Nothampton High School
Junior News

Junior News 13 December 2019

Dear Parents,

We have almost reached the end of the term, and indeed the end of the decade! It has been a whirlwind of a week with more festive performances and celebrations taking place across the school. Key Stage 2 presented a hugely entertaining version of the Nativity, accompanied by raucous singing from parents and staff alike. A number of our year 5 and 6 students also gave up their Thursday evening to sing at All Saints Church in the town centre to a packed house; thank you so much to everyone for supporting these magical events.

This week we have enjoyed election fever in school, with year 5 leading the way by sharing the policies of the main political parties. We have also been raising money for Medical Detection Dogs and Save the Children, learning the art of fencing, visiting the theatre, wearing Christmas jumpers and learning about the Nativity story.

There may only be two days left, but next week we will be supporting the staff Santa Fun Run, singing to our wonderful catering team, performing in a house poetry competition and enjoying our year group Christmas parties. No resting up here!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday, and to thank you for your support over my first term here at Northampton High School. It has been wonderful to feel so welcome.

Merry Christmas,
Chris

Chris Bailey
Head of Junior School

School Disco

The school disco was a great success and enjoyed by all!

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Achievements

Each week in assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week:

Horse Riding
Emily K – 2 clear rounds in Milton Keynes Riding Competition

Piano
Rithika S – grade 2 merit

Drama
Isla H – 7 years doing drama

Assemblies

Class Assemblies are held in the Junior School Hall at 8.35am on a Wednesday. Parents are most welcome to enjoy refreshments from 8.00am in the Community Room. Here are the dates for the Spring Term.

6N – Wednesday 15 January

6H – Wednesday 22 January

4N – Wednesday 29 January

5N – Wednesday 5 February

5H – Wednesday 26 February

2N – Wednesday 4 March

3N – Wednesday 11 March

Reception – Wednesday 18 March

1N – Wednesday 25 March

 

 

Election

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our Year 5 Mock Election on Thursday. The girls had a great time researching policies in their Enrichment lesson and representatives from the political parties wrote speeches and spoke brilliantly in assembly on Monday. In total 118 people voted. 1 person forgot to put a cross on their ballot paper, but every other vote was valid. Votes were counted and the numbers verified:

  • Labour: 16
  • Green Party: 21
  • Liberal Democrats: 43
  • Conservatives: 37

Dates for Diary

Week commencing Monday 16 December – No teacher led clubs

Tuesday 17 December – Christmas Parties – wear your party clothes!

Tuesday 17 December – 3.35pm TERM ENDS

Monday 6 January – INSET DAY

Tuesday 7 January – SPRING TERM STARTS

Tuesday 23 January – Sports Team Photographs

Looking ahead: Sports Day for KS2 and Senior School is Friday 5 June

Clubs

Spring Term clubs will start week commencing Monday 13 January. GAP club and late prep will continue as normal.

Charity

Medical Detection Dogs

Raffle tickets available from the Junior School office. Draw to take place on Tuesday 17 December.

 

Save the Children

We would like to thank everyone for your amazing jumper designs for Save the Children. The winners are:

  • Nursery Kipper Room –  Iris.
  • Preschool and Reception. Siena-Louise (Pre-School).
  • Year 1 and Year 2 Rebecca (2N).
  • Year 3 and Year 4 Risara (3N).
  • Year 5 and Year 6 Lydia (6N).

We will let you know how much we raised as soon as we can.

Thank you again.
Nursery and Preschool.

Sports

The 12 Musketeers, Fencing Taster Session on Wednesday 11 December

12 Year 5 and 6 girls had the opportunity to take part in a fencing taster session on Wednesday after school.

They were shown the basic principles of the “Epee” covering skills such as:

  • En Garde – the position taken before fencing commences.
  • Advance – taking a step towards one’s opponent.
  • Recover – the return to the En Garde position.
  • Attack – movement by which the fencer tries to score a point.
  • Parry – defensive action in which the fencer blocks his opponents blade.

All the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Let’s hope they are careful when they demonstrate what they learnt at home!

