One of the greatest joys of working here is witnessing the remarkable progress our pupils make, not only in their learning, but also in their confidence, character and social development, often unfolding right before our eyes.

This was particularly evident last week on the Osmington Bay trip, where our Year 6 girls showed incredible courage and resilience, embracing adventure and overcoming fears with determination and spirit. That same sense of growth has been on display again this week, this time in the swimming pool during our Swimming Watching Week and Swim Galas. Water safety is such an important life skill, and it has been a pleasure to see our girls develop their confidence and technique, with older year groups truly shining in their competitive races.

A heartfelt thank you to all the family members who joined us to support the events and to our fantastic PE department for organising such an enjoyable and meaningful experience for the girls. Fittingly, this week’s Junior News has a sporting focus, where you can read more about the wide range of summer sports our pupils are enjoying.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and restful half term. We look forward to returning for the exciting and action-packed final weeks of the school year. Be sure to check the calendar for upcoming events and important dates, there is plenty to look forward to!

Mrs Saunders-Wall
Interim Director of Junior School Liaison

This week in Nursery we have been burning up energy in the outside area, in the hall and at Forest School. According to government guidelines 2,3 and 4 year olds should have at least 180 minutes exercise a day. Our girls certainly do this amount of exercise, and more, during our days. 

At Forest School we made bees from the flora and explored the hill at the back of Nursery looking for ladybirds and picking up big leaves.

We have been busy climbing, cycling, running outside and taking part in our weekly Ballet sessions.

In Preschool this week we have been looking at our final life cycle and this one represents mammals. We chose a pig and paired it with the story ‘The Three Little Pigs’. The girls know the story well and could list the materials each pig used to build their house and recite the key phrases from the story.

We have explored different textures this week as we know pigs like to keep cool by rolling in the mud, so we have had various types of mud ranging from paint, playdough, cornflour and of course some real soil too.

In PE this week we have started to practice some of our sports day races to prepare us for the big day.

The girls have again been enjoying the sunny weather outside and playing chasing games around the garden.

We celebrated World Bee Day on Tuesday with a wide range of bee inspired activities. Lots of fine motor skills were practiced during these activities. At Forest School we even made our own flower bees to take home.

We would like to wish you a lovely half term next week. We look forward to seeing the holiday girls for a week of fun and games.

This week we have been concluding our topic work about the natural world.

We have been amazed with the wonderful homework projects the class have completed. The task given was to find out about an animal or creature that lives in a rainforest. We were introduced to green tree pythons, pangolins, parrots and centipedes to name a few.

Each class member had to share their facts to the class and these were presented in different ways including films, models and posters.

Year 1
Year 1 started the term with a focus on hand-eye coordination whilst developing their tennis skills. We covered basics such as throwing, catching and hitting various objects eg. beanbags, sponge and tennis balls. We have now moved to athletics skills in preparation for their sports day in June. Activities such as running in a straight line, jumping over obstacles, sack races and throwing towards a target have been covered. 

Year 2
Year 2 have been developing their hand-eye coordination in tennis this half term. They have been working on their feeding skills alongside their forehand groundstroke. The girls have also enjoyed participating in some throwing and catching games. 

Year 3
Year 3 have been working on athletics events in preparation for their sports day.

Year 4 and Year 5

The Year 4 and Year 5 have been working on athletics in preparation for the forthcoming sports day. At the end of the lesson on Tuesday we came together to do a house relay. What a great spectacle!

Year 5 also warmed up with their scissor kick action onto the high jump mat, again practicing for sports day.

Everyone was buzzing to get going on Monday morning. While some people were a bit nervous, overall everyone was very excited. We were on the bus for a tiring 4 hours, but everyone kept their spirits up until we arrived.

The following activities were the biggest highlights of the trip:

Rock Climbing – The first activity of our trip was rock climbing. We all tried our best and really enjoyed it. One of our challenges in rock climbing was to scale the wall in the least amount of steps. Overall Avani came first with 7 steps, and second did it in 9.

Big Swing – Collectively we believe this was our favourite activity and the most nerve racking thing on the trip. Especially when we were high in the air and he told us to pull a rope and the first people to go didn’t know it would drop them, so it was a VERY BIG surprise.

Kayaking – It was very fun going to the water sports centre. Even though some of us hadn’t done this before, everyone definitely improved throughout the lesson. Though some people weren’t too fond of the wetsuits, it didn’t take away from the amazing experience.

Disco – Everyone loved the disco, even though it was VERY loud. There were loads of other schools there, so there were a LOT of people. Combined with the loud music and people shouting, it was a very active night. 

Overall, we had an amazing time at Osmington Bay, and are really glad we went.

The Year 6 House Captains (Amber, Constance, Holly and Evie)

Our wonderful Ballet students took their Royal Academy of Dance Examinations on 17 March 2025.

The results were exceptional with students taking their class award examination receiving a full 100% top score and gaining High Distinctions. These are the highest marks you can achieve in a Royal Academy Examination.

I am extremely proud of the students, their hard work and determination to succeed was shown in their incredible marks.

Congratulations girls, a wonderful end to the term.

Pre-Primary in Dance Class Award: 

Anaisha M, Naavya P, Emily P, Phoebe R, Inayat S and Maia S

Primary in Dance Class Award: 

Ella K, Isabelle L, Pearl P and Annabel W

RAD Entry Level Award Graded Examination in Dance Award: 

Penelope J and Aleya L

Grade 1 in Dance Class Award: 

Jasmine I, Nellie L-S, Aurelia M and Lily P

Miss Sinead
Ballet Teacher

The Junior School girls were instantly elevated to A Level geographers and enjoyed responding to some challenging questions about where our food and consumer products come from in the world.

Did you know that the largest container ships can carry 24,000 containers?

Their work is always delightful and highly creative. The Art and Textiles exhibitions across all year groups are being prepared by staff. GCSE and A Level students, through their original and sophisticated pieces, have yet again reached exceptionally high standards, so please do come and see for yourself.

Additionally, we are running two informal and fun opportunities for our students to draw or paint live!

‘Draw Your Pet’ – Open to all age groups from Nursery-Year 13. Come and grab some pencils and sit in our beautiful gardens to draw your pet using your chosen photograph.

‘At The Easel’ – Landscape Painting – Open to Year 6-Year 13. – Come and paint your landscape in the grounds or classrooms – there will be easels set up with brushes and paints ready for you to select from. Students can come and discuss their composition and chosen photograph with the Art Department.

There will be prizes awarded to works that particularly impress the judges but the most important point is to enjoy the experience. A warm welcome awaits you with delicious refreshments from our amazing catering team and summer bakes and pastries will be served in the Food Department.

Mrs Beacroft
Head of Creative Arts

Dear Parents and Pupils

Thank you so much for the very generous gift of a voucher and truffles given to me on my retirement from Northampton High School. I was completely overwhelmed by these and also the kind words and drawings in my leaving book. I will always treasure the memories from my final week at school. I hope you all have a wonderful summer.

Mrs Purvey-Tyrer

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

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. These will be returning after the half term break, details coming soon.