To the Parents

Snowy Days

Looking outside at the Junior quad now, it is hard to believe that on Thursday evening last week, it was a very different, and I must say very pretty picture. However, the conditions locally and off Portsea Island were also quite treacherous, meaning that we had to take the very difficult decision to close the school on Thursday and Friday and also over the weekend.

The decision was not taken lightly and was one with the health, safety and wellbeing of school community very much at its heart. Our pupils, parents and staff travel in from far and wide, with around 50% coming from off Portsea Island. With Hampshire under an Amber weather warning and very clear guidance from Hampshire Police stating that people should not travel unless absolutely necessary, it became clear the School would not be able to operate safely and that we should not be encouraging travel.

The School has also decided, in order to minimise the loss of teaching and learning time, to forgo its INSET day on April 16th and for this to be a normal school day. We do of course appreciate that some of you may already have plans for that day; please let me know if this is the case.

I do hope that out of this adversity the children at least got to make the most of the rare Pompey snowfall.

Parents’ Forum

This Thursday sees our Parents’ Forum meet, with the main topics for discussion being:

The new House System

JSA Events

Snow Days

Please let one of the PF Reps know if you have any thoughts or suggestions on any of these aspects, or if there are other whole school issues that you would like to put forward.

A full list of PF Reps is available on MyPGS.

Peter Hopkinson Headmaster

Rory’s Stories of the

Week

Festival of Music During the half term holidays, my brother and I took part in the Portsmouth Music Festival. I played 3 pieces on the piano and 2 pieces on the violin.

My best piece on the piano was called “When The Saints Go Marching In” but it didn’t go very well! I thought I had no chance of winning any prizes because there were other children who were much older, and with a lot more experience. In fact, there was a boy who played a Grade 6 piece, and a girl who played a Grade 4 piece, and I was worried because my piece was only Grade 1!

However, I did my very best, and the adjudicator awarded me the trophy for my final piece called “Trumpet Tune” by Henry Purcell. That was a lovely surprise!!!

I won a second trophy on the violin with a piece called Cha Cha Bowing by Peter Wilson.

I really enjoyed myself and had a great time!!!

By Oliver Y

Taking to the Stage

During the half term Aphaia, Savannah and I took part in a new created land of Mary Poppins. We had to work under the clock with only three days to learn a magnificent piece of choreography. Aphaia and I had a duet in Chim Chim Che-ree. The best part was everything. I had the time of my life and I’m going back next year for sure. (Jemima G)

We had lots of songs to sing including step in time, jolly holiday. It was so much fun and we were all so busy learning, in total we were there for their days and on the final day we showed it to all the parents!

I loved being the front wheel of the carriage and learning the songs and dance moves off by heart! I'm looking forward to the summer workshop next. (Savannah P)

We all enjoyed the songs. For our show, we didn't have many props but we used our bodies to create objects which is called physical drama - this made play look real.

We all really enjoyed supercalerfragerlisticexpealidicious, we loved learning new dances and making new friends.

We all cooperated together and had so much fun, I would go again to make more friends and do another show as we all enjoyed it and laughed all day. To keep our strength up, we had breaks. We are all so, so happy and wish to go again! (Aphaia S)

The Newsletter of The Portsmouth Grammar Junior School Issue No.247 2nd

March 2018

The Lion

Space Explorers

RM has been exploring different painting techniques. They mixed shaving foam and glue together; then added paint on the top. They also tried mixing paints under cling film and printing paper on the top. Then they tried weaving wool to see what it looked like. Having explored the different possibilities the children chose the Planet they wanted to make.

Next they looked at images on the iPad to see the details of their planet.

Finally they had to evaluate the techniques and choose which would be the best one to use for their chosen Planet.

Mapping it Out

This week we have designed our own maps and have been thinking about the physical features. We added a volcano, a waterfall, a river and some mountains. We have added a key so that people can use our map. We have also been learning to use a compass and we have some special ways to remember the North, East, South and West. It was fun!

Vanessa and Louise

London Silhouettes

This week Year 2 have been creating their own silhouettes of London in 1666 when the fire was blazing. They created a fiery wash by using yellow and red inks which created a raging orange fire. Emily enjoyed dabbing the red paint and watching it swirl. Sanna thought it was good to have water in the tray to make the movement of ink look like fire. Swapasthya liked the colour created when the inks were mixed.

