Gosforth Junior High Academy
Newsletter
APRIL 2017
DATES OF SCHOOL TERMS AND HOLIDAYS 2017
The new school term begins for all pupils on
Monday 24th April at 8.40am.
Summer Term
Half Term
Monday 24th April – Friday 21st July
Tuesday 30th May – Friday 2nd June inclusive
Please note that school is closed on Bank Holidays
On the final day of each term, school closes at 12.00 noon
Details of school terms and holidays can be reviewed by consulting: www.newcastle.gov.uk
UNIFORM INFORMATION
PAYMENT BY CASH, CHEQUE AND CARD!
Cheques to be made payable to:
‘Gosforth Junior High Academy’
ATTENDANCE and ABSENCES
Can we please remind parents & carers that it is your responsibility to contact school on
the first day your child is absent from school and each subsequent day. The office is open
from 8.00am. However, should you need to call earlier, you can leave a message on the
school answer-machine.
Calls reporting any absence must be received by 9.30am and failure to do so will result in
your child being marked as an unauthorised absence. We operate a first day response
system, whereby if your child is not present for morning registration and we have not
received a telephone call giving a reason for the absence or your child has not signed in
late, then staff will telephone parents/carers to find out the reason for the absence.
We would also like to remind you that school starts at 8.40am prompt and ends at 3.20pm.
Please ensure that your child arrives in time for the start of the school day. If children are
late, they must report to the school office. Attendance Officers and school work closely to
promote good attendance and we appreciate your support.
KEEPING US UP-TO-DATE
It is vital that you keep us up to date with important information. If you move house, change
telephone numbers, change contact details or have any other change in circumstances,
then please advise school as soon as possible, so we can update our records.
ABSENCES
If your child is going to be absent from school please contact us before 9.30am and put a
note in your child’s planner if this is pre-arranged.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
Please check that all items of school uniform have your child’s name clearly written in
them. Something so simple saves us so much hassle!
SCHOOL LUNCHES
We would appreciate it if children could come to school with the correct dinner money to
put onto the biometric system as we are unable to change money in the office.
OFFICIAL FORMS
If your child brings a form home to be completed, i.e. for trips etc, please ensure
that you complete both the first name and surname of your child.
HOLIDAYS
Just a reminder that any holidays taken within school term time are not authorised.
EQUIPMENT FOR SCHOOL
Please make sure they have it!! Blue or black pen, pencil, eraser and a ruler is all we ask.
Coloured pencils and a pencil sharpener are useful too. All can be purchased from the
stationery shop in school.
STAMP COLLECTION
A £20 gift voucher, for most PRAISE stamps received this term (for
each year group), went to Logan Brown (year 5), Ayesha Naeem
(year 6), Sophie Muir-Turnbull (year 7) and Milly Harrison (year 8).
A £10 gift voucher, for the second most PRAISE stamps received this
term (for each year group), went to Chloe Paxton (year 5), Sophie
Hulme (year 6), Charlotte Ellis (year 7) and Carla Nicholson (year 8).
SPECIAL TERMLY AWARD
We have introduced a special end of term series of rewards for the
following categories:
Academic performance
Exemplary attitude and behaviour
Representing the school
One person from each year group will receive a £20 gift voucher for
each category……………… and the recipients are:
Year 5
Academic performance: Evie Harrison
Exemplary attitude and behaviour: Luci Rudling
Representing the school: Harry Millington
Year 6
Academic performance: Poppy Moss
Exemplary attitude and behaviour: James Jefferson
Representing the school: Erin Purchon
Year 7
Academic performance: Nour Shyha
Exemplary attitude and behaviour: Paige Hutchinson
Representing the school: Aaron Wilson
Year 8
Academic performance: Esme Collin
Exemplary attitude and behaviour: Grace Watson
Representing the school: David Adeyeye
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE PUPILS (TOO NUMEROUS TO
MENTION) WHO RECEIVED PRAISE POST CARDS FROM THEIR
FORM TUTORS
AND FINALLY, SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS
to the many students who achieved 100% attendance for
this term - very well done!!
SAFETY FIRST
When dropping off your children by car in the mornings, or collecting them
after school, please use the school car park. Drive carefully at all times in
the car park and never ask your child to walk across the car park to you.
You must personally collect and escort your child to your car. This is for
the safety of the children!!
