Nothampton High School
High News

Friday 21 June 2019

Do you think that things need a name in order to exist in our minds?

This was the question I posed to the senior girls in Assembly last week. Many philosophers would argue that things for which we have no name do not exist as fully in our minds as things that have a name.

‘What’s in a name?’ says Shakespeare’s Juliet

But the fact that she is called Capulet and he is a Montague makes all the difference in the world to this couple, and seals their fate.

‘That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet’ she adds.

But when planting my garden, I need the word rose.  More, I need the name of the rose – the taxonomy of roses, no less.

If you lose the word, then, you lose the world of which it is a part.

Seven years ago, a big thing happened in the naming industry of this country, when OUP published  a new Junior Dictionary.  To make space for newly-emerging words – analogue, broadband, chatroom – the publishers removed words which they thought had fallen into disuse, including acorn, buttercup and conker.

Read more here

Dr Stringer
Headmistress

Week Ahead

Monday 24 June
Senior School Assembly – FemSock
U3 Humanities Residential
L4 Normandy & MFL Options Evening
Cricket: U13B vs Quinton House (H)

Tuesday 25 June
U3 Humanities Residential
Sixth Form Leadership Workshop
Cafe Sci: Flying Females Event

Wednesday 26 June
Sixth Form Welcome Day
U3 Humanities Residential
Tennis: U18A Summer Rally (A)
Cricket: U15A Summer Rally (A)
San Francisco Information Evening

Thursday 27 June
U3 Humanities Residential
Silver DoE Assessed Expedition
Year 9 End of Key Stage 3 Lunch
Arts Invitational
Opera Masterclass with Alison Roddy

Friday 28 June
Senior School Assembly – Carnegie Shadowing
U3 Humanities Residential
Silver DoE Assessed Expedition

Saturday 29 June
Bronze DoE Assessed Expedition
Silver DoE Assessed Expedition

Sunday 30 June
Bronze DoE Assessed Expedition

L5 Classicists visit Worcester College

On Friday 14 June, the L5 Classicists departed in high spirits for the beautiful town of dreaming spires, Oxford.

Upon arrival at Worcester College, we marvelled at the neo-classical columns (or Miss Mason did,) and were warmly welcomed by the admissions officer, who went on to give us a stimulating overview of the Oxford application process. As a warm up, we delved into stereotypes of the university compared to ‘reality’, and then were given a sample question to debate, ‘Does it matter to the world if one species becomes extinct?’ (which has been used in Biology interviews in the past.)  The admissions officer then explained Oxford’s unique tutorial system and range of courses on offer, before outlining some of the extracurricular activities which ranged from ‘Tea Society’ to ‘Octopush’ (underwater hockey.) Tom, a second year medical student, then took us on a tour of the college, showing us a range of undergraduate accommodation as well as the facilities which Worcester offers, like the refectory, chapel, library and very large lake and gardens. He answered questions throughout, and, when asked what advice he would give to anyone in L5 considering applying to Oxford in the future, said: “the most important thing is to want it. If you want it, do everything you can to make it happen.” Pertinent advice indeed as L5 eagerly await Enterprise week at the end of term.

After our picnic lunch, we had a gallery tour of the world-famous Ashmolean Museum, led by one of their expert staff, followed by a handling session of real and recreated Roman objects. Our visit was capped by sketching and Q&A in the cast gallery. These activities were designed to increase L5’s confidence in interpreting primary sources, particularly their ability to draw inferences, which are a necessary part of their GCSE papers.

We hope to return to the Ashmolean next year to visit the ‘Last Supper In Pompeii’ exhibition, which will include many artefacts usually only seen in Italy. Many thanks to Miss Monks for organising the visit.

Miss Mason
Teacher of Classics

6.1 Biology Field Trip

See all photos

Ross Welford visits as part of our Arts Festival

As part of the Arts Festival we were lucky to be joined by the children’s author Ross Welford on Friday morning. The excited audience comprising Year 5 and 6 girls from Junior School and Years 7 and 8 in Senior School were not disappointed.

Ross began by talking about how stories are magical and something that we, as humans, have been doing for thousands of years. He then explained a little about his personal history, growing up in Cullercoats in the North East (where all his stories are set) and about his twin loves, reading and magic tricks. Enid Blyton featured strongly along with a guide on how to perform your own tricks, which the young Ross practised diligently. We were treated to a few of Ross’ tricks with the help of several pupils, one of which involving time travel!

Ross also talked about story construction, how character plus a problem equals a story, and that without a problem the story does not exist. He also explained that essentially all stories are about lost and found, from fantasy to romance and the combination of all of these produce your story.

Ross and the students then developed a story collaboratively, which resulted in Father Christmas arresting the Queen, who had stolen a jewel encrusted egg. Ross created a piece of magic this morning for his audience and we greatly appreciate that he found time to visit us whilst writing his next amazing story.

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

Northampton High welcomes author Clare Mulley into school

As part of Literary Week, a component of our Arts Festival, we were privileged to welcome award-winning writer Clare Mulley to speak to our Lower Fifth and Lower Sixth students.

Preceded by a poetry reading from Helena Thomas, and introduced eloquently by Claudia Pieczka, Clare spoke about the life and times of Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children and all-round extraordinary woman. An engaging speaker, Clare provided insights into Edwardian life, as well as an idea of what it takes to be a historian and biographer.

Funny, moving and inspirational, it was a delight to meet Clare and to have history come to life before our eyes.

Mr Williams
Head of English

Students perform at NMPAT Festival

A huge congratulations to all students who performed admirably at the NMPAT Festival at Derngate Theatre on Tuesday.

