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Junior News 14 May 2021 |
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This week is Mental Health awareness week with the theme of getting out into nature. The words of The Duchess of Cambridge remind us that ‘A child’s mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same amount of support’. Last weekend I was lucky enough to dust off my VW campervan after its long lockdown winter on the drive and spend a couple of nights in the glorious city of Cambridge. Next to our pitch was a significant slope, almost vertical, completely covered in brambles, ivy, broken branches, rocks and trees. To my delight, I became aware of two children, first planning their descent down the slope and then attempting it, followed later by repeated and more successful attempts. What I heard in their dialogue and saw was dynamic risk assessment, effective teamwork, detailed observation, trial and error, challenge, exhilaration, satisfaction and enormous amounts of fun. Indoor public spaces are risked assessed to the highest level. It is nature, and the wild outdoors that can give our children the opportunities such as those I have listed above which are key to promoting ongoing mental health. This could be clambering over rocks to investigate a rock pool, exploring an unkempt area of the garden or enjoying an afternoon dragging logs to make a den at forest school. As we look forward to a significant step in the ‘unlocking’ of society on Monday and possibly a long-awaited holiday over half term, do look for opportunities for your daughters to spend time outside, in nature, it will do them the world of good! Have a wonderful weekend! Mrs Purvey-Tyrer |
Achievements |
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Each week in our virtual assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week: Darcy – has been accepted into the summer programme at Ballet Boost in London after a successful audition a few weeks ago. She’s really thrilled! Emily F – “I did a rugby match on Sunday. I was playing for ‘Men’s Own’ rugby team in Ashton and I scored a try. It was my first rugby match. I’ve been playing for the team for 3 weeks. We won!” Ellie H – “I have entered a dressage online competition and I got 71.5% on a virtual dressage test”. Frankie – “I am playing tennis for Northampton in June. So I have to play 3 matches for 2 days!” Jemima – took part in the virtual BBTSA (British Baton Twirling Sport Association) National Spring Cup. She was awarded ‘The Spring Cup Winner Sash’ and a 1st place trophy for her dance twirl routine. Jemima is excited for these to arrive in the post very soon. Shreya – achieved Distinction in Piano Grade 1 |
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Dates for your diary |
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Tuesday 18 May – all teacher-led clubs are cancelled Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June – Half Term Please note that Summer uniform is compulsory after May Half Term. Wednesday 16 June – there will be no Year 5 Art Club |
Nursery - Kipper Room and Elmer Room |
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This week in Nursery we have been practising taking turns, working as a team to make some playdough. The girls took it in turns to add ingredients and mix them together. “Mix it up!” Annabel exclaimed. The playdough was very popular during the week. The girls made a lot of creations, supporting their fine motor skills, from making cakes to using cutters to create numbers. We have also had fun mixing colours in the water tray and watching to see what happens when different food colourings are squeezed into the tray. “Look what happened!” Penelope said. |
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At Forest School we experienced some natural painting using different materials. As the weather starts to get better, and we will hopefully see some sunshine; would you please provide sun hats in the girls’ bags to use when we are outside? May we also ask that all items of clothing are named, to help us ensure they go home with the correct child. |
Nursery - Pre School |
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Tabitha Twinkle Toes has continued to visit Pre School this week, leaving daily letters offering activity ideas and sharing her words of wisdom. On Magical Monday, she left a star template for the girls to make magic wands and a selection of petals and herbs to make magic potions. Amelie and Anne changed Mrs Mason into all sorts of things ranging from a frog, to a fairy and then an oven. On Talking Tuesday, Tabitha left us lots of fairy-themed items to talk about on the talking table, including what Emily described as “an amazing dress” and Lily said, “fairy dust that makes you flow”. Wondering Wednesday had Tabitha wondering what the girls’ fairy names would be and the girls had to think of three words beginning with the first letter of their name – Jasleen Jelly Jam, Incredible Isabelle Ice cream, Amazing Apple Anne and Sophia Sugar Shoes. Tabitha also wondered if the girls could make fairy boats which we took to Forest School to see if they could float on the pond. |