SCHOOL COUNCIL
I would like to thank all the school council representatives for their
continued efforts through the year, well done for making your school council
work for you!
MEDICATION
If your child needs to take any type of medication whilst at school you must
complete a health care plan before we can administer this.
These forms can be collected from the administration office during open
hours, or by contacting us on 0191 2851000 (option 1)
IF YOUR CHILD IS LATE FOR SCHOOL
It is imperative that, when a child is late for registration, they report to the
admin office so that they can be marked present. This will avoid problems
contacting parents unnecessarily.
CHESS CLUB
Our KS3 club has continued to meet once a week on Wednesday lunchtimes.
Over 30 pupils have played chess this year and most have taken part in our
annual school chess competition. As we go to press we still have 1 more round to
go so winners will be announced next term. Hopefully some of our pupils will
qualify for the regional finals which usually take place in May. Well done to
everyone who took part this term. Mrs Milne
CROSS COUNTRY CLUB
Our joint club with Mrs Watson from Archibald First School will continue, on
Tuesdays after school from 3.30 to 4.30 pm. However it will finish at May half
term. The Gregg's Children's Cancer run takes place on Sunday 21 May which we
hope many of you will either take part in or support by sponsoring a pupil.
Mrs Milne and Mrs Moore.
RECYCLING TEAM
We have a very dedicated team of pupils who give up their lunch breaks at least
twice a week to ensure that as much of our waste is recycled as possible. There
are boxes in most rooms to collect paper, card and plastic bottles. So a massive
thanks to our regular collectors - Ethan McQuade, Benjy Waldock, Glenn Russell,
Benjamin Poyntor and Finn Bellas. We are now training up some Year 7s to take
over collections ready for next year. Mrs Milne.
Mrs Milne
CHILDREN’S CANCER RUN – SUNDAY 21 MAY 2017
Earlier this term letters were sent home about this event. If you have mislaid yours there
is a copy on Frog - school departments - children's cancer run. Form teachers also have
copies of the sponsor form. We do hope you will be able to join us on the day. If you would
like to enter there is still plenty of time to do so. Online entries are preferred at
www.childrenscancerrun.co.uk - see your letter for how to do this. The deadline for
entries via our school is midnight on Thursday 4th May. If you can't come along on the
day then please support our school team by sponsoring us via our fundraising page
at https://cancerrun2017.everydayhero.com/uk/gjha. If you need any help with the entry
process please see Mrs Milne. Thanks to the PSFA who are helping us to organise this
event.
SKI TRIP 2017
From airport to après-ski, it was all ‘downhill’ – literally!
On reflection of this year’s ski trip, I think all involved would agree that to only afford
credit to the skiing, and skiers, would be doing the trip away a whopping injustice: there
was just so much going on, night and day; it was simply jam-packed with activities from
start to finish.
However, to start with the skiing, wow! The perseverance, aptitude and confidence shown
on those slopes were overwhelming - and that’s just by the staff. The children, on the
other hand, had no fear from the get-go. Many a time was a member of the teaching staff
fervently fumbling for the school IPad to get a quick snap of a high-velocity year 7 belting
down the slopes towards him or her. Staff have all still got the bruises to prove it. Day
one was spent on the ‘beginners’ slope’, learning the craft and finding our feet (and
gloves), then on from there day two and beyond were ski lift here and ski lift there; ‘Sir
we are going to that peak today, will you be okay on your own’? ‘No’ was the answer I
wanted to give, sliding lonesome there, still, on the beginners’ mound.
The above frolics outside in the divine sunshine were repeated twice a day: once in the
morning and once following – an extremely tasty – lunchtime retreat. Night time,
however, there was a whole new agenda in-store.
The week’s twilight shenanigans saw a whole new ‘ski-world’ open up. Along with a
treasure hunt, ‘The Winter Olympics’ and a ‘pool competition’, the night time activities
kicked off with an adrenalin-fuelled toboggan ride down ‘Speed Mountain’ in the centre of
the resort; it was one person per cart, and we all had the autonomy to control how slow,
or fast, we made it down to the bottom. Some however, as you can imagine, chose to go
faster than others. Isn’t that right Ms Waugh? Still recovering from this descent the
previous night, it was then off to the slopes outside of our accommodation the next night
to engage in a ‘gentle’ bum-boarding on the ice outside. The kids loved this! And, rightly
so: sledging, or ‘slushing’, at best, may happen once a year for most of us back home,
however, on this particular night the conditions were perfect for an hour or so of
whizzing down the crisp icy slopes which enveloped our remote resort. ‘Nightclubbing’
also stole the hearts of our year 7 students. On this particular night, the students took
full ownership of their sojourn at the nightclub (which was exclusively for our use) and
put the staff to shame with their knowledge of what’s ‘hip’ and what’s not. Although, they
did finally succumb to a bit of YMCA’ing in the end.
