Halloween at NHP
We’d like to wish all of our pupils, parents and staff a happy Halloween and a big welcome back after half-term!
In true NHP style, all of the buildings were fully transformed with spectacularly spooky decorations, from eyeballs hanging from the trees to a ginormous ghost in front of our Upper School entrance. We would like to thank our incredible Parents’ Association for the effort they put in to bring Halloween to life at NHP.
The children also came into school wearing their best costume (ready for trick or treating later!). Take a look at some of their outfits…
Priya Ahluwalia visits NHP
This morning, British designer, Priya Ahluwalia, came into school to speak to the children in Middle and Upper School in assembly. She spoke about how she started her career in the fashion industry, her studies, setting up her own business and the process of designing clothes. She told the children what inspired her designs: her heritage and the music she loves. She then tasked the children with their own task – to design an outfit inspired by their own musical tastes. Priya will be judging these designs and prizes will be awarded to the winners after half term.
Thank you to Priya for coming to talk to us. It was an inspirational talk and has sparked the creative minds of all our future young designers at NHP! What a fantastic way to end our celebrations for Black History Month.
We would also like to say thank you to our incredible kitchen team for providing the most yummy food in honour of Black History Month. It was fantastic to try a range of delicious dishes to celebrate Black History Month!
Read MoreBlack History Month: Art lessons
As part of Black History Month, Year 2 have been learning about the quilters of Gee Bend in Alabama, USA. The ladies here are from a long line of quilters who, for generations, have been coming together to sew and make quilts. Year 2 learnt how, over a hundred years ago, they did this from old cloth scraps, making quilts to keep themselves warm in the winter. Now their work has become world-renowned and can be viewed in galleries across the globe. Year 2 made their own quilt squares using collage, each table collaborated to choose a colour scheme and then the class put their squares together to make a large class quilt. Each class will put their quilts together to make a whole year collaborative quilt in the style of these amazing African-American artists.
Year 4 have also been busy learning about the artist Augustus Savage. They thought of links between her sculpture ‘The Harp’ (1939) and a hymn they listened to called ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’, before discovering that this hymn was actually what inspired Savage to make this sculpture. The poem was written by James Weldon Johnson and was written as a song of freedom and liberty for all black people. Year 4 learnt about Augusta Savage’s life growing up in Florida where she used to play in her back garden and make little clay figures. She became an artist and teacher, becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance and opening her own art school in Harlem which paved the way for many other black artists. As a group, Year 4 made their own version of ‘Harp’ by lining up in height order. They then worked collaboratively and used their photo as a plan to make their own clay version of ‘Harp’.
Read MoreSharky and George visit NHP
On Monday morning, the thinking skills of Years 7 and 8 were put to the test. Sharky and George and NHP’s Thinking School worked together to create a unique morning of fast, fun and curious challenges to test the brains.
Using Edward de Bono’s thinking hats, the children were split into groups of 6. They discussed different strategies for each task and the group who collected the most coins were crowned the winners. From building the tallest towers, to memory tests to who could carry the most shoes (not forgetting flipping the frisbee with flippers.) The children worked hard to collaborate and think flexibly to win the gold coins.
Read MoreFirst Silverware of the Season
NHP were on great form at the Fulham School ‘B’ team tournaments on Saturday 1st October. The Year 6 team had a slow start in the first two games, with narrow defeats against Kings College and Thomas’s Fulham. They regrouped to draw 1-1 with Fulham School and then had their best performance to beat Thomas’s Clapham 3-1 in the final game, finishing third overall. Alexander B was the player of the tournament, finishing as top scorer with 5 goals.
The Year 5 team went even further with some excellent performances throughout. A 1-0 win against Kings College after a breakaway goal saw them kick off the tournament in great style. Further 1-0 wins followed against Thomas’s Fulham and Fulham School C. A goalless draw against Fulham School B’s prevented a clean sweep but NHP still topped the table to win the tournament and achieve the first medals of the season. Players of the tournament were Horatio S and Agnes F. Well done to everybody involved in both tournaments.
Read MoreNational Poetry Day
Poetry in schools suffers from a bad reputation: often thought of as stuffy and dryly taught, it is not unusual to hear groans of dread from children and adults alike when poetry raises its head. A Punch cartoon, supposedly written by A. E. Housman, perfectly skewers the popular opinion of poetry teaching:
Two English teachers are walking in the woods in springtime. The first, on hearing birdsong, is moved to quote William Wordsworth:
TEACHER 1:
Oh cuckoo, shall I call thee bird
Or but a wandering voice?
TEACHER 2:
State the alternative preferred
With reasons for your choice.
This approach might feel familiar to many of us when looking back on our own school experiences. At NHP, we want to take every opportunity to inject joy, accessibility, and collaboration into poetry instead. This Thursday presented the perfect opportunity.
On National Poetry Day, we all enjoyed reading a selection of poetry together to celebrate the occasion. In English lessons at the start of term, pupils read a range of poetry and voted for their favourites. With best-loved poems decided for the Lower School (How to Turn Your Teacher Purple by James Carter), Middle School (I’d Like to be a Teabag by Peter Dixon), and Upper School (The Mrs Butler Blues by Allan Ahlberg) and a special project for Year 8 (Speech Balloon by Imtiaz Dharker), pupils set about readying themselves for performance. They worked with their English and form teachers to prepare a rousing performance. In culmination, we enjoyed two recital events: Lower School and Year 8 pupils performed to one another, and the Middle and Upper school exchanged recitals. I was so thrilled to see pupils performing with gusto, good humour, and expression. Teaching staff were cajoled into a recital, too, sharing a rendition of My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson. There was something magical about speaking aloud together, a feeling of unity and purpose that provided a feel-good tingle. Stuffy, it was not.
Thank you to all the teachers involved for their support, especially Miss Coffey for her coordination in the Lower School, and a huge well done to all our marvellous poetry performers. You were fantastic!
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