Year 6 Ski Trip
Click here for the article and photos
Enigma Day
One of the most important discoveries during World War 2 was the breaking of the code of the Enigma machine. The Enigma machine was used by the Nazis to send coded messages by radio to guide their submarines. A group of British scientists worked out how to break the Enigma machine code and helped to change the course of the war. They were based in a stately home where they lived and worked during the war secretly called “Station X”.
On the 2nd February 2010 I arrived at school excited, knowing that I was going to see a real Enigma machine. The day started with an introduction by James - a science mathematician from Cambridge University. James first talked to us about different codes used to write secret messages during many centuries. One of the oldest codes that he showed us was used by the Spartans in ancient Greece when they used to shave the hair of the soldiers and tattoo messages on their heads and let the hair grow again to hide the message. But the most interesting part of the talk was how the Enigma machine was used to code messages during World War 2 when James showed us a model of the machine.
Later on in our maths class we had the opportunity to do some code breaking with James. He explained how the messages were coded using the machine and how the code breakers worked out the method to decode the messages. We all had the chance to break some simple codes and see the Enigma working, which was extremely interesting.
We found the story about the breaking of the code of the Enigma Machine very exciting and we all felt very proud of the achievements of the code breakers who used their mathematical skills to help win World War 2.
By Martin Ratchev 6G
Ingram Cup 2010
On Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 March, over 100 boys took part in the preliminary rounds of the Ingram Cup. Two junior boys and two senior boys have been selected from each house to go through to the finals. The standard was extremely high in many of the houses and congratulations must go to the following boys who will be performing in the finals. Click here for the finalists...
The finals will take place on Thursday 25 March at 1.45pm in Founder Hall. All boys will be performing their house song ‘Somewhere only we know’. We would warmly welcome parents to attend this event.
Report for Bromsgrove Invitational relay gala
On Monday 1st March, our U11 swimming team comprising of Tobias Schroder, Ivan Wills, Edward James and Bhaskar Biswas (our first reserve due to William Underwood being absent due to illness) accompanied the Senior school U13 relay team (3 members of which attended the Junior school-William Andersen, Daniel Jacklin and Simon Walton) to Bromsgrove school for the Bromsgrove School Invitational Relay gala. This event has been running for 26 years and traditionally has always comprised of some tough competition; twelve prep schools took part this year. Our boys swam in the Medley relay first and came third in their particular heat with a time of 1.21.47 which was an excellent time (seven seconds faster than last year’s team) but not quite fast enough for the finals (fastest 4 schools). They then swam exceedingly well in the Freestyle relay, coming second in their particular heat and achieved 1.10.06 (two seconds faster then last year’s team) but again just missed out on a place in the finals. Overall we were the 7th fastest Medley team and 8th fastest freestyle team. The Senior school u13 relay teams came 4th in both of their events. All the boys swam very well and were a credit to the school.
Mrs HJ Whittamore
25m pool
|
Name/Time
|
Medley (split times)
|
F/s (Relay )
|
|
Tobias Schroder
|
b.c: 18.36
|
16.34
|
|
Bhaskar Biswas
|
b.s. : 26.31
|
18.72
|
|
Ivan Wills
|
Fly : 19.25
|
17.43
|
|
Edward James
|
F.c. :17.68
|
17.60
|
|
Overall team time:
|
1.21.67
|
1.10.06
|
Report for IAPS swimming regional rounds.
On Wednesday 24th February, the u10 and u11 A teams set off to The Elms (Trent College) for their first fixture of the season to the regional rounds of the I.A.P.S. swimming competition. This is a national competition involving just Independent schools whereby schools participate at various venues throughout the country. The galas are officiated by ASA officials and times are taken for each stroke at each age group as well as for relay teams and compared with those from schools nationwide. The swimmers who have achieved the top 16 fastest times are then invited to a finals gala which takes on 15th May 2010 at K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley, West Sussex. Traditionally it has always been a very tough competition in which we have had some boys participating in the Finals gala in the past.
Our boys swam exceedingly well on the day in the 25 yard pool at The Elms against Birkdale School (from Sheffield) and The Elms boys. It was all against the stopwatch but there were some close finishes with many of our boys just beating The Elms and Birkdale to the finish! The times will be converted for a 25m pool and sent off to the central organiser.
