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Junior News – 30 June 2023 |
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I have returned from a short trip to the USA to present at the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools and, ignoring the jet lag, I had the most energising, fulfilling and developmental trip. It was an honour to contribute to such a successful event for a large group of enthusiastic educators from all girls’ schools from 15 countries. There are so many elements I could share with you in this week’s publication of our Junior News, but I have settled on sharing with you a project I saw that really struck me. The Kennedy Institute launched a collaborative art project called ‘Your Seat at the Table Project’ to invite individuals, schools, and community organisations to think about why diversity of representation is vital and what necessary contribution we each bring to the table when we pull up a chair. Fifty years ago, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman elected to Congress. In 1972, she became the first African American candidate for the presidential nominee of a major party, and the first woman to seek the Democratic nomination. Towards the end of her life ,Chisholm said of these historic firsts: “I want history to remember me not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and who dared to be herself. I want to be remembered as a catalyst for change in America.” Over the course of her 14 years in Congress, Chisholm was able to be a force for change and a champion of legislation that would improve the quality of life for women, children, people of colour, and the poor. She fought for the people in her life—for domestic workers like her mother; for immigrants like her parents who had come to New York from the Caribbean; for children like those she’s worked with as childcare provider and expert in early childhood education and child welfare. |
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Having her voice at the table where discussions are had and decisions are made, makes a difference for the underrepresented. She stepped up and claimed her seat at the table of public discourse and made the difference, and that was her advice to us. “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” With those words, Chisholm encouraged us not to wait for an invitation, but to pull up a chair, with all that we bring to the table, and make our own space in the conversation. Today, we see an unprecedented number of people doing just that. Record numbers of women, people of colour, and native Americans are running for office. Inspired by Chisholm’s words, and seeing the spirit of her call to action come to life in American politics, those at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute are exploring what this can mean for all of us. We ask you to consider your seat at the table. Throughout history, we’ve seen examples of historically underrepresented groups demand their seat at the table. This project invited girls to consider how they can choose to bring their folding chair to the table and influence change. Individuals, schools, and community organisations were invited to participate in this project. It asked participants to think about what their seat at the table represents, what it looks like, and why it is important that they bring that seat to the table. At the conference there was a collection of example chairs and they were truly striking. To see the diversity of design and the poignant design responses from the pupils was inspiring. I enjoyed several conversations with colleagues from ICGS schools across the globe about this concept and collaboratively conclude that perhaps the issue isn’t that girls need to find their voice, but instead they need us to guide them to understand why it is so important to do so and how to go about using it. I am considering how we at Northampton High School could reflect on this guidance from history and respond to this learning, as we strive for all of our pupils to develop the confidence to bring their own folding chair to the table and to appreciate the importance and impact of this. Miss Hair |
Dates for your Diary |
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Class Assemblies: Key Dates: KS2 Forest School sessions: |
Upcoming Events and Notices |
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Open Classroom: With the opportunity to visit school for the Arts Festival, parents are being welcomed to request a meeting following the end of year reports and the sending of the girls’ exercise books home as there will be no open classroom event. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 Sports Day: On arrival, please make your way to the Sports Field. All parents and families are welcome and we would love to see as many of you as possible cheering on your children. Let’s Move Club: There will be no ‘Let’s Move Club on 5 July. Swimming: The last swimming lessons of the academic year for Reception to Year 6 will be week beginning 3 July, therefore the children will not require their kits to be in school in the last week of the academic year. Prize Giving: We will be holding a prize giving ceremony for Junior School on Wednesday 12 July, 8.45 – 9.30am. Prizes will be awarded to children from Years 3 to 6 for various academic and pastoral achievements and recognition. Parents of prize winners will be invited to this event in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to celebrating these achievements together at the end of the year. Women’s England vs Sri Lanka Cricket Match, 12 September: You will have received an email sharing with you a fabulous opportunity for your daughter to attend this match at Northamptonshire County Cricket Ground. One of our parents has very generously offered to sponsor a box for us to facilitate a group of interested Junior School families to experience this opportunity together. If you would like to secure places for your family to attend this match, please email junioradmin@nhs.gdst.net as soon as possible as spaces are limited due to the box capacity. |
News from our classrooms: Nursery and Preschool |
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As it nears to the end of term it is amazing to see how much the girls have developed. Their role play which started as Mums and Dads in the home corner, now includes dinosaurs and princesses, and the girls create their own props using pieces of material and recycling items. The continuous provision within the room allows for this autonomy to their play, and it is also nice to see that they are choosing to look at books and mark make freely. |
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This week in Preschool, we had an exciting opportunity to watch a preview of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in the Senior Hall. The girls sat beautifully to watch the performance and were mesmerized by the singing, acting and dancing. It is wonderful to see how the pupils progress over the years. It also gave the girls an insight of what they could become involved with in the future. During swimming, pupils displayed just how much they have achieved – swimming and jumping in independently, chasing floating objects when only using a woggle and blowing bubbles in the water are just some of the many things they have mastered. We have also learnt about Eid by watching a short video, and having a group discussion about this celebration including the Mosque being a place of worship. We then took the celebration into our PE lesson and enjoyed dancing. We also had one of our girls share their experiences of Eid and she talked about the many things she enjoyed. |
