Hillborough News INSIDE THIS ISSUE: News Sports/ 1 general Family work- 2 er Friends of Hillborough 2 Year 3 3 Year 4 3 Year 5 3 Year 6 4 News Welcome back to everyone for the first part of the Autumn term this year. All of the children have been working hard in class and we are already making great progress. We are in the process of creating a memorial garden on the school grounds to remember the two students that we sadly lost last academic year and great progress has been made. Several local companies have donated the materials to do this and we hope that it will become a serene place of quiet reflection Sports News The football team have made a reasonable start to the season by maintaining an unbeaten record. There have been good performances by all, particularly that of Adam Asad who has been likened to a young Thibaut Courtois. We now wait with great anticipation to see who we will face in the League after Christmas. Keep it up boys! ADAM ASAD O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4 and remembrance. The children and staff have also been thinking about Black History Month which takes place in October and most year groups are studying stories from other cultures at this time to explore Black History. Year 5 are reading a book called Slave Girl which is all about a young girl with a desire to learn to read and write. When the display is finished, the poppy will be cleaned and sent to the school for us to have on display. This year is important as it marks the centenary of World War I and we want to be part of the national event to remember those who served in both World Wars. Remembrance Day is also nearly upon us and Hillborough have purchased one of the ceramic poppies that are currently on display at The Tower of London. It has been a busy start to the year for sport at Hillborough with a new Indoor Cricket club for Years 5 & 6. There are weekly training sessions after school on Wednesdays and there are upcoming fixtures on their way in November. We look forward to getting the matches underway, hopefully bringing more silverware to the Hillborough trophy cabinet. The Year 6 netball team have got off to a fantastic start to their season with wins against Denbigh (6-3) and Leagrave 9-1). The girls have their final match on Wednesday 22nd October against Beechwood School. Once all of the results are in the girls will find out which league they qualify for to play matches in 2014. Hopefully the girls can maintain their 100% record. Finally, Mr Greene has thoroughly enjoyed running his dodgeball club. Mr Greene’s philosophy of, DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE and …..erm… DODGE, seems to be working a treat and hopefully the team will give a good account of themselves. PAGE 2 Growing Club Family Workers www.commonsensemedia.org Lisa Whitney & Sandra Byrne Contact us by phone on 01582 613331 or pop in to school and see us! ‘Common Sense Media helps families make smart media choices. We offer the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites, books, and music.’ Although this is an American website, we thought it was very useful for checking the content on popular media that your child may be interested in or already accessing. Each item has a section ‘What parents need to know’ and is rated on content such as language, violence or positive role models. If you hold the cursor over them it will give you detailed information on why it has been given that rating. We searched the very popular game Grand Theft Auto 5 and were shocked at some of the content listed! We would definitely recommend you have a look at this website, especially regarding gaming. Lisa & Sandra Our growing season is coming to an end for this year. There has been plenty of produce for us to harvest and enjoy eating from the school garden. Potatoes, carrots, beans, onions, blueberries, apples, plums and pears have all been picked and eaten. This is the tastiest part of growing club! New for this year is our first yield of grapes, shown on the photo, from our top secret location. They were sweet and juicy just a shame about the pips! Well done to our school gardeners. School Council and Eco Empire The School Opening Monday 10th November. Selling fruit for only 20p. Helping you reach your 5 a day! Council and Eco Empire have met up several times already this term! Each Friday, the Eco Empire have been carrying out their recycling duties diligently. They have also been keeping on eye on teachers and reminding them to switch off lights and computers when they are not being used. An ‘Eco Class of the Week’ award has been developed. Well done to the classes who have already won a certificate. The School Council have been busy preparing for the opening of our forthcoming fruit tuck shop. After half term they are going to be selling fruit and other fruit based snacks for 20p. What a bargain! Further details will be sent out soon. Class 14 This term has seen children from Year 3 join us in Class 14 and we are pleased to welcome them. In the near future we will arrange for parents to come in to visit our classroom to meet with us and the Family Workers; personalised invitations to follow! The children will have an opportunity to take a trip to Dell Farm for a morning visit. A letter with all relevant information will be sent home nearer the time. HILLBOROUGH NEWS Year 3 After a nerve-racking first few days, the children in Year 3 have settled in well and are enjoying life at Hillborough Junior School! In Literacy the children and teachers have been getting to know one another by creating fascinating fact files. For the month of October all classes have been looking at a variety of stories linked to Black History Month. We have also begun to introduce the wonderful work of Roald Dahl to Year 3, starting off with The Twits! In Science we have been looking at the human body and the way in which our skeletons work. We have also focused on healthy eating...the