Junior News 22 November 2019

Dear Parents,

This week has seen Northampton High Junior School open its doors to a huge range of visitors. On Saturday we hosted a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) event for girls aged 6-11. We had nearly 50 girls from local schools on site, taking part in a variety of collaborative activities designed to stimulate an interest in STEM subjects. We also hosted another successful Early Years Open Morning, with current and potential new students exploring our fabulous Early Years facilities alongside their parents. Thank you to all of our dedicated staff who gave up their Saturday to make this happen.

In assemblies this week, we have looked at the winning entries from the wildlife photograph of the year competition, considering what skills and attitudes the photographers must have utilised in order to capture the fabulous photographs. Mrs Shaw’s Year 5 class presented a wonderful assembly on the importance of resilience; it was lovely to see the girls presenting with such confidence, highlighting how the school helps our students to develop their oracy skills.

In classrooms this week I have learnt about body parts in French, Hindu rituals in Religious Education and debating skills in English, whilst Year 5 and 6 sang with energy and enthusiasm in our inaugural Friday morning choral session; I firmly believe that every school should be a singing school.

Walking past our community room this morning I saw the space packed with junior and senior girls discussing big issues as part of our Big Bear Little Bear programme; just one small part of our junior-senior transition, and an example of one of the benefits of a 2 -18 through school.

Thank you for your continued support, and have a wonderful weekend.

Chris Bailey
Head of Junior School

Achievements

Each week in assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week:

Tennis: Frankie B – 1st at Duston tournament.

Swimming: Matilda B – Gala freestyle 6th, backstroke 3rd.

Assemblies

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:

5N – Wednesday 27 November
1N – Wednesday 4 December

Dates for Diary

Tuesday 3 December – 2-3pm Nursery Nativity

Wednesday 4 December – 2-3pm Reception and KS1 play

Thursday 5 December – 9.15-10.15am Reception and KS1 play

Thursday 5 December – Christmas Celebration Disco for Rec to Year 6

Tuesday 10 December – Nursery Stay and Play

Tuesday 10 December – 7pm KS2 Christmas Celebration

Thursday 12 December – 7.30pm Carol Concert at All Saints Church

Friday 13 December – Christmas Jumper Day

Friday 13 December – Pre-School and Reception theatre trip

Tuesday 17 December – Christmas Parties – wear your party clothes!

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

Clubs

Clubs Cancelled: Weds 27 November – Year 1 Mathletics Club

Children in Need

A huge thank you to all of you for your generous donations for Children in Need. We raised a grand total of £262.08.

Sports

Thornton Trail Cross Country Friday 15 November

On Friday, 16 girls from Years 3 to 6 travelled to Thornton School for the annual “Thornton trail Cross Country Event”. The Under 11s and Under 10s ran a 2000m course through the grounds and the Under 8s and Under 9s ran 1200m.

Each year group entered 4 girls and received a medal if they were first home for their team.

Year 3 – Risara S
Year 4 – Phoebe S
Year 5 – Lily A
Year 6 – Isla H

Overall placings saw Phoebe S finish 6th, best out of the Under 8/9 race with Isla H 27th and Lily A 36th in the Under 10/11 race.

The Under 11 team came 6th out of the 16 teams attending with a combined total of 124 points:

Isla Ha 27
Isla N 29
Emily M 31
Rose N 37

Well done to all the girls who attended.

Thornton Trail student reports

On Friday 15 November four Year 3 girls took part in the Thornton Trail.  This was a 1.2km cross country race for the Under 8s and 9s. Ellie, Risara, Zoe and me represented the Under 8s.  Risara came 1st out of the girls from our school and finished 47th overall.  There was a tight finish between the rest of us as Ellie came 70th, Zoe came 72nd and I came 75th.  The team came 18th out of the 23 schools that took part.  Well done! Harini, Year 3 Captain

On the 15 November the Under 10 cross country team went to Thornton College. The team included Lily A, Beatrice T, Fern A and Isla H. The team all ran really well, even though it was very muddy! Lily came first out of the group but we all put in a great effort. Beatrice, Year 5 Captain

On Friday 15 November, four Year 6 representatives took part in the Thornton Trail Cross Country Competition. We did very well and we all tried our best. We came 6th overall which we are very proud of. Isla H came 27th, Isla N came 29th, Emily came 31st and Rose came 37th. Well done everyone! Isla H

Hockey Match Reports:

Under 11 A team v The Grove School

On Wednesday Under 11 A team played The Grove School. The score was 3 – 0 to us. Beatrice, Lily and I scored one goal each. We played well which is really good for our last match of the season. Lily was given Player of the Match which was well deserved. A great end to the season team! Thank you to Miss Brown, Miss Rowath, Miss James and Mrs Littlewood for coaching us this season and taking us to matches. Charlotte, Junior School Hockey Captain

Under 11 B team v The Grove School

On Wednesday afternoon the Under 11 B team went to The Grove School. We had a great start to the game scoring 1 – 0, then in the second half another! The end score was 2 – 0 to us. Millie scored both goals (eventually) after an ongoing fight with the goalie! Everyone did great and Lucy got Player of the Match. Well done Under 11 B team – what a great end to the season. Indi, B Team Captain

Nursery Kipper Room and Elmer Room

Kipper Room:

This week in Kipper Room we have been busy practicing our song for the Christmas performance. It is great to hear that some of the girls have been practicing at home too.

