Junior News 26 November 2021

Having effectively had a ‘year off’ Christmas festivities in the Junior school, this year seems extra special!

We are all appreciating the opportunity to plan, practise and, eventually, perform songs and act out Christmas stories.  Very shortly Christmas decorations will begin appearing in classrooms as we work towards the end of term, the excitement tangible.

Having just watched my Year 1 class perform their very first Class Assembly with self confidence and smiles abound, it has made me think about how important the school events and activities outside the classroom are.  

The Year 6 Eco Captains are busy planning an assembly to present in a couple of weeks and we are looking forward to a KS3 Drama Club performance during assembly in the last week of term; the calendar is chock-a-block!

It is surprisingly difficult to articulate ‘what makes a High School girl’, but I know for sure that the steady build up of performance and leadership opportunities that we embed in our school year slowly but surely secures the confidence, poise and ability to empathise with others that makes us so proud of our pupils, whether they are 2 or 18 years old.

I do hope that you are able to join us to celebrate at some point over the next few weeks to share in the celebrations, and that you have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Jo Purvey-Tyrer
Assistant Head – Junior School

Achievements

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

Lucy: number 1 proficiency award in gymnastics
Annie: swimming 10 metres
Romy and Luisa: won medals at the Thornton Trail as the first team runners to finish for the school
Siéna-Louise: came 1st and 3rd in a dance competition at Coalville Festival
Jessica: gymnastics Level 4 and 3
Matilda: 1 mile in 45 minutes
Aurelia: came 1st in an orchestral concert
Anna: cornet exam Grade 1
Hester, Annabelle, Zara, Risara and Harini: took part in the Thornton Trail
Sakinah: ‘November Shape Star’ in gymnastics

Year 6 Primary Maths Challenge 2001:

Playground Stars:

Leah and Amber Year 3: asked another girl to join in their bean bag game as she looked sad. She joined in and they all had great fun!
Lucy, Holly, Kinara Year 3, Priscilla, Yilin Year 4: made sure the toys were put away before lunch.
Cordelia and Daneka Year 4: supervised and tidied up the toys and games after the toys away bell.
Angelie, Varnikha Year 4 and Shreya Year 5: started a fun Congo for all the girls on the playground.
Florence Year 6: offered to put toys and games away and tidied them up.
Aliza Year 5: organised games for Year 1 and 2 girls.
Aurelia and Eva Year 4: offered to help Mrs Long get the toys and games out.
Angelie Year 4 and Asmi Year 4: reminded another class, when they were lining up for lunch, about our playground thought of the day ‘When you think good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely!’ Asmi recognised the saying from a book she had read called ‘The Twits’ by Roald Dahl.
Aurelia Year 4: told Mrs Long about a health and safety issue on the grass by the path so I was able to cover it up and report it.
Dulcie Year 1: saw that some of the older girls were collecting sticks for a GAP Club craft activity and helped collect some too.
Mollie and Aiyana Year 6: invented the obstacle challenge game which was great fun.
Diya, Annabelle, Luisa and Hester Year 4: organised a fun Limbo game and encouraged the other girls to join in.
Avani, Kinara Year 3, Emily Year 5: made Preesha feel welcome by playing skipping games with her.
Lily Year 4 and Avani Year 3: made a great job of tidying the toy shed after the toys away bell.
Esme and Lottie Year 6: included a younger girl in their game cheering her up.

Junior Sports

Thornton Trail Cross Country Event

On Friday, two teams travelled to Thornton College to compete in the Thornton Trail Cross Country Event. Luisa and Romy both came 7th out of 48 competitors in their races and were the first girls home for the High School – congratulations girls!

As a combined team total the Year 3 and 4 team came second out of 8 schools attending and the Year 5 and 6 team came third. Well done to all who represented the school.

Year 3 and 4 Match Report: We competed against 7 other schools. I came 7th (the first home for our team) and we came 2nd overall in the team event. It was the most exhausting thing I had ever done. Well done to Luisa, Hester, Elouise, Zara, Avani and Annabelle. Luisa

Year 5 and 6 Match Report: On Friday, Northampton did the Thornton trail which is a cross country competition. We were all really excited and we didn’t stop talking about it on the bus journey. When we arrived we went for a walk around the course that we were going to run. The course was muddy and slippery in places and a few people fell over (including myself twice). The team ran really well and worked hard together. Romy came 7th overall and first runner home for the High School. Combining all of our positions together the High School team came third overall. Emily

U11 Hockey vs MK Prep

U11A: The team always knew this would be a hard match and it certainly was. Despite some great challenges in midfield, MK Prep was the dominant side and certainly made our defence work hard. Evelyn was fantastic in goal and certainly kept a lot more goals from going in. The High School showed great resilience and came away with a loss but definitely worked the hardest they have all season.

