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Junior News – 8 December 2023 |
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The weather has certainly turned colder in recent weeks, however that hasn’t stopped us having a fantastic time down at Forest School! On the icy ground, toes might have been a little colder than usual in their wellies, however the campfire has provided some welcome warmth for hands and faces. Our Key Stage 2 girls thoroughly enjoyed cooking cinnamon apples over the ‘coals’. “These are even better than marshmallows!” someone exclaimed, and it’s true, gooey on the inside and crispy and golden on the outside, these toasted treats were certainly popular! What made them even more special is that pupils helped with so many aspects of their preparation, including lighting the fire, cutting the apples and creating their own ‘cooking sticks’ by stripping the bark from a piece of willow wood. |
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As always in Forest School, safety comes first, and all of the children listened and behaved very sensibly as we discussed how to light, maintain and, at the end of the session, extinguish the fire. During the sessions, the girls took part in lots of other activities including Hapa Zome (leaf hammering) in Year 3, Roman art in Year 4 and damper bread cooking in Year 5. Year 6 had a fantastic time creating water channels and having fun with their friends in the autumn leaves. Key Stage 1 have been working hard on their whittling skills recently, and Year 2 have had a great time creating their advent wreaths as part of an RE topic. We can’t wait for the spring term for more forest fun! |
Events for the week ahead |
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Northampton High's Christmas Fayre 2023 |
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On Friday 1 December, we were delighted to host our second and annual Christmas Fayre for students, families and friends to enjoy. Welcoming guests from across the Junior and Senior School, the evening provided the perfect opportunity to come together whilst raising funds for this year’s chosen charity. We were thrilled to commence the evening with a series of Christmas carols, sung beautifully by our Senior School choir led by Mr Nathan and Mr Campling. The atmosphere was buzzing from the moment doors opened, with tuneful sounds spilling into the Theatre Entrance to greet arriving families. Dr Lee opened the event with a wonderful speech, encouraging guests to enjoy the evening and all the activities taking place throughout the night. This Christmas, Northampton High is exceptionally proud to be supporting the Hope Centre, and we were delighted to welcome Tanya Haji-Miller, Hope’s Community and Events Fundraiser, to join us for the evening. She explained how the charity delivers vital services to support those experiencing problems of disadvantage and marginalisation, and how our fundraising efforts will support their work. The evening saw the opening of our fabulous Christmas Market to families and friends, following an extremely successful lunchtime opening for our students. It was wonderful to watch our stall holders navigate the crowds of buyers and receive compliments on their stock of homemade goods. The stalls consisted of wonderful items – including knits, bakes, jewellery, artwork and more – all of which were popular with visitors. Staff and parents also had the opportunity to host stalls and it was fantastic to see many members of our school community involved. Our bottle tombola, Christmas raffle and silent auction were all incredibly popular on the night, with nearly all attendees staking a claim for a prize! Our raffle was kindly supported by donations from local businesses who generously sent vouchers and gifts to help our fundraising efforts. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this portion of the event and congratulate those who won a prize. Festive refreshments in the Dining Hall were well received by many, with our luxury hot chocolate and mulled wine being particular favourites! Guests passed from the Senior Hall to the Junior Hall, where festive party games were in full swing for our smaller children. The space was filled with excitement and joy, and pupils were delighted to win prizes and treats at this attraction. In true Christmas spirit, Santa had graciously accepted an invitation to our Fayre, managing to squeeze a visit to Northampton High into his very busy schedule! We were thrilled to welcome him into school and were overjoyed to have his elves and reindeer accompany him. Undeniably, Santa’s Grotto was one of the highlights of the night for our younger children, and the arrival of his reindeer made a magical addition to the festivities! We would like to thank our devoted school community for joining us at this special event and bringing the festive cheer! Your participation in this year’s attractions have raised an incredible £2447.16 for the Northampton Hope Centre and we couldn’t be more proud of this achievement. We hope you had a wonderful time at our Christmas Fayre and we look forward to seeing you there next year! Miss Price |
Chemis-tree Christmas Spectacular returns to Northampton High School |