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Thoughtful Thursday encouraged the girls to be thoughtful to others and then, sadly, it is now Farewell Fairy Friday. At home you could complete an online search for ideas on how to encourage fairies into your garden. Please share your fairy stories and activities via Parent Zone. |
Reception |
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Inspired by the book ‘The Tiny Seed’ by Eric Carle, a letter arrived from the Tiny Seed asking for help with giving other seeds advice. So, this week we have all written a leaflet with information that will help seeds grow well. Firstly we looked at the results of our experiment and concluded that for seeds to grow healthily they need light, soil and water. Some of our sunflower seeds are starting to show shoots. We have looked at the life cycle of a sunflower plant and found out that it will take around 90 days for the sunflower to be fully grown and it can have up to 2,000 seeds! In Maths, we have been revisiting addition and missing numbers in a sum, which has involved the use of some tricky mathematical language. We have been very pleased with the progress being made in reading, so please continue to support at home by looking at the tricky words and speed sounds. |
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This week we have learnt about spiders which are not insects as they have eight legs and no wings. Have a lovely weekend and happy minibeast hunting! |
Year 1 |
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In our English work this week, we have looked at the traditional tale of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. We have taken part in a lot of speaking and listening work, including retelling the story in pairs using actions and thinking about how we can use our voice. We have been describing Little Red Riding Hood and have worked hard on retelling the story, using the traditional story language. We have started a new focus in Maths this week. We have started our fraction unit and have been looking at finding half. We have been finding and recognising half in shapes and have started looking at halving quantities. In Science, we have been identifying different types of common plants and trees. We looked closely at the similarities and differences between many plants we know. In Geography, we have been looking at different types of maps. We have looked at our local area and identified human and physical features. We have also looked at aerial views and been able to locate our school and surrounding shops. |
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What the girls have said: “I liked making my traditional tale face in DT.” Rhoda and Emily. Looking ahead to next week: Maths – fractions, quarters
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Year 2 |
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This week in Maths, we have continued to explore length and height. We have been making comparisons and ordering different objects accordingly. We have also been problem solving and playing games to support our learning. In English, we have been studying the story of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. We have retold the story as narrators using actions and we have written a character description for Little Red Riding Hood thinking carefully about including commas in our sentences to write a list. In Science, we have looked closely at seeds and bulbs learning about the differences and what they both look like inside. In PSHE, we have been talking about mending friendships and we used role play to show and share different scenarios. In Design and Technology, we have finished our traditional tale fabric faces. The girls have thoroughly enjoyed bringing these to life! |
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What the girls have said: “I have enjoyed DT because I finished my fabric face.” Thea, Holly and Kinara. Looking ahead to next week: Maths – position and direction |
Year 3 |
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This week we have been learning about clauses and writing subordinate clauses to make our sentences more interesting. In Maths, we have been telling the time and looking at calendars. In Humanities, we have been learning about earthquakes and why they happen. |
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What the girls have said: “I enjoyed making our Rocks PowerPoint in Science.” Eva. Looking ahead to next week: |
Year 4 |
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In Maths, we finished our unit on money and made great progress developing our understanding of adding and subtracting money and giving change. The grand finale was a really challenging set of questions using all four operations. I was really impressed! In English we took the time to publish our brilliant biographies finished last week. We will be doing more of this to give the girls a real purpose to their writing. Our new text, set in WW2, has generated interesting discussions and inspired some great writing using inference skills. In Science we had a fun outdoor session creating string telephones. This was a great way to demonstrate how the spread of vibrations affects the amplitude of sound. |
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What the girls have said: “I enjoyed English because of the story ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’. I also enjoyed library time because I like reading.” Lesley. Looking ahead to next week: |
