Year 8 Trip to Cornwall

Last week, Year 8 travelled to sunny Newquay in Cornwall. They had a fantastic time on the beach, enjoying late-night swimming, free play, and some relaxed moments together.
They also completed a sunny bike ride into Padstow and spent some time exploring the town. One particular highlight of the week was when they took to the waves for some exhilarating bodyboarding, followed by conquering the zip lines at the Eden Project. However, on Thursday the weather turned for the worse, and they had to think flexibly. Despite the challenges, the morning was spent braving the sea with some thrilling activities. When the rain set in during the afternoon, they sought refuge and fun at the cinema! There was a touch of sadness as the trip drew to a close, but the teachers couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out. Every child was nothing short of amazing – leading by example and taking everything in their stride. Thank you to Mr Hayes for organising this special trip and to the members of staff who accompanied Year 8.

Year 6 Trip to Normandie

Year 6 had a wonderful week at the resplendent Château de Chantereine in Normandie, France. On the first day, they visited Le Treport to see the funicular from 1908 and learn a little local history. They then travelled a little further along the coast to the Cayeux-sur-Mer market and took part in a market mission: pupils had €5 each, browsed the colourful stalls, and put together their own delicious lunch. They also tried ‘crisps of the sea’ (little seaweed leaves that taste like salty crisps) at the stunning Baie de Somme.

They started the next day with a bread-making workshop, resulting in some highly artistic creations! Throughout the workshop, pupils honed both their French speaking and listening skills in order to make their loaves. That afternoon, they made a trip to a dairy farm, where they learned about how the animals are looked after and how the farm operates. The pupils loved meeting the cows and most were brave enough to try their hand at milking, too! A trip to a dairy farm wouldn’t be complete without trying their wares: they were lucky to sample some delicious milk and cheese before heading back to the chateau.

On Thursday, they travelled to the city of Amiens – the capital of the Somme département and home to the largest Gothic cathedral in France. The children were lucky to be able to visit this beautiful and imposing building, which boasts wonderfully intricate stained glass windows. After a quick art history lesson from Madame Levell, the pupils entered respectfully and calmly, eager to see if they could find symbolism in the cathedral’s artwork. They ended their last full day with a ‘discoteque’, showing off their best dance moves!

Throughout the trip, the children demonstrated the NHP habits and their teachers couldn’t be prouder. Thank you to the staff who accompanied the children and particular thanks must go to Madame Levell for organising a truly ‘magnifique‘ trip!

Year 7 Trip to Plas Y Brenin

Year 7 had a blast last week at the beautiful setting of Plas Y Brenin in Wales. They enjoyed lots of different activities, including orienteering, kayaking and mountain walking, which reached its climax with Mr Palmer getting his foot caught in a crag and demanding oxygen at the summit! The fun didn’t stop there and over the next few days, they abseiled from a 10m tower, took part in team building and problem solving on the low ropes course and enjoyed the infamous gorge scrambling.  Decked out in full waterproofs and ready for action, they tackled the elements as they moved through the waters, climbed rocks and slid into the plunge pool. Evenings were spent relaxing and playing card games in the common room to unwind before bed.

Thank you to the following staff members for creating such an incredible and memorable experience for the children: Miss Sweeney, Miss Charlotte (who joined us on a day’s notice), and Mr. Jones. They have been amazing at fostering a supportive environment for your children to push themselves and take on new challenges. A huge thank you must also go to Mr Palmer, for organising such a successful and action-packed trip. The children were very lucky to have them there!

Finally, a thank you to the Year 7 pupils for making this a pleasurable experience, pushing themselves to achieve things they thought they couldn’t, and growing as individuals.

Year 4 Residential Trip

This week, Year 4 went on their first ever residential trip to Manor Adventure in the beautiful Shropshire countryside. They made the most of being amongst nature by taking part in a range of different outdoor-focused activities, including canoeing, archery, abseiling and crate stacking. The children demonstrated many of the NHP habits, as well as excellent teamwork skills, all whilst, most importantly, having fun! They were even joined by some of the local sheep and cows on a relaxing evening walk, a great way to end the day! Overall, a great time was had by all and the children returned back to NHP safely and full of wonderful stories and memories.

Adventure Weekend to Mendip Hills

Last weekend we took a group of 40 children from Y4-8 to the Mendip Hills for our summer term adventure trip. We were exceptionally lucky with beautiful sunshine all weekend which really allowed the children to make the most of the stunning camp site and being free to explore the Somerset countryside. 

