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Junior News – 16 February 2024 |
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“Be a hope-o-potamus!” Our Year 6 House Leadership team lead an excellent assembly on Wednesday this week, in which there was a clear message for us all to be a hope-o-potamus! The team of pupils chose to create an assembly on perseverance and in order to explore this concept, they shared ‘The Hope-o-potamus’ story written by Greg James and Chris Smith. This rhyming story can be found in ‘The Book of Hopes’. It is an engaging tale of how a hippopotamus becomes a hope-o-potamus when faced with challenges in which his perserverance is tested. When asked to consider their own experiences with having their perserverance tested, the pupils were able to idenitfy several examples in their own lives where they had wanted to give up. Ellie (Year 4) shared how she has shown perseverance when developing as a tennis player and Robyn (Year 1) told us all how she had preserved at an adventure camp and how, when faced with a challenge, she did not give up and was able to achieve it. The hope-o-potamus focused on taking the first step in moving through a challenge and focusing our minds on the next small step, rather than being concerned about what lies ahead beyond the next step. The pupils were able to recognise that not only is it important that we persevere ourselves when we are faced with challenges, but also how we can support our friends to persevere too. They together created phrases they could choose to use when encouraging a friend to persevere. The Year 6 leaders concluded their assembly by reminding us that we are all going to face challenges in life and sometimes we might feel like giving up. They encouraged us to always persevere like the hope-o-potamus in the story and to keep trying. We were left with the message that next time we face a challenge that makes us want to give up, we should pause and make a choice to become a hope-o-potamus instead! As always, our pupils’ organisational skills were encouraging and their developing independence allowed them to collaborate together effectively to plan and deliver an excellent assembly that was engaging, interesting and thought-provoking for all Reception to Year 6 pupils. It is a fabulous message to end the first half of the academic year with – be a hope-o-potamus! I hope you all have a relaxing break over the half term holiday and are able to rest, recharge and have fun! I am looking forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 26 February to enter the second half of this academic year together. Miss Hair |
Whole School Open Morning - Friday 8 March |
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We look forward to welcoming so many lovely families to our upcoming Whole School Open Morning on Friday 8 March. The events promises to be a superb showcase of life at Northampton High School. If you would like to come along, please do feel most welcome, and should you have family, friends, or neighbours keen to visit us, please encourage them to book their place here and join us! Mr Nash |
World Book Day - Thursday 7 March |
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To coincide with World Book Day on Thursday 7 March 2024, we shall be holding our ‘Junior School Book Sale’ once again. Last year this was highly successful with lots of books donated by pupils. We raised over £120 to put back into our reading offer. Donations of books – both fiction and non-fiction suitable for ages 2-11 years can be made by placing them in the boxes at the front of the Junior School entrance hall straight after half term. Many thanks for your support.
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Rainbow Themed Non Uniform Day |
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To coincide with World Book Day on Thursday 7 March 2024, we shall be holding our ‘Junior School Book Sale’ once again. Last year, this was highly successful with lots of books donated by pupils, and we raised over £120 to put back into our reading offer. Donations of books, both fiction and non-fiction suitable for ages 2-11 years, can be made by placing them in the boxes at the front of the Junior School entrance hall straight after half term. Many thanks for your support. |
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Today, we have enjoyed a rainbow themed non uniform day which was chosen by Aurelia (Year 3) as her silent auction prize from the Christmas Fayre. The Junior School has been washed with colour, and it lifted our spirits even higher at the end of a busy half term. Thank you Aurelia for this fantastic day! |
Swap Shop |
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A reminder that Swap Shop is open in term time, from 2.30pm – 3.30pm, each Friday in the Junior School Hall. Thank you for your support. The Swap Shop Team |
News from our classrooms: Nursery and Preschool |
