We would like to thank you all for coming to our school and inspiring our children with your fantastic music. The children have all spoken today about how much they enjoyed it and each one of them had a different piece they liked the most but the most popular was Aladdin.

The way the Quartet presented themselves was a real credit to NSB, they were incredibly polite and enjoyed engaging with our pupils. Some of the quotes from the children: 

“They were absolutely amazing.”

“I loved the Aladdin.”

“They were really talented.''

“It made me feel happy.”

“It was really professional and creative.”

“I liked it, it was really good, very relaxing.”

“It was really professional.”

“I liked the Queen song.”

“Beautiful, Talented, Inspiring.”

NSB held it's inaugural well-being Fair this week which, as Mrs Greenaway reports,  was a great success - 

The Fair was visited by many students from both NSB and NS who were able to ask questions, pick up leaflets, play some games and note down positive ways they use to ensure good mental health and what provision they would like to see more of - there were also some freebies such as pens, badges, flags and wristbands that students very much appreciated! The event was attended by a variety of mental health support organisations, including: The Lowdown, KidsAid, Papyrus and Q Space. Talk Out Loud also provided the school with Comfort Cards for each student that have lots of information about apps and helplines in relation to mental health. To complement the Fair, House Assemblies across the week highlighted the importance of speaking out; using your voice to create positive change and talking about mental health and how you feel.   

February 5^th - 11^th is UK's National Apprenticeship Week and Miss Rickaby has given this mid-week update!

Students in Y9-13 have this week enjoyed a range of lunchtime workshops each day with external expert visitors highlighting apprenticeship routes across different fields: Law, Engineering, Manufacturing and Robotics, Accountancy and the Armed Forces. Our Future Apprentice Academy students also attended a dedicated workshop on Thursday afternoon, enjoying the opportunity to get professional feedback on their CVs, to undertake a mock interview and to try some psychometric tests. All of the Upper School students have also had the opportunity to explore the Unifrog Virtual Apprenticeship Fair and have additionally investigated a range of avenues, information and alumni success journeys in their daily Personal Development sessions.

Many congratulations to Year 12 student, Oliver Murphy who has excelled in the recent International Maths Challenge which attracted thousands of participants from across the globe! Despite such stiff competition, Oliver performed brilliantly, earning himself the title of 'International Maths Challenge Elitist' which is only given to students who achieve a score in the top quintile of all entrants, with Oliver himself, scoring in the top ten percent. 

Finally, hot off the press, is the incredible news that both the U14 and the U15 rugby teams have now qualified for their respective National Cup Semi-Finals. The U14s defeated Berkhamsted School by a resounding 40 points to 0 away in their Quarter Final at the end of last week and the U15s travelled up yesterday to a snowy West Yorkshire and played brilliantly in tough conditions to score 3 tries in an outstanding 17-10 victory against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. It has been a good few days for NSB Sport with the U13B football team also qualifying for a National Cup Semi-Final after edging out South Hunsley School, again from Yorkshire, by one goal to nil in a very tight match and the U14 Elite football team securing a 7-1 victory over Torquay Academy today to qualify for their National Cup Semi-Final.

Richard Bernard

Headteacher