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Junior News 25 June 2021 |
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In school, our Early Years staff team are busy preparing for the new academic year, which for them includes embracing the revised statutory guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage. As part of a community of learners at Northampton High, this means spending time individually reading new documentation and guidance, engaging in staff meetings to discuss implications and ideas and attending high quality external training and GDST conferences. Our Early Years department is a dynamic and exciting place full of young children whose brains are hardwired to learn at a rapid pace. |
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Much that is good about our existing curriculum framework is being retained but it is pleasing to see in the new framework an even greater emphasis on Communication and Language. ‘The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging with them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive.’ Statutory framework for the EYFS, March 2021 I have a strong conviction that the guidance above is relevant for every child in the Junior School, especially as we consider the effect of lockdown and Covid restrictions which have been part of a significant chunk of their young lives. The message is relevant too for time spent at home with families and friends. Making time to have meaningful in depth conversations with children and reading high quality texts with them will impact their lives long beyond school years and into their adult lives. I wish you a happy, chatty weekend. Jo Purvey-Tyrer |
Achievements |
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Each week in our virtual assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week: Darcy – has been invited to join the Top Hat Theatre School Festival Team. This is an invite-only group where she’ll have the opportunity to dance competitively at local and national festivals. Darcy is thrilled to join and is looking forward to making new friends and learning new skills! |
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Dates for your diary |
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Friday 2 July – Welcome Day Friday 9 July – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Sports Morning (unfortunately no spectators are allowed due to our Covid risk assessment) Monday 12 July – Friday 16 July – No teacher-led clubs Thursday 15 July – Year 6 Valedictory Event Friday 16 July 12.00 noon – End of term |
Medical Notice |
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Please can we kindly remind parents to administer antihistamine medication before sending their children with hayfever into school. Thank you for your cooperation. Mrs Dunkley |
Virtual Arts Invitational 2021 |
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This week, it has been fantastic to share the exceptional talents of our students with our Virtual Arts Festival. Showcasing work from across all areas of the Creative and Performing Arts, it has been wonderful to take a retrospective look back on what has been another prosperous year creatively for Northampton High, despite the restrictions we have endured. Our students have excelled and the quality of work completed has been exemplary; we have been delighted to share examples with you this week on our social media channels. This evening, premiering at 7pm, we are looking forward to bringing you our Virtual Arts Invitational, a feature-length production that delves into the creative world of Northampton High. With something to pique all interests, we do hope you can join us live at 7pm by clicking here. However, if you can’t join us live, the video will still be available to view after the premiere. We trust you will be able to join us this evening. In the meantime, we are delighted to share with you our latest editions of Portfolio and High Arts – two publications that further showcase the artistic excellence of our students. Mr Nash |
Junior School Cricket |
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Our U11A, U11B and U10A cricketers have been fortunate to participate in a couple of fixtures this term. They have played Spratton Hall School, Broughton Manor Prep and Milton Keynes Prep. Each game has provided us with the experience of playing Pairs Cricket and we have progressed our skills both on an individual basis and as a team. Well done to all the girls who have represented Northampton High in these fixtures. We cannot wait to get back to more fixtures in September. Please click here to find a match report from the recent game against Broughton Manor, written by Captain Ellie. Mrs Blake |
Year 5 Tennis - Peer Teaching Activity |
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We are delighted to share with you pictures from Thursday’s Year 5 Tennis peer teaching activity. In the pictures, you will see Aiyana and Alice leading the warm up with the ‘Lantern Game’ – to encourage aiming, mobility of the shoulder, awareness of their surroundings, team work and movement around the court. We also see Mollie leading the ‘Cricket Game, a game to reinforce the forehand drive and encourage correct technique and aiming skills. Well done everyone! Mrs Littlewood |
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Our book journey with Kirsten and Aiyven |
