High News 9 February 2018

Events and activities

Monday 19 February – Friday 2 March

6-2 Mock Examinations

Monday 19 February

L5 Vaccinations
U5 Options Deadline

Tuesday 20 February

Read to relax form time

Wednesday 21 February

Bake Sale for Zanzibar Trip
Normandy Trip Information Evening

Thursday 22 February

Whole School Production Rehearsal
6.1 Higher Education Evening

Friday 23 February

GDST Languages Festival 2018
Bake Sale for Alzheimer’s Charity
Sixth form English Literature Hamlet Workshop

Saturday 24 February

U5 GCSE and 6.2 A Level Fashion and Textiles Extra Session in DT Department

Sports Fixtures

Wednesday 21 February
Pitsford School, Netball, (A) U13B L4 U12 U3

Thursday 22 February
Quinton House, Netball (H) U18A 6th Form

Saturday 24 February
Ratcliffe College, Netball (A) U14A U4 U14B U4, U15A L5, U15B L5, U18A 6th Form, U18B 6th Form

Ratcliffe College, Netball, Home U12A U3, U12B U3, U13A L4,
U13B L4

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Mrs Amanda Wilmot has been appointed as our new Director of Marketing. Mrs Wilmot, who is currently working as Admissions Registrar, has been acting Director since mid-November. A linguist by training, she has a long and distinguished career in marketing behind her in both the educational and commercial sectors. She is keen to take up the reins and to build on the strong foundations in marketing established by Mrs Fitzroy-Ezzy. As she looks forward to the interesting challenges ahead, Mrs Wilmot says, ‘I am thrilled to take up this post. Northampton High is a special place and I look forward to working with staff and girls in this new role.’

Dr Stringer, Head Teacher

This week, vocalist Théa and cellist Natasha showcased their musical talents at the GDST Young Musician of the Year competition. Taking to the stage at Howell’s School, Llandaff, Cardiff, they performed in front of acclaimed judges including Oxford High School GDST alumna and organist, harpist and conductor Anna Lapwood and Rosenna East, General Manager of Nevill Holt Opera and Putney High School GDST alumna.

This year’s competition saw 39 students come together from across the GDST national network of 23 schools and two academies as they competed to be named the GDST Young Musician and GDST Young Vocalist of the Year. The high-level competition saw the standard of performance from all students taking part equating to ABRSM Grade VIII or above.

Over the course of the two-day competition, the girls also learnt a newly composed piece of music, written by Blair Boyd, postgraduate at Cardiff University which they performed together at the event’s grand finale.

We are very proud of Théa and Natasha, who were both amazing. We would also like to say congratulations to the winners Miriam from Blackhill High School (recorder) and Charlotte from Croydon High School (vocalist).

Tilly Poole from L4 took part in the Rotary Chef District Final on Saturday in Peterborough having won the Regional round. Tilly had to produce a three-course meal within two hours and was also required to set a table suitable for two people. In the image below you can see the beautiful table Tilly prepared and the fantastic spread she served. Overall, Tilly finished in the top five contestants; she should be very proud of this achievement, especially as she was one of the youngest there. Tilly is keen to participate again and I look forward to seeing the creative ideas and delicious dishes she will prepare for next year’s competition!

Miss Knight, Subject Leader Food

On Wednesday 7 February Café Sci held an event for U3 students. The event included many activities such as making bath bombs, rainbow fizz and slime. The girls were put on rotation so they could experience each activity. Almost 40 girls had lots of fun and enjoyed the finale at the end, where there was a diet cola and Mentos explosion! Thank you to Mrs Pearson and all the other teachers that supervised. Thank you, too, to the L5 Café Sci team for another very successful event.

Shruthi Nagarajan, L5

On Monday 26 February, Professor Matthew McCormack from the University of Northampton will be visiting the school to talk about Warfare and Soldiering in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

The talk will be held from 4pm until 5pm in E6 and will suitable for U4, L6, U5 and Sixth Form students.  Please do come along.

Mr Donaldson, Head of History

On Thursday 8 February, Sixth Form biologists visited the world famous Sanger Institute near Cambridge. The Wellcome Sanger Institute contributed to one third of the Human Genome Project to sequence the Human Genome. It is currently developing and using new technologies with which to study genomes of humans and other organisms. This will provide faster and more efficient ways of diagnosing and personalising medicine to target the disease.

The day consisted of an introduction to the research, a presentation from Dr  Emily Perry about genetic variants, an MRSA gene hunt and also a tour of the institute. This day provided a new and inspiring insight into the world of genomics and what a future in biology could look like.

