stories of the Week Rory wishes everyone at the Junior School a very Happy New Year and looks forward to receiving lots of news stories from the children.

Santa in SpainIn the Christmas holiday I flew to Fuerteventura in Spain to see my Mum’s family. We went to the beach almost every day. I played in the water with my sister and brother and football with my Dad. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I trained with Las Palmas football club, the team I am a member of in Spain. We even had a tournament against three other clubs and we won all the matches. In the last match I was the goalkeeper and it was fun.

On Christmas Eve we saw Father Christmas and he left presents for me and the rest of my family. We then had a big meal but all I wanted to do was open my presents. When I did open them I was really happy.

On the last day in Spain I went to the park and I played on some monkey bars but I fell off them. I cried and it hurt a lot and I went to the hospital to have an x-ray. She told me it was broken and that I can’t play football for 8 weeks. This made me very sad. By Alberto

My Rugby Trip My Christmas present from my mum and dad was tickets to see Harlequins v

Gloucester at Twickenham Stadium on the 27

th December. It was a long ride and our

train was delayed. When we got there we were treated to a three course meal as one of Daddy’s friends had managed to get us tickets for the Royal Box. I really like the All Blacks, so I was thrilled when I saw Sean Fitzpatrick who used to captain them. I was amazed when I got his autograph and a picture with him. We also saw ex-England players and got autographs from them too. It was an amazing atmosphere in the stadium. Gloucester had a good start but the Harlequins were only just behind at half-time. In the second half Gloucester stormed ahead and Harlequins just managed to catch up. The Quins unfortunately missed a last-minute drop goal, so the final score was 39-39. I love rugby and this has really inspired me to be in the All Blacks when I am older. By Matt

The Newsletter of The Portsmouth Grammar Junior School Issue No.171 8th January 2016

The Lion

Nursery News

Another successful Holiday Care was held during the first week of the Christmas Holidays. There were lots of different activities planned. The children went to the Library to meet Father Christmas, made cinnamon tree decorations, and went on a Christmas walk to Gunwharf and much more.

Pirate Fun!

Year One has started an exciting new topic. On Tuesday morning a message in a bottle arrived asking for help. The children followed a series of clues and worked out that the person asking for help was Captain Hook. The children then spent time participating in different pirate activities. The cries of ‘Aye Aye Captain’ were heard ringing around the Infant School. The children are really looking forward to finding out more about Pirates.

Titanic Start to 2016

This week Year 2 had a super start to their topic Ice and Fire by visiting the Titanic Museum in Southampton. First we looked at the transport that was used in 1912 and Jane (our guide) explained that there was a rag and bone man who would help to recycle things as they didn't have bins like we do now. Year 2 was surprised to learn about the strict dress code in 1912 too. We compared the HMS Titanic to HMS Britannia too and found out that cruise ships today are even bigger than the Titanic.

Year 2 at the SeaCity Museum

Happy New Year

The whole school community gathered together at the Cathedral earlier this week to celebrate New Year. It was a lovely way to start 2016 and we all enjoyed listening to poems and readings, singing songs and listening to the brass group play brilliantly.

Some of the infants also shared their New Year’s resolutions: Madeleine wants to get better at drawing, Harry wants to learn to swim, David wants to get better at reading, Aishanni is going to do lots of writing, Geoffrey intends to learn how to write stories with characters and pictures and Libby wants to learn more about history so she can fulfil her long term ambition of being a historian.

Club Letters

Welcome to a new term of club opportunities. If your child has been allocated a club run by an external coach which requires payment, you will receive a letter today with the relevant details. Please send the return slip, together with the payment, directly to the coach running the club in the first week. Many thanks. If you have any queries, please contact Mrs Giles at p.giles@pgs.org.uk.

Mexicolore Workshop

On Wednesday we had a visit from the

Mexicolore workshop to tell us all about the Aztecs, who lived in central Mexico from about the 14th to the 16th centuries. First

we were greeted by an amazing workshop with Aztec artefacts, and right in the middle of the table was an Aztec symbol, the Sun God. The teacher asked if anyone would like to play an instrument and my hand shot up. As I walked up to the big drum he started counting in the Aztec language, and told us, me and the other drummers, to make up a rhythm. Then he got everyone to clap along and count in Aztec. Then he taught us a song in Aztec by saying the words and we repeated them. Soon we knew it by heart. We listened to some people playing tunes on skulls (not real ones!) with pipes coming out of the top. They were trying to replicate The Day of The Dead festival, which is celebrated throughout Mexico, rather like our Halloween. At the very end two people played the oldest ball game. They had to hit a rubber band ball (which would have been a stone covered in Latex from a tree) to each other with their hips. It was a really interesting day. By Tom C

Fixtures

Wed 13 Jan 1300: U11A Netball v Millfield (h) 1300: U11A PGS Netball Tournament (h) 1400: U11A & C & U10A Rugby v Barrow Hills & Edgeborough (a) 1430: U10B, C & D Girls’ Hockey v Sherborne House (h) 1430: U11B & C Netball v Oakwood (a) 1430: U11B & U10B Rugby v Kingscourt (a)

Thu 14 Jan 1430: U8 Rugby v Barrow Hills (a) 1430: U9A & B Girls’ Hockey v Barrow Hills (a) 1430: U9A & B Rugby v Barrow Hills & Edgeborough (h) 1430: U9C & U8A Girls’ Hockey v Boundary Oak (a)

House Cross-Country

Report

The Junior School Cross-Country races took place in the last week of the autumn term at Hilsea. With the wind blowing and the mud flying all the children performed with great enthusiasm and determination.

A big thank you to all the family and friends who came to support and cheer the children on. We would also like to thank all the staff who acted as marshals for the races.

There were some very close races and even closer House Competitions. The results for the individual and House races were as follows;

Year 3 Boys: Meru S & Jerrard Year 3 Girls: Yasmin J & Nicol

Year 4 Boys: Matthew G & Nicol Year 4 Girls: Ria F Hudson & Nicol

Year 5 Boys: Tom C & Hudson Year 5 Girls: Isabelle D & Privett

Year 6 Boys: Thomas L & Privett Year 6 Girls: Isabella G & Hudson

Responsible Pupils

Congratulations to Oscar and Liberty who have taken up their very responsible roles as Head Boy and Girl for the spring term 2016. We are sure they will do a super job and thoroughly merit their selection.

Congratulations also to the Junior School Monitors, who will help keep the school orderly and organized. For the spring term they are: Daisy C, Phoenix C, Emily G, Jacob G, Poppy J, Thomas L, Louisa M, Max P, Indigo S, Sam S, Inge V and Benjamin W.

HILSEA GAMES

There will be games sessions for Juniors (Y3-Y6) at Hilsea this Saturday from 0900 to 1000. Saturday morning games are voluntary.

There will be netball for the girls and rugby for Year 3 and 4 boys. Year 5 and 6 boys will have indoor cricket at School.

The Lion Sport