It has been a cold week and we have talked about the start of Winter and how the weather changes. The girls have loved playing in the garden with some pretend snow (a box of shredded paper). In the exploration area, we have used shaving foam to make an Arctic scene with penguins and polar bears. At Forest School, the girls cut up a pumpkin and placed the pieces under trees and hanging from branches as a treat for the local wildlife before embarking on a bear hunt! “Ooh, it’s cold!” said Matilda.

Next week we are going to finish making our twinkle stars as well as starting to decorate our room and garden with a Winter theme.

Elmer Room:

This week in Elmer Room we started by looking at colours and sorting by colour. We have continued this theme throughout the week with our story of the week ‘Elmer’.

The girls have enjoyed lots of messy activities from cornflour to shaving foam, experiencing lots of textures, “it’s sticky” said Zehra. We fed the birds and creatures at Forest School with some pumpkins, the girls all had an opportunity to choose somewhere to leave a piece of pumpkin. We have also continued practicing our Christmas songs each day, so I’m sure you are hearing these at home.

Just a reminder that Tuesday is library day so could we ask that books are returned so the girls can choose a new book to take home.

Nursery Pre-School

Highlights:

This week we have been busy decorating ladybirds with 7 spots, triangle fish and ‘l’ lollies. At Forest School the girls made a home for Harry and Hilda Hedgehog. Everyone was very interested in hedgehogs so we made paper plate hedgehogs, decorated some with triangular spines and used pegs to make their prickles in the busy hands tray. We have also been very busy rehearsing our play and learning the songs. In French we learnt a song and dance about Autumn.

What the girls have enjoyed:

Zara – the dinosaurs.
Hope – drawing on the whiteboard.
Amari – playing outside

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:

• Our sound of the week is ‘i’, our number is 8 and our shape is the rectangle.
• We will be making rectangle robots and printing with rectangles.
• Hunting for ‘i’ objects and other ‘i’ activities.
• Rehearsing for our play.

Reception

Highlights:

This week we have been thinking about the weather and the seasonal changes. Each day we have looked at the temperature outside and recorded what the weather was like. Our new ‘dark den’ role play is very popular and the light up wands, colour lights and torches are encouraging light show spectaculars! We have also looked at different sources of light and shadows. The ‘clevertouch’ has been installed and we have been using some phonic games to help with our letter sounds. Songs and costumes for our play are well under way.

What the girls have said:

“I like playing in the dark den.” Emily.
“I have liked learning about light.” Shanaya.
“I like going in the dark den and also playing with the pink playdough.” Maya.

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:

• Play rehearsals!

Please can we remind you to make sure that all items of clothing brought into school are clearly named.

Year 1

Highlights:

This week, we started looking at famous inventions that happened in the Victorian times and the inventors themselves.

In our History lesson, we have learnt about Alexander Graham Bell and how he invented the telephone. In our DT lessons, the girls have started to design their Elf puppet and think about what they want the elf to look like. In English we have been thinking about descriptive writing and how to use onomatopoeia in our work. In RE we have looked at different symbols from different religions and what these might mean to people from different faiths.

We have also started practising some of our songs for our Christmas Play, which the children have really enjoyed learning.

What the girls have said:

‘I loved doing different turns in gymnastics.’ Amelia.
‘I liked learning more sounds in phonics.’ Holly H.
‘’I really enjoyed watching Year 5’s Class Assembly.’ Kinara.

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:

• Maths – we will be looking at 2D and 3D shapes.
• English – Christmas play practise.
• DT – Victorian toys – puppets.
• RE – looking at different places of worship for different religions.

Year 2

Highlights:

We’ve had a busy week this week learning about money in Maths; counting in pounds and pence as well as completing some challenges to add some pricing to the items in our new Christmas shop role play area.

We have loved being hands-on with the coins, sorting them and using them in our role play to pay for different things. In English we have written some great poems using onomatopoeia to describe fireworks and we have also been getting ready for the Nativity play as we begin to learn our lines. In Forest School this week we made some bird feeders and had lots of fun dotting them about in the trees ready to help the birds feed during the Winter season.

In History this week we learned all about Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone. We watched a short film about him and created a fact file highlighting all the interesting facts we could remember.

What the girls have said:

“I’ve made a bird feeder for the baby birds.”  Asmi.
“I love our new shop role play area!”  Kyla.

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:

• English – Nativity rehearsals.
• Maths – money.
• History – Victorian inventions.

Year 3

Highlights:

This week Year 3 have been working on measuring accurately in Maths and learning to convert centimetres to millimetres and metres. We have started to look at money and use our knowledge of addition and subtraction to complete problems.

