Newsletter Junior School Issue 7 May 2018 029 2077 8936 www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com @SJCCardiff Dear Parents The last few weeks have seen so many educational and enjoyable activities for our Junior School pupils, with many more to look forward to. I am composing this newsletter on a very wet day which has coincided with our Multi Sports Tournament. There are sad faces all round, however the vegetables, planted by our Gardening Club are thriving following the very dry spell. The new date for Multi Sports is Friday, 8 th June. I hope you are still able to come along to support our Junior sporting stars. I would like to say thank you to pupils and staff for all their contributions to two delightful Parents’ Assemblies (R9 and R11); our Harry and Meghan celebrations, the Junior Disco, Geography trips for R9 and R8 and our two residential trips for R10 and R11. Thank you for all your support with our efforts to keep assessments manageable and less daunting for our pupils. In the Junior School, we wish to ensure pupils are learning through experience, enjoyment as well as through class-based lessons and assessments. Wishing you all a peaceful half term. Mrs R Thompson Junior Mathematics Challenge For the first time in SJC Junior history, our successful R11 Primary Maths Challenge pupils were entered into the Junior Mathletics Challenge, for pupils aged up to R13. They were very successful, achieving either Silver or Gold awards. Hiya and Krishna, have been invited to the next round, called the Junior Kangaroo. We wish them all the very best. Mrs Thompson.
Dear Parents The last few weeks have seen so many educational and enjoyable activities for our Junior School pupils, with many more to look forward to. I am composing this newsletter on a very wet day which has coincided with our Multi Sports Tournament. There are sad faces all round, however the vegetables, planted by our Gardening Club are thriving following the very dry spell. The new date for Multi Sports is Friday, 8th June. I hope you are still able to come along to support our Junior sporting stars. I would like to say thank you to pupils and staff for all their contributions to two delightful Parents’ Assemblies (R9 and R11); our Harry and Meghan celebrations, the Junior Disco, Geography trips for R9 and R8 and our two residential trips for R10 and R11. Thank you for all your support with our efforts to keep assessments manageable and less daunting for our pupils. In the Junior School, we wish to ensure pupils are learning through experience, enjoyment as well as through class-based lessons and assessments. Wishing you all a peaceful half term. Mrs R Thompson Junior Mathematics Challenge
For the first time in SJC Junior history, our successful R11 Primary Maths Challenge pupils were entered into the Junior Mathletics Challenge, for pupils aged up to R13. They were very successful, achieving either Silver or Gold awards. Hiya and Krishna, have been invited to the next round, called the Junior Kangaroo. We wish them all the very best. Mrs Thompson.
R9 Cog Waterworks R9 spent the day learning about what Welsh Water do for us and how lucky we are to have a fresh water supply. In the afternoon we went on a long walk in search of water. After that we carried it back to our African village and carried out all our daily chores like feeding the animals, watering the crops and washing clothes. We all learnt how to save water in our own homes. Mrs R Howells Book Clubs A Bear called Paddington Junior Book Club Despite it being his 60th birthday this year, Michael Bond’s hapless (yet always incredibly polite) creation remains just as well loved and timeless as ever. Our younger Junior Book Club members certainly agreed, enjoying Paddington’s mishaps from Darkest Peru through the streets of London with great enthusiasm. This time Bute was victorious in another fun and fast-paced quiz. Mr R Dennis Boy Overboard Junior Book Club Boy Overboard, by Morris Gleitzman, drew the largest Junior Book Club crowd of the academic year. Jamal and Bibi’s epic, fictional journey, fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, certainly touched a chord and prompted Book Club members to contribute generously to the current Rohingya refugee crisis. It was one of the most hotly contested quizzes of the year, congratulations to teams De la Salle 1 and St. David’s for jointly coming out on top. De la Salle then went on to add to their impressive winning score by their thoughtful contribution to a discussion on how governments should tackle the challenge of a refugee crisis. Mrs J Cooney
The pupils of the Junior School enjoyed a fun packed evening dancing to all the current tunes and learning new moves. There was a wonderful array of disco clothing, including a fantastic pair of light up shoes! The children certainly seemed to enjoy the sweets, treats and teaching the teachers ‘the floss!’ A truly enjoyable time was had by all. Mrs D Criddle
Techniquest visits the Junior School
On Monday, 30th April, the Junior School tripped the Light Fantastic when Techniquest came to give each year group a workshop. In the hall, a black, inflatable igloo greeted the pupils, and they crawled inside to learn all about light. Light sources, refraction, diffraction, LASERs and how sun cream stops uv light were all touched upon. Shadows were captured, but fortunately did not have
