High News 15 June 2018

Monday 18 June
6.1 Biology Residential
Summer Steam Extravaganza

Tuesday 19 June
6.1 Biology Residential
Summer Stream Extravaganza
Social Enterprise Choc Ice Sale

Wednesday 20 June
6.1 Biology Residential
L5 Classics Trip to Oxford

Thursday 21 June
6.1 Biology Residential
U11 Rally
L5 Exam Talk in Wake Studio
Whole School Production Technical Rehearsal

Friday 22 June
Junior School Outdoor Learning Day
Sixth Form Induction Day
Cake Sale for Willen Hospice

Monday 18 June
U13 Cricket v Oundle (A) 

Tuesday 19 June
U10/U11/U12/U13 GDST Golf Rally (A)

Wednesday 20 June
U11 Cricket v Spratton (H)

Thursday 21 June
U11 GDST Junior Cricket & Tennis Rally (H)

Friday 22 June
U14 Cricket Rally (A)

On Thursday 7 June, four Year 8 students travelled to Leicester University to take part in the Salters’ Institute Festival of Chemistry. We contended against 15 other schools in two competitions, the Salters’ Challenge and the University Challenge. In the afternoon we watched a fascinating lecture on Chemical Magic by Dr Cory Evans.

In the morning we did the Salters’ Challenge. First, we split into pairs in our schools and we did forensic science. We did testing powders, testing the pH of liquids and chromatography. We decoded a page of information which was written in the periodic table like ‘CaOB’ stood for ‘the’. We all had a lot of fun.

In the afternoon we did the University Challenge. We had three chemicals, barium chloride, copper carbonate and sulphuric acid, with these we had to make a variety of substances. For example, a black powder, white solid and a blue liquid. After making them we had to explain how we had made them and what chemical reaction we thought had happened. We all enjoyed the ability to experiment without set instructions and try our own things.

After we had done the University Challenge, we headed downstairs to the lecture theatre where we were given a very fun lecture which involved lots of explosions and freezing flowers with liquid nitrogen. It was interesting, interactive and we also learnt about some of the science that was going on behind the reactions as well. Afterwards we had the prize giving. All the schools were given prizes for participating in the festival. Then the prizes for the Salters’ and University Challenges were given out. We all crossed our fingers and hoped that we might win one of them. Luckily, we came first in the Salters’ Challenge which none of us expected. Overall the trip was really, really fun and I would recommend it to any aspiring chemist.

Dr Carr, Teacher of Chemistry

Femsock raised awareness of the serious issue of period poverty in the UK, starting with an informative assembly which included testimony from young women who are affected by the struggle to afford sanitary products. Two large tubs for collecting donations of sanitary products have been filled all week and will be donated to local women’s refuge, Eve. A cake sale and 50p red nail varnishing will also be added to the fantastic fundraising response.

Ms Robinson and Ms Heimfeld, Femsock Team

As part of our School’s 140^th birthday celebrations this year, we are delighted to be hosting an Arts Festival week, from Wednesday 27 June to Saturday 30 June 2018.

We have a varied programme of events to show case the School’s extensive array of performing and creative arts. Please do save the dates and join us for some or all of the events.  Families, friends and neighbours are most welcome to come along too – so please do extend the invitation.

Please click here to view the programme of events.

Mrs Beacroft, Head of Arts Faculty

The South Africa tour group 50-50 draw will now take place on the 3 July at the Gymnastics and Dance Extravaganza.

There is still time to buy tickets (£10 per number) so please contact the PE department if you would like to buy one!

Mrs Ford, Teacher of PE

Exciting times as refurbishment of the swimming started this week. Step one was to drain the pool which took 3 days to complete as the water had to be treated to remove chemicals before it could be drained away.

The refurbished pool will be handed back to the school at the start of the Autumn Term, coinciding with the start of the new Swim School and ready for curriculum swimming lessons to begin.

Mrs Headley, Director of Finance and Operations 

Would you like to design the roof of a MINI?  Would you like to see your design actually realised and for your family to have use of the car for a whole week?

The deadline for the ‘Design a MINI Roof’ competition, in conjunction with Wollaston Mini, is fast approaching, with all entries needing to be handed into Junior or Senior School Reception by Monday 18 June.

All you need to do is create a design for a roof of a MINI and hand this in with the entry fee of £2. The competition entries will be reviewed by BMW Wollaston and the winner will be announced on Saturday 30 June at our Family Fun Day.

