Nothampton High School
Junior News
Junior News

Junior Newsletter 25 January 2019

Dear Parents and girls,

‘Do as I say, not as I do.’

So often have I told my students not to leave their prep until the last minute, yet here I am writing at the crack of dawn in the knowledge that – unexpectedly – I will not have the time later in the day.

As it happens, I was going to write about the joys of out-of hours school:: 7:30am as girls start to trickle in to breakfast club to eat, solve puzzles, play games, draw, chat or simply ‘be’; 3:30pm as those in late prep and late stay take the opportunity for individual and collaborative work, and the GAP Club with their myriads of activities. One of my points being that these times afford me the opportunity to talk with students and parents, help with prep, join in a craft activity, read a story or simply play in the sand pit with the nursery girls. I was going to talk about the benefits of these times – and particularly of our wonderful clubs – for the girls too, but this will need to wait as I am needed in the classroom today and hadn’t planned ahead.

So many good things have happened this week, and there is much to say but not enough time… Two things that spring to mind, however, are the U11’s Netball teams’ extraordinary results at home on Wednesday, with the A team winning 12-2 and the B team 17-0, and the RSPB birdwatch organised by the School Council, about which more below.

In haste, but wishing you a lovely weekend; get the prep done early!

Caroline Petryszak
Interim Head of Junior School

 

Mrs Petryszak's availability

Mrs Petryszak’s days on site will vary this half-term in order to align with school activities and events:

  • w/c 28 January: Monday/Thursday/Friday
  • w/c 4 February: Monday/Thursday
  • w/c 11 February: Monday/Thursday/Friday

She is, however, contactable on c.petryszak@nhs.gdst.net or via the school office on any day of the working week.

Achievements

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

Taekwon-Do
Kyla L – yellow belt

Cubs
Fern A – badges for Teamwork, Peace & Backwood Cooking

Swimming
Fern A – 1km in 25 minutes

Swimming race against Olympian
Emily G – came 3rd
Eloise K – came 2nd
Florence L – came 3rd

Rhythmic Gymnastics
Poppy M – came 1st

General Messages

Assemblies

Class Assemblies are held in the Junior School hall at 8.35am on Wednesdays and parents are most welcome to enjoy refreshments from 8.00am. Here are the dates for this term:

Year 5H – 30 January

Year 5N – 6 February

Year 2N – 13 February

Year 6N – 27 February

Reception – 6 March

Year 1N – 13 March

Year 3N – 27 March

Year 4N – 3 April

Dates for the diary

Monday 28 January – Reception – 6N NSPCC talk – students & parents

Friday 8 February – FoNHS Pamper Evening

Monday 11 February – 4N Hardingstone Walk

Monday 18 to Friday 22 February – HALF TERM

Wednesday 20 March – Nursery: 4pm – 6pm

Wednesday 20 March –  Reception to Year 6: 6pm – 8pm

Thursday 21 March – Nursery to Year 6: 4pm – 6pm

SIMS PARENT APP

As you will be aware from the letters we have sent recently, we have been implementing a new way for parents and guardians to access pupil data, via a portal called SIMS Parent, which has both a web and mobile app interface. Reports and attendance data are now being made available through SIMS Parent and you should have received an individual invitation to sign up to the service recently. If you have not yet signed up, we would recommend that you do so as soon as possible so that you can start to access the important information included. The link to Firefly below gives details of how to access the service. If you have not received an invitation, please let us know by emailing the Database Manager, Mrs Lyman on l.lyman@nhs.gdst.net.

http://northamptonhigh.fireflycloud.net/parent-viewpoints/sims-parent-app—getting-started

RSPB

On Monday the School Council did Assembly and talked to the whole school about the Big School’s Bird Watch that is being run by the RSPB. We showed the girls what to do and what not to do when watching the birds. We also talked about different birds and what you wouldn’t see (like a flamingo!) and what you would see, such as a robin. We have now got a huge pile of results from each year group and what they have seen. Next week School Council will send all the results to the RSPB and let you know in Junior News. The girls we spoke to were very excited to hear that the Big Garden Birdwatch is coming up this weekend and are looking forward to taking part at home. You can go to the RSPB website for more information.

Sonya and Deeya

Sports

Northamptonshire County Schools Cross Country Championships
Saturday 19 January 2019 at West Glebe Park, Corby

On Saturday a number of High School girls had qualified to compete at the Northamptonshire County Schools Cross Country Championships.

