24 November 2023

NEW!  Good-as-new book exchange

      We’re thrilled to announce the creation of our first ever mobile and free-to-use BOOK EXCHANGE, which will be visiting classrooms and opening on occasional lunchtimes from January 2024.

      To be launched and initially run by Eco Club, the Good-as-new book exchange will allow pupils of all ages to swap books and magazines, increasing the lifespan of those publications by recycling and reusing, and widening our girls’ reading repertoires.

      To help Eco Club get started with an interesting and varied opening stock, we are appealing to NGHS families to donate unwanted children’s books and magazines between now and Christmas - these can be brought to school on any day of the week, and given to class teachers:

* All donations should be child-appropriate and in good condition (all pages intact, no writing or inscriptions)

* We're happy to accept both fiction and non-fiction books

* Good quality children's magazines and comics are also welcome


      Thank you in advance - we look forward to seeing a great range of titles, and to welcoming girls for their first swaps in the New Year!

IntoFilm Festival

      On Wednesday, girls from Years 3 to 6 attended the 2023 IntoFilm Festival at Cineworld for an IMAX screening of the documentary Asteroid Hunters.

      Speedy walking ensured best seats in the house for a thought-provoking exposé of the risks associated with asteroids, and the methods which scientists are considering for nudging potential threats into safer trajectories.

      Back at school, girls completed a follow-up survey to assess their understanding of the subject matter, and we are pleased to share some of their learning with you below:

YEAR 3

"Asteroids are extremely big.  Scientists can't stop all of them hitting Earth, but they are most likely to land in the sea."

YEAR 4

"Asteroids were involved in creating planets, and Jupiter was the first planet to be created in our Solar System."

YEAR 5

"If a large asteroid hit a city, it would be totally destroyed.  Some of the planet's crust would fly up into the atmosphere and then fall back down to earth.  Scientists want to build a device that uses gravity to alter the path of an asteroid."

YEAR 6

"There are millions of asteroids in the Solar System.  A giant one caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and some asteroids became the moons of planets millions of years before life on Earth."

Above:  Ms Sannerhaugen in her native Norway

Below:  Mrs Whitty and Miss Taylor are our other two librarians

Interview with Ms Sannerhaugen

      Ms Sannerhaugen (or Ms S ,if you like) is our new library assistant, working on Mondays and Fridays.  Originally from Norway, she has lived in the UK for 16 years:

      I love spending time in nature, I enjoy crafts like knitting and crocheting, and of course I love READING too.  Some of my favourite books are those filled with mystery and adventure - but coming from a nursing background, I also love non-fiction books about the human body, especially the brain!  Just think of all our inventions and advancements within science, technology, medicine, and more - all thanks to our wonderful brains.  As many of us witnessed in Wednesday's screening of Asteroid Hunters, human discoveries about space, planets, stars and asteroids are astonishing, and yet it is incredible how much of the universe is still unknown to us.

      Why not start your own voyage of space exploration by popping into the Junior Library to see inspiring books, like Comets, Asteroids and Meteors by Ramen Prinja, Astronomy by Emily Bone, Space by Joanna Brundle or The Complete Guide to Space Exploration by Ben Hubbard?  These titles - shown below - can be found in our non-fiction section from 520-523. 

'Hope to see you soon!


P.S.  I just checked out a book on anti-gravity and I can’t put it down 😂

CHRISTMAS CRAFT & GIFT FAIR 2023

      Mrs James and Miss Fairfax will hold their annual Christmas craft fair in The Rainbow Room at lunchtimes from Monday to Wednesday this coming week.  There will be a variety of handmade gifts available for girls to purchase, and 10% of all sales will be donated to a charity chosen by the Junior School.

Our fabulous new ART STUDIO

Mrs Crawshaw

      Our brand new NGHS Juniors Art Studio is up and running - a dedicated space for art and design, with low-set sinks and height adjustable benches to suit all ages. It is airy, bright and well-equipped; a really inspirational space for both girls and teachers.  Resources are easily accessible and clearly labelled to enable independence and creativity to thrive. Working in this new specialist location provides a creative setting in which to ...


 

As the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe said,


      “I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.”

Above:  Girls from 5JC preparing picture frames for Tudor style portraits

SPORTS UPDATE

Miss Abbott

      Our sister GDST school from Sheffield visited us on Wednesday for Y6 hockey and Y5 netball fixtures.  Notably, our hockey team also included some Year 5 girls who were up for the challenge of a tough game against older students, but would learn a lot from the experience and be able apply their learning in next week’s matches.

      Our two netball teams were also keen to do well, honing their passing and positioning skills with the help of PE specialists from Sheffield Girls' High School.  They demonstrated POSITIVITY and RESILIENCE against fierce competition and enjoyed the whole experience, even if results didn’t go our way on this occasion.

      Well done to everyone involved, especially Amelie, Liliana and Lottie from Year 5 who were voted players of the match in their respective games.