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We were really excited to welcome Kirsten and Aiyven into Year 6 on Thursday 24 June to talk about their writing and self-publication. First, they talked about their childhood favourite books and how they’ve always loved writing. They started writing short stories and presenting them to the class. Then they entered the 500 Words competition. Sadly, they didn’t win but then they turned it into a positive and started writing lots more words. After a year their books were written! They then explained the fascinating world of self-publishing and how it was easier for them and how they used Kickstarter to raise money for their books. Amazingly, they raised £500 more than their goal. On 27 May their books were released into the world! After that, they made subscription boxes and started writing short stories along with goodies to fill their boxes. Then they gave us some excellent advice for creating our own stories. Some of their advice was to keep a constant eye out for ideas and write about something you enjoy. Everyone enjoyed their talk about their book journey and how we can improve our writing. Their books are Sagas of Anya and Land of the Nurogons. We cannot wait to read them! Lois and Florence |
Nursery - Kipper Room and Elmer Room |
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This week in Nursery the girls have been practising their fine finger control. They have been threading pipe cleaners through colanders, picking pompoms that were floating in the water tray and doing inset puzzles. These skills have also be used at the writing table where we have been practising mark making with whiteboard pens. In PE, collaborative play was the focus. The girls paired up, throwing and catching a ball to each other. |
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We went on a bug hunt at Forest School, finding worms, spiders, and ants emerging from an anthill. Noticing circles of ripples in the water on the top of the pond, some of the girls speculated what might be causing them. “It’s a crocodile!” suggested Mikayla. We extended the girls’ learning by counting the bugs and encouraging mathematical language in talking about the long and short grasses and describing the big and bigger bugs! “The grass is so long…it’s taller than me!” said Isabella. Just a polite reminder….we have noticed that we have a number of girls who have been arriving in the morning with toys from home. Can we please ask that they are left at home. Thank you. |
Nursery - Pre School |
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This week in Pre School our chosen book of the week was ‘The Tiger who came to Tea’. This was popular with the girls last week who asked the teachers to read it on many occasions. We have set up various activities and provocations for them to enjoy; this included playing different games in PE. One of the games was about a tiger and her cubs. The tiger had to catch her cubs, which the girls seemed to really enjoy and they asked to play it again and again. Another game was moving in all the different ways that animals do with the girls displaying very good movements. A provocation was set up of orange and black paint, with paper and plastic models of tigers, and the girls created some wonderful paintings of tigers. Another popular activity was making masks, creating the different characters from the book, or they could use their imagination to create their own – we had many wonderful creations. The girls have been really engaged in the activities on offer relating to the book and used their ideas to retell their own stories, adapting it to their thoughts and ideas. |
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What the girls have said when asked “What animal would you like to come to your house for tea?”: “A leopard and a lioness.” Lily. At home you could ask your daughter to retell you their own versions of the story of ‘The Tiger who came to Tea’.
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Reception |
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Our book focus this week has been ‘So Much’ by Trish Cooke. This led on to some discussion about places we had visited and what we had enjoyed doing. This was followed by some ideas to answer, such as, ‘I liked it when…’. We then extended this to think about ‘What I have enjoyed in Reception…so much!’ Some very interesting ideas and fabulous communication and vocabulary were used. |
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This week we have been investigating capacity and have really enjoyed a drink shop, potion-making and lots of water! We have continued to practise counting in 2s and learning to spell some high-frequency words. Our week finished with a whole day at Forest School. We had some great activities to get involved in, and a picnic lunch. |
Year 1 |
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This week in English, we have started to look at fantasy stories. We started our work this week by looking at different fantasy settings, describing them and thinking about which ones we liked the most and why. We then read the story, ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ and created a story board, highlighting different features in this story. In Maths this week, we finished our work on place value with numbers to 100 and have now started to look at money. We have looked carefully at all of the different coins and notes. We have ordered the coins, compared amounts, and thought carefully about how we could make different totals. In Science, we have looked at different types of cold weather. We have learnt about hail, snow, ice, and blizzards and how these different types of weather are formed. In RE, we have read the story of The Good Samaritan and discussed what we think this story teaches Christians. We have thought about all of the acts of kindness shown in this story, and what we could learn from reading it. |
