Dear Parents As another term draws to a close, I am delighted to be able to share some of its many highlights with you.

The school is committed to supporting many charities throughout the year and one which is very popular with the children is Red Nose Day. This year we supported the charity by wearing funny hats with our red noses. The pictures show what a great success it was! Thank you for your support.

Our musicians have again entertained us in two Spring Concerts, for those children taking peripatetic lessons, and the Year 3 strings performance, with the children playing together on cellos and violins. It was encouraging to see the musicians progress both in confidence and ability. Our sports teams have also had another very successful term especially at the recent Dagfa cross-country meeting.

Mrs Lynn, Headmaster’s wife, kindly judged our Decorated Eggs and Easter Bonnet competitions. She was very impressed with the imaginative ideas in both and complimented all of the children for their efforts. Mrs Lynn also awarded the prizes and was delighted to receive an Easter Egg as a thank you from the School.

As always, all of the year groups have been extremely busy and I hope you enjoy reading about their many different and exciting activities.

I wish you a very relaxing break and look forward to welcoming you back on 16 April.

Best wishes, Mrs A Laird, Head of Junior School and Nursery.

March 2015

£350

We raised more than

Egg Winners EYFS 1st Francesca Griffin 2nd Warwick Nickols-Gihair 3rd Mabel Judd Years 1 & 2 1st Ronnie Smith 2nd Erin Middleton 3rd Oscar Harding Years 3, 4 & 5 1st Rebecca Kennedy 2nd Alyssa Richichi 3rd Charlotte Chenery

Our Easter egg and bonnet challenge saw fierce competition for the prizes and we had an astonishing array of inventive and colourful entries. Well done to all the children for taking the time and effort to produce such brilliant works of art and congratulations to the winners. Many thanks to Mrs Lynn for being our judge.

Egg Decoration and Bonnet Design

Years 3, 4 & 5 1st Isabelle Wilkes 2nd Harvey Oliver 3rd Daniel Kennedy

Years 1 & 2 1st William Green 2nd Niamh Sullivan 3rd Connie Barden

EYFS 1st Rhian Wilbur 2nd Phoebe Sanders 3rd Kianna Naik

Years 3, 4 & 5 1st Isabelle Wilkes 2nd Harvey Oliver 3rd Daniel Kennedy

Bonnet Winners

Years 1 & 2 1st William Green 2nd Niamh Sullivan 3rd Connie Barden

A gallery of some of the wonderful entries that were submitted.

In preparation for Easter, the Nursery children decorated bags with colourful Easter chick and rabbit designs. Then on the last day of term they went for a woodland walk with the Reception class to see if the Easter Bunny had left any chocolate eggs behind. Luckily the wood was full of Smartie eggs!

As the weather improves the children are spending more time outside in our garden, playing with the toys and gardening. This half term they have planted potatoes which will be ready to dig up in the summer.

The Nursery children really enjoyed celebrating the Chinese New Year with their own Chinese restaurant. They sampled prawn crackers and noodles using chopsticks and practised writing their own Chinese characters.

The children had a lovely day out at Twycross Zoo. They walked around the animals’ compounds and met several live specimens (not the gorilla!) and also attended two educational talks. The Monkey Puzzle story session delighted them and they learned a lot about themselves as well as the animals in the Animal Differences talk.

Pippins swimming lessons The Pippins children going rhrough to our Reception class in September will have 4 sessions of swimming in the Summer term. This will prepare them for their transition into Reception when they will be swimming every week. The sessions are:- 6 & 13 May and 10 & 17 June

Laney Mulloy and William Taylor opened the assembly, thanking everyone for coming and making them feel welcome. The children then sang the hymn ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands’ with a smile. A poem called ‘My mummy is the best’ came next and so did the tissues!

The Assembly closed with a prayer led by James Radics and Alex Souter.

The boys then performed their ‘awesome’ dance to ‘Everything is Awesome!’ and the girls danced beautifully to ‘Let it go’ from Frozen.

