So much is new for our pupils in September – learning spaces, teachers, classmates, curriculum, timetable, expectations, responsibilities… It feels to me though, like we are getting to that sweet spot where everything becomes familiar and normal, feelings of newness and the accompanying anxieties subside and learning begins to fly. The steam train is powering rhythmically along the track. We have been so impressed with how well girls new to our school have settled and are already embracing a wealth of opportunities on offer to them.
Life is not always straightforward though, and bumps in the road will be experienced by all our pupils at some time in their school life. An important part of our work in school is to equip pupils with tools to manage experiences such as friendship challenges, work they find tricky, personal organisation, puberty and family issues. Building resilience yes, but also providing reliable pastoral structures that can be accessed as and when they are needed.
Week by week key life themes and issues are addressed through our PSHE curriculum which forms the bedrock of enabling pupils to understand themselves and each other. In class we regularly visit the concept of ‘trusted adults’ and talk to the girls about who they would happily approach if they needed to talk to someone. Your daughter’s class teacher is almost always top of the list but behind the scenes class teachers have a clear pathway of support that can be accessed. The pastoral team meet regularly to review support in place, its effectiveness and any girls that need extra time and care.
Visitors to our school comment repeatedly about how happy, calm and focussed it feels in the Junior School. This can only be achieved by staff, pupils and parents working and sharing together. As always, we greatly value your support with this and are always pleased to talk with you about anything on your mind about your daughter.
In the meantime, have a restful and relaxing weekend.
Mrs Jo Purvey-Tyrer
Junior School Assistant Head
Nursery and Preschool
Autumn is upon us and we have embraced the weather with lots of sensory experiences this week in Nursery. We have created Hedgehogs with play dough, jumped in muddy puddles and painted with conkers and leaves we found on our welly walks.
In Cooking the children have got stuck in with mixing, tipping and pouring. The girls were really proud of the final product after engaging with the process.
The newest and youngest members of our Nursery have all settled now and are showing their interests and personalities, so we can tailor the environment to suit them and their play schemas.
This week in Preschool we have continued to explore the theme ‘Autumn’ and the girls have been exploring conkers and dry leaves. We used conkers for mark making and rolling in paint observing the marks they made. Conkers have also been used in the home corner as food and on the natural resource area for transient art pictures.
The girls have explored instruments and the different sounds they make by playing a listening and matching game. The girls had to listen to which instrument was making the sound and play their matching one to find out if it was correct.
In Ballet this week we had our warm up followed by practising our first and second positions with plié practice too. The girls moved rhythmically to music around the room and we played a game of stop and go.
The tap-a-shape has been out with the girls being really engaged and focused on the picture they have been making.
In the library we had a go at matching our returning books back into the correct lettered boxes by matching their letter labels.
At Forest School this week the rain brought lots of excitement and the girls thoroughly enjoyed splashing in all the puddles.
Junior School Music Focus
Our Monday mornings begin with a Junior School music and performance assembly. This term we have had the opportunity to listen to a number of our pupils who are undertaking lessons on a variety of instruments and this allows them time to develop their performance skills.
In our singing time, we have learnt a number of warm up songs including ‘Red lorry, yellow lorry’ and ‘Vocal training’; we talked about why it is important to warm up any instrument, including the voice, before performing. We are currently learning a range of songs including ‘Picture of Autumn,’ See the Changes,’ ‘Brighter Day tomorrow’ and ‘Whistle Down the Wind.’
Reception Music Focus
We have been loving our music sessions this half term. We have already begun to develop a large repertoire of songs – our favourite currently being ‘Make a face’ where we have to pull lots of funny faces as we sing the lyrics.
We have used puppets, actions and scarves to accompany our music and enjoyed spending time in the new Junior School Music room – a space where we can physically move around in time to the music.
Year 1 Music Focus
In our Music sessions this half term we have been exploring pulse through songs and movement and controlling this pulse on a range of percussion instruments.
We worked on a compositional piece called ‘This little train goes up the hill’ where we thought about the tempo of the music and how we could keep a steady pulse even when the tempo of the piece increased or slowed down.
We have enjoyed learning lots of new songs including ‘1,2,3 Little Acorns’ and ‘Our Big Band’ where we have combined singing with instruments, and performed simple rhythms within the song when it was our turn.
