Nothampton High School
High News

Friday 20 September 2019

Week Ahead

Monday 23 September
Senior School Assembly – Lingua Franca
GDST Chrystall Public Speaking Prize 1
U3 Parents Meet the Tutors Evening

Tuesday 24 September
L4 GDST STEM Conference
Tennis: U18A vs Headington (A)

Wednesday 25 September
GDST Chrystall Public Speaking Prize 2
Hockey Sevens: U11A&B vs Milton Keynes Prep (H)
GCSE Years’ Welcome Evening

Thursday 26 September
European Day of Languages
House Assemblies
Hockey: 1st XI & U15A vs Rugby (H)

Friday 27 September
Senior School Assembly – European Day of Languages
GDST Chrystall Public Speaking Prize 3
FoNHS Parent Forum and AGM

Saturday 28 September
U12A&B vs Loughborough (A)

German Exchange Trip 2019

“We are girls
We care about climate change
We are part of the EU, NATO, UNO
We aspire to thrive and positively change the world
We want to leave our footprint on history
We love to explore new cultures and  learn new languages”

This poster says everything about Northampton High School’s wonderful partnership with the Dr-Johanna-Decker Gymnasium in Amberg, Bavaria. It was produced by Asha, Rithanya and their exchange partners in the final workshop of our third school visit to Amberg this July where the girls were asked to work with their partners and to reflect on the experiences and the friendships that our exchange programme brings.

Last week back in Northampton we held a German exchange breakfast to reflect again, now at a distance, on the lasting benefits of our partnership. Below are some of their thoughts:

“I became more confident in speaking German and learnt to be less afraid of new experiences”

“I improved my social skills and became more confident in front of strangers”

“I was extremely nervous the night before we set off but I found myself enjoying it so much more than I thought I would and became a lot more confident generally and in German in particular”

“I had to be very independent and I experienced a different way of living as it was nothing like my average week”

“At first I was nervous; what would happen if no-one understood me? But it was amazing, just amazing”

“I enjoyed every part of the exchange and it helped my German a lot. I loved learning about German food and traditions. I didn’t want to come home”

Need I say more?

Mrs Hill
Head of Languages Faculty

See all photos

GDST Northern Rally

On Thursday 12 September, we were delighted to take our students to our first big event of the new Academic Year – the GDST Northern Rally at Birkenhead High School Academy in Liverpool. In what was a very successful day, we are delighted with the performances of our girls, with details listed in the match reports below.

Mrs Littlewood
Interim Director of Sport

Badminton: On Thursday, the Senior Badminton team travelled to Liverpool to take part in the GDST Rally, alongside many other sports teams.

We competed against 4 other schools in a doubles tournament and had two doubles pairings: Shri and Shreya, and Rhadhika and Tevini. For the first tournament of the year we were off to a good start with both pairs winning all but one of our matches placing us 2nd overall. Well done to all girls who took part. Shri

Volleyball: The Volleyball team for the Northern Rally consisted of 10 Swimmers and Hockey players; and having never played the game, let alone as a team, the girls quickly picked up the rules and took to the court to play some experienced opponents.

In the first match, despite very minimal preparation, we managed to finish with a score of 20-31 to a Belvedere, who were a very strong side. Our next match was more difficult, as we took on the eventual tournament winners. The girls played a much stronger match, working well as a team and improving our tactics and play throughout, though due to the experienced nature of Birkenhead this was not reflected in the scoreline.

In the final game, we managed to take an early lead, where we pulled 5 points ahead of Sheffield. However, after this point, Sheffield began to up their game, and although we played well, with some good serves and volleys being made, we were unable to beat them, resulting in us finishing in 4th overall.

The girls learned lots about the sport, demonstrating some amazing teamwork throughout, and should be proud of the improvement they made over the tournament. Special mentions should go to Charlotte and Alessandra, who got stuck in, making some excellent serves and volleys, despite having never played the sport before! Chloe

Swimming: The swimmers had a very successful time at the Northern Rally this year, qualifying for finals in almost all our races, and bringing home lots of placings! All the events had finals (except the 100m IM), and everyone qualified for at least two! We ended up gaining qualifications for all the 50m events, both the medley and freestyle relay, and the 25 back and free.

