Junior News – 11 July 2025

Being involved with the leadership of the Junior School has been an incredible honour, one filled with joy, challenge, and immense pride.

Throughout this time, I have witnessed firsthand the values that define our community come to life in the most inspiring ways. Curiosity that fuels a love of learning has been demonstrated by all year groups, from our youngest to our oldest. Each week at gymnastics club, Reception pupils have desperately asked Mrs Perry and me how to perform a headstand, and whilst at Osmington Bay, Year 6 demonstrated a particular keenness to understand the quickest way to climb the ‘vertical challenge’ in order to beat my time of 29 seconds. Congratulations to Eloise C, who came incredibly close at 31 seconds. I am now seriously considering avoiding the Condover Hall trip when the class is in Year 8 so that you will not be able to take my title!

We have seen collaboration that has strengthened friendships in all of our classrooms. For example, Year 5 demonstrated excellent teamwork to design and build small vessels, testing their streamlined shape, and at the Beaumanor Residential trip, Years 3 and 4 worked exceptionally well together in the dark woods, searching for reflective clues in order to follow the trail. Admittedly, our team got a little lost, but we found our way back by following Mrs Smith’s torch, and we managed to see the funny side too.

Every day I have witnessed perseverance in the face of challenge. In lessons where pupils come across new content, they are never quick to give up when faced with difficulty. Outside of lessons, Year 1 pupils have been particularly patient when teaching me to hula hoop in the playground and, along with Reception, Year 2 and Year 3, make up the gymnastics club, where pupils have cartwheeled over and over, making outstanding progress. Some are even landing a cartwheel on the soft beam!

Ultimately, kindness shines through in both quiet moments and grand gestures in the Junior School. The girls are generous with their wide smiles, their politeness, their belongings and their time. All of these values, lived daily by our pupils and staff, are what make this school such an exceptional place.

I am so proud of what we have achieved together; from academic milestones to creative endeavours, from growing confidence in our youngest learners to the leadership in our oldest. It has been a privilege to walk alongside each of you on this journey, and Mr Rickman and I will have lasting memories and immense gratitude for the trust and support of this wonderful community. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your story.

We very much look forward to playing a part of the next chapter, supporting Mrs Stawt as she begins as Junior School Head in September.

Mrs Saunders-Wall
Interim Director of Junior School Liaison

What a lovely end of term it has been this week with our last ballet class with Miss Lauren and last Forest School session before holiday club starts. 

For those that are not in in the holidays, we wish you a lovely summer and for those that are in we hope the girls enjoy holiday club and all the opportunities it gives.

This week has been a celebration and reflection of our time together in Preschool and for some of us also our journey from Nursery too. In PSHE we looked through some old photographs of ourselves and tried to recall all the exciting things we have experienced throughout the year. From playing in the snow to open ballet we have had a jam packed year.

We have also watched the Year 6 leaving assembly, celebrated the end of the year as a class with a teddy bears picnic and lots of playing together as class.

We would like to take this opportunity to say what a pleasure it has been to be a part of your daughter’s journey and we wish them the best of luck for Reception.

Have a fantastic summer and I’m sure we will see some of you over the summer holidays too.

They have gelled as a class of friends and are confident at working independently or collaboratively with each other. There are so many things we could mention that the class have excelled at, but the following are just a few of the highlights.

Firstly, we want to recognise how this class have really matured over the year. They have made excellent progress in phonics, with reading and in their maths work, along with all of the other subjects in the Early Years curriculum. They have really enjoyed visiting other parts of the school for their learning – the sports field, the music room, the swimming pool and of course the forest school. The class have confidently been on visits out of school to shops and services within our local community, visited the theatre and explored further afield at Woburn Safari Park. They have engaged with the rest of the Junior School performing a Christmas Nativity play, at Sports Day and other whole school events.

We have loved watching them become independent readers and writers, risk takers and chooses of their own learning and look forward to see how this continues to develop for them further as they move in to Year 1.

The girls began the year with Mrs. Purvey-Tyrer and Miss John, and ended it with Mrs. Latimer and Mrs. Howell. With so many special moments along the way, it’s hard to choose just one highlight. However, a standout experience was helping to write the script for their recent class assembly. Through this, they reflected deeply on the importance of collaboration and being a kind, supportive friend every day. As part of the assembly, the girls created beautiful ‘friendship flowers,’ with each petal representing a key element of friendship. They also performed a delightful picnic role-play, which showcased the values of sharing, caring, and looking out for one another.

Being a small and close-knit group of just 10 girls, they’ve faced the occasional disagreement—but they have grown in their ability to support one another with empathy and patience. Now, with a strong sense of teamwork and friendship, they are excited and ready to take the next step as confident Year 2 girls.

From exciting trips and experience days, to the vibrant and creative artwork and projects they produced to fantastic class assemblies and performances – their enthusiasm and creativity has shone through in everything they have done.

Our Victorian Day brought history to life, and the girls wholeheartedly embraced dressing up, getting into character and meeting their very strict new teacher! They also enjoyed creating Chinese lanterns, receiving lucky red envelopes and listening to Dr Lee share her experiences as part of our Lunar New Year celebrations.

Food has been a particular highlight and the girls have thoroughly enjoyed tasting fortune cookies and bao buns as well as the fruit kebabs and scones that they made. In their nativity and class assembly performances, the girls took great pride.

The humorous and chaotic ‘Seaside Shenanigans’ brought plenty of smiles and laughter! And their original and imaginative Great Fire of London projects were very impressive! It’s been a year filled with learning, laughter and creativity and we are so proud of all they have achieved.

