5 July 2024

STAFFING UPDATE

Mrs Fowler

      We will soon be saying a fond farewell to Mrs Eggington - 'Mrs E', our Year 4 class teacher who has taught with us for 17 years and who is a much-valued member of the Junior School staff.  Mrs E is looking forward to her retirement, but we hope she will be a regular visitor to NGHS.

     Mrs Wood, one of our Year 6 class teachers and our Computer Science subject expert, will begin her maternity leave over the summer holiday and we wish her all the very best with the arrival of her second child.

Dressing up time! 👒

Mrs Astill

      Early Years girls love nothing more than role play, but alas our dressing up box is a little depleted.

      Do you have any hats, scarves, sunglasses, handbags, costume jewellery, children’s dressing up clothes, fabric or old technology which you no longer use lying around at home?  If so, we would gratefully take them off your hands!

      Please mark any donations for my attention and either drop them off in the playground in the mornings, or leave them with Mrs Sail or Miss Morley at reception.  Thank you  🧣👒👜🕶️🧳🧤👗

Unnamed and unclaimed 😔

Thank you to everyone who has ensured that clothing, footwear and equipment are labelled.  Unfortunately, we still have a number of items in lost property which are unnamed and unclaimed in the Rainbow Room - including coats, PE mid-layers, a number of expensive-looking water bottles and assorted plastic snack boxes.

     Please note that lost property will be CLEARED at 6pm on Tuesday, with any remaining unnamed items being donated to charity or made available to purchase at our next preloved uniform sale.  ♻️

Year 5 ❤️ sculpture!

      Year 5's final study visit of the academic year was an artist-led tour and workshop  at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where the girls explored artworks by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, to name but a few.

      From their Art & Design lessons in school, the girls were already familiar with Moore’s WW2 public air raid shelter drawings from the London Underground, so it was wonderful to  explore his 3D work too.

      The day ended with opportunities to create  and name our own outdoor installations, using a wide range of recycled materials.  Click on the gallery at the bottom of this article - can you spot the Falling Thunderstorm, the Knotting Flower or even the Cracking Cloud?  Overall, the girls have been truly inspired and can’t wait to start on their next piece of indoor or outdoor sculpture.

This girl can! 🏆

      The regional awards ceremony and exhibition for the annual If you were an engineer, what would you do? Leaders Award competition took place at the University of Lincoln on Tuesday.  Congratulations go to Amelie from Year 5 who not only received her East Central plaque, but also came away with the Judges' Award for this year!   This trophy recognises the practical application and potential of Amelie's allergometer concept, which they suggested might be transformational for 'millions of people with food allergies'.

      Mrs Garton hopes that even more girls enter next year's competition - watch this space!

Cricketing success 🏏

Mr Ashdown

      This week, our Year 5-6 cricket team visited Carrington and Cavaliers Cricket Club for the 2024 girls-only Dynamo City cricket competition.  Despite battling hard and showing great RESILIENCE - winning four out of their five games - they finished as runners up in the competition.   Well done, girls; you have learnt lots about working together as a team, both as batswomen and fielders, and it's great to see that you are keen to take this forward into next year!

Diverse narratives

        Thank you to our speakers at this week's Friday assembly, Mrs Bale (GDST Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) and NGHS Diversity Prefect, Maisa Karimzada.

      Their presentation about reading choices that reflect both our own personal experiences and different viewpoints was very interesting, as we discussed the appeal of stories involving different races, places, cultures, lifestyles, ages and gender.

      Please join our summer holiday reading project by sharing your families' #diversebooks and #inclusivereading choices on social media!

Beautiful things  👩‍🎨

Mrs Crawshaw

      Year 5 and 6 recently collaborated to create a stunning piece of artwork inspired by Gustave Klimt’s Tree of Life, with each panel depicting a different season.  The girls have use their collective imagination and demonstrated excellent attention in their representations of spring, summer autumn and winter.  Year 6 were also inspired by the Mexican textile and street artist, Victoria Villasana, to embellish black and white photographs of inspirational women with embroidery - this project has taken quite a while, but it was well worth the wait!

Y1/Y2 Football Festival ⚽

Miss Abbott

      This week, a team of girls from Years 1 and 2 visited Nottingham Trent University for a football fun day hosted by the Nottinghamshire Sports Partnership, with coaches provided by Nottingham Forest FC.  They learnt lots about controlling the ball, passing and beating a player, and were then able to put these skills to good use in a 5-a-side game!

     Plenty of POSITIVITY was on show, and everyone enjoyed their morning of football - rumour has it that Gareth Southgate was there on a scouting mission for England’s Euro 2024 semi-final team ... 🙄

'Music from the start'

      On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of hosting our final concert of the year which featured aspiring and talented girls from Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.  Mrs Keys did a fantastic job coaching the choir, taking the audience on a musical journey around the world with songs that included European and African lyrics.  Girls studying on our highly acclaimed bespoke Da Capo course performed on the recorder, ocarina, piano, drum kit, violin, viola, ‘cello and cornet, demonstrating their passion for music and dedication to their craft.

      At the end of the concert, Mrs Fowler presented certificates to the Reception and Year 1 performers, whilst Year 2 students received the prestigious Da Capo Graduation trophy to celebrate the end of their first musical journey with us.

      For parents interested in continuing this programme, applications for the Da Capo course for Reception to Year 2 are now open.  Additionally, Year 3 parents are encouraged to apply for individual music lessons in any instrument for their children.

EYFS SPORTS DAY 🏅

      A spell of miserable July weather couldn’t stop our youngest girls from Nursery and Reception from enjoying a fun-filled morning of sports earlier this week.  Luxton were the overall winners after everyone competed in running, egg and spoon, bean bag balance, and hoop races!  Well done, girls - you all demonstrated RESILIENCE and POSITIVITY, and even the teachers were keen participants too  😂

Miss Abbott taught Victoria back in the day - "She's not changed since she left this school -  she was lovely then, and she's lovely now!"

World record holder visits NGHS!

      On Tuesday, girls from Years 3 to 6 met the Atlantic rower, ultramarathon runner and NGHS alumna Victoria Monk - and what an inspiring and motivating presentation this was!

      Victoria and a team of three other women recently completed a 3,000-mile row across the Atlantic Ocean - not only a feat of physical endurance, but also a testament to mental resilience.  The girls were rivetted by her tales of spending nearly 40 days at sea, battling severe sleep deprivation, coping with excruciating sores, blisters, and relentless seasickness, and confronting towering 40ft waves in a 9.6-metre boat.

      31-year old Victoria explained that more than half of girls in the UK lose interest in sport before they are 17 years old, and she hopes that her achievement can help to highlight this dropout rate and inspire change for the future.  Her message to Years 3-6 certainly echoes our NGHS Juniors RECIPE for Success!

It's a hard knock life 🎭

      During the second half of this term, Year 5 have been busy choreographing and performing a 'It’s a Hard Knock Life' from the hit musical, Annie.  5JC and 5MC were directed by NGHS alumna Lily Penzer who has been helping the Music and Drama Departments this year.

      The girls loved the entire creative process, and can be very proud of the outcome which was filmed in just thirty minutes.  The video will be broadcast on the school's YouTube channel at 6pm on Friday 5 July.