23 May 2025
23 May 2025
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Reception to Year 6 - don't forget to sign up for the NGHS150 Junior Challenge!
Showcasing excellence
Showcasing excellence
NGHS 150 JUNIOR CHALLENGE
Mrs Fowler
I was very touched to hear that some parents recently approached a class teacher to ask if we were hosting a Summer Show this year, even offering to help out. How kind, and how lovely to be reminded that this tradition is appreciated and enjoyed!
In 2025 - to mark the School's 150th anniversary - we have instead created a bespoke opportunity for all girls to apply their learning and demonstrate their talents, linked to the theme of 150. This will involve pupils working at home over the next four months to challenge themselves and showcase their excellence. All entries will be displayed and a panel of judges will award prizes in September, recognising EXCELLENCE. There will be planned milestones over the coming months to keep girls on track with their challenges, and tips for parents too - all via the challenge microsite, nghsjuniors150.not.gdst.net.
Please take time to visit the website with your daughter; all girls from the current Reception* to Year 6** are expected to participate. Right now, they just need to focus on MILESTONE 1 and parents should click below to sign up their daughters:
* Participation is optional for girls currently in Nursery.
** Form tutors for the new Year 7 are keen to see what the current Year 6 can achieve over the summer, in preparation for starting Senior School.
Bee Musical 🐝 🎶
Bee Musical 🐝 🎶
Mrs Garton and Mrs Crabtree
Well done to our CREATIVE and RESILIENT girls in Years 1 and 2 who entertained the whole Junior School and their families this week with fabulous performances of the Bee Musical, inspired by International Bee Day and driving awareness of the work of the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
This stage production - which took place in the Squire Performing Arts Centre - carried an important message about the crucial work of bees and what we can do to protect them. The girls have really enjoyed learning about and sharing their knowledge of what pollinators do for the planet, sharing songs such as Bee Bop and The Nectar Team with memorable dances and actions to bring their message to life.
1G and 2C loved performing in front of live audiences, with the lighting and sound of a real theatre and with their acting skills and singing enhanced by the support of a full technical team. All in all, this was an unforgetable, confidence-building event - well done, girls!
CLICK ON THE GALLERY BELOW FOR HIGHLIGHTS:
WORLD BEE DAY! 🐝🐝🐝
WORLD BEE DAY! 🐝🐝🐝
Miss Duce
Nursery pupils had great fun earlier this week as they celebrated World Bee Day in a practical workshop hosted by the grandfather of one of our girls.
They learnt about the process of how honey is made and had a go at using a syringe to collect nectar and transfer it into our own hive. They also discovered what a bee hive looks like on the inside, and enjoyed turning the handle on the honey spinner to extract honey for tasting taste. What a fantastic experience for our very youngest learners!
If you have an interest or skill that you think might be of interest to our teachers and students, please email Mr Cox m.cox@not.gdst.net and he will be delighted to explore possible curriculum links.
