High News 20 April 2018

Monday 23 April – Friday 27 April

A Level French, German and Spanish Oral Exams

Monday 23 April

iGCSE German Oral Exam

Tuesday 24 April

Junior School Art & Design Taster Day

Wednesday 25 April

Senior School Swap Shop
L5N Charity Fundraising Event
CERN Trip Information Evening

Thursday 26 April

GCSE Art Exams
L5 Trip to Oxford Natural History Museum
U3 and L3 Junior Maths Challenge
Whole School Production Rehearsal
Junior School Summer Concert

Friday 27 April

GCSE Art Exams
KS3 PSHEE
U3 French visit to Care Home

Saturday 28 April – Sunday 29 April

Silver Duke of Edinburgh Practice Expedition

Sports Fixtures

Tuesday 24 April 2018

IN2 Hockey Regional Finals (A), 13 A

Over Easter I spent two weeks in London with the National Youth Film Academy. Their introductory course brought together young, like-minded people from the age of 16-25 to make a short film in two weeks. I gained a place on the course as a writer and was given the opportunity to write a 12-minute short film for 8 actors. Although it was quite a challenge to give every actor a good role and enough screen time, I found it a very exciting process because I was able to write in a different genre and work with passionate actors.

Throughout the course, I had the opportunity to attend masterclasses with industry professionals including Gareth Edwards who directed “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’. It was really inspiring to hear from professionals and ask questions about the film industry, and lots of the advice I was given, I will definitely take on for the future!

On the last day of the course, our films were shown at Cineworld in The O2. This was such an incredible experience because I had seen the whole process of making the film, from writing to production to finally seeing the end product. Additionally, it was a great chance to network with lots of other young people interested in or already working in the film industry. Since the course I have written a script to be used in a final year university project as well as reading lots of other participants’ scripts! This course was an incredible and life-changing experience which has really increased my passion to be a part of the film industry; it was an essential ‘foot in the door’ and I would definitely recommend anyone interested in having a career in film!

Amelia Simpson, 6J2

On Tuesday 20 March, our Classicists were lucky enough to attend this year’s Nottingham Classical Association Elliott Schools’ Lecture, hearing Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill from the University of Cambridge speak on the topic of ‘Herculaneum: what Pompeii can’t tell you’ at Loughborough High School. Professor Hadrill’s talk was illuminating, as he used his experience as Director of the Herculaneum Excavations to illustrate his points, including many slides of houses not open to the public and treasures from the excavations such as wooden coffered ceilings. He engagingly revealed the difficulties of working on such a site, ranging from buying properties from the mafia, dealing with damp and the ever-present problem of funding.

After learning about the issues surrounding conservation of the discoveries, Professor Hadrill revealed that some of the most intriguing data from the site came from the sewerage system, identifying over 60 different types of fish that were eaten. We left after several interesting questions had been asked, feeling inspired to visit the Bay of Naples again with fresh eyes.

Miss Mason, Teacher of Classics

We are thrilled to welcome our newly appointed Head Girl team for the next 12 months. Mariam Ziada (Head Girl), Grace Gee, Bea Allen and Jo Bradley take over as our new team from this week. We wish them well with all their endeavors over the coming year and look forward to the exciting ideas and plans that they have in store for us.

We would also like to say a huge thank you to our outgoing team: Sally Croker (Head Girl), Bethany Saunders, Charlotte Carter and Lara Piezcka. They have done an excellent job and have made the school immensely proud, through their contributions in every aspect of their roles. We wish them well as they embark on the last phase of their High School career and the very best of luck in their upcoming A Level Exams.

Miss Kneen, Deputy Director of 6th Form

The next swap shop will be held on Wednesday 25 April from 1-2.15pm.

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 only and returns are only possible on the day.

Items of uniform cannot be held without payment.

Due to the school uniform changes, we will no longer be selling or accepting school blazers and any sports uniform with the old school logo on it. Girls in U5 wishing to purchase these items are requested to purchase these through the school office.

Should an item be purchased one term and wish to be returned the next term, it will have to go through the selling process.

The Selling Process

Should you wish to sell any items of uniform, swap shop tags can be obtained through senior school reception and fill out accordingly. Any items without completed labels will not be sold and will be returned.

