As part of our marketing campaign and our 150th year celebrations, we'd love some positive testimonials/quotes from our parent community about NGHS. They can be about any aspect of the school, from the teaching and learning to the pastoral care to the extracurricular opportunities, or just any general positive feedback about you and your daughter's experiences of NGHS.
Please email your quotes/testimonials to c.forbes@not.gdst.net Thank you so much for your support 😊
Hard times in Year 3
Mrs Bailey
This week's study visit to the National Trust's Southwell Workhouse was part of Year 3's current Victorian Hard Times topic.
Here, we learnt about the 19th century approach to poverty and infirmity - purpose built institutions which incorporated basic social care for the destitute and sick, as well as menial work for the able-bodied poor and education for the young.
The girls especially enjoyed experiencing a Victorian school room, seeing the dormitories kitchens and cellars, and trying to find somewhere in the workhouse yards where they could not be seen from a window by the 'Master'. The only option was the outdoor privy!
Well done, Year 3, for asking such great questions and for receiving compliments from members of the public about your conduct outside of school. 😊
Above and below: : No carpeted classrooms, interactive whiteboards or Chromebooks in the 1800s!
Exploring the workhouse kitchens where fussy eaters wouldn't have fared well!
Learning about the strict regime under a workhouse matron.
Oakum picking kept inmates busy, however it was pointless and painful work.
Paperback writer 🎵
Mr Rolfe
This week, our Year 6 Music Ambassadors have embraced World Book Day with a very special edition of The NGHS Junior Music Podcast.
The girls have put together a fabulous set of interviews - wonderful, insightful conversations with our three school librarians who demonstrated such an inspiring collective knowledge of music and literature! Avid reader Mrs Bale was also interviewed, impressing the girls with her passion for the arts. The podcast included the ambassadors' recent research into books that have inspired music, and music that has inspired books - and there is also the usual round-up of musical jokes that are sure to make you giggle (or at least groan)!
Editor: The episode also includes some jokes about librarians. Three house points will go to the girl who emails Mr Cox with the best punchline for this little gem: "What do you call an NGHS librarian with a quick or inventive sense of humour?" m.cox@not.gdst.net
Sports desk
Miss Abbott
We start this week's report with more sporting success, this time for our Year 6 netball team who travelled to Condover for the annual GDST-wide weekend tournament for pupils in Years 6 and 8 - all very exciting, as this festival of netball also includes adventurous activities such as high wires, abseiling, archery, zip lining and even axe throwing! 🪓 😮
We were unfortunate to be drawn in a strong pool (which included both last year’s winners and runners up), finishing in fifth position - just one place off qualifying for the main Cup competition. However this result meant that we then entered the Plate competition, WHICH WE WON!
Huge congratulations to Clara, Lacey, Amelie, Harriet, Coco, Mimi, Maia and Olivia on a great performance.
In other news, Year 5 recently took part in the Nottingham Sport This Girl Can Festival at Harvey Hadden stadium. Here, they completed a Zumba style warm up then tried their hand at dodgeball, indoor kurling and a street dance blast. The girls had great fun and were able to see that there are many ways in which you can take part in exercise and sport, besides the more traditional activities such as gymnastics, football or swimming.
Completing a packed week, Year 5 joined forces with Year 6 in mixed age group netball match against Nottingham High School on Thursday, securing a very convincing win of 19-7. And we finished the week with a the Year 3-4 inter-house swimming gala, congratulating BOLTON on their victory as they ended the event two points ahead of Luxton and Hastings, with Skeel bringing up the rear 🏊
Well done, Bolton!
In other aquatic news, we congratulate Alice and Florence from Year 6 who recently competed in the Artistic Swimming Midlands Regional Championships, winning double gold in their duet and free team events! The girls also competed as soloists for the time, and are looking forward to seeing if they can repeat their success at the upcoming Nationals 🤞🏻
Well done, Tala!
Year 6 Sisters of Charity
We really enjoyed helping Tala with her jewellery sale this week, raising money during Ramadan for two great causes - Save the Children and The Open Kitchen by Muslim Hands.
Please join us in congratulating her on smashing her £200 target with a magnificent £800 worth of takings!
Learning to be more ruthless ♛
Junior Chess Club, with Mr Cox and Mr Padvis
Tuesday's league match against local schools had record attendance - nine teams playing two rounds in a very, very competitive field. Congratulations to Olivia K who notched up a double win, and to the rest of our two teams who also fought valiantly. Over all, this was not to be our day - however the girls have learnt a lot about timing and the importance of keeping opponents on their toes through constant attack and thinking further ahead.
In June, we will host our annual girls-only tournament for Years 3-4. This will be an ideal opportunity for pupils who have not yet played competitively to apply the tactics that they're currently learning in weekly coaching sessions on home territory. Watch this space!
Bright sparks 🧠
Well done to everyone who had a go at our first ever NGHS Juniors SPARK Kahoot! quiz. It was great to see girls from a wide range of year groups entering the online challenge, demonstrating that they'd read last week's edition and know what is going on in school:
WINNER - 5 house points
Kiara, Year 3
RUNNER UP - 3 house points
Dina, Year 6
THIRD PLACE - 1 house point
Sophia, Year 5
Parents, please encourage your daughters to read SPARK at home. Not only does it keep them informed about events and competitions, but it's also a great way to celebrate successes and find out about what's in store for them next year.
Happy Pi Day to you!
