Junior News 5 November 2021

Welcome back to the second half of the longest term! I trust that families had the opportunity to spend time together during the break and to do something enjoyable. I know from my conversations with pupils this week that theme parks (for Hallowe’en) and trips to London and the coast have been high on many lists.

We return to the darker mornings and evenings rapidly drawing in and, despite the current sunny and frosty days, we are, I am sure, all mindful of the climate crisis brought into sharp focus by the COP26 conference. With leaders from across the globe making dramatic pledges in order to reach goals on reducing carbon emissions as quickly as possible, we shall be encouraging the pupils over the coming weeks to think about what they can do to play their part in rescuing the planet from certain destruction.

Over half term, I committed to cut out single use plastic and also to reuse where possible rather than recycle. To this end (and having only recently moved to Northampton)  I found two fantastic, local places where I can refill my new large glass dispensers with washing up liquid, detergent, shower gel and hand wash.

The first of these is Smith’s Farm Shop in Chapel Brampton, which also satisfied my wish to buy local produce – win win! The second is a fantastic social enterprise Coffee and Refills housed in the old Salvation Army building in Flore. Here I filled up my own containers (or paper bags if you prefer) with all of the essentials such as pulses, coffee beans, nuts and much more! Even closer to home, I was interested in the new system in the Tesco superstore (and also McDonalds apparently) which uses the Loop app to enable you to pay a small surcharge for everyday products and then receive a packaging refund when you return the bottles to the store.

As a person of a certain age, it rather reminded me of ‘the pop man’ who used to take our glass drinks bottles back for a 5p or 10p refund as a child.  A smaller step perhaps and more in the spirit of recycling, but as Tesco themselves say, ‘Every little helps’. Many of you will already know these places and if you have any more ways to reuse, shop local or reduce packaging, please let us know or tag us on the social media pages for these businesses.

For my Head’s commendations next Friday it would be right to feature pupils who are doing fantastic things for our environment so do let us know if your family is getting involved in a big way.

In other news, our recruitment for a Junior School Head is moving along very well and our final three candidates, all of whom with excellent credentials, will be in school next week for a day and then back for final interviews in mid-November. As you know from Cheryl Giovannoni’s letter before half term, the interviews for the overall Head will take place at the end of November and beginning of December; we will bring you more news of that later in the month.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs O’Doherty
Acting Head

Keep Calm and Carry On Reading

When I was at school reading came under the banner of a ‘good thing’. Other than set texts in English lessons, we were left pretty much to our own devices as to what to read. Fast forward to the third decade of the 21st Century and many things have changed. One of the most striking has been the expansion in books written for children and young adults; the range, number, and quality available today for the average young person would have delighted the teenage me – the choices being endless.

What has also become clearer, though, is how much of a ‘good thing’ reading really is.

Young people who enjoy reading are three times as likely to read above the level expected for their age compared with young people who do not enjoy reading at all. Similarly, young people who read outside class daily are five times as likely to read above the expected level for their age, compared with young people who never read outside class. ref: The National Literacy Trust

It seems obvious that if you enjoy something, you will improve, and the more you practise, the better you become.

Whilst having a wide choice of material is a positive position to be in, the challenge within a school environment is to encourage students to progress with the type of material they read in terms of content and style.

At Northampton High, we provide varied reading opportunities including the reading scheme, games, and activities in class, author visits, Book Week, book clubs, and much more throughout the school year.

Please click here to read the full blog entry.

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

U10 and U11 Hockey Match v Bedford Modern - Wednesday 3 November

On Wednesday, the U10A team did an excellent job playing Bedford Modern’s incredible performance in an away Hockey match. We had two exciting goals in the first half of the match and two in the second. Two of the goals were scored by me and two by Zoe.

Thanks to our amazing goalie, Ishani, and defence from Avleen and Maya; we managed to keep the ball away from our side most of the time and a magnificent offense from Zoe, Harriet, Harini, and Esme.

The match ended with 4-0 to us but thank you to Bedford Modern for hosting this match. Risara

The U10B team played with determination and grit against some strong players from Bedford Modern.

There were exciting periods of play throughout and, despite having a few shots on goal, we were unlucky to not find the back of the net. Bedford Modern took the win but the High School certainly enjoyed the experience.

Junior School STEM morning

Does your child have a love of Science or a passion in Mathematics? If so, we have a fantastic morning they may like to attend. There will even be a Harry Potter-themed spell-making session, with real Chemistry!

Junior School students (from age 6) are warmly invited to join us on Saturday 13 November where they will be encouraged to follow their curiosity, delve into the world around them and have a whole lot of fun on a very special Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Day.

