Dear Parents Another half term has flown by and, after the recent snow, it is encouraging to look forward to the pleasant Spring weather. The term started with a very memorable Young Voices Concert at the LG Arena featuring our Year 4 and 5 children. It was a fantastic evening and highlights can be viewed on http://www.youngvoices.co.uk. Since then we’ve enjoyed the Inter-House Cross Country competition and outstanding success in the ISA National Swimming Finals with Daniel Kennedy winning both gold and silver medals. We have also been entertained by our musicians who are taking grade exams in our very enjoyable Spring Concert. I’m always very proud of our children’s efforts and successes and this half term has again shown the level of talent in the School. I am pleased to announce that Miss Hudson has again agreed to continue teaching in the Junior School with a reduced timetable. Miss Hudson will teach on Tuesday and Wednesday and we welcome Mrs Lesia Smaditch to the school to teach music lessons each Monday. Mrs Smaditch will also continue to take the Junior Choir at the Senior School. We also welcome Hannah Lui as our Mandarin teacher to replace Mrs Gu. Over half of our Year 5 pupils opted to sit the Scholarship examination to the Senior School and I am delighted that four were awarded Scholarships. Five scholarships are awarded each year to the best results on the day. My congratulations go to all the children who put themselves forward and a special mention to our Scholarship winners Joseph Blunt, Emily Cutler, Emily Jackson and Daniel Kennedy. After a long tradition of knee-length shorts for boys from Reception to Year 4, I am pleased that the recent move to long trousers, as part of the winter uniform, has been so well received. From September 2016, the change will be compulsory, creating a winter uniform for boys as well as girls. I wish you all a restful half term break and look forward to welcoming you back on 23 February.

Best wishes, Mrs A Laird, Head of Junior School and Nursery.

February 2015

First Spring Concert

On Tuesday 10 February we were treated to a superb Spring Concert. The children performed beautifully and demonstrated great confidence and focus. This was a fantastic opportunity for the children who have started preparing and taking examinations to perform in front of an audience. Thank you to all the children who performed and to Miss Hudson and the peripatetic staff who prepared the children so well.

We look forward to a second concert later in the term, which will of fer our less e x p e r i e n c e d m u s i c i a n s t h e chance to perform in front of an audience.

Our new pets, Dixie the rabbit and Pippin the guinea pig, have settled well into their new home this term.

Having fun with the cornflour.

We then added water and

practised our mark making.

The children enjoy French lessons

with Miss Barnes from Reception.

This term we have been learning

about shapes and colours.

The children have been learning about Space and

astronauts. They played with the space station,

dressed up as spacemen and tried walking on sponges

to help them feel what it would be like walking in space. Olivia Pearce and George enjoying time

together in our space rocket.

We have been learning about Winter

and the cold weather. We know that

the hard ground makes it difficult for

birds to find food, so we have made

bird cakes to hang in our gardens.

Early Pancake Day! Mrs Chapman and Olivia Sketchley get to grips with the pan, while Eddie and Matthew just get stuck in to the pancakes.

Year 1 have been finding out who won the Space

Race. Each week we discovered whether America or

Russia sent the first

satellite, animal, man

and woman into

space. We ended our

topic by finding out

who did the first moon

walk and who actually

walked on the moon’s

surface.

To help us on this journey of space

exploration we created our own

moon surfaces and astronauts.

This half term in Reception we have been ‘All around the World’. We have been learning about Spain, India, Japan, Australia and Zambia. Each week we get our passport stamped and talk about how to get to the different countries. In Spain we tasted Spanish tapas and we particularly enjoyed the chorizo and (pretend) Sangria! We made mini

pinatas, dressed up and listened to Spanish guitar music whilst practising Flamenco dancing!

In India we tasted kala chana and halwa, made by Aarav’s mum. We listened to Bhangra music, painted flags and made Indian elephants, which are on display and we dressed up with Saris and Bindis.

