Junior News 11 March 2022

The Return of Learning Outside the Classroom

The Year 3 and 4 residential trip to Burwell House, and the Junior/Senior School Netball weekend at Condover Hall were a stark reminder of the huge benefits learning outside the classroom offers. This type of learning, in the form of residential trips, day trips and extracurricular opportunities were much missed during the pandemic and even now we still are not up to our full complement of experiences for the pupils due to the complexities of insurance and travel red tape. 

As a firm believer that school should be about learning life skills as well as subject-based content, I find school visits to be a rich part of each child’s learning experience.

Miss Scott-Evans sent me this summary of the Burwell House residential, which I think encapsulates the essence of learning outside the classroom.

The variety of activities on offer at Burwell House provided key opportunities for the children to develop resilience, seek and overcome challenges, maintain positivity, and develop their teamwork skills. Whether it’s solving how to cross a ‘river’ with just three crates and two planks of wood, making and/or stripping a bed for the first time, laying the table, or using their fine motor skills to create an enamelled keyring, achievements can be fulfilled in all areas of learning, and it’s fantastic to be able to offer the girls such memorable experiences. 

The fact the children also had no access to their electronic devices or screens allowed for a different sort of downtime and interaction with each other, involving card games and pen and paper-based games. Seeing different children shine in different contexts as well as the children seeing their teachers away from the classroom and interacting with them in different ways was also a highlight.

Something I always admire in our teachers who regularly take year groups on residential trips is their amazing adaptability and limitless patience as the children navigate through some of these experiences for the first time. It can be difficult to work hard with the pupils all day and then mediate an argument at bed time with tired 7 year olds (or 12 year olds for that matter) who have fallen out over something relatively minor, or feel homesick or unwell. Yet the support of teachers in working through these difficulties is hugely important in helping to build the necessary resilience to keep trying, to accept that homesickness is normal and will pass, and that living closely with your peers can be trying in the extreme! 

I hope that all of our students who participate in residential trips will look back on the experiences with fondness and, even if they don’t make the link, I feel sure that those who persevere with the challenge and overcome their fears will be well prepared for house sharing at university when the time comes.

At the High School we are good at helping pupils build resilience in their learning; to accept that good grades come through hard work and practice. We are also good at providing these experiences beyond the classroom to build real-life resilience and an understanding that living and working amongst others is difficult, requires patience and tolerance but ultimately is rewarding and enriches our own lives.

Year 6 are already looking forward to their residential trip to Osmington Bay next term – a trip that is all the more exciting as it marks the end of their Junior School journey and transition to Senior School.

Mrs O’Doherty
Acting Head

Achievements

Each week in our assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week:

Evie – achieved a number of Rainbows Badges, including a Drawing Badge, a Know Myself Badge and a Bronze Award. Evie was awarded the Pro-action Star of The Month for Martial Arts.

Grace – achieved 1st place swimming one length in breaststroke, freestyle and backstroke in the Northampton Swimming Development Gala.

Isabella – achieved a World Thinking Day Rainbow Badge.

Sophia – achieved 3rd place in Solo Acting, 2nd place in Humorous Verse and 2nd place in Solo Humorous Verse at the Festival of Performing Arts.

Playground Stars

We have had a sunny and fun time on the playground this week with the girls enjoying lots of different activities.

Maya – very helpfully put the cones out to show everyone where the ballgames were being played.

Angelie and Cordelia – made sure all the toys and games were put back tidily before lunch.

Amber, Avani, Cristina, Eloise, Thea, Avleen, Harriet, Ellie, Shreya, Eliza, Asmi, Daneka and Cora – did a great job of tidying away all the toys and games.

Elouise – used her manners beautifully to ask to use some of the Key Stage 2 toys and games.

Cristina and Eloise – well done for letting me know that you had spotted a sign of spring, a butterfly. With the beautiful sunshine today it really feels like spring is on its way.

Evette and Leah – well done for letting me know about the feathers on the astroturf. I would just like to remind the girls to let me (Mrs Long) or the adult on duty know if you notice anything you are not sure about on the playground.

Poppy and Eliza – made up some new games to play and concentrated on throwing and catching the quoit.

Emily C – invented musical stilts.

Alice and Aiyana – well done for setting up the toys and games for our Key Stage 1 girls to enjoy.

Dates for your Diary

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

We are pleased to welcome back parents and grandparents/family members to our Wednesday Class Assemblies at 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.

International Women's Day

Every year, International Women’s Day provides a powerful and poignant reminder of what everyone at the GDST strives for every day.

