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Junior News 20 March 2020 |
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Dear parents As we close our doors this evening for an unprecedented period of home learning, I want to thank you for all your kindness, support and good wishes over the past few days. It has been a challenging and emotional week for many, but staff and pupils have shown immense resilience, adaptability and creativity as they prepare for a period of guided home learning and – for some – a period of uncertainty over examinations, too. We must all adapt to a different way of working now. The setting may be different but the level of educational provision and pastoral care will remain just as high, and we will do everything that we can to support you and your daughter through this period of uncertainty. Northampton High School has an incredibly strong and cohesive community and to be physically apart will be difficult. However, I am confident in my colleagues’ professionalism and determination to provide an engaging and enriching education from afar, and in the girls’ ability to adjust. I will keep you updated regularly, but for now I wish you and all of our pupils, staff, Governors and their families and friends all the very best; I sincerely hope that you all stay healthy and strong in body and spirit. Caroline Petryszak |
Message from Mr Bailey |
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Dear Parents, In the midst of all the uncertainty surrounding us this week, learning has continued as normal here at Northampton High Junior School. It has been so impressive to witness the strength and determination of our community to keep things running smoothly. This week across the school we have seen Shakespeare drama reconstructions, eye dissection, year group singing, a full extra-curricular club programme, playdough-making and so much more. As always, the girls have been committed to their learning and great ambassadors for the GDST spirit. Some of our girls have moved to Guided Home Learning this week and many more will be undertaking this from next week. As you will know, your daughter can access a range of open-ended tasks, as well as daily specific English and Maths tasks to keep them busy over the period of school closure. For Reception and Nursery girls the teachers have devised a menu of Early Years appropriate tasks that the girls can choose from. Do help your daughter to regularly share their learning with their class teacher. There are also so many additional ideas and resources available online; https://literacytrust.org.uk/family-zone is a great starting point. We sincerely hope that you and your families are all able to stay healthy over the coming period and we cannot wait to see you all on the other side. Warm wishes, Chris Bailey |
Junior School Easter Disco is cancelled |
Achievements |
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Each week, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week: Crufts Junior Dog Handling Karate Piano |
Assemblies |
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Class assemblies are held in the Junior School Hall at 8.35am on Wednesdays. Parents are most welcome to enjoy refreshments from 8.00am in the Community Room. Here are the dates for the Spring Term: 1N – Wednesday 25 March POSTPONED 5N – Wednesday 1 April POSTPONED Looking ahead to the Summer Term: 5H – Wednesday 6 May 5N – Wednesday 13 May 2N – Wednesday 20 May HALF TERM 3N – Wednesday 3 June 1N – Wednesday 10 June 4N – Wednesday 17 June Reception – Wednesday 24 June Year 6 Valedictory Event – Thursday 9 July (in the afternoon) |
Dates for Diary |
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Thursday 26 March – Pre-School transition event to Reception Class 9am-10am POSTPONED Thursday 26 March – Easter Disco Reception to Year 6 4pm-5pm CANCELLED Tuesday 31 March – Sports Presentation Evening 4pm-8pm POSTPONED Wednesday 1 April – Whole School Photograph Wednesday 1 April – Parents’ Evening from 6pm POSTPONED Thursday 2 April – Parents’ Evening from 3.50pm POSTPONED Friday 3 April – End of Term Monday 20 April – INSET Day Tuesday 21 April – Start of Summer Term Friday 24 April – Day of Debating Tuesday 28 April – Pre-School Richmond Village 10.30am – 11.45am Tuesday 28 April – Nursery Stay and Play 2pm – 3.15pm Friday 1 May – Whole School Birthday Assembly Friday 1 May – Whole School Open Morning 8.30am – 12pm Friday 8 May – VE Bank Holiday w/c Monday 11 May – Year 6 Osmington Bay Residential Looking ahead: Sports Day for KS2 and Senior School is Friday 5 June |
Nursery Kipper Room and Elmer Room |
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This week the girls have been very busy making Mothering Sunday cards and celebrating St Patrick’s Day. They have been colouring in shamrocks and the Irish flag, along with watching some Irish Dancing. Some of the girls copied the moves and were dancing around the classrooms. Yana said, “Emily hold my hand.” In the exploration area the girls have been; making their own playdough, measuring the ingredients and adding extra ingredients such as sand and shaving foam; playing in big cardboard boxes; flying to the moon; reading stories in a cave. The girls’ imaginations have kept all the staff on their toes. We created a new easel by wrapping cling film around an upside down table and the girls were able to try and paint their friends sitting across from them. At Forest School the girls had lots of fun making magic potions from lots of different ingredients and then sprinkled their potions around Forest School. Whilst at Forest School the girls spotted some ducks on the pond. Amelie said, “It’s putting its head down” whilst Emily added, “which one is the lady?” Recently we have welcomed some new friends and they have settled in well. As most of you have been given scrapbooks, we look forward to seeing what you do over the coming weeks. We hope you all stay well and are looking forward to seeing you all soon. |