days of crisps and chocolate at break time are a thing of the past. Speaking of the past, Year 3 have gone back to a time long long ago within their History lessons. We have studied how people in Britain lived their lives back in the Stone Age. Next half term we will take a leap forward in time and look at the impact of the rotten Roman Empire! It’s encouraging to see a year group who are so keen to participate in PE and we have been putting their athletic skills to the test! PAGE children are beginning to master. We are very lucky to have Mr Router leading the way in our trumpet lessons and in breaking news he has just been announced as Classic FM’s Music Teacher of the year! We definitely think that the children (as well as the teachers) are ready for half term as a number of assessments across the curriculum have been carried out. Well done Year 3, you’ve made it through the first half term! The children in Year 3 have been learning to play the trumpet...a Hillborough Junior School first! Making the perfect raspberry noise is quite a skill, one that the children Year 4 In Topic the children have been learning all about the AngloSaxons. The children were able to create some spectacular AngloWhat a start to the year! After a Saxon passports and have also been designing an Anglo-Saxon manic start, the children (and teachers!) are finally settled into village. the year 4 routine (which includes swimming and no golden Science, as always, offers great opportunities for children to -time!). become involved in plenty of In Literacy the children have been experiments and investigations and reading, watching, performing and this half term we have been looking at Habitats and living writing to the story of Robin Hood. Turns out there are some things (there’s a word beginning real drama queens in year 4! Mrs with ‘O’ that I’m sure I could use instead here.. I wonder if the year Lalji’s and Mr Stevenson’s set have also been drawing, colouring 4 children know what it is?!). Our recent adventures took us around and painting displays for Robin the school to record the different Hood and they look fantastic! animals and organisms that we could spot—this included looking at our school pond and surrounding areas. Fortunately we did not find any of the tarantula's or foxes that were predicted beforehand! After a long, but equally fantastic first half term in year 4 we wish you a safe and enjoyable half term holiday. We will look forward to telling you all about our Christmas half term! Year 5 So far in Year 5 it’s been a challenging but rewarding half term. Throughout there has been various exciting activities and plays, such as Twelfth Night. We have been studying Shakespeare and were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to watch the phenomenally executed performance by The Young Shakespeare Company. After that we also watched Robin Hood which was equally as good. We are currently reading a brilliant book called Slave Girl. A 12 year old called Clotee is trying to keep her knowledge a secret and escape slavery. This has led us to begin making our own freedom quilts in D.T! So far year 5 has been great and we can’t wait for what’s to come! Written by Matthew Davy and Raza Khamil 3 Dates to remember! Friday 24th October - Training Day Saturday 25th October -Half Term Monday 3rd November—Back to school Friday 19th December—Last day of term Saturday 20th December - Christmas Holidays start PLEASE NOTE THAT DATES ARE PROVISIONAL AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Year 6 Year 6 have made an excitable start to the autumn term, but finally seem to have acclimatised to the comings and goings of Year 6. Early on in the term we had an exciting scientific walk around Stockwood Park in glorious weather, so as well as finding out about the various types of habitat that exist there, the children also had the opportunity to top up their sun tans!! In the penultimate week of this half term, Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed the Young Shakespeare Company’s performance of ‘The Scottish Play’ (which is bad luck to call Year six Macbeth….oops). Friends of Hillborough The Friends of Hillborough are already planning our Christmas Disco and Christmas and Winter Festival to raise money for the school. We hope that you will all be able to join us for the Festival to enjoy games, crafts, activities and refreshments. There will be plenty of things to keep you occupied and lots to enjoy over the festive season. The children participated with great enthusiasm and showed an excellent understanding of one of the ‘Bards’ finest plays. A special mention to future star of the stage, Mariah Early for her outstanding performance as one of the evil witches. Keep up the good work! A message from Mr Reminders All children are expected to have black indoor shoes and black outdoor shoes.Trainers may be worn when playing football, but proper school shoes should be worn to and from school. Please can all parents remember to update their contact details with the office so that you can be contacted in case of an emergency. We must have any changes in address or contact numbers as soon as possible please. Please make sure that you call the school office or send in a letter if your child is ill and off school. If you do not do this it will be marked as an unauthorised absence on our system so please try and let us know as soon as you can if your child will not be in school. Williams... Check out the new Hillborough Website on: www.hillborough.org Welcome back to all of our children and staff after our long Summer Holiday break. We have all been working hard this half term and have enjoyed many different activities and events together. The next half term will be full of festive fun and we are looking forward to the exciting times ahead. I would like to wish you all a safe, happy and enjoyable Half Term holiday and see you all soon. John Williams, Head Teacher