December Newsletter
Peer Mediator training
A report by Ned Cooper and Justine Shirley
On the 3rd and 4thof December 2007, lots of Y6’s took part in two days of peer mediator training. They had lots of different role plays, games and were given a handbook to look through.
‘It was great fun,’ said Finlay Teather, one of the many peer mediators. The people in charge of the training were Mrs Smart and, with a little help from Mrs Brockelsby, they produced about 30 brilliant peer mediators. We are all looking forward to helping out on the yard.
Playground Friends update
The PGF’s have also had some extra training from Mr Downes. Mr Downes, a PE teacher at High Storrs has worked with the PGF’s to show them games to play in the yard with all the children – they will also be visiting the Infants yard to play with them too! They had lots of fun and enjoyed learning the new games.
Look out for the children in the playground In the blue caps.
X-Mas Factor was a resounding success. Well done to all the children who took part— a cool 164 children and 14 days of auditions! A big thanks is due to all the staff who supported that too There was such a variety of talent and the final acts ranged from a piano recital, street dance, rock anthems and interpretations of pop songs and all children, from Y3 to Y6 performed with such confidence!
Thank you to parents who have supported the event and to the large number of you who were able to support and watch the final.
You all have to know how impressed we have been with all your children—there has been such a supportive feel to the competition and everyone in school have been willing anyone prepared to stand up and have a go to do well . There has been a clear acceptance that not everyone can win and we can all share in celebrating someone else’s success.
WELL DONE to all pupils at Hunter’s Bar!
The winner of Xmas Factor is……. ……………...please see the bottom of this Newsletter!
Thank you to the H.S.A. for organising the Festive Winter Singsong. We need more members to be able to put on larger events—please join the group if you can! Contact Jo Gleig or Netti South if you are interested.
This is the time of year when we start to think of other people less fortunate than ourselves and it always amazes us how much the children raise for charity.
Last year we took on the ‘Blue Peter Shoe Appeal’, which raised money for communities in
Africa by giving unwanted shoes.Piles of shoes built up in the hall and an unfortunate child in Y6 had the task of counting them: just short of 200 pairs of shoes were donated!
The staff at Hunter’s Bar Junior School have always chosen to make a donation to charity rather than send Christmas cards to each other. Our Christmas charity of choice is HARC (Homeless and Rootless at Christmas) but last year we decided to buy a goat from Oxfam. We also encourage the children to give a donation to ‘Oxfam Unwrapped’ instead of giving a gift to their teacher (if they want to.) Last year we raised over £70, enough to buy a goat and to build a new toilet.
Last month was when Pudsy Bear appeared and this year we set the children the challenge of making Children in Need Friday a day to do something you wouldn’t usually do and to have loads of fun doing it! The children organised themselves and raised an amazing £500! As promised, those children who brought their money and told us how they raised it are mentioned below:
Dina / Ella - sponsored silence £1 .10
Beth Cotter and Megan Molloy (Y5) £22.20
Laila Ahmed Cragg (Y5) £10 . 55
Fran, Emma Godden, Saffron, Jus, Gladys, Betsy, Alex (Y4) £4 . 70
Ellie, Niamh, Sophie and Lucy (Y5) £7.90
Sophie Aitmedhi (Y6) Cake sale £38.50
Josh Naisbitt, Sonny Givnan, Elliott Knowles,
Jacob Haddad (dressing up as women) £37.72
Bethan Cracknell Daniels (Y6) £32.61
James Godden (Y5) (7km run) £100
Maria Islam & Myla Khan (Y6) Bun sale £27.30
Anina Atkinson & Yasmin Epworth (Y6) £ 5.00
Shania Bashir Dressing up in pyjamas £9.70
Edie Lovett (Y5) Sponsored swim £50.00
Bronwyn Linkhorn (Y6) £34.00
Tilly, Helena and Shannon (Y4) £12.00
Well done to all those cross country runners who have run this term - Team Results
Our Y5/6 Boys teams finished 1st, 13th, 27th out of over 30 teams.
Our Y5/6 girls teams finished 1st, 14th and 16th out of over 28 teams.
Individual Placings
Many people have improved their personal best.
Ewan South, Joshua Naisbitt and James Godden finished consistently in the top 10.
Next Race January 12th Beighton Miners Welfare Ground 56, High Street, Beighton (organised by Brookhouse). Staff attending Mr Watson and Ms Lovett.