Year 2 Music Focus
In our Music sessions this half term we have revised maintaining a steady pulse on different instruments. We have been listening to and copying different rhythm patterns with accuracy.
In our listening times, we have been trying to identify different instruments of the orchestra and name these accurately. We have enjoyed learning and performing new songs including, ‘Picture of Autumn,’ ‘We’ve got tomatoes!’ and created rhythm patterns based on spoken words.
In small groups we have carried out compositional work where each member of the ensemble is encouraged to choose instruments to work with and take on the role of the leader or conductor of the group.
Year 3 to Year 6 Music Focus
Year 3 have been revising writing simple notation, aural recognition of rhythms and reading repeating patterns from notation. We have also made a good start with preparations for the Christmas performance with some excellent and enthusiastic singing.
Year 4 have been learning about pitch and notation. This has involved vocal work and learning about clefs.
Year 5 have been learning to write down rhythms that they hear and thinking about different time signatures. We have also made an excellent start to learning the songs that will be sung by them at the Christmas performance.
Year 6 have learned about how to notate more unusual rhythmic patterns, such as triplets. We have also looked at how triplets sound against simple rhythms.
Awards
Star Learners of the Week:
Siena-Louise D B, Robyn F-W, Evie I, Charlotte I, Aleya L, Rayna N, Naavya P
NOLA (National Outdoor Learning Award) Certificates:
A huge well done to all of Year 5 who achieved a NOLA (National Outdoor Learning Award) Certificate for attending and participating at their Grafham Water Residential.
Chess Skills Certificates:
Congratulations to Kinara B, Eloise C, Isabel S-R and Zoe Z who have been awarded Chess Skills Certificates.
External Achievements:
Jasmine I – achieved a Distinction in Grade 2 Theory of Music.
Ella K – awarded a Pony Club badge.
Betsy H – awarded a Football Trophy and Player of the Match.
Birthdays this week
We wish a very Happy Birthday to the following members of our Junior School family:
Alice S, Molly J H, Constance H, Amayah M and Annabel P
School Council
We announced our School Council representatives in Celebration Assembly this morning and presented their leadership badges. Congratulations to the pupils who have been nominated by their class to work with the School Council leadership.
School Council Leadership:
Elizabeth F-W – Chair
Cristina S-R – Vice-Chair
Anushka S – Secretary
School Council Representatives:
Elodie K and Annabel W – Year 2
Isabelle L and Emily T – Year 3
Charlotte I and Lily P – Year 4
Isabella B and Eve C – Year 5
Olivia H and Sylvia G – Year 6
School Council meetings are on Monday lunchtimes from 12.20pm and are supported by Mrs Purvey-Tyrer.
Next week we are introducing our Year 6 Leadership team.
Parent Notices
Please find an overview of calendar dates for the autumn term here.
Key Dates:
- We look forward to Year 5’s class assembly on Wednesday 9 October at 8.35am. Refreshments will be available for parents in the Junior School foyer before the assembly.
- The first of our Music Scholars’ Concerts will take place on Friday 11 October from 12noon-1pm in C3. Please do come along and enjoy.
- Week commencing Monday 14 October – Junior School Book Fair.
- Wednesday 16 October – Year 4 Forest School.
- Thursday 17 October – Nursery, Preschool and Junior School Parents’ Evening.
- Friday 18 October – end of autumn term 1; half term.
- Young Voices – 30 January 2025. Please let us know if you would like your daughter to be involved in this exciting mass choir event by completing this form. Please express your interest by Tuesday 8 October.
Road layout and traffic flow on site – When leaving the school site in the car, may we please ask parents to be aware of the ‘give way’ markings on the road; drivers coming from the Senior School area of the school are asked to give way to vehicles leaving the Junior School parking area.
Buses – May we please ask parents to cancel bus bookings on the Vectare system if their daughter is not going to take a journey; alternatively, may we please ask parents to let the school know in planners or via email (junioradmin@nhs.gdst.net) if a child will not be travelling on the bus, despite a place showing as ‘booked’ on the system. This will assist with removing uncertainty for pupils and staff at the end of the day.
Year 3 and Year 6 Trip to ThinkTank
Year 3 and 6 went on a trip to ThinkTank in Birmingham. ThinkTank is a science museum which has lots of different activities and showcases many things. Year 3 and 6 did different activities.
