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Junior News – 3 March 2023 |
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World Book Day is an enjoyable annual event for us all to celebrate our appreciation for books. This year, instead of asking children to dress as a book character, we invited the children to wear their pyjamas to show our appreciation of bedtime stories. Ice cream on a sunny day, splashing in muddy puddles, building dens – this is what childhood is made of. A story before bedtime is another fundamental experience of our younger years and one which has the potential for lasting impact on our lives. |
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Reading at home not only increases academic ability, but it also helps to strengthen family relationships and foster a lifelong love of books. This is particularly important for primary-age children who go through a period of great change between the ages of 4 and 11, they are learning to read, discovering their likes and dislikes and taking their first big steps into the world. A bedtime story can be the anchor to all this, helping children to explore new feelings, new experiences and new knowledge in a safe environment. Cuddling together with your parents, grandparents, carers or siblings to share an adventure or talk about a story before happily drifting off to sleep is an idyllic image that should be every child’s reality. My favourite book is ‘The Hurricane Tree’. Not for its complex storyline or the depth of characterisation but for the memories it evokes for me. I have a vivid memory of my Grandpa reading this to me before bed and the experience of this has clearly set this book in its pole position in my book ranking! I invite you to cast your mind back to your own bedtime story experiences and then to consider the experiences you facilitate for your own children. As the classes settled down in a cosy position this afternoon, with the comfort of a hot chocolate, the relaxation and enjoyment of the story time sessions that then were experience was tangible. Everyone floated towards the end of the school day in a comfortable, relaxed, positive state and if there was ever a need to prove the power of stories it was provided at Northampton High yesterday afternoon. Miss Hair |
Dates for your diary |
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KS2 Outdoor Learning Monday 6 March – Year 6 Class Assemblies – Please join us from 8.20am for your child’s assembly Wednesday 8 March – Year 1 Forest School open sessions for parents/family members to attend Nursery – 9 March 10-11.30am |
Other dates to remember Hatching Experience – Monday 6 to 17 March Swimming Watching Weeks and Galas Year 6 Gala – Friday 19 May – 10.30am |
News from outside of our classrooms: World Book Day |
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For World Book Day, the Junior School students were asked to donate good quality second-hand books for a book sale, many thanks to everyone who contributed books or donations. The girls from Nursery to Year 6 were then invited to go along to choose a book for £1 to take home to enjoy. Not only has this been an exciting thing for the girls to do, we also feel it has been a good sustainability project by recirculating the books to new owners. The money received from donations towards this activity are to purchase new reading materials for our reading room. We have had a very unusual day this week with the girls and staff arriving in an array of nightwear. Everyone looked relaxed and cosy in their various snuggly garments, along with a few cuddly teddy bears to keep us company. To start the day, the girls attended a very interesting assembly presented by two Senior School pupils who are published authors. The girls talked about what inspired them to write and how to use a story mountain plan to write an exciting story. |
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During the day, the younger girls enjoyed listening to some CBeebies Bedtime stories read by celebrities, reading to each other, ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’ and sharing their new books as well as some relaxing mindful colouring related to their reading. Some of the KS2 classes enjoyed taking part in the BBC Live Lesson for World Book Day with Michael Rosen, and enjoyed re-writing a traditional tale with a twist. All the girls loved the hot chocolate and story time to finish off the day! Year 3 joined in with the BBC Teach World Book Day live lesson and were set special challenges. One of the challenges was to put a twist on a traditional tale by changing the characters, setting and plot and then work as a group to retell the story to the rest of the class. Year 5 had a great World Book Day, not just reading stories, but writing their own! We have just completed our unit on Beowulf, and the girls have tried hard to create their own Anglo-Saxon legend using some of the techniques included by the original poet. The girls have been writing these stories digitally, so please take time to enjoy them with your daughters over the weekend. |
News from our classrooms: Nursery and Pre School |
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Fairies have continued to be a central theme in Nursery this week. However, they have been complimented by a variety of other fantasy creatures. In phonics, we used our bodies as instruments to create a noisy pirate dance. In PE, we interpreted different music as galloping unicorns, fluttering fairies and dancing pixies. Our focus in Maths this week has been counting skills; pointing to objects one at a time, saying numbers in the correct order and knowing that the last number said is how many there are. We have taken every opportunity to reinforce these ‘rules’ throughout the week. In the garden, we have created our own fairies with our bubble wands. The girls found it very funny trying to catch the bubbles as they floated and swirled around in the breeze. |
