To the Parents

Retirement

At the end of this academic year the Junior School will bid farewell to a highly valued and long serving member of staff. Mrs Tilling will be hanging up her art apron and retiring after an incredible 28 years at the School. A truly inspirational teacher, Mrs Tilling has encouraged successive cohorts to unleash their creative talents ensuring that the Junior School has had a strong and vibrant creative heartbeat. We will of course celebrate her time here towards the end of the summer term.

Highlight

The highlight of my working day is when I hear a knock at my door and find eager children who have brought their very best work to show me. Sometimes it is one child, possibly accompanied by a friend, at others it can be half a Form who troop in, each proudly clutching their writing, maths work, paintings or constructions. I ask them to explain their work and often they will read out what they have written. They then get a special ‘Headteacher’s Special Award’ stamp on their work and, if they wish, one on the back of their hand. They also get to choose either a red, blue or gold Headteacher’s Award sticker (I am rapidly running out of gold!). They might also appear on Twitter. A week or two later, in their year group assembly, I will also award them a special Headmaster’s Award certificate.

Amber received a Headmaster’s Award for

her picture of pirate Anne Bonny

Peter Hopkinson (Headmaster)

The Rise of the Robots

Something strange has been going on in Year Four. The children have been joined by a new team member, of the robotic variety. This mysterious guest appeared in 4G class in the first week of term and has since kept a rather unnerving silence in the corner of the room, choosing to communicate through a series of strange coded messages which flash across the robot’s screen.

This has presented something of a challenge for the Year Four children as they all really want to be able to understand and talk to ‘Robson’, as he has been dubbed, due to a tiny name that one child found written on the robot’s circuitry.

After a degree of head scratching and a little internet-based research, it was soon established that the code was in fact binary – a long sequence of zeros and ones, commonly used in computer systems. Keen to be the first to crack the code, the children used their logical thinking and reasoning skills to suggest what the robot was trying to say.

Once the code was cracked, the children realised that Robson is, in fact very friendly and was merely trying to say hello and introduce himself in his own quiet way. He has promised to set the children further challenges throughout the term. Many of the children are wondering whether, with a bit of re-programming, he might even speak to them at some stage!

The Newsletter of The Portsmouth Grammar Junior School Issue No.210 10th February 2017

The Lion

Rory’s Story of the Week

The Hills Are Alive

Over the Holiday break I went to Salzburg, Austria. I went to the Salzburg Fortress. It was on top of a hill and you could see the whole city. I also went to Mirabell Gardens to see where some parts of The Sound of Music was filmed.

Then I went skiing for the first time in Garmisch, Germany. I was really excited to go on the trip and try out skiing. I took three days of lessons and I learnt quite a lot. On the third day of lessons I was able to make turns through cones. It was a lot of fun and I want to go skiing again next year so I can improve. It was very cold and snowy in Germany but I loved playing in the snow. By Carson H 3G

Nursery News

This week Parents and Carers were invited to attend a Phonic ‘drop in’ session where they could watch Mrs Moore modelling mini lessons with some children on oral blending and segmenting. Parents and Carers were also given the opportunity to work alongside their child learning how to write their names in cursive script.

Fairy Tale Home

In Reception the children have excitedly designed and planned a house for a fairy tale character. This week, they have really enjoyed making the houses out of junk and decorating them.

Clubs – 16th March

There will be no iPad Club, Drawing Club or Games club on the 16th March due to Parents’ evening.

Beach Art

We have had a very creative week in Year One. During our art lessons, we have all produced pirate portraits using a range of collage materials. They look amazing and we are very proud of our work! On Wednesday we had a surprise trip! All of Year One went to the beach to create another pirate portrait, this time using materials that we found on the beach. We worked together and made a fantastic picture. We think he looks exactly like Captain Blackbeard!

Titanic Museums

Year 2 has been busy turning their classrooms into Titanic museums. We invited different pupils and members of staff from the Junior School to come and visit. We chose whether to make models, posters, pictures, leaflets or newspaper reports.

Brass Band The Junior School Brass Band is performing at Southsea Castle Rotary Club’s Annual Charity Music Concert at St Mary’s Church, Fratton Rd, Portsmouth, PO1 5PA on Saturday 4th March, start time 7.00pm. The aim of the concert is to raise money for charity. Doors will open at 6.30 and there is on-site parking available. Admission is only by ticket. They are available in advance as numbers are limited and are priced at £6 for adults and free for accompanied under 16 year olds. Tickets are available from the Junior School Office.

The Great War

Year 6 has been writing similes about the Great War. Here are some they wrote on Tuesday:

Raindrops pattered onto the soldier’s helmets, like a marching band walking to their own beat. By Lilly-Ella B

The dead men lay on the ground, motionless, like old, abandoned toys, never to be loved again. By Evie B

The Christmas trenches were like a moment when the clock of war had stopped ticking. By Lexi B

The squareheads were as thoughtless as a lion, not realising he was eating his own cubs. By James C

The trench is as dusty as an attic, full of forgotten memories. By Themis O

The mournful song of a sparrow is a glimmer of hope for the soldiers. By Eve T

The twigless trees swayed like broken men. By Henry C

Online Safety Competition

2017

Enter the PGJS online safety competition and create an awareness about online safety. You have a chance of winning a prize and appear in The Lion.