In an unequal world where women continue to face many challenges, our mission to reach as many girls as possible, to equip them with the confidence and agency to face the world with courage and conviction, is as important as ever.

In all our schools, girls took part in activities that reinforced what our teachers encourage in classrooms everyday – to have the confidence to take risks; to try, sometimes to fail, but never to give up; to always

get up, dust themselves off and try again; to be fearless when they step out into the world and make the most of the opportunities that the privilege of an education gives them.

We may still feel that progress towards reaching equality is painfully slow. However, it is worth knowing that every single girl in a GDST school has the opportunity to make a difference in the world, for themselves and for others, so that ultimately they make the world a better place for everyone. Every one of our teachers and every one of our support staff who works in a GDST school is part of this invaluable progress.

Women are being forced to flee their homes with their families. And literally overnight, the safe haven of the classroom and the routines that come with being at school every day are being taken away from their children. We are seeing daily stories of the enormous courage women are showing when forced into unimaginable situations and our thoughts are with them today. I am reminded of the quote from Millicent Fawcett, the leading suffragist and campaigner for equal rights for women in the 19th century, which sums up their humbling bravery for us all, “Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied.”

To read the full blog entry, please click here.

Cheryl Giovannoni
Chief Executive, GDST

Head's Commendations

On Wednesday this week, we were delighted to honour another group of pupils for their efforts with the Head’s Commendation award. Nominated by their teachers, pupils joined Mrs O’Doherty for a celebratory tea party ahead of receiving their certificates in recognition of their achievements.

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded Commendations this time:

Maya A, 4N: Maya was nominated for being extremely supportive and considerate of her friend in a wheelchair.

Caitlin C, 11S: Caitlin was nominated as she has created two beautiful paintings in the last couple of weeks. Well done!

Amy H, 11S: Amy was nominated in French due to her excellent commitment and work ethic, both in preparation for her mock exams and her attendance at extracurricular events in the department throughout the year.

Mr Nash
Marketing & Communications Manager

Condover Hall - 4 to 6 March

Last Friday, nine Year 6 pupils headed off to Condover Hall in Shrewsbury. Condover Hall is an activity centre in Shropshire that offers an organised netball tournament as well as adventurous activities on site. All teams playing are from GDST schools and it is an ideal opportunity for girls to establish friendships with other GDST school pupils and hopefully they will continue to meet in years to come at sporting rallies.

It was a jam-packed weekend of netball and activities!

On the Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday mornings the team were able to take part in climbing, a low rope course, abseiling, laser maze and laser tag before they played in the first part of the netball tournament.

The High School played against some very tough teams in the first draw on the Saturday morning and qualified for the plate competition on Sunday. Here we won tour first game against Norwich, and Lucy T and Safiya C shot extremely well.

It was a very exciting and tiring weekend. The Players’ Player award was given to Ellie H and Coaches’ Player was jointly awarded to Safiya C and Evelyn M.

Mrs Littlewood
Acting Director of Sport

Northampton High students appear in Castle Theatre production of 'Oliver'

Huge congratulations to Northampton High students Miley (Year 9), Darcy, Florence and Sophia (all Year 6) for taking part in the recent performance of ‘Oliver’ at the Castle Theatre in Wellingborough on 5 and 6 March.

All of the students wowed audiences during their three performances, which included a matinee with a cast from Top Hat Theatre School. Over the two days, they performed to nearly 1500 people, and were greeted with a well-deserved standing ovation on each occasion!

A wonderful experience, and we are all very proud of you!

Mrs Wilmot
Director of Marketing & Admissions

Year 6 Re:Store Allotment Fayre

Year 6 are looking forward to inviting the Junior School to their Allotment Fayre to raise money for their chosen charity, Re:Store.

Re:Store is a local charity and as part of helping to support those in need in the local community it runs an allotment scheme. The money we raise at the Fayre will help to pay for the ground rent, seeds and tools necessary to cultivate the land.

Girls can wear mufti on this day and then there will be an opportunity to spend ‘money’* on the stalls.

There are prizes to be won, including ‘Best Dressed Gardener’!

Donations of bric-a-brac in good condition would be very much appreciated. Please bring any items to Junior School Reception.

Please click here, where you are able to make payment for a suggested minimum donation of £3 (£1 to cover mufti and £2 to ‘spend’ on the stalls). Please make any payments in advance of Friday (*no cash will be required on the day).

Thank you in advance for your support of the local community.

Year 6

How to support your daughter in Maths for Year 6 parents

We are delighted to invite you to a webinar by Rebecca Brown, GDST Maths Consultant Teacher and Teacher of Maths at Wimbledon High School, on how to support your daughter in their mathematical journey. 

