Year 9 on the News! - Northampton School for Girls

Northampton
School for Girls
Respect for Self
Respect for Others
Respect for Learning
Year 9 on the News!
On the 19th of March a number of Year 9 students made their way to Franklins
Gardens to film a news segment for Anglia News. They were the winners of a
regional competition and were selected from 40 schools to get their idea on the
news. They went to the Mobbs Memorial Match to commemorate the life of Edgar
Mobbs who played rugby for Northampton and England. Edgar was considered
too old to be enlisted into the army when the war broke out, however, he gathered
together the support of around 250 sportsmen and formed his own company. He
was very well respected and was wounded on two occasions. He was killed in
action, in July 1917, at Zillebeke during the Third Battle of Ypres, during an attack
on a machine gun post. His body has never been found, so his name is on
the Menin Gate memorial. He was honoured with the Distinguished Service
Order.
The girls found his story interesting and their pitch to commemorate him was
accepted. We are incredibly proud of them and cannot wait for their story to be
shown on Anglia News!
NSG picture board
Intermediate Mathematical Challenge
February 2014
Congratulations to all of the Year 9 and 10 girls who took part in the Mathematical
challenge in February. Extra congratulations to those mentioned below who achieved a
Gold, Silver or Bronze certificate.
Gold
Alicia Dominique
Silver winners:
Millie Billson
Alisha Thomas
Hermione Lloyd Loasby
Ruth Murphy
Ellie Phipps
Eva Ressel
Nesha Vuriti
Zoe Eaves
Gabbie Slater
Lucy Holden
Bronze winners:
Olivia Soper
Ellie Roberts
Chloe Hoyte
Chloe Richardson
Samantha Banks
Dixey Dixon
Linda Truong
Tayla Swan
Ella Machin-Bradbury
Katie Horne
Nassima Ali
Jasmine Mahoney
Idil Mohamed
Arabella Smith
Laura King
Jiya Thomas
Nicole Daley
Precious Ogaji
Priya Patel
Xenia Christofi
Jade Chowdhry
Merin Nedumkallel
Verity Gonzalez
Sophie King
Production Arts Care Home Visit
On December 18th 2013, Year 12 Production Arts took the AS Music students to perform Carols at
Oak Lodge Residential Home. As part of our course, we had to organise an event for the
community, and we saw this as a chance to give something back. As a team we came up with the
Carol Concert for Oak Lodge as we thought this would be a nice event for the residents leading up
to Christmas.
On the day of the event, everything was set up extremely well and we felt that this event was a
rewarding experience for all those involved and it was
clear that the residents really enjoyed the service, with a
few of them even singing along. The Production Arts
team were very pleased with how well the event turned
out and how professional and outstanding the AS Music
students were. As well as our visit to the care home, we
have also organised other events, Teacher’s Got Talent
and Rock Up In Red, to raise money for the British Heart
Foundation.
CELEBRATING ANOTHER YEAR OF BEING
A FAIRTRADE SCHOOL
In March it was confirmed that we have gained the highest of the three new fair-trade schools
awards and can now call ourselves a Fairachiever School. Comments from our assessment
included:
“Fantastic evidence! You have really kept up with the great work”
“All the work submitted is wonderful. I really liked the way that you are actively trying to reach
all year groups”
“You should be very proud of all your pupils and staff – what a wonderful application to review. I
am very pleased to recommend this for approval. Congratulations!”
Many thanks to Mrs J Skuce, Mrs D Guy, Mary Okyere, Grace Reynolds, Daniela Johnston,
Niamh Murphy, Skye Clarkson, Leah Cowee, Julianne Pastor, Emily Hodgson, Courtney Honey,
Maida Umme, Tobi Ireoluwe. What a great team!
Members of the school’s fair-trade committee and invited guests enjoyed a traditional tea party
to celebrate our achievement.
