Thank you for all your support this week, during our school production.
We are very proud of all our Junior children who performed with such confidence on stage at the Guildhall Theatre.
Although there have been a few yawns today during our "bridge building" activities, all the children appeared to have enjoyed themselves. I hope you were able to enjoy the performances too.
Next week, we look forward to Sports day and hopefully a warmer, sunny week.
I hope you have a restful and enjoyable weekend.
Kind regards
Mrs K.A Korcz
Calendar & Events
Summer Term 2019
Term Starts:
Tuesday 23/4/19
May Day:
Monday 6/5/19
Half Term:
27/5/19 - 31/5/19
End of Term: Wednesday 17/7/19
Autumn Term 2019
Term Starts:
Tuesday 3/9/19
Half Term:
21/10/19 - 1/11/19
End of Term: Friday 13/12/19
Spring Term 2020
Term Starts:
Tuesday 7/1/20
Half Term:
17/2/20 - 21/2/20
End of Term: Friday 3/4/20
Summer Term 2020
Term Starts:
Monday 20/4/20
May Day:
4/5/20
Half Term:
25/5/20 - 29/5/20
End of Term: Wednesday 15/7/20
ISSUE: 377 21st June 2019
IMPORTANT PARENT INFORMATION
Cool Cats Uniform Supplier: TGPS website - Please access the Uniform & Equipment heading on the home page there is a direct link to the Cool Cats website.
WEEKLY EVENTS
Monday 24th June
Bag 2 School Drop off
Tuesday 25th June EYFS Parent Assembly
Wednesday 26th June
Sports Day
Thursday 27th June
U11 National Rounders @ Leicester University (a) Taster Sessions for new intake into Early Years Clara from Cool Cats Uniform visiting, taking pre-orders, 1.30pm
Friday 28th June
Friends of Grantham Prep Meeting, 8.45 am Sports Day (Reserve 1)
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
3.7.19 Sports Day (Reserve 2)
4.7.19 Inter-House Music Festival
Summer Fair 4.00 pm - 6.30 pm
8.7.19 Speech Day
12.7.19 Leavers Assembly
School closes 12.30pm
15.7.19 Activity Day in school / Residential
to Woodlands
16.7.19 Activity Day in school / Residential
to Woodlands
17.7.19 Activity Day in school / Residential
to Woodlands
This week the Junior Production of Honk!Jr took to the Guildhall stage.
After many hours of singing, learning moves and blocking (where you stand on the stage and where you enter and exit), practising lines and running sections with different groups, it was time to put it all together.
I have to say this year's cast were terrific at knowing when to come on and being ready in the wings; no mean feat as the dressing rooms are a little distance from the main action.
Wednesday morning, following the safety briefing and general information, was the first time that all of the children in the Juniors would see what it would look like; complete with costumes (and changes), lights, set, props and backdrop projections. There are so many new factors to contend with. And for some of the main characters the joy and unusual experience of wearing a radio microphone. They rose to the challenge with a real calmness and resilience and a wonderful sense of camaraderie for each other.
Once the show begins, it really is up to them to breathe life into the characters, lines and songs. My job at that point is (almost) over.
There have been numerous thank yous and lovely complimentary comments from parents and siblings alike. Everyone I talk to seems to have thoroughly enjoyed Honk! and it's delightful moral message - one that I hold dear to my own life - "different isn't naughty, different isn't bad, scary or a threat. Different is just different!" As Ida says early on, "(Life) would be boring if we were all the same."
My thanks, as always, goes to all of the staff that have helped in a vast array of ways and to you, the families, who have provided beautiful costumes and been general taxi drivers and groupies!
And now, a brief respite, before planning for 2020!
Bridge is an ambitious art and engineering project that will lead to a creation of an iconic bridge structure. The project culminates with three major outdoor arts events in Coventry, Worcester and Grantham. The aim of the project is to bring the community together through the creation of a beautiful structure, symbolic of hope and togetherness. Imagineer is collaborating with exceptional artist and civil engineers Arup on the realisation of Bridge.
Bridge is coming to Grantham between 7th- 15th September and will culminate in a week of community activities and professional performances around a giant bridge structure (over 20 metres long) in the Market Place, Grantham.
The challenge to our children was to build their own model bridge to be put on display during the event 12/13 September 2019
So the children have spent the day today working collaboratively designing and beginning to build their own bridges. They have followed the strict guidelines, only using the allowed materials and sticking to the specific dimensions.
Further work will be needed on the structures before just two are chosen for the display in Grantham in September.
Geography is an essential component of being a global citizen. We are fortunate to belong to an 'International School' and therefore it is imperative to learn about different countries and cultures throughout the world.
The children of Class Two have been studying the seven continents and oceans. We study one country from each continent: learning about animals, landmarks, food, people and much more! All the pupils have been thoroughly enthralled and have even made their own notes. I am so impressed with their maturity and ability to achieve incredible feats.
