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Junior News – 8 March 2024 |
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Celebrating Mother’s Day: Honoring the Pillars of Love and Strength Mother’s Day is a cherished occasion dedicated to honoring the incredible women who have shaped our lives with their boundless love, unwavering support, and unparalleled strength. This special day serves as a poignant reminder to express gratitude and appreciation to the remarkable mothers, grandmothers, and mother figures who have played pivotal roles in nurturing, guiding, and inspiring us. This week, the girls have enjoyed creating gifts and cards to share with their mother’s this weekend and without exception, the determination and effort seen from them was a testament to their love and appreciation they hold for their mothers. At its core, Mother’s Day is a celebration of the profound influence that mothers have on society. Mothers embark on an extraordinary journey of selflessness, sacrifice, and devotion. They serve as the anchors of stability and the embodiment of unconditional love, offering solace in times of adversity and joy in moments of triumph. Through their nurturing embrace, mothers impart invaluable lessons of kindness, compassion, and resilience, shaping the character and values of future generations. One of the most enduring aspects of motherhood is its ability to transcend biological ties. While biological mothers hold a special place in our hearts, Mother’s Day also acknowledges the countless women who assume the role of motherhood through adoption, foster care, or mentorship. These nurturing souls possess the same boundless capacity for love and care, leaving an indelible imprint on the lives of those they embrace as their own. Mother’s Day traditions vary across cultures and countries, but the essence remains universal – a heartfelt tribute to the women who have made immeasurable contributions to our lives. From simple gestures like handwritten notes and homemade gifts to elaborate gatherings and family reunions, each celebration is a testament to the deep-seated gratitude and admiration we hold for our mothers. I hope however your family chooses to mark Mother’s Day this year that you get to enjoy each other’s company and make positive memories together. Amidst the festivities and fanfare, Mother’s Day also serves as an opportunity for reflection and introspection. It prompts us to recognise the challenges and sacrifices inherent in motherhood, often overlooked in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Behind every smile lies a story of resilience, perseverance, and sacrifice – a testament to the extraordinary strength and courage of mothers worldwide. Our girls are fortunate to be surrounded by women (and men) who offer them inspiration, encouragement, guidance and unwaivering belief in their abilities. Whilst we enjoyed our Mother’s Day afternoon tea celebration today, we have also marked International Women’s Day together as a school community. I am committed to our girls being regularly reminded of, and guided by, excellent role models in order for them to deeply appreciate that they have the right to follow a path that they wish to and believe they have the skills to be successful in their choices. So, whilst we celebrated our mothers, and women en mass, today it is important that this awareness is ever present. I laughed with the girls in assembly this morning that showing appreciation to our mothers just on Mothering Sunday wouldn’t allow our mothers to feel the love they deserve, and in fact we have a responsibility to show our mothers they are valued all of the time – Mothers aren’t just for Mothering Day, just like how dogs aren’t just for Christmas! Today, and this upcoming weekend, affords us the opportunity to pause and reflect that in the tapestry of life, mothers weave the threads of love, shaping our destinies with their gentle touch and unwavering devotion. On Mother’s Day, let us celebrate the extraordinary women in our lives who have influenced us and cherish the precious gift of maternal love that enriches our lives beyond measure. Happy Mothers Day to you all! Mrs Thompson |
Made for Girls |
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In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are delighted to share with you our brand new Made For Girls film! This special video features a number of students, from our youngest learners in Nursery to our wonderful Sixth Form pupils, and aims to demonstrate the power of an all-through, all-girls education. In a school that is Made for Girls, we truly believe anything is possible for our pupils and feel the video reflects our core ethos: ‘We believe in our girls and they believe in themselves’. A huge thank you to the staff, students and families involved in the production process. We hope you enjoy the video and take today as an opportunity to celebrate the wonderful women in your life! |
Science Week |
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Next week we are celebrating Science Week, and we are looking forward to embracing and enjoying the various activities that will be on offer. The theme nationally for this year’s Science week is ‘time’, so many of our learning opportunities will relate to this in some way. From planting pants (all will become clear!) to Harry Potter experiments, the week looks set to inspire our already keen Junior School scientists. |
Red Nose Day |
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On Friday 15 March we are supporting Red Nose Day, by encouraging all pupils and staff to attend school in non-uniform and to make a donation via this link. Pupils can wear non-uniform on this day, and their outfits could include red items and/or red noses if they wish to. Thank you in advance for your support for this valued charity. |
World Challenge Easter Movie Evening |
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Our World Challenge group of students are arranging an Easter movie night to fundraise for their trip. The team will be showing ‘Hop’, which follows a young rabbit who would rather drum in a band than succeed his father as the Easter Bunny. Please be aware that this film has a PG rating, so please consider whether you feel this is suitable for your daughter before booking. All Junior School pupils from Reception to Year 6 are invited to attend and you should have received an email from the team earlier this week. A snack bag is available to purchase alongside a ticket, which includes a |
