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Junior News – 7 October 2022 |
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As I waved Year 5 off to their residential trip on Monday morning, I was particularly struck by how much our girls benefit from their support to each other as a group and how, as peers, they recognise their responsibilities to contribute to each other’s wellbeing. Amongst the group there were the understandable nerves and apprehension ahead of leaving for the trip – some girls showing these more outwardly than others – and especially considering a group of our Year 5 girls only joined us a month ago I was touched to observe such high levels of warmth and comradery which of course led to an incredibly successful trip for them all. Welcoming them back was just as wonderful and hearing their recollections of their experiences was really encouraging. Despite their haze of tiredness the last two days of this week have been full of learning opportunities springboarding from their residential and it is clear that as a group they are even tighter than they were before they left which are all excellent outcomes from the trip. A very interesting publication arrived with me this week that I have found incredibly interesting and I would encourage you to read it as well. The GDST has published ‘The Girls’ Future Report’ and the research and outcomes make it a compelling read. I have captured a few headlines below for you. Among nine-year olds in the study:
I am a confirmed (recently converted) believer in the benefits of all girls education and I found these recent research results very interesting to read through. If you have a few moments over the coming weeks I would encourage you to read through the report which can be found here. I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and I will look forward to entering our last fortnight of this half term together. Miss Hair |
Open Classrooms |
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We have our first Open Classroom event of the year on 12 October. These events are opportunities for your child to welcome you into their classroom and show you the work they have produced so far this year. These will be relaxed events and will be once per half term (all dates are on the school calendar for the year). There is no need to book for these events. They will run from the end of the school day (3.30pm) to 4pm but once you have finished looking through your child’s work and celebrating with them you can of course leave. Please note that the following clubs will not run on this date, so if you are attending the event and your child usually attends one of these clubs you will need to inform their class teacher that they will be attending the Open Classroom event with you or GAP club until 4.15pm instead.
We are looking forward to seeing lots of you on 12 October to celebrate your daughter’s success so far this year. |
Book Fair - Next Week |
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We are excited to be hosting our annual Book Fair from Monday 10 October until Thursday 13 October. The books will be displayed in the Junior School entrance hall and can be purchased between 8-8.30 am and 3.30-4.30pm. Payments can be made by collecting a QR code from the school office and completing the purchase on your mobile phone. Every book that is purchased by you will earn points towards free books for our Junior School library so please do support us. |
Parents Evening |
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We have the first Parents Evening’s of the year on 18 and 19 October for children in Pre School to Year 6. You will have received a school post this week with instructions on how to book your appointments. Please reach out for more information or support if required. We are looking forward to seeing you all there. |
Theatre Trip Opportunity |
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As an additional opportunity for the children, we have taken advantage of group booking prices and booked 27 tickets for the performance of David Walliams’ ‘Demon Dentist’ at Milton Keynes Theatre on Thursday 23 March 2023 at 6pm. Tickets are £15 per person, which includes transport there and back. You can either choose to buy one ticket for your daughter or you can choose to book a ticket for yourselves to join us. As we only have 27 tickets these will be assigned on a first come, first served basis. To secure your tickets please click on this link. |
Club Information |
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Please note that due to Parents Evening on the 18 and 19 October, all Junior teacher led clubs (not including Sports or Senior teacher led clubs) will not be running. Please inform your daughters’ class teacher if you wish them to attend Late Prep from 3.30-4.15pm on these dates. |
Festive Wreath Workshops - Adults Only |
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We have arranged for an excellent florist (Bouquet Chic) to deliver Wreath Making Workshops for any interested parents and members of the community. Why not book a place to enjoy making a festive creation with friendly people and a supportive and talented instructor? Spaces are £65 per person which includes everything you’ll need to make a fantastic, impressive wreath and refreshments during the workshop. These events are on Tuesday 6 December 5.30 to 7pm or Wednesday 7 December 12.15 to 1.45pm. To book please contact the school office junioradmin@nhs.gdst.net. |
Harvest Festival Food Bank Collection |
