23 February 2024
This half-term we are focusing on EXCELLENCE across the curriculum. This includes celebrating EXCELLENT learning; work that is produced, focus and concentration in lessons, questions that are asked to develop understanding as well as EXCELLENT conduct and approach throughout the school day. The girls and staff are aiming high and we are delighted to share with you the following entries to The Excellence Book.
Lacey for Excellence in Netball
Anvitha for Excellence in Art
Beatrice for Excellence in Art
Isabella for Excellence in maths
Dina for Excellence in maths
Mimi for Excellence in writing
Emily for Excellence in Pentathlon athletics
Author Visit Year 6
On Monday, Year 6 students enjoyed a talk by local author L.D. Lapinski who came into school to talk to us about their book Jamie, a story about friendship and acceptance. Jamie has also been shortlisted for the Brilliant Book Award, 2024! Year 6 enjoyed asking some thought provoking questions at the end of the session which LD really appreciated.
Lead Librarian, Mrs Whitty
The first part of our three-week focus on extra-curricular clubs
(Please scroll down for this week's other news items)
Above: Girls practising in our specialist Percussion Suite which is equipped with drum kits, a marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel and timpanis, as well as more comtemporary outlets.
PERCUSSION CLUB 🥁
Mr Robertson
Percussion Club meets before school on Mondays and is open to girls who have drum kit and percussion lessons, to build upon what they are taught during those sessions. Playing in an ensemble helps to develop key musicianship skills such as listening, balancing dynamic within the group, and following a conductor. It also enables girls to develop their confidence and social skills, as the ensemble performs in concerts throughout the year. Subject to availability and experience, the club accepts new members throughout the year - email j.robertson@not.gdst.net for further details.
Y5-Y6 Art Club 🎨
Mrs Crawshaw
Art Club meets after school every Thursday, and is open to girls from Years 5 and 6 in half-term blocks. Year 5 have just completed a series of ink drawings inspired by The Last Tree, and are currently planning a design to be painted on a Chinese folding fan to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Year 6 are studying Victoria Villasana, a Mexican textile artist whose designs are inspired by her Mexican culture and heritage. The girls have practised her techniques on their own portraits and next term will be using similar techniques to produce images of iconic or inspirational women which will be displayed in school.
Art Club also involves collaboration across age groups, with all of the girls working together to produce four Klimt-inspired canvases based on his Tree of Life, embellishing their work with mixed media to depict changing seasons. Watch this space!
Chess Club ♟️
Mr Cox and Mr Padvis
Chess Club meets on Thursday and Friday lunchtimes, with formal coaching provided by a qualified Chess Master. These are purposeful and stretching sessions, with girls moving between our Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced groups as they develop their confidence in strategy, attack, defence and observation. In addition to honing their skills on the board, members have opportunities to widen their friendship groups by playing against girls from different year groups. Occasional in-house and local tournaments are included in the termly fee, and girls are expected to practise their game at home or online.
Chess Club accepts new and rejoining members from Year 4 upwards every September, with a further intake from Year 3 upwards in early January. Girls with sufficient experience in the game or previous coaching are sometimes admitted part-way through the course of instruction - email m.cox@not.gdst.net to enquire.
Debating Society 🗣️
Mrs Fowler
Our Junior Debating Society meets on Thursday mornings before school, discussing a variety of topics and forming opinions that enable girls to enter into a more organised debate. Members learn terms such as ‘proposition’, ‘opposition’ and ‘motion’, and also enjoy exercising their democratic right of voting for the argument with which they most align. The group welcomes girls from Years 5 and 6 who like to express opinions, ask questions and develop their higher order thinking skills.
Girls wishing to join this club should speak with Mrs Fowler to find out when spaces might next arise.
Steel Pans Ensemble 🎵
Mrs Coker
Our two Steel Pans groups meet on Tuesday afternoons for Reception to Year 2, and after school on Tuesdays for Year 3 and above. Sessions are led by Mrs Coker who has played, taught and arranged steel pan music for forty years.
Girls learn about the instrument itself, its history and the techniques of playing within an ensemble. Younger students will improve their hand-eye coordination and basic music theory understanding, and learn to play an individual part within a group on mini pans. As they progress, they learn to play different styles of music, work on different pans and understand more about the art of performance with opportunities to display their talent at school concerts. Girls do not need to read traditional notation, as the steel pan is an instrument that is played by ear. For those wishing to achieve solo success, there is an opportunity to study for graded exams in steel pan.
Subject to availability of spaces, new members are welcome at the beginning of each term - for further details, please contact Mrs Sail.
Year 6 workshop with Leonard Design Architects
Building on the interest and enthusiasm generated in January's Green Month, Year 6 enjoyed a workshop this week facilitated by Leonard Design Architects who have offices in Nottingham, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur and Berlin. Alex and Jiax, both young female professionals, inspired our students with their knowledge and expertise and were impressed with our girls' creativity and the carefully considered questions that they posed.
The session was all about creative design, using sustainable materials. The girls learnt how green-minded architects carefully consider their use of materials in designs which also harness the use of natural elements. Year 6 students then collaborated to produce their own designs for an open social space.
All-in-all, this was a fabulous opportunity to work with professionals who make a real difference to built environments with responsible and imaginative use of resources.
Click on the link below to find out more about our friends at Leonard Design and projects that have been involved with locally, nationally and internationally, and please email Mrs Fowler if you think your company has an interesting product or service which might fit with a progressive curriculum:
https://leonard.design/projects/
Left and above - girls created their designs with input from experts, Alex and Jiax from Leonard
Above: Click on the gallery to see more pictures.
Sports Updates
Y5 and Y6 sports team photos have recently been taken for the first time this year - we hope that we can make this an annual event and expand the numbers of teams that are included next year.
We welcomed our friends from Northampton for some netball, bringing both an A and a B team for Y6 matches. The games were very close and hard fought with the A team losing 6-10 and the B team losing 5-6. Both were excellent games and we displayed real determination and positivity in our play. The matches also gave us a great warm up for our residential netball trip to Condover next week!
Year 1 and 2 cricketers enjoyed a cricket festival at Harvey Hadden Sports Village on Tuesday with Mr Ashdown and Mrs Fowler. The girls all impressed with their batting, catching and fielding development.
Finally, our Y3 and Y4 athletes took part in the City pentathlon challenge at the wonderful Harvey Hadden Stadium. They ran, jumped, threw and worked really hard to achieve their best - so much so that our Y3s beat their Y4 teammates! Everyone had a great time, applying the skills of agility, balance and coordination that they have been developing in PE lessons.
Year 1 and 2 Cricketers
Year 6 Netball Team
Piano Works Concert
This week, girls from Years 2-6 relished the opportunity of learning from world class pianist this week Jeneba Kanneh-Mason who played for them and answered their questions. They then took on board her advice when performing to a full audience of parents and staff during an evening concert. The standard was exceptionally high, and our Squire Performing Arts Centre was the perfect venue for such an excellent occasion.
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason meets NGHS pianists