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Pip smoothie, popcorn and a cookie, or alternatively you can just book a ticket. If you would like your daughter to attend, please click here. Ticket bookings will close on Thursday 21 March. Please identify any dietary requirements on the webpage if a snack bag is being purchased. The team are showcasing the movie in the Junior Hall and it will finish in time for the late bus at 5pm. Collection will be from the Junior School Reception or alternatively your daughter can attend Wraparound Care. |
Sports Team Photos |
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Sports team photos for our KS2 children who have represented the school teams will take place on 21 March. The pupils need to be in their full sports kit on this day please, and the photos for the Junior School teams are scheduled for the afternoon. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Saunders-Wall or Mrs Thompson. |
Dance Festival - Tuesday 26 March |
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All children (Reception to Year 6) are performing in our Dance Festival on Tuesday 26 March. You will have received emails about how to book your tickets to watch this performance, and you should have also received an email regarding costume requirements. If you have not yet booked your tickets please do so through this link. We look forward to seeing you there! |
After School Clubs |
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Please be aware the only clubs that will run on Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 March are paid for, externally led clubs. Thank you for your cooperation. |
News from our classrooms: Nursery and Preschool |
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In Nursery, we started the week with glorious sunshine at Forest School where we decorated a log cookie with flowers and petals. The girls were all so happy to be outside enjoying the brighter weather. For Phonics this week, we have looked at the letters D, E and F, and we have practised our listening skills during singing time with songs that require the girls to sing very loud but also very quiet but in the right places. These songs were also action songs using lots of movement, so the girls had to listen and follow actions. What a challenge! World Book Day was a highlight for us this week, taking the opportunity to really encourage the love of books using lots of props enabling us to cover all areas of the EYFS. We focused on the ‘Gingerbread Man’, ‘Dear Zoo’, ‘Owl Babies’ and ‘The Three Bears’. We wonder which one was your daughter’s favourite? |
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Following on from our interest in bugs and the butterfly’s life cycle last week, this week we have focused on the life cycle of a frog in Preschool. The girls have been busy learning new vocabulary relating to a frog’s life cycle; frogspawn, tadpole, froglet. In Maths, we have been measuring how tall we are outside using language like taller, shorter, bigger and smaller. At Forest School, we collected daisies and made a decoration using glue and wood. Our Swimming lesson on Monday was full of excitement as normal with the girls showing great progress and confidence. |
Reception |
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As part of our new topic, we have been thinking about our ‘Super Hero’ mummies. This prompted lots of lovely ideas about how they help us and some wonderful adjectives describing them. We hope that you have seen the evidence in your special card and appreciate the progress and obvious enthusiasm that has gone into it. This week’s Phonics have been the sounds ‘ure’ and ‘er’. We are very pleased with how the class are picking up these new sounds and using them in both reading and writing tasks, along with wanting to do their own independent writing. In Maths, we have been learning about the part-whole model of combining numbers to make a total. In Ballet, the dance for the show is progressing well, along with a special prop, which is very exciting. We had a visit from the school nurse to tell us all about her job, answer our questions and show us some of her essential items. The class also enjoyed World Book day, sharing their favourite book with the class, making bookmarks and doing lots of reading. |
Year 1 Humanities Focus |
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During Humanities this term, Year 1 will be learning about their local area. This links closely to a previous Geography topic where the children learnt about our school. To broaden their knowledge of Northampton, children will be engaging in lessons where they will learn about different facilities around the town, develop their mapping skills, and creating their own village. This weeks lesson focused on the children creating their own map of facilities around their school. We looked at a map and highlighted the key features of a map. The children were then shown restaurants, hotels, shops and houses around the school. They then created their own map using the key features and facilities that we saw and spoke about. |
Year 2 Humanities Focus |
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Mexico is the current Humanities topic in Year 2. This week we have enjoyed using the atlases and globe to locate Mexico and the United Kingdom, and discover key geographical facts about the two countries, such as their continents and nearby seas. |
Year 3 Humanities Focus |
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Year 3 have started to learn about the British Empire. The girls have been set an assignment for prep to prepare a presentation about one of the countries that belonged to the Empire. This will deepen their learning from within the classroom, and also develop their independence which is something we have been working on a lot this term. |
Year 4 Humanities Focus |
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This week in Humanities, Year 4 have continued working diligently in small groups to dive into the intriguing world of Whitby. Each group has been conducting in-depth research on different topics such as Whitby Jet, Captain James Cook, Whitby Abbey and the North Yorkshire Moors. The girls have been demonstrating excellent collaboration skills, using their ICT expertise to craft engaging Google Slides presentations. They’ve been busy inserting captivating images, formatting slides proficiently, and adding eye-catching animations. Next week, the groups will showcase their findings to the rest of the class. |
Year 5 Humanities Focus |
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We loved our History lesson this week – finding out all about what it would have been like to be a Viking raider at the start of the 9th Century! The girls did some great research and then had lots of fun creating some recruitment posters for their own longboat crews. Some posters were definitely more persuasive than others! |