to be sewn back on like Peter Pan’s. The highlight for many pupils was when they donned special glasses which had a diffraction grating in them, causing rainbow effects around every source of light. Then it was time to crawl back out of the igloo and blink as the pupils’ pupils adjusted once again to daylight. Miss K Teideman
R9 Llancaiach Fawr R9 pupils were excited to dress as Tudors for the day that they spent at Llancaiach Fawr Manor. They took part in three different workshops: a presentation on children’s lives in which they got to play some Tudor games; a workshop called Sweetmeats in which they found out about Tudor food and the extensive use of sugar before making some sweets of their own and lastly a re-enactment of a courtroom in which a fishmonger was tried for selling rotten fish that made people ill. Pupils were also were given an extensive tour of the manor house by servants and workers from Tudor times! In the servants’ hall everyone got to make herb bags to ward off the plague. The children were very interested in all the rooms, including the Great Hall, the guest chamber, the master’s chamber and of course the privy! Everyone agreed that not only had it been a fun day but that they had also learnt an enormous amount of information about living in the 1600s. Mrs C Clint R11 Residential to Brenin Adventures
R11 pupils travelled to the picturesque village of Llandinam on 2nd May for two nights. They stayed in a beautiful manor house surrounded by countryside and had a fabulous time. As well as having lots of fun, the children were given the opportunity to experience gorge walking, canoeing, raft building, orienteering, team building games, bush craft and shelter building. They found the gorge walking a particular
challenge, but all felt a tremendous sense of achievement afterwards. Mrs E Kloosterman
R10s started their trip with a tour of the Principality Stadium in the heart of Cardiff. A visit to Techniquest was followed by settling into rooms at the Urdd Centre in Cardiff Bay. After this, a walk across the barrage to the Captain Scott display developed a hearty appetite for dinner. A surprise visit by Mr Nichols in the evening provided our Head Judge for the pupils' talent show after a very close quiz competition. - a great end to the first day. After checking out of the Urdd Centre the following
morning, pupils were able to ask questions and show their knowledge whilst being shown the debating chamber of the Senedd. A quick game of football and some relays by the Norwegian Church helped stretch out pupils' legs before ten pin bowling and food for lunch. Lastly, a well-deserved ice-cream before setting off to return to school. The pupils' behaviour and question answering abilities were commented on very favourably by both the Principality Stadium and Senedd guides. The R10 pupils were a credit to St John's College - well done. Mr M Blackburn R9 Parents’ Assembly On Friday 11th May R9 celebrated a wonderful ‘Gratitude Assembly’ with their parents. The theme looked at being grateful and acknowledging the everyday things in life. There were four short plays which taught us about being thankful and to appreciate the things that people do for us. We also learnt how having a positive outlook can influence our attitude and can improve our overall happiness and resilience. We shared our gratitude books to give our parents an idea of the things that we write in them. Each pupil also wrote a heartfelt letter to their family to thank them for all that they do for them. There were a few tears shed at this time, from parents, pupils and teachers. Mrs Clint and I would like to say huge congratulations to each and every one of you. Mrs D Criddle
Achievers’ Lunch Congratulations to our latest Junior School Achievers who are commended for their attainment, effort or for being excellent role models to others. They joined Mr Moody and Mrs Thompson for lunch in the Headmaster’s Study. The pupils were eager to tell Mr Moody all about what they enjoy doing in, and out of school. They had suggestions to improve their break time and lots of questions about Mr Moody’s hobbies and career at St John’s. Mrs R Thompson Royal Wedding Commemoration
On Friday, 18th May all of the Junior pupils took part in various activities to celebrate the Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan. They played games including hopscotch, ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’ as well as memory games, cake decorating and everyone’s favourite, the parachute. All Houses took part, but St David’s were the victors in the final balloon race. Mrs R Howells
Sports News Following all the success from our sports awards last month, we are delighted with the sporting success of our pupils this month. Participation rates have been outstanding across the Junior and Senior sections of the school and in this edition of the Junior Newsletter we wish to share success from across the whole of St John’s. We are equally impressed with the maturity of our senior DofE students who have been volunteering during co-curricular sessions. The Junior and Senior pupils are pictured below achieving success across a wide range of sport. The juniors achieved 1st, 2nd and 3rd in recent tennis competitions beating the likes of Whitchurch, the R13 & R14’s won both Welsh baseball matches. Rhys and Jack both won the U/13 table tennis event. The senior girls won their rounders match versus Rougemont and boys won their recent football match. Hockey and netball, rugby and golf clubs are continuing to thrive.