In short, the children were all true ambassadors for both themselves and for the school.
As staff, we were exceptionally proud to be away with such a fun-loving cohort of year 7s,
and we know that this year’s experience is going to be incredibly hard to beat.
Finally, there is a DVD being made containing all of the photos and videos taken whilst
away, and this will be available for children to bring home after the Easter break.
Have a great Easter.
Mr Wardell, Ms Waugh, Mrs Simpson and Mrs Moore
HUMANITIES NEWS
Pupils throughout the school have continued to use boxes of artefacts which we borrow
from the Discovery Museum. This term we have used the "Curious Box", which helped KS2
to develop their enquiry skills, a slave trade box and a medieval box.
Year 5 have worked on their Maya unit benefiting from some specialist input from Mr
Johnson, Mrs Mac and Mrs Jobling. They have been able to use green screen technology,
make Maya masks and link their Spanish lessons to this region.
Year 7 visited Durham Cathedral earlier this month to find out more about how people
lived in the Medieval period. Writing with quills and ink and playing medieval games were
particular highlights. As this was a joint visit with Mrs Nesbitt the pupils also toured the
Cathedral and learnt more about 5 Northern Saints. The Education Team at the Cathedral
were very impressed with our pupils' positive attitude to learning.
Year 7 were set a challenge to interpret the events of 1066 as creatively as possible. This
year as well as some fantastic cakes, models, songs, pictures and sewing several pupils
produced some imaginative films and animations. We are busy updating our display area
near the library and we hope to showcase work on Frog. Unfortunately all that remains of
the cakes are the photographs and some delicious memories!
Key Stage 3 took part in an Antarctica project linked to Chicago University. One of
their PhD students, Grant MacDonald, who is from Newcastle, judged our pupils' flags,
which were designed to represent Antarctica. He then took copies of our 6 winners' flags
to Antarctica and displayed them outside the base. See the separate article for more
details.
I would like to thank all the pupils and staff who have worked so hard this term and
parents/carers who have supported our pupils with contributions to visits and homework
help. Thanks too to the PSFA who have continued to give financial support to our visits out
of school which keeps costs down for all parents.
Have a lovely Easter, Mrs. Milne
Year 7 Visit to Durham Cathedral
In the year of our Lord 2017 Year 7 pupils from GJHA made a pilgrimage of
great importance to that most sacred of places, Durham Cathedral. The
pilgrimage workshops were delivered expertly by education staff at the
Cathedral and included History work on Medieval Life and a tour of the
Cathedral to learn more about our Northern Saints for RE lessons. Pupils were
able to dress up in Medieval costumes and enjoyed scriptology, playing
medieval children's games and learned more about life as a child during the
Medieval age. The tour of the Cathedral included yet more dressing up and
looked at the lives of St. Bede, St. Cuthbert, St. Hild, St. Aidan and St. Oswald.
Following the visit pupils have been working hard in lessons to retell the
stories of the Saints.
Mrs Nesbitt and Mrs Milne would like to thank the PTFA for their support,
Cathedral staff for making the visit so interesting and the pupils for making it
such an enjoyable visit and getting involved so enthusiastically!
Mrs Nesbitt and Mrs Milne
Mayoral 800 : Democracy Days at The Discovery
On Monday 3rd April 25 pupils from Yr 7&8 accompanied Mrs Nesbitt, Mr Lumsden and
Mrs Auchterlonie to the Discovery Museum in Newcastle. We took part in workshops and
activities linked to the topic of democracy. We found out how Newcastle came to have a
Mayor and then later a Lord Mayor. We had a tour of the museum where we were able to
find out more about the political history of our city. Pupils were able to meet and spend
the morning with the current Lord Mayor, Councillor Hazel Stephenson, who gave us an
amazing insight into the role, the history and duties of the Lord Mayor. Pupils were able to
ask questions and were, without exception, excellent ambassadors for our school and our
city. We left having made a huge Mayoral Chain to take back to school. You never know, we
might even have a Lord Mayor of the future in our midst! Thanks to the Museum staff for a
great day!