Exploring mindset, misconceptions and mastery, how you can help to instil a love of Maths as they transition into senior school. Open to our Year 6 parents, this event will take place on Tuesday 15 March 2022 at 7pm via Zoom.

Tickets can be booked here where you will receive email confirmation with the Zoom link.

Mrs O’Doherty
Acting Head

Nursery - Kipper Room and Elmer Room

This week in Nursery we have had a snowstorm, the girls have explored using the shredded paper, throwing it up in the air to create the effect of snow. There have been lots of giggles and smiles.

We have been continuing to follow the theme of the animal boogie and jungle animals with a mud bath in the water tray for the toy animals. We have also been singing some animal counting songs.

We have been practising our cutting skills using different materials, having free access to choose which materials the girls would like to cut.

Our story of the week during our library session was an interactive ‘The Gruffalo’ where everyone had a turn to be one of the story characters to act out the story.

We have also shared some focus time in our key groups with activities from Maths skills to thinking about differences.

Nursery - Pre School

Pre School have started a new book this week, ‘The Great Pet Sale’. In the story all the animals have price tags and we have recreated this within the role play area, encouraging the girls to write some numbers independently.

The girls have also been practising writing their own names which has been really impressive. We have talked about the pets the girls have at home and what they need to do to care for them, as well as which pets they would like to have. Maybe you could visit a pet shop just to have a look?

In French, the girls have started to learn about numbers.

Song time has included number songs, including ‘5 little men in a flying saucer’, ‘hickory dickory dock’, ‘5 monkeys playing in a tree’ and ‘elephants coming out to play’.

On World Book Day, all the girls looked fantastic! Thank you for all the effort. We used the costumes to think about more ‘P’ words including pirate, Percy the Park Keeper, pattern, pink, purple and precious pearls, and I’m sure the girls will tell you that the cheeky pirate stole some jewels and left a treasure map for the girls to find them.

Reception

We have been continuing using the book ‘Super Milly and the Super School Day’ as a stimulus for our Literacy learning. This week we have been sequencing the story, thinking about the qualities of a good superhero, and making up our own ideas for a story.

In Numeracy, we have been working hard on number bonds and automatically being able to recall number bonds up to 5 and some number bonds to 10.

We enjoyed having a go at a self-portrait and really trying to look carefully in the mirror to draw what we can actually see.

On Thursday, we visited the school kitchen and went ‘behind the scenes’ to see how and where our lunch is made. We saw a really big dishwasher, a huge mixer and enormous fridges and freezers. There was a machine for slicing cucumber and a really big piece of cheese! Wearing a hair net was compulsory and part of the learning about working in a kitchen. Many thanks to the kitchen staff for showing us around.

The week concluded with our ‘World Book Day’ celebration; dressing up, sharing favourite books, making bookmarks, and retelling our own version of ‘Super Milly’.

Year 1

Another busy week has ended with great excitement. The girls’ World Book Day character costumes are fantastic and they were all so keen to share the books they had brought in from home.

We have had a lively week in our Maths lessons with songs and games counting forwards and backwards to 50.

We are so looking forward to our trip to Rockingham Castle on Tuesday. We will spend time exploring the gardens and grounds so do please send school gloves and hats if it is cold. A snack in a disposable wrapper that fits in a coat pocket would also be great.

There will be more fun next Friday when we visit the Year 6 Allotment Fayre to support their fundraising for the local charity Re:Store. We will all be dressing up again – this time as a gardener!

What the girls have said: 

“It was such fun at Forest School. We were making rain catchers”. Priyana

“It’s hard being a cat”. Eloise (on World Book Day)

Next week:

English – writing a diary in the first person.

Maths –  representing numbers to 50 and one more, one less.

Year 2

We’ve had a busy week in Year 2!

In Maths, we’ve been learning the names and exploring the properties of 3D shapes, using new vocabulary such as faces, surfaces, edges and vertices.

As part of our new English topic, based on the book ‘Tadpole’s Promise’, we thought of our own promises and wrote them on lily pads, ready for display in our classroom pond.

The highlight of the week, of course, was World Book Day. The children (and adults) loved dressing up, and it was fantastic to hear the children talk enthusiastically about the books that inspired their costumes.

The highlight of the day was when some of the older children visited Year 2 to share stories.

Year 3

This week in Maths, we have continued to explore measuring length. The girls loved learning about perimeter, drawing their own rectangular tiles and calculating the perimeter of the shapes.

