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Friday 22 November 2019 |
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On Thursday 7 November, Andy Donaldson Head of History and debut author of ‘Rain Town’, paid a visit to Yelvertoft Primary School, Northamptonshire to meet students and teachers. Pupils at the school are currently halfway through reading ‘Rain Town’ and got their teacher to write to Mr Donaldson to see if he would come in and talk to them about the book. The children at Yelvertoft are currently working on their literacy with a focus on how to make their writing more descriptive, creative and imaginative. Andy got the class into pairs with one pupil using their imagination to describe a new character for ‘Rain Town’ whereas their partner had to draw and label it using the vivid descriptions given. Only at the end was the artist allowed to share their interpretation of the new character with the creator. Cue much excitement and hilarity when the big reveal occurred!
The visit was also a chance to catch up with former High School student Belynda Jones who is now teaching at the school. Belynda was incredibly grateful for the way that the High School had prepared her for life at university and also the challenges of a teaching career. It was amazing to see her manage the large numbers of pupils of wide ranging abilities in her class so effortlessly. Belynda talked a little about how grateful she was to her parents for giving her the opportunity to go to Northampton High; something that perhaps she didn’t appreciate at the time. Mr Donaldson finished with a question and answer session about ‘Rain Town’ being careful not to give away any spoilers before the pupils finish the book! Mr Nash
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Week Ahead |
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Monday 25 November 2019 Tuesday 26 November Wednesday 27 November
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Thursday 28 November |
U5 students visit Festo |
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On Thursday afternoon, a group of U5 students spent the afternoon at Festo, a local engineering and robotics company in Brackmills, where we were lucky enough to meet expert engineers and product designers from the company.
We were also able to get hands-on with the specialist pneumatics kit, which we used to build our own circuits powered by compressed air. Next, we learnt about how industry and mechanics takes influence from nature and put this into practice by attempting to build a machine which resembled how a chameleon uses its tongue to pick things up. We all gave it a good go, with some success and for the rest of us, we got there eventually with help from the experts. Everyone had a really great time and we would all like to thank Mrs Vizor for making it possible. Daisy |
Students react to eTwinning project and our European Quality Label award |
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As mentioned in our 8 November issue, we are delighted to have been awarded the European Quality Label for the excellence in the eTwinning project ‘Culture, heritage, action! Undoing walls, building bridges’. The work of our students has been recognised at the highest European level, and we are delighted to hear from our students about the project, and their experiences with eTwinning: I like being part of eTwinning because I made a new friend who was my pen pal, and it gave me a chance to write and speak to someone who is actually French. I learnt about French culture and schools and also what they think of English people. I would definitely recommend eTwinning because it is fun, interesting and an easy way to learn French. This project really helped me with my French and it wasn’t just learning the language, it was more about doing things that helped you without even realising it, such as going to a care home and sending Christmas packages. – Miyali
I really enjoyed our eTwinning project on ‘Don’t judge a person by their face’ which encourages people globally to be kind to each despite their differences. I especially liked collaborating with schools from all over Europe, and communicating with them and learning about their culture. – Eliza I liked to be involved in this eTwinning project because it really helped me become better at working together with people and gaining stronger friendships. I learnt better French and team work. I would recommend eTwinning simply because it is an easy and fun way to learn a language. – Tiffany Ms Diez |
Equestrian team compete in the Plate Championships of the NSEA Jumping with Style |
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The Equestrian team had a jam-packed day at Keysoe last weekend for the Plate Championships of the NSEA Jumping with Style, as well as a couple of qualifier classes. The teams today were Eve, Jodie, Lily R, Lily B, Gemma and Eloise. They all rode fantastically well, and we came home with a team 3rd in the 1m Jumping with Style (JwS), team 5th in the 90cm JwS, and 10th in the 95cm Show Jumping. No qualifications this time; we finished the 90cm Eventer Challenge on a team score of only 4 penalties, but this wasn’t enough in a huge class. Congratulations also go to Felicity who competed as an individual in the grassroots Plate championships on Saturday, and finished a fantastic 5th place in the 70cm Show Jumping class. A fantastic day – thanks to everyone for the hard work and fabulous performances. Mrs Hodgetts-Tate |
6.2 host Pizza and Movie night |
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On Wednesday 20 November, a group of 6.2s gathered together in the Common Room for a Pizza and Movie night.
