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Junior News – 10 May 2024 |
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Over the past week, we have welcomed many new families to our school, wanting to explore what we offer as a school and what is different about Northampton High. Last week’s open morning offered us the pleasure of meeting families – some with their children, some with their extended families – introducing them to our pupils and showing them around our school. In Junior School, this included families looking for a Nursery or Preschool place to start their educational adventure, all the way through to opportunities to join our Sixth Form, to bring their future plans into focus. |
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When asked by parents about what is unique and special about our school, one of our first responses is ‘our girls’. We are an all-girls all-through school, and it is our girls who make our school – they are the difference. Everything we do is for the girls, about the girls, and with the girls at its core. What better way to introduce the school – the academic, the pastoral, the extracurricular, the sport, the arts, our facilities, our staff community – than through the girls. ‘We believe in our girls, and they believe in themselves’ is our mantra. We trust our pupils and know that they are our very best ambassadors. When visiting families came through to Junior School, we introduced them to our Year 6 pupils, who then led a tailored tour for each family around the school. Pupils were themselves; they exuded confidence, enthusiasm and sparkle. They answered many and varied questions, explained their likes and dislikes, their interests and their favourite subjects, their hopes, plans and aspirations, and what’s more, honestly. What was special was that every one of our pupil ambassadors was their unique self, they did not follow a pre-prepared route plan, or recite rehearsed responses. They were comfortable in their own skin, confidently speaking up, interacting with each other naturally and demonstrating the value of our school in their every step. Touring the school, our visitors observed the purposeful and calm atmosphere in our classrooms, pupils engaged with their learning and focussed on the task in hand. Our visitors were unsurprisingly full of praise and compliments about how their tour duos spoke so freely, enthusiastically and earnestly about life at Northampton High, and their journey so far. Guests’ impressions of our pupils across the year groups were consistent and glowing. This week we welcomed a further twelve girls into Junior School for taster days, giving the prospective pupils an insight into the High School experience, as well as an opportunity to make new friends and try new lessons, new foods, new skills. Our pupils have been the warmest of hosts, the kindest of buddies, and we could not be prouder! They, in turn, have reflected on their own pride in our school and how they have grown and developed since joining us. Whether with us since their early Nursery days or more recent start dates, our pupils can be proud of who they have become and what they have achieved. Thank you to all our pupils for being the spirit and heartbeat of our school, and for the lasting impression you make on not only our visitors, but our wider school community every day. Wishing you and your families an enjoyable, restful and rewarding weekend. With best wishes, Mrs Amanda Wilmot |
Parent Notices |
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Suncream and Sun Hats: Now the weather is much improved, may we please ask that pupils wear suncream to school and ensure they have sun hats with them in school every day. Wraparound Care: In wraparound care, we have reintroduced fruit as a snack as well as the biscuits currently available. Welcome Evening: Welcome Evening for current Year 6 pupils and parents is taking place on Tuesday 21 May from 6.00pm, to provide lots of information about the transition into Year 7 in September. Swap Shop: The Swap Shop is open every Friday afternoon from 2.30 – 3.30pm in the Junior School hall, if you need to top up uniform items. Dates for the diary: Monday 13 May – Reception Swimming Watching Day – arrival from 10.40 finish by 11.40am There will be no swimming for Year 2 on Friday 24 May due to the Year 3 and 4 Sports Festival. Apologies for this disruption. Correction – the Open Forest School session on Wednesday 5 June is for Year 4, and not for all classes. |
Sports Days |
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Sports Days are one of the highlights in the summer term. We are pleased to confirm the dates for Junior School are as follows: Nursery and Preschool -Tuesday 18 June -1.30-2.30pm – Refreshments will be served. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 – Wednesday 26 June – 9.30-10.30am – Refreshments will be served in the Pavilion 9.00-9.30am. Year 3 to Year 13 – Friday 7 June – 8.30 – 3.30pm – Refreshments will be served. (Friday 14 June – Reserve date). More details to follow shortly. |
Swimming Galas and Watching Weeks |
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Thank you to parents who enjoyed their daughter’s Year 1 and Year 2 Swimming Watching sessions on Thursday and today. We look forward to Reception’s Swimming Watching session on Monday 13 May. If parents could arrive from 10.40am and the session will finish by 11.40am House Swimming Galas for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 The full list of dates and times for each gala is shown below. At the end of the gala, points will be totalled and the winning House for each year will be announced. Additionally, all the points earned by each House will be added together to see who will be crowned the Junior School Swimming Gala Champions! Year 3: Monday 20 May, arrival from 9:20am finish by 10:20am Year 4: Friday 17 May, arrival from 1:30pm finish by 2:40pm Year 5: Thursday 23 May, arrival from 2:20pm finish by 3:20pm Year 6: Wednesday 22 May, arrival from 2:20pm finish by 3:20pm At the end of the gala, points will be totalled and the winning House for each year group will be announced. Additionally, all the points earned by each House will be added together to see who will be crowned the Junior School Swimming Gala Champions!
