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Junior News 24 January 2020 |
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Dear Parents, What a lovely wintry week we have had, with clear blue skies and frosts enticing us to wrap up and take our learning outside. We are now half way through the term, and it is rather a relief to see the daylight coming back. Our pre-schoolers had a visit from a local artist this week, who worked with the girls to develop clay leaves that will be installed to make a wonderful ‘learning tree’ in our pre-school/nursery dining area. Trees – a great analogy for growth and learning. Some of our pre-school girls also visited Richmond Village retirement home this week, reading with the residents and generally adding a splash of colour and youth to the community. What an important and rewarding initiative this is. Mr Loveday’s Year 6 class presented a fascinating assembly on the power of maps, showing us how maps can be used to represent an incredibly diverse range of information. Year 6 also visited the Think Tank Museum in Birmingham this week, engaging in tasks related to coding, engineering and science. Feedback from the museum was that our Year 6 girls are brilliant role models and represented Northampton High School in the most positive light possible. We have seen a number of competitive sports fixtures this week, as well as official sports team photos. Our girls are lucky to be offered such a range of sporting activities and to benefit from the quality of coaching they receive from our sports department. On my learning walks this week I have seen our science room being used to test how to separate materials; our refreshed library space being used as a calm and relaxing reading zone; springtime bird watching; and heated debates about animal cruelty. As always, it is a pleasure to spend time in our classrooms, seeing how much Northampton High School girls love learning. Have a restful weekend, and we look forward to yet another busy week ahead. Warm wishes, Chris Bailey |
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: Chess Baton Twirling Swimming Scouts Gymnastics Blue Peter Sports Badge Tennis Tournament
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Assemblies |
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Class Assemblies are held in the Junior School Hall at 8.35am on a Wednesday. Parents are most welcome to enjoy refreshments from 8.00am in the Community Room. Here are the dates for the Spring Term. 4N – Wednesday 29 January 5H – Wednesday 5 February 5N – Wednesday 26 February 2N – Wednesday 4 March 3N – Wednesday 11 March Reception – Wednesday 18 March 1N – Wednesday 25 March
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Dates for Diary |
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Monday 3 February – Year 5 and 6 Murder Most Unladylike party 3.45-5.30pm Thursday 6 February – Reception and Year 6 Health Screening Thursday 6 February – Year 4 walk to Hardingstone Thursday 6 February – FoNHS Parent Forum 6 – 7.15pm Friday 7 February – Nursery Stay and Play w/c Monday 10 February – Year 5 and 6 Play-in-a-week Tuesday 11 February – UK Safer Internet Day w/c Monday 17 February – Half Term Tuesday 25 February – Pre-School visit to Richmond Village Wednesday 26 – Friday 28 February – Year 3 and 4 Burwell Residential Monday 2 March – Nursery Stay and Play Wednesday 4 March – Joseph Big Sing at the Derngate Thursday 5 March – Year 5 trip to Bletchley Park Thursday 5 March – World Book Day Thursday 5 March – Open Evening Friday 6 March – Open Morning Friday 6 March – International Women’s Day w/c Monday 9 March – Science Week Looking ahead: Sports Day for KS2 and Senior School is Friday 5 June |
Clubs |
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The following club has been cancelled:
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Sports |
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Under 10 Cross Country On Saturday 18 January the Under 10 Cross Country team went to Abington Park to compete in a district cross country. Its was a very muddy day and after a lot of slipping, we finished with these places: Isla 51, Daisy 45, Lois 44, Georgia 28, and Bea 26. We were extremely pleased with the result and hope to compete there again.
