Nothampton High School
High News

Friday 25 June 2021

The sad situation with creative arts subjects in state schools has been well documented in recent years, with funding cuts, space in the curriculum for creative subjects squeezed out and numbers of entries for Art, Drama and Music dropping by as much as 28% over the last 4 years.  

This is just one of the reasons why our outreach and engagement opportunities with local primary schools is so important to us and why we have sorely missed these events over the last academic year.  

Our annual Arts Festival is a celebration of the work and talent of our pupils from all parts of the school, and what better way to sample the Art, Textiles, Food, Dance, Drama, Music and Literature than by viewing events live around the school site during Arts Festival Week. After the enormous disappointment of cancelling the Festival last year, following months of careful planning and curation, we were determined to have the opportunity to celebrate it this year.

Thankfully, our Creative and Performing Arts teachers think in creative ways too and Mrs Beacroft’s ambition for this year was to make the most of digital methods of promoting and sharing the work of our exceptional students. Through the media of Twitter and Instagram, utilising photographic expertise in the faculty and marketing department and really ensuring that every piece of work and every moment of creativity was captured in still or moving images, the staff have truly done the faculty and school proud.

If you haven’t been following #VirtualArtsFestival2021, you have been missing a real treat, so I encourage you to take time to have a look through the clips and photos of artworks, music recitals, live lessons and talks that have taken place through the week, culminating in our Virtual Invitational event tonight at 7pm, showcasing the best of the week and much more.

Our pupils are exceptionally fortunate to have beautiful airy Art studios, dedicated Textiles rooms with all the equipment and space they need, a Food room with modern cooking facilities, Drama studio and Theatre, and Music practice and performance rooms.  They are also lucky to have teachers who are not only dedicated to teaching the next generation but all of whom are talented practitioners in their own field. 

Thank you to Mrs Beacroft, Mrs Nathan, Mr Laubscher, Miss Lycett, Mrs Care and Miss Knight, along with Mrs Bull and Mrs Masterson who support the faculty with their own creativity.  Thank you also to our students who have willingly shared their works – finished and in progress – not only this week but every day in the displays around the school.

Mrs O’Doherty
Deputy Head Pastoral Care and Guidance

The week ahead

Thursday 1 – Sunday 4 July
Equestrian Event @ Windsor

Friday 2 July
Junior School and Senior School Welcome Day

Virtual Arts Invitational 2021

As mentioned above by Mrs O’Doherty, it has been fantastic to share the exceptional talents of our students with our Virtual Arts Festival. Showcasing work from across all areas of the Creative and Performing Arts, it has been wonderful to take a retrospective look back on what has been another prosperous year creatively for Northampton High, despite the restrictions we have endured.

Our students have excelled and the quality of work completed has been exemplary; we have been delighted to share examples with you this week on our social media channels. This evening, premiering at 7pm, we are looking forward to bringing you our Virtual Arts Invitational, a feature-length production that delves into the creative world of Northampton High. With something to pique all interests, we do hope you can join us live at 7pm by clicking here. However, if you can’t join us live, the video will still be available to view after the premiere.

We trust you will be able to join us this evening. In the meantime, we are delighted to share with you our latest editions of Portfolio and High Arts – two publications that further showcase the artistic excellence of our students.

Mr Nash
Marketing & Communications Officer

Come Fly With Me: Holiday & Leisure through Art

This week, Mrs Beacroft shared this wonderful presentation with students in the Sixth Form, L4 and U4 during their assembly times – all about the travel we are yet to undertake through the lens of the Arts!

Looking at iconic pieces such as Van Gogh’s ‘The Olive Grove’ and Hockney’s ‘A Bigger Splash’, this wonderful presentation gave both students and staff food for thought as to where to head to next on their summer travels!

To view the presentation, and to select some holiday destinations for yourself, please click here.

Mr Nash
Marketing & Communications Officer

Reading and the Arts Festival

This week has seen the resident authors in school talking about their work, showcasing their skills and talent, giving their audiences a real treat as well as providing inspiration for summer reading!

Mr Donaldson spoke to the U3 during Form time on Tuesday morning about writing and publishing his book Rain Town, explaining how he began writing his story on the drive to school each morning, thinking about characters, and developing the plot. Rain Town tells the story of everyman Sydney Rain and his son, Stanley, who live ordinary lives in an ordinary town. Sydney’s life unfortunately begins to unravel and a local entrepreneur takes over the academy Stanley attends; father and son in their different ways decide action is needed. When asked what advice he would give aspiring authors, Mr Donaldson replied that reading is always key! Read more about Rain Town here.

On Thursday morning the Mbawa sisters, Aiyven and Kirsten, spoke to the Year 6 girls in Junior School about writing and publishing their respective books, Land of Nurogens: The Zest for Quest, a fantasy story, and Sagas of Anya, which is historical. The girls’ achievements are particularly impressive given they are in Years 7 and 8 at the moment, and Aiyven 10 years of age when she wrote her book. The girls explained how they went about financing and self-publishing their stories, all of which was complicated by the Covid pandemic. You can find out more about the girls’ endeavours on their website.