Year 3 have successfully made the transition into Key Stage 2 and risen to the challenge of developing their independence in every aspect of school life.

The girls have worked hard at becoming more resilient when faced with setbacks, persevering when they find tasks challenging and trying to reach a compromise when there is a difference of opinion! Practical and role play activities have been a regular feature of lessons, bringing learning to life and making connections between subjects. For example, acting out a Stone Age woolly mammoth hunt at Forest School, tea-tasting to inspire descriptive writing and making a plasticine planet Earth to help understand how volcanoes erupt.

Trips are always memorable and highlights have included learning about fossil formation at Thinktank Birmingham, travelling through time at Northampton Museum and taking part in the residential visit to Beaumanor Hall, a first overnight stay without parents for many of the girls.

Year 3 should feel incredibly proud of their achievements this year and look forward to their move into Year 4 with confidence.

Year 4 Term 1 kicked off with a fascinating exploration of the Roman invasion of Britain. They wrote exciting film blurbs for the Invasion III a fictional film depicting the Roman Invasion of Britain. They had an absolute blast creating edible Roman Roads and even ventured out on a trip to the Roman Villa in Hackleton. Here, they donned heavy armour, dressed as Roman ladies, and got a taste of some rather revolting Roman medicines! But the highlight of the term was undoubtedly their dedication to putting together a spectacular Silent Night performance, where they acted, danced, sang, and played musical instruments supported by Year 3 and Mr Nathan on piano.

As we transitioned into Term 2, the excitement continued with a deep dive into the Egyptians! The children enjoyed mummifying tomatoes and creating stunning Egyptian portraits. The topic culminated in a thrilling trip with Year 6 to the Theatre in Milton Keynes, where they watched Horrible Histories: Awful Egyptians—a perfect blend of history and hilarity!

During their Design and Technology lessons, they made brilliant pop up books of fairy tales and loved sharing them with the Preschool and Reception children.

Their adventures didn’t stop there! They had an unforgettable residential visit to Beaumanor Hall, alongside Year 3 to learn all about the Vikings. Their experience was enriched by following clues, map reading, playing hide and seek in the pitch-black cellars, and completing team challenges! A jam packed term also saw them wowing everyone at the dance festival with their Wicked performance!

In Term 3, the focus shifted to World War II as they supported their reading of The Lion and the Unicorn. They celebrated VE Day with a budgeting for a VE party, cracking codes in Maths, enjoying jam tarts, and dancing in a lively conga line! The highlight was the visit from a real-life evacuee, Mrs. Edwards, who shared her remarkable life story with the class.

Our computing lessons have been extremely enjoyable this term, a highlight was getting to use the microbits. They successfully programmed them to write their name and to become beating hearts. In Art, they have had a wonderful time in Senior School with Mrs Beacroft creating Mexican clay hearts. Budding engineers, they should be congratulated for the successful completion of their marvelous light up boxes in Design and Technology.

Finally, our intrepid Year 4 explorers transformed into Antarctic explorers alongside the legendary Ernest Shackleton. They crafted diary entries and letters, ultimately becoming journalists by writing their very own newspaper reports! An exhilarating afternoon at the Snozone topped it all off, allowing them to feel the chill of the snow and enjoy some thrilling snow sledging!

Mrs Smith is extremely proud of you all and has loved teaching you all. She knows you will smash it in Year 5.

From the very start, the girls embraced every opportunity with enthusiasm and a love for learning.

One early standout moment was the residential trip to Grafham Water in September, where the girls challenged themselves through a variety of activities both on and off the water, creating unforgettable memories along the way.

In the classroom, they immersed themselves in a range of fascinating books, including Hidden Figures, Beowulf, Kaspar: Prince of Cats, and Origami Yoda, and produced outstanding written work that showcased both their creativity and excellent research skills.

Year 5 practical lessons have been a real highlight for pupils: exploring the friction of different biscuits and testing materials for a festival food van in Science, bread-making in DT, cooking pottage over the fire at Forest School, and creating stunning pieces of abstract art.

Whether performing in assemblies, participating in sports matches, or running events like the Macmillan Coffee Morning and Hobbies Morning, Year 5 have consistently demonstrated resilience, independence and a strong sense of community. Miss Brandon-Jones is incredibly proud of all they’ve achieved and knows they are more than ready for the adventures that Year 6 will bring.

They all spoke confidently and clearly about their experiences of school thus far and referred to many highlights and happy memories. Whilst writing their speeches, the girls themselves were amazed at how much they had changed and achieved during their primary school years. This was also reflected by the teachers who had taught them when they were younger. They were delighted to see how some of the girls who had been quiet and lacking in confidence previously were able to stand up in front of an audience and speak so eloquently.

I have been very pleased with the progress the girls have made this year and I wish them all the very best as they move on to the new challenges on offer in Year 7. Congratulations Year 6!

All teams played enthusiastically and showed great teamwork throughout. It made for an enjoyable afternoon of Cricket and one where they could showcase their learnt skills.

Batting skills were solid. Mehiera and Dulcie were a formidable pairing, finding the boundary twice. Zara was great at positioning the ball into space. Akira and Aleya took two wickets in their bowling and wicket keeping overs. 

Well done to all who played and we look forward to next season.

U9A
NHS 239/ 3
BMPS 264/ 2
Batter of the Match: Zara
Bowler/ Fielder of the Match: Akira

U9B
NHS  251
BMPS   263
Batter of the Match: Eloise
Bowler/ Fielder of the Match: Siena-Louise