The girls achieved some brilliant results in their races, with Chloe placing 2nd and 4th, Anna finishing with a 3rd, Becca taking a closely fought 2nd place and Ellie  finishing in 3rd! Emily swam in both the 25m backstroke and the 25m freestyle, and finished 4th and 3rd

respectively. This is a fantastic achievement, as even though Emily is only in year 8, she managed to race in finals in an under 18 competition and place against girls much older than her. Well done Emily!

In both of the relays, the team of Anna, Chloe, Ellie and Becca fought hard to finish 2nd in the medley and 3rd in the free, against some strong teams! Overall, we managed to place 2nd out of 6, which is an amazing achievement, and the team should be very proud of themselves! Chloe

Hockey (U14): We have enjoyed many other fixtures in school since the start of term alongside the Rally, and the U14 Hockey team travelled to Bedford to play against Bedford Girls School. We started with first push back and went in 1-1 in the first half. Overall, we enjoyed a 4-1 victory with Ariana scoring 2 goals, and Isabelle and Alessandra  scoring 1 a piece. Well done to Ariana  for getting player of the match. Charlotte

Hockey (U15): The Rally hosted the qualifying rounds for the U15 Hockey tournament. We played 2 matches; against Nottingham which we won 3-0 and against Shrewsbury which we won 1-0. This means that we qualify with a strong position into the finals pools in Croydon on 7 November – well done girls! Shri

Hockey (U18): The 1st team have enjoyed a good start to the season, with the girls fighting hard at the GDST U18 Hockey Rally. 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 Welton and Lucy Shepherd, 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

Tennis: The U18 Tennis squad had a very successful day at the Rally, with the A pair consisting of Charlotte and Anraj winning the A tournament beating Sheffield, Birkenhead and Shrewsbury. The B team consisting of Lilli and Ella also enjoyed a successful day, coming second after beating Shrewsbury and Birkenhead with a unlucky loss against Sheffield who were tough competition. Well done to all the girls who competed. Anraj

 

Community choir hits half a decade of high notes

The Northampton High School Community Chamber Choir is celebrating its fifth birthday this month with two key events and a rather special cake. Members of the choir have been invited to sing with John Rutter CBE, Britain’s leading choral composer and conductor, alongside the Northampton Bach Choir on Saturday, here in our own school. The following day, the choir will make a welcome return to sing in Olney United Reformed Church celebrating the Harvest Festival service.

The fifth birthday is a major milestone for the choir, which was started by the school’s former Director of Music, Jo Drew, and is now led by professional soprano, Choir Director and music teacher Catriona German. There are around 20 members of the choir participating from the local community, the school staff, students and parents.

Thanks to strong support from the school, the choir has also gained a new accompanist, Derek Lau, who teaches piano at the school and is also a professional videographer. To mark the birthday at rehearsals this week, expert baker and choir member Sally Robinson has created a wonderful birthday cake.

The Northampton High School Community Chamber Choir gives informal recitals at a wide range of local events and regularly at the school open days and Christmas concerts. It sings a wide repertoire with something to suit all tastes, from Bach to the Beatles, medieval motets to musicals. There is always a warm welcome for new members.

Come and make music with us. No previous experience of reading music is required, just a love of singing. The choir is a very friendly, relaxed group and it is free to attend. You can find out more on our Facebook page or email Rachael at rachael.eden1@btinternet.com and we can arrange for you to come along to one of our rehearsal evenings to see what it’s like.

Liz Male
Northampton High School Community Chamber Choir

Book Review

The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson

“They call me Yanka the Bear. Not because of where I was found – only a few people know about that. They call me Yanka the Bear because I am so big and strong”.

Found abandoned in a bear cave as a baby, Yanka has always wondered about where she is from. She tries to ignore the strange whispers and looks from the villagers, wishing she was as strong on the inside as she is on the outside. But, when she has to flee her house, looking for answers about who she really is, a journey far beyond one that she ever imagined begins: from icy rivers to

smouldering mountains meeting an ever-growing herd of extraordinary friends along the way.

Interwoven with traditional stories of bears, princesses and dragons, Yanka’s journey is a gorgeously lyrical adventure from the best-selling author of The House With Chicken Legs.

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

Library Catalogue on FireFly

We would like to send a quick reminder to students that the the Library Catalogue Homepage has many links which you should find useful to support your A Level studies, and they are particularly useful if you are thinking about taking the EPQ!

To access, please click on the Oliver link on the Firefly Homepage and let me know if you would like any help.

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

#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

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