Ella D qualified for this event before the Christmas break, finishing first and the benchmark had been set…Not failing to disappoint, Ella gave another great performance. Despite competing against some girls two years older and navigating a tricky finish she stamped her mark early on by leading from the start. She maintained a strong and consistent pace to achieve 1st position again.

The top 14 finishers qualify for the next round on 2 February at Abington Park, Northampton.

Congratulations to all of the girls who attended on a very cold morning.

“On Saturday 19th January I competed for Northampton High School/South Northamptonshire Schools at the Year 7 Northamptonshire County Cross-Country Championships held at Corby in West Glebe Park.  In the end, I finished 1st and am through to the next round which is the Anglian Schools Cross-Country competition.”

Ella

U11 Netball vs Quinton House School

This week the A and B teams played against Quinton House School.  The A team played very well and we won!  The overall score was 12-2 to us!  I am looking forward to playing our next match and future matches.  Hope to see you there.

Gemma, A Team Captain

On Wednesday the B team played a match against Quinton House.  The score in the end was 17-0 to us.  I am very proud of my team.  I am looking forward to future matches.

Roja, B Team Captain

Equestrian Squad

Equestrian Squad – County Champions Again!

The Equestrian squad got off to a flying start to 2019 at the NSEA County Qualifiers at Bury Farm on Saturday. Northampton High School were really well represented with competitors in every class, and some fantastic results.

The team of Lily R, Imy M, Gemma W and Amelia S had great rounds in the 90 cm class, finishing 3rd and County Champions for Northamptonshire. Lily, Imy and Gemma repeated their success in the 1m class, qualifying as County Champions again, team 4th. Gemma also competed as an individual in the 1.10m, finishing in 2nd place, and qualifying individually at 90m, 1m, and 1.10m. They will all be competing in the County Championships in April against teams from all over the country.

Nancy D, Amelia H and Tilly P all competed in the 70cm competition, and were joined in the 80cm by Amelia. They all rode really well, but huge classes and stiff competition meant no places this time.

We are very fortunate to have such a diverse equestrian squad, and are now up to 20 members. Very few schools are able to field so many teams for these competitions, and we have amazing support from the school, especially Mrs Hodgetts-Tate. We are always happy to welcome new squad members, so if you have a pony or horse and can get it to competitions, we would love to hear from you. Please contact me or Mrs Hodgetts-Tate via the school office, junioradmin@nhs.gdst.net.

Mrs Harvey Team Manager

Save the Date! Arts Activity Day

Following the success of our recent STEM day, we are pleased to announce we will be holding an Arts Day on Saturday 27 April 10am – 2.30pm for girls aged 6-10 years. This event is for both current and external girls and will incorporate many fun activities from a variety of subjects within the Arts.

Girls will be dropped off with us for the day and will be provided with refreshments and a buffet lunch, free of charge. Each girl will also receive a goody bag to take home.

This is a great opportunity for your daughter to invite a friend from outside the school to come and join her for the day.

Places are limited both internally and externally, but we are hoping to accommodate as many girls as possible. If you would like to put your daughter’s name down for a space please do email h.berry@nhs.gdst.net. Places and details will be confirmed nearer the time.

Photos on Flickr

To view our latest School photos from our Flickr albums, please click here

Our week

Nursery

Kipper Room

This week in Kipper Room we have continued to look at shapes, creating collages and pizza shapes. The girls have also been very engaged in playdough using a variety of cutting shapes. We have also been concentrating on our early writing skills by using sticky notes to make shopping lists, using the 2 paint program on the computer and the wipe clean boards.

Elmer Room

This week in Elmer Room the girls have had fun going on a shape walk where they recognised different shapes within their environment. They have also enjoyed learning about the different shapes of fruit and vegetables through printing with paint. The girls have had fun developing their physical skills within the garden, where they have enjoyed a range of activities including balancing on the wooden beams, playing with balls and negotiating their space when running around.

Pre-School

Our letter sound is ‘t’, we have made tasty triangular toast, the girls carefully used the toaster to cook it. We have also ordered trains by length and made snack menus. Everyone drew a picture of their snack then listened carefully to the initial sound and had a go at writing it. During a sound walk the girls found lots of different shapes as we went around school, they also listened carefully and guessed what was hiding in the sound bag.

Next week your daughter may experience the following activities:

Our letter sound is ‘i’
Following insects along lines to gain pencil control
Counting farm animals
Practical addition with animals
Finding out about sheep and wool

General

Please could you check your daughter’s belongings, including ballet shoes, to make sure that she has the correct ones.