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A Christmas message from The Head

One of the many benefits of being in an all-through school is the opportunity to attend productions and performances from students of all ages, and the end of this term has been no exception: ‘Little Donkey’, performed by over forty of our Nursery girls, was a highly entertaining retelling of the Christmas story with a significant amount of poetic and artistic licence, including the unceremonious yet hilarious dropping of the ‘gifts’ on the baby’s head; Reception girls were stars, Year 1 cowgirls and Year 2 actors in ‘Prickly Hay: A Nativity Hoedown’ and Years 3 and 4 entertained us with the story of the writing of ‘Silent Night’, ably supported by Years 5 and 6 and participatory singing from the audience. Thursday evening’s Carol Concert at All Saints’ Church was a rather more formal affair, as we were treated to a spectacular evening of music and words from girls in Years 5-13, staff, ex-students, parents and friends. Although different in every way from the Junior School productions, this was – as they all were – age-appropriate and a perfect platform from which to demonstrate the talents and intellectual understanding of the girls involved.

Regardless of belief, this is a time of reflection, expectation and excitement for all: reflection on the term just passed, the literal and metaphorical journeys that we have been on and our personal and combined achievements; expectation and excitement for Hanukkah or Christmas, the arrival of Santa Clause, a family gathering or holiday, exam preparation, an interview, the time to ‘chill’, several of the above, none of the above, or other…

It is a time for collective fun, too, be it a themed mufti day, fun run, disco or the opportunity to share food and gifts. And it’s a time to think about relationships, benevolence and participation, which is why the term will come to a fitting end on Tuesday afternoon with the Junior School’s celebratory sing-along and the Senior School’s Celebration of Giving.

Whatever your plans for the holiday, I wish you peace, rest and joy.

Caroline Petryszak
Acting Head

Nursery Kipper Room and Elmer Room

Kipper Room:

This week in Kipper Room we have been very busy doing decorations for our classroom.  We made footprint reindeers and sponge-painted snowflakes. The girls enjoyed getting their feet painted and walking across a big piece of paper to make the footprints. We have also been for a walk on Wednesday on to the field to let the girls have a nice run around. We have had lots of different activities in the Kipper Room and in the exploration area, including popoids, puppets, Happy Town and Peppa Pig. The girls have enjoyed painting and drawing family members and themselves throughout the week on the easel and interactive whiteboard. “Mama,” said Iris. “It’s mummy, daddy and Anne,” Anne said. The girls have enjoyed playing outside as well, climbing on the frame and going down the slide. The girls have also made lots of cups of tea in the sand tray. They have participated in lots of role-play this week such as cooking dinner in the home corner and putting babies to sleep. “Shhhh baby is sleeping,” said Yazmin.

Elmer Room:

This week in Elmer Room we have been doing some Christmas crafts, getting our feet all covered in paint to make reindeers and our fingers sticky with glue and cotton wool to make snowmen. We have iced some gingerbread people and had a trip to the theatre. We have also enjoyed a walk in the school grounds, practicing our running and balancing skills.

Next week we will be enjoying our Christmas dinner and party day.

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Nursery Pre-School

Highlights:

This week we have been busy making our Christmas decorations and cards. We have enjoyed using paint, glue, lots of glitter and clay. The girls have also watched the dress rehearsal for the Year 3 to 6 concert and have been listening to the story of ‘The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy Cat’ in readiness for our theatre visit.

What the girls have enjoyed:

“I like playing with the ducky.” Connie.
“Making a star.” Amelia A.
“The cars.” Dulcie.

Looking ahead to next week:

  • We will be continuing our Christmas activities.
  • Don’t forget to wear your party clothes on Tuesday.
See all photos

 

Reception

Highlights:

This week we have been learning about 3D shapes. Our activities have included making sphere sweets, constructing a cube box from 6 square faces and making a cone angel decoration. The girls have been keen to look for shapes that are around them, finding examples both inside and outside. We have also been making festive surprises to bring home and enjoying the writing opportunities involved in sending cards. The girls have investigated whether different objects float or sink, making predictions before testing. The week ending with wearing a Christmas jumper and a visit to the theatre.

We hope that you have a lovely holiday and have chance to relax. The girls have had a busy first term in Reception and all have coped and settled remarkably well, making great progress in all areas. Many thanks for all of your support.

What the girls have said:

“I have enjoyed making the calendar.” Maya.
“We enjoyed building with the 3D shapes.” Elouise and Keziah.
“I liked making the card.” Emily.
“My favourite thing was drawing with the Christmas stencils.” Rhoda.
“In PE I liked throwing the beanbag to knock down the snowman.” Grace.
“I liked making and eating the sweets.” Shanaya.
“I liked doing the float or sink things.” Isabella.

