Nothampton High School
Junior News

Junior News 12 July 2019

Dear parents and girls

As the academic year draws to a close we have taken the opportunity to reflect on and celebrate all that we have achieved together. This was particularly the case in today’s final assembly, during which the House leaders took us on a journey of remembrance, considering the highlights for Artemis, Demeter, Hestia and Selene. As members of Year 6, they also partook in last evening’s spectacular Valedictory Event, during which girls, parents and staff (current and ex) joined together to celebrate the girls’ time in Junior School. For some, this was a full nine years and for others a shorter period, but regardless of longevity each had their own very special memories to share and they were wonderful to hear.

Today, we also said ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you’ to Mrs Sinclair and Year 1 gave a beautiful presentation, reading their own statements of appreciation and presenting her with a card. My thanks to her for all that she has done in her short time at NHS, it has, she said, been the best year’s teaching of her entire career: a testament to the staff, students and parents that make it such a special place.

I echo these sentiments as I say my own goodbyes today. For me, too, this has been a wonderful year and it has been a privilege and a pleasure to have been a part of such a wonderful school, even for a short time. I thank you all for your messages and gestures of appreciation and wish you all the very best for the future.

Have a wonderful summer!

Caroline Petryszak
Interim Head of Junior School

 

In contrast to the crescendo effect of the end of term in Autumn and Spring, with House Plays and Singing in the Senior School and Christmas and Easter festivities for the Juniors generating plenty of excitement, the end of Summer term can seem somewhat anti-climactic.  It is true that there is no national festival around which to organise the summer holiday but, at the High School, there is no shortage of rituals to mark the end of the school year.

Some of these are long-established; I am thinking of the Arts Invitational and the the Junior Final Assembly.  Others are relatively new – the Year 6 Valedictory Evening, for example, and the Gym and Dance Display.  For our older students, the focus on Enterprise – through the Bright Green workshops, the Alumnae Networking Lunch and the Lower Fourth trip to Cadbury World – is a particularly welcome innovation as the mental space created by completion of the end-of-year exams allows time for reflection on the transition to a new school year and on exciting futures beyond.  The possibilities and pleasures of learning outdoors have also been explored to the full, whether at West Lodge Farm and Castle Ashby for Key Stage 1, the allotments for Year 3 and Year 6 or under the gazebo in Cripps Courtyard for a GCSE TP class.

As we enter the last couple of days of the school term (and year), girls and staff can look ahead to that period of decompression at the start of the holidays.  The abrupt shift from the intensity of term time at full tilt to the relative spaciousness of holiday can be disconcerting – a psychological equivalent of the ‘bends’!  Soon enough, though, we adjust to the gentler pace of life and the pleasures of setting the prep timetable aside.  I know, from many of my tea parties, that many girls have interesting plans for travel (as explorers rather than tourists, of course!), some have valuable work experience lined up and others are looking forward to being able to indulge their outside interests to their heart’s content.

Whatever the summer break means for you, I hope that it brings you a good measure of joy and fulfilment.

Dr Stringer
Headmistress

Achievements

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

Tennis: Rithika S – 4th place in a tournament

Swimming: Lydia D – certificate for swimming as far as possible without stopping (6 lengths).

Assemblies

Class Assemblies are held in the Junior School Hall at 8.35 am on Wednesdays and parents are most welcome to enjoy refreshments from 8.00 am. Here are the dates for the Autumn Term:

Year 6N – 18 September
Year 4N – 2 October
Year 3N – 16 October
Year 2N – 13 November
Year 5H – 20 November
Year 5N – 27 November
Year 1N – 4 December

 

Dates for Diary

Tues 3 & Weds 4 September – INSET Days
Thurs 5 September – Autumn Term starts
Tues 10 September – Years 2,4 & 6 Information Evenings
Thurs 12 September – Years 1,3 & 5 Information Evenings
Weds 25 September – Reception Information Evening
Weds 9 October – Parents’ Evening
Thurs 10 October – Parents’ Evening
Mon 14 October – Harry Potter week
Fri 18 October – Years 3 to 6 Billionaire Boy at The Royal and Derngate
Mon 21 October – Fri 1 November – Half Term

Autumn Term Clubs

The Autumn Term clubs will start the second full week back, week commencing Monday 16 September.  Information will follow in the new term.

Nursery

Reception

What an exciting last week to the school year. The girls all loved the trip to the farm and had the opportunity to feed some goats, stroke some animals and ask lots of questions. They had a go on the barrel ride and went in a maze. They were all well behaved and a credit to you and the school.

On Thursday we decided that the carrots we had planted from seeds were ready for eating. So after pulling them up, we washed them, chopped them up and made some carrot soup! (and ate it!) It was lovely for the girls to see the whole process from planting seeds, to cooking and eating the produce.

It has been a pleasure to see all of the girls develop academically and in confidence during the year. We wish you all a lovely Summer and a safe return in September.