News from our classrooms: Reception |
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The highlight of this week was our visit to Woburn Safari Park. When we arrived, we went on the safari in our minibus. We were very lucky to see most of the animals up close. Our favourites included; tigers, lions, bears, zebras, giraffes, elephants, and the monkeys (one of them jumped onto the minibus and up on the roof!). When we arrived at the walkabout we then saw the snakes, the tortoises and the penguins. We had a talk called ‘All about Animals’, and we were invited to touch some animal skins and learn about animal teeth. After our picnic lunch, our second talk was called ‘Poo in the Zoo’, with real samples to view and a challenge to work out which animal it had come from! We finished with seeing the wallabies and the sea lions, before returning to school. It was a fantastic trip and the class were impeccably behaved; a real joy to be with. |
Year 1 Science Focus |
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Year 1 have been learning about plants this half term. They had a great time finding wild flowers outside; although unfortunately the mowers had just been so there weren’t as many as we were expecting! Now the girls are thinking about the structure of plants before moving on to what they need to live. |
Year 2 Science Focus |
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Year 2 have been investigating our school grounds to see what living things we can find. We had to remember to look for plants as well as animals! We also talked about different habitats that we found around our grounds because we found things in trees, bushes, under stones and in the flower beds. We have also been talking about food chains and learning that these start with a plant and end with a predator – which is sometimes a human! |
Year 3 Science Focus |
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Year 3 have been putting their science investigation skills to the test and have planned a fair test to investigate the question; ‘Can people with longer leg bones jump further?’ They carried out their fair test and used measuring skills to collate data and then draw conclusions. Please do ask us about what we discovered! |
Year 4 Science Focus |
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This half term, Year 4 have been learning all about evolution and inheritance. After examining bones and finding out how fossils are made, they spent time thinking about how advantageous characteristics are passed on from one generation to the next. Designing their own ‘species’ of Zwimble dog, and working out how it might be affected by a range of environmental changes, has helped them start to understand the concept of ‘survival of the fittest’. Several populations increased in size but one, unfortunately, became extinct! |
Year 5 Science Focus |
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This half terms Year 5 Science lessons have been all about puberty, and understanding the body changes that girls and boys experience at this time. Activities have focused on using the correct scientific vocabulary to name body parts and describe the processes taking place. The girls have impressed us with their mature approach to handling a range of period products, as well as discussing their feelings and asking questions when they are unsure. |
Year 6 Science Focus |
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In Science, Year 6 have been separating materials using evaporation, magnetic attraction, filtering and sieving. We considered which separation method is most appropriate for different combinations of materials, for example; a salt and water solution, rice and paper clips, flour and raisins and sand and water. We also started to think about how these processes might be used in real life situations. |
News from outside of our classrooms: Year 3 National Sea Life Centre Trip |
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Year 3 enjoyed a wonderful trip out this week to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham. The girls loved watching the penguins diving for food and performing somersaults for us. There were so many different species of fish to look at and the girls read all of the facts about each and every one. Their favourite part was the ocean tunnel! We then enjoyed a workshop session titled ‘Beyond the Surface’, which informed us of the dangers sea creatures face from humans and how pollution is still a big problem and what we can do to help. |
News from outside of our classrooms: Year 4 Legoland Discovery Centre Trip |
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Year 4 had a wonderful trip to Legoland Discovery Centre on Monday. Pupils had a great time ‘zapping trolls and boulders’ on the interactive ride and peddled themselves to new heights on another. Exploring the Mini Lego Land, they immersed themselves in their imagination; playing football, racing boats, drilling roads and even shopping in the world’s smallest Primark. |
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They built catapults in a workshop with Zoe’s, Annabel’s, Avani’s and Constance’s group managing to throw a mini boulder a whopping 108cm. Fun games of tag, and hide and seek were played in the Lego City soft play. Cars were built and destroyed as they raced along a sloping track and cute dot pictures were created and taken home. A highlight was the 4D cinema experience of the Lego Movie with actual water, foam and vibrations. The girls’ behaviour was impeccable, Miss John and I thoroughly enjoyed taking them. |
European Day of Languages |
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We are already looking ahead to celebrating the European Day of Languages in September and are planning an exciting week long programme of events in the week beginning Monday 25 September. We would also like to be able to showcase careers involving languages (or those who studied Langauges and have gone on to do something different!) If you, a member of your family, a family friend or an alumna of the school feel able to contribute, we would be very grateful! Please contact s.black@nhs.gdst.net if you can help. |
GLK Gymnastics |
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FA/Girlguiding Football Sessions |
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Northampton High School - Where girls learn without limits |
Community Sessions |
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Alumnae Reunion Lunch |
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External Sports opportunities |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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