Article by Mrs K Print. Photograph by Hattie Billson
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT EVENTS
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We held the Big NSG Bake-Off for the second year running. We had another great turn-out,
with both students and staff entering the competition, and the winners are listed below. The
judges were really impressed by the quality of the cakes submitted. The cakes were then
sold in aid of the British Red Cross Syria Crisis Appeal. Our sixth-form representatives, Mary
and Tobi, also served tea and coffee in the sixth-form centre to raise money for the British
Red Cross. In total we raised over £100.
We sold Fairtrade bananas at the after-school tuck shop and Dubble chocolate bars as a
special treat.
All year groups were invited to take part in a "Bonkers or Bananas" Fairtrade quiz. All
participants earned stickers for their tutor groups. The winners were 8JSE with five correct
answers.
Years 7 and 8 watched a Fairtrade assembly about this year's Fairtrade Fortnight campaign
focus, fair-trade bananas.
NSG FAIRTRADE BAKE-OFF WINNERS
Overall Winner - Emily Butt - wins a £20 Homesense voucher
Best Decorated KS4 - Courtney Johnson
Best Decorated KS3 - Katia Spencer-Lopes
Second Place in KS4 - Harriot Pinion
Second Place in KS3 - Lily Curtis
Prettiest icing - Eleanor Mitchell
Most Inventive Structure - Hannah Davy
Best Recipe Presentation - Ashleigh Stuart
Best Shaped Cake - Jessica Prioletti
Best Cookies - Tanzi Chaudhury
Best Construction - Sofina Begum and
Fatima Miah
Most Novel Icing - Lili Pap and Lena Begum
Staff Winner - Mrs L McLellan
Staff Runner Up - Mr J Armstrong
News from the Governing Body
A new staff governor has been appointed this term due to the resignation of Mrs Wendy
Tarlton. Following requests for nominations from both teaching and associate staff, Mrs
Lorraine Foster (DT) submitted her self nomination and was subsequently appointed to the
governing body.
We will also be looking for a new parent governor next term; Mrs Sarah Uldall, who has
been a governor since March 2010, has come to the end of her four year term of office. If
you are interested in becoming a parent governor at NSG, please look out for the
information letter and nomination forms which will be distributed shortly.
The governors and staff at NSG would like to thank both Mrs Tarlton and Mrs Uldall for their
valued contribution to the work of the governing body.
Year 10 Graphics
In preparation for their GCSE this class has designed and manufactured their own Point of
Sale, to introduce a make up brand to the city of their choice. They have used a range of
materials and processes to creatively and accurately produce these inspiring and
complex products. Well Done!
Here is a small sample of their amazing work...
ART News
NSG Sport News
Basketball - National Competition
All six of the NSG teams have been participating in the England
Basketball National Competitions and four of these teams are still in
action with the Under 17 team reaching the National Semi Finals.
Under 13 Team
The team qualified for the Zone Round of the competition as the best
second place team, this was on the back of a win against Weavers School
and a loss against Wrenn School. The team played St. Bedes Catholic
Middle School and won a very close game by 6 points. The girls will now
have another game against Sir Jonathon North from Leicester to see if
they can progress to the Quarter Final Stages.
The Under 14 Girls won the County Tournament and qualified to play in the East Midlands county
winners tournament which was staged at NSG. At the Regional Tournament NSG finished in fourth
place beating Caistor Yarborough Academy but unfortunately losing to Christ the King School form
Nottingham, Sir Jonathon North from Leicester and West Park School from Derbyshire.
Our Under 15 Girls played Twycross House School from Warwickshire and won 84-55 which meant
they had won the Pool. The cross over game against Great Baddow Sports College was always
going to be tough but the team led by Caitlin Stewart and Sarah Round managed to win by no less
than 27 points (97-70). Sarah Round scored an amazing 46 points whilst Caitlin Stewart had 38
points and over 20 rebounds. These two players showed why they have represented their country at
basketball in the past and hopefully in the future too. In the next round NSG will play the winners of
West Park and Twycross and will hope to go through to the quarter finals where they will have a very
tough game against Greensward School from Essex.