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What the girls have said: “I liked it when we were looking at how our bodies have changed since being a baby in PSHEE.” Isabella. Looking ahead: Maths – time |
Year 2 |
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This week in Maths we have been exploring mass and we have learned that we measure weight in grams and kilograms. We have used balance scales to compare the mass of different objects and later in the week, we used weights to find the mass of different objects; we made estimates first and then investigated finding the mass. In English, we have been learning about fantasy stories and we have compared them to traditional tales. We have started reading the story of ‘Where the Wild Things are’ by Maurice Sendak. We have discussed the different events and the features that make it a fantasy story. In Forest School, we used a fire strike to try and start a fire. This proved to be rather tricky, but all the girls were very determined to succeed! |
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What the girls have said: “We liked making fire in Forest School!” Evette, Lucy and Eloise C. Looking Ahead: |
Year 3 |
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This week we have been trying to decide if it is ok to swap a person for something else; some of the girls were far too eager to swap their sisters but didn’t want to swap their parents! We are reading ‘The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish’ by Neil Gaiman. In Maths, we have been looking at mass and using weighing scales. In Humanities, we tried to decide if we would have wanted to live in the Stone Age and what things we would miss without plastic or electricity. |
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Looking ahead: If our isolation has to go ahead, we will be on Teams next week as before. I will put a revised timetable on the Remote Learning Page on Firefly to let you know the timings of the live lessons. It will only be for six school days and then we can resume being in school, as long as the girls don’t have any symptoms. There will be a communication from the school with further information. Hopefully see you all soon. Mrs Dadge |
Year 4 |
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In Maths, we described the properties of quadrilaterals and had great fun taking our learning outdoors to investigate lines of symmetry. In English, we continued our recount of Odd’s story as well as working hard on our own report comments, reflecting on our time in Year 4. I was so impressed with the writing for this activity. In Science, we learnt about who discovered oxygen and investigated how long a tealight burns inside different sized containers. |
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What the girls have said: “I enjoyed Music when we were playing on African drums. Even though the way you balance the drum on your legs was kind of painful, it was still fun.” Lesley. Looking ahead to next week: English – Introducing our next exciting text Please remember Forest School clothes for next Wednesday 30 June. |
Year 5 |
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Year 5 have had a wonderful Shakespearean week, focusing on ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and doing summaries, storyboards, costume and set design before starting on the business of acting. We were very lucky to be able to access some GDST workshops on character, movement and speech, and the girls had a fantastic time both moving and speaking as different characters. It is amazing how much difference just the way you stand has on how the audience sees you and evaluates your personality. |
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What the girls have said: “I really enjoyed Tennis at the end of last week because I was able to get some really long shots even though we could barely rally. It was really fun to run freely across the court trying to catch the endless shots that we couldn’t reach.” Lydia. Dates for your Diary: Wednesday 30 June – Cricket |
Year 6 |
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Another week has flown past, and Year 6 have continued to work hard in all areas of the curriculum. This week they have particularly enjoyed exploring the Cote d’Azur region in France, measuring and drawing angles using a protractor in Maths, learning more about their changing bodies in Science and PSHEE, continuing with their cushion construction in Design Technology, and playing cricket. They have also been thinking about the end of the academic year and their transition to Senior School, preparing a presentation and speech for their Valedictory Assembly on Thursday 15 June. |
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Highlights of the week: “I loved the cricket lesson because three teachers came in to train us and it was really fun. We learnt bowling, batting and more fielding techniques.” Isla M. Please remember to pay for your daughter’s hoodie, via Parent Pay, as soon as possible. Have a good weekend. Karen Fordham and Nicola Taylor |
Swap Shop |
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We had been hoping to hold a Swap Shop event on Friday 2 July to allow pupils and parents to purchase items of good quality second-hand uniform. Due to the continuing Covid restrictions, we are regrettably unable to host this event. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused. Mrs Wilmot |
Term Dates 20/21 |
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Term Dates 21/22 |
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Term Dates 22/23 |
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Northampton High School |
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