The girls were fantastic, and the pictures you see opposite are from their technical rehearsal and also with their ‘Cats’ make up applied.

Well done girls!

Mrs Care
Director of Theatre

Creative Arts Spotlight

The Creative Arts Spotlight is shining on Nicole Ani and Lizzie Tansley this week for their beautiful acrylic paintings of animals.

They are spending lots of time on their brushwork and colour mixing in lessons. We are looking forward to showing all the U3 animal work at our Arts Festival on Thursday.

Mrs Beacroft
Head of Creative Arts

Cafe Sci: Talk with Helicopter Pilot Nicky Smith

On Tuesday 25 June, Cafe Sci will be hosting guest speaker Captain Nicky Smith.

Nicky was the first female helicopter pilot in the RAF as a search and rescue pilot and now flies for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

The talk will be held in the Sixth Form common room from 4pm until 5pm and we hope to see you there.  All welcome!

Isobel
L5S

High School Sport

A busy week in the Sports department with Junior School Swimming Galas and Sports Rallies. In the Senior School, the highlight was superb play from our U13 Cricketers with both the A and B teams winning against Oundle School.

The department is busy preparing for the Gymnastics and Dance Extravaganza, and we look forward to seeing many of you at this event on Tuesday 2 July starting at 5.30pm.

Mrs Hackett
Director of Sport

Cricket

On Monday 17 June, the U13A Cricket team played Oundle School.

We fielded first and played very well, winning the match by 47 runs – 260 to 213. Our team consisted of Charlotte Johns, Bella Spokes, Phoebe Haynes, Jayna Bhadresha, Ella Nicholas, Jane Sigobodhla, Emma Neville, Alessandra Jahina, Jasmine Campion and Harriet Fordham. Especially well done to Charlotte Johns for the best batsman, Jasmine Campion for the best bowler and Alessandra Jahina for the best fielding. Well played everyone!

Charlotte
L4S

Intercounties Mason Trophy

Charlotte Creak ,Georgina Forde-Wells and Amelia Tutt represented the County in The Mason Trophy Intercounties Schools Championships at Alexander Stadium on Saturday 15 June. On an unpredictable day in terms of weather, with torrential downpours followed by brilliant sunshine, the girls performed admirably and posted impressive results.

Amelia placed 1st in the 80m Hurdles, Georgina placed 2nd and 4th in the High and Triple Jumps respectively, with Charlotte achieving 3rd in the Javelin. Georgina also competed on the Sunday in Coventry at the Senior Midlands League Division 2 meet and achieved a PB in the Triple Jump of 11.56.

We are now awaiting confirmation of places on the team for the English Schools event on the weekend of the 13 July at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Fingers crossed for all three.

Mrs Littlewood
PE Teacher

Book Review

The Dog Who Saved the World by Ross Welford

When eleven-year-old Georgie befriends an eccentric retired scientist, she becomes the test subject for a thrilling new experiment: a virtual-reality 3D version of the future.

But then a deadly disease threatens the life of every dog in the country and Georgie’s beloved dog, Mr Mash, gets sick. And that’s only the start of her troubles.

Soon, Georgie and Mr Mash must embark on a desperate quest: to save every dog on earth, and maybe even all of humanity… without actually leaving the room.

An extraordinary quest with the biggest stakes of all, and a huge idea at its heart, this is time travel – but not as you know it.

Miss Buxton
School Librarian

Arts Festival 2019

Arts Festival: Invitational Event

As part of our upcoming Arts Festival (noted in the above flyer), we are delighted to be hosting our Arts Invitational Evening on Thursday 27 June.

Starting at 5pm, the Invitational will showcase a vast array of work produced by students of all ages here at Northampton High, across all of the different areas of the Arts. Creative Arts, Fashion, Textiles, Food, Film, Drama, Music and Poetry are just some of the exhibitions and activities that will be on display during the Invitational, and we do hope that you will be able to join us in school as we proudly present the creations of our talented students.

To get a flavour of what to expect at the event, please click here to view a gallery of photos from last years invitational.

Mr Nash
Marketing & Communications Officer

Ecobricks

The Northampton High School Eco Team would like to request your help in raising awareness over the importance of plastic recycling, particularly in light of the recent David Attenborough series highlighting the problems associated with plastic pollution in marine ecosystems.

We are aiming to build a sculpture entirely out of plastic (which will itself be later recycled) as part of an awareness campaign in the Autumn Term. In order to achieve this we plan to make use of the ‘Ecobricks technique, which utilises plastic bottles filled with plastic waste. This link is to a video explaining how to make Ecobricks.

For our sculpture we would welcome plastic bottles of a range of different sizes and therefore any appropriately filled plastic bottles will be accepted. For details on how to make them please refer to the video link above (written instructions are contained below the video).

If these could be brought into school immediately upon return in September and given to Mr Earp or placed neatly in the Breakout Learning Zone at the end of the E corridor then we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance for your help with our environmental work and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us via j.earp@nhs.gdst.net.

Mr Earp
Head of Humanities

Early May Bank Holiday 2020

Please kindly note that, in line with the change to the national Bank Holiday pattern in May 2020 in order to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, we will observe the early May Bank Holiday on Friday 8 May rather than on Monday 4 May, as originally advertised.

Monday 4 May will be a normal school day and school will be closed on Friday 8 May.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries about the change.

Dr Stringer 
Headmistress

County Netball Trials

Term Dates

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Newport Pagnell Road, Hardingstone Northampton NN4 6UU
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