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

Sporting Success: Ella D

After Ella’s outstanding results on our recent school Sports Day, she continues to excel in Athletics and participated in the Warwickshire, Hertfordshire, Worcestershire, and Northamptonshire Schools Athletics Competition, held in Nuneaton at the weekend.

Ella raced in the 300m and had a fantastic run, finishing in 1st place. Well done, Ella! We continue to wish you the best of luck for the rest of the season.

Mrs Blake
Director of Sport

U12 Cricket team take on Spratton Hall in first ever fixture!

The U12 Cricket team had our first match ever on Monday 14 June 2021, and we were all very excited to travel to Spratton Hall and represent our school. We worked together before the match to plan our pairs and the order we would bowl and bat in. Spratton won the toss and opted to bowl first so we knew we had to bat well to give them a good target to chase. There was some great batting from Charlotte F and Rose N. We scored 266 and were pleased of our effort and achievement.

Going into the field we knew we would have to play well to keep Spratton from catching our lead. Thanks to great fielding by Charlotte F and an awesome wicket by Izzy S – hitting the stumps from 10 metres away – we knew we were doing well. Rose N bowled well, and Anna C made some good stops in the field. In the end, Spratton scored 286 to beat us by 20 runs but considering they were playing their fourth fixture and it was our first, I think we did really well!

We learnt a lot about batting and fielding. We know we need to communicate more in the field and, when batting, to try and run to get a single run to try and keep the score increasing. Well done to the whole team, I am really proud of how well you all played.

Charlotte D
Team Captain

School Cricket team plays well but falls to narrow defeat against Broughton Manor

On Wednesday 16 June, our Year group played out our third ever Cricket match against Broughton Manor.

We performed well with the bat, scoring a high 273/4, and we also performed admirably in the field. We bowled well, but look forward to improving this over the course of the next few matches. Unfortunately, Broughton scored a very high 282/3, meaning that they just edged us out and secured the victory.

I was delighted to receive the Player of the Match award, but well done to all players for their wonderful contributions.

Frankie B
Team Captain

U4 Open PREP Project: 'Community'

We are delighted to share with you the below work by made by Samiha C, for her U4 Open PREP project on the theme of ‘Community’.

Samira made a wonderful selection of traditional Indian dishes, including samosas, papdi chaat, paneer tikka and rasgulla. As you can see from the pictures, the lucky teachers in the Languages Faculty very much enjoyed the absolutely delicious food – and the fact that we could share it together meant that it created a sense of community for our lunchtime as well!

Well done, Samira!

Mrs Kilby

Book of the Week

Land of the Nurogons: The Zest for Quest by Aiyven Mbawa

How do you to save the world – or two worlds – if you’re just thirteen?

Armed with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, thirteen-year-old Hayden Smith sneaks out of the house to hang out with his best mate, Rodger…only to fall through a mysterious hole  and find himself in the world of Nurogonia.

A world where Hayden learns he’s The Chosen One. Not that his school would accept that as an excuse for missing class for days. Telling them that he was with Nurogons – small, strong and mostly friendly creatures with a weird smile who really need him wouldn’t help either.

And the Nurogons do need his help. Their once magical, beautiful world is now a gloomy, ugly place, where Sosiri wants to rule and make it even worse. Many will die if Sosiri succeeds – and not just in Nurogonia.  Hayden has to go on an epic quest and he won’t be alone. But can four teenagers really stop someone powerful enough to threaten two worlds?

Sagas of Anya by Kirsten Mbawa

What would you do if you had to become a maid at thirteen and work for a nasty housekeeper? After her mother dies, all that twelve-year-old Anya can do is helplessly watch as her once loving father turns to drink.

The next year, her family hits a new low and Anya is forced to travel from Cardiff to London to become a scullery maid at the Tippets House, under the watchful eye and cruel hand of Mrs. Axton, the housekeeper. Spirited and bright, Anya quickly makes new friends…and some bitter enemies too. Accused of something she didn’t do, Anya has to clear her name fast – and yet, she can’t stop thinking about her old life.

Will she ever find a loving family and a place to belong again, or is she condemned to a life of drudgery forever?

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

Medical Notice

Please can we kindly remind parents to administer antihistamine medication before sending their children with hayfever into school.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Mrs Dunkley
School Nurse

Swap Shop

We had been hoping to hold a Swap Shop event on Friday 2 July to allow pupils and parents to purchase items of good quality second-hand uniform.

Due to the continuing Covid restrictions, we are regrettably unable to host this event.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Mrs Wilmot
Director of Marketing & Admissions

Term Dates 20/21

Term Dates 21/22

Term Dates 22/23

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