Mrs H.J. Whittamore
Spring Term Clubs- A list of the spring term clubs available to the boys can be found by clicking this link.
Birkdale Rugby Matches OFF-The Year 6, 5 and 4 rugby matches away at Birkdale on Tuesday 23rd February are OFF.
House Cross Country-The House Cross Country competition has been put back to Monday, March 15th because we have lost so many rugby sessions.
Creative Writing-Tobias Schroder won the Junior category of the creative writing competition. Saaras Mehan was the runner-up, with Henry Murray in 3rd place. It was excellent to see the boys using the creative writing skills taught in their lessons this year; Mrs. Slater was very proud of all of the boys and commented on the quality of their work. Their entries will be published here very soon.
Rugby-Despite the boys having no rugby sessions due to the recent bad weather the school entered the Bradford Rugby Festival and produced some excellent performances. The Year 6 boys won 3, drew 1 and lost 2 of their 6 matches. The Year 5 team won 2 and lost 2, whereas the Year 3 boys produced a splendid performance winning 5 games and losing just the once, gaining the runners up spot. This was remarkable in the fact that for some of the Year 3 boys, this was their first ever taste of tag rugby.
Year 4 Pantomime by William Stewart-On 15th December 2009 we performed our real pantomime in the Founder Hall. We performed in front of brothers, sisters, mums, dads, aunties and uncles. The play began and I was really nervous. As we went on stage, every person in the audience started to clap.
I felt even more nervous than before. We got into position and started to sing our first song called “This is Where Your Dreams Can Come True”.
This was an important play because it is about the Great Plague in 1665 which stopped in 1666. Also people from outside London heard there was a street which was pure gold.
It was interesting to tell the story using narrators, as well as songs and action.
There were funny characters like the Good Fairy and Tiddles, the cat. There was an evil character, King Rat. Dick Whittington was the hero because he gave his cat to the Queen of Persia and received thousands of pieces of gold. He had so much money for it because there are no cats in Persia and the cat was able to help get rid of the rats. Dick was so wealthy he became Lord Mayor.
I really enjoyed it but you really have to raise your voice for people to hear at the back. The play went on to the middle in what seemed like a minute and in that time we did yet another three songs and lots more speech. Even if you forget your lines, everybody knows the play must go on. I didn’t forget my lines, which was a relief.
At the very end, when we had sung the last song and done all the bows, we went backstage to get changed. I felt really sad because the play had finished.
Year 4 Panto by Ziyaad Surtee 4S- On Tues 15th Dec 2009, Form 4S performed the Dick Whittington Pantomime at the Founder Hall. The show started at 7:30 pm. There was lots of rehearsing before the play, and with so much practice we could never fail!
The cast entered in very colourful and most appropriate costumes and climbed the stage as the music started playing. Mrs. Cooke played the piano. We sat down on benches on the stage, Mr. Earnshaw welcomed everybody and the play began.
The narrators were the first to inform the audience about the story. Dick Whittington, played by Harry Solomonides was the main character. He had the most lines and he was amazing. The play takes place in London first. It is about Dick Whittington and his cat Tiddles, who helps with the rat plague. The rats were led by King Rat played by Will Atiomo. He was quite serious and did a very good job. I was the Queen of Persia which was only a small role but I enjoyed it very much.
Everyone in the cast was excited and acted out their parts perfectly. Best of all, the cast and the audience enjoyed the singing. “I am Sailing” brought a tear to my mum’s eye.
Thank you to Mrs. Slater, the director, who made the play possible and such a huge success.
Chess-John Croasdale our Year 3 pupil recently participated in the London Chess Challenge and won the Under 8 catergory-a fantastic achievement.
Entrance Examinations - January is the month of Entrance Examinations. Our Year 6 boys sit the Exam for the Senior School on Saturday 23rd January and we wish them the very best of luck! I hope the boys will use the Christmas break to recharge their batteries but they should also focus on their reading and do some revision wherever it is needed. Our own Assessment Day is on Monday 25th January and I should remind everyone that the JuniorSchool will be closed on that day.
