Nothampton High School
High News

Friday 13 September 2019

Digacy – an integrated approach to digital literacy

We often think of education in terms of numeracy and literacy, but digital literacy has a vital role as well, which is why we have set up the ‘Digacy’ programme at Northampton High. Through Digacy, we aim to bring together the various strands of digital learning to ensure that our students have a healthy and holistic understanding of their digital personas and are ready for the changing world of work, where excellent digital skills are taken for granted.

There is a temptation to see digital learning through the lens of computer science, or IT functions like spreadsheets and databases, or even simply in terms of digital devices themselves. However, we cannot afford to compartmentalise in this way in a world where technology impacts on nearly everything we do. Digacy, therefore, is not a lesson that pupils go to like Maths, Languages or Computing. Rather it is witnessed throughout the curriculum in areas like science, humanities, the arts and sport. We believe that no matter what students are aiming for individually, we have a responsibility to ensure we are scattering their paths with digital ‘nuggets’ alongside the subject-specific skills they require.

Read more here

Mr Rickman
Deputy Head Academic

Week Ahead

Monday 16 September
Senior School Assembly – Meet the Makers
GCSE Geography Field Work Trip (U5)
Drama Rehearsals

Tuesday 17 September
GCSE Geography Field Work Trip (U5)
Student Council Meeting
Hockey: Girls U15A vs Akeley Wood (A)

Wednesday 18 September
GCSE Geography Field Work Trip (U5)
Student Charity Committee Meeting

Thursday 19 September
Hockey: 1st XI vs Oundle (A)

Friday 20 September
Jeans for Genes Mufti Day
Senior School Assembly – Eco Team
L4 COaCH trip to Bear Grylls
Leather Technology Visit – UoN
KS4/KS5 Classics trip to British Museum

Saturday 21 September
Hockey Sevens: U12B & C vs Bedford (H)
Hockey Sevens: U13B & C vs Bedford (H)

6.1 attend GDST 'Inspire East' Conference

On Friday 6 September, the new 6:1 students visited Churchill College, Cambridge to participate in the annual GDST Inspire East Conference.

In the morning, we listened to talks that aimed to inspire confidence and to expand our comfort zone, as well as being given some raw advice about choosing the right university. After lunch in the college’s dining hall, we went off to separate activities that we had chosen in advance, with workshops covering topics such as coping with ‘fake news’, developing skills as a scientist, presenter or debater, finding out about the GDST Alumnae Network and learning about apprenticeships.

Christie said, “the conference was a fantastic opportunity to improve my networking skills and to create a larger web of contacts”. Amelie particularly enjoyed the alumnae session and found it useful to speak to GDST alum to gather information about the journey on which she is about to embark.

Some pearls of wisdom taken from the conference were that the GDST has an unrivalled alumnae network, full of support and guidance from around 70,000 people across the Trust; that ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’: by actively creating opportunities for themselves as early as possible, people can be more successful in later life; and that no matter what the future may bring, there is always another “plan B”, if the original plan didn’t work out.

We would like to thank the GDST for organising this invaluable event, which we have been fortunate to attend.

Sophie, Amelie, Lara and Christie
6.1

Sophie attends the Air Cadets INCO Course

Last weekend, I attended an Initial Cadet NCO Course at RAF Wittering, as part of my role in the RAF Air Cadets.

This is a course designed to improve a cadet’s competences in drill, leadership and having responsibility in the functioning of a local unit. A Cadet NCO is someone who is appointed by their unit to lead, teach and look out for the Cadets and training for this is provided by NCO Courses. The course began on Friday and, on merit, I was given the role of Course IC (In Command) for the weekend. This meant that it was my role to ensure that the other course students woke up when required, were outside and formed up at the correct times and had the correct kit for each lesson.

I was also taught to be an effective Drill IC, learning to say drill commands correctly to successfully lead a flight of cadets and, on the following day, we were taught leadership theory (with an exam), with the theory taught put into practice with a practical exam; we had to each lead a group of students to complete an unseen task.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course, and not only did it teach me skills useful as a cadet NCO, it provided lessons useful in everyday life; gaining confidence, responsibility and maturity, I was delighted to come away from the course awarded best student.

I attend 378 (Mannock) Squadron ATC in Wellingborough. We meet on Mondays and Wednesdays, taking part in flying, gliding, shooting, sports, camps and fieldcraft, to name a few! If you are interested, either email myself or visit our Facebook page: facebook.com/mannock.