In English, we have been practising answering comprehension questions and learning how to write clear answers using evidence from the text. This week also included our celebration of World Book Day which saw a day of book-related activities, including sharing a book and reading time with some of the Year 6 girls.

In Science, we have refreshed our knowledge on plants, their different parts and functions.

We were able to head to Forest School for the morning on Wednesday too, where the girls were set a challenge of building a raft for a cuddly toy. They showed some great teamwork but did their raft float or sink? I’m sure they’ll be willing to share the outcomes with you.

We are delighted to share with you some pictures from our visit to Burwell House. Please click here to view.

What the girls have said: 

“We liked learning about perimeter in Maths”. Amber and Leah

“We liked building the rafts at Forest School for the ducks”. Holly and Kinara

Looking Ahead:

Maths – perimeter.

English – inference & sequencing events.

Science – a visit from Grace Webb!

Year 4

In Maths, we have been calculating fractions of amounts using practical equipment and pictorial representations (e.g. bar models).

In English, we finished our latest text: ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’. The girls wrote a poem using antonyms and used personification to describe a setting.

In Science, we enjoyed learning about Gerald Durrell and his conservation work in Madagascar. We completed an investigation about deforestation and learnt about soil erosion.

We are delighted to share with you some pictures from our visit to Burwell House. Please click here to view.

What the girls have said: 

“I liked it when I went to a tea party with Mrs O’Doherty and I had cake and strawberries. I got to go there because I helped my friend Aurelia.” Maya

“I liked finding out who was in my dormitory at Burwell and playing games in the evening.” Eliza

“I’ve enjoyed dressing up for World Book Day and the different activities.” Varnikha

“I really loved English this week and using personification in my writing.” Zara

Looking ahead to next week:

English – introducing our new text: Odd and the Frost Giants.

Maths – decimals: Recognising tenths and hundredths, tenths on a place value grid and a number line.

Science – to recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear in the context of Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone.

Art – ceramics workshop in Senior School on Thursday.

Dates for your diary:

Forest School – Wednesday 23 March.

Year 5

What a jam-packed week!

The girls had an amazing time at Bletchley Park on Monday and were an absolute credit to the school. They listened carefully, behaved sensibly and learned loads.

Back in school, we have been finishing off our never-ending fractions unit and doing some lovely practical lessons. The girls are really enjoying learning about ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and their acting skills have definitely become more animated as the week has progressed.

What the girls have said:

“I really enjoyed going to Bletchley Park because it was really fun learning about the coding and learning about the Enigma Machine. I was so surprised that the letters still lit up after more than 80 years!” Jessica

“I had a great time at Bletchley Park because it was my birthday! I enjoyed looking around all the huts – the most interesting thing was finding out what it would have been like working as a codebreaker inside one of the huts.” Tami

“My favourite lesson was doing the Joan Miró art paintings based on the things that he painted. I liked it when we did the splashes for the background. My painting went quite well, but I did some of the lines too far to the left so I had to squish some things in.” Ishani

“I really liked Science this week because we were doing an experiment to find out how long it took for different materials to float to the ground. We were trying to find out what was the best material to make a parachute and were learning about air resistance.” Shreya

Year 6

This week the girls have worked hard to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages in Maths. In English, they have continued to learn more about suffrage through their study of the book ‘Suffragette: The battle for Equality’. They have also enjoyed finding out about the role of women from the Ancient to the Renaissance era. During the Science lesson the girls were given the challenge to build a series and parallel circuit as well as learning more about where electricity comes from.

World Book Day was a huge success and judging the best dressed character, most eye-catching book cover design and best dressed class is certainly proving a challenge! The prize winners will be revealed in next Friday’s Achievements Assembly.

Well done to 6H for their fantastic assembly on chocolate on Monday!

What the girls have said: 

“My highlight was the residential trip to Condover Hall because we did lots of fun activities and had a good experience of playing in netball tournaments. I was pleased that I intercepted lots of passes!” Emily

“I really enjoyed creating my book cover for World Book Day because I think it will inspire younger children to read the book.” Florence

“My highlight of the week was when we found out about Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the Suffragettes. I was shocked by how hard they had to fight for equality so that women could get the vote.” Rithika

“I really enjoyed making a speech about Queen Elizabeth I because it was very interesting to find out about what made her such an important female figure in English history. I also enjoyed finding out about other important female figures from the Ancient era to the Renaissance period.” Rianna

Next Week: 

Next week we look forward to continuing our study of ‘Suffragette: The Battle for Equality’, algebra in Maths and constructing a burglar alarm in Science.