Catering Questionnaire - As promised in my previous correspondence dated 11th November 2009, please can I ask that you fill out the questionnaire with input from your son (CLICK HERE), in order to assess our lunch time arrangements at the JuniorSchool. Could all questionnaires be sent in to school by Friday 9th January 2010. The menu cycle can be found via the following link on our website:
http://www.nottinghamhigh.co.uk/junior-school/parents-information/newsletters/
Junior School Focus Group - Thank you to those parents who volunteered to meet on a termly basis to discuss issues relating to the development of the JuniorSchool. I would like to invite the following parents who put their name forward to be a part of the ‘Junior School Focus Group’ to meet with me on Thursday 28th January at 4.15pm to discuss the catering arrangements at the Junior School.
Year 3: Dr R Kothari
Year 4: Mrs H Solomon
Year 5: Mrs Risman
Year 6: Mrs E Chaloner
The Arches Project - On 8th December 2009 Aidan, Harry and I, Saaras Mehan, being the Year 6 Eco-Council members, went on a trip to the Arches main base with Mr. Earnshaw. The purpose of our trip was to deliver all the toys and the blankets that we have been collecting over last week for the people less fortunate than ourselves.
In the morning, with the help of some boys from 6S we loaded up the van with all the blankets and toys. We set off to the Arches listening to Trent FM and chatting with Mr. Earnshaw. As soon as we arrived at the Arches, we were welcomed by a lady called Sue. We unloaded the van to put all the toys and blankets in a store room.
As soon as we finished with the unloading, we were given a guided tour of the place. We learnt that The Arches Project supports the people of from all age groups, who may need any type of help e.g. providing them with clothing, food, medicines, housing, toys etc. The charity provides these people with hot meal, tea and coffee on daily basis. It also provides counselling to disturbed /distressed individuals.
The Arches keep a database on their computer system and keep on adding the needs of various people and try to collect goods and services requested from various organisations such as our school. Currently there are 8 schools in Nottingham who collect goods for them. They also keep a data base on the people they are helping to make sure they their services.
Apart from various organisations who help them, there are 200 individual volunteers also listed on their system who help this charity by providing their services. The Trent Vineyard church regularly supports this charity by raising funds for them.
The Arches also train people who are out of work in things such as painting brick laying or repairing furniture.
We met a man called Bill who used to sleep in a grave yard at night with nothing but his clothes. However since he has come to The Arches he has gotten his only meal every day blankets and lots of help in many aspects. In my view people at The Arches are good people that have had a bad time.
We got told that in months like March and April and June their stocks are almost completely empty because it is Christmas and harvest that gives them the most supply. Hopefully we will be able to give some more gifts to the Arches when they need it most. Saaras Mehan 6S
Cross Country Fixture at The Grammar School at Leeds - Our boys did extremely well and finished joint second out of nine teams. The competition was very strong, with some schools fielding many runners. Individual medal winners were Max Coppel in Year 3, Ralph Wills in Year 4, Alex Painter-Heywood Year 5 came first in his race with Sam Bowling coming in second. In Year 6 Will Underwood won his race and Matt Buchan came third. The boys were a credit to the school and were very supportive of each other. Well done boys.
Dick Whittington – Our Year 4 pupils are busily putting final preparations in place for their forthcoming production of Dick Whittington, to be held in the Founder Hall. In an action-packed end of term schedule, several performances are planned.
The rags-to-riches tale of Dick Whittington, a poor boy seeking his fortune in London, with a little help from his feline friend, has captivated audiences for years. Similarly, Year 4 hope to entertain and enthral their modern- day audiences with a mixture of memorable melodies and magical moments.
The residents of Forest Lodge have been invited to be the first audience to see the dress rehearsal on Monday 14th December, along with Years 3, 5 and 6. Parents, grandparents and friends are invited to the full performance at 7 p.m. on the same day.
Art Exhibition – Mr. Jones is exhibiting the boys’ art work in the Founder Hall from 4pm-5pm, Monday-Wednesday in the last week of term.
Carol Concert-This will take place in the Player Hall on Tuesday afternoon at 2.30pm.