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In Nursery, we have reached the end of term with a feeling of love in the air! When asked “who do you love?”, the Nursery girls have said parents, grandparents, pets and their friends in the room. The Valentines theme has also been present in cooking and we made jam tart hearts. The girls have printed with heart shaped cutters, and made sticking pictures with lots of red and pink resources. Our story this week has been ‘Peace at Last’, with the aim being for the girls to join in with the repeated refrain, and that most certainly has happened! In Maths, we have thought about more, lots and most. |
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This week in Preschool, we have had a busy week celebrating two traditions; Shrove Tuesday and Valentine’s Day. We have also been looking at different types of feelings and emotions whilst reading our Book of the Week; ‘In my heart.’On Tuesday, the girls made some play dough pancakes and biscuits using various materials, and they enhanced their play further by taking the trays of biscuits into the home corner and cooking them in the oven. On Wednesday it was Valentine’s Day, and we decorated and wrote cards for our families. The girls are increasing their love for writing, and this has been shown through other child led activities as well this week. We have also played a Valentines numeral matching game, and the girls had to identify an amount of hearts and match them to the corresponding number card. |
Reception |
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This week, the class have enjoyed celebrating Pancake Day with various activities including making play dough pancakes, choosing toppings and having a go at tossing a pancake. On Wednesday it was Valentine’s Day, and hearts were in abundance with lots of lovely messages written to loved ones. Our phonics this week have been the sounds ‘ur’, ‘ow’ and ‘oi’. We are trying to use the sounds in our reading and writing. In our topic we investigated ‘old toys’. The class were very interested in these, and were amazed to find out that there were no tablets or electricity in the olden days! In Maths, we have been investigating doubles using dominoes, ladybird spots and butterflies to aid understanding. |
Year 1 English Focus |
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On Monday, Year 1 visited the Paramedic Training Suite at the University of Northampton. We had a fantastic time and learnt lots. We were looked after extremely well by Nick Allen and Steve Buckle. In our English lesson on Thursday, we read some examples of letters to identify the features you need when writing a letter, and then wrote thank you letters to Nick and Steve. Mrs Purvey-Tyrer was very impressed with our letter writing skills. We enjoyed sharing our letters with each other and will now post them to the University. Photo 1 – Letter by Georgina P |
Year 2 English Focus |
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Year 2 have had a great time learning about poetry this week! We read a humourous poem called ‘At the Zoo’ by William Makepeace Thackeray. We enjoyed learning different vocabulary related to poetry, such as ‘verses’ and ‘alliteration’. Next, we wrote our own poems inspired by the Great Fire of London. We used lots of rhyming verbs, for example, flowing and growing, to describe what was happening. We can’t wait to share our finished poems with you! |
Year 3 English Focus |
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Year 3 have been preparing for their speaking and listening presentations all about our topic of ‘India’ over this half term The girls had a choice of creating a Google Slide, a piece of art or craft work, a dance, Indian cookery, a poster or anything else creative, and then had to prepare to talk about it to the rest of the class. We had some wonderfully confident performances and the girls listened to each other, showing mutual respect and interest. |
Year 4 English Focus |
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During this last week, Year 4 have been reading Professor Folklore’s information text on ‘The truth about Mountain Ogres’. Using the text as inspiration, they have created their own species of ogre and described its features using rich vocabulary and the power of 3. They have also invented special talents and thought about the weird foods they may eat. Next, the girls made improvements to their sentences by adding fronted adverbials of interest, as well as using adverbials for including extra information. Their final piece of writing used all these skills to write an information text on a frost giant. |
Year 5 English Focus |
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Over the past few weeks, the Year 5 girls have been exploring Anglo-Saxon legends and have delved deep into the world of Beowulf. They have learned about kennings: word-hoards and sea-surges, war-bands and foul-fiends. They have explored noun phrases of horror, adverbial phrases and settings filled with sensory description. This week, we finished the book and wrote our own legends. So, come close and listen well, my friends, and we will tell you tales of heros and monsters! |
Year 6 English Focus |
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Year 6 have been studying ‘The Promise’ by Nicola Davies. This is a heart-warming short story about a young thief, whose life is transformed by a promise they make. The girls have identified the figurative language used by the author for effect, and carefully crafted their own short stories in the same style. |
