To the Parents

Welcome to the 200th edition of The Lion! I hope you and your family have all enjoyed a good half term break and are looking forward to all of the exciting events this half term as we begin to head towards the festive period.

This term certainly started with a bang with our fantastic fireworks extravaganza on Sunday evening. The sky was awash with colourful illuminations as children, parents and grandparents gazed in awe at the stunning display.

Traffic

There is a Community SpeedWatch scheme which operates on the High Street, Old Portsmouth, co-ordinated by volunteers. They have highlighted to us a number of traffic offences that have been witnessed outside PGS. The Hampshire Constabulary co-ordinator will be coming down on a couple of mornings next week to conduct some random patrols to try to deter any ‘anti-social’ parking/driving. We please ask that you do, as ever, respect our neighbours when you drop off your children for school and park in the local area.

Going on Safari!

To celebrate the 200th edition of The Lion, there are 20 lions hiding in the newsletter this week – Can you find them all (the lions at the top of pages 1, 3 and 4 don’t count!)

Photographs

This week you will have received the proof images of the individual and sibling photographs that were taken before half term. I hope that you were pleased with these very special images. Please ensure that orders are returned to the Junior School Office by Monday 21st November. If you would like to make an order after this time, please post the form to Tempest Photography directly. Next week you will be receiving the proof images for the whole Junior School photograph. Orders for these photographs should be made directly with the company either online or by post.

Clubs

On Wednesday 14th November Mrs Giles will be undergoing a surgical procedure on her knee and as a result will be absent from school in order to recover. We hope that she will be back at the start of the spring term. If you have any queries in relation to clubs in the interim, please contact Mrs Sue Kent (email: s.kent@pgs.org.uk tel: 02392 364223) who will be pleased to help.

Take One Picture

There was so much in this bumper edition of The Lion that we couldn’t fit in the pictures from the Take One Picture project! Look out for these images next week.

Jason Ashcroft Deputy Head

Rory’s Story of the Week

Our visit to Winkworth Arboretum

On Sunday me and my brother went to Winkworth Arboretum. An Arboretum is a place with lots of different types of trees. We saw lots of Japanese Maple trees. They had red, orange and yellowleaves which were very beautiful in the sunlight. We also saw Chestnut, Oak and Pine trees as well as the Maple tree.

After that we went to the Boathouse which is on the lake. The Boathouse is very old. The Boathouse needs £40,000 to repair it! There were two geese swimming under it because they were looking for food.

Soon after we walked down to see some more Maple trees but Daddy stayed to look at the boathouse and we left him behind! He went on the other side of the lake looking for us. We waited at a bench for him and me and my brother made bamboo swords while we were waiting. We also had some yummy chocolate cake to eat before we went home.

By Fraser M (3J)

At the weekend we went to Winkworth and we explored in the trees. We collected lots of leaves and conkers. There was a chair made of wood and we climbed on it. I really enjoyed it. There was some bamboo by the lake and we pretended it was a sword. It was fun!

By Brodie M (RY)

The Newsletter of The Portsmouth Grammar Junior School Issue No.200 11th November 2016

The Lion

200th Edition!

Nursery News

The Nursery recently

went on a bear hunt at

Hilsea playing

fields. We all travelled up in 4

minibuses, with very excited children! The hunt took us through the different paths, with the small animals hiding in trees, under leaves and in the caves. The children did a great job at finding them all. We also met Milo the dog and played lots of running games on the field.

Year 1

This week the Year One children had an exciting start to the half term taking part in a toy workshop. They enjoyed exploring different toys and took on the role of archaeologists, sifting through the soil to find artefacts from the past. They then were given the opportunity to make their own toys which they took home to share. A thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all!

Comparing Portsmouth

and Malindi

This week the Year 2s have made Venn diagrams to show the differences and similarities between Portsmouth and Malindi, in Kenya.

Les Histoires Traditionnelles

Years 3 and 4 will be learning traditional songs and stories during this half term in French.

Year 3 have started the week learning the song 'Le fermier dans son pré’; The Farmer’s in the Den. 3J started by learning the vocabulary for the main characters, listening and repeating the new words beautifully. We listened to the song and the children were keen to join in. It was a fun way to start the new term. Joseph C said the song was too funny in French. Savannah P thought the song was very quick but it was fun. Narina D thought the song gave her energy.

4P started to read 'Le bonhomme en pain d'épice’. They worked extremely well as a team and managed to translate the story with no assistance at all. They soon worked out that the story was The Gingerbread Man. Max B liked the story as it has lots of new French words. Henry W really the story from French to English. Phoebe S liked the story as she could see the difference between the French and English words and Rufus L liked the way that he could see the pictures whilst reading the story.

The children are very excited about learning more traditional stories and songs this year.

Diary Writing

Year 6 have been writing diary entries based on one of the characters from the Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. This is an extract from Reggie D’s work who focused on the

character Lord Asriel….

Dear Diary

Can you believe what happened to me yesterday? I can’t! The master tried to poison me. I am shocked!

I arrived at Jordan College and decided to relax in retiring room and wait for the scholars. After a while I decided to pour myself a glass of fine 1898 Tokay that had been prepared for me on the oak table. I was excited to drink the glorious wine which is my absolute favourite. As I poured the glass I noticed a thick white powder circling around in the drink. I brushed it off, although it did make me a bit paranoid. I was going to drink the Tokay when Lyra, swiftly, burst out of the wardrobe and knocked the glass out of my hand. I was confused and frustrated!.....

