Junior Newsletter 2 February 2018

Looking Ahead

GDST

Brand Transformation
We are delighted to share the GDST’s brand transformation, raising the profile of our organisation and reinforcing perceptions that we offer the very best in teaching and pastoral care.
The new GDST branding was unveiled in schools across the country this week, along with the values that underpin the brand, representing how GDST vision will be achieved. GDST stands for:
We always put Girls First. They are the focus of everything we do.
We are Forward-thinking. We stay ahead through purposeful innovation.
We are Fearless. We act and speak with conviction and commitment. We are not afraid of thinking differently.
We are a Family. We support each other and share our learning across our unique network.
All staff and girls watched the behind-the-scenes view of the new GDST film; we then had the opportunity to watch the new GDST film itself. The film, entitled ‘Our Spirit’, features 25 girls — one chosen from each of the GDST schools – talking about what it means to be a GDST girl. We were very proud to see our very own Chelsea featured in the film, representing our school.
The red button style logo has also been replaced by a clean and contemporary black logo (shown above), which will sit beneath the logos of each of the 25 GDST schools.
Please click on this link to view the film.

Clubs

Cancelled Clubs:

• Crafty Creatures Club is cancelled on Wednesday 7 February and Wednesday 28 February.
• There will be no Tuesday Computing Club for Years 5 and 6 until further notice.
• Year 6 Science Club is cancelled on Monday 5 February.
• Year 5 STEM Club is cancelled on Tuesday 6 February.
• Reception Golf Club is cancelled on Wednesday 7 February.

Debating

We are constantly warned of the dangers of The Digital Age from its ability to limit our powers of reasoning to being a destroyer of good health, both mental and physical. Perhaps most worryingly, employers from all sectors warn of the damage The Digital Age has already caused to the way in which we communicate. That is why oracy, the skill that enables us to be confident, fluent public speakers through opportunities such as debating, discussions and engaging in dialogue, is so vital. Learning to use the spoken language are as important as learning skills in literacy and numeracy.

Well, I am here to report good news! The skills needed for effective oracy are alive and well for girls at Northampton High School and in the wider community we have reached out to during our Outreach Debating Project.

In partnership with Noisy Classroom, an organisation dedicated to ensuring the skills of effective oracy are kept at the forefront of educators’ minds, we have successfully worked with Year 5 and Year 6 girls from three local primary schools to explore oracy through debating.

These workshops culminated in a final day of debating where all schools taking part proved, without question, that the skills of oracy are indeed alive and well. Perhaps even more importantly, the day also further emphasised just how important that we, as the guardians of future generations, must continue to give our girls the opportunity to develop this invaluable life skill whether it be at the dinner table at home or in the classroom!

Let the debate begin!

Mrs K Fordham

GDST Creative Writing Competition

There were an amazing number of entries for the GDST Creative Writing competition on ‘Ambition’. After a very difficult decision two stories were chosen to be submitted to GDST.

The winners were:

• Ameyal – Year 3 for her entry ‘An Egg-Citing Story’.
• Ishika – Year 6 for her entry ‘ Dancers Steps’.

Well done to all!

Music Open Week

We would like to invite you to come and attend your daughter’s individual Music lesson during the week of February 5-9. This is an opportunity for you to meet with her teacher, sit in on the lesson and discuss her progress. I will be sending a letter home nearer the time with the day and time of your daughter’s lesson but please do contact me if you would like any more information about it now.

Mrs Miller

FoNHS

Clothing recycling
A reminder about our clothing recycling facility at school. We have teamed up with Starlight Children’s Foundation, a charity that brightens the lives of seriously and terminally ill children, so that for every kg of clothing and other items recycled, Starlight receives 10p and FoNHS receives 40p. Through our recycling efforts over the last three or so years, we have raised over £2,000 for FoNHS so a huge thank you to everyone who uses the facility – over 5 tonnes of items going to good use (and possibly saved from landfill).  With a huge boost to FoNHS funds at the same time we are also supporting Starlight’s incredible work with every kg of items we recycle.
So if you can, please do consider using the recycling facility whenever you have a clear out. The collection “bank” is bright yellow and is situated on the pathway alongside the Junior School car park. The recycling company accepts all men’s, ladies’ and children’s clothing, paired shoes (tied together please), handbags, bags, ties, belts, towels and bedlinen. Any uniform carrying school or team logos is not accepted. Please put all items in a plastic bag before depositing them in case the bank is not watertight.
Thank you very much.

Movie Night
Also, a reminder that Movie Night is next Friday 9 February so please don’t forget to put your slips in the box provided to guarantee your place.

All girls in Reception through to Year 6 can attend. We are also very happy for girls in the Senior School to join their younger sisters if they wish.

The girls can change into PJ’s or Onesie’s and slippers in their classroom at the end of the school day, then girls will be brought through by their teachers at approximately 3.45 pm to the dining hall where they will be served a light tea of pizza or hot dogs.

Any girls attending who are in GAP that evening will be brought round to the senior hall by staff, there is no need for parents to come to school to do this. The girls will then be given snacks and drinks to enjoy whilst watching the movie.