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Year 1

Elmer Room
This Week in Elmer Room the girls have had fun focusing on their social skills. They have been playing lots of group games, enjoyed playing with the parachute, duck duck goose and the traffic light game. They have also had fun focusing on their role play, where they have been pretending they are on an aeroplane going on holiday.

Pre-School
This week we have been very busy, we have made ‘r’ rainbows and rabbits. The girls carefully counted the correct amount of ice cream scoops (pom poms) to place on their ice cream cones and on Friday we had an ice cream parlour serving each other ice creams and sprinkles.  We have also enjoyed watermelon for snack and the jellies we made last Friday for ‘j’. Using our counting skills we also counted different seaside pictures and put the correct number by them.

Mrs Waters and Miss Trevorrow would like to wish all the Preschool girls good luck for their future in Reception and hope you have a wonderful summer.

 

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What a wonderful final week we have had! In particular, our trip to Castle Ashby Gardens was the highlight because every girl impressed with impeccable manners and conduct throughout.

In short, we wandered around the arboretum looking for fairy doors, making up stories and wondering about each fairy’s whereabouts. Then we had a relaxing picnic under the shade of a beautiful old tree. The girls then had time to play and run through the hedgerows, marveling at the different gardens, using a map to find the way. It was most exciting when we stumbled upon The Secret Garden!

Afterwards, we visited the animals in the menagerie and made a quick stop in the adventure playground before heading back to school. The sun shone and we all had a great day. A perfect end to a most satisfying academic year. Well done to all of Year 1, I am proud of you all.

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Year 2

What a super busy week we have had in Year 2! As well as squeezing in some usual lessons, we enjoyed an amazing school trip to Castle Ashby Gardens.

We ventured into the menagerie and saw lots of different animals including meerkats! We also enjoyed the lovely scents of the lavender in the butterfly garden. After lunch on the lawn we started the fairy trail. We hunted for the hidden fairy doors and had to work out which fairy lived behind each one. Finally, no trip would have been complete without playing on the outdoor play area so we spent the last part of the trip burning off even more energy.

Needless to say, we were all very grateful for the air conditioned coach ride back to school! Our trip this week was a great way to end our Year 2 journey and we can’t believe how quick the year has flown by. Have a super summer everyone!

“I have enjoyed being in Year 2.” Avleen

“I have enjoyed being in Year 2 because I’ve had the best teacher ever!” Ellie

“I loved looking for the fairies on our school trip.” Ishani

“Year 2 has been very fun!” Sophie

“I will miss being in Year 2.” Zoe

“I am excited to go into Year 3 but sad I am leaving Year 2.” Harini

“I have loved all of the school trips we have had this year!” Harriet

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Year 3

The end of Year 3. Time to move up and experience new adventures!

Good luck next year.

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Year 4

“I liked it when we were finishing off our circuits to make our electrical light-up signs.” Anya

“I really enjoyed going outdoors with Year 3 and sketching.” Miraya

“I really enjoyed watching ‘The Thieves of Ostia’ which is all about the Romans.” Sienna

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Year 5

“My highlight of the week was Science morning where we got to: launch rockets, learn about brains and…MAKE BATH BOMBS. You got to make the bath bombs smell however you desire! From scents like bubblegum and orange chocolate. It was really fun!” Vheneka

“On Wednesday Year 5 and U3 did Enterprise Day and there were varieties of prizes and the winners got a £5 voucher. My team didn’t win but we got a packet of sweets. We had to invent an eco invention, make an advert and then we had to show our performance to the Green Dragons.” Isla

“On Monday we enjoyed being with the U3 girls and working things out as a team. We were asked to design and make an ethical product that used recycled things. Our group made a product call ‘Re-Fill’… it was like a bottle with a pelican beak to link in with our biomimicry theme, and you can store items like shampoo in it and you send it back to the shop so it can be cleaned and then re-filled.” Schechinah and Tanya

“On Tuesday we had a Science Extravaganza! My favourite activity was launching rockets out of a plastic container because it was fun having to rush away quickly after putting the water and the tablet together.” Amy

“My favourite Science activity was learning about the brain with Miss Chapman. I learned that the brain is grey and it sends more messages that everyone’s phone in the whole world. I really enjoyed making a brain hat.” Lydia

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Year 6

Our final farewell!

We have reached the end of Year 6 and it is now time for us to say goodbye to you all as we are now ready to make the next step in our education.

Junior School has been a happy place where we have been able to develop many skills, not only skills to help us progress in the academic curriculum, but skills that will help us to navigate the challenges that life will inevitably give us.

We wish everybody in the Junior School every success next year and will never forget the friendships that we have made, the staff who have guided us and most of all that we will always be a Northampton High School girl at heart.

Happy holidays!

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GAP Club

Don’t forget that GAP Club for Reception to Year 6 will be located in our new room at the end of the Year 5/6 corridor from September.

Wishing everyone a fantastic Summer.

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Term Dates

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