Nothampton High School
High News

Friday 24 April 2020

A warm, socially distanced, welcome to the summer term! I hope that you and your families are well and were able to enjoy the Easter break, despite the obvious restrictions and concerns.

It has certainly been a start to a term like no other, however, our pupils have adapted to their Guided Home Learning tasks expertly this week, ever-confident to take on new challenges with enthusiasm and drive.

Monday this week saw our first virtual staff training (or INSET) day, with colleagues delighted to see each other, albeit online, to reconnect and to get back to what they like to do best – teach.

During these unprecedented times, without our usual routines and familiar human contact, communication has never been more important. We are embracing technology to facilitate teaching and learning but also to keep our all-important personal connections alive and well. The integration of technologies into family life at home has necessitated a new level of digital literacy for us all, and from this our students, staff and our families are becoming better-equipped to tackle what lies ahead.

In this week’s edition of School News, Mr Rickman, Deputy Head Academic, and Mr Bailey, Head of Junior School, provide a useful reminder of how we are communicating with the girls. There is an update for parents on assessments and reports, and we also include also some useful contacts should you have any queries.

As our summer term is under way, we are now preparing for our first ever Virtual Open Morning on Friday 1 May. Ordinarily we would be greeting girls interested in joining our school, and their families, with a warm welcome, we would be providing personal tours of the school, introducing them to our students and staff, and inviting them to experience first-hand the special atmosphere that defines Northampton High. As these are not ordinary times, we will still be showcasing our school, however this time with a virtual tour, introductions to some of our students, and an opportunity to talk to members of the senior leadership team. For more information about the Virtual Open Morning please click here.

There is no substitution for face-to-face contact with our students, peers, friends and families. We are undoubtedly missing school in so many ways, and look forward to a time when we can reconvene in school together.

In the meantime, very best wishes to you and your families. Keep well and stay safe,

Amanda Wilmot
Director of Marketing and Admissions

Communicating with our pupils in Junior School

In the Junior School we have now launched our summer term Guided Home Learning package.

Staff have been busy using ‘Educreations’ to prepare pre-recorded daily inputs to introduce the tasks and expectations for the day to the girls. This app is also being incorporated into a selection of weekly Maths and English sessions to scaffold learning further. Staff have loved connecting up live with the girls this week on MS Teams either as a whole class or as small groups; the girls have, in turn, loved hearing their teachers’ voices again.

Many of our girls are now working within our optional timetable; feedback has been that this has really helped to keep them on task throughout the day, as well as giving permission for those all-important breaks. Foundation subject tasks are now being provided in Science, Humanities, French, Music and PE, alongside all the other offerings that have continued; the Head Teacher’s Challenge, staff recommendations, daily singing and the story of the day.

The standard of work being sent in for feedback has been phenomenal. It has been lovely to see how the girls have developed even more independence and embraced a new way of learning. Thank you so much to all of our parents for supporting the school in making Guided Home Learning work. Your help and your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Chris Bailey
Head of Junior School

 

Connecting with our pupils in Senior School

Guided Home Learning has really blossomed over the last few weeks with a huge range of resources now being made available. Where live links were generally being used mostly with the exam groups before the Easter break, we have developed innovative ways to link up with students across the year groups, using a combination of video and voice recordings, live shared documents and spreadsheets, as well as video calls on MS Teams or Google Classroom for smaller groups.

For our GCSE and A Level students, now that official work has finished on the exams, teachers

are setting up exciting programmes of transition work in advance of A Level, and we are providing individual mentoring for university to 6-2. Once the U5 pre-A Level courses are established, we will introduce a number of wider interest opportunities, such as Masterclasses from across the GDST in all academic areas, to include offerings that our teachers have put in place for Film Studies and in the Arts.

We think there is an amazing opportunity now for our students to take advantage of the expertise at school to help them develop an area of personal interest. It will make them stand out in future, at interviews and when applying to university, if they are able to say how they made the most of this unique time and how it influenced them as individuals. We are asking students to reflect their experiences in their ePortfolios too, as these will be an excellent record of their achievements in times to come. Teachers are very much on hand to support and nurture any such special projects or activities – don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Henry Rickman
Deputy Head Academic

Communicating with our parents - Assessments and Reports

Assessment and monitoring are an integral part of any teaching programme, be it in school or via guided home learning. Ordinarily, schools would be turning their thoughts to a more formal period of examinations this term, but this year is anything but ordinary.

With public examinations cancelled we have considered what to do about internal examinations, given the unknowns. There are two possibilities: that we remain in lockdown or that the school reopens. In lockdown it would be impossible to replicate the examination experience or validate the results, and if we reopen our focus will be on reconnecting in the classroom. We have therefore come to the decision that there will be no formal examinations this term.

We will run two examination sessions in the autumn term: one for U5 and 6-2 at the start of the new academic year and another for L4, U4 and L5 in the week before the autumn half term. Students will be given guidance on preparing for these assessments and Junior School pupils will be unaffected by the changes.

Parents of students in 6-2 will have the opportunity to meet with teachers after the September assessments, in lieu of this term’s cancelled 6-1 Parents’ Evening and there will be minor changes to the reporting structure. More information will follow.

Henry Rickman
Deputy Head Academic

Communicating in other ways

To keep up to date with all High School news, please follow us on our other platforms as listed below. As ever, for general queries, please contact nhsadmin@nhs.gdst.net or junioradmin@nhs.gdst.net. Your email will be forwarded to the member of staff able to assist you.

  Facebook: facebook.com/NorthamptonHigh

  Twitter: @Northampton High, @NHSNursery, @NHSJuniorSchool

  Instagram: @northamptonhigh

   Flickr: flickr.com/northamptonhigh


Jamie Nash

Marketing & Communications Officer

Virtual Open Day - Friday 1 May

Our Open Day on Friday 1 May will now take place virtually, and we look forward to opening our electronic doors for a special look at life at Northampton High School.

We are excited to showcase the school in the form of a virtual tour, information about joining the school and an opportunity to talk to our Headmistress, Head of the Junior School, or other members of the senior team.

If you are interested in our Virtual Open Day and would like to learn more, please contact us at nhsadmin@nhs.gdst.net and a member of our team would be delighted to get in touch with more information.

Jamie Nash
Marketing & Communications Officer

Term Dates

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