You can create anything you want that will encourage people to stay safe online (poster, poem, story, a short drama etc). Maybe it could also be used to sign off one of your badge tests? All entries need to be seen by Tuesday February 21st by Mrs Budgen or Mr Griffin.

Post-Christmas Diet! Have you made a New Year’s resolution to stick to a diet? Are you finding it difficult with boxes of chocolates, tins of biscuits or bottles of wine left in the house,

calling your name? We can help! We would be very grateful for any of these items for our forthcoming JSA Quiz Night raffle.

Please bring donations to the Junior School Office ahead of the event which will be taking place on Friday 24th February 2017.

Fixtures

Wed 22 Feb 1400: U10A Girls’ Hockey Sevens v Farleigh & Westbourne House (h) 1400: U10B & C Girls’ Hockey Sevens v Farleigh & Thorngrove (a) 1430: U10A, B, C & D Rugby v Farleigh (h) 1430: U11A, B, C & D Rugby v Farleigh (a) 1430: U11A, B, C, D & E Netball v Guildford High (a)

Thu 23 Feb 1430: U8A & B Girls’ Hockey Sevens v Cranleigh Prep (a) 1430: U9A & B Girls’ Hockey Sevens v Cranleigh Prep (h)

Junior School Sports

Information All sporting updates and cancellation information will be via the PGJS Sport twitter feed @PGJSSport.

Reserve the Date!

The JSA will be holding their annual Quiz Night on Friday 24th February. The evening is a guaranteed night of fun and entertainment so add the date to your new diary before it gets full!

Rugby U10A v

Alton Convent

We travelled away to Alton Convent to play this new match in our fixture list. The team were unbeaten to date and have been playing some strong rugby, but playing

an unknown team is always dangerous. However the team quickly got into their stride with some incisive rugby, which resulted in the boys scoring very quick tries through Piers, George, Matt, James and Ryan. Alton replied quickly though as we were caught sleeping and 2 quick tries by the opposition refocused us before the half time break. The second half started with PGS using their power and technical ability in the ruck to our advantage, and we ran in further tries from Lewis, Archie, Captain for the day, Isaac and Will P. However to their credit the team stayed focused and did not let Alton score any further tries and stayed solid in defence, but very quick to break and play some good passing rugby through the phases. Well done to Jimmy, although he did not score he was a main contributor in a lot of the tries scored, also Isaac for a good Captain’s performance and finally a Man of the Match Performance from James C with a hat trick of tries. Well done boys, from a happy Mr Whitehorn.

St Swithun’s Girls

Inter-School Cross CountryLast Saturday morning saw twenty three girls from Years 3 to 6 take to the cross country course at St Swithun’s School. With the rolling South Downs as a spectacular back drop the girls took on competitors from St Swithun’s, Portsmouth High School and Olivers Battery School.

Less experienced than many of the opposition girls many runners set of cautiously and then worked their way through the field as the race went on. Well done to sisters Eva and Isabelle who finished third in the Year 5 and 6 races respectively. Their mother was clearly relieved at the end of the Year 6 girls’ race when she announced that “it would make for a harmonious car journey home”. Yasmin fought on bravely to finish an excellent fourth place in the Under 9 event and Isabel W was notable with her fast finish in the Year 6 event.

I was extremely proud of all the girls who competed and am sure many of them will look forward to the rematch in March when the format will be slightly altered to

include relays.

U11A at Boundary Oak

7s Rugby Tournament

Passion, commitment, teamwork and resilience epitomized our boys at Boundary Oak 7s Tournament. 16 teams from Dorset, Hampshire and West Sussex formed 4 groups of 4 teams with every team progressing into a finals group stage. PGS were up against Kings Court, Ballard School, and Brockenhurst & Marlston school. The boys were primed with an excellent warm up routine, individual and team tactics and extremely supportive parents. Led by Monty R, PGS worked hard to win all group matches to progress into the 1st place finals group. In the finals group PGS were up against Prince’s Mead, Stroud and Boundary Oak. The stage was set for some fantastic 7s matches. PGS played Prince’s Mead first, which was difficult at first but the boys managed to work the ball around their opposition to take the win. Up next was Stroud. This quickly became a brutal encounter with both putting on an excellent defensive display. PGS edged it with a Jakey W try. The afternoon's outstanding performances rested on our last match against Boundary Oak. Our boys’ character was tested under extreme pressure. I'm pleased to report our boys stood up when it mattered and overcame the challenges in front of them to win the Boundary Oak 7s Cup. We did not concede a try all afternoon!!! A huge team effort from all players, staff and supporters. Congratulations to all involved.

HILSEA GAMES

There will be NO games sessions until Saturday 25

th February when:

There will be games sessions for Juniors (Y3-Y6) from 0900. Saturday morning games are voluntary.

There will be:

Years 3-6 Boys’ and Girls’ Hockey at Temeraire Astro Years 5 & 6 Indoor Cricket (hard ball), Sports Hall

The Lion Sport