Year 6 Humanities Focus |
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Year 6 have been studying climate change in more detail by learning about the formation of fossil fuels, and how their extraction and use is damaging the planet. They have started to consider renewable alternatives and think about ways to reduce reliance on these rapidly diminishing resources. |
News from outside of the classroom: Year 3 and Year 4 Burwell House Residential |
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Unforgettable Memories at Burwell House for Year 3 and Year 4 Upon arrival, the students embarked on a thrilling exploration of the stunning Burwell House grounds, working together in teams to answer questions and bond over the beauty of nature. They kicked off the adventure with an exhilarating sky walk and refreshed themselves with a unique smelly cocktail – a perfect blend of fun and laughter! The day wrapped up with a fun-filled game of bingo and an early night, cherishing the shared laughter and joy. On our last morning, we delved into the fascinating and ghostly history of the beautiful Burwell village while on a walk. It was a truly enriching experience for our young adventurers and of course, who could forget the fun and exciting game of Burwell Foxes? Our girls not only had a blast on a scavenger hunt but also learned the art of stealth, as they tried to outwit those cunning farmers. It has been amazing to witness the girls creating lifelong memories and embracing independence and confidence. We are so proud of their growth and cannot wait to share more experiences like these with them! |
News from outside of the classroom: Year 6 Netball Tour to Condover Hall |
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A Team: The Year 6 Netball team was very, very excited to attend the GDST Condover Hall netball rally last weekend. We left school on Friday after lunch in our bright pink hoodie tops and travelled up to Shrewsbury. Upon arrival we had a tour of the centre, checked out our dormitories and took part in exciting activities such as laser maze and abseiling from a really high tower. After a very good breakfast on Saturday morning we started our netball tournament. The A team played nine teams in the group stage in snow, hail and rain which was really challenging. Our results were as follows: Blackheath lost 1-3, Bromley won 2-1, Kensington lost 2-8, Nottingham won 3-1, Portsmouth won 3-0, Putney lost 1-7, Shrewsbury won 6-0, Streatham & Clapham lost 2-6 and Sydenham won 5-0. As a result of winning five games, we were placed 5th in the group, meaning we were through to the cup competition on Sunday. The team had a very busy afternoon and evening undertaking further activities such as archery, trapeze, high ropes, zip line, rock climbing, laser conquest and ended in a silent disco for all the GDST girls. On Sunday, the sun was out, and conditions were much better for netball. We played four matches in the cup, winning one, drawing one and losing two matches. This meant we came 3rd in the cup which was an amazing achievement as the competition was so tough. Overall, we played really good netball on both days, and I am really proud of the team for doing so well. The team worked so hard and really tried their best. Angelie was awarded Defensive Player of the Tournament and Annabelle Attacking Player of the Tournament. Everyone had an amazing weekend and we want to say a massive thank you to Mrs Littlewood and Mrs Jennings for taking us. – Annabelle R, Captain |
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B Team: Hello, I am Maya A captain of the B Team. At Condover we played extremely well considering the harsh weather conditions. We had to play in rain, snow and hail but despite that we kept a sunny mindset! Here are the results – Putney 0-11 to them and I was awarded Player of the Match, Portsmouth C Team 2-1 win to us and Player of the Match went to Diya B, Streatham &Clapham 4-0 loss to us and Aurelia T was Player of the Match, Shrewsbury 2-0 win to us, Streatham & Clapham 0-1 loss and Imaan D was awarded Player of the Match, Sydenham 0-2 loss and Aurelia T received Player of the Match, Blackheath 0-5 loss and Player of the Match went to Avelyn C, Kensington 2-0 loss and I received Player of the Match and Portsmouth B Team 0-1 loss to us with Daisy S receiving Player of the Match. We were all very positive even though we won only two matches. In the next round we were into the 8th position play off versus Norwich – we lost 2-1 and Cora S was awarded Player of the Match. Everyone received coaches Player of the Match because we all showed amazing work and I was so proud to lead a fantastic group of girls. – Maya A, Captain |
News from outside of the classroom: U11 A and B Netball v Broughton Manor |
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U11A: The U11A Team travelled to Broughton Manor on 6 March to play a 7 a-side fixture. The A Team started off strong, winning the first quarter 8-0. The team continued to work hard finishing the match 21-1. The team played really well and took what we had learnt from the Condover Hall netball weekend. As this was our last match of the season, we can all definitely see the improvement this term. Next season we need to work on spacing out in the court. Well done to Luisa P for Player of the Match. Thank you to Mrs Littlewood and Mrs Jennings for all of their encouragement this year. – Annabelle R, Captain U11B: Today we went to Broughton Manor Prep School! It was a very fun trip and we played well. GS and C worked well to get into space whilst GK and GD intercepted lots of shots! As we tried to score, WA and GA really helped push up the field while WD marked brilliantly! After the match, Imaan D was awarded Player of the Match. At the end of the match the score was a brilliant score of 7-3! Overall, it was an amazing match! We all had so much fun and can’t wait for the next match! – Aurelia T, Captain |
What's on at Northampton High - Spring Term |
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Weekly Awards |
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Star Learners of the Week: External Achievements: |
Birthdays This Week |
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This week, we wish a very Happy Birthday to the following members of our Junior School family: Blanca S, Anna H, Lydia C, Kianna G, Olivia T |
Pauline Quirke Academy |
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Northants Authors Book Fair |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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