Date 15 th December 2017 The Head s update Dear Parents As we end the penultimate week of the Autumn term, Howell s Junior School has been a hive of activity! Staff News As you know, Mrs Lyndi Kursitis (Mrs K) and Mrs Margaret Innes will be retiring next week. Carol Services in Llandaff Cathedral It was a cold and frosty winter's day on Tuesday 12th December, and our attention turned to the wonderfully warm Llandaff Cathedral for two Carol Services of nine lessons and carols. Year 5 and 6 girls sang beautifully, they looked very smart and we were all extremely proud of them. Click here for more information. The Nutcracker Our girls in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and 2 delighted audiences over three performances with their interpretation of the The Nutcracker story. Their singing, dancing and acting was magical and definitely left the audience in the Christmassy mood! I d like to express my thanks again to the Junior School staff for ably preparing the girls so well and to Mrs Lloyd-Jones who had the vision and the courage to stage such a wonderful spectacle.
Urdd Swimming Gala On Thursday 7 th December, some of our girls competed in the Urdd Swimming Gala. Howell s School swept the board with the following results: Year 4 Freestyle 25m 1st Francesca B Backstroke 25m Breaststroke 25m Butterfly 25m Freestyle Relay 2nd Phoebe C 1st Francesca B 2nd Celeste R 1st Celeste R 2 nd Howell s Year 6 Backstroke 50m 1st Honor F Breaststroke 50m 1st Carys H 2nd Eleni S Butterfly 50m 1st Amber P Individual Medley 100m 1st Honor F Freestyle Relay 2 nd Howell s Medley Relay 1 st Howell s The National Finals will be held at Cardiff International Pool on Saturday 20th January 2018 for those who qualified 1st in any individual race or relay. Congratulations swimmers and good luck for the finals! Angela Fish Competition Year 5 were lucky to have Hywelian Angela Fish judge their story writing skills this week. Angela visited on Thursday afternoon to give feedback and announce the winners for the competition she set. Congratulations to the following girls: 3rd - Elizabeth J and Evie P 2nd - Aashi L and Carys M 1st - Isobel P Year 1 Visit to The Gate Art Centre On Thursday afternoon, Year 1 classes enjoyed a fantastic performance of Hansel and Gretal at The Gate Art Centre in Roath, Cardiff. All the girls enjoyed the singing, dancing and acting and getting so close to the actors as they were sat in the front row! It was a lovely treat after all of our own performances this week. Many thanks to the mums who accompanied us on the trip.
Year 2 Trip Year 2 enjoyed a magical trip to Ice Arena Wales today to skate and then watch a wonderful production of 'Annie' on ice. Thank you to all of those parents that came with us! Junior School Christmas Music on the 2017 Once again, there will be music in the Pavilion in the Car Park during the final week of term. Parents are very welcome to come along and listen or even sing! Many of our Junior instrumental and vocal ensembles will be performing. Monday 18 th December From 3pm to 3.20pm Junior Flute Choir Year 1 and 2 Choir Shake, Rattle & Roll Percussion Group Tuesday 19 th December From 3pm to 3.20pm 4J Class Brass Junior Rock Band Skills Group String Machine Wednesday 20 th December From 3pm to 3.20pm Junior Orchestra Junior Wind Band The groups will play as parents arrive at the end of the day, but we will make sure that we finish playing in time to catch school buses. Girls, please ensure that you have a warm school coat and hat that day and please remember your instrument and music if you are an instrumentalist! You might also like to bring a bit of tinsel to decorate your instrument! Many thanks for your hard work and commitment this term! Merry Christmas! Mr Beckett, Mr Cheeke, Mrs Lloyd-Jones, Ms Groves & Mrs Davis
Junior School Music Clubs Autumn Term End Dates Day Group Final Rehearsal Final Performance Monday Junior Flute Choir Monday 18 th December Monday 18 th December - Monday Junior Radio Finished for the term Recording to be played in classrooms w/b 18 th December Monday Shake Rattle & Roll Finished for the term Monday 18th December - Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Junior Rock Y1&2 Choir String Machine Junior Wind Band Additional rehearsal Tuesday 19 th December - LUNCHTIME Additional rehearsal Monday 18 th December Tuesday 19 th December - LUNCHTIME Wednesday 20 th December - LUNCHTIME Wednesday JCC Finished for the term Thursday Band Skills 3 Band Skills groups finished for the term 1 Band Skills group - additional rehearsal Tuesday 19 th December - LUNCHTIME Thursday Junior Orchestra Finished for the term Tuesday 19 th December - Monday 18 th December - & Tuesday 19 th - Noah s Ark hospital visit Tuesday 19 th December - Wednesday 20 th December - Monday 18 th December - performance to Junior School in assembly 1 band skill group - Tuesday 19 th December - Wednesday 20 th December - Spring Term Clubs A list of the clubs offered in the spring term is being emailed out to parents today. There are a few new lunchtime clubs being offered by staff next term, listed below and highlighted in yellow on the club list, so please contact Mrs Hatcher to let her know if your daughter would like to attend. Philosophy for Years 1 & 2 - Girls discuss questions, stories and moral situations, giving opinions and developing philosophical thinking. Go Go Lego for Years 3 & 4 - Girls explore lego, work on Lego challenges and develop team work and problem solving skills.
Team Health for years 4, 5, & 6 - Team Health is aimed at developing girls knowledge and understanding of how to lead a healthy lifestyle. They will cover topics such as the importance of healthy eating habits, sun safety and road safety. Team Health will also work together to promote healthy living throughout the school community. Enterprise club for Reception class - Girls will work together on their chosen enterprise project; designing, making, marketing and then selling their finished products. Mandarin Club In the Spring term of 2018, the Mandarin club will run every Monday afternoon from 15:20 to 16:20 from 15 th January for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and Tuesday at the same time for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. There are spaces, so if you would like your daughter to join, please email angela_yuan@hotmail.com to book a place. 'Spaghetti Maths' after school club The popular club 'Spaghetti Maths' will be returning in January. Seran will be running a class each Wednesday after school for KS2 classes and an additional class for Year 1 and 2 every Monday after school, both until 4.25pm. Please contact seran@spaghetti for more information, or book on the website www.spaghettimaths.co.uk End of Term Reminder The Hub@Howell s will be open as usual until Wednesday 20 th December but it will be closed on the last day of term, Thursday 21 st December, for cleaning purposes. We also wanted to remind you that Howell s will close at 2pm on the last day of term. There will be no after school care or library provision available on that day. Great Hall Crystal Ball On Friday 8th December, we welcomed more than 140 guests for the inaugural Great Hall Christmas Ball. Click here for more information. Parent Blog This week s instalment of our Parent Blog is available to read by clicking here. Diary Dates Whole School Open Afternoon Our doors will be open for our next Whole School Open Afternoon for prospective students, from Nursery to College, and parents on Tuesday 13 th February 2018 from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. Please do pass on the information to anyone you think might be interested in visiting Howell s. For further information please email admissions@how.gdst.net or telephone 02920 261832.
Junior School Dates Thursday 21 st December Thursday 21 st December Monday 8 th January Tuesday 9 th January Monday 19 th February to Friday 23 rd February inclusive Christmas Fancy Dress Junior School finishes at 1pm. There will be no After School Care. Inset Day First Day of Spring Term February Half Term Mrs J Ashill Head of Howell s Junior School Deputy Principal