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From 10 to 21 October we will be inviting our children, staff and parents to bring in food donations for our collection for a local food bank. The food bank we are supporting is Weston Favell which is run by the Emmanuel church and associated with the Trussell Trust. Below is a list of the food donations that would be most appreciated: Tinned vegetables, Tinned fruit, Pasta sauce, Curry sauce, Tinned or packet soup, Tinned fish and meat Thank you in advance for your support. |
Cinema Event |
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On Thursday 20 October we have our first cinema event of the academic year. This event will run from 3.30 to 5.15pm and is available to all pupils from Nursery to Year 6. We will be showing three film options for the girls to choose from:
To book your child a place for £3 please do so through Parent Pay. |
Class Assemblies |
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So far this academic year we have enjoyed class assemblies led by Year 3 and Year 4. These are such lovely events and provide a wonderful development opportunity for the girls and for our parents and carers to experience too. Class assembly dates for this academic year are on the school calendar but as a reminder please see the list below for the upcoming dates: Year 5 – 12 October Parents are invited and encouraged to join us from 8.20am for refreshments before the assembly at 8.35am. The assemblies will finish by 8.55am. |
News from our classrooms: Nursery and Pre School |
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This week in our number lesson we have been learning about the number 5: what it looks like, counting to 5 and finding 5 things, which was a bit of a handful! We also had great fun giving each other high fives. We have talked about what foods we like to eat, exercising our vocal ranges and giving different foods a gentle “yum” or a loud “yuk!” We visited the library and listened to ‘The Gingerbread Man’ story. We then made our own gingerbread people with scented playdough. We used our noses, finding a range of different smells in the environment in our outdoor learning session. We worked up a thirst so in the afternoon we made our own delicious smoothies. In Pre School, prewriting has been a focus this week and the girls have independently started to recognise and get their own name cards to write their names on their pictures. As they initiated this we then broadened their learning with other activities to challenge own individual needs and stages of progress whilst also giving them the all important stepping stones to become a writer! These included using rubber pens and mark marking tools to create marks in the sand, putting fingers in the cornflour to create different textures to develop pincer and palmer movements, tweezers to pick different autumn objects out of our special spider web and much more! A visit to Reception to strengthen the bond between ourselves and the Reception class girls was a huge success. They couldn’t wait to experience their classroom and their activities and they got stuck in with the endless opportunities on offer! A windy walk with Betty got the girls excited, we walked around the school grounds and learnt about road safety on the way. They took it in turns to hold the lead and help lead Betty the correct way. The girls who were a little unsure built their confidence on the walk and some even had a hold of the lead or gave Betty a little stroke. Well done, for being so caring and kind! |
Reception |
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Following a very successful Open Morning, this week has continued to be as busy as ever. We have been learning about patterns and how they can repeat – finding them on uniform, animal fur and on curtains and fabrics. We then thought about how a pattern repeats and made our own two and three colour repeating caterpillars. Saying the repeating pattern out loud helped us to secure this. We used instruments in Music to work in pairs to make up a repeating musical pattern phrase. This was very successful and lots of enthusiasm and smiles appear when the music bag comes out! We also have been learning new songs including ‘Make a face’, ‘Clap your hands and wiggle your fingers’ and ‘Can I help you?’ Maybe your daughter can give you a rendition! Our phonic focus this week has been to learn the sounds g,o,c and k. We are encouraging the girls to listen carefully and say the sounds they can hear when they are told a word – particularly listening carefully for the end sound. We encouraged them to sound blend by pressing the sound buttons, but making it a little more tricky by covering up the picture prompts to begin with. We had great fun practising ‘c’ formation in the cornflour and making kites for the ‘k’ sound. The girls have also initiated making their own pattern and story books too. Next week is the Book Fair, please see if you have a few moments to pop along to the Junior School entrance where you will see lots of fantastic books for purchase. A great week – well done Reception! |
Year 1 - PSHE Focus |
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Year 1 have welcomed ‘Jigsaw Jack’ into their class as the newest member of their class with open arms. We have focused this half term on our rights and responsibilities and our role in ensuring everyone feels safe and happy and can be successful in our classroom. The girls are exploring the feeling of pride and the concept of ‘all actions having consequences’. When you next interact with one of the Year 1 girls, please do ask them what they are proud of and let them know what you are proud of them for. |
Year 2 - PSHE Focus |
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In Year 2 we have been thinking about how we can make our classroom a good, safe and happy space for learning. Jigsaw Jo helps us to take it in turns to speak and share our ideas. The girls think we should keep the classroom and cloakroom tidy and tuck in our chairs, so that there are no trip hazards. We should listen carefully to each other and not distract others so everyone has the best opportunity to learn and make progress. Ready for our class assembly at the end of term we are learning how to work together as a team. |