Each child then told their mummy why they are loved (more tissues). Each child then presented the things they had made to their mummies, had a cuddle and looked at the fantastic bejewelled paintings of their Mummies which hung above the stage.

It was a fantastic morning!

The children and parents

had been looking forward to

it for a long time. Well done

to the Reception children for

remembering all their lines

and dance moves so well.

The highlight of this term in Reception was most definitely the Mothers’ Day Assembly. The

children practised for two whole weeks and made sure they knew where to stand and what to

say. The costumes and dancing were themed around ‘Frozen’ and ‘The Lego Movie’.

Thinktank Year 1 had a fantastic visit to the Birmingham Thinktank. They enjoyed the interactive displays, helping blood to pump around a body and seeing how quickly their hearts were beating. A puppet called Tommy was very obliging and let the children remove his insides so they could learn about how each organ functioned. They kindly put him back together again afterwards.

Outside in the Science Park, the children were enthralled with the experiments they could do. Does splashing around in water get you wet? Is a car with square wheels as smooth to travel in as one with round wheels? Year 1 can tell you the answers because they’ve tried it out for themselves.

Learning About Road Safety Year 1 took part in three sessions led by Simon Huckle, a Leicestershire Road Safety Officer. They began in the classroom by learning the Green Cross Code and the importance of holding an adult’s hand. Next they went to the school car park and learnt to look out for signs that would

indicate a car was about to drive away. Finally they went to Market Bosworth to put everything they had learnt into practice. The children helped their parents safely across the road and showed them how to use the zebra crossing. At the end, Simon congratulated everyone on their road safety knowledge.

(The ) Moon Rocks! Dr Ketchion, one of the Senior School Science Staff, brought a case full of amazing moon rocks into our classroom. Everyone was fascinated with the weight, colour and size of

the different rock samples.

Year 1Year 1

Year 1Year 1

Year 1Year 1

Trip to Fox Covert Farm Spring has definitely sprung and Year 2 went to find out what was happening at Fox Covert farm. The children met Mr Fox (Mrs Nightingale’s dad) and were treated to a talk about lambing and farming life. They were also excited to meet some of the very newest additions to the farm. They then walked across the farm to the spot thought to be the site of Richard III’s final battle. Two days later a short service was held there as the procession passed through taking the King’s coffin on towards Market Bosworth and finally Leicester Cathedral.

Kites – Science In Science, Year 2 have been studying forces. They looked at wind and how strong a force it is. The children made their own kites using bin liners and bamboo poles. They then tested them out on the field. Luckily there was some wind and, with a bit of running around too, there was lift off with the kites!

New Walk Museum Year 2 finished their exciting topic on Dinosaurs with a trip to the New Walk Museum. The children learnt about lots of different dinosaurs and worked well in teams to complete skeleton puzzles. They were very excited to see a life-sized fossil and an Ichthyosaurus, like the one discovered by Mary Anning on the beach in Dorset.

Our Science topic this half term has been Light and Shadow. The children have had fun working outside in pairs drawing around a partner’s shadow at different times of the day. They discovered that the size and direction of shadows changes during the day. They followed this experiment by making sundials to take home and plot the movement of the

shadow during the day.

The weather was perfect for the trip to Rosliston Forestry Centre in Derbyshire. The children were thoroughly engaged in their orienteering activity and took part in some environmental games, led by one of the rangers.

As a special addition to the History curriculum Year 3 have been learning about Richard III and how the events that took place at the Battle of Bosworth shaped our country’s history. To commemorate King Richard’s re-interment at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March, the children made souvenir boxes, decorated with jewels and hand-drawn portraits of Richard III. They wrote parchment manuscripts describing the Wars of the Roses and the events at the Battle of Bosworth. These were sealed with wax and stamped with the letter R to give an authentic finish. The manuscripts were placed inside the boxes along with handmade white rose brooches to mark this special and historic event.

YEAR 4

Cadbury World

Year 4 had a scrumptious trip to Cadbury

World to support their Rainsforest Topic

learning. Having learned about the cocoa

bean, the children especially enjoyed the

chocolate tasting and the new 4D cinema

experience. Thank you to our parent helpers.

