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Junior News 10 December 2021 |
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As I write this we are currently preparing for our annual Chemistry Christmas spectacular, which, this year, has the theme of ‘The Magic of Christmas’. Of course, I have taken this as another way to get the magic of Harry Potter into my year, lessons and life, and we have written the experiments around some of the spells from the films. We have included Agua Menti, Expecto Patronum and Incendio to name but a few. I often think back to my own school days and my Latin lessons when I hear the spells and have a wry smile when I can make the links. I often wonder what other links I can make in lessons and in school to enlighten and enrich the Chemistry that we teach. I don’t find it easy to write, but I have found lots of links between Chemistry and the 12 Days of Christmas, so I thought I might share a few of them. On day one the gift was a partridge in a pear tree. In GCSE and A level Chemistry, we make a wonderfully smelly substance called an Ester, and if you ask your parents they might be able to tell you most esters smell like pear drops. You can see where my tenuous links are going now! On the second, third, and fourth day of Christmas, the gifts were all feathered birds of some sort. I’d like to draw a parallel here with Chemistry, but the more obvious link is the physics of flight. Planes aren’t technically designed to fly, but science made that happen. Aren’t we glad that those wonderful physicists made it happen, or we would never be able to escape around the world? Please click here to read the full blog. Mrs Hodgetts-Tate |
Achievements |
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Each week in our assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week: Zara: graduated to an orange belt in her Tae Kwon-Do class |
Playground Stars |
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It has been cold and sometimes wet and windy on the playground this week, so we have had some indoor play. On Tuesday, Thea and Christina from Year 3, Annabelle, Poppy, and Angelie from Year 4, and Adn, Darcy, Sophia, Florence, Kara, Emily, Rihanna, Vivian, and Tilly from Year 6 all showed their extraordinary Northampton High School resilience braving the weather on the playground. A great big well done, girls! Year 3 and 4: Kinara, Holly, Avani, and Evette from Year 3 and Esme and Lottie from Year 6 all volunteered throughout the week and made sure the games and toys were organised and tidied away. On Thursday, the girls rose to Mrs Long’s challenge to decorate the playground using toys and games. With great teamwork and imagination, they created some fantastic decorations.
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Year 3: Hollie, Kinara, Leah and Yvette made huge Christmas trees with lots of baubles, tinsel and lights. Year 4 and 5: Emily from Year 5 helped Priscilla, Luisa, and Hester from Year 4 to decorate Christmas tree, using themselves as the angel on the top, but they didn’t stop there; Annabelle and Cora helped create a very well-planned house with rooms for all. Year 4: Angelie and Yillin from Year 4 didn’t stop at one decoration either, they made four decorations! A Christmas tree, with help from Eva, a snowman, a Father Christmas with a naughty elf getting up to mischief in his sack and, with help from Aurelia, they made the best of all…a Mrs Long! |
Dates for your Diary |
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There will be no class swimming or sports on the last day of term (Friday 17 December)
Just as a reminder, the GAP Club phone number is 07816 751456; please do keep this number handy, so that you have direct access to the GAP team should you need it. |
Class Assemblies |
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We are pleased to welcome back parents and grandparents/family members to our Wednesday Class Assemblies, 8.35am-8.55am. Refreshments will be served in the Community Room from 8.15am. We do hope you will be able to join us.
