19th January 2018

Spring Term 2018 – Newsletter number 1.

New look St. John's House has the real 'WOW' factor!

Girls in Years 3-6 were so excited to see their new classrooms and facilities for the first time today - the perfect learning environment for girls! All the months of renovation and hard work have paid off, with the transformation into a modern, bright environment - perfect for our enthusiastic girls. Thank-you to the Estates Team and the external contractors for all their hard work over the last six months or so - the looks on the girls faces today shows just how excited they are to familiarise themselves with their brand new surroundings! Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl At the beginning of term the girls in Year 5 and Year 6 and staff voted for Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl. We are very pleased to announce the election of Madison Ducker (6AW) as Head Girl and Zara Akhtar (6HJ) as Deputy Head Girl. Charity Update Donations at the Year 5/Year 6 Christmas Concert in Wakefield Cathedral raised £886.00 for Wakefield Hospice. Thank you for your generosity. We are delighted with the amount collected and so pleased that we are able to support the excellent work of Wakefield Hospice in our community. St John’s House Theatre Visit We were transported to the magical kingdom of Narnia when we went to see the production of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' at Leeds Playhouse. We enjoyed the retelling of the classic story on stage and the special effects brought it to life. The White Witch was bone-chilling and everyone was relieved Aslan, partly represented by a huge lion puppet, defeated her once and for all.

ECO-COMMITTEE In October the Eco-committee voted to plant hyacinths on behalf of the school. We planted the bulbs in compost, watered them and left them behind the Hartley Pavilion, hoping for the best! After ten weeks, the bulbs have started to grow and we have brought them into the classroom. We are looking forward to them flowering!

LEGO MASTERS We have received an exciting e-mail from a TV production company that we thought we should share with you - Following the success of Lego Masters Series 1, they are on the hunt to find Britain’s most talented Amateur Builders and are looking for anyone over the age of 9 (on 31st March 2018) who loves to build! Either individuals or teams are welcome to apply. Please email build@tuesdayschild.tv to register your interest.

YEAR 3

We have been learning about fractions in Year 3 and supported our learning with practical activities and investigations. We could find fractions equivalent to a half and a whole one, using different fraction packs, and we added fractions to make a whole one. We had a really fun Maths lesson! YEAR 4

The Year 4 hyacinths are growing well and we think they are going to be blue! In 4SS we have been having fun ‘hot seating’ the characters from the fable ‘The Boy who cried Wolf’. The villagers were not amused and very cross when the shepherd boy tricked them by shouting, “Wolf! Wolf!”

YEAR 5 In PSHE, we have been discussing our dreams and goals.

“My dream for the future is to be a doctor. I would like to live with my family in an apartment in West London. I would like to be a doctor for children”. Gabriella Vickers ”My dream is to try out for the Olympics. I would like to live in Philadelphia, America. My hobby would be to do Art in my spare time”. Jaelynn Craven “My dream is to be a teacher of medicine. I would like to live in Pakistan so I would be near my family. I would like a stress-free life and my hobby would be Maths”. Hareem Ghouri

We have also been looking at a range of jobs and exploring how much people earn. We played job charades, we ordered the jobs from most important to least important, giving reasons why they make the biggest contribution to society and we had to think about how much each job would earn. In Art, we have started to study the artist, Picasso. We have looked at a variety of his work and we have used magazine pictures to create a portrait in his style. It was great fun!

YEAR 6 We enjoyed our visit to the Chantry Chapel in Wakefield. We participated in a drama and poetry workshop about highwaymen. We heard the story of local highwayman Henry Walton and performed the ghostly tale in a silent movie. Listen out for the hooves of his horse, Black Bunting, when crossing Chantry Bridge on a dark winter’s evening. It is said they can be heard! We listened to the poem ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes and created a mood picture illustrating our thoughts and feelings after discussing the poem.

