Children’s Mental Health Week
This week we have been celebrating Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week and this years theme is ‘Let’s connect’ and the children have been looking at ways to connect with others, naming their trusted adults to help with their strength and resilience.
Pupils at NHP were also delighted to have author Amie Taylor visit and speak to them about her book, “The Monster Book of Feelings”. Her insightful talk helped the pupils understand their worries and feelings in a new light, and showed them how to cope with their emotions in a positive way. The pupils were captivated by Amie’s story and her relatable characters in “The Monster Book of Feelings”, and the book has since become a favourite among many of them. Amie’s visit was a highlight for the pupils and an experience they will never forget, as it has had a profound impact on their understanding and appreciation of their emotions.
We were also very fortunate to have Rachel Kelly, a keynote speaker, bestselling writer and mental health advocate in to see us at the PGB. She shared with us some of her own experiences about battling poor mental health and how the use of poetry helped her. We looked at the use of poetry together using extracts of her new book and the sophistication and challenge of a poet like Herbert and the poem ‘Love’.
Rachel commented: ‘I was profoundly moved by the brightness and engagement of the children. I salute all you are doing at the school to take well-being and emotional health seriously. If the children realise how important their mental health is at this age, they may save themselves anguish later. I only wish we had talked about feelings at my school!’
We also had a brilliant assembly singing as a whole school to ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ (supported by our wonderful staff band!). It was moving to see all of NHP coming together in support of such an important topic.
Read MoreBradfield College Public Speaking Competition
On a crisp February afternoon, a group of Year 6 and 7 students from Notting Hill Prep set off on a journey to Bradfield College for a public speaking competition. The students were eager and nervous, as they knew they would be facing some tough competition.
Upon arrival, they were greeted by the welcoming staff and judges. The students were impressed by the beautiful architecture and the historical significance of the college. They took a moment to take it all in and to mentally prepare themselves for the competition ahead.
The public speaking competition consisted of a variety of topics, from contemporary issues to more light-hearted themes. The students did their best to captivate their audience with their speeches, speaking with confidence and poise. Their passion and dedication was evident, and they truly represented Notting Hill Prep in the best possible way.
There was a high standard of competition and unfortunately the students did not win. However, this did not diminish their efforts and achievements. The judges were impressed by the students’ bravery and determination, and they all received a round of applause for their performances.
The students returned to Notting Hill Prep with their heads held high, proud of what they had accomplished. They may not have won the competition, but they had performed admirably and had done Notting Hill Prep proud. They have learned a great deal about public speaking and have gained valuable experience, which will stand them in good stead for future challenges.
Read MoreNHP French Day
What a day we’ve had in the OB celebrating all things French! Pupils enjoyed a petit déjeuner, making sure to be courteous: using their magic French words ‘s’il vous plaît’ and ‘merci beaucoup’! Each year group had a workshop with Mademoiselle Jamieson and Madame Levell, where they sang in French and showed how much they have learned! Pupils applied past knowledge and communicated with clarity in French! The fun wasn’t over and we had a delicious déjeuner français, then later in the afternoon all of Lower School got together for assembly where we celebrated how well pupils participated and how fantastic all of their costumes were. We had one more surprise in store! French-speaking parents came and read a story in French to all classes in the OB. Merci, les parents! Nous adorons le français!
Pupils in the JCB and PGB were also able to participate in the French lunch, they had discussions with their forms about communicating in French and reflected on some famous Francophones, using their P4C skills.
It was really wonderful to see how much the children enjoyed every element of the day, celebrating their cultural and linguistic knowledge, and sharing their French skills with their friends and teachers.
Madame Levell et Mademoiselle Jamieson.
Cheltenham College Maths Competition
On Tuesday 31st January, NHP returned to Cheltenham College to take part in their annual maths competition. Four Year 5 and four Year 6 pupils, accompanied by Mr Lee and Mr Hayes, travelled down the M4 in the school minibus, excited about the prospect of retaining our gold medals from last year.
The children worked collaboratively on a range of tasks, which included a group round, a set of sequential questions (where no communication was allowed) and a team relay race. They displayed wonderful enthusiasm, great resilience and superb teamwork, which saw them surpass seven other schools to, once again, win first place in both year groups! The children were a credit to NHP and should be extremely proud of their achievement!
Well done to our gold medalists:
Year 5:
Júlia B-M, Lena S, Aditya P, Alexandra K.
Year 6:
Camille C, Nikolai G, Blake C, Winston H.
Mr Lee
Read MoreYear 2 author visit
Year 2 had a wonderful visit from the dynamic duo, the Brothers McLeod this week. Greg and Myles McLeod treated each class to a special session to explore the creative process of writing and illustrating their much-loved books. After some dramatic readings, Greg and Myles revealed some of their tricks on how to write and illustrate a book. The children then created imaginary knights and wizards following the McLeod 7-point plan! Imaginations were allowed to grow wings and run free, which resulted in some brilliant character creations.