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We were delighted to see the return of our Chemis-tree Christmas Spectacular this Wednesday! Hosted by Mrs Hodgetts-Tate and the Science Faculty, children from across the Junior and Senior School were treated to a fabulous show featuring a number of exciting experiments! Each year, our popular Chemistry show follows a theme, with the focus this year being ‘Guess the Movie’. Students were delighted to gather in the Senior Hall to watch a series of thrilling experiments based on films such as ‘Up’, ‘Lightyear’ and ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’! It was fantastic to have this Christmas tradition return to Northampton High for our school community to enjoy. A huge thank you to our Science Faculty for their hard work in preparing the show and their energy on the night. We hope all who attended had a wonderful time! Miss Price |
Christmas Jumper Day |
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It was wonderful to see all the pupils in their Christmas jumpers today, supporting the charity work of Save the Children with enjoyment and pride! If you haven’t done so already, please do make a donation to support the charity using this link. Thank you for your continued support. |
The World Challenge Project |
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In July 2024, 15 Northampton High School A Level students will be participating in The World Challenge Project. We will be going on a two week expedition to Vietnam, where we will be volunteering and trekking as well as learning many new skills and engaging in new experiences. To support this expedition, the World Challenge team will be holding a Christmas movie night in the Senior Hall on 13 December, showing the animated film ‘Grinch’ (2018). The tickets for this event will be £4.50 and food and drinks will be available to purchase including popcorn, sweets and more. Please be aware that we can only take card payments and for this reason, we are offering a snack bag which can be purchased with the film ticket online. The film will start at 3.55pm and finish at 5.20pm, and the late bus will still be available for those who require it. Junior School students will need to be collected from the Junior School reception after the event. Tickets for this event can be purchased here. Thank you in advance for your support. The World Challenge Team |
Clubs |
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Please note the following clubs will not be running in the last week of term due to the Christmas activities: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: |
News from our classrooms: Nursery and Preschool |
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Nursery has had a very festive week! We have made numerous Christmas decorations, including helping Santa at Forest School to make edible tree decorations for the wild life. We are super proud of our girls getting up on the stage and singing to so many parents, and thank you to those of you who came to join us for even more Christmas crafts and activities. Some of the girls have had the opportunity to watch the older girls’ nativity performance – the girls sat so nicely amazed by the performance, something for you to look forward to in the future! |
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Following on from Nursery, in Preschool we have also had a very festive week, with all the above plus Christmas painting and drawing, creating wonderful cards, practising our writing skills for our special letters to Santa and lots of singing and dancing! Some girls had the opportunity to go the church to learn about advent, making us very proud. Well done girls on such an amazing week! |
Reception |
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This week has been very exciting, as after all of our practising it was finally time for the real performances. Reception did a fantastic job of supporting Preschool and Nursery with their singing. They also performed magnificently in ‘The Landlords Cat’, and were delighted to see their relatives in the audience. These opportunities are invaluable in developing confidence, self regulation and collaboration. The week ended with Christmas jumpers and Forest School activities. A very busy but enjoyable week. |
Year 1 French Focus |
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In Year 1, we are continuing to build on our French knowledge. Not only did we learn the alphabet, but also the days of the week and numbers 1-12 in French. Our pupils particularly enjoyed singing the alphabet in French and they loved the numbers game. This week, we have combined our knowledge of numbers and colours as we drew a Christmas elf. |
Year 2 French Focus |
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Year 2 have been very busy this half term rehearsing for their Christmas nativity. In French, we have been enjoying number games. This is in preparation for our playground activity, based on ‘Quelle heure est-il Monsieur Le Loup?’ |
Year 3 French Focus |
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In Year 3, we have been busy learning about “Boucle d’or et les 3 ours” (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) for the last few weeks, specifically learning vocabulary for furniture. We have been working on our listening skills and using cognates to decode the meaning of words. We practised our writing skills and the girls have enjoyed some speaking and listening games with our key terms! |
Year 4 French Focus |
