thelion - The Portsmouth Grammar School

thelion
The Newsletter of The Portsmouth Grammar Junior school Issue No.68
To The Parents
Keeping Safe
25th January 2013
Monsters Most Wanted
Winter Wonderland
When I first moved to Portsmouth,
from the wilds of the North West, I was
reliably informed that it did not snow
in the City. Our sledge has sat rather
forlornly in the garden ever since so I
felt a mixture of excitement and
trepidation when I opened the curtains
at 0630 last Friday to see that it was
actually snowing in Southsea. Snowfall
always evokes great excitement at the
thought of snowmen, snowballs and
sledging but for schools it poses the
very big question ‘do we remain open?’
Our primary concern is always the
safety and wellbeing of our pupils and
for most the short journey to PGS and
weather forecast posed little risk. For
many though, experiencing much
heavier snow throughout the region,
the journey was impossible and around
a third of teachers and pupils did not
make it in. A large number also left
early as the prospect of a journey
home in the dark and freezing
conditions was not worth the risk.
So, while the majority of schools
around us closed, we remained open
and a happy band of teachers and
pupils saw the day out. I hope that our
e-mails and website messages proved
useful in keeping you updated of the
status of the School throughout the
day, and I would be keen to have any
feedback, via our Parents’ Forum, on
this matter.
Our Year 5 pupils learned some very
valuable lessons on Monday when
Hampshire Fire Service visited the
School.
The pupils listened attentively as they
were told about the potential dangers Everyone enjoyed sharing their strange
that are present in our homes. They monster creations and deciding on
boarded the specially kitted out fire unusual names for them also.
engine, which contained mock ups of a
typical house and saw at first-hand
how easily a fire can start if people are
careless or disregard safety advice.
Rory’s Report of the Week
Inspectors Calling
Next Tuesday and Wednesday we
welcome two inspectors from the
Independent Schools Inspectorate.
They are inspecting our Early Years
provision (Nursery and Reception).
Parents with children in Nursery and
Reception will have been notified by email and letter of the inspection and
also details of the parental survey.
Our Parents’ Forum meets next Please notify the Junior school office if
Thursday and in addition to feedback you have not received the details.
on our snow day communications I
would also like your thoughts on the
MYPGS parent view.
PS Hopkinson
Headmaster
Last week Year 3 created monsters!
First we drew our unique monster,
then we created a fact file about our
monster noting down facts such as its
appearance, diet, habitat, predators
and any special features or powers that
it had. We then wrote a paragraph to
describe our ‘wanted monsters’.
Rory has taken a short break to sunnier
climes as he waits for the cold weather
to pass. In the meantime he would like
to receive your stories telling him all
about the exciting things you have
been doing when you are not in school.
He did enjoy receiving this picture from
Bella who clearly made the most of the
snow, sledging down Butser Hill.
Nursery News
Masai Head
and Shoulders
Wearing dark print frocks
And broken, black bonnets,
Torn and weary,
Old and not needed.
They go to Covent Garden,
Collecting unwanted flowers,
Trying to sell what they can,
Endlessly waiting for eternity.
What an adventure it was at Nursery on
Friday. The snow was falling thick and
fast, and the children couldn’t get in
the garden quick enough to play. By
8:30 all the children and grown ups
were outside. They had great fun in the
garden making a snowman, digging the
snow and trying to catch it in buckets.
Bread Role Play
Some days, no-one comes,
Not even a penny they make,
Ignored and invisible,
They stand.
By Nikhila Behari
The Masai are fierce warriors. They
live in tribes in Kenya. They look after
cattle and carry spears to defend
themselves. Men and ladies wear
bead jewellery for ceremonies. In DT
lessons we made a model of a Masai’s
head and shoulders out of blocks of
wood.
Piecer
Written by children from 2Y
How We Used to Live
In Year Six, we study the Victorians,
learning of the differences between
life for children then and now. After
reading these poems, hopefully all will
feel happy that they spend their
childhoods at school!
Flower Girls
The children in Reception have enjoyed
visiting the bakery in our role play area
over the last week. They have taken it
in turns to take on the roles as both
shopkeeper and the customer. The
children were very excited to buy items
from the shop, carefully counting out
the correct number of pennies!
Describing Dragons
This
week
the
children in Year One
have been doing
some
creative
writing about their
own
imaginary
dragons! They started by making a plan
for their story by drawing pictures and
labelling them with time words. Then
the children thought of some
interesting adjectives and similes to use
in their stories. The teachers have
enjoyed reading about all the exciting
dragon adventures!
They travel in the early morning
By foot,
The eldest in worn out shoes,
The younger barefoot.
Orphans they are called,
Half sisters, indeed –
No mother and
Neither father.
They live on the lowly street
OF Drury Lane,
Renting a part of a room,
Sharing a bed with two other sisters
and a lad.
Whizz,
The machine starts and
Slowly, very slowly, the children move.
They are thin and scrawny,
With faces blank and missing emotion,
Like the dead, risen to work for all
eternity,
Twisting and turning the cotton,
With bony fingers, cut from
The hours of hard work in
The cotton mill.
