We are delighted to have welcomed two new pupils this week, and our girls have been ensuring both girls feel included and supported; we are proud of them all.

Our week started with a special assembly from Mr Nathan, our Director of Music, and one of our specialist piano teachers, who told us all about learning to play the piano. Sophia from Year 6 and Emily from Year 4 as well as some of our Senior pupils performed for us, demonstrating their talents and inspiring us. Should your daughter be interested in learning to play the piano, or any other instrument, please email via Junioradmin@nhs.gdst.net and Mr Nathan will be in touch.

PCSO Shelton and PCSO Evans came to speak to our pupils on Tuesday morning about road safety. We were delighted to see our Nursery, Preschool and Reception pupils join us for the assembly, and the girls were spellbound by our visitors. Numerous sensible and insightful questions were asked by our pupils, and the learning was not limited to the children. Ask your daughter about toucan and pegasus crossings, as the adults also learned a thing or two!

Many thanks to the parents attending our Parent Coffee Morning on Wednesday this week. Our theme for this event was ePraise – our new reward and recognition programme that awards both individual achievement points and House points. We appreciate all parental insights and input, and will be sharing further information about ePraise with our pupils and parents in the coming weeks.

We welcomed a number of prospective families to our Reception Information Evening on Wednesday, showing them around our Reception class facilities and getting to know their daughters. We are hosting another Reception Information event on Wednesday 20 November, 9.30-10.30am, so if you have any friends or family members looking to start in Reception in September 2025, please book a place with our Admissions team at nhs.admissions@nhs.gdst.net. 

Next Tuesday our Year 4 pupils embark on their Piddington Roman Villa trip and on Friday 15 November we have a non-uniform day for Children in Need. We would be grateful for your donations to this deserving charity in exchange for wearing mufti on this day via this link.

We had planned for our Year 5 pupils to go to Forest School on Wednesday 13 November, however we have had to reschedule this to 27 November. Apologies for the inconvenience caused. 

Thank you to all pupils, parents and staff for a brilliant, buoyant and fruitful initial week of our new school term – it promises to be an exciting, fun-filled half term building to Christmas festivities and end of year celebrations.

Mrs Wilmot
Acting Head of Junior School

This week Nursery have shown lots of pictures and films regarding fireworks to cement language of colours, noise and size and to encourage back and forth conversations about what they had experienced over the weekend.

At Forest School, the children noticed all the leaves on the floor as Autumn is now in full swing.

We have made use of our Junior School outside environment and kicked and explored the balls on a larger space; the children enjoyed the freedom of the space.

We look forward to welcoming parents and carers to our stay and play next Wednesday 13 November. Don’t worry if you can’t make it this time, we will have another one soon.

It has been lovely to have all the girls back together again after the half term break. They have come in and excitedly told us all about their adventures they have been up to. This week in Preschool we have been celebrating bonfire night and Diwali. The girls have taken part in a range of activities including making firework paintings and glitter pictures and exploring the water tray with light up cups and a glittery texture to the water.

Outside the girls have been creating their own obstacle with the tyres and planks; beginning to be in charge of managing their own risks and reflecting and adapting their plans when needed. They have made a bonfire picture down at Forest School by collecting twigs and sticks then adding yellow and orange leaves. The girls then decided to make this bonfire bigger by adding more and more piles of leaves on top.

Whilst also down at Forest School Mrs Mason made a small fire in the fire circle for us to observe. We talked about how to keep safe by sitting on the logs around the outside and the girls were able to tell us why this was important “because it’s hot” and “you might get hurt”.

We also joined up with Reception this week to attend a road safety assembly and to celebrate Diwali. Lots of activities were on offer for the girls to explore and join in with. Dancing and the water tray were the most popular activities.

We have also been on our school trip this week to the theatre and the girls were beautifully behaved, enjoying the exciting experience of being out of school and watching a stage performance. What a busy first week back we have had, girls!

Reception have had an exciting week of festivals and celebrations. The girls enjoyed learning about Diwali and also firework night. Mrs Shah taught them how to mix spices to make bombay potatoes , which made for a tasty snack!

Reception also went on their first school trip of the year to the theatre to watch ‘The Smartest Giant In Town’. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show and represented our school brilliantly.

Year 1 has truly made an exciting start to the year, diving into unihoc. Watching them develop their stick grip while improving their dribbling, passing, and shooting technique is impressive! Their progress in close ball control and short-distance passing highlights their hard work.

Keep it up, Year 1! You’re not only becoming skilled unihoc players but also setting the stage for success in hockey and team sports down the road.

Year 2 are doing a fantastic job!

Mastering their coordination and gaining control with both stick and ball is an impressive step forward in unihoc. They have focused on passing, dribbling, and shooting with added speed and precision demonstrating excellent effort.

It’s so exciting to see these skills developing, and we can’t wait to see how they’ll shine even more next year in hockey.

Keep up the great work, Year 2!

PE: We have developed our dribbling skills in football by using the inside and outside of the foot and the sole to stop and change direction. Other skills looked at were how to pass the ball with accuracy and correct weight, along with an introduction to goalkeeping.

Through progressive 1v1, 2v1 and 3v3, we moved onto a 5v5 sided indoor game which saw the girls work really hard and showcase their skills in a competitive situation.