U11B: On 24 November, we had a competitive hockey match against MK Prep. We all tried our best and although we didn’t score, there is lots of room for improvement for the next match. I think that next time we should use the space and travel a bit more because we spent most of the time defending instead of trying to score. We may not have won but we all had lots of fun and can’t wait for the next match. Lottie

Mrs Littlewood
Acting Director of Sport

Dates for your Diary

Just as a reminder, the GAP Club phone number is 07816 751456; please do keep this number handy, so that you have direct access to the GAP team should you need it.

Class Assemblies

We are pleased to welcome back parents and grandparents to our Wednesday Class Assemblies, 8.35am-8.55am. Refreshments will be served in the Community Room from 8.15am.

We do hope you will be able to join us.

Nursery - Kipper Room and Elmer Room

This week we have started to practise our Christmas performance, singing a variety of songs.

Continuing our transport theme we have been focusing on ‘What is orange?’ There has been a range of different activities based around ‘orange’. We had orange sand in a tuff tray for the girls to make marks in, stuck orange materials to orange shapes to go in the orange area we have made in the classroom. “It’s an orange triangle!” Danaya said.

In this week’s Ballet lesson, everyone listened and observed the movements Miss Sinead was doing before copying them. Part of the lesson involved going on a picnic with Daisy Dragon. We walked on our tip toes to gather the things we needed for the picnic such as the basket and some food. Miss Sinead was pleased with how the girls were able to pretend to be fairies flying around the hall.

In PE we practised our ball skills, throwing, catching, and kicking the ball to someone else or towards a specific area of the hall. The girls enjoyed seeing how high they could throw the ball. “Look at my one!” exclaimed Rosaya and, “It’s going!” Aurora said as she was running after her ball.

Next week our focus colours are pink and purple, so we will have a range of activities for the girls to participate in. If you have any pink or purple items that the children could explore and we could add to our area please could you send them in.

Nursery - Pre School

This week in Pre School we have been continuing our transport theme, focusing on buses and cars. We have built and painted our own bus using old cardboard boxes. “I have been on a bus,” said Sahana. We also made some interesting patterns using toy cars driving through paint.

In PE, the girls moved around the hall pretending to be various modes of transport.

Forest School was turned into a racetrack and the girls had great fun zooming their cars down the tracks. “Wheeeeeee!” exclaimed Rylee.

In the garden, the Christmas coffee shop has opened serving delicious hot chocolate and gingerbread men, which already seems to be a booming enterprise! “This is yummy!” said Isabella.

Rehearsals for our Christmas song performance, on Tuesday 7 December, are well underway and we have started making our props. We are not asking for costumes but the girls can be in their Christmas jumpers or party clothes.

Reception

This week we have continued with our story ‘Look Up’ by Nathan Bryon and have designed our own rocket and written about it. We have then thought about where we could go in our rocket, to which planet or to the moon? We have added torches to our space den and have started to think about light and dark and what helps us to see in the dark.

In Maths, we have been finding out about the different ways that you can make up the numbers 4 and 5. We have listened to the Christmas Story and related this to our own performance that we are practising for.

We have been very lucky to have some new climbing equipment arrive for our outside area and have been busy investigating what it can do.

In PSHE, we have been discussing ‘Why I think my home is special to me?’

We are all looking forward to our trip on Wednesday 1 December and hoping for some decent weather!

Year 1

I was overwhelmed with pride watching Year 1 perform their Class Assembly. The class certainly rose to the occasion and were so happy to share something they had created together, with their families.

Mrs Dadge and I are pleased to say that our Christmas play is ‘coming together’ – the girls are becoming confident with their words and costumes are hanging ready on the rails. I have put a note in planners about any extra costume needed by your daughter; thank you so much for your support with this.