Autumn league certificates and trophies for the Y5/6 runners will be presented at the beginning of this race. So please be there for 10am.
Messages from Mrs Hopkinson (organiser of X country races)
‘Well done to all for coping with the grizzliest weather for a while at Greenhill Park
RELAYS Y5/6 at High Storrs is to be rearranged because some schools are taking part in a TASTE FUN RUN to raise money for a clean water project in Nigeria. This run is on the 15th March at Western Park at 10.00am. (see Mrs Baillie if your child would like to run in this).
Look out for the new team vests. These will be loaned to the children for the term when they have signed an agreement that they will be responsible for bringing it for every race and return it at the end of the season! Thank you to the H.S.A. for providing the funds the vests.
Y6 visit to Abbeydale
by Charlotte Moulden and Namonda Mutale
At Abbeydale we had role play and we had to dress up as the role we chose. We were either rich, middle class or poor.
We had a great experience and we learnt a lot more about the Victorians, we were also accompanied by some parents and we owe them a big thank you for it.
Staff changes
We wish the very best to Joanna Bertzeletos who has been supporting a pupil as well as supporting at lunchtimes. Joanna Bertzeletos leaves just after the start of the Spring term and we will be welcoming Jennifer Neary to our team at Hunter’s Bar to continue in this role.
Shakirah Tahir, who has been part of the midday team will also be leaving in the new term to concentrate on being a mum. We congratulate her and wish her well for the future.
To meet the learning needs of children in Y3, Mrs Speyer will return again to our school and teach for two days in Y3 and Mrs Glossop will become a full time non-teaching Deputy Head for the rest of this academic year.
Theresa Batoque also joins the teaching team in January. Her role will be to support the development of teaching strategies for EAL pupils.
…..from parents Thornbridge Residential feedback
“The trip was well planned and parents had good information about requirements and costs It was a wonderful experience for the Y6 children enhanced by teachers who obviously worked hard to make it a memorable time.”
“The activities built the children’s confidence and kept their minds active. The visit overall helped the children to improve their social skills especially with their peers. I am grateful that (name of child) had the opportunity to participate on this trip and that he was cared for by all the staff. Thankyou.”
“Confidence boosting, fantastic experience. Thankyou.”
“I was very impressed with the way staff dealt with and supported (name of child)’s food allergies and worked with us over this.”
“I picked (name of child) up at 3.20pm on Wednesday to be greeted with…… ‘The best 3 days of my life!!’. What else is there to say?”
Squash club – By James & Ella
Every Wednesday evening, we went over to the Hallamshire to play squash with the coaches.
We got split up into groups and played dodge ball on different courts. Then we played games with rallies and points. Sometimes we played cricket with squash rackets. They taught us new skills and what grip to use. On the last week we got to play fun games.
We really enjoyed it and would recommend other people to join in the sport.
The Y3 Christmas performance
The festive season was punctuated this year with the outstanding Y3 performance of ‘Who?’ - A tale of discovery, time travel and petrified turkeys. Each class combined their acting, singing and dancing skills to perform magnificently to parents and the whole school. On their travels the doctors encountered, amongst others, a confused Santa, a West Country farmer, some awful jokes, a romantic ballroom scene and a touching nativity scene. Every child and staff member in the production team worked so hard to achieve the great end product and a big ‘thank you’ must go to all those involved in making it a show to remember especially those who worked behind the scenes to provide the scenery, artwork and music. To celebrate our success we will be uploading an audio recording of the show soon to be available as a podcast on the school website. The children were a credit to themselves and enjoyed every moment!
The children thought:
“I was very happy that my mum and dad saw me sing a solo! “ (Ellie Bondswell Y3GT )
“I was really excited and nervous but I really enjoyed it. “ (Leon Bailey Y3GT)
“I loved learning my parts.“ (Catriona McKeown Y3PG)
“I felt nervous but I enjoyed being watched by all the parents.“ (Bruno Schooling Y3PG)
“I enjoyed the singing and I enjoyed being Santa!” (Cameron Merritt Y3AB)
“It was nice and I could hear it really loudly” (Zainab Shah Y3AB)
The X Factor—our children certainly have it!!
The winner of Xmas Factor 2007 is Jacob Haddad Y6L – Well done to all finalists!
And finally……. I wish you all a great end to 2007 and all the very best for 2008!
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