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In Pre School, following on from the success of last weeks pirate treasure hunt and at the girls request, we participated in a mermaid treasure hunt. The girls followed the clues and completed different activities to find the treasure! PE had a different twist and instead of going in the hall to complete our lesson we ventured outside into the school grounds completing different exercises on the way round including running, walking, jumping, hopping and much more. Our school dog, Betty, even came to join the adventure too! We have celebrated World Book Day in style in our pyjamas, where the girls expressed delight on their faces showing their pyjamas to their friends. We also read a range of stories and the girls got very engaged answering questions and relaying their own versions of events. The girls behaved well and were a credit to the school when going on our trip to the post box to post our pictures to our families. Excitement filled the air and the all important question was asked. “When will we get them”? Soon hopefully, was my response! |
News from our classrooms: Reception |
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This week, we introduced a new book,’Super Milly and the School Day’ to support our learning. The class had fun talking about their favourite Superheroes, their super powers and costumes. Each girl designed a cape and mask on paper and then made them in our workshop area. Our phonics this week has included the sound ‘ear’ and revisiting ‘oi’ ‘ow’ and ‘ur’. World Book Day was a highlight of the week as everyone enjoyed wearing their pyjamas and having a day of focussing on books and reading activities. Although for some it made them feel a little bit sleepy! |
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In Maths, we have been continuing with numbers 9 and 10, counting backwards, more and fewer and number bonds. In PSHE, ‘Jigsaw Jenie’ told us about the importance of exercise to keep our bodies healthy. For part of the exercise experience we played a bean game and noticed that our hearts were beating faster afterwards. In Cooking this week the class made fruit scones, especially enjoying getting their hands in the mixture and the kneading! |
Year 1 PSHE Focus |
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In Year 1 we have been focused in PSHE on making choices that keep us healthy and safe. This has led us to in depth discussions about moderating our excitement when interacting with animals to keep ourselves safe. The girls love interacting with Betty, our school dog, and she is of course incredibly well natured, but the girls are clear that not all dogs are as calm and friendly and that they must not approach an unfamiliar dog independently. The girls also appreciate how regularly walking a dog can help to keep them healthy. |
Year 2 PSHE Focus |
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Year 2 have been talking about staying healthy in our PSHE lessons. We have discussed why it is important to stay healthy and how we can motivate each other. We talked about how we need to find time to relax as that also keeps our bodies and minds healthy. |
Year 3 PSHE Focus |
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During our residential visit, we were challenged to work as a team to follow a set of instructions and recycle the waste and kitchen scraps into the correct containers. We needed to communicate with each other and also persevere to carry the heavy waste buckets. We had to be resilient when tipping the kitchen scraps into the smelly compost bin! |
Year 4 PSHE Focus |
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In PSHE this week, we took a mindfulness moment to do a body scan. Once our minds were calm and relaxed, we discussed how different friendship groups are formed, how they fit into them and the friends we value the most. We then completed a friendship chart each. |
Year 5 PSHE Focus |
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This week in Year 5, our PSHE came in the form of Forest School when we welcomed lots of parents and grandparents. We had a wonderful time showing our visitors around the site, and many spent time learning how to create beautiful ‘God’s Eyes’ using two sticks, some wool and a lot of patience! |
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Some of us decided that the storm clouds were gathering, and worked with our friends and adults to make some fabulous dens before the rain came! It was a joyful afternoon for all involved. |
Year 6 PSHE Focus |
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Year 6 have started to learn about the effects that alcohol, cigarettes and illegal drugs have on our physical and mental health. We have engaged very maturely with this sensitive topic, sharing our own observations and asking some thoughtful questions. Betty the Dog even came along to listen in! |
Junior School Sports News |
