1 December 2024
Super Sustainable Christmas Jumper Day
Mrs Braud, Eco Club, School Council, Year 6 Sisters of Charity
Our Junior School Christmas Jumper Day will take place on Friday 15 December, however this year our Eco Club, School Council and the Year 6 Sisters of Charity will collaborate to make it more environmentally-friendly and cost-effective than ever! Please note carefully:
WEEK BEGINNING 4 DECEMBER - declutter and donate!
Families are invited to donate preloved Christmas jumpers for this initiative. For every clean and intact Christmas jumper brought to school this coming week, girls will earn five house points (to a maximum of ten) - small adult sizes will also be accepted.
WEEK BEGINNING 11 DECEMBER - choose and cherish!
Girls who have donated jumpers will be invited to select and keep a free pre-loved jumper which they can then wear on Friday 15 December. If there is a surplus of jumpers towards the end of the week, these will be offered for sale with all proceeds going to a good cause chosen by the Sisters of Charity.
FRIDAY 15 DECEMBER - it's show time!
Wear a Christmas jumper to school with your usual uniform, whether it’s preloved or not - and please bring a £1 donation for our nominated charity.
🎄 Don't be a Grinch - BE GREEN! 🎄
Christmas post
Our annual tradition for girls to practise their handwriting and send season's greetings to friends and staff is back ...
The NGHS Juniors Christmas card sorting office and delivery service will be up and running from Monday 4th to Monday 18th December - all managed with FIRST CLASS precision and efficiency by Year 1!
Please ensure cards are addressed clearly with recipients' names and classes, and please do not enclose anything edible.
School Council
Mrs Braud
School Council held its first meeting this week, with girls from a range of year groups all contributing great ideas. Hot topics included:
A discussion on how we can continue the fabulous work of Andy and the Odd Socks by understanding the difference between two-way goodhearted banter and unkind teasing, and standing up to bullying.
How we can continue to reduce food waste in the dining hall.
Above: Year 6 in the Arboretum, with the bust of Samuel Morley (1809-1886), a woollens manufacturer, philanthropist and abolitionist who was the son of a Nottingham hosiery maker.
Y6 local history walking tour
Mr Elkington
The focus of Year 6's current topic is the history of our local area, starting last week with a walking tour which included The Arboretum, Waverley Building, Raleigh Street and the Rock Cemetery. This largely Victorian neighbourhood is bursting with history and fascinating facts - who would have thought that in within half a square mile you could visit a park that was once the inspiration for J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, the place where Raleigh bicycles started, and a cave where the legendary Robin Hood is reputed to have had a secret hiding place?
We look forward to seeing the fruits of our girls' labours as they collate their research and evidence to produce a piece of work on local history over the coming weeks.
Green shoots 🌱
Girls from 5MC enjoyed an Outdoor Learning lesson in cultivating perennials this week, planting recently divided day lilies, geraniums, sedum, and shasta daisies in Upnah playground. They saw how without spending money or travelling to a garden centre, new plants can be effortlessly created from congested clumps - and they were also able to take a close-up look at root balls, tubers and emerging new growth.
Gardening is a healthy and inexpensive way for children to learn about sustainability and life cycles. Research suggests that they perform better at school if they are involved hands-on with the care and cultivation of plants, and many children will develop a greater interest in healthy eating if they even get to grow or pick their own fruit and vegetables. For more information and ideas about developing your daughter's interests in gardening, visit the RHS website:
♟️ Junior Chess Club ♟️
Mr Cox and Mr Padvis
Well done to our 'A' team who participated in a friendly yet highly competitive tournament for local schools on Tuesday evening, and especially to Sofia from 6B who showed absolutely no mercy when quietly and calmly dealing with one very confident opponent!
Chess is not a game for the faint-hearted and whilst overall victory was not within our grasp this week, we received compliments from our rivals' teachers for the technical quality of our game openings. Our biggest challenge right now is avoid the temptation to rush and to work on spotting other players' mistakes, as some vital point-winning opportunities to attack rather than retreat were overlooked on this occasion.
📚 Good-as-new book exchange 📚
"What a great selection!"
Thank you to the generous families who have already responded to our appeal to help Eco Club with building an exciting opening stock for the Good-as-new book exhange, due to be launched in the new year.
We will continue to accept donations right up until Christmas - if you missed last week's article, it's here:
"What a cheek!"
"What a title!"
"What a brain!"
GDST Christmas card design competition - latest update
Mrs Fowler
🎄 Congratulations to Minty Palmer-Parkin in Reception and to Annie Bennett in 6W for their designs which have been chosen to go forward from NGHS into the GDST-wide competition later this month. Fingers crossed for these two; we will keep you posted.
All designs selected as winners from each class have received 5 House Points today in recognition of the girls' creativity.
By Araminta Palmer-Parkin, Reception
By Annie Bennett, Year 6
Parent social and networking event - REMINDER ☕
Our coffee morning - this coming Wednesday from 8:30-9:30am in the Dining Hall - will be a chance to meet other parents and carers from our Infant, Junior and Senior Schools, and to welcome new families to our school community.
All are welcome - there's no need to book!
We hope this will be one of many parent community events. If you cannot make it this time but would like to see more (or different) parent events, please send your suggestions to Mrs Jelena Krzanicki (Y2 & Y6 mum) at jkrzanicki@me.com.
ART CLUB
Mrs Crawshaw
What a creative time it has been for the Year 5 and Year 6 Art Clubs!
Our Year 5 artists recently enjoyed creating line drawings of autumn leaves, whilst Year 6 have been getting into the festive spirit by creating some beautiful Ojos de Dios (God's eye) decorations for the Church of St Mary the Virgin in the Lace Market.
A collaboration between 5JC, 5MC and Year 6 Art Club has also produced a stunning Remembrance display using paper and felt - well done, everyone.
A message from the Senior School Music Department
Rejoice in the talents of our amazing Year 7-8 wind band which only formed in September! Mrs Clarke and Mr Rolfe both recognise the incredible talent that has recently come up from the Junior School, and they hope you will enjoy this small festive snapshot of the creative opportunities that lie ahead for our keen musicians when they transition from Year 6 to Senior School.