The sunshine has brought an added sense of energy and enthusiasm, and it has been a pleasure to see the girls making the most of the lovely weather during their Outdoor Learning, sports lessons and playtimes. They are showing increasing responsibility for themselves and others, ensuring they have everything they need, staying hydrated, and demonstrating real maturity in their approach to school life.

At the weekend, it was fantastic to see so many families taking advantage of the complimentary tickets to the Women’s Northampton Town football match. Supporting women’s sport is something we feel passionate about, and it was wonderful to hear the girls talk so enthusiastically about the experience. You can read more about it later in this edition of Junior News.

On Tuesday, we welcomed Mrs Lucy Stawt to the Junior School Coffee Morning. It was a pleasure to introduce her to many of you in person. Lucy will be joining us more regularly over the summer term as she prepares to take up her role as Head of Junior School in September. She is very much looking forward to getting to know our community further, and if you would like to arrange a meeting with her, please do let us know and we will be happy to organise a time on one of the days she is with us.

Looking ahead, the summer term promises to be a particularly special one, filled with events that will celebrate the achievements, talents, and spirit of our pupils. From Sports Days and the Summer Fayre to the Fathers Day Breakfast, Sports Celebration, Year 6 Celebration, Speech Day, and a variety of exciting class visits. We are excited to welcome you all into school to share in the many wonderful upcoming events.

Mrs Saunders-Wall
Interim Director of Junior School Liaison

There is something truly special about a birthday – a time to celebrate, reflect and look ahead. And today, it is our school’s turn! Northampton High School turns 147 years old – a remarkable milestone that brings our community together to honour nearly a century and a half of girls’ education.

Anniversaries and birthdays are important milestones for any community. They allow us to pause and reflect on our shared history, to acknowledge our achievements and our challenges, and to renew our commitment to our core values and mission. The celebration of Northampton High School’s 147th birthday is a perfect opportunity to recognise the school’s rich history and legacy, as well as its ongoing commitment to providing a high quality and irresistible education for girls.

In assembly today, I had the joy of speaking with students from Year 1 to the Sixth Form about our beautiful school crest – a symbol deeply rooted in the fabric of our town and the county, with the four segments of our crest representing aspects of the school, its history and links to the local area. Indeed, each part tells a story about who we are, where we have come from, and the values we hold dear.

We remembered Miss Alice Straker, a trailblazing Headmistress who led the school from 1890 for 21 years and gave us our original motto, ‘The Utmost for the Highest’. Her vision of a school that would inspire young women to aim high and never stop striving still guides us today. Her legacy of ambition and integrity is woven into the very fabric of our school.

Miss Straker also believed in recognising character and conduct. Students were awarded Courtesy Badges and Honour Cards as symbols of pride in both behaviour and academic achievement. There was even a single, coveted Good Conduct Medal, worn with honour by one student each year. These traditions remind us how long we have been nurturing not only academic success but also kindness, respect and responsibility.

The school modern crest also celebrates our link to the town and to our former home in Derngate, with a design inspired by the artwork on the door of 78 Derngate. This house was formerly used as Sixth Form classrooms by the school and was famously designed and remodelled by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Now, of course, it is a much-loved visitor attraction celebrating his final major commission.

We were therefore delighted to re-establish our connection with 78 Derngate earlier this year, when we held our Retrospective Art Exhibition there in February – now to become an annual event. This showcase of A Level Art and Textiles work from our alumnae took place in the beautifully lit upper galleries, offering a fitting tribute to the school’s heritage and our original site from 1878. It provided a retrospective celebration of the girls’ creative achievements within a space brimming with the school’s history. 

Our current location in Hardingstone is also reflected in the crest, through the image of the Queen Eleanor Cross, only a few hundred metres from school and one of Northampton’s most important historical monuments. It is one of the only remaining crosses erected by Edward I along the route of the funeral procession of his late queen, Eleanor of Castile. It marks our place in the local landscape and serves as a daily reminder of the rich heritage that surrounds us.

We also retain a tribute to the school’s historical status as a church school in the current crest through the Dioscian keys. Of course, since the school joined the GDST in 2007, we are now non-denominational, something reflected in our diverse and vibrant student and staff body. However, the universal Christian values of kindness, charity and service remain at the heart of our ethos and are lived out in the everyday life of the school.

And of course, the rose – the emblem of Northamptonshire affectionately referred to as The Rose of the Shires – holds a special place in our story. It represents the girls themselves and is used as the symbol for our alumnae. Every student who leaves the Sixth Form is given a yellow rose to symbolise her time at the school and the bright future that lies ahead.

Since our founding in 1878, we have remained unwavering in our commitment to educating girls free from the constraints of gender stereotypes and the perceptions of what girls can and cannot do. As we celebrate this milestone, we honour the thousands of young women who have passed through our doors, cherish the present with pride, and look forward to a future of continued excellence in girls’ education.

Northampton High School has undergone many changes, both physically and academically, and established a long and illustrious heritage in the town itself. From our beginnings with just 29 students, to today’s thriving community of over 485 girls aged 2 to 18, we continue to help girls learn without limits, so that they go on to lead lives without limits.

Through the school’s modern motto, ‘We believe in our girls and they believe in themselves’, we hope that we remain true to the original spirit and ethos of the school. A school that proudly puts girls first where they take centre stage, and they are the focus of everything we do. 

So here’s to our past, our present, and our future. 

Happy Birthday, Northampton High School – may you continue to flourish for many years to come.

Dr Lee
Headteacher

What a busy start to the summer term we have had in Nursery which has included welcoming a new friend to our Nursery room. We have been very impressed with the way that she has settled in and how welcoming her peers have been.  

