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Friday 8 December 2023 |
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Charity fundraising and social action is for life, not just for Christmas Over the past week, we have witnessed the Christmas season being launched with a bang – or perhaps even an explosion – of activity. Our Christmas Fayre kicking off proceedings last Friday (1 December) with a Christmas Market, carols, festive refreshments, Christmas-themed games and activities, Father Christmas in his grotto with reindeer to boot. Three performances of the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Christmas Nativity production wowed audiences this week with songs, acting, dance and narration (and some incredible solos delivered by our youngest children!), bringing festive cheer and seasonal excitement to all. Nursery, Preschool and Reception delighted audiences with their Christmas singing on Wednesday at the Christmas Cafe, taking to the stage and performing their carefully-practised songs – for many their first performance opportunity which demanded much confidence and trust – before engaging with their adult visitors in a range of Christmas Crafts. Christmas Crafts continued on Thursday with a whole Junior School event (Years 1 to 6) after school with the addition of some friends from outside school joining in the fun. Today is our whole school mufti and Christmas Jumper Day, as part of Save the Children’s fundraising for children in the UK and around the world, and next week will see the Junior School Christmas Celebration (Tuesday 12 December), the Christmas Carol Concert (Thursday 14 December), Christmas lunch on Wednesday 13 December, plus a Christmas film afternoon for both Junior and Senior pupils. House Christmas celebrations in Junior School and Senior School House plays will round off the calendar year, with the Celebration Assemblies completing the picture. Of course, there is so much more happening in lessons, breakout areas and clubs – Christmas is definitely on its way! Christmas is a time for celebration, coming together and collaboration; it is also a time of giving of our time as well as gifts. In school, raising awareness and funds for charity is an all year round endeavour, and an essential part of our school ethos – charitable outreach benefits those in need but also our own pupils, fostering social responsibility, and, in turn, supporting and engaging with local, national and international initiatives. While we try to focus on whole school charity initiatives – including Food Bank Collections for the Trussell Trust, Children in Need, the British Legion’s poppy appeal in just the last few weeks – individual fundraising also takes place regularly in school, including sales of baked goods and accessories to raise money for Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, pre-loved clothes, freshly baked cakes and a book sale in aid of the Red Cross’ humanitarian support for Israel and Palestine, amongst other important initiatives. Through these charity initiatives, we all have a heightened sense of how fortunate we are, and learn to reach out to one another, supporting those in need who do not have access to the life chances many of us take for granted. To read the whole piece, please click here. Mrs Wilmot |
The Week Ahead |
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Monday 11 December Wednesday 13 December |
Thursday 14 December Friday 15 December Please click here to view the spring term’s Clubs & Activities list and timetable |
Northampton High's Christmas Fayre 2023 |
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On Friday 1 December, we were delighted to host our second and annual Christmas Fayre for students, families and friends to enjoy. Welcoming guests from across the Junior and Senior School, the evening provided the perfect opportunity to come together whilst raising funds for this year’s chosen charity. We were thrilled to commence the evening with a series of Christmas carols, sung beautifully by our Senior School choir led by Mr Nathan and Mr Campling. The atmosphere was buzzing from the moment doors opened, with tuneful sounds spilling into the Theatre Entrance to greet arriving families. Dr Lee opened the event with a wonderful speech, encouraging guests to enjoy the evening and all the activities taking place throughout the night. This Christmas, Northampton High is exceptionally proud to be supporting the Hope Centre, and we were delighted to welcome Tanya Haji-Miller, Hope’s Community and Events Fundraiser, to join us for the evening. She explained how the charity delivers vital services to support those experiencing problems of disadvantage and marginalisation, and how our fundraising efforts will support their work. The evening saw the opening of our fabulous Christmas Market to families and friends, following an extremely successful lunchtime opening for our students. It was wonderful to watch our stall holders navigate the crowds of buyers and receive compliments on their stock of homemade goods. The stalls consisted of wonderful items – including knits, bakes, jewellery, artwork and more – all of which were popular with visitors. Staff and parents also had the opportunity to host stalls and it was fantastic to see many members of our school community involved. Our bottle tombola, Christmas raffle and silent auction were all incredibly popular on the night, with nearly all attendees staking a claim for a prize! Our raffle was kindly supported by donations from local businesses who generously sent vouchers and gifts to help our fundraising efforts. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this portion of the event and congratulate those who won a prize. Festive refreshments in the Dining Hall were well received by many, with our luxury hot chocolate and mulled wine being particular favourites! Guests passed from the Senior Hall to the Junior Hall, where festive party games were in full swing for our smaller children. The space was filled with excitement and joy, and pupils were delighted to win prizes and treats at this attraction. In true Christmas spirit, Santa had graciously accepted an invitation to our Fayre, managing to squeeze a visit to Northampton High into his very busy schedule! We were thrilled to welcome him into school and were overjoyed to have his elves and reindeer accompany him. Undeniably, Santa’s Grotto was one of the highlights of the night for our younger children, and the arrival of his reindeer made a magical addition to the festivities! We would like to thank our devoted school community for joining us at this special event and bringing the festive cheer! Your participation in this year’s attractions have raised an incredible £2447.16 for the Northampton Hope Centre and we couldn’t be more proud of this achievement. We hope you had a wonderful time at our Christmas Fayre and we look forward to seeing you there next year! Miss Price |
Chemis-tree Christmas Spectacular returns to Northampton High School |
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We were delighted to see the return of our Chemis-tree Christmas Spectacular this Wednesday! Hosted by Mrs Hodgetts-Tate and the Science Faculty, children from across the Junior and Senior School were treated to a fabulous show featuring a number of exciting experiments! Each year, our popular Chemistry show follows a theme, with the focus this year being ‘Guess the Movie’. Students were delighted to gather in the Senior Hall to watch a series of thrilling experiments based on films such as ‘Up’, ‘Lightyear’ and ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’! It was fantastic to have this Christmas tradition return to Northampton High for our school community to enjoy. A huge thank you to our Science Faculty for their hard work in preparing the show and their energy on the night. We hope all who attended had a wonderful time! Miss Price |
Merry Christmas from Year 7 - A message to parents |
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The academic year starting September 2023 has marked a significant stepping stone in the growth of your daughter, both academically and socially, and it has been my pleasure to be a part of this very special journey. Watching your daughters become more independent in their learning, working collaboratively to achieve their goals, showing curiosity in both academic and extracurricular subjects, taking calculated risks and learning to persevere when things take a little longer to grasp is what makes my job the best job in the world! I would like to take this opportunity to thank your daughters for the positive contributions they have made to all areas of school life and for your continued support, ensuring that we all work as a team to help your daughter achieve her dreams and aspirations. We look forward to welcoming you into school for our next Parent Coffee Morning in January, followed by our Year 7 Parents Evening in February, where you will have the opportunity to discuss your daughter’s achievements in all her subject areas. Wishing you all a fun filled Christmas. Mrs Fordham |
Fun on St. Nikolaus Day at Northampton High! |
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Children in German speaking countries get very excited on 6 December as they celebrate St. Nikolaus Day. In honour of this wonderful tradition, a group of enthusiastic Senior School students made their way to Junior School to teach Year 5 and 6 about this much-loved festival. Maya G, Aiyven M and Tobi O prepared an assembly speaking about St. Nikolaus Day and Christmas traditions in German speaking countries. Junior School students then had to put their knowledge to the test in a quiz. The following day, our wonderful Year 6 students got creative as Lexi C, Jasmine W, Inaaya A, Atmaja T, Ruby S, Millie C and Shreya P demonstrated how to make origami St. Nikolaus. By the end of the session, everyone got to have their own St. Nikolaus. Happy St. Nikolaus Day! Frau Doerpinghaus |