Mrs Nesbitt
KS3 Antarctica project
At the end of last term all of KS3 were involved in designing a flag or image to represent
Antarctica. This was part of a world wide project to raise awareness of Antarctica as a
special environment and to celebrate the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. Our
linked Geographer is Grant MacDonald, who went to Kingston Park and Kenton Schools and
is now studying for a PhD in Chicago, specialising in glaciers. Grant chose 6 of the flags
to take with him in to Antarctica in January to be displayed along with others from around
the world. The 6 were: Abby Wardingham (8J), Bobbi-Jo Ollerenshaw (8J), Faye Morton
(7G), Joe Higgins (8A), Florence Green (7A) and Imanpreet Kaur (7H). Grant's favourites
were Faye's and Joe's for their design and imaginative ideas. They both won a £10 gift
voucher. There is a display of entries up in the KS3 flexi area so pupils should look out
for their flag and claim a small prize from Mrs Milne if they spot theirs.
MATHEMATICS NEWS!
UK Team maths challenge
On March 6th two Y8 pupils joined with two of our ex-pupils who are now in Y9 to compete
in the UK team maths challenge competition. All year they’ve been working hard with our
volunteer Faith and the other members of the maths challenge club. They’ve been taking
part in group tasks such as a ‘crossnumber’, a head-to-head contest and a relay race. Well
done to Rebecca Grogan and Louis Baruch-Harrison.
Primary maths challenge bonus round
You may remember that three of our Y6 pupils were invited to take part in the bonus
round of the PMC. They did extremely well getting to this stage. Ozias Nicholson-Cappello
and Poppy Moss have received a certificate and Daniel Rehimbek won a bronze award and
badge. A fantastic effort!
Newcastle University junior maths challenge competition
A number of our KS3 pupils chose to take part in the February half term competition that
was extremely challenging. There were over a thousand entries from across the region
with 26 prizes awarded. Well done to our two prize winners: Nour Shyha and Esme Collin
who are invited to a prize giving and reception at the university.
Y6 SATs
Our Y6 pupils will be taking their SATs in May. They have been working very hard during
the past two terms. There are numerous resources they can use over the Easter holidays
such as the 10 minute tests booklets, revision guides/workbooks, MyMaths, the KS2 BBC
Bitesize site.
However, it is also important that they get plenty of rest.
Stationery shop
A thank you to the Y8 pupils who run the school stationery shop. The money raised goes
towards the MyMaths subscription. Y7 pupils who are interested in running it later in the
year should see Mr Porter.
Mathletes and mathmagicians
Lots of pupils have impressed their maths teachers during the Spring term. There are
a variety of reasons for this and they have received either a mathlete certificate (KS3)
or a mathmagician award (KS2). Excelling in a particular topic, improving their effort
in lessons and great participation are just some of the examples. Well done to the
following children:
Florence Green
William Pitman
Mohammed Farooq
Esme Collin
Donya Abedi
Georgia Connor
Jack Anderson
Emily Willis
Naomi Rufi
Joe Gibbs
Alex Sams
Zach Huntington
Alex Smith
Louis Whitton
Amrit Singh
Ella Sutton
Nathen Priestley
Ilayda Kucukmetin
Jessica Cape
Jack Ramsey
Amy Elrington
Molly Delgaty
James Childs
Kiesha Mpofu
Emily Wallis
Ben Kell
Ana-Sofia Franklin
Eve Ash
Charlie Kidd
Andrew Smith
Emilia Humphreys
Josh Weston
Emeka Toure
Elmo Johnson
Luke Dockerty
Calliste Matouba-Vivier
Callum Graham
Sebastian Dean
Khusi Baral
Lauren McLeod
Edward Young
Tyler Mudie
Lucy Auld
Jacob Gilroy
Bilguun Batjargal
Faith Findlay
Anna Veldhuizen
Andrew Dockerty
Danny Bowman
Toby Dent
Olivia Porter
Azaan Anjam
Mohammed Ismaeil
Anthony Smith
Hajar Ahmed
Toby Johnston
Evie Harrison
Gracie Harper
Callum Willis
Lisha Azad
Mr Porter
Georgia Nicholson
Isaac Powell
Lyla Grace Ackroyd
Ellie Grundy
Osama Almalki
George Ivanov
Connor Riley
Joe Elliot
Leah Thursby
Lyndsay Moffatt
Fraser Forrest
Verity Dursham
Taylor Horne
Gavin Wong
James Jefferson
Oliver Gray
Saad Almutairi
Ffion Tallantyre
Jessie Ward
Bailey Young
ENGLISH NEWS
Year 6 Writing Day
On Monday 20th March, Year 6 took part in Writing Day. The children had the opportunity to
challenge themselves with a wide range of punctuation, build on vocabulary and explore story
structure. The children worked extremely well as teams, to create fantastic paragraphs which
they will use to further their independent writing.