Christmas Holidays - A reminder that School will close on Thursday 17th December at 12.35. School buses will be operating to transport the boys home. The School will re-open on Wednesday 6th for all of the boys.
Games – Next term the boys will need their rugby kit for the games sessions. Please also remember that the boys in Year 4, 5 and 6 will need to wear mouth guards. The Year 3 boys will be playing tag-rugby, so mouth guards are optional.
Poland - We have contacts with three European schools and during the next two years will be conducting joint projects with them. We will also be hosting, an exchange with the Polish school, next year, around the 17th May 2010 until 21st May 2010. If anyone would like to host a pupil, or wants further details, please contact Mr Jones directly. There appears to be a 50/50 split on girls and boys in their party too. Mr Jones will provide assistance in enabling families to host a pupil. In the year 2011 representatives of the JuniorSchool (pupils and teachers) will hopefully we will be travelling to Slovenia as part of the scheme.
Chess - Our A and B teams have played in the Autumn league this term with Bramcote, Fernwood, and Round Hills. The NHJS 'A' team were clear winners.
Final League placings….
|
BoysHigh School ‘A’
|
46.5
|
|
Round Hill
|
22
|
|
Fernwood
|
19
|
|
BoysHigh School ‘B’
|
17.5
|
|
Bramcote Hills
|
7
|
England Chess Trials - Michael Fletcher, Saaras Mehan and Harry Croasdale have qualified for an England trial. They will face some quality competition, but we wish them well and hope they enjoy the experience.
Quadrangular Chess 2009 -This year’s Quadrangular Chess tournament was held on the 12th and 13th of December at GreenbankPrimary School in Liverpool. The teams taking part in this annual event were: Scotland, Wales, Northern England and the Midlands. There were three sections – Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16.
I was in the Under 12 team representing the Midlands, along with some other boys from the JuniorSchool - Saaras Mehan, Tobias Schroder and Harry Croasdale; and from the SeniorSchool - Sohum Dhir and Graham Garside. We were all selected to play and there were ten players in each team.
We played two rounds on Saturday and one round on Sunday. In the first round we played Northern England, the strongest team in the tournament. In the second round we played Scotland. Then on Sunday we played Wales who are said to be the easiest team to play against. When all the points were added up Northern England came first (as they usually do!), and the Midlands came second! Mr Peter Purland, our team manager, said this was a very good result because we are a very young team!
Michael Fletcher 5C
School Shop Opening - Christmas Holidays 2009/10 - Monday 4 January 2010 (9am - 12noon)
Internet Safety - It was announced on Tuesday that the Government plans to make the education of internet safety a compulsory part of the PSHE National Curriculum. The new initiative is already part of the ICT syllabus and all of the boys cover this unit during the first block of lessons in the autumn term.
Homework – The homework page is to be adopted school wide from January. The online homework page allows parents and children to check the homework set, and download resources, if electronic versions of the pages are available.
Your son should still write the daily homework in the diary and take home the resources to complete the tasks, but in cases where the diary is mislaid or resources forgotten, homework can be checked using the homework page. Click on the link to have a look- Homework Planner. A link to the site can also be found on the JuniorSchool homepage.
India Day – To complement the Year 4 geography unit on India, Penny Forsyth, a representative from Action Aid, spent a day in school with class 4S. She brought with her a range of artefacts, spices and clothes for the boys to explore and learn about. Her visual presentations were very informative; however a highlight for the boys was the opportunity to dress up in Indian costume. Penny commented the boys were a credit to the school and she was impressed with their knowledge of India, their enthusiasm and the quality of their questions.
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff Wednesday 24 March 2010 at the Albert Hall, Nottingham7.30pm
The Combined Choirs of NHS and NGHS will be staging a large-scale performance of Orff’s ever popular and exciting choral work, 'Carmina Burana'. As well as students, we would like to invite any staff and parents who would like to participate to join the massed chorus. Details of rehearsals will be released after the Christmas Holidays. If you are interested in participating, please could you email the Music Department on music@nottinghamhigh.co.uk and they will send you further details as they become available.