FRENCH

The French sound of the week is ‘ai’ as in: une chaise, Je vais and mai

What do these words mean? Tell Madame Roberts for some stars.

Joyeux Anniversaire to the following girls.

Esha Siddique 20 janvier Maggie Grouse 24 janvier Lucy Holland 27 janvier

Betty Kenyon-Smith 21 janvier Izzy Giles 25 janvier Kareena Sekhon 27 janvier

Poppy Crabtree 22 janvier Izza Aamir 26 janvier Amber Dowson 28 janvier

Christina Ryder 22 janvier Hannah Franklin 26 janvier Frankie Heaton 31 janvier

MUSIC This week has been a phenomenally musical week with every girl from Year 2 to Year 6 being given the opportunity to engage in a memorable musical experience.

Young Voices Thursday marked our biennial trip for Years 5 and 6 to take part in the Young Voices Concert held at Sheffield Arena. The choir numbered an impressive 5144 pupils from across the area – quite impressive. The girls had learnt 35 songs, including a number of medleys covering a wide range of styles from pop, the classics, to Africa, a Stevie Wonder medley, ‘The Call’ from ‘Prince Caspian’ and the always popular pop medley. They performed the fabulous dance moves for songs such as ‘Jambo Bwana’ and ‘You’re in the Band’ alongside the dance group ‘Urban Strides’. They sang alongside Natalie Williams who had also composed one of the songs: They also got to sing ‘I’m Yours’ with the 16 year old guitarist from Rotherham, Alfie Sheard, and sang ‘Kyrie Eleison’ alongside The Magnets. All in all a truly memorable evening - the girls threw themselves into the performance with an incredible amount of energy and we are immensely proud of them.

RAF Band Visit The week started with Years 2, 3 and 4 experiencing a fantastic concert given by the RAF Swing Band, and what an afternoon of music making it was. The concert was experienced by pupils across the whole foundation and our girls were ‘spellbound’ and ‘amazed and surprised at what they did’. The girls got very excited when some of their friends got to go up on stage and perform percussion parts with the band for the ‘Jungle Book’ song. Others loved guessing the next tune when the bass guitar played a snippet – they all guessed … James Bond! A great favourite. The girls got to clap along to the pieces, and sing along to their favourite Ed Sheeran, Adele and Beauty and the Beast songs. It was an amazing afternoon, truly inspirational. Associated Board Music Exam results We are delighted that in addition to our internal results published before Christmas that Antonia Geldard achieved a very high merit in her Grade 3 singing exam – well done.

SPORT Hockey The Under 10 and Under 11 hockey squads had an action-packed afternoon of hockey against Sheffield High School at WGHS AstroTurf. The weather conditions were cold and blustery which meant that lots of movement was the order of the day especially as the Under 10s were playing against Under 11 opposition. Under 10 team 2 lost by 3 goals to 1 after tiring and losing concentration towards the end of the match. Under 10 team 1 won by 5 goals to 0 showing good distribution in defence and taking their goal-scoring opportunities well. Under 11 team 2 won by 3 goals to 1 with a superb hat trick from Widad Abubakar and Under 11 team 1 was unlucky to lose by 3 goals to 2 despite showing some good teamwork and skilful stick work.

Excellent play from Holly Biggin-Wilcox, Lucia Partridge, Freya Sheahan, Charlotte D’Arcy, Maya Langley, Emelia Batty, Lillie Wightman, Widad Abubakar

Netball trials Girls in Year 5 and Year 6 have been attending netball trials for selection to the squad. The standard of netball at the trials is always very high and selection is made after careful consideration of each girl’s current ability level and future potential after observing a variety of specific netball skills and the application of these skills in a game situation. If your daughter enjoys playing netball she may benefit from joining a Netball Club outside school, details of which can be found on the internet. Coming soon Wednesday 24 January – Under 9 and Under 11 netball against Mylnhurst School. 1.45 pm start at WGHS Games Field. Friday 26 January – Under 10 and Under 11 netball at GSAL, 1.45 pm start. Monday 29 January – Under 10 and Under 11 IAPS Swimming. Regional time trials at Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, 1.30 pm start.