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Year 1

Highlights:

This week has been another busy and exciting week in Year 1! We were able to go and watch KS2’s Christmas performance which was excellent and the children really enjoyed it. Well done to all of KS2! We finished off our topic on the Victorians with an exciting Wow Day focusing on A Victorian Christmas. The children took part in lots of exciting Victorian Christmas activities, such as making peppermint creams, decorating Christmas trees, making their own decorations and putting all their knowledge on the Victorians to good use. Year 1 also took part in the Junior Election on Thursday and were excited to go to the polling station to cast their own vote. In computing the children created their own Nativity scenes using Art on Purple Mash and in RE we have looked at re-telling the Christmas Story.

What the girls have said:

“I enjoyed going to vote for the first time.” Thea.
“I liked watching my sister in the Christmas Play.” Holly H.
“I liked swimming when I went underwater.” Amelia.
“I loved making the decoupage boxes.” Leah.
“Christmas Jumper Day is fun!” Kinara.
“I liked making snowflakes.” Holly G-S.
“My favourite part was making peppermint creams.” Avani.
“I liked making paper chains.” Evette.

Looking ahead to next week:

  • Details of our next topic for the Spring Term will be on Firefly next week.

Have a lovely break and Merry Christmas!
Miss O’Mahony

Congratulations to Avani, Eloise, Holly GS, Thea, Amelia, Kinara, Sakinah, Anna, Jemima, Fatima, Cora, Artemisia, Leilana, Priscilla, Yilin, Varnikha. These girls’ acrostic poems were selected by Young Writers with a view to being published. Well done to all of KS1 for their fantastic writing in this challenge.

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Year 2

Highlights:

This week we closed our topic with a Victorian Christmas Day. We learned about the different Christmas traditions that were started all those years ago by the Victorians including Christmas cards, carol singing, Christmas trees and decorations. We had a fun packed day adding water colours to a Victorian Christmas card design, making masks of Queen Victoria, creating paper chain decorations and making some traditional peppermint cream sweets. We were also lucky enough to watch the KS2 Christmas performance earlier on in the week which was fun to see and the girls in our class who are learning the violin, treated us to a little performance!

What the girls have said:

“I liked making the peppermint creams!” Arty and Kyla.
“I liked watching Jemima, Asmi and Shanaya’s violin show.” Maya.
“I enjoyed having a hot chocolate treat at Forest School.” Fatima.
“We had a fun swim!” Leilana and Anna.

Looking ahead to next week:

  • Firefly will be updated with the curriculum overview for our Spring Term topic next week.

Have a lovely, peaceful holiday and enjoy the break.
Miss C Scott-Evans

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Year 3

Highlights:

This week in Year 3 we took part in our Christmas Celebration.

What the girls have said:

“I loved singing ‘Midnight’ in singing assembly because I loved the tune of the song.” Tami.

“I loved our Christmas play. I acted in it and was proud. I loved the songs.” Jessica.

“I enjoyed making a Christmas tree in DT. We made it from card, pom-poms and colouring pens.” Risara.

Looking ahead to next week:

  • Don’t forget to wear your party clothes on Tuesday.

Have a lovely break and Merry Christmas!
Mrs Dadge

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See all photos

Year 4

Highlights:

In Maths this week we have continued working with decimals and looked at multiplying and dividing numbers by 10 or 100. In English we have concentrated on using interesting adjectives, verbs and adverbs in our descriptive writing. We have also learnt about some of the ways in which art and music are used in different religions.

What the girls have said:

“My highlight is learning about decimals in Maths.” Esme.
“My highlight was printing a Roman mosaic in Art. I really enjoyed it.” Rianna.

Looking ahead to next week:

  • Remember to bring your party clothes on Tuesday!
See all photos
See all photos

Year 5

Highlights:

This week in English we revised dialogue punctuation and wrote a descriptive dialogue linked to ‘The Firebird’ story. In Maths we learnt how to use a protractor to measure angles. In Science we have been investigating the absorption and durability of materials.

What the girls have said:

“My favourite part of this week was Forest School. We got our hands all muddy and made decorations.” Georgia.
“I really liked our General Election because we got a taste of what it was like to run a polling station. I talked to lots of people who came to vote, to persuade them that the Liberal Democrats were the best party to vote for.” Lois.
“In Science we did some experiments on what was the best cleaning cloth for a festival. The best bit about my group’s test was squeezing water on to the table and then timing how long it took the material to soak it up.” Frankie.

