Year 6 Play Performance
We have collectively run out of superlatives to describe Year 6’s performance of ‘Oliver!’ this week. Praise cannot be heaped upon them enough for their accomplished execution of this beloved musical. There is no denying that they are a talented bunch: expressive actors, versatile singers, comedic entertainers and skilled dancers abound. We were so spoiled for choice that we triple-cast the show with talent to spare. What I have been even more impressed by is their collaboration, optimism, commitment, and support of one another throughout the rehearsal process. The pupils’ professionalism and enthusiasm shone through in their performances, and they enjoyed rapturous standing ovations from their audiences. We are so proud of them; they feel, rightly, proud of themselves!
My Oliver Play experience has been one of the best shows I have ever been in. It was also my favorite part of the school year. Rehearsals were amazing for expressing our feelings while we were acting. I was so excited to be a workhouse governor in the show, and it was as fun as I thought it would be. It felt so good to perform and find my full potential on stage. I am so ecstatic for my next awesome show. I learned so much about life on stage. It was sometimes easy, sometimes hard, but we always got through it. Thank you so much to my lovely teachers for helping our show become the best it could be. Especially Paige, Mrs. Skeoch, Mrs. Chambers and Mr. Harlan. This show was certainly the best show, good enough to be in the West End!
Zephyrus Cunningham
Read MoreIt was a really fun experience to be involved in the ‘Oliver!’ production and to work on it as a year group. The rehearsals took a lot of effort, but it was definitely worth it to put on a show for everyone. I feel that lots of people suited their roles very well. All of the teachers who were involved with the production were really amazing and I am really thankful that they put in the work to make sure that we had an enjoyable time and that our parents could see us in the play as a finale of Year 6. I loved all of the songs that were performed and think that it was an amazing production with great choreography, costumes, singing and acting, which was made even better by the fact that everyone helped to put it together.
Ivy Byng
Year 8 Author Visit
Year 8 had a very special visit from Beatrice Forshall on Wednesday morning, talking about her significant and beautiful book, ‘The Vanishing Species’. From a young age, Beatrice has been on a mission to give a voice to the precious animals we share this planet with who are sadly disappearing. Through her beautiful artwork and incredible research, she took the Year 8s on tour through some of the species we share our planet with, sharing fascinating information about these unique species we know, such as the Orca, and those that we may not have come across such as the dragon-like olm who does not need eyes. We all came away inspired to understand more about our impact on the world around us and help Beatrice amplify the voices of the voiceless.
Year 7 Author Visit
On Monday morning, the Year 7s met an author who ‘thinks flexibly’ when writing a book. His book ‘Archimedes and the adventure in the Backyard’, is an interactive multimedia S.T.E.A.M book, combining fiction and non-fiction. Carmel Cohen is a self-published scientist, author and illustrator who believes in combining one’s passions to do what you love. He hooked the children’s attention with magic tricks and talked about creating a story and following the ark of Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey’. Carmel then opened up the imaginative world of creating story characters. The children tried their hand at creating a new character by combining two ideas, such as a skateboarder and an elephant; or a ladybird with a pirate! The children let their imaginations run wild.
Year 8 Post 13+ Programme
This week, our Year 8 pupils began their two week long post 13+ programme; a chance for the children to build on personal skills and to have fun before they leave NHP. Take a look at the exciting activities they got up to!
Year 8 Residential Trip
Year 8 have been having a glorious time in Newquay this week. On Wednesday, they got plenty of surfing practice once all of the morning fog had cleared from the water! On Thursday, they headed to Aquapark for more water-related fun, followed by a 17km bike ride along the Camel River trail and pizzas near the beach.
Read MoreYear 6 Residential Trip
The Year 6 French trip to Normandy has been a great success! Throughout the week, pupils have learned about culture, history, life skills, and more through the medium of French. From market missions and historical discoveries, to farm and coastal explorations, it has been wonderful to see how pupils have grown in confidence using their language skills with real French people. I have been so proud of how pupils have conducted themselves and made huge efforts with their French, on which they have been frequently complimented. It has been a great trip that pupils will remember for a long time to come!
Read MoreBee News!
Last week Miss Marani welcomed two new colonies of honey bees delivered at crack of dawn from the New Forest. A special thank you to Kirsty Wright (mother of Wilf Yr8 and Bhodi Yr3) for the generous gift and to Simon of https://www.thenoblebee.com for showing us how to transfer them from their travelling ‘Nuc’ box to our hives.
The beekeeping club, and friends, has since been up to the JCB Roof terrace to check on the bees and we were very excited to spot the queen in the hive. She appears to be laying a lot of eggs and we hope that soon our colonies will grow and they will start to make enough honey for us to taste too!
Helpful hint when handling bees: Always remain calm and move slowly and gently when opening and closing a hive.
Read MoreYear 7 Residential Trip
On the first day of the trip, our Year 7s demonstrated their resilience to make it to the summit of Moel Siabod in the glorious sunshine. The weather was roasting (as the photos demonstrate!) and the children had to persevere and push themselves to conquer the mountain which resulted in smiles all round!
On return to our base, we decided a dip in the lake was called for and highly deserved after their hard work. This was a fun and refreshing treat to celebrate the end of their walk and cool them down for their evening activity of orienteering.
Later on, half the group went to gorge scramble and the other half took part in paddle sports and wall climbing.
On Wednesday, we had another action packed day in sunny North Wales. Groups 1 and 2 got stuck into a full day of gorge scrambling, exploring local rivers and caves by getting waist deep in freezing water! They then completed the low ropes course in the afternoon developing their team work and communication through a series of fun group challenges.
Groups 3 and 4 spent the entire morning paddle boarding on the lake in glorious conditions followed by an afternoon climbing some incredibly challenging rock faces. The days excitement didn’t end there with both groups coming together to take part in an evening activity of abseiling before settling down to bed.
It was wonderful to see both groups impressing their instructors yesterday and receiving compliments on their positivity and willingness to give everything a go, even when feeling pretty exhausted after our mountain climb the day before!
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