This week we have been studying South America, focusing on Brazil. Of course we had to attempt dancing to 'Samba Music', which was interesting to say the least.
Next time you pass the Year Two Classroom, please stop by and take a look at our display about Australia: it is superb!
We really enjoy having birds of a feathered kind in EYFS. Last Monday a Robin’s nest with 4 eggs was discovered in a toy pirate ship amongst our outside toys and equipment. In order to give space and privacy to the mother bird a little barricade was established which has meant the Pre-school and nursery children have had to use other exits in order to access other play areas! Mother Nature is teaching us a valuable lesson to be patient and respect wildlife even in this ‘instant’ world we live in. Mr Jessop set up a CCTV system so the children can watch the daily happenings within the safety perimeters of the classroom.
This has caught the attention of the media! The BBC East Midlands Today programme was very interested in our own ‘spring watch’ and yesterday they came to film the Robin and interview us! As you can imagine there was real excitement buzzing around the EYFS unit! They hope to re-visit us in a couple of weeks and hopefully we will see some baby fledglings. The Grantham Journal is hoping to come and take a photograph too. One little boy asked, ‘are we as famous like Peppa Pig’? Well maybe not quite but nearly!
We will of course keep you updated with any news over the next couple of weeks.
The long awaited National Relay Finals took place this week in Sheffield and our quartet of Orla, Joshua, Martha and Elijah set about their business with both hope and belief that this year was going to be special. Thousands of schools throughout the country take part in various qualifying events over the year to secure one of 24 places at the National Finals and securing a place is an great achievement in itself. The next task is to qualify for the last 16 to either get into the A final (top 8 fastest) or the B final (next 8 times).
The Medley Relay was our first event and probably our strongest chance of getting to our realistic target of the B final. Blow that away, we qualified third fastest of everyone in a time of 1:07:46 mins which broke the school record by 5 seconds and sent us into the A final. After a lengthy wait to calm down and prepare for the final the team were just pipped into 4th place missing a bronze medal by only a few hundredths of a second. This gave the team huge confidence going into the Freestyle race with another A final in their sights. On this occasion the team struck again punching above their weight and did indeed qualify for the A final in a 7th fastest time of 1:03:70 mins breaking the school record by 3 seconds. Two school records, two A Finals could there be even more success on the horizon? Alas, despite breaking the school record again and finishing in a time of 1:03:17 mins the team were placed 6th fastest. This has been a highly successful day and a wonderful achievement for our four swimmers. What a way to sign off your Primary Swimming experience by being a member of the 4th and 6th fastest teams in England!
The approach to a foreign language at an early age produces great benefits in the development of the child. For example, it contributes to an improvement of problem-solving skills, favors greater creativity, as well as flexibility and memory capacity, among others.
Numerous studies in the field of neuroscience have shown that during the first years of life, the brain has plasticity and a number of neuronal connections, which will disappear as the years go by. For this reason, it could be said that it is at this stage of life, when an approach to a foreign language is usually more favorable, allowing its acquisition to be more natural.
These are some of the considerations that SEK Chile has to take our children to begin immersion in the English language from the first school year: Playgroup. Thus, through play and numerous recreational activities, children learn almost without realizing it.
Isabel Mejía
Nursery Teacher
Colegio Internacional SEK Chile SANTIAGO DE CHILE – CHILE
People who help us Inting:
On Friday 5th June our Year 1's dressed up to the theme of "people who help us". In geography they have been learning about people in our community that help us. We were very fortunate that some of our Year 1 parents were willing to come talk to us about their interesting jobs. We had a Doctor, Librarian, Psychiatrist and Biokineticists explain to our Year 1's what they do, what uniforms they wear, and why their job is important. They Year 1's loved dressing up and were very surprised to see their own teachers dressed up. It was a fun and interactive Inting!
Taylor White
Year 1 Teacher
Blouberg International School
Africa
If you are selecting your child's lunches on a weekly basis, it must be done by midnight Thursday of the previous week. Once you have made your choices, unfortunately, you are unable to change them. However, if your child would like to change a meal, please email the school office (contact.grantham@iesmail.com) with the date and meal choice that you would like changing and we will make the changes for you.
The Wise pay booking system for hot lunches is available through the TGPS website.
Thank you.
School Bus Collection Points & Times
Bookings for this week:
Please contact the school office to book a place for your child.
8.10am Normanton on Cliffe
8.20am Ancaster
8.25am Wilsford
On Fridays the bus will run 15 minutes earlier to ensure pupils arrive in time for the *Music Machine" School Band rehearsal.
Access to the School Building after 4.30pm
As you are all aware there is now a gate which has a key code access to the Creche in the evening. If you do not have the code, please call 01476 593293 and your call will be answered by Creche.
