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!
Read MoreYear 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.
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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.
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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
Read MoreYear 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.
Read MoreBBC 500 Words
NHP was lucky to receive 500 books from the BBC last term, courtesy of an NHP pupil’s winning 500 Words entry. We are lucky to already have access to a wide range of wonderful books at school so we agreed that it would be great to donate some books to benefit those in our local community. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring boxes upon boxes of books, and have picked out a few fantastic titles to keep and share with NHP pupils. The remaining 460 or so were ferried to St Charles Primary School to be added to their library. We were very warmly welcomed at St Charles, whose staff were keen to hear all about our pupil’s experience. We were also able to visit their library to see where the books would be housed. They were very grateful for the donation, and we are so proud of our NHP pupil’s philanthropic spirit.
Read MoreThe NHCCC’s Amazing Assembly!
Last week we welcomed the Year 4’s from our partner schools to an assembly lead by the amazing Notting Hill Children’s Community Choir. The audience enjoyed an energetic 30 minutes of fun and games learning new songs before rounding off with an incredible choir performance!
Read MoreBen Martynoga visits NHP and Thomas Jones Primary School
NHP and one of our partner schools, Thomas Jones Primary School, were delighted to have a visit from the hugely knowledgeable and inspiring author, Ben Martynoga. Ben has the wonderful ability to create stories out of biological research, allowing children to explore and enter into a world that might otherwise remain unknown. Ben has just released his fourth book in his ‘Explodapedia’ series called ‘Rewild’.
As NHP goes into Climate Week, Ben captivated the children’s attention with interesting thoughts about the human vs nature relationship that we have developed. He talked about scientists exploring the idea of bringing back the woolly mammoth to save the ice caps, the dream of making the earth 50% wild, and the idea of looking after our ‘keystone’ animals such as beavers and wolves.
Ben taught the children about ten steps that we can all take to make this dream a reality from throwing seed bombs in forgotten places, to planting a tree and thinking about the actions we take: and many more!
New Head of NHP
We are delighted to announce that Mrs Maxine Shaw will join NHP as Head from September 2024. She has a wealth of Headship experience drawn from a number of excellent schools and knows the demands of 11+ and 13+ inside out. She leads with heart, puts children first and celebrates the joy of learning. Maxine champions diversity and inclusion; she is also passionate about the work of the NHP Foundation. We are looking forward to welcoming Mrs Shaw to the NHP community!
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