Amélie showcases exceptional skill at the UK Cube Association (UKCA) event |
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Amélie C in Year 7 has recently taken part in the UK Cube Association (UKCA) event in November 2023, in Stevenage. The event brought 200 speed cubers of all ages from across Europe and the UK. Amélie took part in 7 speed events; the 2x2x2, 3x3x3, 4x4x4, 5x5x5, 7x7x7, the Skewb and the one-handed 3x3x3. In her first ever event, Amélie made it to the second rounds of 3 events and took part in one final! |
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Her best performance on the day was a ranking of 28th in the Skewb and 33rd in the 2x2x2, just missing out on a place in the final. More remarkable was that as a result of her performance, Amélie now holds the record for the 10th fastest single solve ever of the Skewb by a UK female with a time of 4.35 seconds, and also has the record for the 15th fastest 2x2x2 single solve ever for a UK female with a time of 2.61 seconds! We are hugely proud of Amélie and her achievements and wish her all the best in future contests. We very much hope to be able to run some taster sessions for other pupils to learn how to solve the Rubik’s cube in the new year. Mr Rickman |
Northampton High supports the Rotary Shoebox Scheme |
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Recently, our fantastic Femsock team organised a collection for the Rotary Shoebox Scheme, a not-for-profit charity that aims to spread a little happiness to disadvantaged children and adults in Eastern Europe. The group gathered at break time on Thursday to collect the boxes and send them on their way to be donated. Through the combined efforts of our school community, Northampton High is proudly sending 71 shoe boxes to be distributed to babies, children, teenagers and households in need of support. A huge well done must go to our Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils, who have generously donated clothes, games, toys, toiletries, stationery and more to fill the boxes and help those in the receiving countries. Thank you to Femsock and Ms Eldridge for arranging this fundraising event and supporting a deserving cause! Miss Price |
Classical Success! |
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Many congratulations to six Year 7 students, who reached the finals of the national myth competition of the Cambridge Schools Classics Project! Teshvi G, Sami M and Ruby S entered the creative writing category with a really entertaining piece telling the myth of Pandora’s Box from different characters’ perspectives, whilst Evelyn H, Maisie T and Jessica U entered the performance category with a fantastic dance portraying the myth of King Midas. Their entries can be seen in the gallery on the competition website. At the online national final, we enjoyed a myth quiz before the results were announced. The competition was very strong, with entries from almost 40 schools around the UK, so we were delighted when we found out that Evelyn, Maisie and Jessica won Highly Commended in the performance section. We really enjoyed the experience and congratulations to all the girls on their great achievement! Miss Kilby |
GCSE Food students visit Borough Market |
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On Tuesday 5 December, the GCSE Food students travelled to Borough Market. We had lots of fun on the bus getting ready for the exciting day with some group singing. It was a great day of shopping, eating lots of delicious food and looking around the stalls discovering food from around the world. We then went to ‘Bread Ahead’ bakery, and took part in a Scandinavian baking class; we made cinnamon rolls and rye crispbread and revised the theory of bread making. As a snack, we had apple juice and brownies provided by the wonderful bakers at Bread Ahead. Overall, we had a brilliant day and made lots of good memories. Holly |
U14 Hockey Weekend in Newcastle |
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Our annual trip to Newcastle for the U14 Hockey Weekend was a great success again this year. We played some magnificent hockey and found the competition to be the closest we’ve ever played, with many games ending up as 0-0 draws. After the first two days of competition, we played in the Plate on the final day. Drawing all of our games, we finished in joint first place with Newcastle and Sutton High. I hope you enjoy reading the account below written by Natalie, the U14 team captain. Well done to the entire squad for a brilliant tour! Mrs Blake I would like to start off by congratulating everyone who took part in the U14 Hockey Weekend – I am glad to say that everybody gave it their all! Day 1 – Thursday 23 November With an early 4am start for most of us and a prompt 5:15am meet at school, everyone was equipped with dry robes and blankets for the long 6 hour journey. We arrived at Newcastle