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Junior News – 5 July 2024 |
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Our school community is special. Seeing our Reception class deliver their assembly this week to a hall full of pupils, parents and staff was a highlight of the term for me: Witnessing how our five-year-olds took us all on a journey around the world with their songs, their prep displays, and their stories, full of confidence, enthusiasm and determination; a celebration of their first year in formal school. It also exemplified the attentive, supportive community around Reception class: the understandably and justifiably proud parents, moved by their daughters’ accomplishments; our teachers who encouraged every word and action of children ‘on stage’ and our pupils who sat, spellbound by their peers, smiling at Reception and willing them to succeed. Those moments captured the essence of our school community. It is not only during these performance opportunities that we feel it; although the sense of mutual endeavour is always evident. It is also on the playground, in the corridors, on the sports pitch and in the classroom where the support of the community for one another is palpable. Girls in Reception to Year 4 were fortunate to put their teamwork to the test only this morning, through construction challenges expertly delivered by Mrs Scears and the team from AZ Scears Management Services. Again, working as a community, in two differentiated workshops our classes enjoyed learning about the construction industry, working on a specific construction task, carefully a design, and then collaborating to bring their unique design to life using Duplo and Lego. Our sincere thanks to Mrs Scears, mum of Eloise in Year 4, and her brilliant team of professionals for leading this experiential learning workshop, paving the way for future careers considerations. With the results of the General Election emerging as I write this, whatever your political persuasion, it would have been difficult to have experienced a better summary of policy and intent than the party political presentations given by Year 5 on Thursday. Our own mock election started as pupils in their ‘parties’ set out policy and electoral benefits in an informative and thought-provoking assembly, followed by Years 1-6 pupils seeking advice from the ‘politicians’ and casting their votes on a ballot paper. The girls’ understanding and explanation of the parties’ political agenda far outshone those delivered in the media by the adults! With the votes counted and verification of process complete, the Junior School election announces Conservatives winning the Northampton High election, narrowly beating the Liberal Democrats to the post as the democratically elected leadership! Our whole community is looking forward to our Summer Fayre this afternoon, a chance for the pupils, staff and parents to come together and enjoy activities and fun challenges outside the classroom. Thank you in advance for supporting us with our Fayre and enabling its delivery this afternoon. As we look ahead to next week, we look forward to celebrating the culmination of hard work, commitment and shared endeavour with our Junior School Speech Day – recognising pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 for their intellectual characteristics, academic achievement and leadership to this point. We will also reflect on the accomplishments of our Year 6 pupils as they complete the smooth transition into Year 7. Lots to look forward to and to be grateful for. Thank you for your continued support and wishing you a wonderful weekend! Mrs Amanda Wilmot |
Parent Notices |
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Sketch Book Club: Unfortunately Sketch Book Club has had to be cancelled on Tuesday 9 July. Your daughter is of course welcome to attend Wraparound Care if needed. Sun cream and Sun hats: Now the weather is much improved, may we please ask that pupils wear sun cream 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. Headphones: Please may we ask parents that girls from Year 1 to Year 6 to come to school every day with headphones. These can be the in-ear or over-ear type connected to the Chrome Books and the pupils’ laptops with an audio jack. Breakfast Club: A polite reminder that Breakfast Club starts at 7.30am each morning. We are unable to welcome pupils into school until our staffing is in place at 7.30am. Extracurricular programme – autumn term: We will be launching our extracurricular programme for the autumn term in the first week back to school, to allow pupils the opportunity to find out more about the clubs in school before signing up for them. We will have a booking system ready to enable bookings, in order to start clubs week commencing 9 September. End of term timings: As you know, at the end of each term, our pupils finish their day at the end of the morning session. To assist with collection of pupils, and to ease congestion in the parking area, we are pleased to confirm that the timings will be adjusted as follows: Dates for the Diary: Summer Term 2 – Please click here to view a list of the upcoming events, assemblies, trips, performances and fixtures next half term. Looking ahead to September, our Curriculum Information Evenings will take place in the week commencing 9 September. We will confirm dates shortly. |
School Emails |
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Message to users of Yahoo mail We are sorry to report an ongoing issue with our provider SchoolPost which is affecting messaging to Yahoo email servers. Please rest assured that SchoolPost and Yahoo are working to resolve this as quickly as possible and the GDST are aware of the issue. If you are concerned that you may have missed any essential information, please contact the school on an alternative email and we will review the messages you should have received. We very much appreciate your understanding, and we will do our best to return to normal service as quickly as we can. Conscious of parents who are currently not receiving SchoolPost emails successfully, we would be grateful if parents would share this message with their parent groups to notify them that we are working hard on this issue to resolution. |
High and Junior News survey |
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We kindly ask for your feedback in regards to our weekly school newsletters, so that we can improve this service to best meet our parents’ needs. We look forward to reviewing your responses, which will steer the direction of this function from September. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts with us. Please find the survey here. |
Make a Wish Foundation |