All items must be in a good and clean condition. Any items in a poor or unclean condition will not be sold and will be returned.

Please do not enter a price on the tag. We have prices in place that the clothes sell for and 20% of the item goes to the Senior School Fund, which in turn is donated to the Senior School.

The item of uniform should then be brought into the school and given to the Senior School reception team on the day of the swap shop and not before.

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. If you are sending in multiple items only one name and address sheet is required, please make sure this is placed in the bag with all clothes submitted.

We can no longer sell blazers and sports kit with the current logo, so please don’t send any in.

Cheques for sold items will be issued in June each year. If you have previously submitted items which are now discontinued and wish to have them back if unsold then please arrange with reception to collect from school by no later than the end of Summer term. Discontinued items not collected by this date will be disposed of.

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

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, Shelia Mellish and Tracey Shilling

Bitcoin Hurricane: Simcavalier Book One by K.R. Baucherel (formerly Milner)

Cameron Silvera runs a threat agency in 2040s London. While defusing a routine cyber attack in a city bank, the team uncovers a warning of the chaos to come. How will Cameron’s team, and their friends and families, prepare to battle the oncoming storm?

A sci fi fan since first seeing the Daleks from behind the sofa, Kate Baucherel has worked in and around technical businesses since before the world wide web was invented, and is fascinated by the rapid change in our world, the huge potential of emerging technologies, and the challenges we’ll face. This passion comes through in delivering day to day digital strategy for businesses and in writing cybercrime fiction – the new SimCavalier series.

When not writing fiction, Kate is a business development and strategic consultant working with digital businesses, and with businesses of any sector using digital tools and emerging technology. She writes, speaks and researches on digital business challenges, community management in nonprofits, and cybersecurity. She teaches at Teesside University Business School, represents Women in Tech in the region, and co-founded the Sphere Network in North East England.

Kate is a former student of Northampton High School.

Miss Buxton, School Librarian

Last night saw our annual Sports Awards with many young girls at Northampton High being celebrated for their contributions to School sport.  The girls have showed strength and resilience this year, and our individual and team performers have put together some superb results.

We were honoured to be joined by guest speakers Karen Pickering MBE, Commonwealth and World Champion Swimmer, and Jamal Ford-Robinson, Northampton Saints rugby player, who stepped in at last minute for Courtney Lawes. Both performers spoke passionately about their journey in sport and the attributes it takes to be a success, and the fact that ‘hard work will always beat talent’. The girls felt truly inspired by both athletes and we thank them for their attendance.

We also had amazing dances from Y6 and L4 and a spectacular Karate performance from Leah Tanna-Shah. We were delighted to present the sports personality award to Ellie Robinson and to hear about her Commonwealth Games experience, as well as seeing her Commonwealth Medal. The team of the year award was presented to the 90cm Equestrian Team and we wish them the best of luck this weekend at the National Finals.

It was a fantastic evening of celebration, and well done to all those receiving an award. We look forward to continued sporting success into the summer term.

Mrs Hackett, Director of Sport

Please click the here to see more pictures from the event

Equestrian

Congratulations to Gemma in U3 who over the Easter holidays has qualified for the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead this summer. Gemma will be competing in the Working Hunter class on two ponies, Renkum Bombadier (pictured) and Claggan Silver Knight. Both Gemma, her older sister Megan (U5) and the family are extremely proud to qualify for this prestigious event. The RHIS takes place at Hickstead between 24-28 July and features the world’s top riders in many disciplines – you can imagine how excited the girls are!  We wish the girls the best of luck and look forward to hearing about their experience next term.

Mrs Ford, Teacher of Physical Education

As part of the school rebrand we are delighted that we have had the opportunity to update and renew the sports clothing, and would like to show everyone the new sports clothing. This will be available for all girls from September 2018. The in no requirement for girls to purchase the new kit but as they change their sports kit this is what the replacement items will be like. The compulsory warm layer will now be the cobalt blue mid-layer top and the optional warm layer which is currently the tracksuit top will be replaced with the soft shell jacket. We are sure that the girls will all really like the look, feel and warmth of the new kit as well as an improvement to the functionality of the garments. If you have any questions please contact me.

Please click here to download the PDF

Mrs Hackett, Director of Sport