This week has been Zambia week. Some Sixth Form students, who visited

the country during their World Challenge Expedition last summer, came to

take the children on a ‘photographic safari’ and helped them to produce a

huge paper sculpture display based on Zambian art. The Reception

children had a fantastic day and we would like to thank Mrs Knight and the

Sixth Formers for spending such valuable time with them.

In Japan we tried to write some Japanese symbols, made flying fish and played with some traditional Japanese toys. We also made origami fish, frogs and birds with our Year 5 buddies.

.

Our topic this term has been China. In Geography we have learned about the physical features of C h i n a a n d interesting facts about the country. We have presented this information as posters.

In Art and RS we have been finding out about the Chinese cultures and customs associated with the New Year. The children have had fun making zodiac clocks, Chinese lanterns, red envelopes, Chinese fans, goats and willow pattern plates.

In English the children have

been taking turns in the ‘hot

seat’, pretending to be

characters from a quest myth

set in China. We have

produced our own quest myth

and maps using the same

characters but different

settings and places of danger.

Edward Platts, Evie Kirk and Megan Harrison, Sixth Form

Mandarin students from the Senior School, came to give a

fabulous presentation, showing pictures of interesting

places they visited on

their China trip. They

taught us some

Mandarin and how to

u s e c h o p s t i c k s

correctly. We finished

the afternoon off with a

team quiz.

Our role play area is set up

as a Chinese takeaway. To

celebrate the beginning of

the New Year we have tasted samples

of traditional Chinese food together

and exchanged gifts of red envelopes

and fortune cookies. TinTin, from

Market Bosworth Chinese takeaway,

came in to make some traditional

food for the children, who particularly

enjoyed the rice and prawn crackers!

Year 2’s main topic so far this term has been Dinosaurs! The children found out all about Mary

Anning, who discovered fossils on the beaches of Dorset over a hundred years ago. Being

inspired by her findings, the children worked hard to make their own clay fossils and used potato

printing to create some interesting fossil patterns.

We are very excited to be going to visit the New Walk Museum in Leicester after half term to see fossils and models on display.

Young Voices at the LG Arena, Birmingham

The recent snow gave Year 5 the chance to test their igloo and snowman-building skills. Mr Vernon

worked them hard and they loved every

minute!

Our Year 4 and 5 children rehearsed a vast repertoire of songs, harmonies and dance routines in readiness for the concert at the LG Arena at the beginning of term. The children arrived at the arena at lunch time, where they joined another 5000 Midlands school children in an afternoon of preparation before the live concert in the evening. It was a spectacular and truly memorable evening for the children and their parents and families and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

PE in the

Snow

*New Pippins record set by Henry Davies

Dixie Grammar Junior School Sports

Inter-House Cross Country

Pippins Reception Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Gold Henry Davies*

Julian Roberts

Lewis Warren

Owen Stallings

Harry Crane

Henry Green

Daniel Kennedy

Phoebe Sanders

Alex Souter Lizzie Daniels

Isabella White

Millicent Boddy

Holly Davies Daisy Wilebore

Silver Oliver Warren

James Radics

Ronnie Smith

Charlie Crane

Kartik Thakkar

Max Barden Mitchell Oram

Holly Fennell

Millie Wilkes

Connie Barden

Isabelle Parkes

Leila Spencer

Evie Gibbons

Emily Cutler

Bronze James Baker

Spike Haigh

Nicholas Bamberger

James Green

Evan Parker

Fletcher Ashfield

Rio Naik

Evie Tetchner

Francesca Griffin

Lilymay Dawe

Katie Campion

Emily O’Higgins

Amber Cadman

Alayna Friston

Congratulations to all the children for braving the freezing drizzle and muddy conditions to represent their Houses on Wednesday 21 January. The event was very well attended by parents and the children really appreciated the support from the sidelines. Overall winners were Lancaster House 355-289pts.

