20 March 2026
20 March 2026
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Above - For Year 4 this week, all roads (including the A1M) led to Rome 😀
Year 2 visit the Framework Knitters Museum 🧶
Year 2 visit the Framework Knitters Museum 🧶
Mrs Crabtree
This week's study visit to the Framework Knitters Museum was an opportunity for Year 2 to see the inventiveness and creativity of a craft that started in Nottinghamshire. A unique surviving example of a 19th century framework knitters’ yard, the Ruddington site has been restored as a living history museum.
Activities included watching a live demonstration of human-powered knitting machines, using vintage Griswold circular knitting machines to create our own souvenirs, exploring the factory floor, and touring two cottages to see how knitters and their families lived and worked in Victorian times.
Well done for asking such great questions, 2C!
EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC
EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC
Mr Rolfe
After our celebration of Senior School choristers last week, we now have incredible news from the Junior School!
A representative from Trinity College London spent two full days at NGHS this week, overseeing formal music examinations. Our girls have turned out incredible results, demonstrating excellence across the board and with the examiner full of praise for the standard of music in our school.
Our thanks go to all of the teachers involved, and to Mr and Mrs Browne for their super organisation.
Year 4 in Northumberland 🥾
Year 4 in Northumberland 🥾
Miss Baker
Year 4 had perfect walking weather for their much anticipated English, history and geography study visit and field trip to the Northumberland National Park this week! Their first stop was a picnic lunch at Housesteads, Britain’s most complete Roman fort situated right on Hadrian’s Wall. Here, they were able to explore the remains of the barrack blocks, granaries, commander’s house and latrines which were part of daily life for the troops controlling the frontier between Britannia and Caledonia.
There followed a challenging walk along Hadrian’s Wall starting with an ascent of the famous Cat Stairs at Steel Rigg, where the Romans’ determination to assert their authority was demonstrated by the Wall being built straight over a massive outcrop of the Whin Sill. This was a great opportunity for the girls to test their RESILIENCE on a steep climb, to apply the OS map reading skills practised at school, and to consolidate their classroom learning about the scale of Rome’s ambition - all within the setting for their current set text, Across the Roman Wall.
A visit to the nearby Roman Army Museum completed Day One; here the girls saw the legions’ mighty armour and gruesome weaponry up close!
After overnighting at YHA The Sill, the residential ended with a study visit to the archaeological site of Roman Vindolanda – a fort and village where the anaerobic nature of the subsoil has led to wooden and leather artefacts (usually lost to decay) being preserved. The sheer scale and range of 2,000 year old ruins and recovered objects to be seen at this live dig is mind blowing; the girls loved walking down the ancient streets, exploring the reconstructed fort and seeing excavations that are projected to last for another fifty years at least.
In all, two inspiring days of hands-on learning and making memories in the great British outdoors - well done, 4B!
Long before Britain asserted itself over other countries and cultures, our own island was colonised by a super power and became the northernmost outpost of the Roman Empire. Captured Britons could be enslaved and sold or sent to Rome, fitting into a widespread, economy-driving slave system.
Year 4's set text, Across the Roman Wall, introduces young readers to the idea of human trafficking in spite of tight border controls, with captured Britons then traded in North Africa which by 30BC had also yielded to Roman expansion. For adults interested in Hadrian's Wall, we recommend Rory Stewart's 2014 BBC Border Country series.
Sporting updates
Sporting updates
Miss Abbott
It's been another busy week in physical education and school sport, and when is it not?! 🤯
Congratulations to Freya, Iliana and Holly who all set new school records in the Year 4 25m breaststroke, Years 3-4 50m breaststroke and Years 3-4 25m butterfly respectively during last week’s inter house swimming gala. These were tremendous achievements - well done, girls!
Our Years 5-6 netball teams took part in the Senior School’s High 5 netball festival run by our Year 10 sports leaders on Tuesday. Against tough opposition, our Year 6 team finished in third position, whilst in the afternoon session our Years 5-6 team also acquitted themselves well and came fourth.
On Wednesday, many of the same girls travelled to Repton for our final match of the season. Every game was tough, but this is what helps us to learn and develop as players. Results were not in our favour on this occasion, with the Year 6 team losing 6:13, and the Years 5-6 team losing 10:15. Gabi was chosen as player of the match, which was very well deserved.
Yet more netball followed on Thursday in our end of term Years 5-6 inter house competition. In a closely fought tournament, it was HASTINGS who eventually came out on top. Thank you to the Senior School House Captains who umpired and cheered on the girls!
All that remains is for the Years 5-6 ski trip to depart in the very early hours of Saturday morning, joining our fellow GDST schools of Northwood, Norwich and Kensington Prep on the slopes of Aprica in Italy. With 118 girls and 16 staff, the promise of excellent snow conditions awaits our group! If you are presently in Years 4-5 and are interested in joining us at the same resort next year, it is not too late to drop email me at j.abbott@not.gdst.net Our 2027 trip will be officially launched in the summer, and we look forward to more girls learning to experience the joy and freedom that skiing affords them 🎿
🚴 Bikeability 🚴
🚴 Bikeability 🚴
A final reminder for Year 5 parents
Mr Cox
Cycling proficiency courses are important because they equip us with the practical skills needed to navigate safely on roads and cycle paths. They teach crucial road awareness and hazard perception, empowering children and adults to cycle confidently and independently, and giving us the freedom to use bikes in different scenarios such as commuting, physical exercise and recreation.
Bikeability returns to NGHS Juniors in May for Year 5 only. Well done to those girls who have already signed up for the course; we had a 100% pass rate last year and can assure you that the programme will stand your daughters in good stead. I speak from experience, as a daily cyclist who earned his 'National Cycling Proficiency Certificate' 48 years ago! 😳
If you have not yet applied for a place, please do so via the link below by the extended deadline of 8am on Tuesday 24 March - numbers are limited, so this is on a first-come-first-served basis:
Below: Bikeability courses cover all aspects of cycling safety
Above: Well done to our Year 6 audience members who won the online Kahoot! quiz that tested their recall of DAaRT facts
Year 5 DAaRT graduation 🎓
Year 5 DAaRT graduation 🎓
Mrs Crawshaw
Year 5 celebrated their DAaRT (Drug, Alcohol and Resilience Training) graduation on Thursday, showcasing to Year 6 teachers and pupils all that they had learnt throughout a ten-week course.
This event celebrated the idea of being a 'DAaRT superhero' - having the power to make safe and responsible choices that lead to a safer, healthier life. Other important subjects such as peer pressure and making the right decisions regarding drugs and negative behaviours were addressed in a fun, imaginative and creative way. From designing super power pledges to performing role plays - as well as being informative quiz masters during our DAaRT Kahoot! - the girls showed how they can make safe and responsible choices and manage personal stresses, as well as understanding differences and having respect for others.
In the course of this programme, Year 5 have exemplified every element of our NGHS Juniors RECIPE, collaborating to give themselves the best possible springboard for their teen years. Congratulations on your graduation, girls!
SuperCamps special offer
SuperCamps special offer
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