Year 4 trip to the

Sustainability Centre On Monday Year 4 went to the Sustainability Centre in East Meon to gain more knowledge about our Geography topic. When we arrived, we were separated into our houses. Hudson teamed up with Jerrard and Privett went with Nicol. In Hudson, our first task was to use sandbags to create a special arch. We did this challenge to prove that you can make up a house of almost anything! After that we had a quick snack. Then we talked about ways to make houses eco-friendly. Some ideas include solar panels, wind catchers, and even compost toilets! I learnt that worms help make compost toilets more efficient. After lunch we learnt about items that are renewable. Renewable means something that can be re-used or used for another purpose. Some examples of renewable resources include trees such as hazel trees, sweet chestnut trees, and willow trees. Next, we went to a big hall made of wood. The wood in the hall was transported from the local area, which reduces the carbon footprint. The bark was stripped off, but the wood was not cut into planks. My favourite part of the trip was learning about renewable energy. By Carson H 4P

Languages Taster

Afternoon

Last Thursday, we visited the Senior School for a language afternoon. When we arrived, our group went to learn Español (Spanish) with Mr Doyle, he chatted nonstop in Spanish! We worked on starting conversations and then

named clothing. We also got to wear them: pink tutus and funky sombreros, it was hysterical.

Next, was German with Mr Murphy (Emoji King) who, funnily enough was Irish! He taught us the months of the Year, which we had to remember by its emoji!

After that, we moved onto Français (French) with Mr Gamble. It was loads of fun, as we got to pair up with an anonymous person and chat to them in French by using these amazing headphones and computer system that were connected. Next, we played games matching French and English words as fast as you could, and the Gravity Game where Asteroids had French word on and you had to translate them before it hit the planet and exploded!

Overall, we had a fabulous afternoon and clearly Spanish is the best!

By Josh and Eva 6S

Adventure Time

3J have been planning adventure stories in English this week. We have been inspired by our topic Setting Sail. Did you know that Captain Cook sailed to find the Great Southern Continent (Australia) in 1768?

We firstly designed our own islands and plotted various geographical features on our islands such as volcanoes, beaches, forests, rivers and caves. We then created a survival kit to help survive on a desert island. We have planned an adventure story where we are shipwrecked and arrive on our uninhabited island. We have to include that we build a shelter on the island and gather our own food using items from our survival pack, including fishing or gathering fruits and berries. We then have to find a new shelter as stormy weather or other problems with our original shelter force us to move elsewhere on the island. Just as we build our new shelter we hear strange sounds and run and hide. We eventually escape the island after being rescued.

Last week we were told by Chris Connaughton’s to ‘magpie’ ideas from other stories such as his fabulous adventure story about Boris then Badger (which links to our Learning Tree). When we have written our adventure stories we will be creating a book of our story and share them with Year One pupils.

Fixtures

Wed 7th Mar 1330: U10A Rugby 7s Tournament at Prince’s Mead (a) 1330: U11A PGS Rugby 7s Tournament (h) 1430: U11A, B & C Netball v St Swithun’s (a) 1430: U11B & U10B & C Rugby v Twyford (a)

Thu 8th Mar 1315: U9 PGS Hockey Tournament (h) 1330: U8 Lions Rugby Festival at Prince’s Mead (a) 1330: U9A & B PGS Rugby Festival (h) 1400: U9B & C Girls’ Hockey v Farleigh (a)

Snowy Scenes

Online Safety Talk

We are delighted to be welcoming back to the school world-renowned expert on the subject of online safety, Karl Hopwood on Thursday 22 March.

Karl will be speaking to pupils in Years 9 and 12 during the day and is then running talks to parents in two time slots at 18:00 and again at 19:15. We particularly recommend this talk to parents with children in Years 3-12.

To book your free ticket to this event please click or paste the following link:

https://karlhopwoodparentsmar18.eventbrite.co.uk

Mothers’ Day

Plant Sale

On the afternoon of Friday 9th March, representatives from the JSA will be giving your child the opportunity to purchase a special ‘surprise’ Mother’s Day gift.

The gifts cost £2 each and will be available for purchase under the veranda outside the Junior School Office.

Pupils in Year 4 will have the opportunity to purchase a gift after their musical performance.

Saturday Sport

There will be games sessions for Juniors (Y3-Y6) from 0900. Saturday 3rd March: House Dodgeball Competition, Hilsea Please arrive promptly for a 0900 start.

The L i on Spo r t

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