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Junior News 18 October 2019 |
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Dear Parents It’s hard to believe that the first half term is over; it has flown by and been packed full of so many highlights. I would personally like to say ‘thank you’ for helping me to settle in to my new role; I have enjoyed many conversations with you on the door and the gate. On Monday Mrs Shaw shared with us her gardening exploits, showing us how she has transformed her back garden into an oasis that Alan Titchmarsh would envy! The message for the girls was about perseverance, high expectations and literally having a growth mind-set; so lovely to hear personal stories from our staff that really capture the interest of the girls. Our parent community have shared in Year 5’s Hobby Morning this week, where the girls gave presentations on their interests outside of school. What breadth of interest our girls have, including sports, arts, languages and everything in between. We also celebrated Year 3’s Class Assembly this week, where they shared a wide range of cultural learning from their ‘India Day.’ It is so lovely to see our students growing in confidence when presenting to large groups. Today, we have a large group of students heading to the theatre to enjoy a performance of David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy. It is important that we expose our students to high quality performances such as this as we look to develop their own oracy and presentation skills. Have a wonderful half term holiday, and stay safe if you are travelling, Chris Chris Bailey |
School Photographs Tuesday 5 November |
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Individual photographs will take place on Tuesday 5 November. Please ensure your daughter is wearing her winter uniform, as this is compulsory after half term. If you have more than one daughter in Junior School and would like their photograph taken together, please arrive in school for 8.30 am. |
Achievements |
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Each week in assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week: Dog Showing Gymnastics Hockey Horse Riding Taekwondo Reading |
Assemblies |
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Class Assemblies are held in the Junior School Hall at 8.35 am on a Wednesday. Parents are most welcome to enjoy refreshments from 8.00 am in the Community Room. Here are the dates for the Autumn Term: 6H – Wednesday 6 November |
Dates for Diary |
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Monday 21 October to Friday 1 November – HALF TERM Monday 4 November – Year 1 and 2 Milton Keynes Museum trip Tuesday 5 November – Individual School Photographs (full winter uniform) Wednesday 6 November to Friday 8 November – Year 5 residential trip Monday 11 November to Thursday 14 November – Book Fair Saturday 16 November – EYFS Family Fun morning & STEM morning Friday 22 November – Reception to Year 6 flu immunisation (more details to follow) Tuesday 3 December – 2-3pm Nursery Nativity Wednesday 4 December – 2-3pm Reception and KS1 play Tuesday 10 December – Nursery Stay and Play Tuesday 10 December – 7pm KS2 Christmas Celebration Friday 13 December – Christmas Jumper Day Friday 13 December – Preschool and Reception theatre trip Tuesday 17 December – Christmas Parties Tuesday 17 December – 3.35pm TERM ENDS Monday 6 January – INSET DAY Tuesday 7 January – SPRING TERM STARTS Looking ahead: Sports Day for KS2 and Senior School is Friday 5 June – normally all day. |
Girls on Board - Year 5 and 6 |
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After half term we will be introducing the ‘Girls on Board’ programme to pupils in Year 5 and 6. Girls on Board is an initiative which helps girls, their parents and their teachers to understand the complexities and dynamics of girl friendships. The winner of an ISA Award for Innovation and Excellence 2016 and Shortlisted for the TES Wellbeing Initiative of the Year 2019, it is suitable for use with girls from 8 to 18 and has been used in the Senior School for a year, with great success. Attached is a link to a short youtube video which explains the programme in further detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7yWXOt9H0s. Please don’t hesitate to make contact if you have any questions. Jo Purvey-Tyrer |
Sports |
We swam extremely well at the GDST Rally on Tuesday against 22 other schools. There was some extremely tough competition, and we all enjoyed the experience. Charlotte made it to the ‘25m Backstroke Final’ and came second place overall! We all tried our best and I am very proud of my team for working hard. I hope we will swim as well as we did on Tuesday in the next swimming gala! Well done, team!