Once again we will be celebrating Children In Need with a spotacular day on Friday 18th November, when all of the children are invited to pay £1.00 to come to school in a spotty outfit or an outfit of their choice.

The infants will also take part in the Pudsey Bear Fair which will be filled with fun-packed activities. We are looking forward to another exciting day and thank you for your continued support.

Reception

In Reception this week, the children have been learning about Diwali. They enjoyed listening to the story of Rama and Sita, making their own Diva

lamps, lanterns and Rangoli patterns. The children also enjoyed having poppadoms

and mango chutney at snack time too.

Fixtures

Wed 16 Nov 1300: U10A PGS Netball Tournament (h) 1400: U11A & C Girls’ Hockey Sevens v Farleigh (a) 1400: U11A, B, C & D & U10A, B, C & D Football v Farleigh & Prince’s Mead (h) 1445: U11B & D Girls’ Hockey Sevens v Farleigh (a)

Thu 17 Nov 1300: U9A PGS Netball Festival (h) 1330: U9A & B PGS Football Tournament (h) 1430: U8 Lions Football v Brookham (a) 1430: U9B & U8A, B & C Netball v Amesbury (a)

PGS Christmas

Activity Day Monday 19th December

The PGS Sports Camps team are running a one off Christmas Activity Fun Day on Monday 19th December. We have put together a programme which is aimed at getting our children active and in the festive spirit. Here are a few activities we are running on the day:

Festive Football Tournament Christmas Treasure Hunt Christmas Card Making Dodgeball Dasher Climbing to the North Pole Christmas Tree Decorations Winter Olympics Santa Letter Writing Christmas Disco The activities will run from 9am to 4pm. Registration will be in the Sports Hall. If you are interested in attending please complete the booking form or email Mr Chappell a.chappell@pgs.og.uk.

Junior School Sports

Information

All sporting updates and cancellation information will be via the PGJS Sport twitter feed @PGJSSport.

U10 Netball

v Boundary Oak

After a two week rest at half term, the Under 10 A&B teams were excited to get back on the netball court as we set off for Boundary Oak. When we arrived it was lovely to be met by Mrs Dossett who

has started teaching there.

The A teams girls played superbly to move the ball at speed with long passes throughout the first half. Ria and Eva intercepting at will and providing numerous scoring opportunities. The girls then rotated throughout the rest of the match to get time in less familiar positions. Annie played fantastically well demonstrating fantastic shooting and rebounding.

The B team played a hard fought draw with ball moving from end to end all match. Masha and Daisy worked tirelessly to create scoring opportunities and ensure we were making it hard work for Boundary Oak to score.

Thanks to Boundary Oak for a lovely afternoon in the wintery sunshine.

Girls Football Hampshire

Cup 2nd Round

On a cold Tuesday afternoon, The Under 11 Girls made the long journey to Fleet to play Velmead Junior School in the second round of the Hampshire Cup. From the first whistle the game was quickly into action with chances at both ends within the opening minutes, but it was Velmead who opened the scoring with a lovely finish into the bottom corner. They quickly doubled their lead with a fantastic team move outwitting the PGS defence. PGS kept their heads held high, passing the ball well and making great use of the wide areas and their hard work was rewarded with a goal, Florence Y finishing well after some great build up play

from Ria F and Sophie C. Heading into half

time a goal down, morale was high thanks to an inspiring pep talk from captain Aimee J and the girls were determined to find that all important equaliser. Isobel W and Isabella T worked tirelessly in defence throughout the second half, chasing down every loose ball and putting their bodies on the line to

prevent scoring opportunities for Velmead. Amelie P was brilliant in goal, reacting well to save numerous opportunities. Grace A worked well at the back, moving well to intercept the ball and play it out wide to safety. With 5 minutes remaining Velmead grabbed a third goal against the run of play, PGS were quick to reply with a lovely finish from Sophie C, set up by Mia C who played fantastically in her first game. With momentum in the hands of PGS, the girls worked hard to find the equalising goal however the final whistle blew before it could be achieved. It was a fantastic game and the girls should be proud of their performance against such tough opposition. Best of luck to Velmead in the next round.

Churcher’s College U11

Football Tournament

Our U11A football team headed over the hill to Liphook to play in the 7-a-side Football Tournament at Churchers College

School. There were 9 teams playing in a round robin format. The U11A team welcomed Henry C back into the team after putting in some excellent performances in the B team. After a frustrating draw against Barfield where we played the best football I’ve seen all season the team ran riot against Kingscourt. The matches came thick and fast with two more wins securely in the bag. Then the heavens opened which clearly had an effect on our team’s ability to play the passing style they had been showing all afternoon. It resulted in a loss to Churcher’s College A team. Once the rain had passed the team were back focused on using the ball effectively and keeping possession. The tournament ended with PGS winning five, drawing two, and losing once. All players performed well however a few stand out performances came from Finlay H, George B, and Henry C. Finlay showed excellent defensive skills and even managed to score his first goal. George was a rock in the central midfield role, hassling, tackling and distributing well all afternoon. Finally, Henry proved he is a natural finisher bagging several goals throughout the day. The final standings for the day meant PGS finished in second place, a thoroughly deserved result.

HILSEA GAMES

There will be games sessions for Juniors (Y3-Y6) at Hilsea this Saturday from 0900 to 1000. Saturday morning games are voluntary. There will be rugby for the boys and netball for the girls.

The Lion Sport