Autumn Term 2016 – Newsletter 6. 16 December 2016 Year 5 & Year 6 Hospice Concert

There was a magical Christmas feeling in the Cathedral at the Year 5 and Year 6 Christmas Concert to raise funds for the Wakefield Hospice. The girls performed 'Come on Christmas' telling the Christmas story through songs with different moods and styles, drama and poetry. The Under 11 Choir sang beautifully and the Suzuki violin group and Junior Wind in the Willows played a variety of Christmas music extremely well. The audience also enjoyed listening to Champagne Flutes play. Thank you for supporting the concert which raised a magnificent £682.23 for such a worthy cause.

Charity Sale Well done to Mia Coxan, Jessica Blake, Abbi Riddiough and Megan Woodhead in Year 4 for using their initiative and organising a charity sale. They worked very hard baking delicious buns, cakes and biscuits to sell as well as selling popular Beanie Boos. They raised £285 for UNICEF. Thank you for supporting the sale. Bobble Hat Day! We had fun wearing brightly coloured bobble hats to raise money for the NSPCC which supports Childline. Donations to the good cause totalled £307.47. Thank you girls for giving your pocket money so generously.

Parking We would politely request that parents park with due care to the safety of others and with an awareness of the needs of local residents to have access to and from their houses.

All the children in the Big Red Curtain Stage School's production of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ pantomime did a fantastic job on Saturday. They had all learnt their lines so well and it was really good fun - there were quite a few WGHS JS girls taking part and you may also recognise some girls who are now in the Senior School.

YEAR 3 The faces of our Y3 angels really did light up with joy and wonder as they brought the good news to the shepherds that Jesus was to be born that night in Bethlehem. They danced with grace and elegance as Year 4 sang 'Dream, Joseph Dream'. What a wonderful start to our Christmas celebrations. YEAR 4

We thought it would be a nice end to the term to show off our winter animal artwork and poems which include tigers, polar bears and foxes. As it was Bobble Hat Day we also decided to create some action photos in front of our art work. We hope you enjoy looking at them.

Comments by Year 4, following the Lower Key Stage 2 Nativity, Jerusalem News, performed in St Austin’s Church on Tuesday.

YEAR 5

We are enjoying our class novel, Street Child by Berlie Doherty, which tells the story of Jim Jarvis and his fight to survive the tough streets of London in Victorian times. Claudia Bowen – “I have learnt lots about life in the Workhouse” Katie Helliwell – “I like the book because it is based on a true story”

In Maths, we have enjoyed placing numbers to 100 000 on a line, rounding the numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000.

We loved our party actions and jazz hands in the finale song. We enjoyed being on stage at the end because

all Year 3 and 4 were together. We felt proud, pleased and Christmassy!

Singing on stage was exciting and we had a good view of our mummies and daddies.

Being in the spotlight, made me feel important, and I wanted to sing well.

We liked practising the drama and seeing it get better and better. Our final performance was our best!

YEAR 6 We enjoyed designing a Christmas decoration for the Christmas tree in St. John's House and thought about our 'Wish for the World ' this Christmas. We hope you have had the opportunity to read them. We have enjoyed sharing our wishes with one another round the tree.

Year 6 Creative Crafts Club have enjoyed learning some sewing skills. They have used 'binka' and embroidery threads to make bookmarks.

6JB band perform 'Jingle Bells' in their final music lesson of 2016

French In Year 5 we have enjoyed working with Leila, the French assistant, learning about how Christmas is celebrated in France. We sang some French carols and learnt some Christmas vocabulary. Can you work out what these words mean? Le bonhomme de neige La bûche de Noël Les cadeaux Le sapin Le calendrier de l'advent La guirlande Le Père Noël The French sound of the week is - a â à

avril âne à

If you are heading off to France for a ski trip, don't forget to collect French food wrappers, menus, bus tickets etc. Bring them in to show Madame Roberts for some stars.

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année! Bon Anniversaire to the following girls.

Ava Dunn 22 Décembre Anastasiya Barclay 27 Décembre Aarya Shenoy 05 Janvier

Ella Gregg-Teale 22 Décembre Annabel Massey 27 Décembre Lucia Partridge 07 Janvier

Ruby Kirton 22 Décembre Evelyn Crompton 30 Décembre Khadijah Sarwar 08 Janvier

Sophie Rassouli 23 Décembre Aimee Smith 01 Janvier Tia Patel 15 Janvier

Jennifer Pang 24Décembre Kaitlin Fernandez 03 Janvier Grace Pickles 15 Janvier

Holly Biggin-Wilcox 25Décembre Sophia Bulmer 05 Janvier Lucy Pesterfield 17 Janvier

Thea Speight 25 Décembre Eiliyah Pervaiz 05 Janvier

Some girls in Years 5 and 6 enjoyed being 'Codebreakers' in Linguistics Club, led by Adarsh (Y13 QEGS pupil). What a fun session!

