14 February 2025
14 February 2025
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THE POWER OF SILENCE
THE POWER OF SILENCE
Mrs Braud and Mr Cox
Year 6's current programme of study in Religious Education looks at the practical application of spiritual belief, with a particular focus on the Quaker connections with the founding of Oxfam and the idea of a way of life that rejects the notion of hierarchies and instead embraces a 'direct relationship' with God - without clergy, scripture, idols, objects or regulation.
The application of belief also sits at the heart of the girls' recent learning about the achievements of Quaker prison reformer, Elizabeth Fry, as part of their History of Crime and Punishment topic.
On Thursday, the girls visited our local Friends Meeting House to interview two Quakers who were delighted to answer a range of curated questions about their lifestyle, sense of service, priorities and practices, as well as the value of SILENT CONTEMPLATION and their thoughts about pacifism.
This was a very interesting study visit - well done to the girls who listened and spoke so carefully, and thank you to everyone who brought a donation to help Nottingham Quakers in their efforts to support the local homelessness charity, the Friary.
Hard times in Year 3
Hard times in Year 3
Mrs Bailey
As part of their current history topic, 3B have been exploring the horrors of child labour in the 1800s and what life would have been like for the many boys and girls who were employed in domestic service and manual labour.
This has involved reading the rags-to-riches story of Daisy May by Jean Ure and researching jobs such as mudlarking, pure 💩 collecting for the tanning industry and chimney sweeping. Our girls are certainly relieved to have been born in the twenty-first century!
We ❤️ Digby! 🦮
We ❤️ Digby! 🦮
Miss Duce
Hot on the heels of raising £155 for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People through their recent sponsored walk in The Arboretum, our youngest pupils were treated to a visit on Friday by real-life hearing dog Digby and his owner, Dawn.
The girls really enjoyed learning how puppies are trained and about Digby’s responsibilities, such as listening out for Dawn's alarm clock and warning her if a smoke alarm goes off. It was lovely to know that even though he's a working dog, Digby still enjoys cucumber treats and visits to the park!
Above: Painting pictures of different breeds of four-legged friend
Below: Stopping for a breather on our sponsored walk around The Arboretum
Take no prisoners! ♛
Take no prisoners! ♛
Mr Cox and Mr Padvis
We are looking forward to the next round of the Nottinghamshire Primary Schools Chess Association League which will take place in Gotham on Tuesday 4 March. If you have received an invitation to play in the team, please ensure you respond by the first Monday after Half Term.
Also of interest to members of our Thursday intermediate and Friday advanced coaching groups - the NPSCA Individual County Championships on Saturday 1st March! With categories and prizes for all ages, this is a great opportunity to widen horizons and even be talent-spotted by the County Team coaches. For more information, follow the link and scroll down to the entry form.
Happy Pi Day to you!
Happy Pi Day to you!
Mr Elkington
Girls of all ages are invited to enter our exciting Pi competition on 14 March, in celebration of Pi Day! This is a great opportunity to showcase your mathematical skills, exercise your memory and have fun with numbers.
The objective is to memorise and then recall as many digits of Pi as you can, in the right order. Whoever recites 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!
Details of how to enter will be provided after Half Term. In the meantime, start practising!
Remembering Queen Elizabeth II 👑
Remembering Queen Elizabeth II 👑
Mrs Crabtree
It is hard to believe that two and a half years have already passed since the death of Queen Elizabeth, yet her iconic image is still very much alive in Year 2 where our girls have been learning about and applying the art of tile printing, in the style of Andy Warhol. This has been a two-week Art & Design project linked to the girls' current History topic, requiring patience and attention to detail - well done, 2C!
Sweet Science 👩🏻🔬
Sweet Science 👩🏻🔬
Mrs Garton, Junior School Science Lead
At this week's STEM Club, we welcomed two of our Year 12 STEM leaders and former Junior School pupils, Dorothy and Ruby, to help us with an experiment.
This involved placing the Skittles around the edge of a plate, adding warm water until it reached them, and then observing as the food colourings started to run. We watched as changed happened and patterns emerged, and then discussed what might happen next.
Making predictions, exploring the concepts of cause and effect, and explaining why things happen are important steps in science, as well as using correct terminology such as dissolve, diffuse, solid and liquid.
Our attendees were delighted with the patterns, but were disappointed that the Skittles weren't for consumption!
In other colourful STEM news, it's been great to see girls in Year 6 conducting hands-on experiments with Mr Cox and Mrs Eggington in their Seeing Light science topic. This has involved refracting 'white light' through prisms, and making Newton colour wheels - very impressive, 6B and 6C!
Musical Notes
Musical Notes
Mr Rolfe
On Tuesday, as part of our INSPIRING WOMEN IN MUSIC programme, we hosted the NGHS Piano Festival - an entire day of workshops, masterclasses and performances in the Squire Performing Arts Centre.
Over 70 pupils from Years 3 to 10 participated, with the highly-acclaimed piano tutor Joanna Garcia (RNCH/Chethams) teaching pupils about the importance of expression, communication and character. Joanna’s work with the girls then led to two wonderful evening concerts. Huge thanks go to our own tutors Mr Leese, Mr Skinner and Mrs Shaw for organising and curating the entire day.
Click on the GALLERY below for highlights:
ON AIR! 📻
ON AIR! 📻
Year 6 Music Ambassadors
NGHS Junior Radio is back, revitalised as a podcast perfect for the 21st century and demonstrating our commitment to innovation, technology and creativity.