Tickets are £8.00 per girl, including food and a drink. We are pleased to accept payment by cash or cheque. The movie starts at 4:30 pm and finishes at 6:00pm; please collect your daughter at 6:00pm.

Sports

Under 11 Netball v Winchester House

B team

We played very well in the first match and tried our hardest in the second match. In the first match the other team were very good which shook us all a bit. But then we came back really strong. Shruthi Padmabushan scored our first two goals and then Bella Goodyear-Rea scored two of our other goals and Arianna Baninoe scored 1, putting us up to a score of 5-4 to us and we were very happy about that.

In our second match we were all very cold and couldn’t perform at our very best so we lost 6-1 to them. It was a very hard match as we had already played outside for quite a long time. They brought their all however we could not because the cold weather. However we did get a player of the match, Bella Goodyear-Rea.

By Captain Lizzie Tansley

C team

I was very impressed in the level of positive comments towards each other. Our score was 6-1 and our goal shooter got player of the match, Isla Allen. We had a longer match because we were only playing against one school. We played very well and are all very proud of ourselves.

By Captain Eva Gasson

Nursery

This week in Elmer room we have been busy cooking. We made cup cakes and fruit smoothies and also focused on learning why washing hands is important.

Some girls have had the opportunity to meet the residents at Richmond Village Retirement Home this week. We took the cakes we had made and enjoyed eating them together. The girls also sang songs and showed off the rockets they had built at Nursery.

We looked at the stages of life from baby to adults by ordering picture cards then talked about people in our family and how old we thought they are.

Next week:

Elmer room:
Activities relating to teeth.
Thursday – STEM looking at owls and flight Friday – Chinese New Year.

Outside:
Exploring the sensory bottles.
Creating songs with musical instruments.
Playing a guess who game with pictures of our friends.

This week the Kipper girls have been bathing babies. The girls have especially enjoyed the sensory experience of the slippy soap and squeezing the sponges. During this activity the girls were encouraged to talk and think about the difference between them and a baby in the bath. This helps to develop the idea of change and growth over a period of time. This is something we will begin to explore further during the Spring, looking at plant growth.

We have also been focusing on number recognition and independent writing skills. Many girls have an idea of numbers but do not yet recognise and identify each number individually, so we will continue to provide this within their play environment.

During our library visits we have focused on handling books with care and responding to adult questions about a story.

Reception

“I enjoyed using the metal detectors to find the treasure in the sand”.  Nonsi.

“I enjoyed using the rainbow crayons and wish I had some at home”.  Yilin.

Year 1

“The castle day was my favourite day because we got to dress up! We didn’t have to use the school dresses, we could bring in our own! We went in the pretend castle and it was really fun making the gingerbread out of honey and bread.” Harini

“I liked typing my bit of our class Cinderella story. My bit is the end when they got married and lived happily ever after. When I finished my typing I did my drawing and colouring of Cinderella and the Prince, but not on a bit of paper, it was on the computer as well.” Jessica

“At the bird watching we had to be very quiet and walk very, very slowly. We were very lucky and saw lots of birds. We saw blue tits, blackbirds, a robin and some pigeons sitting on houses.” Zoe

“And we saw two magpies. And some crows. And there was a seagull. And a cat and some aeroplanes… but they don’t count.” Grace, Jessica & Harriet

Year 2

“I really liked learning about Samuel Pepys. I did a lot of thinking and read a lot”.  Mya Shah

“I loved making the Bird Seed Cakes. We hung them out on the tree and waited to see if any birds came”.  Diandra Davis

Year 3

“My favourite part of 3N this week was playing ‘Where’s Wally’ in Maths. We had to follow instructions to get to one of his items using clockwise, anticlockwise, 90, 180, 270 or 360 degree turns”.  Ameyal

“My highlight this week was writing my story about Tom and Mowzer’s adventures”.  Emily

Year 4

“My highlight of the week was Science, when we did experiments to make bulbs light up”. Isla

“My highlight of the week was making pop-ups in DT. It was a mouth opening”. Dharmini

Year 5

“My highlight of this week is going to Winchester House to play a netball match because I scored a goal and everyone cheered for me”.  Charlotte E Smith

“My highlight is drawing a bird without drawing a dark line.  They were all light”.  Arna Kar

Year 6

This week Year 6 have had a lovely week.

In Science we made a steady hand game and Elisha said, ” I had lots of fun making this game. We made it out of plasticine wires and many other scientific sources.”

We are now expert news reporters and have had great fun creating our own newspaper reports based on children’s Nursery Rhymes- the Year 6 teachers have laughed lots at our puns!

In Humanities we are creating our own poster on biomes and Libby said, “It was so interesting to research the different biomes of the world. We were able to research facts on biomes using the laptops. It was fun.”

A number of girls enjoyed themselves at the Harry Potter Party where they got to play fun games and spend some of their pocket money! Thank you, Miss Buxton!

More news next week!

Laura Charles – Captain of Selene

Harriet Fordham – Vice-Captain of Selene

GAP Club

This week I have spoken to two of our Nursery girls to find out what they have enjoyed doing in GAP Club this week.
“Colouring princess pictures.” Bryony.
“Colouring and painting.” Nafisa.