This is an amazing opportunity and one not to be missed!

Mr Urquhart, Head of Junior School

Don’t forget to bring your friends and family along to our Family Fun Day and Dog Show on Saturday 30 June, 1pm to 4pm.

There will be lots of activities for all the family, a tea room, refreshments and stalls as well as a family dog show on the field.

It promises to be lots of fun so please come along and join in!

The FoNHS Team

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows – recommended for U4 and above

It’s 1946. The war is over, and Juliet Ashton has writer’s block. But when she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey – a total stranger living halfway across the Channel, who has come across her name written in a second hand book – she enters into a correspondence with him, and in time with all the members of the extraordinary Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Through their letters, the society tell Juliet about life on the island, their love of books – and the long shadow cast by their time living under German occupation. Drawn into their irresistible world, Juliet sets sail for the island, changing her life forever.

Miss Buxton, School Librarian

What a busy week in sport! The highlight has to be the performances of our athletes both at the county championships last Saturday and at the GDST Rally in Bath on Monday. Our teams were exceptional.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish Georgie Forde-Wells and Amelia Tutt good luck for tomorrow when they compete at the Masons Trophy in Birmingham representing Northamptonshire. In addition to this, Leah Tanna-Shah is currently performing in Dundee at the International Karate meet and we are sending her good luck for her long weekend of competition.

Mrs Hackett, Director of Sport

Cricket

On Tuesday 12 June, the U15 cricket team played their first match of the season against Thornton College. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the game was cut short and each pair only played one over instead of two. However this did not faze us and we won the toss and chose to bat first.

Although each pair were in for a short time, this did not stop us hitting well, scoring 214 runs in total. Excellent batting came from Hannah Whitfield and Georgie Forde-Wells. Then we started to field. In the first over Jaisie Burnett bowled excellently taking 2 wickets. Also bowling well was Gemma Urquhart, who took 2 wickets. Hemali Shah and Ellen Keys were good in the field, with Ellen catching a difficult ball when being wicket keeper.

Overall we played well and Thornton scored 206 meaning that we won by 8 runs. This game has improved our cricket skills and communication, and we will continue to make these better throughout the rest of the season.

Hemali, U15 Cricket Captain

Swimming

On Saturday 9 June, 5 girls travelled to the Olympic Park, specifically the Aquatic Centre to compete in the National Finals of the IAPS Swimming. The team were very excited and keen to get going. The warm up was hectic but exciting, swimming in the same pool that the Olympics was held in in 2012. When the heats started it was with the relays so the team of Anna Johnson, Ellie Chinnock, Phoebe Haynes and Rebecca Lowe competed in the Free and Medley races. They improved on their qualifying places and finished 6^th in the Medley and 4^th in the Freestyle. A fantastic achievement with great times in both.

The individual races followed and we had Anna Johnson in U13 back, Phoebe Haynes in the fly and Rebecca Lowe in the free and Hannah Davies in the U12 fly. Everyone swam well against the best swimmers in the country with Phoebe Haynes qualifying for the final of the U13 fly and placing 6^th. Anna finished 16^th, Hannah finished 14^th and Rebecca finished 12^th.

The girls had a great day and enjoyed the experience of swimming in such an amazing venue.

Miss Fraser, Teacher of P.E

Athletics

It’s been a busy few weeks for Athletics, and we attended the U13 and U14  District Athletics this on 9 June. There were some great performances by the teams who attended!

In the U13 category, most notable mentions go to Phoebe Haynes who won 1500m and Bella Spokes who won the shot putt. Anjola Ogunsola came second in the discus.

All of these girls have qualified to represent the District at the next round to be held on Monday 2 July at Corby. Well done girls!

In the U14 category, fantastic performances from Emilia Thompson, who came first in the 1500m with a time of 5.42 and Lilli Trimble who came first in the javelin with 25.03. Eloise Harvey came second in the long jump with 4.04m and Katie Harrison places third in the 100m. Super achievements!

Both teams came 6^th overall out of 12 teams attending which is very respectable indeed.

Mrs Littlewood, Teacher of P.E

GDST Rally – 11 June

L4 Team Report: The L4 team did really well in their individual events as well as being great supporters for their teammates. The team consisted of Katie Harrison, Jessica Picot, Eloise Harvey, Ruby Palmer, Lilli Trimble, Becca Lowe, Milly Thompson and Jane Ampiah.