Excellence Awards 🏆
Excellence Awards 🏆
Miss Baker
On Friday, we ended the half term with a celebration of academic success and effort in spelling - with the Excellence Cup awarded to Elif from 6B in recognition of her unbroken record of 10/10 in every Year 6 weekly spelling test since September, and 100/100 in the recent sponsored spell. Well done, Elif, and congratulations also go to those girls who made the shortlist for this much-coveted trophy, or who were singled out by their teachers as having made exceptional progress through their POSITIVE attitude towards spelling practice and revision this year:
EXCELLENCE
Minty Palmer-Parkin
Elif Rehman
Siya Varma
Jovana Krzanicki
Katharina Resch
Cece Kemp
Si-Rae Jiang
Olivia Kumar
MOST IMPROVED
Maia Gandhi-Zhu
Sakeenah Khan
Iliana Karantana-Clark
Rosie Green
Yuchen Lin
Ellaria Deacon
Aaminah Sheikh
Amelia Buckley
Our final celebration assembly of this half term was also an opportunity to recognise the achievements of pupils who scored very highly in last week's Sponsored Spell, as well as those who have demonstrated exceptional progress or effort in this project. In due course, the following girls will be invited to sign the BOOK OF EXCELLENCE:
Nursery
Aurelia, Ariya, Juliet, Poppy
Reception
Isla, Hope, Amanpreet, Aahana, Aadhya, Zara, Isabella, Elise, Penelope, Rosa-Mai
Year 1
Kiya, Mia, Joy, Maia, Victoria, Minty, Olive, Gurjia
Year 2
Holly C-H, Holly F, Gracie, Sakeenah, Anya, Aliza, Natalia, Ameerah, Neve, Olivia, Imogen, Pandora, Siya, Isabelle, Noor
Year 3
Kiara, Jovana, Harneet, Zairah, Helia, Iffah, Isabelle
Year 4
Hamna, Millie, Florence, Chloe, Rosie, Katharina, Lannaé, Hattie H, Cece, Yuchen, Johanna
Year 5
Maryam, Ziona, Emily, Charlotte, Jasmine, Sophia, Junli, Jaime, Si-Rae, Maia, Claudie
Year 6
Ida, Ruqaya, Anveesha, Elsie, Elif, Izzah, Aathira, Amelie, Maddie, Lacey, Dina, Mimi, Olivia K, Magdalena, Coco
TOGETHER, WE HAVE RAISED £2,212 IN PLEDGES - THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED THIS YEAR'S SPONSORED SPELL IN AID OF THE RNLI!
Mrs Sail and family
The measure of success
The measure of success
Mrs Spray
This week in Reception, our girls have been building freestanding structures using sponge (not cheese!) and cocktail sticks. They have demonstrated lots of RESILENCE, learning through trial and error to make changes for strength and height. This has included using rulers for measuring, checking and making improvements. Hope, Isabella and Cia 'Vanna achieved the tallest structures at 45cm, 46cm and a whopping 52cm tall! 👍
Inter-house pentathlon 🏃🏾♀️
Inter-house pentathlon 🏃🏾♀️
Miss Abbott and the Year 6 Sports Ambassadors
This week, it was the turn of Years 5 and 6 to compete in their inter-house pentathlon, aiming to beat their scores from September in a ‘me v me’ challenge and having worked on fitness in their PE lessons over the course of the academic year. This event was set up and managed by our amazing Year 6 Sports Ambassadors - Liliana, Lacey, Amelie, Harriet, Elsie and Coco. Well done, girls; you were amazing!
Overall, LUXTON were victorious; they improved their score by an impressive 420 points, only just ahead of Bolton who improved by 409. Top individual achievers in Year 6 were Martha (+63 points), Dina (+61) and Olivia K (+58). In Year 5, our top improver was Claudie (+80 points), followed by Maryam (+74), and Aleesha and Ziona tying for third place on +55 each 😀
VICTORY TO LUXTON!
Battling it out ♕
Battling it out ♕
Mr Cox and Mr Padvis
Congratulations to our team of nine plucky girls who competed in a fiercely combative league final this week hosted by the Nottinghamshire Primary Schools Chess Association.
Everyone acquitted themselves and improved on last term's performance; our A team - Olivia K, Junli, Alana and Alice - secured a trophy in 5th place out of a field of 36 teams (with Olivia scoring 3.5 out of a possible 4).
The NGHS Juniors B team (Aminah, Aaminah, Tala, Jasmine and Aleesha) came 15th.
In school, this year's Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge competition has involved beginners, intermediate players and advanced members of Junior Chess Club, with all girls earning small prizes and certificates along the way. Congratulations to these players who demonstrated both EXCELLENCE and RESILIENCE when it really mattered!