Managed, run and developed by our Year 6 Music Ambassadors, Episode 1 goes live today with the girls interviewing both of our INSPIRING WOMEN IN MUSIC visitors to school this term, opera singer Louise Collett and pianist Joanna Garcia. They have also grilled Mr Costin and Mrs McDowell about their musical loves and experiences whilst teaching at NGHS Juniors, and the show includes a round-up of this term's Music Department news and even some favourite musical jokes.
Cool for cats 🐈 🎵
Cool for cats 🐈 🎵
On Friday morning before school, our Music Ambassadors organised and hosted their very own charity concert in the Dining Hall. This event, attended by parents and staff from both the Senior School and Junior School, was the girls' idea as a fundraiser for the RSCPA - and they smashed their target by raising over £100. Well done, everyone!
Excellence in Mathematics 🏆
Excellence in Mathematics 🏆
Congratulations to everyone who was recognised in this half term's awards for outstanding attainment and progress, with a focus on reasoning and problem solving in mathematics:
WINNER OF THE EXCELLENCE CUP
Olivia Kumar, 6C
EXCELLENCE CUP SHORTLIST
Elsie Plant, Olivia Kumar, Emily Bloch, Nihaal Thiara, Hattie Buxey, Jovana Krzanicki, ALiza Mohammad, Gurjia Sangha
MOST IMPROVED
Tala Alnaimi, Tala Bekin, Claudie Smith, Cece Kemp, Hamna Ahmed, Iliana Karantana-Clark, Neve Reid, Olive Perry-Fidler
Poetry, please
Poetry, please
The GDST Laurie Magnus Poetry Prize was established in memory of Laurie Magnus by his widow. Laurie Magnus was a GDST Council member from 1907, and Chairman from 1929 until his death in 1933. He also wrote The Jubilee Book of the Girls’ Day School Trust (1923).
Entries for NGHS Juniors Years 1-6 should be emailed to Mrs Sail l.sail@not.gdst.net no later than 9am on Friday 7 March.
Sheffield Wednesday!
Sheffield Wednesday!
Miss Abbott
Well done to all of the Year 5 and Year 6 hockey and netball players who fought so valiantly at this week's fixtures, hosted by our sister GDST school, Sheffield Girls'. Despite this not being a winning day on the hockey pitches, Year 5 refined their grasp of the rules of the game and showed RESILIENCE in the face of a very tough opposition. Congratulations go to Marsha and Emily who were both voted players of the match by their respective opponents.
On the netball courts, Year 6 fared slightly better in their final warm-up matches before they re-engage with Sheffield at Condover at the end of the month. Clara and Dina were players of the match - and very well deserved!
British Science Week 2025 🥼
British Science Week 2025 🥼
7-16 March
Our House Science Morning will take place on Monday 10th March, linked to this year's theme of CHANGE AND ADAPT. Full details will follow shortly, however here is advance notice of two exciting competitions:
POSTER COMPETITION
POSTER COMPETITION
Open to all year groups
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 of the box!
Prizes will be awarded according to creativity in approach, content and clarity, and engagement.
SPECIAL CATEGORY COMPETITION
SPECIAL CATEGORY COMPETITION
Open to Years 3-6
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 could 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.
Let's get physical! 💪🏼
Let's get physical! 💪🏼
Miss Abbott
What a physically active week we’ve had to round off this half term! On Monday, Year 4 took part in the second round of their Sporting Superstars Challenge; this time it was the Me vs Me Challenge. Could they beat their pentathlon score from three weeks previously? Had they been practising enough at home? Would their nerves hold? Who would win a coveted gold wristband to indicate they had beaten their previous best? Who would be the top three improvers in each class, and who would be our Sportsmanship winners?
In a tense competition, the girls jumped up, jumped along, threw beanbags into a hoop, jumped through a hoop, pushed a ball as far as possible and bounced speedily over the speed bounces. Who would come out victorious? Year 6 Sports Ambassadors and House Captains kept a close eye and recorded scores, with every centimetre counting.
It was a close run contest, with the most girls beating their scores from the previous week. For those who didn’t, it was simply because their scores were so high the first time around - so a big well done to everyone!
4B's top improvers:
1 Chloe
2 Orissa
3 Hattie
Sportsmanship award - Etta
4M's top improvers:
1 Cece
2 Nihaal
3 Yuchen
Sportsmanship award - Johanna
Following these successes, eight pupils represented NGHS Juniors in the Year 4 City Pentathlon. Here they were competing in the same events, as well as sprints, hurdles and obstacle relay races. Oh my goodness, they won all but a couple of track races, - something that I have never seen before!
Iostina – bronze
Rosie – silver
Cece - silver
Sophie – silver
Millie – silver
Chloe – silver
Penelope – gold
Katharina – gold
It's all going swimmingly!
It's all going swimmingly!
Years 3 and 4 are now halfway through their annual swimming programme. We take great pride in this stretching course of continuous improvement, which has vital and potentially lifesaving importance for all children.
Swimming is a life skill that provides so much benefit both mentally and physically, whether swimming for fun, competitively, taking part in artistic swimming or water polo - it really does have something for everyone, and confidence in the water has lifetime importance. The girls are certainly enjoying themselves, judging by our photo gallery! 🏊🏽
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