Are you ski-fit (yet)?
Miss Abbott
As our ski trip to Italy fast approaches, we made a good start by completing our first fitness session on Friday, making excellent use of our new fitness suite and new equipment purchased over the Christmas break. The girls who attended are now aware of their exercises, and have been encouraged to continue these at least three times per week to ensure they are ready to tackle the rigours of a ski trip.
For our beginners, this was also a great opportunity to see ski boots, realising that just the weight of these alone - being worn for up to five hours a day - requires good strength and endurance. I look forward to our next session on Friday 17th, with a prompt 8am start in the fitness suite (girls may wait for the playground gate to open, or enter via the main sports hall entrance).
Fundraising 150 Relay Walk
Walk this way! 🚶♀️ 🚶🏾♀️🚶🏼♀️🚶🏻♀️
5th - 6th September, 2025
(12:00 Friday to 15:00 Saturday)
In a hugely exciting part of our 150th Anniversary celebrations, we are inviting members of our school community to take part in an epic walk, the length of Nottinghamshire! The route will be divided into sections to make it suitable for all ages and abilities, to do as much or as little as they like.
It’s going to be quite something, so watch this space!
Fancy yourself as a budding writer? ✍🏻
A reminder from Mrs Crabtree
Nothing ventured, nothing gained! We hope that lots of RESILIENT girls from NGHS Juniors will enter this annual GDST competition, both for the challenge of taking part and - fingers crossed - for the glory of winning.
Entries should be emailed to class teachers in WORD or pdf format, and we would suggest doing this ahead of the competition deadline - by Monday 3 February.
Recycle with Michael ♻️
It’s back! Recycle with Michael provides families with an easy and sustainable way in which to dispose of unwanted clothing and footwear, without having to traipse to a charity shop or textile bank. This scheme – run by The Salvation Army and supported by our Year 6 Sisters of Charity – will rehome or recycle your donations, so items do not have to be in a resalable condition. Even socks and underwear are accepted, thus diverting synthetic materials from landfill.
Please order your sacks using this link, and they will be sent home with your daughter on Monday afternoon.
Thereafter extra sacks will be available from class teachers or from Junior Reception, and we will accept donations from 08:30 on Tuesday 14th to 08:30 on Thursday 23rd January.
"I enjoy going to away chess matches." - Alana, Y6
"You don't have to be kind in chess ..." - Keira-Rose, Y5
"I love WINNING!" - Iostina, Y4
"Show no mercy, girls!" - Mr C
"Be kind to your opponent, but be nasty to their chess pieces!" - Mr P
Checkmate! ♛
Mr Cox
There are still some spaces for beginners from Year 3 upwards at Junior Chess Club, on Thursday lunchtimes at 12:25. If your daughter does not already have a Thursday lunchtime commitment and would like to join us this term, please email m.cox@not.gdst.net . For younger players especially, it is important to know this is formal tuition that requires sustained concentration and resilience. As girls progress, there is usually an expectation for them to attend occasional home and away chess matches.
We also have limited places available at our other two weekly sessions, also led by a qualified Chess Master:
Intermediate coaching - Thursdays, 13:00
Advanced coaching - Fridays, 12:25
(For new joiners, admission to these groups involves a short and informal assessment)
Tuition fees are usually around £20 per term (depending on headcount), and girls who sign up are expected to attend every half-hour session.
La Fête des Rois 👑
Mrs Crawshaw
Known to English-speaking Christians as Epiphany, the French celebration of La Fête des Rois is a feast that takes place on 6th January. In their French lesson this week, Year 5 enjoyed their own mini-feast of hot chocolate and continental pastries, courtesy of our wonderful catering team. In France, celebrations include a tradition of 'trouver la fève' (finding the 'bean') in a special cake - so in the absence of the customary galette des rois, we hunted down an elusive edamame bean in the dining hall, with the lucky person who found it becoming 'queen for the day!'
Inspired by a great Nottingham artist 👩🎨
Mrs Crawshaw
As part of our celebrations marking 150 years of NGHS, Year 5 will be exploring the work of the 20th century artist, Dame Laura Knight. Raised in Nottingham and a graduate of the Nottingham School of Art, she became a role model for women in her field and helped pave the way for greater recognition of female artists.