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Nursery Pre-School |
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Highlights: This week Pre-School have been busy. We have explored painting with cotton buds, water colours and dabbers. Outside, the girls have been building houses and dens and making up amazing narratives with ‘wobble monsters’, fairies and shopping. Instead of going to Forest School we went on a walk to look for signs of Spring; we saw daffodil buds, new leaves sprouting and pansies. |
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Reception |
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Highlights: Learning has continued a pace this week with new sounds in our phonics and silly sentence writing using the sounds. We have been learning how to count back on a number line for subtraction and identifying missing numbers in a sequence. In our topic we have been finding out about firefighters by looking on the computer and in non-fiction books. For St. Patrick’s Day the girls made a shamrock and watched a video clip. We have been thinking about our mummies and all the lovely things they do for us. What the girls have said: “I liked finding the same picture to match and then clicking on it.” Elouise. |
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Year 1 |
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Highlights: This week, we have continued our work on measuring in Maths. We have started to use rulers to measure different objects in centimetres. We have had lots of practice in using a ruler correctly and we are now all confident with lining up the end of our ruler to make sure we get a careful measurement. We have also been looking at what objects we might measure in centimetres and what objects would be measured using metres. Due to the disappointment of being unable to visit the National Space Centre, all of KS1 took part in a ‘Space Wow Day’ where the girls were creating papiermâché planets and also a solar system mobile. We were very impressed with the girls’ careful thinking about what size the planets were in comparison to the other planets, the colours and also the order from the sun. In our English work, we have been thinking about adjectives for our ‘How to Catch a Star’ story. In Computing, we have finished our work on Maze Explorers using Purple Mash and trying to create a simple code for our avatar to follow. The girls have worked really hard this week and have shown maturity in how they have handled any changes that have taken place. We are all very proud of them! What the girls have said: “I loved measuring this week in Maths and I tried really hard.” Holly H. |
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Year 2 |
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Highlights: A strange week this week, but we powered on in Year 2! We finished our work on fractions in Maths and looked at thirds this week. In English we wrote some expanded noun phrases ready for story writing. Wednesday was supposed to be our trip to The National Space Centre but we didn’t miss out as we had a space themed day in school, making some papiermâché planets and a solar system mobile. It was a fun day and we were able to show just how much we’ve learned in this topic as we had to think carefully about how many planets to include on our mobile, what they look like and the correct order of them! What the girls have said: “Our space day was the best!” Artemisia. |
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Year 3 |
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Highlights: This week we have been learning how to measure in Maths. In Humanities, we have been researching the Stone Age and finding out how people lived all those years ago. We have tried to imagine life without plastic and metal. What the girls have said: “I have enjoyed drawing our families and learning about them in our Jigsaw PSHE lessons.” Avleen. Looking ahead to next week:
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Year 4 |
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Highlights: In Maths this week we have used square Post-Its to find the area of classroom objects, before counting squares and using multiplication to find the area of rectangles. In English we have listened to others explaining their personal beliefs and asked questions to find out more. We have also enjoyed completing our prototypes and beginning work on our moving pictures in DT. What the girls have said: “My highlight of the week was badminton because I learned how to do a flick serve.” Matilda. |
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Clay Cats with Mrs Beacroft We were delighted to host our wonderful Year 4 girls in the Senior School Art department recently; they have spent three afternoons building and shaping their amazing cats! The girls used various hand building tools and techniques and Mrs Bull, our resident expert in ceramics and glass, was on hand to help the girls with the claws, eyes, tails and ears. We had great fun and Year 4 responded with positivity and endless creative energy. We really enjoyed your company and Mrs Bull and I are looking forward to firing and glazing all the cats! Mrs Beacroft |
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Year 5 |
