High News 17 November 2017

It was wonderful to see so many parents, staff, current pupils and recent alumnae at the annual Awards Evening on Friday 10 November. The evening began, as has become tradition, with the leavers from last year gathering for drinks, canapés and a very excitable (and loud) catch up. The school foyer was transformed into a balloon-clad party venue for a short while as everyone shared stories of summer holidays and their first few weeks of university.

The main event was a fitting celebration of the vast array of achievements for the pupils of the High School. Not only are huge quantities of A Level and GCSE certificates given out, but many other prizes too. Book tokens are awarded to pupils in all year groups for achievement and progress in their academic work. These are given alongside certificates for service to both the school and the local community, awards from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and the drama awards from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). We were also pleased to celebrate a range of other academic awards inlcuding the Biology Olympiad, Mathematics Challenges and a whole raft of sporting awards and colours.

Click here to read more.

Mrs O’Doherty

Events and activities

Monday 20 November

U5 Tutorials Monday all week

6.1 Psychology in Action Conference

6.1 EPQ Talk

Tuesday 21 November

U5 A Level Choices talk

English Speaking Unions Debating Competition

World Challenge Launch to Parents

Wednesday 22 November

U5 Mock Exam Procedures Talk

Demeter Charity Cake Sale

U4 – 6.2 Speed Networking Event

Thursday 23 November

U3 Parents Evening

Sports Fixtures

Monday 20 November

CCS Badminton (H) U15 L5

Tuesday 21 November

Kimbolton School, Hockey (H) U15 L5

Wednesday 22 November

Stowe School, Hockey (H) U18A U5 & 6

Winchester House, Hockey (H) U13A L4, U13B L4

Winchester House, Hockey (A) U12A U3, U12B U3

Thursday 23 November

Warwick 50’s, Swimming (A) U12 U3, U13 L4

Bedford Modern, Hockey (H) U15 L5

Friday 24 November

U14/Y9 GDST Hockey Weekend, Bath, Hockey (A) U14 U4

Saturday 25 November

Ratcliffe College, Hockey (A) U15 L5, U13 L4

Ratcliffe College, Hockey, (H) U18B U5 & SF, U12A U3, U12B U3

On Wednesday 15 November, Ujjesa Chaudhary, Azura Lin, Leyna Roy and Ellie White took part in the Northampton heat of the Team Mathematics Challenge.

The regional heat took place at Abbeyfield School in Northampton and eighteen teams of the best Mathematics students from local schools and colleges tackled a series of demanding mathematical challenges for over three hours.  The competition is organised jointly by the Further Mathematics Support Programme and the UK Mathematics Trust and sponsored by Rolls-Royce Plc. The aim of the challenge is to provide a stimulating and enjoyable challenge for 16-19 year-old Mathematics students by focusing on problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills.

At the end of the three rounds of group problem-solving, team cross-number puzzle and mathematical relay race, our team came an impressive 4th – well done girls!

Mrs Harrison

From Monday 6 – Friday 10 November the Geography Department took Year 13 to the Preston Montford Field Studies Centre in Shropshire for the students to complete their four days of compulsory fieldwork.

Over the first two days the students completed a range of physical and human studies to familiarise themselves with different data collection and analytical techniques, including a study of the factors affecting infiltration rates and how people perceived contrasting areas of Shrewsbury in different ways.

The main part of the trip focused on students planning and undertaking their independent investigations, based on a study of their choosing at Telford Town Park. This was a really challenging task, bringing university level Geography into the curriculum as part of the national A Level reforms, but the students rose to the challenge and completed some excellent primary data collection on a diverse range of titles. Topics investigated included ‘insider vs outsider perceptions of Malinslee’ (an encircled community within Telford) and ‘How slope angle affects infiltration rates’.

The trip was very challenging and tiring but the students made excellent progress and are to be congratulated for their perseverance. I would specifically like to thank Miss Kneen, Mrs Scanlan and Mrs Langhorn for their dedication in enabling the trip to be so successful.

Mr Earp

As part of staff outreach we are supporting a number of local charities this year one of which is Re:Store, based here in Northampton. On Tuesday 14 November a group of staff went to dig, weed, lay new paths and prune, to help towards preparing the three allotment plots for next year. The charity donates its produce to the food bank and also provides a safe place for vulnerable people to go and learn how to garden, with many going on to tend their own allotments.

We would like to thank Wendy Nugent and her group of volunteers for making us so welcome and we looking forward to a return visit in the future. If you would like to find out more about the charity and its work please follow the link below.

http://www.restorenorthampton.org.uk/

My thanks go to Mrs Brown, Mrs Harrison and Mrs Li-Lakkappa who gave their time to help such a worthwhile cause.

Mrs Langhorn

Thank you to everyone who bought a poppy. We raised £313.27 for The Royal British Legion.

Mrs Nash

Thank you also to everyone who purchased a Pudsey Cookie and Sweet Bag. We raised £155.70 for Children in Need.

Mrs McCue

Ask an Astronaut by Tim Peake

How does it feel to orbit the earth ten times faster than a speeding bullet? What’s it like to eat, sleep and go to the toilet in space? And where to next – the Moon, Mars or beyond?

Ask an Astronaut is Tim’s personal guide to life in space, based on his historic Principia mission, and the thousands of questions he has been asked since his return to Earth. Accessible, in-depth, and written with his characteristic warmth, Tim shares his thoughts on every aspect of his mission. From training to launch, from his historic spacewalk to re-entry, he reveals for readers of all ages the cutting-edge science behind his ground-breaking experiments, and the wonders of day-to-day life on board the International Space Station.

Miss Buxton

After the excitement of last week our U14 and U15 hockey teams continued with their winning form, both putting in superb performances against Wellingborough School on Saturday and both teams winning 2-0. On Monday, our U16 hockey team fought valiantly at the Regional Zonal Rounds but in the end the opposition were just too strong. We would like to wish our U12 swimming team good luck for the National Finals at the London Aquatic Centre tomorrow.

Mrs Hackett

Hockey

On Monday 13 November the U16 hockey team travelled to Coventry to play in the zonal rounds. After beating Wellingborough and narrowly losing to Oundle a few weeks prior, it meant we qualified for this round.We arrived at the venue and had time for a short and intense warm up to prepare for our first and toughest match of the day against Worcester. It was a challenging match and, although we had a slightly disheartening first half and being down 4-0, we were able to stop this from affecting us, keeping the second half to 0-0. Straight after this match, we played against Bablake. We were playing very well and had a lot of the possession but at half time it was 0-0. In the second half we came back fighting for a goal, but as people began to tire, the opposition managed to slip one past us, so we unfortunately lost 1-0. Our final match was against King Edward School. We were all wanting a win. After playing well, we managed to score a goal; during the same half our opponents managed to score a goal, so it was 1-1 by half time. During the second half everyone played extremely well, however the opposition managed to score another goal within the last few minutes bringing the score line to 2-1. Everyone played incredibly well and the result definitely flattered the other teams. After another years training, we should be ready to win it next year!. I would like to thank the whole team for their grit and determination and make a special mention to Sophie Coombes, Issy Greenslade, Hannah Whitfield and Evie Beale for playing a year up for us.  A special thank you also goes to Evie Beale for scoring our goal. Well done.

Alexa Dykes