Laura Knight's achievements included being the first woman elected to the Royal Academy of Arts (RA), where she showcased her paintings in its legendary annual summer exhibition. She also became a prominent war artist, whose work (left and below) will inspire Year 5's upcoming collaborative project of recreating one of her iconic pictures.
Unrelated to Year 5's NGHS 150 art project, pupils are invited to enter this exciting competition, organised by the Royal Academy:
Submissions are now open for an online and onsite exhibition at the RA on London's Piccadilly, featuring work by artists aged 4-18.
We would be delighted for creative girls from NGHS Juniors to enter this wonderful exhibition, and we have registered Nottingham Girls’ High School for inclusion. Entries should be submitted online by parents, however we would love to receive girls' original artwork for exhibiting at school too. Happy creating!
Registration and submissions open
6 January - 5 March 2024
Judging
May 2025
Online exhibition opens
15 July 2025
Display at the RA open:
15 July - 10 August 2025
Coming soon 🎻
Mr Rolfe
Happy new year, everyone! After an action-packed and memorable Autumn Term, we now turn our attention to some wonderful enrichment opportunities for NGHS young musicians over the coming weeks. Here are some diary dates to note, with confirmation and full details to follow:
Monday 3 February
NGHS Voice festival for all girls who receive in-house voice lessons; this will include a daytime workshop with visiting opera singer Louise Collett, and a concert at 5pm.
Tuesday 4 February
Informal Concert at 2pm for Year 6, with all pupils invited to perform whether they receive tuition in or out of school.
Tuesday 11 February
NGHS Piano Festival for all girls who study piano in school; this will include a daytime workshop with visiting pianist Joanne Garcia, and a concert at 5pm.
🔦 Spotlight on Early Years reading ...
Miss Duce
Phase 1 is where our very youngest pupils in Nursery begin their phonics journey. This is a vital stage in the learning process, as it teaches girls ‘what comes first’. At this point, they girls learn about rhythm and rhyme, alliteration, how to use their voice to create sounds, how to use their listening skills to identify sounds in their environment, and how to distinguish between those sounds.
Another aspect of phase 1 phonics is the recognition of letter sounds and understanding that a letter has a sound which has a meaning as part of a word. This week, our girls have been learning all about the letter sound /s/; we have used the story Stanley’s Stick as a way of hearing and seeing this letter sound in words, made spiral cut-out snakes, and enjoyed using our voices to make the ‘sss’ sound!
... and supporting fledgling readers
Mrs Crawshaw
Year 5 love spending twenty minutes each week with their 'reading buddies' in Nursery and Reception. This tradition is very much part of our school's nurturing and positive role modelling culture, helping to develop empathy across age groups and providing older girls with opportunities to showcase their own narration skills:
'It's fun helping Reception girls with their reading- my Reading Buddy likes princess stories.' ( Marsha)
'I really enjoy it because you get to be involved with the younger children and you can learn their names.' ( Evie)
'I always look forward to Reading Buddies on a Thursday.' ( Claudie)
'I remember when I was in Reception and I had a Reading Buddy from Year 5 who read with me. It’s so good to be able to do the same now that I'm in Year 5.' ( Isobel)
'Whenever I see my Reading Buddy at After School Club, she always gives me a hug!' ( Ziona)
'My Reading Buddy always waves to me in school.' ( Sophia)
'My Reading Buddy is really fun to be with because she always smiles and tries hard to remember my name. ' (Jasmine)
'I love helping my reading Buddy in learning to read- she's really good at sounding out letters!' ( Eve)
'My Reading Buddy always says hello to me in the dining hall - she's so funny, and really good at reading.' ( Maia)
Meanwhile, in Upnah Wood ... 🥶
Miss Whitehead, Miss Wall and Miss Abbott
Outdoor Learning has been just a little chilly over the last few days! Undeterred, Year 6 have enjoyed constructing shelters from natural materials in this week's lessons, learning the importance of Y-sticks that support the spine of a frame.