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Nursery - Kipper Room and Elmer Room |
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This week in Nursery we have been practising our Christmas songs ready for our performance to you all – we hope you enjoyed it. There was a lot of excitement with a few nerves too. Our colour of the week has been green; we have been exploring the colour green coinciding with Christmas crafts and activities. During our PE session this week, we had a try at a Joe Wicks and Hey Duggee workout. This was very popular with the girls. There was a lot of excitement on Friday when we all had our Christmas jumpers on, really setting the Christmas scene. Thank you to the parent who donated the advent calendars – they were much appreciated. |
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Looking forward to next week, we will be continuing with the Christmas theme with lots of activities including our party day. |
Nursery - Pre School |
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In Pre School this week, we have been making playdough with a Christmas smell and the girls created lots of different versions of Christmas cookies out of it. In Ballet, the girls participated really well following the instructions and actions from Miss Sinead; they especially liked acting out the toy shop which seems to be a favourite. The girls made us all very proud in their Christmas performance and did a wonderful job singing our Christmas songs! Well done, girls! We have been using our creative skills to make lollipop stick Christmas trees, stars and also thinking of our very own unique creations, including a wand and a tractor. During our wonderful visit from Mrs O’Doherty, we listened to ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’. The girls got to open the various letters and could not wait to play the board game when Mrs O’Doherty had gone. |
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What we liked the best about the Christmas performance: “Singing!” Pearl We would like to say a special thank you for the donation of the advent calendars. We would all like to say a big thank you for our Christmas vouchers – this was very kind of you all. |
Reception |
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The highlight of this week has, of course, been performing our Christmas play ‘A Miracle in Town.’ For their first on-stage production, the class rose to the occasion and sang, danced, and sat beautifully. They have all learnt the words and remembered the sequences brilliantly. Everyone was excited to be dressing up and it was very pleasing to see their confidence in front of an audience.
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It has been a tiring week, but one that was very worthwhile in many different ways. Have a restful weekend in preparation for our last week of term. |
Year 1 |
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I have been overwhelmed with pride this week watching the class perform on the stage so confidently. In a way, I wish parents could see the process from beginning to end – where girls, at the start, are too shy to say their lines or need prompting every time to remember their lines, ending with such joy and delight as they perform to the audience. Thank you again for the part you have played in making sure the girls know the song words so well. I know that when we have our class assembly next term they will take performance in their stride. |
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What the girls have said: “Before the first time we did the play I was a bit excited and a bit nervous. Afterwards I felt proud of myself and really happy.” Rosie. Looking ahead to next week: On Monday, we will be watching the older girls’ dress rehearsal for their Christmas Celebration, after the House Singing competition in assembly. On Thursday, we have a Junior School Assembly to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and sing our thanks to the Catering team.The girls have Forest School in the afternoon, after watching the staff Santa Fun Run. Then finally on Friday, we have a whole school assembly to look back on this first term, before celebrating with a party in the afternoon. Please can the girls arrive in school uniform and bring an outfit to change into for the party. We will not swim on Friday. The class can bring in Christmas cards for their friends to put in our post box from Monday. Have a lovely weekend! |
Year 2 |
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This week has been very exciting and I have been very proud of the girls and how they have coped with their performances. They have shown how confident they have become and I have been impressed with how well they have learnt their parts and the actions needed throughout the play. It has been a valuable learning experience and I hope all our visitors enjoyed the show. |
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What the girls have said: “I liked doing the play to an audience with my Mum and Dad in, it was great fun.” Grace. Looking ahead to next week: Lots of exciting Christmas events to finish off our first term in Year 2. On Monday, we will be watching the older girls’ dress rehearsal for their Christmas Celebration, after the House Singing competition in assembly. On Thursday, we have a Junior School Assembly to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and sing our thanks to the Catering team. The girls have Forest School in the afternoon, after watching the staff Santa Fun Run. Then finally on Friday, we have a whole school assembly to look back on this first term, before celebrating with a party in the afternoon. Please can the girls arrive in school uniform and bring an outfit for the party. |
Year 3 |
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In Maths this week we have been learning the 8 times table including looking at the inverse operation of division and looking for patterns and making fact families. In English, we have been building up to writing our own newspaper report about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. We have worked hard to learn and understand many features of newspaper report writing including direct quotes and detailed descriptions. We have also been working hard to polish up on our part in the Christmas performance – we have been dancing and singing and we cannot wait for you to see the show next week! |