CHRISTMAS CLUB

What a fun packed three days we all had. The girls made their own unique sign for Santa using their hands and fingers, they made cards to send to someone special, baked and decorated a biscuit tree and played with their friends. They all went home thoroughly exhausted and ready for an exciting Christmas holiday.

Our next Holiday Club will be held during the first week of the Easter break

Look out for the booking form before half term.

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

22 January School Shop (re-arranged from 19 January) 26 January FOSJH St John’s House disco 26 January ‘Starlight’ charity collection of textiles 30 January VR Space workshop for Y3 to Y6 01 & 08 Feb Y4 visit to Wakefield Cathedral 01 February FOSJH Paediatric first aid education evening for parents 06 February National ‘Safer Internet Day’ 09 February ‘Big Me Day’ in aid of Action Aid 12 to 18 Feb Half term holiday 19 February Return to School

STARS OF THE WEEK – 12/01/2018

Amber Dowson 3VH Making a super effort to improve the presentation of her

work! Keep it up!

Francesca Tinker 3JC Hard work and determination to improve in all subjects

Annabel Brewin 3JLB Showing excellent enthusiasm this week in all aspects of her

work

Matilda Bowser 4SS Making an excellent improvement with handwriting

Isobel Bott 4SS Working very hard in Maths lessons

Kimiya Yousefi 4CG Excellent understanding and use of “bus stop” method for

division

Amelie Williams 4CG A super fable told from a different perspective

Amelia Rehman 4EB For a great first week at her new school

Isabel Hale 5APW Settling into her new school so well!

Hannah Franklin 5APW Settling into her new school so well!

Izzy Giles 5TP

For raising interesting questions about the working conditions

of Victorians

Mia Coxan 5TP

For being extremely helpful and patient when assisting others

with their sewing

Evelyn Crompton 5TP For explaining division methods in maths to her partner in a

helpful way

Freya Gatenby 5LR Settling into the school routines so smoothly

Isobel Machin 5LR Settling into the school routines so smoothly

Havanah Riddell 6AMW A very good brochure advertising a theme park using features

of persuasive writing

Kareena Sekhon 6AW Working hard and adding more detail to comprehension

answers

Henny Gibson 6AW Working hard and adding detail to comprehension answers

Isobel McAndrew 6JB Writing exciting and suspenseful diary entries about the

discovery of Tutankham’s tomb from Howard Carter’s point of

view

Antonia Wallis 6HJ Creating a thoughtful and abstract mood picture based on the

atmosphere portrayed in ‘The Highwayman’ poem

STARS OF THE WEEK – 19/01/2018

Hetti Coxan 3JLB For showing a positive attitude to her work and working hard

Eva Hall 3VH Super enthusiasm during our fractions activities this week

Isabella Bardsley 3JC Being such a good listener and being interested in what others

have to say

Betty Kenyon-Smith 4SS Trying hard and making good progress in English and Maths

Ellie Gilbert 4EB Successfully solving a problem to help Villagers protect their

sheep!

Isabelle Patrick 4CG Excellent work on a map of India

Izzy Giles 5TP Raising interesting questions about the working conditions of

Victorians

Jessica Danforth-

Johnstone 5LR

A super portrait in the style of Picasso

Eve Hunter 5APW Much improved concentration and commitment in lessons

Widad Abubakar 6JB Being a super mathematician during investigative work and also

for giving carefully considered answers during a ‘hotseating’

activity

Yvie Prior-Smith 6AW Working with interest and enthusiasm in history lessons

Antonia Geldard 6HJ Giving carefully considered answers when ‘hotseating’ the

character of the ‘Highwayman’

Amelie Cresswell 6HJ Giving carefully considered answers when ‘hotseating’ the

character of the ‘Highwayman’