Year 5 |
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It’s been a great week, but our highlight was on Wednesday afternoon when the girls had a workshop run by the Street Law trainee solicitors and barristers, from the BPP Education Group in London. The Year 5 girls had a brilliant afternoon, finding out about characteristics needed to have a career in law, together with the ins and outs of the judicial system. The girls all took part in the trial of Goldilocks, some with scripted parts and others acting as members of the jury…at the moment the girls appear to have a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ perspective on life! |
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What the girls have said: “I was very happy being part of the jury and also figuring out if Goldilocks should be punished for her crime or be a normal civilian. After listening to all the evidence, I voted for Goldilocks to be found guilty and thought she should be put in prison or at least get a fine or community service for 30 to 300 hours!” Vivienne. “I really enjoyed Wednesday’s Law Workshop. We learnt the rules of the court, such as you are not allowed to lie in court. We also discussed what makes a good lawyer – we think one of the things is being quick witted. During the trial I was the prosecution barrister trying to prove that Goldilocks was guilty. I used persuasive language to argue my part of the case and I won! Goldilocks was found guilty.” Phoebe. Dates for your diary: |
Year 6 |
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Year 6 have continued to work hard this week and have produced a pleasing standard of work in all areas. In Maths we have continued to explore ratio and scale factor, the Suffragettes in English, how light travels through the construction of periscopes in Science and enjoyed group presentations of world faiths. Alongside this, we have also learnt more about the individual beliefs of everyone in the year and celebrated the diverse cultures represented by our pupils. However, perhaps the highlight of the week was Forest School where we enjoyed creating trails and team flags for our mystery game next week. |
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What the girls have said: “I loved writing about the Suffragettes in a history fact file. I enjoyed researching all about the two different branches of the Suffragettes: the NUWSS and the WSPU. I loved learning all about the violent acts they committed and debating if they should have been violent or not. I think they should have been violent because otherwise they would not have got anywhere and they would have just looked like fools in front of everyone.” Eloise. “My highlight of the week was Forest School; I particularly liked the free time bit because I love to climb trees. I also really enjoyed having Betty there and being able to take her for a bit of a run around Forest School.” Natalie. “I loved making the periscope because I can spy on my brothers. It was not easy to make but it was worth it!” Isla M. Looking ahead to next week: Next week we look forward to starting our study of poetry in English, building shadow theatres in Science, swimming on Tuesday and Forest School on Wednesday afternoon. Have a lovely weekend! |
GDST Talks with Grace Barrett: Video available now! |
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We are delighted to confirm that the footage from one of our most recent GDST Talks with Grace Barrett is now available to be viewed online. Grace joined us to talk on the subject of ‘Managing the transition from Primary to Secondary School’, and can be viewed on the official GDST YouTube page by clicking here. Here, you will also find links to videos from previous GDST Talks. We hope you have enjoyed the GDST Talks series so far this year, and as always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions for what topics you would like to see covered in the future. Mr Nash |
The Time Out for Parents - Handling Anger in the Family |
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For your information: Handling Anger in the Family is a short 4-session course for parents of children aged 5-16 years. This course from Care for the Family will look at how one can manage and handle anger in a safe and healthy way, starting with oneself as a parent and carer and then with helping children. This is a really popular course and the organisation has added extra dates due to demand, so they expect to fill all 12 spaces. If you are interested, please book ASAP to avoid disappointment. Date and time: Tuesday mornings, 9:30 – 11:30am from 15 June – 6 July. Cost: £10 per household including accompanying parent handbook (RRP. £9.99) and additional resources and goodies. Bursary places are available for parents who qualify. To get tickets please visit Handling Anger in the Family For more information contact Louise Willis on 07784 333825 or email hello@hopeforfamilies.org.uk Mrs O’Doherty |
Term Dates 20/21 |
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Term Dates 21/22 |
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Term Dates 22/23 |
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Northampton High School |
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