Year 3 had a fantastic time in both their workshops, starting with finding out about forces and friction. Activities included fishing with magnets to attract certain metals and testing friction on different surfaces. The highlights of the day were seeing a real triceratops skull, handling some very old fossils and acting out the extinction of the dinosaurs. We learnt lots of interesting facts and would love to visit again!
Year 6 first started in the laboratory. We then looked at solids, liquids and gases. We mixed some baking soda and vinegar and created carbon dioxide to blow up a balloon. We also made our own slime by mixing PVA and Borax. We then made our way to the science garden and there were lots of activities to do with energy. After that we then went to the Lego room. There, we programmed a Lego robot to do many things like change colour, move about and many other things. We all had an amazing time at ThinkTank!
Kinara B – Year 6
Year 5 Residential to Grafham Water
This week, Year 5 went on their residential trip to Grafham Water… and it was amazing! At the end of the three days, the course leader said to Miss Brandon-Jones that the trip had been the highlight of her year; the girls were polite, listened carefully to instructions and encouraged each other during each activity.
“I really enjoyed visiting Grafham and doing all the activities, even the ones that were in the rain. The thing I enjoyed most, and that I was really good at, was the cycling because I cycled really fast all the way and didn’t get tired.” Tabby
“On the first night we did problem solving. Our first activity was getting a giant see-saw to balance, with all of us on it. It was harder than I thought and it wouldn’t balance, because we were all moving. We tried different techniques and finally found one that worked.” Emily
“I enjoyed everything so much at Grafham, especially the crate stacking because it felt like I was flying, even though it was a bit rainy!” Aggie
“Grafham was so so fun! I loved the canoeing when I was sharing a seat with Amariah, and the paddle boarding when I was with Flora. Because of the wind and the waves, we kept on crashing into people and the pontoon. It was so fun!!!” Maya
Year 6 Forest School Adventures
Once again, Forest School has provided a portal to the past.
This time, when Year 6 visited, they were transported back to ancient Greece! Luckily the sun came out and provided a welcome break from the soggy weather and it was fantastic to see the girls engrossed in the activities! These included writing their names in Greek, making Posidon’s trident using sticks and constructing a laurel wreath. Did you know that the word ‘laureate’ and the phrase ‘rest on your laurels’ take their origins from the word laurel – which symbolised wisdom and achievement in Ancient Greece.
The girls also learnt about the Greek Goddesses linked to nature including Athena, Artemis, Demeter and Gaia.
We had planned to cook pitta bread on the fire, but it was sadly a little too windy for this. Instead we cooked and ate these back in the warmth on our return to school!
Junior Sports News
U11 AB Hockey v MK Prep – 27 September
Despite all of the rain we have experienced this week we managed to play in warm dry conditions on Friday afternoon.
Milton Keynes Prep were a well drilled and confident team and both our teams stepped up to the challenge.
Both goalkeepers, Eve and Elizabeth, were kept very busy and made a great deal of saves. Everyone defended well and we had numerous chances to practise defending short corners.
U11A
Year 5 and Year 6 played Milton Keynes Prep. Eloise C was awarded Player of the Match and Eve was a very important player on our team as she was very skillful. We unfortunately lost 6 – 0.
It was a great learning opportunity and lots of fun. Everyone played their best and understood their positions. We will practise improving our shooting for our next game. Great job all!
U11B
The opposition were very good and beat us 8 – 0. Elizabeth was in goal and achieved Player of the Match. We did well at short corners which there were a lot of! We could improve on being able to get the ball to a scoring position. However, it was very fun and helped us get used to playing competitively again.
Elizabeth and Olivia, Year 6
High and Junior News Survey
Thank you so much to those of you who took the time to send us valuable feedback in regards to our weekly High and Junior News newsletters at the end of last term. This feedback has been gratefully received, and we have started to implement some of the suggestions into this ‘new look’ newsletter.
We will continue to monitor and update to ensure that these communications are as optimized as possible, so please do continue to send through your feedback using the Google Form found here.
Many thanks for your support.
Open Mornings
Preparations are in full swing for our upcoming school open events, which take place in October on Saturday 5 and Friday 11. These events promise to be fantastic showcases of life at Northampton High School, and will give our visiting families a real insight into what makes our school and its community so special. If you would like to come along, or invite friends and family, we would love to see you!