Outside with the weather being so nice we have embraced water play and enjoyed a lovely sunny session at Forest School. 

Despite the break over Easter, the girls remembered their ballet exercises and were very excited to see Miss Lauren.

This week in Preschool we started with the book ‘Super Daisy’. Mrs Mason surprised us by dressing up as a super hero! As the week progressed we were visited once again by robot Rick who helped us with some CVC oral blending and made us think about some of the letter sounds that might be in each word.

On Wednesday we started to look at the life cycle of a frog. The girls watched a PowerPoint telling us how frogs grow from an egg to a tadpole and into a frog. We learnt what a froglet was and watched as a tadpole tail shrinks and its back legs grow before the front legs. The girls all had the chance to physically order the life cycle of a frog with some life cycle toys. A frog investigation area has been made with various ‘ponds’ for the girls to explore. One of these was a tray with water, lilly pads and various frogs.

Outside this week, the girls have really enjoyed playing with the babies and people puppets. They have collaborated together to make large group games of Mum’s and Dad’s and also individually made games up by themselves. The girls have been creating imaginary games with them throughout the week.

On the creative table we have been making life cycle wheels with paper plates. The girls were able to show off their developing cutting skills by cutting out different sections on the plate.

Reception have been learning all about numbers to 20 with a specific focus on teen numbers. We have been using our tens frames to create numbers to ten and then adding another tens frame to help us count on.

We have also enjoyed playing games linked to counting sets of items and had a fantastic time digging for pretend worms in our mud pit; carefully counting how many we found each time.

In PE this week we have been developing our tennis skills, seeing how many times we could hit the ball with our racket. This developed our counting skills from 0-100 too.

Year 1 have been consolidating their learning about measurements and focusing on capacity. The girls carried out an investigation to discover which unit would be best to measure with.

Using different sized containers the girls recorded measurements using cubes, sand and water. Working as a group, they were then able to conclude that the water was the most accurate form of measuring and use maths vocabulary to explain why.

Year 2 are learning about Fractions. We have used equipment and bar models to help us calculate 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4 of different amounts.

We have thought carefully about the most appropriate equipment to use to work effectively, for examples counters for questions involving smaller numbers and tens and ones for larger numbers.

We also revisted our understanding of division, using numicon.

Year 3 have have been reviewing the topics studied so far this year and consolidating their learning. Activities have included using whiteboards to practise methods for carrying out the four number operations, working in pairs to solve problems and improving mental arithmetic skills.

The girls will soon be learning about money and time, so any opportunities at home to handle cash, or tell the time on an analogue clock, will complement their learning in school.

Our fantastic Year 4 students have been diving into the world of decimal place value! From partitioning numbers into ones, tenths, and hundredths with counters and part-whole models, to comparing and ordering decimal numbers up to two decimal places – they’ve been busy little bees!

With the help of number lines, they have also mastered rounding numbers to the nearest integer. And as if that was not enough, they have explored the decimal equivalents of fractions like 1/2, 1/4, and 3/4 using a hundred square!

A huge shoutout to our Year 4 learners for their hard work and enthusiasm! Keep it up, team!

“In Maths we have been learning about angles. We learned about acute, obtuse and reflex angles, which are bigger than 180 degrees.” Flora

“We went outside to find lots of different angles, which was really fun. When we were measuring the arrows on the playground, it wasn’t all right angles… there were acute angles and obtuse angles and even the ones that were meant to be right angles were a couple of degrees off.” Isabella

“I really enjoyed learning how to measure angles with a protractor and learning how to estimate the size of angles by what they are closest to. I definitely feel much more confident with angles, although I still enjoy measuring them more than drawing them!” Tabby

We have made shapes with linking cubes that have the same volume.

The girls have discovered the difference between the formulae for calculating areas of triangles and parallelograms.

We have also been revising our four number operations and remembering to show our working out.

These year groups working together fosters a sense of responsibility and leadership among the older pupils and supports the development of reading confidence in Year 1.

The session created a warm and supportive atmosphere, reinforcing positive relationships between the pupils which was delightful to see.

On Sunday 27 April, families from our school turned out in force to support the Northampton Town Football Club Women’s team in a thrilling match at Sixfields Stadium.

The day was made even more special as it saw a record-breaking crowd for the women’s game, with an incredible 1,142 spectators in attendance.

Pupils from both the Junior and Senior Schools were delighted to be part of the occasion. Girls had the unforgettable opportunity to take to the pitch before kick-off, proudly waving flags as the teams walked on. The excitement reached new heights when Mrs Blake won a special competition to lead the teams out and carry the match ball onto the pitch.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, and the girls were full of praise for Northampton’s fantastic performance.

It was an inspiring day of football, teamwork, and community spirit – one that will be remembered by all who took part.

At the end of every term the eagerly anticipated House competitions take place for Netball and the results are as follows:

Year 3 and 4

1st – Demeter
2nd – Selene 
Joint 3rd – Artemis and Hestia 

Year 5 and 6

1st  – Selene
2nd – Hestia
3rd – Demeter
4th – Artemis

We are very excited to share the news of our brand new girls-only toddler group starting this month!

Girls aged 1-3 and their parents, grandparents and guardians are all welcome to come along and delve into a wide variety of toys, crafts and ‘surprise play stations’ created to spark imagination and fun times. Always remember ‘dress to get messy!’.

This toddler group will be held fortnightly on Tuesdays, 9.15am – 10am, a full list of dates and the online booking form can be found on the school website https://www.northamptonhigh.co.uk/admissions/open-events/

Please feel free to share this with any friends who may be interested, and come and join us with your little ones too. Our next session is, Tuesday 6 May.