Games: Hockey is one of the most difficult sports to learn and Year 3 are working very hard at acquiring the many new skills needed in order to play the game. We have been practising our dribbling and passing during lessons and I am delighted to say that the girls are improving slowly but steadily.

We will gradually develop defending and attacking skills over the duration of the term alongside an understanding of the different positions. The girls will also gradually learn all the rules of the game but at the moment our focus is on developing the basics in order to build on more advanced skills in the future.

Keep working hard Year 3.

PE: Year 4 have made a fantastic start to their PE lessons participating in tag rugby. The girls have practised their passing and receiving skills with determination and enthusiasm. They were able to apply their skills when playing mini games and particularly enjoyed trying to steal their opponents’ tags!

The girls are learning badminton for the second half term. They enjoyed using the balloons to practise their hand eye coordination. They were able to maintain short rallies with their partner, over cones or nets of varying heights, both with the balloons and the success balls!

Games: This term, Year 4 have shown tremendous progress and enthusiasm in hockey! They have worked hard on refining their passing, dribbling, and shooting techniques while developing their tactical awareness on the field. With each session, their teamwork and communication have grown stronger, allowing them to play with increased confidence and coordination. It’s been wonderful to see their dedication and sportsmanship as they continue to build a solid foundation in hockey skills.

Well done, Year 4!

PE: We have been covering football and rugby skills in PE.

Skill development has focused on movement with the ball and accuracy and weight of passing. Game play has looked at the principles behind team formation and building up attack as well as defending.

We have also completed a couple of fitness-based runs with everyone setting themselves an individual target completing two laps of the school field.

Games: The girls have made a fantastic start to their hockey sessions.  They have been practising skills including dribbling and passing along with tackling and then have successfully applied these skills to match play. Some girls have also had the opportunity to be a goalie, wearing all the protective clothing and braving having hockey balls ‘fired’ at them!

Outfield practices have focused on team positioning and roles to help the girls work together to attack and defend as a team. Individual skills such as 1st touch control, passing, tackling and shooting remain a focus for everyone.

PE: During the first half term Year 6 advanced their badminton skills in Physical Education. As badminton is a sport that requires a high level of agility we started with a focus on our ability to move quickly on court. In addition, returning to the ready position fast in preparation for the next shot meant more time to prepare and execute shots effectively. 

A recap of skills acquired in Year 5 (e.g. the serve) alongside new skills learnt this half term (e.g. overhead clear) allowed the girls to become more confident in their own abilities. Rallies therefore were becoming longer and this in turn supported the development of their overall game. Well done Year 6, great progress in badminton this half term!

Games: The main game for this term is hockey. Our focus has been building up the confidence to move with the ball as well as distributing the ball out wide in order to create space and take the ball away from areas of congestion.

All girls have participated in a competitive match against other schools and have shown great resilience and team work.

This competition is open to all students in Nursery to Year 6 and there are two categories for entry: EYFS (Nursery, Preschool and Reception) and KS1 (Years 1 and 2) and KS2 (Years 3 to 6).

The task is to create an A4 Christmas card design keeping in line with the Christmas theme, but the design is completely up to you!

Hand your design to your class teacher or key worker on or before Monday 25 November with your first name and year group written on the back.

The winning design will be chosen by our CEO Cheryl Giovannoni and the winning artists will be given a £50 gift voucher. The winning designs will be featured on the GDST website, and will also be chosen for our schools Christmas card design. Good luck!

Year 5 and Year 6 Cross Country: On November 4, Year 5 and Year 6 travelled to Croydon for the GDST Cross Country Rally. We had fantastic conditions, not too cold and not too hot! All the girls ran with pace and pushed hard over a fast flat course.  There was a small section that took the team through a wooded area and they had to use care to avoid brambles, tree stumps and nettles. A true Cross Country course! Results were as 1st runner back for Northampton – Tabby, followed by Constance, Eloise and Aggie. Well done to all the girls who ran!

Year 5 and Year 6 Football: The football team had a fantastic day at the Croydon Rally on 7 November. An early start, meeting at school at 6.20am, didn’t slow the team down as they put in excellent performances against high quality teams.  In the group stages they won all but two matches achieving the following results:

Northampton vs Croydon – won 2-1
Northampton vs Newcastle – lost 1-0
Northampton vs South Hampstead – Drew 0-0
Northampton vs Howells – won 1-0
Northampton vs Blackheath – won 2-0
Northampton vs Notting Hill – won 2-0

These fantastic results meant the team finished 2nd in their group to a well deserving Newcastle and qualified for the semi-final of the cup completion. Their opponents, Sydenham had won their group and proved to be a strong team, pulling 1-0 ahead midway through the game. Northampton had some opportunities and almost pulled a goal back when Olivia T hit the cross bar but unfortunately the Sydenham team held on and Northampton found themselves in the 3rd/4th play off.

In their final game, Northampton played Newcastle again, hoping this time to reverse the 1-0 loss they experienced in the group stages. Newcastle were relentless and had many good chances to score but Avani played fantastically in goal making multiple saves to ensure the score stayed 0-0 at full time. The girls played extra time and were under significant pressure but held onto the draw ensuring a joint third finish with Newcastle. Well done to the eventual winners and runners up, Sydenham and Oxford! A big well done to all the girls who played excellently, to our goal scorers Olivia H, Olivia T and Thea and our super keeper Avani.