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News from our classrooms: Nursery and Preschool |
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The girls have made the most of the glorious weather this week in Nursery, playing outside on the bikes and climbing equipment. The hospital role play has been introduced and a water tray has even made its first appearance in the garden this year too! There has been a lot of mark-making activities this week. The girls have experimented with foam on the tuff tray, dabber pens on the easel and have been encouraged to further develop their pencil grip and control with whiteboard pens on tracing mats.
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Shapes has been our Maths focus this week. We have been looking at shapes using recycling, which also supported conversations about what the girls thought may have originally been in the packaging. Number songs have been included in singing time each day and we have continued to use a song in our French session to learn numbers as well as how to say “Merci”. In Cookery, we made some delicious shortbread biscuits using the same skills that we have practised with play dough. This week in Preschool we have been learning about flowers and their life cycle. We have looked at flowers in detail naming each part and looking at the difference between their roots and shoots. Outside the girls have planted their own sunflower seeds and we hope to watch them grow over the coming weeks. Everyone has been able to tell us that flowers need soil, water and sunshine to help them grow. In PE we have been enhancing our football skills as the girls have been very interested in this sport over past few weeks. We played games to develop our spatial awareness and practised changing directions without bumping into each other. Potion-making in the water tray has been popular with the girls. Potion bottles and funnels have been added along with the girls collecting their own herbs and petals from the garden, enhancing their play. Building with the large blocks to enclose and create spaces representing objects has been explored lots this week too. We have also enjoyed snack picnics in the garden whilst enjoying the beautiful sunny weather. We used this calm time to talk about what we have enjoyed during our day at Preschool and reflecting on what we have achieved throughout the day. |
News from our classrooms: Reception |
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We hope that you all enjoyed the long weekend and some better weather. We returned to school to find that our caterpillars are now cocoons hanging from the lid. We found the net and transferred them, ready for the next stage in their development! In Maths we have been continuing with the operations of addition and subtraction involving minibeasts. In our topic this week we learnt about spiders having 8 legs and 8 eyes! At Forest School we used a mallet to put three sticks into the ground and then weaved a web for a spider to live in. |
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In Phonics this week we have been using our knowledge to decide if a word is an alien (made up) word or a real one. Please can we remind you that suncream should be applied before coming to school and send your daughters school sun cap as we will be making the most of the weather for some more outdoor activities. |
Year 1 English Focus |
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Year 1 are loving this half terms’ book ‘Astro Girl’ and have become proficient at learning more about a character using clues in the illustrations and text. Our ‘Astrid’s bedroom’ role play area has given them opportunities to further develop their understanding of the story and space. This week they have loved writing ‘A training guide for Astronauts’ using bossy verbs. |
Year 2 English Focus |
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Year 2 have been engaged fantastically with our Dragons topic. The book The Dragon Machine, by Helen Ward, has inspired them to write some excellent creative descriptions of their own ‘dragon machine’ and the dragon’s habitat, Dragon Island. We are currently working on our own dragon adventure stories and we can’t wait to share these with you! |
Year 3 English Focus |
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This week Year 3 have started a new class text. We are looking at ‘The Tear Thief’ by Carol Ann Duffy. Our first focus has been on using descriptive vocabulary, as well as conjunctions, to write extended sentences imagining which emotion each ‘tear gem’ might represent. |