We are looking forward to our Junior Multisport event where our GCSE students will be assisting, umpiring and Coaching. Then we have our Infant, junior and senior sports days to look forward to. Keep up the good work, Sport, PE and DofE Department.
Musical Achievements: Nazneen A, Siyona N, Kushy S (violin); Sofia A (viola); Selina L; Jolinaa S, Alfie J, Sofia A, Tanisha K, Hiya R, Evelyn T, Alma S, Rhea I, Aditya G (piano); George S (trumpet); Max M (drums); Alma S (theory); Evelyn T has started playing the oboe. Sporting Achievements: Michael O’F, Charlotte S, Arvin S, Reece M, Joanne S, Isabel H, Aoife P, Nia G (next level in swimming); Aakanksh K, Aramis J, Rohan G, Darcey J, Aryan M (next level in tennis); Aimee R (next level in horse riding); Aoife P, Imogen W (next level in gymnastics). Charlotte S has achieved her next distance badge in swimming; Reece M was man of the match in cricket; Aditya A was awarded the match ball in cricket; Joshua O was awarded the Golden Boot in football; Matilda D started Badminton Club; Aryan M has captained Lisvane Cricket Team; Steen A won the award for good sportsmanship in squash; Harri P’s rugby team won a trophy in a recent tournament; Emily D achieved a PB in swimming; Rayan J has started playing badminton; Sam K captained Lisvane Cricket team and the team won; James P plays for Cardiff Cricket Club; Congratulations to: Vineet B who represented Wales in cricket and won. Other Achievements: Congratulations to all our LAMDA pupils who were awarded either a Merit or a Distinction: Aryan M, Katie O’F, Aoife P, Ronav D, Lily F, Caitlin H, Alfie J, Sofia A, Annabel J, Hiya R, Krishna L Congratulations to Hiya R has been selected to play in the International and European Chess competition Emma K won 1st place in a show-jumping competition; Selina L has moved up a level in Chinese; Leila J auditioned for the Royal College in ballet; Lily F has been selected to perform and sing solo in the theatre; Lilah came first in the WDO competition; Dylan S has been invested in the Scouts; Evelyn T (next ballet grade) Congratulations to Evelyn T who has been selected to dance with the English Youth Ballet. Well done all!
Please note…. Please check your child’s uniform has a name tag. We have many items of unnamed uniform and even more water bottles with no names on. We would dearly like to match lost items with their owners. Please remember that Form Tutors are always your first point of contact for any query. They are happy to resolve any questions you may have about your child’s learning and well-being.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Dates for your diaries. June: 28th May – 1st June Half term Tues 5th R8 Caerleon Wed 6th Peer to Peer reading Wed 6th R8 First Confession Thurs 7th R10 Pirate Day Fri 8th KS2 Sports Tournament Sun 10th First Holy Communion Mon 11th R8/R9 Rounders (RTh) Tues 12th Book Club Fri 15th R8G to Bryn Ivor Fri 15th R10/R11 Cricket 18th – 22nd R9-R11 Assessments 18th - 22rd R8/R7 Transition Week Wed 20th Player Layer fitting 3-4pm Tues 26th R12 parents Induction
(4-5pm) Thurs 28th Junior School New Parents Induction (4-5pm)
July: Mon 2nd Sports Day Tues 3rd R11 Transition Day Tues 3rd New form induction Thurs 5th Activity Day (R8 - R11 and new pupils) Mon 9th Junior School Concert
(4 - 5pm) Wed 11th RWCMD Concert Thurs 12th Trips and End of Term Fri 13th INSET Proposed dates for Girls’ Choir to sing at Nazareth House – 25th June or 6th July.