SPRING TERM FIXTURES DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Under 10 and 11 Netball matches
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Nursery Kipper Room and Elmer Room |
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Kipper Room: This week in Kipper Room we have been very busy doing lots of different activities, such as stick painting, playing with shredded paper, building a Peppa Pig house and being doctors and hairdressers. On Wednesday we went on a nature walk around the school grounds, we found lots of sticks and leaves on the floor. “Flowers!” said Yazmin. “A stick” said Annabel. Before lunch we have group time and we encourage the girls to choose which song they would like to sing; the most popular is ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. In the classroom we have had lots of different toys to play with, for example we had big construction pieces which we made houses with, and lots of different characters with which the girls made up their own stories. We have also liked the garage and a variation of different cars. We have also visited the library. Just a reminder that our library day is on a Tuesday. Have a nice weekend. We are looking forward to seeing you all next week. Elmer Room: This week we have continued to explore our senses and we did a taste test of four items (lemon, onion, honey and salty crisps). All the girls tried the foods then we made marks on the photos to represent if we liked or disliked the food. “I like fried onions” said Emily. “I don’t like honey,” said Yana. Amelia was very keen for a turn and asked “can I try?” We have also had the opportunity to explore clay this week and have all contributed to what will be a large display. Next week we are going to continue exploring our senses and we will be doing a smelling activity, as well as many more tactile experiences. |
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Nursery Pre-School |
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Highlights: This week we have been thinking about the sense of sight. In PE the girls went over, under and through apparatus. They then had a go wearing a blindfold and leading one of their peers through the same course. They decided it wasn’t very easy. At Forest School they wore blind folds to feel the trees and then tried to work out which one they had been feeling.The girls enjoyed exploring the opticians, checking each other’s eyes and deciding which glasses they would like. We have also made ‘k’ king pictures. What the girls have said: “I liked playing in the opticians.” Amari. Looking ahead to next week:
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Reception |
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Highlights: This week we have been continuing our learning about addition, using spots on dominoes and numicon to find totals. The girls very much enjoyed the story ‘The Toys’ Party’ and recreating the cake with tomato sauce, cornflakes, milk, jam and baked beans! They have been hopefully re-telling this to you with the help of the story map. We have focused on the material ‘wood’ and have experienced hammering a nail into wood and looking for wooden objects around the classroom. Our words of the week were ‘he’ and ‘she’ to use in sentence writing. The week finished with taking part in the RSPB birdwatch. What the girls have said: |
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Year 1 |
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Highlights: This week, Year 1 have continued to explore our topic of ‘Space’. We have looked deeper at the story ‘The Way Back Home’ and have started to create our own version of the story, by changing a few elements from the book. We created our own story plans and have written the beginning and middle of our story which we will finish next week. We have continued to practise our number bonds to 20 and use these to help us with addition and subtraction within 20. In Science, we took part in our own investigation to find the most reflective material to design a bag and in Geography we have identified features of towns and villages. What the girls have said: “I liked practising sight words in Phonics.” Evette. Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:
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Year 2 |
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Highlights: This week in Maths we have worked extremely hard to secure our understanding of division, working practically to make groups and share to solve problems including word problems. We’ve also refreshed our recognition of odd and even numbers by playing some different games together. In English we have used the story ‘The Way Back Home’ by Oliver Jeffers to make a start on our own versions. We have added a lot of interesting vocabulary to help make our writing more exciting and detailed for the reader. In Science we carried out an experiment to identify the most reflective materials and we had fun in art exploring how to make different patterns in clay ready for our clay-lien model making next week. We also used marbles to create a special print effect on paper. What the girls have said: “I have enjoyed Maths and solving division problems.” Jemima. Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:
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Year 3 |
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Highlights: This week in Maths we have been learning about angles and fractions of a turn as well as the properties of a 2D shape. In DT we tasted a variety of sandwiches so we can now start to design our own next week. What the girls have said: “I liked doing sandwich and tea tasting this week.” Shreya. Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:
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Year 4 |