GAP Club

We have been very busy creating our role play farm. Percy has now been renamed and he is now known as Terry Trotter. He finally has his new friend Gary Baaarlow and we have begun making Moooooranda the cow to join them. We have created cows and sheep for the display using paper plates and a camp fire for the farm.

Most evenings we have been able to go outside and are really looking forward to spending more time outside.

We finished the week with some bubble painting as requested by Eve in Year 2.

What the girls have said: 

“Making flowers.” Miya, Year 1

“Making stuff for the farm.” Varnika, Year 5

“Playing outside.” Tendo and Ellie, Year 6

Miss Knight's Rhubarb Recipes!

Parent Talks: Dealing with self-harm, Thursday 24 March

The next event in our Parent Talks series is ‘Dealing with self-harm’ on Thursday 24 March from 6pm.

For parents of pupils in Year 5 and above, this event will give an insight into why young people may self-harm and how we can support them. It can be a terrifying thought for a parent, and we know that there is an increasing trend for young people to hurt themselves on purpose, as a way of trying to manage distressing or overwhelming emotions and experiences. It can affect anyone at any time, and does not discriminate between gender, ethnicity or social background. Offering opportunities for open discussion is therefore our best strategy for supporting those who need it.

We are delighted to be welcoming Satveer Nijjar into school for this event. Satveer is a public speaker and trainer, experienced in working with professionals, students and parents to not only provide knowledge around this subject, but to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and self-harm.

The event will be held in the Theatre; please arrive at 5.45pm for a 6pm start. Light refreshments will be served and there will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the session. Please book a place to attend by clicking here.

The May event in our Parent Talks programme will take place on Monday 9 May at 6pm. This event will feature (Tanya Goodin on the subject of Teens and Screens and is for all parents. Tanya is a trailblazing author, pioneering thinker and campaigner on digital wellbeing and tech ethics, and founder of the digital detox movement, Time to Log Off.

To book a place for the Teens and Screens event, please click here.

Mrs Wilmot
Director of Marketing & Admissions

Autism Awareness Coffee Morning

We are pleased to be hosting an event to support Autism Awareness later this term. On Friday 1 April from 9am until 10am, Lesley Lock from East Midlands Autism will be hosting a coffee morning exclusively for the parents of Northampton High School pupils. Parents will have the opportunity to meet with Lesley and hear about how the charity supports young people and their families.

Lesley has told us a little about what she does for this charity: “I run 3 autism family support hubs, which are open to children under 11 with or without an ASD diagnosis, and their parents/carers and siblings. These are located in Northampton, Leicester and Loughborough. As part of this service, I also chat to parents/carers about ASD and where to find support, how to manage behaviour they find difficult, how best to fill out benefits forms, and any other ASD related topic that comes up!

I also manage our Northamptonshire Children and Young People’s Service, which runs trips, holiday and youth clubs for ages 8-18 and who must have a diagnosis, as this is the criteria set by our funders. These are for the young people to attend without a parent carer, and my fabulous team and I do our best to make sure that the young people have a wonderful time when they are with us, and can access the same age appropriate activities that their neurotypical peers can. In the last year we have been paddleboarding and raft building, visited theme parks, LEGOLAND, and the Think Tank museum, taken part in a Laser Maze evening, and solved some escape rooms!”

If you would like to attend this event, please would you complete the form here.

We look forward to an informative and supportive event.

Mrs Beezley
Learning Enhancement Co-ordinator

Science Week: Growth

Key Stage 2 take part in cello and double bass workshop

On Thursday, the children in Key Stage 2 took part in an instrumental workshop focusing on the cello and double bass. They explored how the instruments work, how they are played, the diverse range of sounds that these instruments can make and even had a go on a cello themselves!

We are thrilled to be able to offer students the opportunity to learn these instruments in school. Ten 30-minute lessons would be delivered over each term at a cost of £225 (£22.50 per lesson) and students will have the opportunity to perform termly in recitals or assemblies to share their achievements.

There will be possibilities for them to rehearse and perform in ensembles, to work towards certified exams and to develop general musicianship skills as well as instrument-specific techniques. 

If your child is interested in learning either the cello or double bass, please email p.nathan@nhs.gdst.net for further information.

Mr Campling
Music Assistant

Community Choir show solidarity to Ukraine in their own musical way

Junior Bake Off 2022

Saturday Track Club

Term Dates 21/22

Term Dates 22/23

Northampton High School
Newport Pagnell Road, Hardingstone Northampton NN4 6UU
T: 01604 765765 nhsadmin@nhs.Gdst.Net