Example of work completed on the day:
'Huh.' I awoke to a hall of flying debris. Lockers had their awaiting mouths wide open, papers
were strewn around the cracked floor, like glass shards. Cracked window panes fell out of
their frames and smashed against the crooked ground. My body was lying: lying wounded.
(Billy Phillips, Grace Knox, Raiyan Hussain, Aryan Duggal)
Awards for the day:
 Ayesha Naeem- Fantastic use of vocabulary
 Nathen Priestly- Great teamwork and contributions
 Aaron Ukandu- Contributions to discussions
 Divine Umubyeyi- Wide range of vocabulary
 Poppy Moss- Creative use of punctuation
 Billy Phillips- Terrific teamwork and contributions to discussion
 Chloe Baptista- Davenport- Listening skills and contributions to group work
 Cyrus Tandon- Great up-levelling skills and punctuation use.
Gosforth Community Book Festival
Friday 17th March 2017
Did you realise that in 6 days there will be no more chocolate? I didn’t either?!
Popular author, Chris Callaghan, came to visit and introduce KS2 and Newcastle School for
Boys to his sensational new book called ‘The Great Chocoplot’. The main character is a girl
called Jelly, who lives with her chocolate loving mum and dad.
Chris read us some extracts, which made my mouth water! I found it especially funny when he
produced chocolate bars from inside his socks and behind the stage curtains. Whenever he
mentioned the word ‘CHOCOLATE’, we had to show him our shocked, chocolate-panic face. We
had so much fun.
It was interesting to find out that before Chris became a writer, he used to work for the Royal
Air Force.
Anna O’Dowd & Katie Smeaton 6G
Mamma Mia
Before the end of term, 20 enthusiastic students and equally enthusiastic staff went to see
‘Mamma Mia!’ at the Theatre Royal. The performance was excellent and everyone thoroughly
enjoyed themselves!
World Book Day
This year we celebrated World Book Day with our first ever Lit Quiz. Well done to all of those
pupils who dressed up as a distinctive character from a novel, we had some great costumes.
Library News
World Book Day
As part of our celebrations to mark the 20th World Book Day on Thursday 2nd March, 44
pupils took part in what we hope will be the first of many GJHA Literature Quizzes.
These pupils had already proven their mettle by scoring top marks in a preliminary quiz
within their tutor groups and on the day, there were 11 teams, with a pupil from each year
group.
The atmosphere was electric, as the teams went head-to-head, answering questions on
subjects as diverse as literary animals, witches and wizards and evil enemies.
It was a keenly fought battle but the winners were Team Riordan – Esme Collin, Thomas
Waldron Guillen, Josh Weston and Lily Behenna- with 68 marks, closely followed by a tie
for second place, with Team Blyton – Lauren Shepherdson, Sophie Hobson, Ava Soulsby
and Luke Campbell - and Team Wilson – Lauren Stewart, Will Fisher, Maya Shutlar
and Basma Kharrufa - both scoring 64.
A massive thank you to all the pupils who took part so enthusiastically, the parents, who
came along to cheer their children on (and win sweets by answering on the spot quiz
questions), the fabulous team of students who helped organise and mark the quiz – Grace
Henshelwood, Aren Rabey-Wilson, Henry Hazlegreaves, Hank Downing and Edward Young
- and Mr Wheeldon - our BFL (Big Friendly Librarian, complete with ears) - for being the
quizziest quiz master.
We are hoping that this will become a regular feature on our school calendar, so keep
reading!