High School to play our first match at 1:30pm. Our first game was against Blackheath, and with the previous game only finishing 5 minutes before there was little time to warm up. Everyone was quite sleep deprived, however we were motivated to play and in the first half we were 2-1 up, conceding an unlucky bottom left shot to a short corner. The second half came around and we all remained positive, scoring another 3 goals and finishing with a score of 5-1. Our second game was against Streatham and Clapham High School immediately after. We were slightly tired from our efforts in the first game, and despite playing well we unfortunately conceded another goal to a short corner at the end of the first half. Even though we were 1-0 down we kept our motivation up. We all defended well and finished the game 1-0. Special mention to Lily and Ellie for their amazing goals and to Lucy for dropping back and defending whenever we were out of possession. Day 2 – Friday 24 November After a necessary good night’s sleep, we returned to the pitch to play our next two games. A very cold start against Notting Hill and Ealing meant that we started off quite weak. We became stronger over time, but conceded another unlucky goal finishing 0-1 down. Our second game of the day was against Newcastle High School, and the atmosphere was amazing as the sun was setting. We won pushback and started off well. This was an incredibly tough game, pushing our defence to work hard, but everyone worked incredibly well to help us come away with a 0-0 draw. A special mention to the gingerbread man ornament and Myá for her incredible performance on her birthday! I would also like to thank both defenders, Lyra and Isla for their excellent performances during our difficult games. In the afternoon, we ventured into the city centre to visit Newcastle’s Christmas markets and get some lunch. Day 3 – Saturday 25 November We had an earlier start than we wanted for a Saturday, but after packing up and getting into the minibus, we arrived at Newcastle High School for our final games. Both games were shortened due to one of the pitches being frozen. We played very defensively against Newcastle and Sutton to come away with two 0-0 draws, meaning that we were supposed to go to shuffles. To avoid causing hard feelings the coaches decided against this, but we decided to do the shuffles anyway for fun; conceding none and scoring two! Congratulations once again to the entire squad for a fantastic weekend – amazing performances were on display from everyone! Natalie S |
High Sports |
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U13B Hockey vs Bedford Modern: On Monday 27 November, the U13B team played against Bedford Modern, where the team tried to put into practice the skills we had been taught in training and PE lessons. We did well passing and chasing the ball, as well as using the space. We did not have the chance to score in this match and were unfortunate to lose, however, all our players tried their very best and worked hard. Well done! Isabella M U13A Hockey vs Magdalen: The U13A team had an away game against Magdalen College on Monday 4 December. Emily F, Mollie, Emilly S and I enjoyed some good runs down the wings. Olivia scored an amazing nine goals, and me and Ellie scored one goal a piece resulting in an 11-1 win! Esme and Ellie made some very good tackles in defence too to help the team to victory. Emily F was awarded Player of the Match, and the whole team played amazingly and have improved so much since the start of term! Well done everyone! Mrs Blake |
Preparing for Annie - Wool required! |
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As we reflect on a fabulous production of The Wizard of Oz in the 2023 summer term, we look ahead to next year’s school musical – Annie! Preparations are already starting for our 2024 production, and it was wonderful to hear from Miss Lycett, Mr Laubscher and our recent cast about the ways students can get involved. Each department in the Creative Arts Faculty plays their role to ensure performances, costumes, set and lighting come together to form a fantastic show. From leading cast members and backstage managers to costume designers, ensemble and much more – there really is a role for everyone! This year, our knitting club is also getting involved in the preparations by helping with costumes. The extracurricular club, led by Mrs Vizor, meets every Monday lunchtime for a dedicated knitting session, and have decided to focus their efforts on helping with the school musical. This means the group requires lots of wool, and are kindly asking for your help. If you have any spare, chunky wool in warm and neutral colours that you are able to donate, we would really appreciate your support. Please email a.vizor@nhs.gdst.net for more information. Thanks for your continued support. We look forward to welcoming you to the show in the summer! Mrs Marriott |
Creative Arts Spotlight |