What the girls have said:

“I was really scared at the class assembly and looked at my parents the whole time.” Eloise.
“I felt really worried that nobody would clap me but I was really happy when they did!” Rayna.
“I felt proud of myself and sad when the assembly finished.” Aurelia.

Enjoy the weekend!

Looking ahead to next week:

Comparing worded and numerical statements
Writing about experiences that are important to us

Year 2

This week we discovered different animal footprints in our classroom, and using a key, we identified all of them except one set. We have been trying to work out what it might be and we think it is possibly an extinct bird.

In Maths, we have been adding pounds and pence.

In Science, we completed our forces fair test to see which ball would roll the furthest and tried to explain our results.

What the girls have said:

“I have enjoyed practising the play and trying on my costumes this week.” Caoimhe.
“I enjoyed rolling the balls down the ramp in Science to see which would travel the furthest.” Annie.

Looking ahead to next week:

English – we discover what made our unidentified footprints!
Maths – we are looking at making amounts of money in different ways, using coins and notes
Science – investigating things that float and sink

The girls have a note in their planner about items they need for their costumes for the play. We have sourced many things from our school supply but need your help to finish them off. Please ask if you have any questions. Thank you for your support with this.

Mrs Dadge

Year 3

This week in Maths we have continued refreshing our multiplication and division skills. Some of the girls have started learning their times tables and have already earned bronze and silver certificates.

In English, we have worked hard to create some vivid sentences thinking carefully about the use of adjectives, nouns, verbs, and prepositional phrases. We have also been practising our Class Assembly ready for next week.

In Science, we investigated the best material for blocking light by inspecting different shadow types.

In Geography, we looked at the different parts of a volcano.

The girls played in their second hockey match of the season this week and put on another great performance!

What the girls have said:

“I have looked forward to the hockey match all week!” Cristina.
“I have been excited to practise my times tables and get a certificate.” Avani.
“I can’t wait for people to see our assembly.” Holly.

Looking ahead to next week:

Please join us in school on Wednesday morning for our Class Assembly.

Year 4

In Maths, we have been multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100. We have used a place value grid and counters to see how the numbers become bigger and smaller.

In English, we were introduced to the story of FArTHER. We wrote expanded noun phrases, describing a wonderful day from the story, and looked at abstract nouns. We also constructed multi-clause sentences to describe a picture and used personification.

In Science, we enjoyed some practical demonstrations demonstrating peristalsis of the intestine. Ask your daughter to explain how crackers, orange juice, and water can show how digestion works. Yuk!

What the girls have said:

“I enjoyed computing this week. Coding was great fun making the things move.” Yilin.
“I loved Humanities and learning about Boudicca. It was really interesting, especially the battles.” Luisa.
“I enjoyed Science, although it did make me feel a little poorly!” Aurelia.
“I liked History and the Romans. I also liked printing our memory quilt in Art.” Evie.

Looking ahead to next week:

English – writing in role to explore a character’s feelings, based on our text FaRTHER, Spellings suffixes – –tion, –sion, –ssion, –cian
Maths – multiply by 1 and 0, divide by 1 and itself, multiply and divide by 6
Science – identifying the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions.

Dates for your diary:

Wednesday 1 December – Forest School
Tuesday 14 December 7pm – Christmas performance

Year 5

It has been really great having visitors our classroom this week, and I have been so proud of the warm and welcoming way in which the girls have behaved. Like many of the girls, one of my highlights this week was going down to Forest School – it was cold and crisp and the girls did some fabulous collaborative activities.

What the girls have said:

“I had a great time in DT making my photo frame because we had to measure, mark and cut the wood to exactly fit our individual photos. I am excited to start decorating my frame next week because I like my design and I hope it will turn out brilliantly.” Risara.
“I enjoyed writing my sci-fi story because when I started doing it I just kept on wanting to write because I had loads of ideas. I am really proud of what I have achieved, and next time I will read it through a few more times so I don’t make mistakes.” Harini.
“On Wednesday we went to Forest school and I was happy that I got spend time with Betty again. I managed to get her to lift her paw to shake it and I help her lead often. The rest of the girls were making shelters while I was with Betty… everyone had lots of fun!” Tami

Dates for your Diary:

Tuesday 30 November – extra hockey (come to school in PE kit with swimming things – no uniform needed today)

Year 6

Another busy week has flown past and despite the cold, dark mornings, Year 6 have continued to work hard.