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In Year 4, after reading ‘Va-t’en grand monstre vert!’ (Go Away Big Green Monster!) as a class, we have been busy recognising and manipulating sentences to prepare to describe our own monsters. We have been focusing on describing the colours of different body parts, paying particular attention to where the adjectives go in the sentence and how it changes according to the gender and number of the body part described. We are now ready for the exciting part of the unit; creating and describing our own monsters! |
Year 5 French Focus |
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In Year 5, we were learning about items of clothing in French. I was very impressed with the student’s ability to memorise different items of clothing! The students took great pride in showing me their prep, for which they produced a poster telling me what they were wearing at the weekend. We have some fashion designers in the making! |
Year 6 French Focus |
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In 6N, we have been learning how to state larger numbers and years through listening and speaking activities. We have been writing our birth dates as well as researching birth dates of famous people to write in French. The girls have also enjoyed playing Quizlet live to help them memorise those larger numbers In 6H, pupils have been learning about places in town and are describing French cities using ‘il y a’ (there is/are) and a range of adjectives. Girls have also been completing their descriptions of Matisse paintings, looking at the artist’s use of colour, shape and tone. |
News from outside of the classroom: Selene House Spotlight |
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We are Selene House and Vice Captains this year. My name is Aurelia, and I am 10 years old. My favourite animal is a cat. I love to play music and I have just started working towards my Grade 4 cello. Hi, I am Cora, and I am 10 years old. I love playing outside and riding my bike. Both of us are very excited to help when Selene competes, and works together, this year. We hope this year that we can help Selene to understand the importance of coming together and it’s the participation that counts. As well as working together and working hard, we would also like to have some fun with the other members of Selene in different year groups. We hope overall that this year we can have a lot of fun! |
News from outside of the classroom: Advent Assembly |
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On Tuesday, our Junior School students enjoyed a very special morning at Hardingstone Church for their Advent Assembly. Wrapping up warm in coats and hats, girls from Preschool upwards gathered together for a walk into the village. Whilst the weather was fairly chilly, pupils marched on excitedly, ably led by our Year 6 children and their teachers. Upon entering the church, students were seated on the pews next to their classmates, with the smallest pupils taking a seat at the front. For many of our families, Hardingstone Church holds special memories of weddings, christenings and religious ceremonies, and the girls were delighted to revisit this familiar place. For other children, this was their first time in a church and it was wonderful to watch them take in the environment and enjoy the experience with friends!
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In an assembly led by Miss Hair and Reverend Julie, the children learned more about the festive period and the meaning behind Christmas. Following a discussion about Advent, Mrs Purvey-Tyrer read a short religious piece and the group was encouraged to reflect on the joys that this time of year brings to many. With Christmas cheer in the air, pupils and staff came together to sing ‘Away in a Manger’, accompanied by Mrs Latimer on the organ. It was wonderful to hear the sound of our Junior community filling the church with music! With the assembly brought to a merry close, the group returned to school to commence their normal lessons. Following a winter walk and a Christmas-themed morning, it’s safe to say our girls are well and truly in the festive spirit and enjoyed taking part in this wonderful activity! |
News from outside of the classroom: School Council Round-Up |
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Year 1 – Luna and Pearl – We like coming to the meetings and telling everyone our ideas. We feel nervous and frightened when we tell our class about what happened in the meetings, but we do it anyway! We are very pleased that on Mondays and Fridays we can now choose which playground we go to. Next term, we are going to ask the School Council if we can have a disco party, and we would like to have a mufti day to raise money for the School Council – we could wear our favourite dresses! Year 2 – Emily and Anne – We like sharing ideas about Junior School and how we can make it better. We like knowing what is going to be happening. We felt a bit nervous at first and now we find it fun! Year 3 – Mehiera and Dulcie – I (Mehiera) enjoy being on the School Council because I can help my friends to choose other things that we can do in school, and it is nice to meet older and younger girls from other classes when we have our meetings. We sit in the art room and talk together about things we want to change or improve in our school. School is already good but we have already made some changes; we can go on to other playgrounds and we have started the advent calendar of kindness.
