High News 12 January 2018

Events and activities

Monday 15 January

13+ Entrance Assessment day

Tuesday 16 January

GCSE Years information evening

Wednesday 17 January

Senior School Swap Shop

Thursday 18 January

Whole School Production Rehearsal (Weekly Event)

Saturday 20 January

Duke of Edinburgh Training Day L5-6.1

Sports Fixtures

Tuesday 16 January

Wellingborough School, Netball (H), U14 U4, U15 L5

Schools Cross Country, (A) U12 U3, U13 L4

Wednesday 17 January

Bilton Grange School, Netball (H) U13A L4,U13B L4, U13C L4

Thursday 18 January

Wellingborough School, Netball, (A) U18A 6th Form, U18B 6th Form

Saturday 20 January

County Cross Country, (A) U12 U3, U13 L4, U14 U4, U16 U5

Akeley Wood School, Netball, (H) U18 6th Form, U14 U4, U13A L4, U13B L4, U12A U3, U12B U3

You will be aware, from previous communication, that the recent rebrand process, will involve some changes to the school uniform. Full details of the specifications and exact items will be available to parents by the end of this term but, for now, I thought it would be useful to give you an overview of the changes so you can plan ahead, should your daughter be needing new uniform over the coming two terms in particular.

Senior School Uniform

In September 2017, we added a long-sleeved jumper as an alternative option to the sleeveless one. This will continue to be part of the uniform going forward as it has proved popular with pupils. Pupils may wear either one of the jumpers.

From September 2018, we will have a new blazer available. This will be the same design as the current one, but with the new school crest on the lapel.

We are also offering trousers as an alternative to skirts as part of the uniform. The design of the trousers has been trialled and tested across many schools, including those within the GDST and has proved to be very popular. The trousers will be available from School Blazer and are the only style permitted.

Other than this, the main school uniform in senior school will remain the same.

School Sports Kit

All items of sports kit that currently carry a school logo will be replaced from September 2018 with items with the new crest on them.

We have also taken the opportunity to update some parts of the sports kit that we felt needed to better reflect modern young women’s fitness wear. This will include a soft shell jacket instead of the current tracksuit top and running shorts instead of the PE shorts. In addition, making use of some of the new colours in our house style, some items will be navy with cobalt as a contrast colour. We have carefully checked the pricing of the new items which are, in the case of all but one item, the same as current prices.

Again full details of these items will be available later this term.

We naturally do not want any of these items to bear a cost implication for parents unnecessarily and therefore I want to emphasise that the items with new branding are only compulsory from September 2018 for new pupils to the Senior School. All other pupils can replace the old items with new only when there is a need.

Pupils in the current L5 only

Your daughter will only have one more year of wearing school uniform and therefore we appreciate that if she has grown out of her blazer you may want to look to the swap shop for one to last her final year. The swap shop will be in school on Wednesday 17th January and will be in school later in the year should you wish to look at this option.
Should you have any questions about the new uniform, please do contact me a.odoherty@nhs.gdst.net.

Mrs O’Doherty, Deputy Head (Pastoral Care and Guidance)

The next Senior School Swap Shop will be held on Wednesday 17 January.

The Senior School Swap Shop is run on a voluntary basis by Senior School parents and sells good quality second hand uniform to Senior School girls.

It opens once every term, usually during the first full school week from 1.00pm-2.15pm.

Girls can purchase items from the shop during their lunch break and parents are also welcome to come along.

Payments can be made by cash or cheque (sorry, no cards) and returns are only possible on the day. Items of uniform cannot be held without payment.

The Selling Process

Should you wish to sell any items of uniform, Swap Shop tags can be obtained through Senior School reception and filled out accordingly. We price the items and 20% of the item goes to the Senior School fund, which in turn is donated to the Senior School. The remaining proceeds are paid back to the parent.

Should you have any items of uniform for the Swap Shop, please bring them into School (Senior School reception) on the day of the Swap Shop.

Please make sure that if you are new to using Swap Shop, that you also attach your name and address (on a separate piece of paper) to the item of uniform so that we know where to send the cheque.

Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Senior School reception team who can forward a message to us.

Nicola Mitchell and Shelia Mellish

On Monday 8th January, students studying textiles at GCSE and A-Level, visited the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London. The visit was to allow general research as well as taking the opportunity to visit the Cristóbal Balenciaga exhibition. Within the main gallery at the V&A, there are a wide variety of exhibits ranging from ‘Europe’ to ‘Materials and Techniques’. These contain a selection of inspirational paintings, sculptures, costumes and jewellery, there were many displays to visit and appreciate. The Balenciaga exhibition is an incredible show of the famous fashion designer’s work and is only at the V&A for a limited time. It included the history of his fashion house and design process. The exhibition also featured a second floor of modern designers who have been heavily influenced by Balenciaga’s use of shape and form. Towards the end of our visit we had the opportunity to visit the shop to purchase materials such as postcards and reading materials to include as part of our exam work. Overall, we had an amazing, inspirational trip, and all learnt a lot from our visit to such a historic place.

Sadie Lauder

Northampton High School will be hosting an all-girls GoCode Tech Camp during the February half term to teach pupils about coding.

GoCode Academy was founded with the mission to inspire the next generation of coders by giving them the computational skills and programming knowledge needed in the digital era, where technology skills are highly in demand.

The unique and award winning camp is hosted by highly experience instructors, who focus on making sure that every minute of our sessions are fun and engaging.

The course covers Scratch, Python, BBC micro:bit, Startup Hackathon, Sphero, robotics, website design, app design and drone science.

Coding isn’t just a skill that adds a means to an end. It aids and nurtures critical thinking, problem solving as well as collaboration with others.

The tech camp will be running  from the 12th to 16th February from 10:00 am – 4:00pm. The courses are designed for children aged 6 to 11 (Scratch) and aged 12 and over (Python).

For further information and to reserve your place, please book online.

Let’s get coding!

The Senior School Charity Quiz Fundraiser event has been rearranged and will now be held on 9th March 2018. The event will begin at 7.00pm, hosted in the Senior School hall. Tickets will cost £10 per adult and £6 for students.

To enter as a team you will need a maximum of 8 people per table. The entry fee will include pizza and hot dogs during the interval, and a Peroni beer or canned drink of your choice. On the night, there will be a raffle taking place and a licensed bar.

All of the funds raised from the evening will go towards the whole School charity, Plan International UK: Because I am a girl.

Plan International UK is a children’s charity that strives to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world. 58 million girls have been reached through their global ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign and 93,000 children in 50 countries are currently being sponsored through Plan International UK. As a school we are currently sponsoring Monique Boni Dassogui, a 12 year old girl from Benin, West Africa. Our sponsorship has enabled Monique to attend a primary school which takes her less than 30 minutes to reach. As a result of our sponsorship, we have not only benefited the life of Monique, but also the area of PU Nord by investing in projects for the whole community that include:

• Provision of medicines and supplies
• Activities to raise awareness on the health of children below 5 years of age
• Training for adolescents on reproductive health
• Provision of play and arts materials for schools
• Capacity building and support to women’s self-help groups

To place an order for the tickets, please email b.saunders@nhs.gdst.net. We look forward to seeing you there.

Bethany Saunders, Head Girl Team

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed . . .

On an autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman knocks at the door of a grand house in the wealthiest quarter of Amsterdam. She has come from the country to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt, but instead she is met by his sharp-tongued sister, Marin. Only later does Johannes appear and present her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in unexpected ways . . .

Nella is at first mystified by the closed world of the Brandt household, but as she uncovers its secrets she realises the escalating dangers that await them all. Does the miniaturist hold their fate in her hands? And will she be the key to their salvation or the architect of their downfall?

Miss Buxton, Librarian

We have been delighted to welcome so many girls to our range of sports clubs this week, and we would like to wish all 10 teams playing matches tomorrow against King Henry good luck in our first matches of the season.

Mrs Hackett, Director of Sport