Library Clubs
Next term, there will be two clubs running in the library after school from 3.20pm to
3.50pm. On Tuesday, there is Book Club – come along and talk about your favourite books
and take part in our book bingo - and on Thursday there is Drawing and Manga club – chat
about the series we have in the library and draw your favourite characters.
Library Helpers
I am very lucky to have a great team of young people, committed to helping keep the
library a friendly, welcoming place. Before school, at break, at lunchtime and after
school, they answer questions from students about library procedures, trouble shoot IT
queries, shelve books, process stock and generally assist me in keeping the library
running smoothly.
Thank you very much to the following:
Aysha Ahmed, Sarah Braiwish, Lauren Gargett, Lexie Noel, Maisie Watson, Harry Wilmot,
Sydney Cook, Srushti Chandorkar, Daisy-Jo Loftus, Hannah Forrest, Milly Harrison, Holly
Moss, Ulemj Batjargal, Izzy Gibson, Chloe Baptista Davenport, Lucy Auld, Demi Workman,
Yaser Lamsatfi, Lauren Blyth, Hannah McKenna, Alana Collington, Joe Higgins, Osama
Almalki, Emily Smith, Adam Opie, Muhammad Anjam.
Some of our year 5s have also volunteered to help and I am pleased to say that the
following students have passed their training:
Thomas Skaife, Emily Wilkins, Findlay Shaw, Katy O’Brien, Libby Connor, Phoebe Sykes,
Rosa Baruch-Harrison, Poppy Watkins, Minnie Atkinson, Saira Rahman, Iman Boumar,
Sophie Corby, Luci Rudling, Eva Butler, Charlie Cree, Charlotte Hunter, Addi Moore, Ashley
Leaver and Lucy Fisher. Congratulations to you all!
Harry Potter Quiz
Just before the Easter holidays, the Library hosted a massive Harry Potter quiz, created
by 3 of our students – Ali Naqvi, Mustafa Ahmadi and Adan Kayani. The results are still
pending as we go to press…
Have a very happy Easter!
Mrs Huck
School Librarian
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
MFL Spelling Bee
This term, in Year 7, we have been participating in the Second Round of
the French Spelling Bee Competition organised by Routes
into Languages. The Spelling Bee Club, run by Mrs Jobling on Wednesday
lunchtime, has given many children the opportunity to improve their
spelling skills for the 100 words that they have to learn.
The three winners from the School Final this year are Heena Vadiwala (7J), Freddy
Kepngang (7G) and Becky Hush (7S).
These pupils will now represent our school at the Regional Finals of the MFL Spelling Bee
Competition on Wednesday 3rd May 2017, at Emmanuel College, Gateshead. We wish them
luck and many congratulations on their success so far!
MFL Translation Bee
A group of Year 8 pupils have been taking part in this new competition this year.
The aim is to translate as many sentences as possible from English into French
in one minute. The pupils are given a list of words at the beginning of the
competition which includes a range of verbs.
Round One – The Class Competition
Pupils use the word list to translate sentences into French in the present tense. The
following pupils won their class competition at the very end of the Autumn Term.
8G – 1st Callum Richardson, 2nd Lyla Shutlar, 3rd Poppy Barnes, Charlotte McNicholas and
Brooke Taylor
8H - 1st Lauren Shepherdson, 2nd Esme Collin, 3rd Donya Abedi and Antonio Coates
8J - 1st Grace Henshelwood and Abby Wardingham, 3rd Bobbi-Jo Ollerenshaw
8A - 1st Ella Dewar, 2nd Yaser Lamsfati
8S - 1st Justice Nkondi-Tsielo , 2nd Farhiya Salim, 3rd Alicia Merritt
Also progressing to the school competition is Amy Lloyd.
Round Two – The School Competition
Those going forward to the school competition must translate sentences in both the
present tense and the future tense.
Following the School Final this week, our three School Winners are:
1st Justice Nkondi-Tsielo (8S)
2nd Esme Collin (8H)
3rd Lauren Shepherdson (8H)
They will now progress to the Regional Final which will be held in June at Sheffield Hallam
University.
….and finally, as the warmer weather approaches, we look forward to this year’s visit to
France. 32 Year 7 pupils will be making the trip to Stella Plage on the Opal Coast in
France. We look forward to telling you all about it in the next edition.
Mrs C Davy
Head of Department for MFL
I.C.T.
