SPRING TERM - NEWSLETTER NO. 1

Dear Parents Friday 15 January 2016

Welcome back to everyone, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. Don’t forget to visit the website when the weather forecast predicts snow. Please remember that we will be OPEN as usual while the entrance examinations are taking place on Monday 1 February 2016.

Open Morning QEGS and WGHS Junior Schools are holding an Open Morning on Wednesday 20 January from 9.30am to 12.00 noon. Although the morning is chiefly for prospective parents, it would be an excellent opportunity for parents of Nursery boys to go to see Centenary House and QEGS Junior School in action. Similarly if you have any friends who may be interested in looking round either school please let them know.

A polite request Please can parents who are dropping off and collecting children in cars be mindful of the dangers of the congested road and, when parking, be aware that children may be unsighted behind the car. With this in mind, please could Junior girls cross the road at the top of Margaret Street by the junction with St John’s.

Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl Elections for Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl took place at the beginning of term and girls in Year 5 and Year 6 and staff voted. We are delighted that Jessica Morrison was elected Head Girl and Betty Chamberlain Deputy Head Girl.

The newly elected House Captains are Barff- Ananya Ganjam 6JB Lee-Naomi Sykes 6HJ Mackie- Lizzie Mackenzie 6JS Newstead- Annalise Hutchinson 6HJ

My favourite part of the spectacular ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ was when the car rose Chitty Chitty Bang Bang above the stage. It was flying! I thought the singing and dancing was fantastic and the costumes made it look even better. Betty Chamberlain

We all thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Playhouse to see 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. Everyone loved the car particularly when it flew taking us on a magical adventure. The singing, dancing and acting were excellent - it was definitely 'fantasmagorical'

My favourite part of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ was the dancing because the dancers were synchronised and they wore the most flamboyant costumes. Jessica Morrison

Mobile Phones Santa was obviously very kind in supplying so many mobile phones to Junior girls. Just a reminder that parents need to write a permission letter for girls to bring phones into school. The phone must be named, switched off and handed into the office each morning.

Verse and Prose – congratulations to the Junior girls, who passed their Verse and Prose examinations.

Name Grade Result Name Grade Result Claudia Bowen Level 1 Grade 1 Merit Jemima Otter Level 1 Grade 1 Merit Megan Rosendale Level 1 Grade 1 Merit Anastasiya Barclay Level 1 Grade 3 Merit Rebecca Haigh Level 1 Grade 3 Merit Lucy Blanchard Level 2 Grade 5 Merit Isabelle Butler Level 2 Grade 5 Merit Danai Proot Level 2 Grade 5 Merit SharaVijay-Kumar Level 2 Grade 5 Merit Manya Dhingra Level 2 Grade 5 Distinction Zara Mahmood Level 2 Grade 5 Distinction

YEAR 3 – We are learning about he Romans and their way of life in our history lesson. We have enjoyed designing our own Roman coin and making it using modelair

YEAR 4 – In Maths, Megan Rosendale, Abigail Burrows and Zara Akhtar have been pouring water into measuring cylinders to support their understanding of millilitres and litres.

4EB have been very busy on the iPads this week, developing their research and note taking skills. In RE we found out about five items that you might see in a church. Later, the girls researched some cities, landmarks and physical features of India in a Humanities lesson and made some very colourful and detailed maps with the findings.

In science 4CG have been setting up an investigation to see the effects of certain liquids on teeth. As we can’t use teeth we are using eggshells instead. The liquids are water, coca cola and vinegar. Our predictions for the egg shells range from; staying the same, the liquid being absorbed or complete disintegration. Please ask us next week for the results.

YEAR 5 – In 5TP we performed our class assembly to Year 5 and 6 pupils. Our assembly theme was teamwork and included an audience participation game, a cheerleading routine, partner talk and video clips. We really enjoyed it and we think the audience did too!