Shakespeare

Year 4 had fun learning

about Shakespeare this

half term. They had to

answer quiz

questions by

following the

map to find

the right fact

sheet.

Tudor Explorer Homework

We were very impressed with

the Tudor Explorer Homework

produced by Year 4 this half

term. The children had a week

to complete the task and were

allowed to choose which

format they presented their

work in. We had posters,

booklets, PowerPoints, letters,

newspaper articles and even a

video! The children also

presented their work to the class.

Richard III

Roses

To commemorate

Richard III’s

re-interment,

Year 4 crafted

white York roses

in Art. They also

decorated flags

with sketches of

Richard and of his

boar symbol.

Using Mrs

Burdett’s ‘R’

seal with wax

completed the

Royal effect.

Chrome Books A new set of chrome books have been

enthusiastically used throughout the

School for a variety of subjects. Year

5 have researched information in

History, practised skills in Maths and

English and played games to learn

French vocabulary.

Space Explorers

As part of our Space topic in

Science, Year 5 were extremely

lucky to see a selection of rocks

from the Moon. Dr Ketchion had

borrowed some samples from NASA

and spoke to the children about

where they had come from.

TOP SECRET

Year 5s have been taken on as MI5 operatives following

a plea for help from MI5 after confidential plans had

been stolen by Evil Remus, a criminal mastermind.

After spy training which involved profiling, code-

breaking and mission planning, the children wrote

exciting stories about how they captured Remus.

Road Safety Before taking to the roads of Market Bosworth on their bikes next term, Year

5 learnt more about being safe on the road. After watching a film of an

alarming accident, they were split into groups to report on the incident. The

newspaper reporters wrote factual headline news, the news readers interviewed

witnesses, the parents wrote letters of complaint, which the children read out,

and the town planners budgeted for a safer area. The work produced was of a

very high standard and the children certainly learnt a lot about road safety.

WWII This term Year 5 have learnt what it would be like to be a child

in World War 2. Dressed as evacuees carrying gas masks and

wearing identity labels on their clothes, they spent their day at

Beaumanor Hall, a wartime listening station. They experienced

rationing, decoded radio messages and even spent time

underground during a very realistic and frightening air raid.

Dixie Grammar Junior School Sports

HABSSA COUNTY Cross Country Finals

Well done to the children who qualified for the County Finals. This year it was held at a new venue - Donnington Race Park. There was some stiff competition and great running on a dry, but very windy and chilly Saturday morning. Henry Green did especially well to finish in 7th place. Our other runners also deserve congratulations for their efforts.

Daniel Kennedy - 22nd, Emily Cutler - 42nd

Nathan Cadman (Year 6) - 52nd.

Dagfa Cross Country On Wednesday 25 March, we took boys’ and girls’ teams from Years 3, 4 and 5 to Wollaton Park in Nottingham for the Dagfa House School Invitational Cross Country Event. Wollaton Park recently held the British Cross Country Championships where Gemma Steel (who opened the Sports Barn 4 years ago) won, so we knew the course was going to be a tough one. All the children were fantastic and we had some truly stand-out performances and amazing results. Year 3/4 Boys Henry Green (1st), Max Barden (12th), Tom Daniels (18th) and Harry Crane (15th). Year 4 Girls Amber Cadman (3rd), Sienna Dhir (15th), Holly Davies (16th), Evie Gibbons (6th), Ava Whetstone Magee (18th) and Lucia Burns (20th).

Year 5 Boys Daniel Kennedy (9th), Rio Naik (17th), Sam Ashley

(21st), Isaac Benn (24th), Ted Davies (25th) and Joseph Blunt

(26th).

Year 5 Girls Daisy Wilebore (1st), Emily Cutler (2nd), Alayna Friston (5th), Charlotte Chenery (9th), Eleanor Davis Bee (6th) and Millie Giibbons (13th). Winners of the Team Trophy.