The Under 16 Girls team
Their second pool game was against Nottingham Academy which they won 86-24 and this was
followed by a convincing win against St. John Houghton School. NSG poured in 92 points whilst the
Ilkeston based School could only manage 22. This meant a cross over game against Thomas
Telford School and NSG won despite a lack lustre performance. The score was 87-31 and the win
puts NSG in the last 16 round against Nottingham Academy.
NSG Under 17 Girls played against Anthony Gell School and Won 79-6 as they dominated play and
then Nottingham academy and again won 55-24. In the return fixture against Anthony Gell NSG took
a less experienced team but still won 72-36. In the final Pool game against Nottingham Academy,
NSG completed their 100% record winning 68-35 and qualified for the National Semi Finals against
Loreto College from Manchester.
The Under 18 team
Put in a good performance against Nottingham academy to take the win 56-33 and then took on the
local Moulton College Basketball Academy which had in their team former NSG students Rio
Blessyn and Steph Ogden.
This was always going to be a close game and it couldn’t have been closer as the scores finished
46-44 to Moulton, NSG losing by just one basket.
As predicted the former NSG students dominated the Moulton team but for this season this meant
that NSG would not progress to the final stages of the Under18 competition
NSG Sport News
County Basketball Competitions
NSG Year 7 Basketball Team have been practicing hard and their first experience of competition was
the district schools tournament which was hosted by NSG. Three teams were entered and sixth formers
helped with officiating and coaching with NSG “A” winning the event and qualifying for the Schools
Games Finals.
At the Finals NSG played against the winners of the other districts in a Round Robin Tournament and
came away victorious beating Corby Community College, Wrenn School and Latimer School to bring
home the trophy.
The members of the successful NSG team were: Isabel
Addy, Anna Wood, Chante Hines, Tierra Marcano, Ellie
Hankins, Katie Dinnell, Isabel Codling, Ony Onwumechili,
Topia Bruce, Daisy Francis, Jade Patel and Emily Awoyemi.
Emma Salisbury was also part of the Schools Games
Basketball event as she was chosen as one of six in the
County to be a Basketball Volunteer. She officiated the
games and received a Volunteers pack for all her hard work.
Well done Emma.
Netball
There have been a number of friendly games between NSG and Northampton Grammar School and all
the girls that have played have represented the school well. Games have been played at Under 12 age
groups up to U18 age groups and both NSG and NGS have won games.
Zonal Trampoline Finals 2014
Under 19 elite team came 2nd in the competition. Team consisted of Ciara-Louise May, Katie Greene,
Nicola Andrews and Alice Findlay. The girls went through to the National Finals in Gateshead on 22nd
March and finished in 6th place. Well done.
New leotards donated from Friends of NSG
A big thank you to Friends of NSG for donating
money towards new leotards for the trampolining
team. Four new leotards were purchased and the
girls will be wearing them for the National Finals,
thank you!
NSG Sport News
Cross Country
English Schools Cross Country Championships - Castle Donnington, Leicestershire
Rhona Grant and Nicole Johnson were selected to compete in the English Schools Cross Country
Championships at Castle Donnington. The course was challenging on a lovely spring morning and they
both finished in the top 200 out of 300 students competing in their age group. Well done to both
students on this fantastic achievement!
Anglian School Cross Country Championships - Wellingborough
Congratulations to Emily Williams who was crowned Anglian Minor Girls Champion 2014. She
competed against a tough field of students representing their schools and county from across the
Anglia region. Nicole Johnson finished in 39th place in the Intermediate Girls race and Rhona Grant
finished 22nd in the Junior Girls race. Well done to all three athletes!
Athletics
Town Indoor Athletics Championships - NSG
Congratulations to the Year 7 & 8 indoor athletics teams, who finished in 1st and 2ns place against
the other schools in the Town. The competition was held at NSG and the students participated in a
couple of events varying from sprints, speed bounce, vertical jump and relays.
Schools Games County Indoor Athletics Championships - KLV, Kettering
Both the year 7 & 8 competed in the indoor athletics competition at Kettering Leisure Village as part of
the School Games. The girls competed in at least a field event and track event against a number of
schools from across the County. The Year 7 team finished in 5th place and the Year 8 team finished
in 4th place overall.