The children move – tired,
Continuing their endless work,
Plugged in and programmed, they are
robots,
Never deviating from their task.
One of them collapses,
Exhausted from the work,
Or choked on the fluff floating in the air.
Nobody notices,
So he lays there, nothing more that
A used and unwanted rock
And, with no more need for him,
The other workers continue –
Robots.
By Merlin Cross
MyPGS and the PGS
Photograph Gallery
View and purchase photographs via
MYPGS http://mypgs.pgs.org.uk
thelion’s
HEADMASTER’S AWARDS
The following Headmaster’s Awards
were awarded:
Bhooshitha Balaji for an outstandingly
detailed reading record, Max Higgins for
an amazing independent book about the
Gingerbread Man, Oliver Donworth
for a thoroughly entertaining dance
performance, Adam Cook-Benaissa for
super speech bubble writing about The
Gingerbread Man, Toby Wingham and
Mickey Slaven for outstanding mental
arithmetic, Sacha Hemingway and James
Johnson for consistently excellent mental
arithmetic
ROLL OF HONOUR KS2
pride
Reading: Oliver Wisbey (x2), Sophie
Jennings, Cameron Clarke, Oscar Tagg,
Jake Jordan, Edward Moger, Alistair
Wilson, Samuel Hemingway
Spelling: Jason Shiu, Susie Taylor
Science: Ethan Hards, Joshua Scott, Elsa
Hares, Amber Bradley, Christopher Yang,
Louisa McKay
Music: William Doyle, Ryan Zhou, William
Reynolds, James Johnson
Adventurers Vocabulary: Elsa Hares
Excellent Adjectives: Emily Gibb
Food Technology: Joshua Chipper
Handwriting: Evie Chapman
Non Verbal Reasoning: Cameron Clarke,
Ella Saunders, Rosie Harfield
PUPILS’ ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to:
Chandhana Iravindranath (1J) for
completing her Stage 1 Swimming
Award and 20m Rainbow Swimming
Award.
Jacob Foster (1G) for successfully
completing the young beginners
swimming level and moving up to level
1.
Join the Beach Cleaners
KS1 HONOURS
The following pupils signed the Honours
Book this week:
The following pupils signed the Honours
Book this week:
English: Verity Glading (x2), George
Gregory, Emily Nelson, Ahthini Aranan,
Alice Hudson, Ismail Sheikh-Board,
Phoenix Cross
English Homework: Sophie Jennings (x2),
Sophie Matheson (x2), Matthew Walton,
Avinandan Sengupta, Charlie Walker,
Verity McStay, Mei-Ling Reader, Sam
Tran
Maths: Ethne Leaver (x4), Jaden McCoy
(x3), James Johnson (x2), Verity Glading
(x2), Sophie Gale, Sophie Jennings,
Victoria Toh, Henry Simmons, Joshua
Chipper, Matthew Walton, Louise
Shannon, Thomas Drabble, Sam Gale,
Charlie Walker, Manas Harish, Oliver
Durrant
Maths Homework: Avinandan Sengupta
History: Oliver Wisbey, Cameron Clarke,
Jack Pearce, Ella Saunders, William
Reynolds
Geography: Ollie Tinson, Emma Hale,
Christian Sim, Lucas Bradley
French: Verity Glading (x2), Hannah
Rayner, Grace Beardsley
RS:
Nikhila Behari (x2), Eleanor
Matthews (x2), Verity Glading (x2), Emily
Curwood, Rory Gillies, Victoria Toh,
Henry Simmons, Ben Priory, Matthew
Grandison, Ryan Zhou, Seth Eldrid, Bella
Digby, Joseph Hopkinson, William
Reynolds, Giorgio Dellesite, Arya Prasad
Luke Wiseman (x2), Yelisey Hodell, Sophia
Giordano, Jack Gent, Luke Hargreaves,
William Guyver, Adam Cook-Benaissa,
Edward Gasser, Matteo Doutel-Haghighi,
Archie Digby, Iona Perkins, Estelle
Schouller, Eliyah Sheikh-Board, Isabella
Cameron, James Curwood, Grace
Alexander, Daniel Perkins, Aimee
Jennings, Gabriella Giordano, Finlay
Hoddle, Toby Law, Diarmuid Bailey, Evie
Abrams-Wilson, James Chivers, Phoebe
Hung, Emilia Talen, Jesal Patel, HeloiseThiané Cisse, Archie Lockyer, Nicholas
Ball, Samuel Zhou, Hope Esmé Hillier, Evie
Howard, Themis Orfanidis, George
Cuthbert, Dawn Sands, Eva Durrant, Henry
Collins, George Keiditsch
Badges
GOLD BADGE – Congratulations to Isaac
Hillier and Cameron Clarke for gaining
their Gold Badge.
RED BADGE – Congratulations to Liberty
Forbes-Lane, Grace Beardsley and
Hannah Rayner for gaining their Red
Badge.
GREEN BADGE – Congratulations to
Thomas Drabble, Theo Roseblade and
Evie Chapman for gaining their Green
Badge.
Walk along a UK beach and, on
average, you’ll find 2000 pieces of litter
per kilometre. Beach litter is now a
problem on a global scale and has
major impact on wildlife.