We will provide experiences that will ignite all the girls’ excitement in learning and we hope your daughter will be able to join us. Everyone is welcome, please invite friends from other schools – they may sign up for this event via the school website.

This is a drop-off event 9.30am – 12.30pm. To book a place please email nhs.admssions@nhs.gdst.net.

Please note there is a limited number of spaces available for this event for both current students and external visitors, and it will be offered on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. After this, we will run a waiting list should spaces become available. Confirmation of your place will be emailed to you once you sign up via email.

Mrs Berry
Assistant Registrar

Early Years Fun Morning

All girls age 1-5 years and their families, are invited to come along for a ‘Stay and Play’ family Fun Morning event on Saturday 13 November 9am – 11.30am. This is a great opportunity for our Nursery and Pre School children to show their loved ones where they come to learn and play.

There will be activities and plenty of refreshments throughout the morning. Again, everyone is welcome – please invite any interested friends; they may sign up for this event via the school website.

To book your place please email nhs.admssions@nhs.gdst.net.

Mrs Berry
Assistant Registrar

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:

Playground Stars:

Messages for parents

Reminder:

Individual school photographs are taking place next Wednesday 10 November. Sibling photos are being taken too but only if they are in Junior School. As it is the autumn term, the winter uniform is now being worn.

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

We hope you all had a good half term break. The girls have had a very good first week back in the Nursery. We have had a variety of activities which included going on walks, our Sparkle Party, Forest School and many more.

Diwali-themed activities have been set up in the exploration area too. There was coloured sand for the girls to make marks in, Pom Pom painting with bright colours, traditional costumes to dress up in, masks and also a variety of books for the girls to look at.

Towards the end of the week, we have also been participating in Guy Fawkes/bonfire night themed activities such as firework paintings, using cotton buds and colourful paints.

On Thursday, we went to Forest School and then had Gymnastics in the afternoon; at Forest School, we collected some autumn leaves so we could make some leaf wands.

What the girls have said:

“Fireworks outside!” Elodie.
“Look, that’s a firework!” Aurora.
“Can I wear this one, Miss King?” Naavya.
“Here, have this one.” Danaya.

Nursery - Pre School

Our topic this term is ‘Transport’ and we started the week listening to the story ‘Whatever Next’. Some of the girls then chose to reenact the story with props while others created their own rockets using junk.

In Ballet, we learned some new routines: we were soldiers, teddy bears, and ballerinas!

In French, the girls have been learning some new vocabulary, naming different types of vehicles. I wonder if they can tell you the French word for ‘car’ ( la voiture).

On Thursday, to celebrate Diwali, we were lucky enough to visit the Reception class and join in with some fun activities. There were some wonderful cards, Rangoli patterns and elephants created. There was also a lot of interest in the dressing up clothes. “I love the sparkles,” said Pearl.

As it is Bonfire Night, we have watched some firework displays and recreated our own using splatter paint. In the afternoon, we dressed up in our ‘sparkliest’ outfits and enjoyed our very first ‘Sparkle Party’. It was great fun, and very much appreciated!

Reception

This week we have introduced our new topic ‘The Earth and Beyond’, by listening to the story ‘Whatever Next’ by Jill Murphy. We then started to think about all the things that we already know about the moon and space. ‘Crater’ was a word that we researched to find out what it meant. Using some props as provocation, the story has been very accurately recreated with some super use of language. Everyone thought of ideas for what they should take to the moon, which proved to be very imaginative.

On Thursday, we invited Pre School to join us to celebrate Diwali. The girls all listened very well and then fully immersed themselves in a host of Diwali activities, making cards, rice Rangoli patterns, dressing up, making a special meal, elephant art, and other tasks. We were treated to a special snack for the occasion and thoroughly enjoyed the morning.

The week concluded with thinking about the sounds that fireworks make and writing a sound poem, the letter ‘f’, and making a firework. Then, in the afternoon, the much anticipated ‘Sparkle Party’! What a busy and fully engaging first week back. Well done everyone!

Year 1

This week has flown by! Year 1 settled quickly back into school routines after a two-week break and it was lovely to see how pleased they were to be together in school again.

We began the week by asking questions about a missing hat as an introduction to our new English text ‘I Want My Hat Back’. Unfortunately, the hat is still missing … Our trip to Milton Keynes Museum was full of interesting historical artefacts, many of which we were allowed to play with and explore. Miss Page couldn’t resist having a go on the jukebox just as we were leaving!

The girls conducted themselves impeccably throughout the day and we felt so proud of them.  On Thursday, it was delightful to see girls wearing their Diwali outfits and to wish each other ‘Happy Diwali’.

The highlight of our week is yet to come and I can’t wait to see Year 1 in their sparkle outfits ready for the party.