In Maths, they have been continuing to build their knowledge and understanding of fractions.

In English, they have risen to the challenge of writing their own verses in the style of William Blake.

In Humanities, the girls presented their findings on biomes with increasing confidence and are developing their communication skills.

Our Science work has focused on collecting data to investigate the effects of exercise on pulse rate.

Highlights of the week include:

“I really enjoyed the hockey match because it was fun and I worked really hard with my team to defend very well.” Bethany.
“This week I enjoyed reading ‘The Tyger’ poem in English and writing my own verse in the same style.” Aiyana.
“I really enjoyed the experiment we carried out on the effects of exercise on our pulse. My group used cones to weave in and out of to get our pulse rate to increase. It was great fun and my theory that my pulse rate would nearly double was correct.” Rianna.

Next week we look forward to developing further mastery of our understanding of fractions, exploring the power of persuasion in English and analysing data in Science.

GAP Club

We have been starting to get very ‘Christmassy’ in GAP Club this week. The girls have made reindeers using lollypop sticks, paper plate Christmas trees, 3D snowmen and Christmas hat baubles to hang on their tree.

What the girls have said:

“The reason I like to come is that I like making Christmas decorations.” Eloise, Year 1.
“Drawing my mummy.“ Grace, Reception.
“l like doing everything at GAP Club.” Amelia, Year 1.

Next week we will be continuing our Christmas theme activities.

Alumnae news

A surprise visit by an alumna, Sally Kettle, who left Northampton High in 1996, brought with it the wonderful news that Sally and her mum will be featuring in a new volume of the Rebel Girls book collection, published by Timbuktu Labs Inc.

Sally, who is now a speaker, well-known adventurer, event host, television presenter, and author of ‘Sally’s Odd at Sea’, was the first woman to row the Atlantic Ocean twice from East to West, and once with her mother! She kindly brought to us the news of the new Rebel Girls book, and brought to us a set of the Rebel Girls book series for our school library.

Honest and funny, Sally has been a guest speaker in school in the past and has told students tales of shark attacks, hurricanes and broken body parts; we are so grateful for her continued contact with school and watch her progress with great interest and affection.

Mrs Wilmot
Director of Marketing & Admissions

Christmas Chemistree Lecture - Thursday 9 December

Christmas card design - celebrations!

Congratulations to Ishani in Year 5 for her Christmas card design entry for a design competition. The competition, run by Rt Hon. Dame Andrea Leadsom DBE MP, Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire, was fiercely contested, and we are delighted that Ishani has been commended for her submission.

Ishani has been invited to attend a special Christmas party with a guest, hosted by Rt. Hon Dame Andrea Leadsom, at the Forum in Towcester. Congratulations, Ishani!

Mrs Wilmot
Director of Marketing & Admissions

STEM Morning - Saturday 13 November

It was wonderful to welcome 46 girls into school on Saturday 13 November for our annual STEM Morning. Current Northampton High pupils were joined by prospective pupils for a morning of STEM-related activities and fun!

Aged between 6 and 11, the girls worked together on a Harry Potter-themed potion-making masterclass, tried their hands at Coding, and embarked on a Beebot Maze & 3D Shape challenge. Our Year 6 Science Captains, Florence, Rianna, and Kara, did a great job of supporting the girls with the chemistry ‘potion’ experiments, and all participants were enthused by the world of STEM.

At the same time, we hosted an Early Years Fun Morning, with, again, current and prospective pupils and their families. This was a great opportunity for our Nursery and Pre School children to show their loved ones where they come to learn and play.

Thank you to all who attended, and a special mention to Florence, Rianna, and Kara for their contribution to a busy and exciting morning!

Mrs Wilmot
Director of Marketing & Admissions

Christmas Concert

Medication reminder

Please can we remind all parents and carers that students are not allowed to carry their own medication unless this has been discussed with the School Nurse beforehand. This is with the exception of adrenaline devices and asthma inhalers.

Sixth Formers are allowed to carry one dose of paracetamol and/or ibuprofen, if necessary. However these are for their own use and not to be shared with others.

Mrs Dunkley
Nurse

Join Our Team - Minibus Drivers Wanted

For more information and to apply please click here.

Mr Nash
Marketing & Communications Officer

Term Dates 21/22

Term Dates 22/23

Northampton High School
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