Rebecca Haigh - I felt really happy when I received the award! Schyler Edwards - I was so proud of myself. Nadia Shafi - I felt happy when I found out that I had been chosen as ‘Star of the Week’ and proud of myself. Meerub Iqbal - I was happy to receive the award. I'm pleased to be back at this school with my old friends.

5LR enjoying their picnic lunch before setting of to see ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’

YEAR 6 – We have enjoyed discovering that during a chemical change, heat is given off. We made plaster of Paris sweets and painted them in bright colours just like the ones we saw in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.

Year 6JS enjoyed writing their own review about their visit to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Everyone thought the show was fantastic and had an amazing time at the theatre.

SPORT NETBALL Well played to the Under 9 and Under 11 netball squads who had an excellent afternoon of netball at School in . The Under 9 team won by 11 goals to 1 and the Under 11 team won 12 – 6. It was the first match for the Under 9 squad who had a very professional attitude, showed excellent team work and were led confidently by the captains Ellie Tingle and Molly Robinson. Players of the match were Molly Robinson and Eden Perez Outstanding play from Madison Ducker and Antonia Maddan The Under 9 team marked very tightly and hardly allowed Mylnhurst to have possession of the ball. The movement of the ball down the court was excellent and overall it was a super first match! For future matches, make sure you throw the ball to the player who has moved into space. The Under 11 defending was outstanding. They intercepted the ball before it got to the opposition’s shooting circle on many occasions and showed great team work. Next match, communicate with each other particularly in the shooting circle and try not to have 2 players moving into the same space.

SWIMMING Good luck to the Under 10 and 11 swimming squads in the IAPS regional time trial at Royal Grammar School, Newcastle on Tuesday. They will be competing in individual events of backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle and in medley and freestyle relays.

COMING SOON Tuesday 19 January - Under 10 and 11 IAPS swimming regional time trial at Royal Grammar School, Newcastle. 2.20 pm start Monday 25 January – Under 9 Netball matches against Silcoates School at WGHS. 3.15 pm start. Tuesday 02 February – Under 9 and Under 10/11 Netball at Westville House School, Ilkley. 2.15 pm start.

FRENCH Over the past couple of weeks, the girls have been reviewing their language learning in the Autumn Term by completing 'I can' sheets. From this, the girls now know which areas to work on. Please can you discuss these areas with your daughter, encouraging her to achieve these targets. Merci!

Joyeux Anniversaire to the following girls.

Isobel Giles 25 janvier Izza Aamir 26 janvier Kareena Sekhon 27 janvier

MUSIC – Under 11 Choir sing with the Yorkshire Philharmonic Choir: On Saturday 19 December the Under 11 Choir had their second external engagement of the year – to feature as guest choir with the Yorkshire Philharmonic Choir in their Christmas Concert at Unity Hall in Wakefield. It was a truly splendid evening, really getting us into the Christmas spirit with some fantastic singing. I was so proud of the girls, they sang with real style, clearly enjoying themselves and conveying that to the audience. The girls were praised on their ‘superb singing’, amazingly clear diction, real sense of fun and their exemplary behaviour – excellent ambassadors for the school. Young Voices Year 5 and 6 are all extremely excited about our trip to on Monday to take part in the Young Voices Concert. The girls have been avidly learning the multitude of songs and dance moves and we are delighted that over 170 parents and relations will be watching us in the audience – be prepared for some audience participation! Look out for our banners to locate us and remember your tickets and binoculars. There is also a Young Voices app which is free to download on it is a useful ‘locate your child’ feature which you may want to use. Scroll down to Wakefield Grammar School Foundation and the app will pinpoint our location! Music successes Well done to all girls who took their music exams in school last term, a lovely set of results. If you took an exam outside of school please do let Mrs White know your results.