Year 4 English Focus |
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Year 4 girls are delving into the fascinating world of Tutankhamun and Howard Carter. They crafted diary entries from the perspective of Carter as he peered into the ante chamber through a tiny hole! Their writings were adorned with impressive expanded noun phrases, showcasing compound adjectives intricately detailed with extra information. Through their vivid descriptions, the students not only captured the atmosphere of the moment but also explored the whirlwind of emotions Carter may have experienced! The girls posed gripping rhetorical questions, encapsulating the sense of mystery and wonder that surrounded the discovery. |
Year 5 English Focus |
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Year 5 are having a fabulous time learning about the Titanic at the moment… unfortunately the lead character in our book decided to stow away! The girls wrote some amazing advertising leaflets, using superlatives, and have been doing some research to gather information and eye-witness accounts for their newspaper articles. We were extremely lucky to have a visiting speaker last Friday afternoon, Tim Allebone, who met two of the Titanic survivors and had some wonderful insights to share with us.
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Year 6 English Focus |
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This week Year 6 have been privileged to take part in a BPP legal workshop in association with BPP University. The girls were able to use their prior knowledge of the suffragette movement to discuss their future dreams and consider how these would have been limited in the past. In particular, we were really impressed with their ability to analyse the arguments for, and against, women being given the right to vote as were the legal team they worked with. Well done, Year 6! |
Junior Sports News |
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Friday 26 April U9 Cricket v Thornton College Thanks must go to the three Year 3 girls Evie, Zara and Rosie who helped out. Zara took two wickets, bowling and then catching the batters hit and Amariah also took a wicket with a perfect delivery. U9A won their match with a score of 254 against Thornton’s 217 and took 3 wickets when fielding – Player of the Match went to Olivia. U9B scored 227 taking 3 wickets when fielding but unfortunately Thornton won scoring 244 and also took 3 wickets. Player of the Match went to Agnes. Thursday 2 May U12 GSA Football Festival at Warwick High School Our first and toughest game was against Mary Erskine School and unfortunately we lost 2-0 – the Player of the Match was Tinashe. Our second game in the pool was against Badminton School and we won 4-1, Lily scored one and Amélie scored a hat trick and received Player of the Match. We then lost our third game 4-0 and Lily was Player of the Match. We progressed into the shield and our first game was Bedford Girls School which we sadly lost 2-0 – Player of the Match was Tinashe. We took an early lead against Edgbaston School in our next match when Amélie scored, but unfortunately we failed to secure a win and lost 2-1. Lily was Player of the Match.
Wednesday 8 May U10A,U10B and U11A ,U11B Cricket v Wellingborough School U10A U10B U11A U11B |
Weekly Awards |
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Star Learners of the Week: Luna D, Robyn F-W, Ella K, Aleya L, Zara B, Grace B, Eve C, Emma B, Imaan D, Victoria F L, Asmi S External Achievements: Marine and Eliza A – entered their first Latin and Ballroom Dance competition with Eliza getting through to the second round of the Viennese Waltz |
Birthdays This Week |
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This week, we wish a very Happy Birthday to the following members of our Junior School family: Grace M and Ela O |
Save the Date: Speech Day |
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Northampton High School Swim Clubs |
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Girls@Saints |
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Saints Cricket Club |
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Pauline Quirke Academy |
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Term Dates |
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Northampton High School |
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