News from outside of the classroom: Year 1 Trip to the University of Northampton Paramedic Training Suite |
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On Monday morning, Year 1 went on a very short journey to the University of Northampton and visited the Paramedic Training Suite. We were welcomed by Mr Allen, our Chair of Governors, who gave us all university lanyards which was very exciting! In the training suite we were welcomed by Mr Buckle, senior lecturer in paramedic science. Mr Buckle taught us so much about the role of a paramedic. We all tried on high visibility jackets and hard hats which were very big for us, and we were shown the contents of the very heavy paramedic response bag. |
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We could see the ‘patient’ on the stretcher was breathing, and we all took his pulse to find out if his heart was working. Mr Buckle could make him cough, talk, and sound like he was being sick! A highlight was going into the ambulance and pressing buttons on the defibrillator. Our favourite part was going into a secret room out of the side door of the ambulance where we experienced a snow storm, hot beach and nightclub! You’ll have to talk to us to find out more… It was a wonderful trip and a big thank you to Mr Allen and Mr Buckle for making it happen and looking after us so well. |
News from outside of the classroom: Netball v Wellingborough School - Match Reports |
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U10A: On Wednesday 14 February. the U10A team played an away match against Wellingborough. It was very close and in the end we lost 9-5. In the third quarter we got the score level at 5-5, but then in the last quarter Wellingborough scored 4 more goals. Eloise C was Player of the Match. We were great at getting the ball down to the GS and GA so they could shoot, but we could definitely improve on footwork and staying with the person we are marking. However, we are definitely getting better. Elizabeth F-W and Thea S U10B: On Wednesday 14 February, the U10B team played against Wellingborough. We unfortunately lost 15-2 and the Player of the Match was Kinara B. We did well at getting the ball to the ‘D’, but we need to work on spreading out to find space. We are definitely getting better at netball. Leah W |
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U11A: The U11A team travelled to Wellingborough on 14 of February to play two 5-aside matches. First up we played Wellingborough, and we had a great first half making the score 4-0. We continued to work hard and managed to confirm a win of 8-2! Player of the Match awarded to Zara J. With no break we were on to the next match against Bedford Greenacre. The team worked really hard, only playing 3 quarters due to the weather and time, and the final score was 8-0. Player of the Match was this time awarded to Amelie N. Next time, we could improve on taking our time, giving the right ball at the right time and shooting. We look forward to our next match! Annabelle R U11B: The match went really well for U11B team, and the overall score was a 4-4 draw. We all enjoyed it and made some really good passes, good movement off the ball into space and goals. Congratulations to Daisy S for being the Player of the Match. I hope that we can play lots more in the future. Lily C U11C: The under U11C team – Eliza A, Maya A, Imaan D, Alisha F, Anna H and Artemisia U – did really well in our matches on Wednesday. In the first match we lost 4-2 but played excellently, and I was awarded Player of the Match. Everyone played well and was especially good at getting past their markers. In the next match we played we lost 1-0 but played very well. I think we were good at trying to receive the ball from people and, overall, the team worked well with each other. Maya A |
News from outside of the classroom: Singing Exam Achievement |
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We are very pleased to share that one of our Year 2 pupils has experienced a remarkable achievement for her age. Jasmine has successfully passed her ABRSM Grade 5 Singing. To pass any music exam is a challenge but to pass Grade 5 when only in Year 2 is a truly fantastic achievement. Well done Jasmine, we are very proud of you. |
What's on at Northampton High - Spring Term |
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Weekly Awards |
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Star Learners of the Week: Emily P, Georgina P, Anne A, Isabelle L, Siena-Louise D B, Imogen O, Lulu P External Achievements: Jasmine I – awarded Grade 5 in her Singing Exam |
Birthdays This Week |
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This week, we wish a very Happy Birthday to the following members of our Junior School family: Anaya V and Ellie A |
Saturday Athletics Course |
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Pauline Quirke Academy |
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Northants Authors Book Fair |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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