Daisy and Daniel collect the trophy for Lancaster House

Our medal winners Year 3

Year 2

Year 1

Reception Pippins Nursery

Year 5

Year 4

8 of our swimmers from The Dixie Junior and Senior Schools represented the Midlands at the National Gala held at the Olympic pool in London. It was a fantastic day out for the swimmers and their families and supporters. Between them the children brought home 19 medals, which is an incredible achievement.

In the Junior section, Daniel Kennedy and Oliver Crane both swam brilliantly. More details can be found in the News section of the School Website - www.dixie.org.uk.

HABSSA Cross Country Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 January & February 2015

Dixie Grammar Junior School Sports

National Success for Dixie Swimmers

Year Group Event Medal

Dan Kennedy Year 5 50m Freestyle 50m Back Stroke 200m Freestyle Relay

Gold Silver Silver

Oliver Crane Year 6 200m Medley Relay Freestyle Relay 50m Breaststroke

Gold Gold Silver

A number of our children turned out on two Saturday mornings to represent the School in this HABSSA competition at Bosworth Academy. Special mentions go to Henry Green (Year 4) and Emily Cutler (Year 5) who picked up Silver and Bronze medals respectively.

Placing (out of 134)

Daisy Wilebore Year 5 15

Danika Nuttall Year 5 50

Emily Cutler Year 5 56

Alayna Friston Year 5 69

Megan Mears Year 6 70

Placing (out of 124)

James Hodgson Year 6 22

Nathan Cadman Year 6 53

Daniel Kennedy Year 5 54

William Clarke Year 6 83

Mitchell Oram Year 5 85

Rio Naik Year 5 88

ISA Midlands Cross Country

U12’s (Year 5, 6)

Another great set of results by our squad at Bedstone College in Shropshire. Only the top ten in each race automatically qualify for the Nationals but Daisy may be chosen depending on others’ availability. Fingers crossed for Daisy…

Grace Dieu Invitational Cross Country (Yr 4)

Henry Green 2 Amber Cadman 15

Max Barden 29 Evie Gibbons 18

Tom Daniels 37 Holly Davies 19

Fletcher Ashfield 45 Sienna Dhir 48

Grady Stallings 46 Ava Whetstone-Magee 49

Congratulations to Henry Green

whose 2nd place finish

earned him a silver medal. Each race featured 70 runners in total.

PE Reminders We are currently collecting the Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers if you would like to put them in the box outside the School Office. We are also very grateful for any old trainers or football boots, which we can keep in our store as spares. Many thanks - Miss Dicksee and Mr Vernon.

More news and information can be found on the School Website - www.dixie.org.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr by using the social media links on the Home page.

Key Dates for the next half of term:-

LAMDA Examinations - Thursday 5 March

Experience the Dixie Day - Friday 6 March

Parents’ Evenings - Wednesday 11 and 18 March

Red Nose Day - Friday 13 March

Bags2School collection - Tuesday 17 March

Open Classrooms - Friday 20 March

PTA News The PTA would like to thank everyone for supporting the recent and very enjoyable Red Disco, which raised a fantastic £900. Next meeting - 25 Feb in the Sports Pavilion at 2pm. Please do come and join us - new faces and new ideas are always welcome. We are always very grateful for any help you might be able to give in organising and running our events, so if you have any time available, even just the occasional half hour, please contact your Form Rep.

Scholarship winners Congratulations to our Year 5 Scholarship Award winners, Emily Cutler, Daniel Kennedy, Joseph Blunt and Emily Jackson.

On Tuesday 20 January, we welcomed Mrs Ennis, Mr Hollingdale and the Senior School Woodwind group. They performed in our assembly and the children learned about the instruments. The Year 4 children were then treated to a Woodwind Workshop with Mrs Ennis and Mrs Wood. Following the workshop, some more children have decided to try lessons on the clarinet and flute. We’d like to thank the Senior School pupils and staff for their visit, which was much enjoyed by the Junior children.