Read MoreAuthor and illustrator visit
The Reception and Year 1 children were treated to a very special visit on Wednesday afternoon. We were lucky to welcome a very talented pair of sisters to NHP. Lisa Read and Kim Ansell created the magical picture book ‘Fredrick the Fox’. After a wonderful reading to each class, Lisa and Kim went through all the tricks of the trade on how to create a picture book. Lisa showed the children her water colour paints; her sketch book filled with the drawings which went on to create ‘Fredrick the Fox’. Kim talked about using the right words and helping the rhyme bounce along from beginning to end. They also talked about how they specially made their book environmentally friendly by having it printed in the UK and using vegetable based prints. The children learnt that both Lisa and Kim used many of the NHP habits to produce the book, such as persisting and persevering to get the pictures just right, and reflecting and evaluating to make sure their layout was the best it could be, to name a few.
Oxford University Computing Challenge
At the beginning of November all children in Year 4 to 8 took part in the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge. We were extremely pleased that 12 children at NHP scored in the top 10% in the country and were therefore invited to take part in the next round, the Oxford University Computing Challenge.
The 12 pupils have been giving up their lunchbreaks once week to prepare with Ms Kirkland, and today our NHP students took a part in the challenge.
NHP Future Schools’ Presentation
The JCB Hall was buzzing on Monday evening with nearly a hundred Year 4 and 5 parents, gathered together to hear about the Senior School journey. NHP are committed to guiding parents through the (sometimes quite complicated and overwhelming) application process and ensuring that their children remain happy and thriving in the school that suits their needs.
Read MoreBasic Lunch
At NHP, our pupils are fortunate enough to be able to access nutritious and varied meals made up of a number of different ingredients and portions generous enough to power them through the day and keep their brains and bodies healthy and growing. Statistics show that a shocking 29% of children in Kensington and Chelsea are living in poverty, of which food poverty plays a huge part, and 33% of London adults have skipped meals to save money so that their children can eat. This winter, the rise in the cost of living continues to leave many of our local community struggling to put food on the table and keep their homes warm. Often, they will have to choose between the two – a situation which causes incredible stress and anxiety.
As winter and the cost of living crisis continues within our community, on Tuesday our pupils had the opportunity to play a vital part in supporting the work of the Kensington & Chelsea Foodbank through donating the saved costs from a ‘basic lunch’. With the aim of saving on food costs to donate to the foodbank, our Catering Team devised a reduced lunch menu for our pupils consisting of pasta with tomato sauce, soup, crudités, bread and a deliciously simple sweet treat; all basic staples (aside from the fresh produce) that are offered to those who seek support from our local foodbank at the Notting Hill Methodist Church, just down the road from NHP. The Kensington & Chelsea Foodbank is part of a London wide network providing three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food packages and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis. All the food they are given is donated from local people and organisations. Sadly for far too many, the foodbank is a major lifeline and so it stands as a crucial part of our local community. From just one lunch, we were able to make an incredible saving of £299 to donate to the foodbank to support those in need locally and we look forward to introducing the ‘basic lunch’ again in the near future, as well as working more closely with the Kensington & Chelsea Foodbank.
The children really appreciated taking the time to hear some interesting information on the work of the charity, creating a greater awareness around food poverty within our borough, and feedback from the lunch was that it was a resounding success.
Read More“‘Could we do this every week?’”
“It’s nice to think that we are making a difference”
“I will really appreciate lunch tomorrow in a different way’”
“I do miss the salad bar a bit, but it’s worth it”
Nutrition Talk by Sodexo
Today, NHP were joined by Amy Teichman, the Quality and Nutrition Manager for Sodexo (the catering providers for NHP), for an informative talk on child nutrition, based on extensive research and experience within the schools’ sector. She discussed how the catering team at NHP creates varied and balanced meals that work on a three-week rota to provide our pupils with a wide range of options. We allow our children freedom to choose the food items on their plates in a controlled and monitored environment, encouraging them to add vegetables where needed.
By including a twice-weekly sweet treat, she spoke about how this enables pupils to understand that all food types can be enjoyed in moderation; thus building the foundations for a healthy and happy life both in and out of school.
Amy gave some great tips to our attending parents on how to how to incorporate healthier ingredients into regular meals, which even the fussiest of children will enjoy! We finished the session with a demonstration of recommended portion sizes and how our catering team measures each portion when preparing food for the children, finishing off with a Q&A, which covered points in the answers such as how it is very normal for children to be hungry and wanting a snack around 3pm after a good lunch, how portion sizes vary from lower down the school to higher up and and how student voice is important to the school through feedback on the food discussed at School Council.
It was an incredibly informative talk and one which highlighted the pivotal role that schools take in creating a healthy relationship with eating.
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