Well done to all who took part!
Table Tennis
County Table Tennis Championships 2014
Congratulations to Bhavika Mistry and Mollie Wood who were crowned County
Champions 2014. Bhavika won the Under 13 and Mollie won the U19, both will
go on to compete at the Regional Finals in March. Well done to Katie and Laura
Heathfield who finished 3rd and 4th in the U13 competition as well.
Bhavika Mistry (County Champion 2014)
NSG Sport News
Schools games Table Tennis & Badminton
Bhavika was joined by twins Katie & Laura Heathfield in
the NSG Table Tennis team who qualified to take part in
the Schools Games Competition The trio dominated the
competition and went on to win the trophy on behalf of
the Northampton District.
The three medal winners were then joined by Yasmin
Thompson and the four competed in the badminton
Competition which they went on to become champions of
too. A great day for the NSG students at the Schools
Games and the girls should all be very proud of their
achievements.
Thank you to Mrs Parker and Mrs Cooke for taking the girls to the Table Tennis and badminton
events respectively.
Summer After-School Activities
Look out for the new summer extra-curricular programme which will be out after Easter. The activities
will start early due to competitions and fixtures we have coming up:
Athletics Club - Tuesday After-school
Basketball Clubs & Team Practices – Mondays & Thursdays After School and Extended
Rounders Club - Thursday After-school
Tennis Club - Wednesday After-school
Self-Defence Classes - Thursday After-school (Maximum 20 participants)
Please sign up early as numbers may be limited on some.
In January 2014 Academy presented a selection of self-devised, scripted
and choreographed Drama plays and Dances along with Fairytale
Academy 2: Eleanor’s Story.
Academy is NSG’s largest afterschool club where the groups devise all of
their own work from songs to scripts to costume, lighting and sound. The
members of the group worked incredibly hard in producing the showcase
and the completely self-devised musical Fairytale Academy 2: Eleanor’s Story. Eleanor’s
Story is the sequel to the first Fairytale Academy musical which was written 5 years ago and
went on to be performed by Brixworth Primary School.
Here, ten years have passed and the ‘baddies’ are determined to finally have their side of the story
heard. The villains of the fairytales, led by the Evil Queen, go to extreme measures to see the truth
come out. Twists in the tales we all thought we knew lead to the goodies and baddies of the fairytale
world coming face to face.
Northampton Festival of the Performing Arts – February 2014
The aim of the festival is to ‘encourage all entrants and promote enjoyment in learning and performance’
– there are no winners or losers.
Well done to our performers and thanks for giving up your weekend!
Cello Group – outstanding
Madrigalis – outstanding
Percussion Ensemble – very good
Brass Ensemble – very good
‘Tie Rack’ at the Black Bottom Club
‘Tie Rack’ was invited to perform at The Jazz Cafe event at the Black Bottom Club, on Thursday 27
February. This was an amazing opportunity for the group to perform in an exciting new event focused on
providing live music performances of the highest quality.
Youth Choir and Gospel Choir at the Royal Festival Hall
The Gospel Choir, led by Gareth Fuller, is in its sixth year and continues to be very popular with
students. The students joined forces with Mrs Vaughan’s Youth Choir to perform at the Royal Festival
Hall in London on Tuesday 11 March.
‘Sing Inspiration!’ 2014 is a choral festival giving opportunity to young people and adults to sing and
perform at the highest level. The event featured choirs from the London boroughs of Enfield,
Wandsworth, Southwark and Hackney.
The students had a very long, enjoyable day – and did a bit of busking along the way!
A Level Recitals
Our A level Music students performed to parents and staff on Thursday 18 March – performance
recordings are an important part of the examination and all students showed off their skills and talents in
front of a very appreciative audience. This is a very nerve-racking experience – well done to all
concerned!