Under 11 B Hockey v Winchester House Under 11 C Hockey v Winchester House |
Nursery Kipper Room and Elmer Room |
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Kipper Room: We have enjoyed another busy week in the Kipper Room. We have been welcoming some new friends into Nursery. The girls have enjoyed showing Iris, Penelope and Yasmin ‘the ropes’. On Wednesday, we visited the local park and had lots of fun on the swings. During the week, the girls have continued to explore different materials using a variety of tools, for example making patterns in hair conditioner with scrapers. We have also bid a sad farewell to Mrs Andrew this week. However, as a lovely farewell treat the girls made, decorated and ate cupcakes! We hope everyone has a lovely half term break and look forward to hearing all about it. Elmer Room: Highlights this week in Elmer Room have included a walk to the park, “swing me higher” Yana asked. Lily enjoyed being Dr Brown Bear holding the first aid case, “I’m Doctor Brown bear,” Lily said. The girls have experienced making cakes and icing them to eat for snack. They have also started making autumn leaf pictures. During the next two weeks, could you find some photos of your families to bring in for us to talk about and display. |
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Nursery Pre-School |
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Highlights: This week in Pre-School we have been busy looking at the sound ‘m’. We have made mice, monkey masks, marched and moved in different ways. At a very wet Forest School, girls enjoyed jumping in the puddles, Aurelia thought they were so big they were like lakes and we also made potions. We have enjoyed exploring flour, rice, shaving foam and pasta in the tuff tray, talking about the different textures. On Thursday we were very excited when baby Sophia came to visit; we found out what you need to do to look after a baby and how you change her nappy. What the girls have enjoyed: Dulcie, “playing”. Looking ahead to after half term:
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Reception |
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Highlights: This week we have been investigating the hexagon shape, the colour purple and the number 6. The girls have been experimenting mixing their own purple paint. They have practised the number 6 formation and sorted hexagon and pentagon shapes according to how many sides they have. We have been finding out about one of our senses – our ears for listening. The girls enjoyed going on a listening walk around the school and were amazed at how many different sounds you can hear when you really try to listen! A very good skill which we will endeavour to develop throughout the year. Our phonics this week have focused on the letter sounds ‘u’, ‘b’, and ‘e’. Activities included, writing ‘b’ in blue paint and blowing and popping bubbles and having an egg and spoon race, whilst saying “eeeegg.” All the girls have settled well into their new class and routines and although they are ready for a rest, we have been very pleased with the progress this half term. What the girls have said: “I enjoyed blowing bubbles and whenever you popped one you said ‘b’.” Emily. Looking ahead to after half term:
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Year 1 |
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Highlights: This week has been an exciting week. In English we have been learning how to write an acrostic poem. We have planned our own ‘all about me’ poem by choosing the word for something we like, or even our names. Everyone has worked really hard on these and they are super! In Science we have been looking at what different animals eat and how we can categorise them. In History, we have looked at Mary Seacole and found out about some of the incredible things that she did during the Victorian era. We really enjoyed the Year 5 Hobbies Morning too, as we got to experience some activities that the older children enjoy doing and we then talked about what our favourite hobbies are. What the girls have said: ‘I liked designing a card pumpkin in DT,’ Evette. Looking ahead to after half term: Reminder: Year 1 and 2 school trip on Monday 4 November to Milton Keynes Museum. |
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Year 2 |
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Highlights: This week in Maths we have continued work on adding and subtracting and as part of our computing session we worked on these skills using Mathletics on the iPads. In English we wrote some fantastic acrostic poems focusing on something about ourselves and it is clear that there are some budding poets among us! In History we looked at the work of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole and learned about the brave and courageous changes these two women brought to the world of nursing. In Science we learned what different animals eat and how scientists categorise them according to their eating habits. What the girls have said: “I loved swimming this week – we practised diving and played bumper cars!” Leilana. Looking ahead to after half term: Reminder, Year 1 and 2 school trip on Monday 4 November to Milton Keynes Museum. |
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Year 3 |
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Highlights: This week Year 3 have been telling the time on analogue and digital clocks. We have found it trickier to convert to digital time! We all enjoyed presenting our Class Assembly on Wednesday and I am very proud about how clearly and confidently they spoke and performed in front of an audience. In English we have been busy writing reports of our amazing India Day and reading them out in assembly. What the girls have said: “I enjoyed watching the videos about Hinduism in Humanities.” Tami. Looking ahead to after half term:
Please ensure permission for Food Tech is ticked on SIMS; we will obviously ensure we cater for girls with allergies. |
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Year 4 |
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Highlights: In Maths this week we have been using rulers and metre sticks to measure objects in millimetres, centimetres and metres. We also started to convert between different units of measure. In English we have made notes about our trip to Piddington and written a recount of the day. On Wednesday, the girls enjoyed visiting the Year 5 Hobbies Morning and were inspired to try some new activities. What the girls have said: Looking ahead to after half term:
Please ensure permission for Food Tech is ticked on SIMS. We will obviously ensure we cater for girls with allergies. |
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Year 5 |
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Highlights: This week in English we used our oracy and presentation skills to prepare and present Hobbies Morning followed by an evaluation of what we have learnt. In Maths we looked at written methods for multiplication. In Science we moved away from plants… as a class we looked at the life cycles of insects and amphibians before doing some independent research on the life cycles of different mammals. Thank you so much to everyone who came to support the Year 5 Hobbies Morning. Please note there is a separate Flickr folder (Year 5 Hobbies Morning 2019) with lots of fabulous photos in it. What the girls have said: Looking ahead to after half term: We will be on our residential trip for three days learning lots of new skills and practising trust, teamwork and resilience.