Sophie
6C1

School’s staff raise over £1000 for The Air Ambulance Service

Members of staff from Northampton High School have raised over £1000 for The Air Ambulance Service. The sum of just over £1,125 was raised over the course of the previous academic year by holding an array of exciting fundraising activities. These events included an Easter Egg raffle, a ‘Pop Up’ clothes shop, book sales, and a 12 days of Christmas themed Scavenger Hunt.

The team supports a local cause each academic year, with previous charities including Children are Butterflies and The Cynthia Spencer Hospice, and enjoy coming together with the help of students to raise as much money as possible for the chosen charity.

With the new academic year beginning this week, we were delighted to welcome in Stuart King from The Air Ambulance Service to accept the donation, and to talk to staff about how the contribution will help the service to continue to thrive.

The head of the Staff Charity Committee, Michele Langhorn, said “We are delighted to be able to support a local charity dear to our staff members’ hearts each year, and we’re proud that this is a staple of our academic year. It is important that we all strive to make a difference within our local community, and we are overjoyed to be able to make this donation to an amazing cause”.

We now look forward to supporting another local charity in the upcoming academic year, with a number of exciting fundraising activities set to get underway shortly.

Mr Nash
Marketing & Communications Officer

Sports Review

Hockey: On Tuesday 10 September, the U14A team played against Kimbolton. This was our First 11-a-side match as a team but we felt good, and were up to the challenge. Simran played will in goal, saving a lot of shots, and a defence made up of Tayna, Phoebe and Nabila proved very strong. With some good attacking play, we managed to score 3 goals, but were unfortunately on the end of a narrow 4-3 defeat. We look forward to the rest of the fixtures to come!

Jayna, U4S

See all photos

GDST Rally: The 1st team have had a good start to the season, where the girls fought hard at the GDST U18 Hockey Rally at Birkenhead High Academy. The team pushed for a win against Nottingham, with the defensive line managing to hold them out of the D, and came away with a 0-0 draw. At the start of the second game, Sheffield dominated the game before we brought it back with two goals, with excellent support from Jodie and Lucy, to draw 2-2. Well done to all the girls who worked extremely hard, which has meant we have now qualified for the main GDST tournament further on in the season.

Ellie, 6E2

Summer Sporting Successes!

It has been a busy summer in the world of Sport for many, with a host of girls successful in trials, competitions and selection for a variety of sports and activities; too many to mention individually, so a few highlights are as follows:

Georgie FW: selected for the England Roses Academy programme 2019/2020, with the aim to be selected to represent England at the Netball Europe (U17) competition in 2020 (pictured opposite).

Ellie P: Who raised over £600 for Alzheimer’s Research by completing the Great North Run, her first half marathon. Thank you to all who kindly sponsored Ellie for this amazing achievement.

Maddie D: Selected for the JRPC U15 Hockey team.

Chloe M: Competed at Scottish National Open Age Group Championships, and also the Scottish Summer Nationals.

Leah TS: Selected to represent AMA England (Amateur Martial Arts Association) at the WUKF (World Union of Karate Federation) European championships.

Charlotte J: Partcipated in the Loughborough regional U16 tournament and was also the U18 Doubles champion. A competitior in the U14 Regional Doubles tournament and  is an U14 County Doubles champion.

Gemma W: Won a number of events including the Pony Club Open Show at Burghley with a clear round, and qualified for the Horse of the Year show on two ponies: Minydon Mascherano and Barney (pictures below).

Well done to all the High School girls for their outstanding successes; we look forward to building upon these achievements.

Mrs Littlewood
Interim Director of Sport

#NowsTheTime2 – Breaking down barriers for women in medical careers

Following on from our successful #Now’sTheTime conference last year, Northampton High School’s Partnerships programme, Queen’s Cross Connect, is curating a follow-up event which will enable opportunities for young women to advance their careers in medicine.

#Now’sTheTime2 conference will be held on Thursday 10 October for students in Years 10-13 interested in medical careers. Speakers include Jane Marshall of Optimising Futures on making a successful university application, Dr Christopher Nordstom of The Medic Portal on where to apply and how to get in, and Dr Melanie Crofts, professor of law at De Montfort University on narrowing

the gender pay gap. There will be opportunities to network with professionals in medicine (please see below if you are able to help) and to meet with potential medical applicants from local schools. A carousel of workshops offered will include preparation for MMI interviews, Finding Your Voice and Hands on Dissection. We aim to empower young women to aim for successful medical careers without barriers.