This term Year 8 pupils have been working on a new project, modelling and 3D printing
'remote controlled' model cars, which they then controlled using motors, Raspberry Pi
computers and explorer hat pro add on boards. There have been some really fantastic
results and the work that a number of our pupils produced was recently showcased at
Newcastle University as part of a Computing at School hub meeting. The work was
presented to schools from right across Newcastle and lecturers from the University's
computer science faculty, who were most impressed.
In Code Club this term we have had a visit from TranscendIT, a local IT company
interested in finding out more about the computing skills pupils are learning in school. The
Year 5 pupils who were at the club made an excellent impression and you can see more
about what happened at www.transcendit.co.uk/blog/posts/what-do-kids-learn-at-codeclub-we-found-out or by following the link on the school website.
Mr Johnson
PE and SPORT
GJHA win silverware!!!
Throughout the spring term teams and individuals from GJHA have won numerous city
and county events resulting in lots of medals and trophies being won.
Sports Hall Athletics - Well done to Jessica Bakou (year 6), Haydon Mustard (year 6)
and David Adeyeye (year 8) who were selected to represent Newcastle City in the recent
Tyne and Wear Sports Hall Athletics Championships. All three athletes performed
exceptionally well amongst very tough competition. Jessica and Haydon both won silver
medals and David finished in a solid fourth position just missing out on the medals.
Badminton - Huge congratulations to the key stage 3 girls badminton team who
competed in the recent county championships. The team, made up of four year 8 girls,
successfully won the city qualifying round before Christmas. They travelled to The
Tyneside Badminton Centre for the final competing against other year 8 and year 9
teams. The girls successfully won their group competition progressing through to the
final beating Lord Lawson, Whitburn, Kings Priory and Newminster.
In the final the girls met the team from Gosforth Academy. After a well fought battle the
girls came away runners up, receiving silver medals.
Well done to Rebecca Grogan, Amber Corby, Jasmin Bakou and Emily Wallis.
Hoops4Health Final
On January 11, Gosforth Junior High Academy had 4 teams playing in the Newcastle
Hoops4Health tournament, where there were 54 teams competing for a top 4 finish and
the opportunity to play in front of 2500 Newcastle Eagles supporters. We managed to get
one team to qualify to play in the final rounds.
The semi-final and final matches were played on Friday 20 January at Northumbria Sport
Central.
Gosforth Junior High Academy had a semi- final match against St Pauls which they won
8-0 with 2 points coming from Ethan Leman, Alfie Booth and 4 points from Chloe Paxton.
The final was a local derby against Gosforth Central, which was played during the half
time interval of Newcastle Eagles and Worcester Wolves.
Not fazed by the size of the crowd, the team started well dominating the early stages of
the game, with Alex Fisher scoring the first basket going 2-0 after 2 minutes of the game.
With all of the pressure, Gosforth Junior could not convert any more shots then, out of
the blue, Gosforth Central broke away and scored making it 2-2 with 2 minutes to go.
Heads held high, Gosforth Junior piled on the pressure and eventually scored their
second basket, once again by Alex Fisher. With good defence we kept Central at bay,
winning the final 4-2.
The team:-Jack Anderson, Alex Fisher, Max Campbell, Ethan Leman, Lily Behenna, Chloe
Paxton, Finn Milner and Alfie Booth.
All the players should be very proud of their achievement. The team will now play against
the winners of the other regional finals in April.
Tyne and Wear Selection for Haydon
Haydon Mustard (Year 6) was selected for the Tyne and Wear Athletics team. Haydon
competed in a number of events over the weekend helping the Tyne and Wear team to
victory in the North of England Championships.
Basketball
KS2
Due to a large uptake for the basketball club, it has been necessary to split the club over
two nights.
Year 6 sessions on a Thursday night, are greatly attended. The pupils have a tournament
to look forwards to once the SATs have been completed.
The Friday night basketball club for Year 5 has been used for extra training for the Year 5
team who got through to the Hoops4 Health Basketball Champions of Champions Finals
which take place on Sunday 30 April at Northumbria Sport Central.
The Hoops4Health Road show came into school. This is a programme, run by the
Newcastle Eagles Foundation, where Newcastle Eagles players come into school for the
afternoon giving the pupils lessons on, fitness, health lifestyle and basketball coaching.
KS3
Training is held on Monday night. Due to large numbers, the Y7 & Y8 have to alternate
every week. The emphasis on these sessions is to have fun .