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Highlights: Describing this week has been interesting… Year 5 girls came up with lots of adjectives: fun, enjoyable, strange, out of the ordinary, weird, abnormal, frustrating, hectic, exciting, brilliant, different, calm, phenomenal, unpredictable… and we’ve missed some of our friends. In Maths we have been learning about equivalent fractions and how to convert from improper fractions to mixed numbers and back again. In English, it’s been Shakespeare Week… we have done lots of activities based on ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and spent some time learning about iambic pentameter: we worked |all day | and had | a love| ly time. What the girls have said: “My highlight was when we were doing the drama of Beatrice and Benedick because I loved the ‘coming back at you’ way they squabble at the start of the play.” Natalie. Looking ahead to next week: Next week will be very different, with most people working from home. We hope that everyone stays happy and healthy. Enjoy the activities on the Remote Guided Learning Firefly page and if you have any questions please do get in touch with Mrs Shaw or Miss Brandon-Jones. |
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Year 6 |
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Week 10 – ‘NHS’ rising to the challenge Hello everyone! Many a speech has been given in the media about the dramatic times we are living in and in day-to-day conversations we have all been analysing the data being made available. As such there is little to add in explaining our situation but we would like to say how proud we are of our Year 6 students! They have maturely been coming to school with a focus on their learning and all students at home, in isolation, have also been making good use of their time as well. Thank you as well for keeping your children sensitively informed about the ongoing situation. Remote learning tasks can be found on the school Firefly website. Locate the “Resources” tab at the top and then on the Year 6 page you will see a section called Remote Guided Learning on the left-hand side. There will be daily English and Maths tasks and in addition a learning grid activity titled “The Wonder of Life” which can be completed over the coming weeks. It will take a little bit of time for the students and staff to adapt to using remote learning so please remain patient at the start. There is no need to rush any activity at this stage and if anyone is feeling poorly then focus on your recovery. Work can be completed in your exercise books or saved on your school OneDrive account which can also be accessed from the Firefly homepage. Please remain in contact because we are going to miss our Year 6 students and we will provide feedback on your tasks. Remember even though we will be separated by distance, we are still a year group team until the end of the year! Since this is an unprecedented event in UK education and the government is likely to continue to adapt its national response over the next month there is every reason to remain optimistic that Year 6 students will be reunited later in the summer. Mrs Fordham and Mr Loveday Student Voices |
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GAP Club |
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Highlights: This week in GAP Club we have been creating special treats ready for Mothering Sunday. On Tuesday we celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day by listening to children’s Irish music whilst making Shamrock headdresses and bracelets and collaging with green materials. What the girls have enjoyed: “Colouring rainbows for Saint Patrick’s Day.” Elouise, Reception. |
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Film Competition Deadline Extended |
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The deadline for entering the Northampton High School Film Competition has been extended to Tuesday 5 May. I would encourage you to use your creativity over the next weeks to make a truly uplifting and original film about the future. Here are some filming tips: Cinematography – use your phones or iPads to film, thinking carefully about what you put into the frame. If you want to create a Hollywood effect to your filmmaking think about replicating the smooth movement of a Steadi-cam: rest your arms on a towel or sheet and slide along the top of a table to track your image. |
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Lighting – the way that films achieve the Hollywood star look is through Three-point Lighting: put one light behind and to the side of your actor and two front lights on either side to give a three dimensional glow. Colour – for costumes and props – the single most effective way to create impact in your film is to think about the Mise-en-scene, which is everything included in the frame: think carefully about what colour would describe them and use a single colour for each character’s costume. Sound – most of the soundtrack of a Hollywood film is created in post-production by Foley artists: try to create sound effects through recording ordinary objects such as cornflour in a sock to imitate walking through snow. Finally, develop your technical skills for creating special effects on professional quality editing software for free: you can download DaVinci Resolve 16 here. I look forward to seeing your films. If you have any questions, please email me at: l.heimfeld@nhs.gdst.net and please click here to download a copy of the Film Competition poster. Ms Heimfeld |
Open Day - Friday 1 May 2020 |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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