ECO-COMMITTEE The Eco-Committee was delighted to receive a number of bird houses and bat boxes from the builder Redrow. Mrs Taylor visited school to present the boxes. The girls are researching where to site them so they can be installed after the holiday and then they will be able monitor the wildlife in the school grounds. MUSIC This past weekend was a busy one for our choirs:

Friday evening saw the Mulberry Singers perform a 30 minute programme of festive music to the Friends of Wakefield Grammar School Foundation at their Christmas gathering. The girls sang with such energy and enthusiasm, with each of the 14 girls having a chance to sing either a duo or trio within the ensemble. Their favourite song without any doubt being the heart-warming Percy the Puny Poinsettia! and the highly evocative Tell Me a Story Shining Star.

Saturday saw the Under 11 Choir and the Mulberry Singers performing in Wakefield Cathedral as a guest choir of the Skelmanthorpe Male Voice Choir. We were delighted to be asked back again after such a wonderful concert last year, and this year was even better! The girls performed with such confidence and commitment, their words were crystal clear and their part singing beautifully balanced. Isabelle Gaskell and Millie Wood sang the first verse of Once in Royal David’s City beautifully as a duet – an experience that will stay with them for many years. Sophia Bulmer and Lucy Crook sang their solos with real polish at the start of Just a Single Voice. The choir’s favourite song has to have been Christmas in 90 Seconds, a fantastic piece that romps through 12 festive songs in a lively and fun arrangement. The concert ended with a beautiful lyrical arrangement of Away in a Manger

where the choir joined forces with Skelmanthorpe Male Voice Choir. I am delighted to report that we have been asked to join with them next year, so all Under 11 Choir Year 5 parents please put Saturday 9th December in you diaries! Whilst we’re on the theme of diaries, please also put Saturday 23rd December in as an appearance as guest choir with Yorkshire Philharmonic Choir, again at the Cathedral. What a wonderful way to get into the Christmas Spirit!

We all enjoyed our delicious Christmas lunch and had fun at our parties.

STARS OF THE WEEK – 02/12/2016

Lucy Pesterfield 3JB A wonderful week of working hard, being alert and lovely smiles.

Eliza McEnhill 3JC Participating in all lessons with interest.

Charlotte Swap 3VH Fantastic effort to improve the presentation of her work and always working

with a super attitude.

Sara Sarlak-Chiva 4EB For showing how much she can achieve with just a little more effort.

Isla Darby 4CG Greater participation in lessons, particularly in Maths.

Madison Atkin 4SS Improving her listening skills and handwriting.

Maya Langley 5TP Fantastic Lowry inspired art work using ICT.

Ellie Tingle 5LR Contributing to class discussions with such enthusiasm.

Kate Lawrenson 6JB Working hard and with enthusiasm in all areas of the curriculum.

Evie Pickles 6HJ Working thoughtfully with a partner to produce a winter poem.

Flora Whitfield 6AW For being a poet! Writing a thought provoking poem about bullying and a fun

poem about Christmas.

STARS OF THE WEEK – 09/12/2016

Matilda Bowser 3JB A positive and enthusiastic approach.

Poppy Crabtree 3JC For being a polite and helpful little girl all the time.

Isabelle Patrick 3VH Working with great confidence and enthusiasm in every lesson.

Nancy Tidy 4CG Always working hard and smiling.

Arianna Pascale 4SS Leading the Kings in a confident way in the Christmas play.

Grace Earnshaw 5TP Working extremely hard in English.

Phoebe Vincent 5LR Working very hard in Maths and correctly measuring and labelling the parts of a

circle.

Leina Tordoff 5APW Sharing her experiences with us about her recent trip to Japan

Bailey Potter 6JB Always working exceptionally hard in Maths and for creating a super set of 3D

snowmen.

Aarya Shenoy 6HJ Working thoughtfully with a partner to produce a winter poem.

Isabelle Worrall 6AW Working very hard on all written tasks in English and for participating

thoughtfully in discussions.

MATHLETES OF THE WEEK For work completed: 21 to 27 November 28 Nov to 02 Dec

Year 6 enjoyed visiting each junior school classroom to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year - and thank you! - to all the parents who have supported FOSJH this year. It has been a very busy term!

We have some exciting forthcoming events and tickets for both the Frist Aid night and the Talent night will be available early in the New Year.

Regards, Rob (Chair) and Nicki (secretary)

Year 3

Kimiya Yousefi Ameya Shenoy Jasmine Pidsley

Zara Azear Ruhika Deb

Year 4

Haimee Ahir Hareem Ghouri Haimee Ahir

Year 5

Vienna Taylor Sarina Kaur

Sarina Kaur Marella Akhgar

Year 6

Serena Andani Evie Pickles

Hannah Jessop

Nina Smith Lucy Rushby Ruby Kirton

Mathletics Trophy

Winners

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

Wednesday 4 January – Start of Spring Term Friday 6 January – St John’s visit to Bradford Alhambra Theatre Wednesday 11 January – Year 4 Residential Parents’ Evening

Thursday 19 January – Year 3 Residential Parents’ Evening