Squash
24 year 5 pupils have recently enjoyed two visits to Northern Squash Club. They all
received some first class coaching and participated in an inter-form competition.
Congratulations to 5C who won the event.
Huge congratulations to Rebecca Grogan. Rebecca recently competed in the National
under 15 School Girls Squash Championships. Rebecca was part of the Year 10 (under 15)
team from Gosforth Academy. The team finished 5th with Rebecca winning all of her
matches.
The Key Stage 2 team have had a fabulous week winning two huge silver trophies. Firstly,
a team of six competed in the Newcastle Schools Cup. The team from GJHA beat Dame
Allans and West Jesmond in the final.
Well done to the following: Angus, Joe, Finlay, Dan, Ahmed and Shae.
Three days later, an extended team competed in the Gosforth Middle Schools Cup. After
over 100 games the final came down to a very tight and competitive match against
Gosforth Central. After a very intense final couple of games GJHA won on count back.
Well done to the following:
Finlay Wallace
Ahmed Mohammed
Dan Murphy
Harry Millington
Max Campbell
Fraser Forrest
Minheok Lee
Elmo Johnson
Shae Paterson
Sophie Merrey
Lily Behenna
Addison Moore
Abbie Armstrong
Cerys Grimshaw Mates
Antonia Stewart
Overall, a fantastic term for sport at GJHA.
V.Naughton - Head of PE
PERFORMING ARTS NEWS!
Learning and Performance Network
On Friday 31st March a group of 19 students from Years 7 and 8 performed at
Sacred Heart High School. The students performed the final act of Julius Caesar
and showcased some epic battle scenes by using torch lights for impact. The
students performed along with 4 other schools as part of the Royal Shakespeare
Company’s Learning and Performance Network. Each school performed an act
from the play with students aged 7-15. It has been a brilliant experience for our
students and the staff who directed the performance.
The next step will be for 2 students from each participating school to perform an
act from Julius Caesar on stage in Stratford Upon Avon. Further details to
follow.
Miss Shields and Mrs Child
Gosforth Singers
On Monday 3rd April a number of students attended a singing rehearsal as part
of our preparations for the ‘Pyramid Summer Event’ at Whitley Bay Playhouse on
Tuesday 4th July. Singers will be invited to attend 2 additional rehearsals here at
GJHA on the following dates:
Wednesday 3rd May - 15.45-16.45
Wednesday 14th June - 15.45-16.45
Monday 26th June 9.30-12.00 workshop at Gosforth Academy
If you would like to attend the rehearsals, please see Miss Shields for a
blue entry form.
Thursday Steel Pans
Steel pans will only be on Tuesdays for the Summer Term. Students who have
previously attended the club on Thursdays are invited to join the Tuesday group.
Dazzle
Tickets will be on sale for our fairground musical ‘Dazzle’ after Easter. The
performance dates are:
Tuesday 23rd May 2017
Thursday 25th May 2017
Cast members should check the ‘Performing Arts Homework’ section on Frog for
information on costumes.
Pyramid Summer Concert
Tuesday 4th July at Whitley Bay Playhouse 6.30pm.
Ticket letters for this event have been made available for students in the
pyramid choir, ceilidh band and wind band. This event will be the culmination of
our pyramid music groups this year. It will be a special event involving students
from across the Pyramid’s First, Middle and High Schools.
Students are invited to attend wind band rehearsals at Gosforth Central Middle
School on Tuesdays 3.30-4.30pm after Easter- please see Miss Shields for a
letter.
MISS SHIELDS
SATs Revision
All the KS2 teaching staff would like to thank all of their pupils for their hard
work this term. They have persevered with the challenges set and are continuing
to progress, demonstrating excellent motivation. Please ensure they continue to
revise over the holidays in preparation for their SATs so that they continue to
make progress. Thank you for your continued support.
Victoria Hall - Acting KS2 Leader of Teaching and Learning
PSFA NEWS
If you would like to be on the PSFA Mailing List to be kept upto-date by e-mail throughout the year please send an e-mail
to [email protected]
If you would like to join the PSFA please get in touch
LAST BUT NOT LEAST!
A BIG THANK YOU TO
ALL PARENTS AND
CARERS FOR YOUR
CONTINUED SUPPORT
DENISE WAUGH