Super Sonic Science - On Tuesday 6th October, our assembly was taken by two mad scientists - Jonny Neutron and Sophie Super Sonic! The boys were entertained for twenty minutes, interacting in science activities which were organised by the duo of highly- trained, animated professionals. For our Year 3 children, the assembly was a taster of the 'Mad Science' activity that will take place as an after school club after half term to celebrate the refurbishment of our Science lab.
Talking Teeth
On Wednesday 7th October, as part of our Science topic on Teeth and Eating, the Year 3s had a dental hygiene talk from Mrs Jacob, our school nurse.
This was also a wonderful opportunity for the boys to meet the school nurse prior to the hearing tests which are due to take place shortly in school.Book Day
For World Book Day the boys dressed as their favourite book character. All of the boys made a fantastic effort and many were unrecognisable. Prizes were handed out to the best dressed boys in each year and the top prize of a pair of tickets to watch Leicester Tigers play.
The Battle of Bosworth
On Wednesday 16th September 2009, Year 5 visited the Battle of Bosworth Fields. The trip had two parts- i) The Exhibition, ii) The Walk. Click here for more info...
Isubilo Assembly
by Will Banks
On Monday the 28th and Tuesday the 29th of September 6S performed an assembly in support of Isubilo, a charity in Zambia.
We informed the School about the terrible plight of many of the people and to help them we aim to collect unwanted black school shoes (for boys and girls) so that we can donate to the children that live there. Most of children are orphans due to HIV/Aids.
Here are some facts about Zambia:
One fifth of children in Zambia are orphans.
The children of Isubilo meet twice a week at school in classes of around seventy.
Isubilo means ‘hope’ in the local Bemba language.
We hope this has inspired you to donate shoes to these children.
6S have a collection box in their classroom for any unwanted shoes. Later in the year we will be looking at other ways to help these orphans.
Year 6 Football Match V Grosvenor
by Nicholas Ikunnah
On Monday 28th September, Nottingham High Junior School played a football match against Grosvenor school.
We took 14 boys and were split up into two teams. Both of our teams passed the ball superbly well and played some fantastic football and by half time we were winning both games convincingly. In the second half we swapped opponents and again scored many goals. Out of the 14 players that participated 13 managed to score at least a goal, a tremendous achievement!
Full credit must go to the Grosvenor boys for their spirit in playing to the final whistle.
NOTTINGHAM HIGH JUNIOR SCHOOL PUPIL WINS PRIZE IN NATIONAL ANIMATION COMPETITION
Nottingham High Junior School pupil Tom Walton, 9, has won the ‘Best Human Interest’ category in the 2009 UK Schools Computer Animation Competition after creating a one minute film about the TwinTowers.
Accompanied by his teacher Anthony Simpson, Tom attended the Schools Computer Animation Festival and Awards Ceremony at The Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester where, along with 40 other prize winning students, he received a certificate and an Amazon voucher.
After the prize giving ceremony, all finalists and their guests were able to enjoy a Winner’s Lunch.
Tom’s film was chosen from over 800 applicants and was created at school using the Storytelling Alice software. However, so great was the motivation and enjoyment in creating the films, Tom and many of the boys at the school continued to work on their films at home.
“I was so excited to be invited to attend the awards ceremony in Manchester”, said Tom. “Although I knew I had won a prize, until I got there I did not know where I had been placed so it was a complete surprise to find out that I had won the ‘Best Human Interest’ category. I got my idea for the film during a brainstorming session in one of the ICT lessons. I knew the film had to be good technically, but also needed a powerful historical story. The tragedy of 9/11 seemed to be perfect and would educate boys who were too young to understand the horrific day, including myself. So I researched the facts, found music inspired from the tragedy and set to work using the characters and scenes available.”
“This is a fantastic achievement for Tom,” said Anthony Simpson, a teacher at NottinghamHighJuniorSchool. “Tom was up against some tough competition with over 800 entries and to be invited to the prize giving ceremony is no mean feat in itself. Actually winning this award is just the icing on the cake and I speak for everyone at the school when I say we are all very proud of him.” See bottom of page for the link to the Newspaper report
Public Speaking Competition
With so many Year 6 boys keen to take part in the Public Speaking Competition, a semi final was arranged, in order to give all 23 pupils the opportunity to present their speeches. Subjects ranged from swine flu to holidays, from Formula One to sporting personalities.
