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Junior News 9 October 2020 |
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We are living in tricky times and I know that each of our Junior School families, both pupils and staff, will be facing their own set of difficulties and challenges. With this backdrop I feel enormous amounts of pride that the Junior School pupils continue to be full of energy, fun and enthusiasm for their learning and care for one another. Betty, our school dog, has had a busy week and is really helping the pupils to feel safe and ‘at home’ in the Junior School environment. As well as spending time in Nursery, she has been to Forest School with Year 6 and has given 1:1 pastoral support to both Junior and Senior pupils. Hopefully she will sleep for most of the weekend! It was lovely to talk with so many parents at our Virtual Open Day last Saturday and during ‘in person’ personal tours that have taken place after school hours. Teachers are looking forward to talking to parents during our Parents’ Evenings this week and I know that Mrs Davis is also looking forward to opportunities to talk with parents very soon. Have a lovely weekend, Jo Purvey-Tyrer |
Dates for your diary |
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Wednesday 14 October – Parents’ Evening |
Achievements |
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Each week in our virtual assembly, girls are invited to share their achievements in activities outside of school. They are listed below for this week: Horse Riding Swimming Gymnastics Fund Raising RSPB LAMDA Audition |
Nursery Kipper Room and Elmer Room |
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Despite the weather outside, it has been bright and happy inside the Nursery. We started the week by incorporating our story of the week ‘Dear Zoo’ into our PE lesson by stomping like elephants, prowling like lions and jumping like frogs. Our new story of the week is ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ as some of the girls have noticed a few spiders trying to sneak into the Nursery! The girls have been learning the ‘Days of the Week’ song and have been discussing what different activities we do on each day. They have also been counting up the days to the current date and changing the details on our information board. This week, there has been a noticeable interest in rolling down ramps and tunnels. In the garden, the girls have explored and experimented with guttering and large cardboard tubes: sending cars and balls down and realising that there needs to be a tilt in order to make something move. Annabel said, “It’s going that way!” Florence added, “Now, it’s stuck, I can’t reach”. It has been wonderful to see the girls develop their own play and learning, going on to investigate pouring water down a slope. Reminders: Please can you provide ballet shoes if attending on a Tuesday. |
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Nursery Pre School |
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This week the girls have been busy practising their cutting skills. We have noticed they have shown an interest in cutting, often using scissors in the classroom to make snips in the paper. To extend this learning we set up a provocation involving scissors and different patterned paper. The girls have enjoyed their ballet lessons and have been busy getting physical. They have participated in a range of different movements including firework fingers and learning to point their toes. An interest we have observed this week is sensory play, including getting messy with malleable materials. Next week we will be focusing on sensory experiences to develop this learning. Sensory play links to all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. You could get involved with your daughter by having your own sensory experiences. We look forward to hearing what you do. |
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Reception |
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This week we have been investigating the square shape, the colour pink and the number 4. The girls have been mixing different shades of pink to paint squares, looking at the number 4 formation and making sure that the sides on a square are all the same length. We have been finding out about one of our senses – our tongue for tasting. The girls experienced tasting four different flavours of crisps to really tantalise their taste buds! Our phonics this week has focused on the letter sounds ‘t’, ‘i’, ‘n’ and ‘p’. Activities included writing in sand, using chalk, threading a ‘nnn’ necklace, making an ‘iii’ instrument and ‘ppp’ purple peacock paintings. |
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Year 1 |
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Highlights In maths this week, we looked back at all the work that we have done so far and had a go at answering different questions to see what we could remember. We then started to look at addition and learnt about part-whole models and the addition symbol. In English this week, we had a go at being grammar detectives and completed a ‘crack the code’. We then had a go at using adjectives to describe Paddington Bear’s feelings at different points in the story and used this to help us write a letter to Aunt Lucy. The girls have been working really hard in gymnastics and practised finding high and low ways of travel. In science this week, we took part in an investigation to explore some of the properties of materials, which was great fun. We tested different materials to determine whether or not they were waterproof and recorded our results in a table. In geography, we have been looking at geographical features and trying to use the correct language when describing London’s landscape. What the girls have said: “I liked using the benches in PE when we were doing gymnastics.” Emily Looking ahead to next week:
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Year 2 |
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Highlights: This week in maths we have revised addition and subtraction and we used our skills to investigate different number sentences and work out whether they were true or false. In English, we explored adjectives to describe feelings. We imagined we were Paddington Bear and wrote a letter to our Aunt Lucy in Peru to let her know all about our visit to London. In design and technology we finished our fire engine models and learned to evaluate our products, thinking carefully about the changes we could make to improve them. In geography we explored geographical features and used images of London to identify its different geographical features. What the girls have said: “I liked learning about geographical features.” Kinara Looking ahead to next week:
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Year 3 |
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Highlights: This week we have been adding 2- and 3-digit numbers crossing over 10 and 100. We have also completed our first set of drills on the 5 times table, seeing how many we could complete in 2 minutes. We challenged ourselves to beat our own scores. What the girls have said: “I liked writing my own story about ‘Leon and the Place Between’.” Eliza Looking ahead to next week: Next week we look forward to going to Forest School on Wednesday afternoon, so don’t forget Forest School clothes and waterproofs. Please note that Wednesday’s Multi Sports club will go ahead as normal, as it is run by Senior School staff. |
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Year 4 |
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Highlights: In maths we have been adding 4-digit numbers with and without exchanges. In English we enjoyed looking at our new text, ‘Tar Beach’. This story was originally portrayed in a series of quilts on display at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In science we started our teeth investigation. The girls are intrigued to see what will happen to the hard-boiled eggs over the next few days. What the girls have said: “I liked DT when we practised the different stitches. I found the overstitch easy.” Ishani Looking ahead to next week:
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Year 5 |
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Highlights: In English we started some work linked to our new text – ‘Robot Girl’ by Malorie Blackman. We haven’t started reading it yet, but have had some very interesting discussions about data collection, online security, invasions of privacy and whether robots should or should not have rights. Lots of the girls were concerned that giving robots the right to an education might mean that they can learn their own language and plot to take over the world! We also started a new unit in humanities, looking at some of the symbols relating to Christianity, and spent our science lesson thinking about ‘The Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant’. The girls worked hard setting up a germination experiment and there was great debate about whether our mustard and cress seeds would germinate in the fridge… we will have to wait and see! What the girls have said: “My most amazing bit of this week was science and seeing if our seeds will start to grow. It was fun finding places where the plants might grow and where they might not grow. I put my Petri dish outside on the window sill. I chose this place because a lot of plants grow outside and I thought it’s got a little bit of sun there.” Emily F Looking ahead to next week:
Dates for your diary: Tuesday 13 October – Swimming |
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Year 6 |
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We have had a fantastic week and all of the girls agree, it has flown past! The girls have approached the wide variety of topics on offer this week with great enthusiasm. These have included long multiplication, writing with empathy, painting tropical fish using acrylics, investigating the effect of exercise on our pulse rate in science and exploring how it might feel to be an immigrant through our class book, ‘The Arrival’ by Shan Tan. Forest School was a great success this week and the sun was shining! Don’t forget to look at our FLIKR album where we have loaded lots of great photos of the afternoon! Alongside this, we were privileged to be able to join a live chat with Sharna Jackson, a successful Black author, to talk about her rise to success and to be inspired by her enthusiasm for the creative writing process, as part of Black History Month. As further enrichment we were also able to explore the wealth of books in our Senior School Library celebrating the achievements of the Black community. Highlights of this week have included: ‘I really enjoyed Forest School because we could choose what we wanted to do. I loved walking Betty because she was bouncing around with us. I made a clay hedgehog out of clay.’ Eloise ‘My highlight for the week is English because we wrote an emotive diary entry about the little girl in ‘The Arrival’, and how she might be feeling when her dad left to go to another country. We personified using the weather to describe how she is feeling. I described the weather as a battle to reflect the turmoil in the girl’s mind.’ Elizabeth ‘My highlights for this week were going to Forest School and doing multiplication in maths. I really enjoyed Forest School as I liked being outside. My favourite activity was making clay figures.’ Sophia ‘My highlight was Forest School because it was the first time in Year 6 and it was nice to be there with Betty too.’ Emily ‘My highlight of the week was going to Forest School because it was fun and we made a rope swing.’ Daisy Next week we look forward to further celebrating ‘Black History Month’, with an assembly on Monday and through exploring a variety of sources in our registration slots. We will also be looking at division in maths, the plight of immigrants in English, holding a lively debate in history looking at life in Athens and Sparta during the time of the Ancient Greeks and much, much more! We also look forward to speaking to you next week about how well your daughter has settled into life in Year 6, via our virtual Parents’ Evening. Please remember to book your slot via the link provided on the e-mail you have been sent. Have a good weekend. Karen Fordham and Nicola Taylor |
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FOUNDATION+ BOOKING |
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Foundation+ is available during October half term, 19 October to 30 October 2020, for children in Nursery, Pre School, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Foundation+ will be separated into two bubbles with Junior School pupils in a bubble together, which will be based in the Reception classroom. We shall be offering different play activities and experiences within the bubbles. All girls will need to bring suitable outside clothing and wellington boots every day, as we will be making the most of the outside space in all weathers. Nursery and Pre school girls to continue to come in uniform, or navy leggings, white polo shirt and a navy jumper but Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 may wear their own suitable clothing. Please follow the link to the booking form, sent out on 29 September, for Foundation+ which will close on Thursday 15 October. |
Term Dates 20/21 |
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Term Dates 21/22 |
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Northampton High School |
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