Name Instrument Grade Result Name Instrument Grade Result Isobel Skinner Flute Grade 1 Pass Hooriya Fida- Violin Grade 2 Pass Hussain Danai Proot Cello Grade1 Merit Isabel Ward Jazz Alto Grade 2 Pass Saz Neha Vemula Violin Grade 1 Merit Claudia Bowen Cornet Grade 2 Merit Lucy Rushby Violin Grade 1 Merit Faron Buckley- Flute Grade 2 Merit Anderson Schyler Violin Grade 1 Merit Yasmin Kumar Violin Grade 2 Merit Edwards Leina Tordoff Piano Grade 1 Distinction Rebecca Gains Piano Grade 2 Merit Leah Davis Oboe Grade 1 Distinction Grace Hillier Piano Grade 2 Merit

Star of the Week – 8/1/16

Mia Coxon 3JB Excellent effort and determination in maths Sophia Hilton 3JC Very kind when her friend was upset Holly Biggin-Wilcox 3VH Interest in science and answering questions with enthusiasm Sophie Lister 4EB Wonderful attitude for everything she does Abbey O’Donnell 4 CG Acts of kindness to members of the class without prompting Lily Wynne 4SS Effort in all subjects, especially reading Rebecca Haigh 5TP Reading lots and lots and lots of books Schyler Edwards 5TP Reading lots and lots and lots of books Meerub Iqbal 5LR Settled back into school routines very easily Nadia Sharif 5APW Working very to improve her handwriting and the presentation of her work Luba Makoni 6JB Excellent participation in all lessons Alice Browne 6HJ Extremely helpful in the science lab Manya Dhingra 6JS Working really hard in maths

We are enjoying reading the achievements of our ‘Stars of the Week’ on our display in the entrance to St John’s House.

EASTER HOLIDAY CLUB is running for one week commencing Monday 4 April. This club is always popular and to ensure there is enough staff, can you please register your interest with Mrs Wood on 01924 231618 or email [email protected] by next Monday, 18 January. Further details will follow shortly.

RECYCLE4CASH – the next collection has been arranged for Friday 29 January – this is a good opportunity for you to clear your drawers of any unwanted clothes, bedding and shoes etc. These can be dropped off at school between 8.00 – 9.00 am.

JUNIOR DISCO Letters will be going out shortly for the Junior girls Years 3 – 6 disco which will be held on Friday February 26 from 6pm – 8pm tickets will be £5 and will include something to eat.

Best wishes

Mrs R Edwards Head of Junior School

DATES TO NOTE - A list of dates for your diary can be found on our website www.wgsf.org.uk. I would, however, like to draw your attention to the following forthcoming events during this half term.

 Monday 18 January – Years 5 and 6 taking part in Young Voices, Sheffield  Wednesday 20 January – Year 6 visiting Chantry Chapel  Wednesday 20 January – Junior School Open Morning  Thursday 21 January – Year 3 Parents’ Information meeting – York  Friday 22 January – School Shop  Friday 22 January – Nearly new uniform sale in St Johns House Library  Tuesday 26 January – Year 6 visiting Chantry Chapel  Thursday 28 January – Years 3 to 6 Parents’ Evening  Friday 29 January – Recycle4Cash  Monday 1 February – Entrance Examinations and Assessments

FOSJH BLOG

Happy New Year to all parents! We are holding a ‘nearly new sale’ in the Junior School library (just inside the entrance to St John’s House) on Friday 22 January at 2.30pm – please come along for a browse. If you have any donations of unwanted uniform this would be gratefully received. We are also having another “Bags to school” for unwanted clothes/material etc on Friday 29 January. The Christmas card fundraiser made £468 for FOSJH - Thank you to all parents for their support. Our aim is to give you more information about how we spend the money we have raised. This term, FOSJH agreed to pay for: House badges for all girls in both Pre-prep and Juniors; garden bulbs planted around school by the Eco-Committee; three visualisers for Junior School; an exciting ‘surprise’ Nursery activity on 22 January; nativity costumes for year 3 and 4 (for 2016), and a Geography “Bee-bot mat” for Reception and Key Stage 1.

Alistair (Chair) and Nicki (Secretary) [email protected]

WANTED – nearly new school uniform. Any donations would be greatly appreciated All items can be left at either of the school offices.