Our judge, Ms. O’Brien from the Senior school, was given the unenviable task of choosing 8 pupils to progress to the Final and, in doing so, she commented upon the high level of talent and ability amongst all the boys.
Tait Grundy, Harry Holdstock, Patrick Kassel, James Lord, James Pownall, Ben Risman, Dayal Sekhon and Kane Teal competed in the Final, with Mr. Wilkinson, Senior Master, judging on this occasion.
Preparing another speech within a time limit, from a range of unseen titles, provided the next obstacle for the boys in the lead up to the final judging process.
Dayal Sekhon’s thought- provoking contribution on ‘ The power of speeches’ was adjudged third; Patrick Kassel’s humorous and entertaining report on ‘Road signs’ was runner-up whilst Ben Risman was the eventual winner with his highly informative speech about ‘Manatees.’ Well done to all the finalists.
Congratulations to all of the 23 Year 6 boys who took part in this competition and thank you for your enthusiasm.
DARE report 2009
On Wednesday 8th July, the Year 6s were all involved in the D.A.R.E. graduation. The “Drugs Abuse Resistance Education” programme had been taking place over the course of ten weeks and was taught exclusively by Mr Jim Oakes our designated DARE officier who always delivers the serious issues in a fun and exciting way with fantastic anecdotes. Many topics associated with drugs were covered during the course, including self-esteem, friendships, how to say “no” without causing offence, tobacco, alcohol, volatile substances and cannabis. Each week the boys participated in class activities and then had to complete a task and a piece of homework. After 10 weeks the children participated in a quiz which was a very close contest culminating in the Team Tobacco winning the tie-break. DARE pounds were awarded for good answers to hard questions in class and for good pieces of written work-Tameem Reza and Harry Smith gained the most and the team which gained the most were Team Tobacco again (Matthew Law, Harry Smith and George Whittle). 6H earned 17 points, in total, 6H gained 18 and 6S won with 22 DARE pounds. Mr Oakes said all of the boys had worked very well this year but in particular Ben Risman and Callum Painter-Heywood were singled out as being outstanding in lessons. After the 10 week course the boys had to write a report about what they had learnt and particularly enjoyed. The reports were very pleasing and two boys from each class were chosen to read them out-Callum Painter-Heywood and Luke Fowler for 6G; Jacques Lachetta and Bilal Sheik; Dayal Sekhon and Joseph Silcock. After the reading out of some of the DARE reports Mr Oakes presented the graduation certificates to all of the boys, who were already wearing their DARE graduation T-shirts and then he made a speech complimenting the boys on their hard work during the last few weeks and stated what a pleasure it was to teach the boys at the High School. Mr Earnshaw thanked Mr Oakes and all of the boys for their hard work. Yet again a very successful DARE course. Well done to everyone involved and many thanks to The Friends for their funding.
Chess- Many of our boys travelled to Prestatyn last week to compete in the Northern Finals. Never before had so many of our teams qualified for such a prestigious tournament. Both our under 11s and under 9s 'A' team qualified for the finals in Somerset which were held this week. Our under 11s finished 4th and our under 9s finished 3rd, outstanding achievements! More details to follow soon..
Green Day
On the 5th June the School held a Green Day to promote 'Green' issues. The boys were involved in a variety of fun activities including: design an eco garden, build an eco house on the computer and build a wind turbine. The boys really enjoyed the day and have developed their knowledge of becoming more eco friendly.
Ingram Cup
Hardy's house won the school music competition after narrowly defeating Trease's house by only half a point. Tonkin's won the House Choir competition with their performance of the Beatles classic 'Let it be.'
Chess Champions
Sohum Dhir and Saaras Mehan were crowned champions of a chess tournament held at Foremarke Prep School. In a very strong field great credit must go to the boys for a tremendous victory in their age group. Harry Croasdale must also be praised finishing runner-up to Saaras.
City Cup Final-NHJS 0-Cantrell 2
Despite plenty of possession NHJS could not find the net and went down to 2-0 in the final of the City Cup. NHJS started off very bright and created many chances but the boys did not have the luck needed in front of goal. Two second half goals by the lively Cantrell forwards punished NHJS for not putting their chances away. All of the boys performed superbly and they must be praised for such a superb season winning almost all of their games.