Year 3 - PSHE Focus |
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This term in Year 3, we have been discussing what makes a good school and our role in making our school community a better place. We have also talked about what a nightmare school might look like and we were quick to establish where we’d most like to be and that our school is certainly more of a dream school than a nightmare one! We have spoken about rewards and consequences and our role in ensuring that everybody is able to learn. |
Year 4 - PSHE Focus |
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Year 4 have made a great start to their PSHE sessions. The focus for this half term is ‘Being Me in My World’. We have looked at how each girl’s attitudes and actions can make a difference to the class team. We have discussed how it feels to be included in a group and excluded and all agreed that we would make others feel welcome and valued. Each girl knows they have a role to play in the school community and are proud to be part of it. This week we attended our outdoor learning session and worked in small teams to produce a picture in the style of the artist Andy Goldsworthy. Each girl took a role in their group and contributed to the overall outcome. They listened to each other, asked each other their opinions and produced original art in a short amount of time. |
Year 5 - PSHE Focus |
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This week Year 5 have been doing a whole lot of Personal, Social and Health Education. Our residential trip was full of personal struggles and successes, pulling together as a team and understanding how to alleviate risks to our health. It was interesting that the first part of our Monday morning and the final part of Friday afternoon both focused on rules, and how they are helpful when working in groups. Our photo is of the rules we made when we arrived at Grafham in order to have an amazing time… and we did! |
Year 6 - PSHE Focus |
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In Year 6, we have been developing our understanding of friendships and also how sometimes peer conflicts can arise. We have looked at different scenarios involving examples of peer conflicts and tried to put ourselves in the shoes of the people involved; considering what might be motivating their behaviour or feelings. We then discussed what words and actions might help to improve a situation. We also continued to write in our reflective journals. Each week the girls are asked to reflect upon different aspects of their week, considering how they feel about their academic performance, their personal and social lives and what they would like to achieve in the upcoming week. Girls are also asked to consider how they can be kind to themselves – and we don’t mean by eating a whole chocolate bar! It could mean: asking for help when needed, trying to go to bed a little earlier or trying not to compare themselves to others. It has been wonderful to see the girls take their journaling seriously and they have written some very thoughtful entries. |
News from outside of our classrooms: Year 5 Grafham Water Residential Trip |
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This week Year 5 enjoyed a wonderful 3-day stay at Grafham Water residential centre, which gave us the chance to experience different activities, make new friends and create special memories. Particular highlights were: swapping places to play a game on a canoe, building towers out of crates whilst attached to a harness and hitting colours on an archery target to gather ‘ingredients’ to make a cake. We think we smashed our goals of being brave, encouraging others, keeping safe, using teamwork, trying our best and trusting each other. Some of our funniest moments included trying to put a duvet into a cover, struggling to get into our wetsuits and fitting climbing helmets over an array of hairstyles! We all agree that it was the best trip we have ever been on and we are now ready to rise to all the challenges that Year 5 will offer. |
News from outside of our classrooms: Gardening Club |
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In Gardening Club this week we have planted some daffodil bulbs. We have planted them because bees can only see certain colours including yellow and also to have some colour in our courtyard. We have been busy planting some radishes, marigolds and corn flowers. We have planted all of these flowers to attract wildlife.We had to do a lot of watering and we enjoyed taking it in turns to be Chief Waterer. We had to plant the seeds at exactly the right depth so they could get nutrients from the soil, sunlight and so they won’t be short. We really enjoyed planting the seeds and bulbs and hope the weather will be the same for our next gardening club so we can get outside and do some more planting and other outdoor activities. Cordelia B – 5N |
Awards for this week |
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Star Learners of the week – Anne A, Millicent, Amelia K, Caoimhe, Ellie A, Evette, Preesha Linguist of the week – Sri Each week girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week: Georgina P– awarded an IGA Badge 10 in gymnastics |
Birthdays for this week |
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This week, we wish a very Happy Birthday to the following members of our Junior School family: Constance and Annabel |
Community Sessions |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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