We will be meeting at 9.45am on
Sunday 27th January at the public car
park on the beach between Gunner
Point and the Ferry on Hayling Island,
but not in the Ferry Boat Inn pub car
park. The pick will begin at 10.00am
after we have had a health and safety
briefing; clear instructions will also be
given on exactly how the ‘pick’ is to be
carried out. The event will be finished
by 11.00 and pupils can be picked up
from the car park where they were
dropped off.
Mrs Budgen’s Brain Boggler:
What does a cat have but that no other
animal has?
Answers from last week:
A cold.
thelion
U11AB Netball Report
Results
Boys’ Rugby
Team
U11A
U11B
U10A
U10B
U10C
Opposition
Oakwood
Oakwood
Stroud
Oakwood
Stroud
Score
Lost 25-0
Lost 21-10
Lost 20-10
Lost 5-10
Lost 0-30
Girls’ Hockey
U9A
Hampshire
Collegiate
Lost 5-7
Girls’ Netball
U11
PGS Tournament
Lost in
group
stages
Fixtures
Wed 30 Jan
U11A, B & C Netball v St Ives (h) – 1415
U10A & B Rugby v Sherborne (h) – 1430
U10A/B Girls’ Hockey v West Hill Park (h) –
1430
U11A & B Rugby v Sherborne (h) – 1430
U11C Rugby v Princes Mead (a) – 1430
Thu 31 Jan
U8A & B Rugby v Sherborne (h) – 1430
U9 Girls’ Hockey v PHS (h) – 1430
U9A & B Rugby v Sherborne (h) – 1430
HILSEA GAMES
There will be games sessions for
KEYSTAGE 2 PUPILS at Hilsea this
Saturday from 0900 to 1000.
Saturday morning games are
voluntary. There will be rugby for
the boys and hockey for the girls.
Answerphone System
In the event of uncertainty due to
inclement weather please check above
sports
arrangements
using
the
answerphone system. Please phone the
School on Saturday morning from 8.00 a.m.
On weekday games days please phone
from 1.30 p.m. The number to ring is 02392
364266. In EMERGENCIES ONLY please ring
the following number: 07738 958314
Inter-House Rugby
Sat 26 January
Year 3 – 9.00-10.00am
Year 4 – 9.00-10.00am
Year 5 – 10.00-11.00am
Year 6 – 10.00-11.00am
sport
On Wednesday 23rd January, over half of
the Year 6 girls travelled to Durlston
Court, in the New Forest, for a netball
match. The 2 teams split up, Bs on
astroturf and the As on a concrete pitch.
Despite the cold weather, cruel wind
and harsh rain, the girls played two
excellent matches. In the As first half,
Rosie Harfield and Phoebe Hiller scored
some fantastic goals, leaving us with a
score of 5-6 to PGS. There was some
fabulous play from Tori Toh, Emma
Holmes, Sammie Materna and Alice
Acklam along with super defending from
Mia Glover and Georgie Lewis. We went
full steam on ahead in the last quarter
and finished with a final score of 6-8 to
us! The B team, all played brilliantly and
beat Durlston, 10-2! What a great result
for both teams. Players of the match
were Georgie for the As and Lauren for
the Bs. As we came back on the coach,
all the girls were definitely a lot quieter.
Well done PGS!
By Georgie Lewis and Alice Acklam
Nursery Early Years
Assistant
PART-TIME TERM TIME AND TEMPORARY
UNTIL JULY 2013 – START ASAP
This happy and successful nursery is
seeking to appoint an enthusiastic,
dedicated and committed Early Years
practitioner to work as a lunch time
assistant. Hours of work are MondayThursday 11.30am-1pm. There may
be the possibility of extra hours working
in the nursery.
An Early Years
Qualification is desirable.
PGS
is
committed to safeguarding and
promoting the welfare of children and
young people, and expects all staff to
share this commitment. The successful
candidate will be required to undergo
an enhanced CRB check.
The JSA
invites you to an evening of
WINE TASTING
Friday 8th February
at 19:30pm
In the Dining Hall
Tickets £10.00
including a wine quiz,
full tuition, tasting wine
& nibbles from the grazing platter
Available from the
Junior School Office
In association with:
JSA Spring Ball
Don't forget, for a well-deserved evening
of excellent food, fun entertainment and
dancing, the JSA Spring Ball promises to
be a night to remember. Book your
tickets to this elegant, black tie event being
hosted
by
the prestigious Portsmouth Cathedral on
Saturday 4th May 2013. Ticket sales are
well under way and with only a limited
number of seats available, pick up a
booking form at the Junior School office
as soon as you can to avoid
disappointment. Ticket prices are £66 per
person if booking a table of ten and
include
a
welcome
reception
with canapés and
a
three
course
dinner. Individual tickets can be
purchased subject to availability.
Early applications are encouraged.
Closing date: Noon, Mon 28 January.
Interviews: w/b Mon 4 February.
Further details: www.pgs.org.uk/news.
Telephone 02392 681337.
Parents, family and friends can follow
and like us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/PGJS1732