Maya and Elizabeth

The day of La Chandeleur (or Candlemas) is celebrated 40 days after Christmas – on February 2nd – meaning this year it fell on a Friday.

The origins of the celebration go back to Roman times, but over the centuries many French regions have thrown in a string of their own superstitions to prevent the worst from happening, or indeed to bring their family fortune.

U3H French students got together with Miss Knight to create some delicious crepes!

We would like to thank Miss Knight for her support and advice in this wonderful cross-curricular project.

Mrs Diez, Teacher of Spanish

The Senior School Charity Quiz Fundraiser event has been rearranged and will now be held on Friday 9 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

A reminder about our clothing recycling facility at school. We have teamed up with Starlight Children’s Foundation, a charity that brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children, so that for every kilo of clothing and other items recycled, Starlight receives 10p and FoNHS receives 40p.

Through our recycling efforts over the last three or so years, we have raised over £2,000 for FoNHS so a huge thank you to everyone who uses the facility – over 5 tonnes of items going to good use (and possibly saved from landfill) and a huge boost to FoNHS funds at the same time, and we are also supporting Starlight’s incredible work with every kilo of items we recycle.

So if you can, please do consider using the recycling facility whenever you have a clear out. The collection “bank” is bright yellow and is situated on the pathway alongside the Junior School car park. The recycling company accepts all men’s, ladies’ and children’s clothing, paired shoes (tied together please), handbags, bags, ties, belts, towels and bedlinen. Any uniform carrying school or team logos is not accepted. Please put all items in a plastic bag before depositing them in case the bank is not watertight.

Thank you very much for your support.

FoNHS

From Saturday 24 February, I will be running 3 x weekly art classes in the Wake Wing. The creative and fun classes take inspiration from artists past and present. Learn new skills and unleash your creativity!

For more details, please contact me on Facebook @ArtWorkshopsWithEmma, or by email on emma.lindsay65@hotmail.com.

Emma Lindsay

We have drawn two numbers this week for the South Africa 50-50 club as it’s half term.

The winning numbers are:

44 Lily King
87 Suzannah Gibson

Both win £52!

The next draw will take place in the week beginning 19 February

Mrs E Ford

Inferior: How science got women wrong and the new research that’s rewriting the story by Angela Saini

From intelligence to emotion, for centuries science has told us that men and women are fundamentally different. But this is not the whole story.
Shedding light on controversial research and investigating the ferocious gender wars in biology, psychology and anthropology, Angela Saini takes readers on an eye-opening journey to uncover how women are being rediscovered. She explores what these revelations mean for us as individuals and as a society, revealing an alternative view of science in which women are included, rather than excluded.

Miss Buxton, Librarian

It has been an exciting week in the sports faculty – some great netball matches on Saturday against Stephen Perse and King Ely. This week the 1st and 2nd VIIs both put in big wins against Pitsford School on Tuesday, and the other key highlight was on Wednesday, when the U14 and U16 badminton teams both became county champions at the county tournament. They now go on to represent Northamptonshire at the Regional Finals in March.

Mrs Hackett, Director of Sport

Netball

U13ABC vs Beachborough – Wednesday 7th February

U13 A

Having won our last few matches the team felt positive however this did not show it in the first quarter when we let the opposition gain possession of the ball with too many unforced errors. Luckily for us the opposition missed a few shots and we managed to keep the score even at 2-2 at the end of the first quarter. With a change around in the team we tried something different, but unfortunately failed to play the netball we know we are capable of and although it was an evenly matched quarter the score went to 4-3 against us.

After a positive team talk at half time, the team was changed again and we started to show the opposition what we could do. With some excellent centre court work from Jane Ampiah and defence work from Katie Harrison and Angelica Suma the ball easily found its way down the court. Maddie Down again provided some effective balls into the circle where Eloise Harvey had great movement and shot brilliantly taking the score to 11-4 to us. With renewed energy the team kept up the momentum in the final quarter and the final score was 17-8 to us. Player of the match went to Jane Ampiah.

Jess Picot, U13A Captain

U13 B

It was a well played game and we worked well together as a team. However, the other team’s shooters were very good. We had good support and feedback from the side lines. Well done to everyone who played on Wednesday.

Milly Thompson, U13B Captain

U13C

The U13C played well despite not playing as a team before. Tilly Poole made a number of vital interceptions and was voted player of the match.

Well done to all girls who played.

Ellie Sentence, U13C Captain