During #Now’sTheTime2, at lunchtime, we will be offering opportunities for young women to meet medical professionals to discuss career opportunities, advice and gender issues. If you are working in medicine, and are able to offer some time from 1.30 – 2.30 pm on Thursday 10 October, we would be keen to hear from you. We know that many of our parents work in the medical profession – as GPs, Consultants, Surgeons, Radiologists, Researchers, Anesthetists – and would welcome a wide range of careers.

Please contact myself at l.heimfeld@nhs.gdst.net if you are able to help.

Ms Heimfeld

Global Languages and Linguistics Club

This year the Languages Faculty is introducing a new enrichment club, ‘Global Languages and Linguistics’, which hopes to offer new and stimulating taster languages, lectures and careers information to both students and parents on a monthly basis 4.00-5.00pm (the first Monday of the month).

If there are any parents or friends of families who would be interested in sharing their experience of language learning, use of global or European languages in their careers or education and be willing to participate and lead sessions in person or electronically,  please do get in touch as we’d love to include you in our programme!

Miss Peto
Subject Leader Classics

Book Review

Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich

‘The excellent and appalling Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich describes how close we came in the 70s to dealing with the causes of global warming and how US big business and Reaganite politicians in the 80s ensured it didn’t happen. Read it.’ John Simpson

By 1979, we knew all that we know now about the science of climate change – what was happening, why it was happening, and how to stop it. Over the next ten years, we had the very real opportunity to stop it. Obviously, we failed.

Nathaniel Rich’s groundbreaking account of that failure – and how tantalizingly close we came to

signing binding treaties that would have saved us all before the fossil fuels industry and politicians committed to anti-scientific denialism – is already a journalistic blockbuster, a full issue of the New York Times Magazine that has earned favorable comparisons to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and John Hersey’s Hiroshima. Rich has become an instant, in-demand expert and speaker. A major movie deal is already in place. It is the story, perhaps, that can shift the conversation.

In the book Losing Earth, Rich is able to provide more of the context for what did – and didn’t – happen in the 1980s and, more important, is able to carry the story fully into the present day and wrestle with what those past failures mean for us at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It is not just an agonizing revelation of historical missed opportunities, but a clear-eyed and eloquent assessment of how we got to now, and what we can and must do before it’s truly too late.

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

Year 6 Valedictory Photos

July’s Year 6 Valedictory Event was a memorable and enjoyable evening for girls, parents and staff (both current and former), celebrating the girls’ time in Junior School. We were delighted to have the services of Mrs Jane Ellis, professional photographer, at the event, and the photographs are still available to view. Should you wish to view the photos of this special evening, please click here.

The gallery is password protected and to access the photographs please use this password: HighY6. Photographs may also be purchased via this site.

Thank you once again for attending this milestone event.

Mrs Wilmot
Director of Marketing & Admissions

Summer Works

With the school closed over the summer months, we had the opportunity to undertake lots of exciting updates and renovations within the school grounds. A couple of these renovations include a brand new Nursery, new Senior Hall lighting, and kitchen refurbishments to name just a few.

Please see the below Flickr gallery which includes a host of pictures of these works.

Mr Nash
Marketing and Communications Officer

See all photos

Sports Centre Facilities at Northampton High

We would like to let all of our parents know all about the fantastic facilities and classes we have available here at the Northampton High School Sports Centre, which is open in the evenings and weekends to members.

We offer a special membership rate of £20.00 for parents of pupils at NHS plus over 16s can join too on our Junior Membership rate, and If you would like more details, please click here.

If you would like a tour of the facilities, please do contact us on sportscentre@nhs.gdst.net and we would be happy to arrange a day and time with you.

  • Fully equipped 30 station gym with free weights and functional equipment
  • A range of cardio vascular equipment
  • Free 30 minute PT session with Alex our Personal Trainer on joining
  • Induction Programme to get you started in the right way
  • Individually designed training programme and ongoing support from our fully trained Sports Centre Team
  • Gym Member challenges – serious or just for fun!
  • A range of instructor led classes held in the Dance Studio, Sports Hall or outside
  • Options range from Boot Camps, Zumba, Yoga, Pilates and Aqua Zumba
  • Book one of two squash courts
  • Join our own squash club (men’s and women’s leagues) or play just for fun
  • Swim with the family on Saturday and Sunday afternoons
  • Join the Aqua Zumba class

Mr Slater
Sports Centre Manager

Term Dates

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Northampton High School
Newport Pagnell Road, Hardingstone Northampton NN4 6UU
T: 01604 765765 nhsadmin@nhs.Gdst.Net