What the girls have said:

“On the trip I liked playing with the old telephones.  You had to put your finger in the dial and spin it round”. Isabel.
“I liked pretending to be the fire brigade on the old telephones.” Amelia.
“I loved making the spinner toy on our school trip.” Nellie. 

Looking ahead:

Making predictions and using clauses in sentences.
Adding more, using number bonds and finding a part.

Have a lovely weekend.

Year 2

This week has been very exciting because we learnt some of the songs from our Christmas play and we then went on our trip to Milton Keynes Museum where we found out about how things were a long time ago. Mrs Dadge was a little concerned at how many of the ‘old’ things she remembered from her childhood!

We also had a mysterious beanstalk growing in our classroom and we tried to decide what could be at the top.

In Science, we experimented with toys to see what made them move and we discussed push and pull forces.

What the girls have said:

“I enjoyed our school trip to Milton Keynes Museum and I particularly liked the Victorian Classroom, where I had the punishment of wearing a back straightener because I was slouching!” Eve.
“I liked using the old telephones with the dials and phoning 999.” Grace.
“This week I liked going on the coach to Milton Keynes Museum and using the little table, we imagined it was a TV Screen. I had fun with my friends on the coach.” Caoimhe.

Looking ahead:

Maths – continuing with addition and subtraction using columns
English – discovering more about our beanstalk and reading ‘Jim and the Beanstalk’ by Raymond Briggs
Science – a further look at push and pull forces and how we can alter the distance a toy car travels

The girls will start to bring words home to learn for their school play as part of their PREP. Next week they have the first 3 songs from the script, see if they can remember the tunes and sing them to you.

Year 3

We have had an exciting first week back following the half term break. At the start of the week, we visited Hazard Alley Safety Centre in Milton Keynes. We had a great time exploring the different real-life scenarios, spotting the signs of danger, and learning how to stay safe. We learned about fire safety, road safety, water safety, online safety and we even made some pretend emergency 999 calls.

Back in the classroom, we have been busy in Maths continuing to build our addition and subtraction skills.

In English, we started an archaeological dig to discover the clues about the next text we are looking at – we found maps of Mount Vesuvius, photos of Roman pots, and a picture of a town at the foot of a mountain. Can you guess what we might be learning about?

Year 3 finished the week with a Hockey match playing against Quinton House, and, of course, the Sparkle Party has been the focus of many chats this week amongst the girls!

What the girls have said:

“We have been so excited about the Hockey match!” Thea, Lucy, Leah, Evette.
“I liked learning how to stay safe when crossing the road.” Holly.
“We learned about railway safety and overhead wires.” Amber.

Looking ahead:

Wednesday – Forest School. Please arrive at school in school uniform for the individual school photos; bring all Forest School clothes and footwear to change into at school.

Year 4

In Maths, we continued with our subtractions and the column method with more than two exchanges needed. We also looked at which is the most efficient method to use when subtracting if the number contains several zeros or is a near multiple of 100 or 1000, as well as looking at how to estimate answers to check our work.

In English, we looked at words with the -ous suffix and began writing our diary entry in the role of Hogarth.

In Science, we started our topic on the digestive system looking at the organs involved.

The biggest highlight of this week, however, was our trip to Hazard Alley Safety Centre in Milton Keynes on Tuesday. How exciting to be on a coach again going on a big adventure! The girls were extremely well behaved and the guides complimented them on their listening skills. They learnt so much from the different scenarios, we do hope they have been sharing what they learnt with you at home. I would like to thank Mrs Smith, Miss Scott-Evans and Mrs Luikinga who accompanied us and also parents for your support with this trip.

Mrs Shaw

What the girls have said:

“I loved Hazard Alley, particularly the dark alley when the spider came crawling down the wall. It was awesome but smelt gross.” Sakinah.
“I also enjoyed Hazard Alley, the train part was my favourite as they had a front of a real train in the tunnel. I learnt loads.” Zara.
“I enjoyed the school trip, especially going on the coach and having lunch. There was a dark alley and it was scary when the spider came. We learnt to get out immediately if you are in a dark place and if you don’t feel safe. It was so much fun!” Asmi.
“I enjoyed talking to Asmi on the coach and the pretend fire drill. When there is a fire you should crawl out because the smoke goes up. Then you should call someone.” Daneka.

Looking ahead to next week:

Maths – looking at equivalent metric measurements and using these with our additions and subtraction calculations
English – continuing our Diary entry
Science – describing the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans

Dates for your diary:

• 4H Assembly Wednesday 17 November
• Forest School Wednesday 1 December
• Christmas performance Tuesday 14 December at 7pm

Year 5

Highlights:

It’s been a full on start to our new half term – the girls are back but so are the coughs, colds and sore throats!