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This week, the Creative Arts Spotlight shines onto Year 7, who have continued to focus on developing their Ukulele skills. Students can now use chord boxes and play melodies using simple TAB, and this has enabled us to develop an ensemble, with small groups playing a melody with accompaniment of a chord sequence. We have enjoyed learning some festive music including ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Jingle Bells’. Pictured above you can see a group working on developing ensemble skills as they rehearse’ Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’, playing the melody and a chordal accompaniment – there may also have been a little festive singing…! Well done Year 7! Miss Smith |
Classical Art Competition |
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Calling all students in Year 9 to Year 13 – this is your chance to enter a national classical art competition and win cash prizes! This year’s theme is ‘Time and Memory in the Ancient World’. You can enter by creating a painting, drawing, photo, photography series or sculpture – you could explore sundials in the ancient world or take a more abstract approach to time/memory, it’s completely up to you to represent your idea in a creative and exciting way! The deadline for your entry is Wednesday 20 December, and you will also need to submit a short piece of text (500 words or less). Imagine your piece is being exhibited in a gallery and write a description of your work, which explains its link to the theme, to be displayed alongside it. Please read the guidelines carefully, including information on how to enter here. Good luck and have fun! Miss Kilby |
Book Review |
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Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell –Waterstones Book of the Year 2023 Christopher is stunned when he discovers a passage to the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands. There he meets Mal, a girl from the islands, who is in possession of a flying coat and a baby griffin, and who is being pursued by a killer. Together they embark on an urgent quest |
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to discover why the creatures are suddenly perishing, voyaging across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, in a bid to save both the islands and the world beyond them from a rising evil – before it’s too late. You can purchase this book through the Northampton High bookshop by clicking here. Miss Buxton |
World Challenge Fundraiser - Movie Night! |
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In July 2024,15 Northampton High School A Level students will be participating in The World Challenge project. We will be going on a two week expedition to Vietnam, where we will be volunteering and trekking as well as learning many new skills and engaging in new experiences. To support this expedition, the World Challenge team will be holding a Christmas movie night on Wednesday 13 December in the Senior Hall, showing the animated film ‘Grinch’ (2018). The tickets for this event will be £4.50, and are available to purchase here. Food and drinks, including popcorn, sweets and more, will be available for Senior students to purchase on the night. Please be aware that we can only take card payments. The film will start at 3.55pm and finish at 5.20pm, and the late bus will still be available for those who require it. All ticket purchases are greatly appreciated, and we look forward to seeing you next Wednesday! The World Challenge Team |
School Pictures - Christmas Order Deadline |
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Following Pret-a-Portrait’s visit this term to take student’s annual school photograph, they have announced their Christmas Order Deadlines. Please click here to view the deadlines for each product. If you have not yet placed your order and would like to, please head to their website (www.pret-a-portrait.net) and enter your sitting ID. If you’ve misplaced your sitting ID, please contact Pret-a-Portrait directly on 0800 021 7626 or customerservice@pret-a-portrait.net and they will happily assist. The Pret-a-Portrait Team |
SchoolBlazer - January Flash Sale |
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Following the recent, well received sale event, SchoolBlazer have decided to run a second ‘Flash Sale’ event in January, running from Thursday 4 – Friday 5 January 2024. There will be up to 1/3rd off selected in-stock items at schoolblazer.com during the sale period, while stocks last. If you have any queries about this, please feel free to contact SchoolBlazer directly at marketing@schoolblazer.com. Many thanks for your support! The SchoolBlazer Team |
Diversity and Inclusion Calendar 23/24: December |
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Northampton High School - Where girls learn without limits |
Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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