Over the 2 days, the children engaged in a variety of activities such as axe throwing, archery, caving and bushcraft which brought out the competitive side in all of us! The highlight of the weekend, for the staff at least, was seeing the children navigate a challenging assault course through thick mud! The shrieks of laughter and enthusiasm that was shown by all made this a wonderful experience and is something the children will remember for a long time. 

The resilience and camaraderie shown by the children during the more demanding segments of the weekend, such as exploring the caves and overcoming obstacles on the muddy assault course, were particularly inspiring. This meant we had many candidates for the “Star of the Day” and it was lovely to hear the children share all the kind acts they had witnessed while sitting round the camp fire in the evening. 

Our next adventure weekend will be in the autumn term, so please keep an eye out on the newsletter where we shall be advertising it at some point this term. 

A big thank you to Miss Engle and Miss Kerr for organising such a fantastic trip and to Mr Thomas, Miss Engle and Miss Kalis for manning the trip and making it run so smoothly. 

Ms Kirby 

Year 5 Residential

Year 5 had an amazing week at The Wilderness Centre in the Forest of Dean. They started with a safe and comfortable journey on the coach, stopping off to eat packed lunches half way through and have a run around. They spent the week taking part in a range of activities, testing skills such as collaboration and resilience and most importantly, having lots of fun! These activities varied from archery and bushcraft to exploring the grounds on a scavenger hunt and even canoeing! During their free evening time, they made the most of the dry conditions and beautiful grounds by playing football, card games, chess and reading. On Tuesday evening, they were treated to toasting delicious marshmallows on a campfire that they had built together! The children loved spending time together in the countryside. Having the whole estate to themselves meant getting in touch with nature and getting to know some of the animals and wildlife – the children were particularly fond of the free-roaming chickens! They may have returned home a little tired and with a bag full of muddy clothes, but they’ve also brought back some amazing memories and stories.

Easter Sailing Trip

This Easter we took 24 children to the beautiful Isle of Wight for NHP’s first ever sailing trip at the UKSA centre! We had an amazing time, gaining experience of sailing dinghies and keelboats, battling some extreme conditions as storm Kathleen arrived. The children grew in confidence over the course of the week, learning how to work as a team to steer and control the vessels, as well as learning how to navigate and plot an accurate course. They also learnt the art of dry capsizing with some hilarious practice attempts that ended in many a marvellous mistake being made!

Other activities the children experienced included kayaking and paddleboarding but the absolute highlight of the trip was our final morning of body boarding. The children faced the huge waves and freezing conditions with trepidation but met them head on with lots of squealing and shrieking from everyone, including the staff!

The evenings were filled with even more entertainment, allowing the children to experience the pure joy of a crabbing competition, a water polo evening and of course the end of trip disco, complete with some sensational dance moves!

Overall, it was a wonderful trip filled with fun activities and valuable lessons about the sea and sailing. The UKSA instructors commented on the maturity and positivity of our NHP children and were blown away by the intelligence of their questions and their willingness to get stuck in.

Well done and thank you to all of our Sailors for such a great trip, and thank you to Ms Kirkland and Mr Hadley for being fantastic skippers!

Ms Kirby

Year 3 Trip to the Roman Verulamium

Last Thursday, year 3 went on an exciting trip to the Verulamium Museum in St Albans. The museum is built on the site of one of the largest Roman cities in Britain and is filled with ancient treasures and mosaics. The children had a wonderful time taking part in a Market Day workshop; they dressed up like a Roman and had to shop in the market to find objects from the Roman times. They also walked around the museum to find out more about life in Roman times to support what we have been learning in history lessons.

Year 7 Visit Parliament

Year 7 visited the Houses of Parliament yesterday! They had a tour of Westminster Palace, sat in the public gallery during a live debate and learnt a lot about how laws are made and how the government works. They were also lucky enough to have a question and answer session with two members of our local MP, Felicty Buchan’s team, one of whom, Ned Whitley, was an ex-NHP pupil and gappie! They were both very impressed with the quality of questions and enthusiasm shown by our NHP students!

Year 6 Visit the NHM and the V&A

On Tuesday, Year 6 visited the NHM and the V&A. They took part in workshops at both museums and were able to do some research drawings of anything that inspired them in preparation for their biomorphic fashion creations this week. We were blown away by what they came up with at the Year 6 fashion showcase!