This week girls thoroughly enjoyed the start of our new English book, ‘Robot Girl’ by Malorie Blackman, and we have already had some spirited discussion regarding data collection and whether robots should have rights.

What the girls said:

“It was really fun going to the Hockey match on Wednesday and playing against Bedford Modern. They did an amazing job but we won against them 4-0. Before the match I was really nervous because I had never done a match before, but as soon as we started playing I really enjoyed it.” Risara.
“I really enjoyed the Hockey match and going on the coach was really exciting, and when we arrived there we had to walk over a bridge which was directly above a busy road which was a little bit scary!” Ellie.
“On Tuesday, we used acrylic paints to do a picture in the style of David Hockney. I really liked how I did the texture on the ground next to my tree and I also added spatters to make it stand out. I’m not really sure if it turned out as a David Hockney, but it looked good in the end.” Jessica.

Dates for your Diary:

Wednesday 10 November – Individual Photos
Thursday 11 November – GDST Football Rally at Croydon High School
Monday 15 November – Sports Team Photos (all Year 5 girls need their PE kit)

Year 6

This week we have enjoyed a range of activities including learning about factors in Maths, finding out about the circulatory system in Science and studying maps in Humanities. We also had a fantastic time at Forest School making a zip wire for a toy duck and creating an imaginary animal from clay.

Highlights of the week:

“My highlight of the week was doing an aerial at Gymnastics Club. This is when you do a cartwheel with no hands touching the floor.” Bethany.
“I really enjoyed the Hockey match on Wednesday. It was really fun playing at another school because it is a different environment and atmosphere.” Amelia.
“I enjoyed Forest School because we had a duck and we had to make a zip line that the duck could go down. At the start it was hard but we persevered and got it working eventually.” Evelyn.

Next week we will be continuing our work on the text ‘Can We Save the Tiger?’ in our English lessons, finding out more about the circulatory system in Science and creating a folding book to demonstrate our map skills in Humanities.

GAP Club

This week in GAP Club the girls have been thinking and taking part in activities to celebrate Diwali and Bonfire Night. Mrs Shah told the girls the story of Diwali and then made Coconut Barfi. The girls have also created Rangoli and Medhi patterns and made edible sparklers using breadsticks, chocolate and sprinkles.

What the girls have said:

“I really enjoyed the chocolate sparklers and eating the chocolate and sprinkles afterwards.” Ellie J-M, Year 5.
“Dressing up.” Ella, Reception.

If you need to contact GAP Club after 4.30pm please call the Gap Club mobile number on 07816 751456.

Parent Talks - Why does my daughter...

Thank you to those families who have already booked their place to attend the next in our Parent Talks series for 2021/22.

Our next event, Why does my daughter…, will start to demystify the complex journey from girlhood to womanhood, helping families to navigate the many questions this critical time in development brings. The event will take place on Wednesday 10 November from 6pm to 7.30pm. It is designed for parents and guardians of children in Year 4 upwards and will be hosted by our Pastoral and Wellbeing Team. Please book your place for this event here.

The talk will focus on the development of the teenage brain and will discuss things such as risky behaviours, emotional breakdown and communication issues, all of which teenagers face from time to time. We will also touch on how this can impact them in the school environment and how this can often have an impact on the way they deal with their friendships. There will also be an opportunity to ask us questions. We will not claim to know all the answers but we can draw on a wealth of experience across the pastoral team to open up discussions on topics that you feel you need more information on.

This is a great opportunity to meet with staff and other parents and to share questions and answers. Should you wish to see the full details of our Parent Talks programme, please click here.

Miss Kneen
Assistant Head – Pastoral Care and Guidance

Raise Her Up - Turning Eco Anxiety into Eco Agency

With the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 underway, in this episode of Raise Her Up, we address eco-awareness and how we can broach and discuss this with our children without transferring our own anxieties to them.

Our guest this week is Kathleen Hamilton, Programmes & Partnerships Director at Force Of Nature, a youth nonprofit that works to empower young people to turn their eco-anxiety into action, and with leaders across business and education to drive intergenerational solutions. Kathleen suggests ways for us to engage with our children and students to reassure, encourage and mobilise them, hopefully reigniting our own motivation in the process.

This is a brilliant episode that provides practical, positive, and actionable advice for what many of us feel is an insurmountable issue.

Listen here on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Mr Nash
Marketing & Communications Officer

Term Dates 21/22

Term Dates 22/23

Northampton High School
Newport Pagnell Road, Hardingstone Northampton NN4 6UU
T: 01604 765765 nhsadmin@nhs.Gdst.Net