One of the highlights of the school year is our annual Academic Awards Evening which was held on Tuesday this week. We enjoyed recognising the wonderful achievements of so many students who had all done so well to secure an award given the fierce competition and exceptional levels of academic achievement at NSB. We were delighted to welcome back Antoine Allen (ITN News Journalist and former NSB student) who spoke warmly of his memories of the school and gave a fascinating insight into his work reporting across the globe in his address. We were also very pleased to welcome Dr Eleanor Peacock who is the Great Granddaughter of former Headteacher - Edward Reynolds who very much laid the foundations of the vision that we follow today of maximising student potential both in and out of the classroom. The most prestigious award of the evening is the Reynolds Award for all-round excellence which went to Mihir Kandi for outstanding academic, extracurricular and leadership throughout his time at the school. Dr Peacock and Mihir can be seen below.

Continuing the academic theme, the school was immensely proud to be recognised in the last week by the Times as one of the top 3 Comprehensive Schools in the East Midlands for the third-year running (based on the 2025 GCSE and A Level results). This accolade comes on top of the school being ranked the top secondary school in West Northamptonshire for all key GCSE Performance measures in the recently released Department for Education Performance Tables.

 

The school is also celebrating a magnificent achievement by the First XV in becoming the first State School to ever win the Daily Mail Trophy for topping the National League for school rugby in England. The squad secured the title on Saturday with a tremendous win over a very strong Sir Thomas Rich's School side from Gloucester - wrapping up the bonus point we needed for four tries in the first half.  The squad and coaching / support staff should be immensely proud of such a prestigious title and we look forward to a shot at the double with the National U18 Cup Semi Final v Campion School taking place in early March. The team were also recognised in the National Media this week by being ranked 9^th in the World Schoolboy ranking list - the only school from England in the top ten and the top-ranked State School in the world for rugby. It's an incredibly exciting time for NSB rugby with all four National Cup teams still in the latter stages of their competitions.

 

Charity Week has been passionately embraced by the students this week. Mrs Greenaway reports on a fabulous week of fundraising and great entertainment!!! 

 

Finally on the reading front, a message from Trust Director of Reading - Mrs Barlow - Please find below the link to the NSB Trust termly reading newsletter on our website. This term, we are delighted to have secured a very exciting author visit for April 2026 - more details will be revealed in the New Year. We also look ahead to the "National Year of Reading 2026" with some great reading recommendations and an insight into the importance of both traditional and digital literacy in the evolving world of generative AI. We hope this is both informative and engaging for our families. 

 

I hope everyone connected to the school has a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we look forward to seeing the students safely back on Monday, January 5th.

 

Richard Bernard

Headteacher