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A huge thank you for the donations we have received so far for the Make a Wish Foundation. We hope your daughter enjoyed Mufti Day and if you haven’t already please don’t forget to make a donation to this amazing charity using the Just Giving link here. Thank you for your support. Junior School Council |
News from our classrooms: Nursery and Preschool |
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In Nursery we started the week with our Forest School session where we looked for bugs in the long grass. The girls then explored and using their imagination created their own adventures. Some were witches on a broomstick and some were princesses in a tree castle. In the classroom we have used the Mobilo to construct and there have been lots of creations, such as cars and towers. The new prams and cycling helmets have been an exciting addition to the Nursery and our story of the week has been ‘A Secret Worth Sharing’. In Cooking we made ice lollies and talked about what happens to the liquid when it comes out of the freezer. Outside we have continued the summer theme with buckets and spades in the sand tray to add to our beach tuff tray. We also had the chalks to draw on the playground. Please could your daughter bring in a named teddy bear on Tuesday next week as we are going to make sandwiches in our Cooking session to share with our teddy bears at our picnic. |
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In Preschool this week we have been looking at different types of animals, the names of their young, things they eat and their habitats. The girls have enjoyed learning about the sounds each animal makes and looking at photos of them. We have found information about them from books, on the internet, PowerPoint and songs. The girls have created jungle and under the sea scenes by cutting out animal pictures and sticking them onto their background; practicing their cutting skills. We have also labelled a farm picture by writing all the names of the animals and explored lots of animal play set ups. In PE we played a game of crossing the river avoiding crocodiles, which the girls found funny and in French the girls looked at the names of some large jungle animals in the form of a song. At Forest School the girls explored the rope swing, showing independence and perseverance when getting on and off. They found insects and carefully held them to get a closer look at their features. During swimming the girls showed off their progress and how much they have achieved over the year. Well done girls! |
News from our classrooms: Reception |
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We have been putting finishing touches to our final pieces of artwork this week – ‘Starry Night’ incorporating the ideas we noticed in the painting by artist Vincent Van Gogh. The picture was built up over several weeks by applying paint washes, oil pastels, paper shapes and tissue paper. I was incredibly proud of how far Reception class have come with their confidence and learning since those early days in September. They presented their class assembly with great enthusiasm showing they are very ready for their next Northampton High School step by joining Year 1. |
Year 1 to Year 6 Music Focus |
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Year 1 have been enthusiastically developing their rhythm awareness through performing action songs. By listening carefully to the rhythm of the music the girls have been practising keeping the beat using body percussion. Year 2 have been learning all about rhythm in their recent music lessons and investigating how rhythm can be changed by the duration of the notes either being played or sung. They have used this knowledge to rehearse their own action songs and performing using body percussion. Year 3 have been learning about Latin rhythms and clave patterns. They have studied how to notate these patterns and had fun playing the rhythms with percussion instruments. The class has also continued to improve keyboard skills and learned to play rock music ostinati, approximating guitar parts using keyboards.
Year 4 have been learning about intervals. This has involved memorising tunes to assist with interval recognition. This has been done in stages, including knowledge of the number of semitones within a particular interval. The class has also spent time playing the intervals studied using keyboards. Year 5 have spent a good deal of time learning the vocal parts for Wind in the Willows, focussing on improving vocal skills, understanding placement of entries and awareness of different vocal parts. We have also spent some time exploring the role of the conductor and how they communicate with the ensemble the timing, tempo, dynamics, individual entries etc. The correct hand gestures for each time signature were also learned and everyone enjoyed taking on the role of the conductor to lead a familiar song and control the performance. It was highly enjoyable and much more difficult than they thought it would be. We have also continued developing musical literacy and also the aural recognition of different time signatures. Year 6 have been studying minimalism. This has involved listening to the music of Steve Reich and looking at the ostinatos contained therein. This activity led to the class composing their own minimalist ostinati, ensuring this works as a chord, before applying minimalist techniques to manipulate the ostinato, creating a viable piece of music. |
Reception and Key Stage 1 Sports Day |
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The Reception and Key Stage 1 Sports morning took place on the warmest day of the year and the performances were just as hot as the weather! The morning began with the girls taking part in the fun races on the track. Obstacle, sack and egg and spoon races followed by sprints. It was a heartwarming to see the girls all cheering each other on and the delight when the parents also “had a go.” |
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I am also very grateful to have you, the parents, participating. It is a great lesson for the girls to see you leading by example and giving your best in the races. We were very impressed by the turn out and also the performances in the sprints (luckily no injuries were sustained). It is such a pleasure to have the girls showcase their various skills covered in their PE lessons and to round the morning off they continued to show the fundamental skills of jumping and throwing in a circus of activities. These all tallied points for the Houses and congratulations go to Artemis who took 1st place. |
Creative Arts Festival 2024 |