2025 Chess Champion
Tala B (21 points)
Runner Up
Alana (19 points)
Joint Third
Olivia K, Annabelle and Sophie (15 points ea)
Dealing with the enemy
Dealing with the enemy
and the face that launched a thousand ships
Mrs Braud and Mr Cox
Having written passionately about Narnian characters and settings in the Autumn Term, and situations involving crime and punishment in the spring, our new Ancient Greece topic is providing Year 6 with opportunities to write about heroism and horror on the Homeric battlefield.
Tasked with using interesting verbs and powerful language to convey a Greeks versus Trojans clash in the Iliad, the girls have really risen to the challenge. We are delighted to share with you some excerpts from their prose which - true to the style of the Gillian Cross translation - describe hand-to-hand combat in a very matter-of-fact way, as warfare was an accepted part of everyday life between the city states of ancient Greece ...
With the cries of wounded men and the smell of blood creeping up his nose, Timon could not think straight and took - quite frankly - the certain death option ...
Unfortunately for Demonax, his enemy's sword slipped and sliced all the way through his cuirass, scraping his stomach ...
The crushing of bones and the screams of injured soldiers vanished, and a bloodthirsty battle cry rang from his dry mouth as he charged ...
DINA
They raced to the battlefield, panting in the oven-like sun ... The thundering of hooves came galloping towards the Greeks, trampling over squashed livers and pierced hearts ...
Trojans came limping, sprinting and dashing over to Demonax, praying that he was unhurt. "Away, peasants! Your favourite handsome charioteers is injured, but he is still ready to save your poor, weak souls!" he yelled.
Wincing faces of pain, buckling shields, slaughtered soldiers ... "Please, gods. Give me mercy. Zeus? Ares? Apollo? I beg!"
MIMI
He pictured his wife and children, his mother and father, and his brother. Blood pooled around him from his leg in what he thought were his final moments ...
Demonax continued to cut his way through the Greeks like corn ...
Timon looked back and prayed aloud, "Mighty Zeus, please give me strength and good fortune. Make sure Demonax dies a horrible death in this horrible war!" It was then that some Trojans heard him and found his hiding spot - and that was the end of him.
LILIANA
Demonax cried out for mercy, "Gods of war, please let me see my brother again! Please!" He fell to his knees and clasped his hands. The gods must have heard him, however they must also have felt no sympathy as a spear knocked him to the bloodstained ground.
As his life slowly slipped through his fingers, he attempted to scream for his brother, but all that came out were his last breaths.
AMELIE
Wiping his forehead in the scorching heat, Timon glanced up to see the invincible Trojan, Demonax, storming towrds the Greeks, his eyes pierced with determination. With tenacity, he mastered the reins, his chariot a blur of motion ...
He was no match for Demonax and a searing wave hit him. Smiling, Demonax got ready for his next victim ...
Pain washed through him like a current. Tomorrow, Origen would fight for the Greeks, fight for his life, fight for Timon.
ELSIE
Was this the end of Origen too? Tears rolled down his cheek, as he wiped it with the palm of his sweaty, blood-covered hand ...
Demonax charged at him with a smirk on his face. His eyes were on fire, his whole body filled with confidence ...
He was deserted here, with no hope ... Demonax grabbed his wrist, their armour clashing, and lifted his dirty hand to cut Origen to pieces ...
Izzah
Meanwhile - away from the battlefield and in the calmer environment of the Junior School art studio with Mr Brown, Year 6 have been learning how to a watercolour ‘dip and dab’ technique, creating their own representations of Helen of Troy who was purportedly worshipped on Rhodes after her death as the tree goddess Dendritis.
Aleesha's going to town
Aleesha's going to town
Mr Elkington
It's always lovely to hear about pupils' out-of-school endeavours! Well done to Aleesha from Year 5 who will soon be off to London to receive an award for her efforts in driving environmental awareness.
If you have an interest or hobby for which you've received an accolade or award - especially if it touches on topics which are covered in school - please tell us all about it so that your achievement can be shared in class or even SPARK.
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