Please remember to practice cycling if you can over the holidays and to get together the kit your daughter will need for our Grafham Water trip. Have a lovely half term break! |
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Year 6 |
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Year 6 Newsletter – Week 6: Expelliarmus! Another week has flown past and as always, the girls have enjoyed a whirlwind of different activities helping them to develop in so many ways. Celebrating Harry Potter week has proved to be both magical and mystical. ‘Siriusly’ it was amazing! A big ‘thank you’ goes to Miss Buxton for providing a wealth of interesting activities including creating our own magical potions and Mrs Hodges-Tate for her spell binding potions class – who would have thought troll bogies could look quite so revolting or Slytherin’s Snake so ominous? As if celebrating Harry Potter was not enough, we also thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of Outdoor Education at Forest School with Mrs Waters, soaking up the glorious autumnal atmosphere and enjoying the benefits of the sunshine! It was fantastic to see the girls working together as a team to find mice blind folded as well as building dens, creating their own natural paints, weaving dream catchers and even finding a newt! Furthermore it has been wonderful for myself, Mr Loveday, Mrs Dadge and Mr Bailey to be able to reflect on the progress all of our girls have made this half term and remind ourselves of why we love this job so much – working with young minds is such a privilege, especially young minds that desperately want to learn and continuously improve. On that note, it is time for us all to wish you a very happy half-term whether you are at home or further afield. Let’s hope that we can enjoy more of the wonderful weather we have experienced in recent days. Just remember to return in winter uniform as the weather is due to take a wintrier turn! Karen Fordham and James Loveday Student voices: “In Art we have been practicing: running stitch, back stitch, cross stitch, blanket stitch, crown stitch and rounding off. We enjoyed it 😊” “We loved Forest School – the sun was shining, and we got to create clay prints, make natural paints, weave dream catchers, build dens, find newts and just enjoy being outside enjoying nature! Betty enjoyed it too!” “This week has been awesome! In Science, we were making Harry Potter themed potions. We made Yellow Fizz, Giant Snot and a Drying Potion. At the beginning of the lesson we watched a fake serpent grow!” “I really enjoyed learning about Escher and creating my own tessellations – it is trickier than it looks at times!” “We had an amazing time with Mrs Hodges-Tate making amazing Harry Potter Potions – I loved making revolting troll bogies, the Drying Potion and using house-elf tears!” “Forest School: Indi found a newt and we had fun making dens. Anna, Ahriana, Himaya, Leela and Isla N made a tap in our den. It was very cool. Also, we drew dogs with charcoal and painted them with natural paint made from turmeric and paprika.”
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GAP Club |
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Highlights: The girls have had a very creative last week of half term. On Monday we used tissue paper to collage hedgehogs. On Tuesday the girls created squirrels and toadstools. On Wednesday and Thursday, we curled paper and used this technique to create a snail. On Friday we created our new role play area. All of our fantastic creations have been added to our Autumnal display. What the girls have enjoyed: “Curling the paper and making the snail.’ Evette, Year 1. Looking ahead to after half term:
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Celebrating Halloween in the Dining Hall! |
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FoNHS |
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There will be a short meeting to discuss the accounts and the future of FoNHS. This will take place in the Senior School at 10.30 am on Tuesday 5 November and all are welcome. Please contact Mrs Dee Brown at d.brown@nhs.gdst.net if you would like to attend. |
Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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