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What a pleasure it was to host our annual Creative Arts Festival last week for friends, families and students to enjoy! Taking place on Wednesday 26 June, we were blessed with beautiful weather and even better company, making the evening one to remember! We take great pride in celebrating the work of our pupils and one of the special things about this event is the opportunity to congratulate girls from Nursery all the way to Year 13! This whole school occasion recognises students for their hard work and personal progress in the world of the Arts and therefore inspires participation across all years! Upon arrival, guests were guided to the Theatre where they enjoyed an exciting Performing Arts Showcase filled with theatrical and musical talent. Senior Drama students and musicians performed skillful short pieces to their audience, and the Junior Choir sung an array of tuneful and well-rehearsed songs. As families moved through the school, they were greeted with outstanding displays of Art and Textiles. Each room on the Creative Arts corridor was open for visitors and exhibited the work of our students from the course of the academic year. The recent GCSE and A Level work was particularly impressive and received significant praise and appreciation. The White Room, as always, was a favourite location for guests, homing the exquiste Textiles work created by our Senior and Sixth Form students. The fabulous Food Department was serving a summer picnic on the night, with every item freshly baked or prepared during the course of the event! This part of the event was raising money for the Hope Centre and we were grateful to receive numerous donations! Further musical performances took place around Junior School and demonstrated the breadth of talent in our school community. The beautiful sounds coming from various pockets of the school added atmosphere and warmth to an already joyful and uplifting night. We would like to congratulate every student who was involved in our Arts Festival celebrations. The incredible work on show paid testament to the hard work of our pupils and staff, demonstrating what can be achieved in a school that is Made for Girls. Thank you to our Creative Arts Faculty for facilitating such a brilliant night for all to enjoy, and to our guests for their wonderful company! |
Junior Sport News |
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Elite Athlete In School Georgie used to be a member of the Senior School and Sixth Form and popped in to visit staff and pupils. What a great role model to meet!
Year 5 and Year 6 House Cricket The results were extremely close and we can now confirm the final positions: 1st Artemis Only 1 run separated 3rd and 4th position. Well done for all the effort put into the matches and we hope to build on the girls performances next season. |
News from outside of the classroom: Year 1 Warwick Castle Trip |
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Ten very excited children climbed onto the minibus for our summer trip to Warwick Castle. The journey was straightforward but on arrival we had the added excitement of a shuttle bus to the castle gates. We began by taking a brisk walk down to the river Avon to see the mighty trebuchet siege machine being fired along with bow, arrows and something new called the cannon. Back up at the Great Hall we tried our hand at milling wheat, weaving strong yarns and learning about Tudor clothing. We walked back down to the river just in time to watch a re-enactment of the War of the Roses complete with lively jousting on horseback, flares, smoke, streamers and lots of cheering. By now we were getting hungry and pleased to enjoy our picnic on benches watching the Falconer’s Quest, a spectacular show with gigantic birds of prey flying just above our heads. The time just flew by but we managed a quick visit to the Horrible Histories maze on our way back to the bus. After a final count to make sure we hadn’t lost anyone in the maze, a tired group walked back to the bus, finding enough energy for a singsong on the way home. A huge thank you to the girls for their impeccable behaviour and to Miss John and Miss Page for ably supporting the trip. |
News from outside of the classroom: Year 3 Chester House Trip |
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Year 3 had a most enjoyable trip to Chester House. As part of the history curriculum the girls were given a tour by lecturers from the University of Leicester Archaeology faculty and saw first hand the efforts of their team of students who have been excavating artefacts from a Roman town on the site. |
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The girls were shown how the site was first identified using drones and technology and were then given the opportunity to sieve to find artefacts of their own. The girls were shown how to clean and prepare their artefact for examination and recording and used microscopes to examine other artefacts. A treasure hunt for clues around the museum was also part of the fun as well as a tour of the Arc where artefacts from all over Northamptonshire are stored. Finally the girls all enjoyed a well deserved play in the park – even Mrs Latimer and Mrs Long joined in with the fun on the see saw! |
Birthdays This Week |
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This week, we wish a very Happy Birthday to the following members of our Junior School family: Victoria F L, Thea S, Orla D and Lily P |
Northampton Hockey Club Camps for 5 to 13 Year Olds |
Junior Camps for the summer are open! Northampton Hockey Club are running camps for 5 to 13 year olds on the 5, 6 and 7 August. Olympic Gold medal winner, Stephen Batchelor, is the Head Coach running all of the club’s camps this year, and with 20 years experience in the London area, he brings a wealth of experience.Steve will lead the camps with a team of Saints coaches, and if you are lucky he will bring his gold medal!Steve will talk about what it takes to be an elite hockey player, but above all, the camps will develop young players’ skills and be a lot of fun! The price is £32 and will include a hot lunch on each day.To book a place, please click here. |
GDST Alumna of the Year and Trailblazer Awards |
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It’s that time of the year once again! Voting is now open for the annual GDST Alumna of the Year and Trailblazer Awards. To find out more information about this year’s fantastic finalists and details on how to cast your vote, please click here. Voting closes on Friday 12 July, and we really appreciate your support. Good luck to all of this year’s amazing nominees! Miss Price |
Save the Date: Speech Day |
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Rugby and Northampton Athletic Club |
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Kings Camp |
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Northampton High School Swim Clubs |
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Brixworth Cricket Club |
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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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