We have also started to rehearse for the Christmas Celebration. In English this week we have been learning about the importance of organising our writing into paragraphs and finishing our quest stories.

What the girls have said:

“I enjoyed doing PE, playing handball with Year 4.” Tami.
“I liked practising our Christmas play.” Zoe.
“I enjoyed learning to write quest stories, using paragraphs and listening to ‘The Firework-Maker’s Daughter’.” Ellie.

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:

• Maths – continue with work using money.
• Science – looking at friction.
• English – we will be reading a collection of biographies and learning about using headings and sub-headings in non-fiction writing.

Year 4

Highlights:

In Maths this week we have been identifying fractions of shapes and using the ‘greater than’ and ‘less than’ signs to compare fractions. In English we have worked on using imaginative language in descriptive writing and planned a story set in Ostia in Roman times. We have also learnt about the different types of teeth and their functions.

What the girls have said:

“My best bit of the week was Tuesday because we got to do lots of running and games in PE.” Florence.
“I liked working on fractions because I understood it more by the end of the lesson.” Mollie.
“In Maths we did fractions and we folded paper into eighths, quarters, halves and other fractions.” Vivienne.
“I enjoyed doing our rehearsal because I am an important mouse.” Darcy.

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:

• English – we will be writing and re-drafting story openings.
• Maths – work will focus on equivalent fractions and fractions of quantities.
• Science – we will be learning how to keep our teeth and gums healthy.

Year 5

Highlights:

This week in English we wrote instructions. In Maths we continued our work on fractions, looking at improper fractions and mixed numbers. In Science, 5N tested the insulating properties of different materials to find out which would be best for a takeaway drinks cup.

What the girls have said:

“I really liked doing PE this week. We did handball and I really like handball.” Lily.
“This week I really enjoyed Science when we tested which would be the best material for a hot drink at a festival. It was fun testing the temperature with a thermometer and finding out which water stayed the hottest for longest.” Bea.

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning: 

• English – traditional stories using a digital text: The Firebird.
• Science – properties of materials: it will be 5H’s turn to investigate thermal insulation.
• Maths – measures – units of time.
• History – Anglo Saxons.

Year 6

Week 9 – another busy one!

Yet again Year 6 have had an extremely busy week and have enjoyed a wide variety of stimulating activities including locating the position of the major organs in the human body, watching the dissection of a lamb’s heart, eloquently debating relevant issues in English, rising to the challenge of long division with decimal remainders in Maths, persevering with the challenge of making origami stars in Enrichment and researching world religions in Humanities.

Once again the girls have also impressed us with their developing leadership skills and this has been particularly evident in sport where the captains have been asked to take leading roles and the House and Vice-Captains where they have started to rehearse for the first annual House Christmas Poetry rendition. Also, our magazine editors have had their first meeting this week and are looking forward to working towards producing the first student school magazine…… hopefully by the end of term!

Looking ahead to next week there will be many more exciting and challenging activities on offer and we look forward to reporting back to you then.

Wishing you all a well-deserved rest at the weekend!
Karen Fordham and James Loveday

Student voice:

“In English we really enjoyed debating things like if there should be CCTV in classrooms, if animals should be kept in zoos, mobile phones being banned in schools and not allowing cars in to city centres. We learnt a lot about good communication skills and were able to talk on points for over a minute as well as put forward points of information and answer them. It was great fun and a little bit scary! Mrs Fordham said we did super well!”

“In Maths we had to be really resilient when we were trying to answer long division calculations and give decimal remainders – we worked as a team and all managed to climb out of ‘The Pit.’”

“My highlight of the week was making origami stars in Enrichment – it was really tricky and even Mrs Fordham struggled to get out of ‘The Pit!'”

“We played Grove School on Wednesday and the A and B team won. Everybody played brilliantly!”

“In Science we watched Mrs Fordham dissect a lamb’s heart – it was gross and fascinating at the same time! We also tried placing the major organs in the right place on a body suit – it was really helpful as it made us think about what’s beneath our skin and bones!”

GAP Club

Highlights:

We began the week participating in Winter activities. The girls used water colours to paint a Winter scene, which we later framed. On Tuesday we created penguins made from tubes and added them to our seasonal display.

After consulting with the girls, we decided it was time to put our hairdressers away in preparation for our new Christmas Corner. We then got busy creating our new role play area during the rest of the week. The girls enjoyed decorating our two Christmas trees, made paper chains and Ellie and Tami in Year 3 helped to create Penny The Penguin with Mrs Shah.

What the girls have enjoyed:

“I liked doing the penguin because it was fun.” Evette, Year 1.
“I liked doing the Christmas tree with all the decorations.” Amelia, Year 1.
“I enjoyed making my penguin, Flippy Flappy.” Ellie, Year 3

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:

The girls will be participating in more Christmas activities.

Term Dates

Northampton High School
Newport Pagnell Road, Hardingstone Northampton NN4 6UU
T: 01604 765765 nhsadmin@nhs.Gdst.Net