As it is a fairly stressful term for the girls, the Head Girl team organised this event to encourage mindfulness and self-care. The night started off with picking the movie, which, after a long debate, came to the conclusion of ‘The Duff’. Once the pizza arrived, the girls enjoyed relaxing and sharing a meal together. The Year 13’s loved having a night off from doing homework and being with friends as well as eating pizza, of course! We would like to thank Mrs Cantwell for helping and encouraging us to facilitate this. Claudia |
High School Sport |
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A quieter week for us here in the Sports Department, with Hockey fixtures against Wellingborough and Stamford as detailed below. Congratulations are given to Sophie C, who has been selected to represent the GDST Select Hockey Team and to Georgina F-W who has been selected to represent the GDST Select Netball Team. A fantastic achievement for both girls, who will be travelling to Loughborough for a weekend tournament in February 2020. A huge congratulations is also in order also for our Tennis team. After the victory at the Regional Finals on the 14 November we are now National Finalists! We haven’t achieved this feat for 8 years, so this is a marvellous achievement for the squad – well done girls! Mrs Littlewood
Hockey: U16 vs Wellingborough After a quick start from the team, we dominated our opposition and Maddie quickly scored our first goal with some good support play from Anraj, Jodie and Neeya. Although we slightly lost our structure at the end of the first half, we regained this in the second as Eve scored our second goal from a short corner. We then continued to dominate and Lucy added a third, with a lovely tap in off the post, from a reverse stick hit from Maddie. Wellingborough had some attacking opportunities in the second half but some solid defending from Izzy, Suzie, Molly and Sarah kept them at bay. The final goal was scored by Lily after a fabulous joint effort from the team which reflected the performance throughout the match. Final score, 4-0 to NHS. Well played to everyone, especially the L5 who played up, especially Lucy on her debut for this team. Huge congratulations to our players of the match Lucy S and Eloise. Jodie
Hockey: B Team vs Stamford On Saturday 16 November, the B team played hockey against Stamford High School. Even though we lost the match 3-0, the team tried their hardest and played a fabulous match. Our team stayed determined at all times and never gave up. It was a close match as we had some good opportunities that should have gone in. As the team captain I am very proud of my team and they all played brilliantly. The defence played amazingly as they tackled the ball of the other players and sent it down to either the mids or the wingers to clear it . They also helped our goalie to stop the opposing side from scoring, a great performance. The right and left wings played really well, finding space so that we could pass the ball to them when we had a short corner or a long corner. They were also very good at passing the ball to the centre forward or centre mid, whilst clearing the ball from our D. The centre mid and the centre forward played very well too, as they had so many close shots at the goal and so many good passes up and down the pitch. As well as that they found space so the rest of the team could pass to them and either lost their partner or stuck with their partner. Despite the result I am very happy with my team. The player of the match award was awarded to me, Arianna, and I am very happy to receive it, however the award could have gone to many other players from the team because of them playing so well. Stamford put up a fabulous match for us to play and I think if we had spread out just a bit more and found a few more options to pass to we would have beaten them. Desptie this, we can still be proud of ourselves and our performance. Arianna |
Spotlight on Sport: Laura and Rhythmic Gymnastics |
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My main sport is Rhythmic Gymnastics. Although it is an Olympic sport, it is not very common, but it was first introduced to the UK in Northampton and there are several clubs in this area. The club where I train and for which I compete is called Billings RGC and we train in Moulton, Weston Favell and Duston. You can take part once a week just for fun or you can train more often and take part in competitions. I am in the Junior group with four other gymnasts and we compete at national level and train 4 times a week, with each session 3-4 hours long.
Recently my group has competed with hoop and ribbon in the Junior National League, which included travelling to Edinburgh to compete, where we placed second. I also compete at Regional Level individually with ball, ribbon and hoop. Other apparatus includes clubs and rope. In competitions, we are marked on our timing to the music and the difficulty of our routines, which depends on the tricky leaps, throws and apparatus handling we put in. Rhythmic gymnastics is a truly unique sport and I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as I do! Laura C |
Creative Arts Spotlight |
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This week, the Creative Arts Spotlight falls onto Sophie, who performed a really confident portrayal of Augustus Gloop, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, during her Drama lesson. Well done, Sophie! Mrs Care |
Book Review |
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Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo Recommended for U4 and above From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl Woman Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They’re each looking for something – a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . . ‘Masterful . . . A choral love song to black womanhood in modern Great Britain’ Miss Buxton |
Chemis-tree Christmas Lecture 2019 |
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School raises money for the Poppy Appeal |
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We are delighted to announce that we have helped to raise £92.27 across the school this year in aid of the Poppy Appeal, by the sale of poppies, wrist bands, badges and more. Thank you for all of your support. Mr Nash |
FoNHS AGM |
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The FoNHS AGM was held on 5 November 2019, and the minutes of the meeting can be found on the link here. Parents are warmly invited to participate in the Parent Forum meetings referred to in the minutes and organised by Mrs O’Doherty, Deputy Head Pastoral Care and Guidance. The next Forum will be held early in the Spring Term and more details will be sent to all parents nearer the time. Parents are welcome to suggest topics for discussion or general information at Forum meetings. Mrs Headley |
Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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