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Highlights: In Maths this week we have been using practical and written methods for multiplication and division. In English we made models of characters and planned a story set in an imaginary world. We have also investigated the temperature in different parts of the classroom. What the girls have said: “I really liked doing the plan of our story.” Emily. Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:
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Year 5 |
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Highlights: This week in English we wrote a diary entry in the role of Bess from The Highwayman. We also revised how to use apostrophes. In Maths we continued to develop our understanding of subtraction as ‘find the difference between’ as well as ‘take away’. In Science we learned about reversible and irreversible changes by doing some rather interesting experiments… one of them smelled disgusting! What the girls have said: “This week I enjoyed Science. We warmed milk in a microwave and added vinegar. We mixed it and then it turned into casein which is a plastic that they used up until the second World War. It was fun!” Florence. Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning:
IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Scheherazade performance – Thursday 13 February 6.30pm |
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Year 6 |
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Week 3 – Year 6 are amazing! This week has been a particular highlight of the Spring Term so far – the girls were an absolute pleasure to take to The Think Tank: we were so proud to be complimented not only on their exemplary behavior but also their intelligent questioning, responses and excellent understanding of computer coding. 6H continued to impress with their fascinating assembly on maps – who knew we could learn so much from maps? We must also congratulate Hania and Himaya who have made it to the bonus round in the Primary Maths Challenge! In Maths the girls have continued to show both creativity and logical thinking in their approach to representing data and worked hard to show what data might look like if the ‘World were a village of 100 people’. In Science the girls have continued to think carefully about how they can lead healthy lifestyles and in English they have further improved their analytical skills through the study of a variety of challenging poems focusing on the relationship between us and our attitude towards animals. Next week we look forward to further exploring what it means to lead a healthy lifestyle, planning a weekend trip to Brighton in Maths, exploring our fascinating world in Geography, creating animations in DT and Computing and formulating an argument based on, ‘Are we cruel or kind to animals?’ Mrs Fordham and Mr Loveday Student Voices |
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GAP Club |
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Highlights: Our ski chalet is now really taking shape. The girls have been having a cosy time around the fireplace drinking hot chocolate and marshmallows. They also tried cheese fondue with hot buttered toast and crudities. The girls have also sewn puppets and started making book marks. We have made bunting, lolly stick chalets for our window display and celebrated Chinese New Year by creating fire-breathing dragons. What the girls have enjoyed: “Making.” Keziah, Reception. Looking ahead:
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Dr Rachel Smith visits school for a Flute Master Class with students |
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We were delighted to welcome professional flute player, Dr Rachel Smith, into school this afternoon for Part I of a Flute Master Class for a group of Senior School Music students. Dr Smith, who has many years’ experience as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, has performed at venues ranging from major concert halls, such as the Royal Albert Hall, to weddings and more intimate celebrations. Having studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and Royal Holloway, University of London, Rachel has a Doctor of Medical Arts degree in Performance from Salford University. |
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Concerto and recital performances have taken her around Europe and to Japan, Zimbabwe, Canada and the USA. In the UK she has given recitals at the Fairfield Halls, St John’s Smith Square, the National Theatre, the National Gallery, Kensington Palace and the Royal Pavilion Brighton to critical acclaim. Rachel has taught at Junior Trinity, St Helen’s School Northwood, Brighton College, East Sussex and East Sussex Music Services. She gives private lessons for beginners to postgraduate music college and University level and beyond. She has also coached Brighton Youth Orchestra Wind section, participated in workshops with the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Education programme and given master classes in the UK and Japan. Today’s workshop focused on our individual students’ skills sets and experiences. Dr Smith will coach the girls on specific music pieces in preparation for the Flute Master Class (Part II), which will be part of the Arts Festival season in the summer term. We are grateful to Dr Smith for her bespoke professional support for our musicians. Mrs Wilmot |
The Kitchen adopts 'Piggy Power'! |
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As part of our continued efforts to minimise food waste, the kitchen are now adopting a new approach – Piggy Power! Mrs Brockwell’s father owns pigs, so each day we collect our food waste in the kitchen to be given to the pigs to enjoy! It’s good to be able to reuse and recycle. Mrs Jones |
Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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