NHP Easter Music Concert 2023
Our Easter Music Concert which took place on Wednesday evening this week was a very special event, highlighting, as it did, the depth and breadth of musical talent that we have here at NHP. The standard of music just seems to be getting better and better each year. Well done to our many choirs, ensembles and orchestras who performed with enthusiasm, passion, commitment and enjoyment which was evident for all to see and was much appreciated by everyone who attended.
Thanks must also go to our amazing in-house music team of Mrs Chambers, Mr Harlan and Mr Grappy as well as to our peripatetic teachers: Abby, Alvaro, Carlos, Javier, Jennifer, Karen, Liz, Meinir, Melissa, Michael, Saranne and Thomas – for all they do to support music throughout the year at NHP.
Read MoreUpper School Debate Evening
A hearty congratulations to all those involved in the Upper School Debate Evening this week. Pupils demonstrated great courage and confidence in their debates, with many masking waves of nerves with aplomb as they took their seats. Our NHP Habits were in full force: collaboration between teammates was supportive and spurred on competition; ideas were communicated with clarity and precision; our summary speakers in particular had to exercise great flexibility of thought, especially when faced with our audience’s witty and probing questions. We were entertained, challenged, and enlightened by all; well done! Thank you to parents for joining us and casting those all-important votes. A special thank you to the English department for their time, support, and good humour throughout, and to all members of staff who contributed time and expertise to the event.
Read MoreWorld Maths Day 2023
This week, NHP celebrated International World Maths Day in style! Each year group was allocated a specific task or topic to focus on:
Reception used tangrams to experiment with 2D shapes in different orientations and make pictures.
Year 1 took on The Caterpillar Challenge using knowledge of odd and even numbers, halving and subtraction. They investigated which starting numbers would create longer caterpillars.
Year 2 investigated the properties of odd and even numbers through exploration of ‘always, sometimes or never?’ questions. They applied their past knowledge of addition and multiplication to prove or disprove a range of mathematical statements.
Year 3 were given blank ‘100 squares’ and had to represent different numbers by colouring the exact number of squares. They explored the largest and smallest legible representations.
Year 4 learnt about tessellation with a focus on the work of Maurits Escher. The children created their own tessellating patterns, and investigated whether all quadrilaterals can be tessellated.
Year 5 learnt about the Fibonacci sequence, created Fibonacci spirals and discovered how these numbers can be seen in nature.
Year 6 explored the golden ratio and created their own maps showing the direction, bearings and distance between various points.
Year 7 consolidated on their knowledge of Speed, Distance and Time. They calculated the average speed of their paper aeroplanes.
Year 8 investigated permutations and combinations using factorials. They also looked at some advanced Fibonacci questions.
The winners of this year’s Upper School World Maths Day Quiz were: Ingrid, Arlo and Milo W from Year 7. Congratulations to our champions!
I would like to thank all of the children for their enthusiasm and the fantastic work they produced, and to the teachers for delivering the sessions so passionately!
Mr Lee
Read MoreYear 3 Author Visit
The Year 3s were entranced by their Monday author visit. Andy Jones came bouncing into the JCB to talk about his latest book ‘ Bob vs The Selfie Zombie’. Andy spoke about his fascinating path into the writing world and how his two children inspired him to move from writing books for adults to writing for children. Andy’s two obsessions as a Year 3 child were Time Travel and Zombies, and he used this passion for creating this book. He mentioned some beautiful ideas to encourage Year 3 to write their books. Andy then transported all the children and teachers to the future!
If any of the children would like a copy of the book, you can buy them here.
Read MoreHoli Festival 2023
To celebrate Holi, our pupils were visited by ISKCON London. They had the opportunity to learn about the origins of Holi through presentations, music, face paint and dancing! Our catering team also laid on an incredible Holi feast.
Take One Picture
NHP are, once again, joining the National Gallery to celebrate, explore, discuss and create around their chosen picture. This year the painting selected for schools is Henri Rousseau’s Surprise!
On Wednesday, the children started their Take One Picture adventure.
First, the children listened to a soundscape and were asked to write down everything that came to mind when listening to create the atmosphere.
Then, they were shown snippets of the image taken out of context and challenged to work out what they thought the picture was of.
Finally, they were asked to guess the picture’s title when it was revealed in its entirety.
Mr Ashmole, Miss Chute and Miss Nichols then led each building through a giant Philosophy for Children (P4C) lesson around the painting to generate some thoughtful ‘big questions’. We will then use these questions to create future discussions and, most importantly, art sessions leading to another wonderful NHP art exhibition in the summer term.
Some wonderful philosophers emerged in each session – Well done, NHP!
Read MoreWorld Book Day 2023
A glorious array of mysterious characters walked through the halls of NHP on Thursday. From a host of Sherlocks, Matildas, Detective Dogs, and everything in between, NHP was a riot of imagination. Thank you to all the parents, staff and pupils for embracing the dressing-up opportunity.
NHP were thrilled to host not just one but two authors today for World Book Day. Nadine Kadaan spoke to the OB and JCB children about her beautiful books. As a talented author and illustrator, Nadine told the children about how to create a picture book and the inspiration behind her stories. She also imparted her knowledge of how to draw eyes for different emotions!
Mitch Johnson then enthralled the PGB with his high-octane fizzy drink adventure and fascinating facts about the empire of a well-known sugary drink. The older children hopefully walked away with a greater understanding of how sneaky advertising companies are and the impact plastic has on the world.
Thank you to Susie Comish, Lauren Jarrett, Jo Benians and all the lovely volunteers for decorating the diners.
Read MoreGrow2Know visits NHP
This week, we welcomed NHP alumnus Tayshan Hayden-Smith (2008-10) to lead assemblies to our OB, JCB and PGB pupils. He introduced his non-profit Grow2Know CIC to the children and explained how he formed his charity which offers individuals and communities opportunities to connect and learn through nature. The pupils were challenged with the question ‘What does a classroom look like to you?’ and later to come up with some ideas to the question ‘What could a classroom look like to you?’. We had some fantastic answers involving plants, class pets, water slides, grass flooring, hovering desks, beanbags and much, much more! We look forward to working with Tayshan and Grow2Know on updating a number of the outdoor spaces at NHP, and even including some of the brilliant and original ideas from the children.
Read MoreBake Sale for the Earthquake Emergency Appeal
With the tragedy of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria remaining ever present and the need for support on the ground growing, NHP hosted two cake sales this week to raise funds for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Their emergency appeal is directly supporting those who have been so devastatingly impacted by the earthquakes through providing essential life-saving provisions such as medical supplies, food, water and shelter, at a time of great suffering for so many.
A big thank you to Mrs Kane for leading the efforts and to Miss Hibbert, Mr Clark and our Gappies – Grace, May, Finn and Isobel – for their support in helping to run the stall. And thank you to everyone who bought cakes and donated, an incredible £650 was raised for DEC that will have a life-changing impact for so many.
Read MoreWhat we’ve been up to for Children’s Mental Health Week
NHP children are leading the way in showing us that good mental health is so important and still remains our priority at NHP. Take a look at the photos to see what they’ve been up to!
6LL are linking hands to support each other and show how important friendship is:
4S below made some posters showing some mindfulness breathing techniques:
5HP won the prize for the longest paper chain that they made for Children’s Mental Health week ‘making connections’. Well done, 5HP!