History workshops
This term we have welcomed our friend Mrs Hopkins back into school on three separate occasions for her regular history workshops, which the boys always enjoy.
Tudors- 5G and 5M spent a morning and afternoon respectively learning more about the Tudors. They handled a variety of replica Tudor artefacts and learned a great deal about the personal habits and hygiene (or lack thereof!) of people in the 16th century.
Egyptians-The Year 4 classes each spent half a day furthering their knowledge of Ancient Egyptians. The boys learnt how to write their names in hieroglyphs, made necklaces, discovered information about Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses and investigated some Ancient Egyptian artefacts.They also dressed up in the sort of tunics that were worn by Egyptians thousands of years ago.
Romans-Year 3 spent the day immersed in ancient Rome and the Romans, learning more about their way of life, their food and their clothes. They also learned something of archaeology and how we study and find out about the past.
Cross-Country
Callum Painter-Heywood has qualified to represent the County Cross-Country team after his impressive performances in his races this year. Benedict Harwood narrowly missed out, after he too qualified for the trials.
Swimming
Tobias Schroder has qualified for the County swimming trials. It has been a while since NHJS has had a representative on the County team and we wish him every success.
Chess
Saaras Mehan and Harry Croasdale travelled to Harrow for a 3 day chess tournament. In what was a quality field, Saaras scored 5 points and Harry scored 5½ points.
Cricket
Ajay Karwal has been chosen to represent the County at U10 and U11 level, a magnificent achievement.
New Arrival
May I also take this opportunity to pass on some very exciting news. Mrs Sethi has given birth to her first child, a son, (who has yet to be named), on the 27th December. Both mother and baby are doing exceedingly well and Mrs. Sethi has asked me to pass on her thanks for all the generous gifts she has received from so many of you.
After School Club
If for any reason, another parent is collecting your child from After School Club, could you please inform the school beforehand or telephone Mrs Clifton, After Club Supervisor on 07810 502 693.
New Staff
As you are probably aware, we have had a number of new staff join us this term. Mr Caldwell, Mrs Cooke and Mrs Mayes have all slotted in well to their new roles and I’m sure that the boys have already told you how well they have settled in.
Architecture Day
This week our Year 6 and Year 5 boys were involved in an Architecture day. The boys learned important building skills, most notably the importance of a strong structure to enable the building to withstand pressure and remain intact and upright. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the day.
General Knowledge
Tonkin's house won the General Knowledge Final defeating Treases' house in a closely fought contest. All of the boys performed admirably and were a credit to their respective houses. Pictures coming soon.
Parental Questionnaire
Following our recent Parents' Evenings for all year groups, may I take this opportunity to thank those of you who were kind enough to give me feedback in the way in which our new approach informs you of your son's academic progress. As a School we are always looking to improve the way in which we communicate with parents on all levels. To this end, please could I urge those of you who have yet to fill in the parental questionnaire to do so by Friday, 12th December. The questionnaire can be opened by using the following link:http://www.survey.ingenious2.co.uk/index.php?sid=30
As the survey is completely anonymous, should you wish to discuss any issues relating to the survey, I would be grateful if you could email me (juniorinfo@nottinghamhigh.co.uk) with your name, telephone number and the issue you would like to discuss, and I will ensure you are contacted.
Form Photographs At our request, the School Photography Company carried out a reshoot and your son has been given a further proof of the class photograph. On the School Photography ordering website, you will have the choice of ordering either photograph. The reshoot proofs are also available to view on the noticeboard in the Junior School reception.
Games Due to the amount of clothes left behind after a games session, all children must change into their school uniform. This includes boys being collected from Valley Road.
House Point Totals. Well done to Ball’s House who are the current leaders with 9927 housepoints in the Crane Efficiency Cup. Congratulations also to Hardy’s who came first at the end of housepoint fortnight (w/e 28th November) with a total of 2468 housepoints.
Poetry Plate The final of the Poetry Plate was held in November and thirteen Year 6 boys entered the competition. The boys had to perform two poems and all of the boys did tremendously well.