Due to bad weather, the Year 4 and 5 mixed Inter-House Tag Rugby competition was not quite the event planned with parents cheering from the sidelines. It was, however, still a keenly fought competition played out during the children’s PE lessons. All the children relished the opportunity to represent their House and the result could not have been closer, with only one point separating them at the end. Congratulations to Lancaster 38-37.

Top Try Scorers Year 4 Girl Holly Davis 4 Year 4 Boy Fletcher Ashfield 6 Year 5 Girl Daisy Wilebore 3 Year 5 Boy Daniel Kennedy 8

Individual Medal Winners Amber Cadman 3rd (Bronze), Emily Cutler 2nd (Silver), Daisy Wilebore 1st (Gold), Henry Green 1st (Gold).

Year 5 girls—winners of the Team Trophy. Congratulations girls!

Dixie Grammar Junior School Sports

PE Kit for the summer term Tracksuits White Polo Tops Shorts Trainers White sports socks (children should not wear non-visible trainer socks).

ISA U9’s TAG RUGBY The sun shone for our Yr 4 boys in Stafford. A great day was had by all. The boys worked really hard to improve their skills and game play during the tournament. Well done boys.

Game 1 – v Mylnhurst Lost 4-6 Game 2 – v St Peters Won 7-3 Game 3 – v St Wystans Won 8-5 Game 4 – v Stafford Drew 6-6 Game 5 – v Pitsford Won 7-5 Game 6 – v Chase Grammar Won 7-4 Joint 2

nd in Group – Lost out on a semi-final

place due to try difference. 5

th/6

th Play Off Game – v St Josephs Won 7-6

Overall placing = 5

th / 13 schools

Try Scorers Henry Green 11 Max Barden 10 Fletcher Ashfield 8 Tom Daniels 5 Harry Crane 4 Freddie Clarke 4 Jovan Dosanjh 2 Robbie Clark 2

Total scored – 46

As part of our ongoing work with the Senior School, the Senior Sports Leaders planned a Tag Rugby & Football Tournament for the Year 4s and a Multi Skills Session for Year 2. The children really enjoyed it and our thanks go to the Sports Leaders for planning the activities.

Yr 5 and Reception Buddy time in PE As part of the Year 5 and Reception Buddy System, the Year 5 children spent time planning and creating games and activities for their Reception Buddies. After the planning stage, the Year 5’s spent an afternoon in the Sports Barn sharing their games with their Buddies. The session was filled with fun, smiles and laughter as the Year 5 children worked hard to help the Reception children learn the rules of their games. They showed endless energy and patience and the Reception children worked equally hard and did really well to learn the games. It was a hugely successful afternoon, which further developed their ‘Buddy’ relationships.

Active Kids vouchers are still being collected and are most gratefully received, thank you.

Once again we thank Mrs Eileen Smallwood, one of our cleaning team, for donating the knitted chicks and rabbits filled with Crème Eggs. These have been hugely popular with the children and the money raised will go to the School Council to be spent as they choose on playground equipment or other School resources.

Calendar details can be found on the School website - www.dixie.org.uk Extra-curricular activities should be selected by following the link sent out via Parentmail or the link address may be copied and pasted into your browser. The closing date for these to be completed online is Friday 3 April 2015. Class Teachers will advise children which clubs they are in before they start on Monday 20 April.

Uniform for the Summer Term Children may return to School wearing summer uniform if they wish to. After the half-term break in May summer uniform will be compulsory. As the weather improves, the School field will be used for playtimes and we encourage all children to wear sun hats. There are two styles available from the School Office, priced at £3 each. Sun cream should be applied at home and children should not have this in School.

The PTA will be selling tea towels featuring the children’s self-portraits during the week commencing 20 April. They are priced at £6 each or £10 for 2.

Second Spring Concert On Tuesday 17 March we were delighted to host our final Spring Concert of the term. For some of our children this was their first opportunity to perform in front of an audience of family and friends. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and entertained us with a varitey of solo, group, vocal and instrumental pieces. Many

parents commented on the enthusiasm and confidence displayed.