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Our U11 Northampton High School netball team played Nottingham High School on Wednesday 1 March. After a long, hard game, the score ended 11-4, with Northampton High School taking the win. The whole team tried their best on and off the court, with cheering whilst off the court and excellent play whilst on. The first goal was scored by me, giving us a strong start, but Nottingham High School fought back making it 1-1, but we kept on going. Soon, 6 goals were scored by Zoe, 3 were scored by Risara and 1 from Grace. Both Nottingham and Northampton played amazingly well, with the Player of the Match award for our team going to Grace. We all agreed on this award as she worked hard and intercepted many passes from the other team. We had a great time playing our away match and I can definitely say that we are all super proud of our achievement. We will keep on trying to make every match that we play the best that it can be! – Harriet S |
Awards for this week |
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Star Learners of the Week – Elodie K, Georgina P, Amelia K, Nellie L-S, Amariah S-A, Holly G-S, Eliza A, Daisy P, Emma B, Gabrielle C Linguist of the Week – Ella K External Achievements: Amelia C-L – awarded a Stanley 4 level at Swimming and achieved “Saturday Superstar” at the German Saturday School (DSS – Deutsche Samstags Schule)
Emily T – awarded a 3rd place National Dance medal and a 4th place Ballet medal Siéna-Louise – awarded the Pre-Junior Classical trophy for Ballet Amelia K – awarded Microscope and Shopping Sense Brownie badges Grace B – completed the Orange County Tennis training and also completed a Park Run Caoimhe H-T – completed her first Irish Dancing championship, competing with 23 others in front of an audience of about 200 people and finished in 12th place Rhoda J – awarded Star of the Week in Gymnastics Amber K – achieved a Brownie Microscope badge Annie T – achieved a White Stripe in Taekwondo Lily C – awarded Star of the Week in Gymnastics Hester L – came first at County Hockey Poppy P – came first at County Hockey Annabelle R – won the Hockey County Cup Aurelia T – performed with her cello in a concert Gabrielle C – achieved player of the week at Hockey Club |
The Knight Frank Schools Triathlon Series |
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We are delighted to have been invited to take part in the The Knight Frank Schools Triathlon series, hosted by Oundle School and organised by Restless Development, on Sunday 14 May. 7 events ran last May, with over 6,000 children taking part from 120 prep schools such as Cheam, Cothill House, Dulwich Prep, Farleigh, Feltonfleet, Port Regis, St Hughs, The Dragon and Thomas’ Battersea. The children raised an incredible £1.2 million for both the organising charity and each prep school’s chosen charity. The events are for Senior and Junior School pupils in Years 3 to 8 and there has been a fantastic response from schools to date, with both the pupils and parents really enjoying the day. It is first and foremost a fun event, with a team element rather than the normal individual triathlon format. The children form teams of 4, come up with suitably amusing team names, with all 4 teammates performing all 3 disciplines as a relay. This has really appealed, not just to the keen sporting pupils, but also to those who want to give a triathlon a go with their friends in a safe and fun environment. Maya, from Restless Development delivered an assembly for our pupils in Years 3 to 8 on Tuesday 7 February to inform pupils about this fun opportunity. This is a parent-led event, with parents registering the children directly and taking them on the day. Any questions from parents can be sent directly to schoolstriathlon@restlessdevelopment.org. We hope that many of our students will choose to be involved in this fun, physical, charity event. Miss Hair |
Junior Bake Off |
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Save the Date: Parents Afternoon Tea - Friday 7 July |
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We invite you to save the date for this summer’s Parent Afternoon Tea event, which will be taking place on Friday 7 July, from 2 – 3.30pm. The cost for this event will be £15pp, and bookings can be made via ParentPay, with a deadline of Wednesday 31 May. More information will follow over the coming weeks and months, but we do hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be a lovely afternoon. Miss Hair |
Turning 'can we?' into 'we can!' - Open Morning, Friday 28 April |
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We look forward to welcoming so many lovely families to our upcoming Open Morning on Friday 28 April. The event promises to be a superb showcase of life at Northampton High School. If you would like to come along, please do feel most welcome, and should you have family, friends, or neighbours keen to visit us, please encourage them to book their place here and join us! Mr Nash |
Dance Festival - Wedensday 29 March 2023 |
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We warmly invite you to save the date for our annual Dance Festival, which will take place on Wednesday 29 March. This year our show will take you ‘Through the Decades’ and include performances from students across the school from Reception to Sixth Form. Pupils have also been invited to attend auditions should they wish to perform a solo, duet or group dance with their peers. Our PE Staff will be working with Junior School classes, as part of the curriculum, to create and rehearse an exciting display of class dances. |
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We are also incorporating our House System into the Festival, to showcase a House Dance and involve pupils from Year 5 upwards to collaborate and work together. We have some superb Dance Leaders choreographing the House Dances and I am positive the evening will be an inspiring performance of talent and expertise in the Arts. Mrs Blake |
Community Sessions |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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