National Festival of Music for Youth – March 2014
Seven NSG groups took part in the Music for Youth Regional Festival in Spinney Theatre and Cripps
Theatre at NSB. As staff, we were immensely proud of our students’ performances and the feedback
from Mentors was outstanding:
‘Tie Rack’ – ‘a class act’
Real Group – ‘exuberance of the music.....strong vocals........dense harmonies’
Concert Band – ‘A triumphant opening......a well balanced ensemble.....very poised... a golden
moment....demanded considerable stamina and focus’
String Orchestra – ‘confident cello and viola solos.....atmospheric contrasts...a fine ensemble with bags
of potential’
Big Band – ‘a wonderful shimmering brass sound....a fab ensemble, really exiting to listen to and watch’
Madrigalis – ‘real singing.....a lovely blend....’CADBURY’S’ – super flowing and melting..........terrific
focus and high energy’
Spinney Quintet – ‘assured playing and commendable........a good blend and the balance is first
class....super control – very tight rhythmically’
Well done to all students who took part – you did us proud once again!
Celebration Concert In Spinney Theatre
On Thursday 3 April 2014 we held our tenth Celebration Concert. Each year we invite a special guest
artist or group to headline our concert. This year our focus was on Jazz and we invited Liane Carroll,
Jazz vocalist and pianist, to come back – some of you will remember her from amazing performance in
2010.
The evening featured Madrigalis, ‘Tie Rack’, Concert Band, Big Band, String Orchestra and the Real
group. We were joined by choirs from Eastfield Academy, Milton Parochial Primary and Parklands
Primary who entertained us with their own Jazzie numbers and then joined forces with Youth and Gospel
choir members and other vocalists to perform a fab number with Liane. What a great experience for all
those students!
Our thanks must go again to our compere, Mrs Vaughan, our peripatetic staff and to all who took part,
not forgetting all parents, friends and families who gave us such fantastic support.
Instrumental Lessons 2014/2015
It will soon be time for us to send out the paperwork for parents to book
Instrumental lessons for next year. Forms will be sent out after the Easter
break – the peripatetic staff will have the opportunity before then to talk to
individual students about their commitment to taking graded examinations
and the length of lesson they should ideally be booking.
A copy of the new Music Tuition Policy will be included. Parents are advised to read this document
carefully as it contains important information about the organisation of lessons, progress, attendance,
commitment to extra-curricular activities, insurance and charging.
Parents will be required to sign the Instrumental Tuition Agreement to confirm that they have read and
understood the Music Tuition Policy document and to agree that once lessons have been booked they
will pay for the full year’s cost of the lessons even if their daughter/son stops lessons during the year.
They will also be asked to confirm that their daughter/son is willing to support our extra-curricular
programme.
We have a strict deadline for booking lessons with the Music and Performing Arts Trust so it is important
that you return completed forms to us by the date on the paperwork.
If you have any queries about the policy or booking lessons please contact Mrs Vaughan or Mrs Lyons.
Forthcoming Events in Spinney Theatre:
Now Dance NSG
Friday 2 May 7.00pm
Tickets Adults £5 Concessions £3
Midsummer Concert – an opportunity for some of
NSG’s Junior groups to perform
Wednesday 11 June 7.00pm
Tickets Adults £5 Concessions £3
Gala Concert
Wednesday 2 July 7.00pm
Tickets Adults £5 Concessions £3
Tickets for all events are available from the Spinney Theatre Box Office 01604 679547
or can be booked online at www.nsg.northants.sch.uk
WILL YOU HELP US BY…….?
Donating something for our music auction
For example:
 Musical items: e.g. instruments, concert/theatre tickets, artwork, clothing, books
or giftware with a music theme, music technology
 Your time: e.g. (play for a wedding) music lessons (singing, instrumental, music
technology, theory), piano tuning
 Experiences: e.g. perform on a stage, take part in a performance, play in an
orchestra, sing in a choir, sing/perform (with someone famous?), assist on a
radio show, spend time shadowing(a presenter, musician, DJ?),a backstage
visit to a theatre/concert hall.
 Sponsoring: e.g. a musical item at the auction evening, the food, the venue!