Looking ahead to some of next week’s learning: 

  • English – Narrative Poetry: The Highwayman.
  • Science – Changes of materials.
  • Maths – Number and Place Value: numbers up to 10,000,000 and to three decimal places.

Year 5 have had a fantastic Autumn term, what a busy time we have had! Grafham Water, Hobbies Morning, organising a polling station, sporting activities, too many to mention.

The girls have worked extremely hard and made the most of all of the opportunities for learning they have had so far in Year 5. We look forward to many more opportunities in the New Year.

Wishing you all a restful break and a very Happy New Year.

Miss Brandon-Jones and Mrs Shaw

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See all photos

Year 6

Week 12 – It’s beginning to feel even more like Christmas!
We are never tired of saying how lucky we are to work with such motivated girls who strive hard in all that they do. This week we were incredibly proud of the contribution that Year 6 made to our Christmas Celebration, not only showing what great role models they are to the younger pupils in the school but also such an array of talent! This was further demonstrated when a number of Year 6 girls represented the Junior School at the Senior School Christmas Service at All Saints on Thursday – their rendition of ‘Stille Nacht’, bringing a tear of joy to many an eye!
As well as keeping us entertained, the girls have enjoyed the challenge of investigating angles in Maths, delivering well-rehearsed auditions for Scheherazade, deciphering riddles from Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’, sewing cushions (the best yet!) and investigating the effect of exercise on the heart rate in Science.

Next week we look forward to singing to the kitchen, watching the Senior School House Plays and of course the ‘Sixth Form and Staff Santa Fun Run’, House Poetry, our Christmas party and a lovely Christmas Dinner!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! More news from us in 2020!
Karen Fordham and James Loveday

Student voices:
“We really enjoyed working out Gollum’s tricky riddles…..Can you guess what this one is? A box without hinges, key or lid, yet golden treasure hidden inside.”
“On Wednesday we auditioned for the Play-in-a-Week. It was really nice to see other people perform and it was fun to perform in front of everybody. We also did singing auditions”.
“In Humanities we learnt about Christmas in two different countries (Spain and Belgium). We compared them and had lots of fun learning and sharing different traditions.”
“This week in Enrichment we were finishing off our cushions. Some of us just couldn’t thread the needle! But we soon got the hang of it and they are starting to become proper cushions.”
“This week in Science we planned our experiments to see if your pulse rate increases when you exercise. Our team did ‘burpies’ for one minute to see the effect on your pulse rate. It was very fun but it was challenging to do the bpm because we measured it with our finger. We collected the results and it does increase your bpm. Others did skipping and hula hooping”.
“I loved making my cushions, they are coming together so nicely.”
“We had fun at the Christmas disco and enjoyed the music and Mr Loveday as a DJ! That was fun!”
“Year 6 have been rehearsing parts from our ‘Play-in-a-Week’ called ‘Scheherazade’. My group did a story from the script called ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’. We auditioned for the roles and it was really fun!”
“In Maths we were doing angles. We first had to estimate the angle and then using a protractor we had to find out the proper angle, then work out the difference between our estimate and our actual answer.”
“In Humanities we were looking at presentations to do with world religions and we had a big discussion about anti-semitism and Adolf Hitler.”

Sport Report – Fencing
“This week we had the chance to try out fencing for the first time and it was really good. We learnt about a lunge move which looked a bit like jousting. At the end we got to fight the man in charge and Delia managed to win against him!”

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GAP Club

Highlights:

We have had another fun festive week in Gap Club with lots of Christmas cheer. The girls have been busy designing wooden tree decorations, Christmas cards and collage stockings. They have also created sparkly Christmas trees, wands and glittery angels.

What the girls have enjoyed:

“Making Christmas cards because it was fun.” Fatima, Year 2.
“Pretending we have a café run by the teachers.” Anna, Year 2.
“Making a Christmas tree because I liked decorating it.” Asmi, Year 2.

Looking ahead:

  • The girls will be participating in more festive activities next week.
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Term Dates

Northampton High School
Newport Pagnell Road, Hardingstone Northampton NN4 6UU
T: 01604 765765 nhsadmin@nhs.Gdst.Net