1st Place-Ashad Noor
2nd place-James Pownall
3rd place-Sam Thomas
Primary Mathematics Challenge The boys in Year 6 at Nottingham High Junior School took part in this year’s Primary Mathematics Challenge which is run by the ‘The Mathematics Association’. Many of the boys received a bronze, silver or gold certificate. Tom Ravenscroft and Joseph Silcock achieved outstanding results and have been put forward to take part in the National Primary Mathematics Challenge that takes place in January. Congratulations to all the boys who took part.
Art Week
Recently we held an Art Week in school. All forms took part in artistic and creative activities and fully enjoyed themselves in the process. Puppet making, mosaics and Indian jewellery were just some of the activities that took place.
Open Day
The School's Open Day proved a great success. The Senior School, Junior School and Lovell House had a huge amount of visitors and the boys that offered their help on the day proved themselves fantastic ambassadors for our School. Well done and thank you.
Football
Our Year 6 boys won the Centenary Trophy defeating five schools without conceding a goal.
Lunt Fort
The Year 3 boys had their first trip of the year and visited Lunt Fort. The aim of the trip was to provide first-hand experience of what a Roman Fort looked like. The boys arrived and were shown a Roman soldier's equipment. Ben Carlisle was dressed up as a soldier and the boys were all able to view the soldier's weapons. After lunch the boys looked around the fort. They visited the fort gate, the barracks and the horse arena. They were told that the reason we know so much about the rooms was because of the artefacts the architects had found. Some rooms were still a mystery as no artefacts had been discovered. Finally, the boys visited the gift shop. It was a fantastic trip and certainly enhanced the boys understanding of this historical period.
England Junior Schools Chess Trials at Nottingham High School
Open to all at the Junior School
Saturday11th and Sunday 12th October.
Entry forms from School
Race Night-10th October
The Friends are hosting their annual Race Night on Friday 10th October. The event will take place in the Founder Hall, starting at 7.30pm. All are welcome.
Prayer Meeting for Nottingham High School and Nottingham Girls' High School
A prayer meeting will take place on Thursday 13th November at 8pm at the home of Helen Sperry: 10 Boundary Road, West Bridgford. Any queries please contact Sarah Churchill on 0115 8548488 or sarah.churchill@ntlworld.com.
Friends Picnic-Belton House-Sunday 14th September 2008
Sunday 14th sees the Friends Picnic take place at Belton House from 12 noon. (Weather Permitting, please call 07810 502 692 if the weather is incement). Belton House is part of the National Trust. All parents and children are welcome. Contact school for more details and a letter to gain free entry into the parking area.
NOTTINGHAM PUPILS SCOOP THREE AWARDS IN NATIONAL ANIMATION COMPETITION
Three Nottingham High Junior School pupils have won top awards after entering short animated films in the UK Schools Computer Animation Competition 2008.
Greg Akerman, aged 11 from the Park, took the top spot in the Key Stage 2 category and won a laptop for his fable called ‘Insulting the King’. Nottingham High Junior School also received a glass trophy in recognition of Greg’s achievement.
In the same category, Thomas Jayamaha, aged 9 from Arnold, and James Baxter, aged 10 from Langar, were awarded 3rd and 4th place respectively. They took away a highly commended certificate for each of their films ‘Classroom Chaos’ and ‘Three Little Pigs’.
The competition was run by Manchester University’s School of Computer Science to celebrate the 60th birthday of the world's first stored-program computer. Entrants were required to produce a short animated computer graphics film, no more than one minute long, using ‘Alice’, a free computer animation system.
Over 220 schools from Bournemouth to the Outer Hebrides entered the competition and Nottingham High Junior School submitted ten films in total.
Greg said: “We all went to Manchester to receive our prizes, I didn’t know I’d come first until it was announced on the day. I’m really pleased we all did so well and I’m delighted with my laptop.”
Anthony Simpson, tutor and Nottingham High Junior School ICT teacher, said: “I was delighted that so many boys decided to take part in the competition after I taught them how to use the software. They only had about 10 days from training to submission and produced some very impressive films. We’re very proud of Greg, Thomas and James, they did fantastically well to achieve three out of the four awards in their category.”