A reminder from Mr Elkington
Girls of all ages are reminded that our exciting Pi competition will be next week, on Friday 14 March when we celebrate Pi Day! This is a great opportunity to showcase your mathematical skills, exercise your memory and have fun with numbers.
Remember, the objective is to memorise and then recall as many digits of Pi as you can, in the right order. Whoever remembers the largest number of digits will be awarded the much-coveted NGHS Juniors Pi Trophy which was previously only open to Year 6.
Last year's winner, Emily (now in Year 7), managed 31 digits! 😮
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024 and on, and on, and on!
The contest will take place in the Hall on Friday at 1pm. Girls wishing to enter should simply turn up on time, and they may bring one friend for support.
Entries can be recited aloud*, sung* or written down whilst supervised by a judge!
* Recited or sung slowly, so that judges can easily distinguish the individual digits
A WORLD BOOK DAY TO REMEMBER
Mrs Crabtree and Mrs Whitty
Wow! What a wonderful show of costumes from pupils and staff alike! More than ever, we have seen a fabulous team effort across the Junior School with our whole school community entering into the spirit of World Book Day and rising to the challenge of devising outfits inspired by stories published over the last 150 years.
Click on the gallery below to see highlights for yourself, and scroll down to see a list of winning entries chosen by Mrs Fowler and Mr Elkington for CREATIVITY and POSITIVITY!
NURSERY - YEAR 2
WINNER
Rosa Mai
RUNNERS UP
Ameerah
Minty
Pandora
YEARS 3 - 4
WINNER
Etta
RUNNER UP
Daphne
YEARS 5 -6
WINNERS
Alice and Florence D
RUNNERS UP
Liliana and Coco
Tala B
Coming soon to Year 6 ...
Mrs Braud, Mr Cox, Miss Abbott and Mr Elkington
The countdown to Year 6's final Junior School residential has started, and it will be all about building resilience and widening friendship circles as the girls continue their preparation for Senior School in September. At Dobroyd Castle's Robinwood Activity Centre in West Yorkshire, they will focus on key skills such as teamwork and problem-solving through a variety of challenging and rewarding activities. These include climbing, zipline, archery, caving and high ropes courses - prepare to venture beyond your comfort zones and create amazing memories, girls!
British Science Week 2025 🥼
Final competition reminder
Under this year's theme of CHANGE AND ADAPT, here is a reminder of the two exciting competitions linked to this event, for which entries are still being accepted:
POSTER COMPETITION
Open to all year groups
The annual British Science Week poster competition is open to all pupils, including Nursery and Reception!
There are lots of STEM topics that might be explored, for example creating a poster to show how a plant or animal adapts to changing seasons or surroundings, or how humans have adapted to changing technology. Other topics might include how we can adapt our behaviours to protect the environment or combat climate change, or a favourite science experiment that models change. Be creative, and think outside the box!
Prizes will be awarded according to creativity in approach, content and clarity, and engagement.
SPECIAL CATEGORY COMPETITION
Open to Years 3-6
Can you help scientists at University College London by coming up with a new idea or invention to improve air quality in buildings?
Choose an indoor public space - this could be a place area where you learn, or somewhere that you visit regularly such as a library, café or cinema. Is the air there always healthy and clean? Come up with an idea or invention to make the air healthier to breathe. How will it work, and your idea be applied in other public places too?
For both competitions, entries should be handed to Mrs Garton by 9am on Wednesday 12 March - at which point the best five submissions in each category will be entered on behalf of NGHS Juniors.
Below and right: Examples of primary and secondary sources of evidence that Year 6 have studied as they learn about transportation to Britain's colonies in the 1800s - pictures showing conditions on prison hulks, and the experiences of children convicted of petty crimes.
It's really graphic ...
Mr Cox and Mrs Braud
At the heart of a stretching and engaging English and humanities curriculum lie opportunities for girls to experience stories which deepen their understanding of past events and the human condition, and to explore authors whom they might encounter in future years - either in their own time, or as part of a GCSE or even A Level syllabus.
We are delighted to say that 6B and 6C are really enjoying the graphic novel version of Great Expectations, which is a recent addition to our history curriculum. They've truly been on the edge of their seats at crucial moments in the plot such as the arrival of the militia hunting down the convict Magwitch, Pip's rejection by Estella, and the attack on Mrs Joe Gargery. Comparing the portrayal of criminality and justice in Charles Dickens' story with educational films and textbooks is helping the girls to evaluate the novel as an historical source. Thus far, they think it's an accurate portrayal of crime and punishment in the 1800s.
In the Summer Term, Year 6 will welcome yet another new text as they embark on an exploration of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, alongside their study of the ancient Greek civilisation. By July, they will be experts in siege warfare, fantastical beasts, magical humans and meddling gods!
GDST Annual Science Conference 🧬
Mr Cox
Six girls from Year 5 recently represented NGHS at the GDST Junior Science Conference, hosted by the Royal Institution in London. Selected for their superlative engagement in science lessons, Isobel, Jasmine, Charlotte, Junli, Pippa and Emily participated in a workshops with other Year 5 students drawn from our family of GDST schools. From extracting their own DNA to testing a miniature crash test car and meeting up-and-coming young female scientists, this was a stretching day of learning - with the icing on the cake being an exciting physics and chemistry show which was livestreamed to classrooms across the GDST as part of British Science Week.
Well done, girls. You were super ambassadors for our school and you engaged beautifully with all of the challenges set!