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What the girls have said: “We have enjoyed practising our Christmas play.” Leah, Evette, and Holly. Looking Ahead: |
Year 4 |
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In Maths, we have been using arrays to help us with our multiplication and division of our 6 and 9 times tables. In English, we used fronted adverbials to help us create paragraphs for writing our sequel of FArTHER. In Science, we set up our tooth decay investigation. We made predictions about the result and we are currently recording our observations before writing up our results next week. |
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What the girls have said: Looking ahead to next week: Dates for your diary: Tuesday 14 December 6.30pm for a 7pm start – Christmas performance (Please could girls be back in school at 6.30pm to give time to get into costumes). |
Year 5 |
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Another week has flown by and the girls have, as usual, taken everything that we have thrown at them in their stride. They have sat through rehearsals patiently, learned lines perfectly, sung beautifully and supported the younger girls. I am very proud of them and cannot wait for them to perform on Tuesday and Wednesday evening next week. The girls have thoroughly enjoyed consolidating their understanding of perimeter and area, challenging each other to find the area of individually drawn Christmas shapes. We have also had a very happy time in the Art room, putting finishing touches to photo frames. The girls are, quite rightly, very proud of their work. |
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What the girls have said: “I really enjoyed the House Hockey competition on Wednesday afternoon. Even though it was freezing cold, it was really fun and Hestia won! Everyone gave it their best go and I was really proud of everyone in my team. I also had a great time on Thursday morning when we went to Abington Park to do cross country running. My favourite bit was probably when we went through the really boggy areas and when we walked the course.” Ellie. Dates for your Diary: Tuesday 14 December – Charity Christmas Market (girls may visit at lunchtime with your permission) |
Year 6 |
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It has been another busy week in Year 6. This week we have developed our understanding of multiplying and dividing fractions, started our Eco Island project and enjoyed a competitive House Hockey tournament, where all the girls worked hard to gain points for their houses. |
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Highlights of the week include: “I really enjoyed House Hockey because I liked playing as part of a team and I liked playing Centre Forward and Centre Mid. My House tried very hard and came third.” Amelia. We are looking forward to the Christmas festivities next week and seeing you all at the Christmas Celebration on Tuesday evening. |
GAP Club |
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We have carried on with Christmas activities this week. The girls have made decorations by painting fir cones and sprinkling them with glitter, used piping bags to decorate biscuits and made Rudolf puppets. It definitely is a wonderful time of year.
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What the girls have said: “Eating my lovely biscuits and icing them and making patterns and having so much fun.” Lucy, Year 6. |
Chemistree Christmas Cracker a fantastic success! |
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It was wonderful to see so many students and their family members at Mrs H-T’s Chemistree Christmas Cracker on Thursday! We are excited to bring you a full recording of the event next week, but in the meantime, we hope you enjoy a selection of photos from the Harry Potter-inspired event! Mr Nash |
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Charity Christmas Market - Tuesday 14 December |
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This year, the World Challenge team is hosting the Charity Christmas Market to help raise vital funds for the trip to Tanzania in 2022. Next Tuesday 14 December at 10:10-10:30 ( morning break) and 11:45-13:00 (lunchtime) there will be 20 stalls with games for all ages to enjoy in the Senior Hall. There will be baked goods, a raffle/tombola, homemade gifts, pin the red nose on Rudolph, and many, many more! We even have Muddy Puddle Jewellery Co, North Tree, Calmer Crafting, High Boutique, and Simply Steph featuring on their stalls. Make sure you bring your pennies with some stalls also accepting contactless payments! |
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Whether it is the perfect Christmas present that you haven’t quite found yet or a treat for yourself, this is going to be the Christmas Market that you will never forget. This is going to be a very exciting student event for pupils in Year 5 through to Year 13, with all staff being welcome too! Many thanks for your support. Should you have any questions, please email me and I will be happy to help. Stephanie, Year 13 |
Christmas Concert - Wednesday 15 December |
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Join Our Team - Minibus Drivers Wante |
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At Northampton High, we are proud to have a pristine fleet of school minibuses, and we are very excited that this will be expanding in 2022. We are therefore looking to appoint several drivers for transporting pupils on morning and afternoon school runs, Monday to Friday. If you are interested in joining our team we would love to hear from you.
For more information and to apply please click here. Mr Nash |
Term Dates 21/22 |
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Term Dates 22/23 |
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Northampton High School |
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