Katie Harrison competed in the 1st heat of the year 8’s and came an outstanding 3rd place with a time of 14.1 seconds. Her heat performance landed her in the final as she qualified joint 5th fastest, she ran a fierce race against many fast girls and she came 6th overall. Jessica Picot competed in Shot Put and threw a great distance. Eloise Harvey competed in Long Jump and 200m. In Long Jump she came an amazing 5th and jumped a distance of 4.03m, which is very close to her personal best. Ruby Palmer competed in High Jump and jumped a height of 1.2m but unfortunately used her 7 jumps as she could have gone higher. Lilli Trimble competed in Javelin and threw 19.41m which wasn’t her best but still a very good throw. Rebecca Lowe competed in the 800m where she kept a steady pace but unfortunately came 12th out of 18 which was a very good effort. Milly Thompson competed in the 1500m which was a very tough, long race and came 8th overall with a time of 5.51 minutes. Jane Ampiah competed in the hurdles and came 5th with a time of 18. Last but not least was the relay, where Milly, Lilli, Eloise and Jane competed, and came 4th in their heat.

Overall the L4 team did really well and had a great day, and we thank the teachers very much for taking us all the way to bath.

Team Position: 14/18

Katie, L4S

U4 Team Report: Despite the heat, everyone in the U4 team did really well. Notable performances came from Radhika Pandya who had a close miss of third in long jump, Anika Lal who came fourth in discuss and Isabelle Kaspruk who got through to the final and came fourth in 100m sprint. Finally, Lucy Shepherd came joint third in hurdles and second in the 200m.

Our relay team was made up of Isabelle, Anika, Radhika and Lucy. The relay team did really well and got through to the final and placed fourth. Well done to the other members of the U4 team, including Matty Neuhoff, Hannah Gibson, Lily Roberts and Ishma Zafar.

Team Position: 5/18

Lucy, U4S

L5 Team Report: The L5 team put in a fantastic showing, with a number of impressive performances on display.

Georgie Forde-Wells came 1st in the high jump with an impressive height, and PB, of 1.60m. Amelia Tutt came 1st in her heat for hurdles but 2nd overall, but also won the shot putt with a distance of 8.22m. Olivia Foster did very well coming 4th in the discus, with Anna Sigobodhla coming 3rd in the 100m and 5th in the 200m. Jaisie Burnett took part in the javelin with 18.20m and came 6th in the 800m, facing very tough competition. Chloe Mercer came 7th in the 1500m, with Alicia Breuer coming 4th in the long jump with a big distance of 3.94m.

Ellen Keys did incredibly well coming 4th in the 300m and also was part of the relay team (1st leg) along with Georgie Ford-Wells (2nd leg), Anna Sigobodhla (3rd leg) and Amelia Tutt (last leg). They all did very well getting into the relay final and fortunately for us, Bath’s relay team got disqualified so, by default, our team came 1st out of all the GDST relay teams! It was a very successful and hot day in bath and we’re very proud of all the girls.

Team Position: 5/18

Amelia, L5S

Don’t forget to secure your places for September for our Swimming School.

As a joint venture between Northampton High and Northampton Swimming Club, we will be offering swimming lessons in our pool for all levels, which, where appropriate, will then feed into the Northampton Swimming Club coaching programme.

Lessons will run from Tuesday to Friday from 3.45 – 5.15 pm and will be split into three 30-minute sessions daily. Lessons will also run on a Saturday morning. Northampton Swimming Club will employ all swimming teachers, and they will all be qualified to the ASA swimming teacher requirements.

If you are interested in booking a place for your daughter or would like more information, please call 01604 622264 or email coach.smith@northamptonswimming.com.

As you are no doubt aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect today (Friday 25 May).

At Northampton High School, and across the GDST, we use information to promote the welfare of our students, help every student fulfil her potential, and manage the School effectively.

To explain what data we collect and what we use it for, we have updated our privacy notice which you can see by clicking here. If you have any questions, please contact Jon Vogel, the GDST’s Information Security and Governance Manager, at dpo@wes.gdst.net.

We also want to remind you that, if you have given consent for your daughter’s photograph to be used in school promotional material and on the school and GDST websites and social media platforms, you or your daughter can withdraw that consent at any time by simply contacting the school office by email at nhsadmin@nhs.gdst.net.