Please look at the Topic letter for Spring 1 2019 via Firefly; any problems please ask in Nursery.

Reception

Last week it was all about wood and this week we didn’t have to search very far to find lots of different things made from plastic. We looked at some of the properties of plastic and why it was good for certain objects. The girls liked the idea that plastic toys would not be damaged by putting them in water and decided to test a few in the water tray.

In Literacy, the girls made up their own version of a Toys’ Party and made a story plan before writing. They came up with some fantastic ideas of things that they could put in to make a cake.

In Maths we have been thinking about the number 13 and the 5 pence coin. We continue to practise number and letter formation.

Year 1

This week, girls in Year 1 have been remembering number bonds to 10 and are now beginning to learn number bonds to 20. Some of us have spotted the relationship between the two and we are going to try and use number bonds as a strategy to solve calculations.

Excitingly, we also had the opportunity to pose research questions to Teachers in Australia via video link! The girls spoke clearly and informatively about what they already knew and we have gathered lots more useful information to help us to write a non-fiction book. Bonza!

Year 2

In Year 2 this week we have been working on writing our very own Dreamtime stories. We have created some characters and chosen a setting and next week we will be deciding on a problem and solution; just like in the original Dreamtime stories. In Maths we have been doing a lot of work on the 2s, 5s and 10s times tables including some problem-solving and reasoning – some of us have been working with some pretty big numbers!

Year 3

“I liked spending time bird watching with Ellie, I saw lots of birds on the playground.” Emily

“This week I enjoyed tasting different foods for sandwich fillings and trying three different breads.” Millie

In DT it was good to see the girls trying sandwich fillings they had not eaten before. Next week we are going to design our own sandwich fillings. I don’t think Ellie will choose to repeat her banana and cheese combination though!

Year 4

“My highlight of the week is the Science lesson where we looked at thermometers and temperatures of water.” Emily G

“My highlight of the week is Maths when we did division.” Gaby

Year 5

We had an amazing day out at Bletchley Park.

“I enjoyed Bletchley Park because we learnt about life in World War 2 and we solved puzzles. We looked at Online Safety and how things are risky or safe. Then we went to the huts and looked around. The huts were small and had blacked out windows. Each room had a small typewriter and a small desk. It must have been difficult to work there.”  Hania

I enjoyed the trip because we learnt about all the things that happened in World War 2 and we got to touch a real Enigma machine. On Wednesday we did the Bird Watch and we saw lots of birds; woodpigeons, magpies and blue-tits.”  Leela

“My best bit was definitely when we found out how amazing Bletchley Park was and how the codebreakers influenced World War 2. By figuring out the Enigma code they were able to find out what the Germans were going to do during the war so it meant they could defend themselves. Historians think breaking the Enigma code shortened the war by 2 years!”  Schechinah

“The most surprising bit for me was in the ‘Online Safety’ exhibition. One of the interactive screens was teaching us about different security threats and I was shocked that bins are a threat… because someone could just steal your personal information. You should either cover your personal details up or shed all your paperwork.”  Sherain

Year 6

This week we have had a very exciting time! We have learnt more about fractions including multiplying and dividing fractions and applying them to more complex questions. In English we have been looking at how news reports are structured and look forward to writing our own next week. In Science we have enjoyed constructing shadow theatres in readiness for our shadow investigation next week and in Geography we have been learning to read six-figure grid references. We have also managed to carry out the RSPB Birdwatch 2019 and played two Netball matches!

“This week I have really enjoyed the work on fractions in Maths!”  Isobel

“I have really enjoyed making a shadow theatre and I cannot wait to do the investigation next week.” Eryn

“In Geography I enjoyed finding different places using 6-figure grid references!”  Phoebe

“I really enjoyed thinking about the main events in Shadow of the Minotaur and creating a time line of events”.  Ashana

“This week I have enjoyed looking at how newspaper articles are written and we are looking at how they attract the reader’s attention through presentation and language devices.”  Maisie

“This week Year 6 took part in the RSPB Birdwatch 2019. We had fun looking at all the different native birds and my favourite bird was the blue tit – we saw a mother blue tit with her fledgling”.  Manha

GAP Club

This week the girls have been exploring different styles of painting, using watercolours, cotton buds, dabbers and paint sticks to create their pictures.They have also worked together to collage a picture of Winnie the Pooh ready to put on display in the older Gap Club room.

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