Publicising Thomas’s Fund: for example in your leaflets, programmes,
catalogues, newsletters, displays etc.
IN RETURN, CAN WE HELP YOU BY…….?
Publicising you, your business or charity by mentioning your name:
 in our Auction Programme
 on our website (www.thomassfund.org.uk)
 on Twitter (@ThomassFund)
 on our Friends of Thomas’s Fund Facebook Page
Sale of Summer Plants, & Hanging Baskets.
Dear Parents/ Guardian,
The school is offering for sale a selection of summer bedding plants and Hanging
Baskets. The list of plants available is shown on the order form overleaf please take a look!
Our beautiful summer hanging baskets will be filled to the brim with a colourful
variety of summer plants including trailing Petunias, trailing Bacopa, trailing Fuchsias
and trailing Million Bells.
Also extremely popular are our two great value hanging basket refill packs which
contain a selection of our best sellers and some gardener’s favourites. Each pack
contains 3 individually pot-grown plants usually costing £2 each, however our refill
packs are just £4!! That means you get the third plant free! The first pack we have
for sale contains a variety of trailing and standard bush Fuchsias, each a different
variety and colour, which will come ready to plant straight outside. Likewise with the
second pack which consists of a trailing Petunia, a trailing Bacopa and a trailing Million
Bells. A firm favourite amongst gardeners, Million Bells is a prolific bloomer which
produces an unbelievable number of colourful flowers in a sprawling mass, making a
truly spectacular show.
For colour illustrations and more information on all the plants for sale please visit the
website www.cdbell.co.uk.
If you wish to take advantage of this great offer please return your completed order
forms and remittance to Student Services by Tuesday May 6th. Please make
cheques payable to Friends of Northampton School for Girls. Please place all
orders through the school and not directly to the nursery. It would be helpful if
you could include a mobile number in case of queries.
Plants will be available for collection from 11am from the school on Wednesday
May 14th. (They can be found on the grass opposite Spinney Hill Theatre).
All orders will benefit the school directly so if needed further order forms for
friends and relatives are available from the school. Remember the school receives
an excellent return on all sale proceeds – for every £10 you spend the school will
receive at least £3!
Thank you for your support with this fundraising
Friends of NSG
Our aim is to raise small amounts of money that can be used to benefit as wide a range of
pupils as possible.
Christmas Hampers.
Our Annual Christmas Hamper Raffle was a great success and resulted in a profit of £500.
Barclaycard had agreed to double this so provided us with a further £500!
Since January we have provided funding for
 Cameras for OAK, ELM and POST 16 blocks so that photos of special moments can
be taken.
 New Leotards for the Trampoline Team to wear at the National Finals in Newcastle.
 New Basketball Kit for the teams to wear at the Regional and National Finals.
 Specialised Spanish Dictionaries for both Post16 and main libraries.
 Two new benches for the Technology Block open area.
 TV and Cabinet for the Library.
How you can help us to raise Funds!
 Please bring in any unwanted items that we could use for Tombola and Raffles. Also
any unwanted CDs or DVDs. These can be left in reception or staff services and
they will get them to us.
 Facebook : Please like us so that you can be kept up to date with what is happening.
You can find us at Friends of Northampton School for Girls.
 Plant Sale.: Straight after Easter we will be taking orders for Bedding Plants and
Hanging Baskets. Order forms will be available from Form Tutors or on the school
website. If you buy bedding plants, please buy from us. We get £3 for every £10
spent!
 Sign up and use The Giving Machine for online purchases. In the past few years
we have raised almost £700 in this way.
This is how it works.
Go to the website www.thegivingmachine.co.uk
a. Sign yourself up.
b. When asked who you want as your beneficiary choose
Northampton School for Girls.
c. You can then download an icon to put on your desktop.
d. When you want to shop click on the icon, Find the shop you want to purchase
your goods from
e. Buy your goods in the usual way.
We are always looking for more people to help us:
To find out more about what we do and how you can help email
friends@nsg.northants.sch.uk
NSG picture board