Year 4 – Agnes and Caoimhe – Why do I (Agnes) like the School Council? Because it is about making the school a better place for all staff and students. Not that our school is not already AMAZING! So what have we been doing? Well, to start with we have changed the rule of KS1 on one playground and KS2 on another playground, and on a Monday and Friday you can choose which playground you want to play on. We are also thinking about wellbeing jars and have made a kindness advent calendar. Year 5 – Thea and Eloise C – I (Thea) love being on the School Council, because you can make things better and improve the school. I also like it because I have a great role in Junior School. All of the School Council reps from each class are amazing in every meeting. I love the new rule of sharing the little playground, because I love spending time with the younger children and playing different games. I (Eloise C) enjoy being a School Council rep because you can make things better for the Junior School. Being a rep, I feel that I have an important role in the school. I’m very happy that we can share the playground because me and my friend enjoy playing with the little ones and having fun in the log cabin. The little ones can play on the astro. Year 6 – Angelie (Chair), Lily (Vice), Avelyn (Secretary), Sakinah and Jesleen (Reps) – I am Chair of the Junior School Council, and have really enjoyed leading School Council meetings for this first term. As part of School Council, we take things that people say we could improve about our school and we elaborate on those ideas. So far this term, on Mondays and Fridays KS1 can go on to the astro turf and KS2 can go on the KS1 playground. All the girls love this change. I am Lily, and find it fun to be working with a range of year groups in meetings. We have been talking about kindness jars, playgrounds and more clubs that people would like. It is quite eventful but fun at the same time. Hello, my name is Avelyn, and I am the Secretary of the Junior School Council. I really enjoy taking notes from our meetings and discussions. I am very happy to be a part of the School Council. We have been talking about our year group preferences and ideas, and about how to make this school even better! My name is Sakinah, and I am the School Council Representative for Year 6 with Jesleen. Jesleen feels that it is really an honour to be working with the School Council. |
News from outside of the classroom: Book of the Week |
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For book of the week I am recommending the first book in the Harry Potter book series ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. What is good about this book is it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, so if you decide you want to read only this book but not the whole series it is fine to stop there. The text is not too complicated and the font is very legible. ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ is about a boy who doesn’t fit in mainly due to his cousin not being very nice around him, or to him. Strange things have always happened around Harry and when |
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he finds out he is a wizard, he enters a whole new world and discovers there are more life threatening things than being locked in his cupboard for a day or two by his Uncle Vernon! Emma B |
Weekly Awards |
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Star Learners of the Week: Robin M M, Zara B, Grace B, Caoimhe H-T, Eloise R, Leah W, Zara J, Hester L, Aurelia T, Annabelle R Primary Mathematics Challenge Awards: Diya B – Gold Award Winner External Achievements: Zara B – awarded Star of the Month in Tae Kwon Do |
Birthdays This Week |
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This week, we wish a very Happy Birthday to the following members of our Junior School family: Hester L, Tara S and Elizabeth F-W |
Christmas Community Session |
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School Pictures - Christmas Order Deadline |
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Following Pret-a-Portrait’s visit this term to take student’s annual school photograph, they have announced their Christmas Order Deadlines. Please click here to view the deadlines for each product. If you have not yet placed your order and would like to, please head to their website (www.pret-a-portrait.net) and enter your sitting ID. If you’ve misplaced your sitting ID, please contact Pret-a-Portrait directly on 0800 021 7626 or customerservice@pret-a-portrait.net and they will happily assist. The Pret-a-Portrait Team |
SchoolBlazer - January Flash Sale |
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Following the recent, well received sale event, SchoolBlazer have decided to run a second ‘Flash Sale’ event in January, running from Thursday 4 – Friday 5 January 2024. There will be up to 1/3rd off selected in-stock items at schoolblazer.com during the sale period, while stocks last. If you have any queries about this, please feel free to contact SchoolBlazer directly at marketing@schoolblazer.com. Many thanks for your support! The SchoolBlazer Team |
Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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