The U15 rugby team have enjoyed an exceptional run this year and like their U18 counter parts have an outstanding depth and breadth of talent throughout the squad. Hopes were high on Wednesday going into their National Cup Final with Whitgift after a season which has seen St Joseph's Cup glory and wins against all but Millfield in a full Block fixture calendar. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite to be with the Croydon side edging a close battle, but such a talented young NSB side will no doubt come back even hungrier to go one step better next year. The team have continued to show remarkable levels of improvement under Coaches Regan / Hogan and Myring from what was a strong U14 year and they are an integral part of a very bright NSB rugby future – next year's Y10/11/12 and 13 will all carry the pedigree honour of being National Cup Finalists.

It wasn't that long ago that the NSB Water Polo squads were predominantly training on dry land and struggling to score any goals in competitive play. Move forward a few years and under the exceptional leadership of Mr Lane, our U15 squad can now savour the glory of a National Title (the second National U15 Title for the school) after a dramatic Grand Final on Thursday. Mr Lane reports on a wonderful achievement:

NSB were placed in Pool A, playing against Dulwich and King Edwards Birmingham. Beating Dulwich but losing narrowly 4-3 to King Edward School, made a 3-way tie.  We progressed to the semi-finals in first place due to a goal difference of +1, Dulwich +0, KES - 1. In the semi we relaxed into our game and totally dominated Bolton school 11-4 the boys began to enjoy the freedom to move, and every attack seemed to go in past the keepers' hands. 

The final between NSB and Habadashers is a repeat of a fixture we play annually repeatedly in the London Schools League, so the boys know their opponents by name! As do the coaches!

Winning 2-1 at half time took some pressure off as the team chasing need to push forward and, when tired, leave their defence open. HABS drew 2-2. With 20 seconds to go, a NSB shot rifled into the net delightfully defying the coach instructions to keep the ball!  We managed to hold on for the final attack, stealing the ball and sealing a glorious National Title!

 

Today, we have yet more shots at National titles with a combined NSB / NS Trust squad of 31 competing in the National Indoor Rowing Championships in London. At the time of writing, we are still awaiting results, but we are very hopeful of being able to report on more National Silverware this time next week!

 

The recent NSB Junction Dance Show showcased such an exceptional range of cross-year NSB talent that we went into this week's Great British Dance Off Regional Finals with high hopes of success.  Miss Clinton reports on a phenomenally successful event with the two NSB teams executing wonderful performances under pressure that we are incredibly proud of:

Our oldest KS5/4 team placed 1^st (Yr11-13) scoring 192/200

Judge 1 awarded 95 points - 6 categories got 10/10 

Judge 2 awarded 97 with 7 categories 10/10

Our younger team (yr 9-10) who had to compete in the same category placed 4^th A BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENT for the boys. 

Their total was 183/200

Judge 1 awarded 92 with 4 categories gaining 10/10

Judge 2 awarded 91 with 3 categories gaining 10/10

A big shout-out to Elise Clinton who choreographed both pieces. The judges spoke to me afterwards and to quote them, 'our jaws were on the floor seeing the complexity and skill in the choreography of both pieces' .

It's been 3 years since we brought the trophy home, so we are so proud of all the hard work the dancers put in to gain their individual wins. 

 

The Concourse and 1911 Hall were abuzz with productive discussion and enthusiastic advice on Tuesday, as Mrs Rickaby-Collins reports: 

Tuesday night saw our annual Employment & Opportunities Evening take place, which was very popular and saw a huge number of students from across Years 11-13 meet with our exhibitors exploring various future pathways including: employment, apprenticeships, university and college. It was a joy to hear the level of noise across the Concourse from the purposeful careers conversations being had by everyone involved. 

The feedback from students and families was extremely positive and our external exhibitors had nothing but glowing reports about our students and the mature conversations they were able to have about their futures – many employers noted how well our students are prepared to talk to employers and what insightful, thoughtful questions they had to ask. This is all testament to the hard work of our Careers Team across our PSHE and Enrichment lessons, our careers guidance appointments and our termly careers assemblies where students have the opportunity to hear from employers across various sectors. 

Stand out news from the evening were 3 offers of work experience and 3 apprenticeship opportunities to share with NSB students. 

Thank you to everyone who came to the event and well done to our students for their careers thinking and planning for their futures!

More pictures can be seen on the Personal Development and NSB Careers Instagram accounts.

 

Huge congratulations to Sixth Former, Abigail Davie, who recently competed in the East Midlands Powerlifting Competition, where she performed outstandingly well to win the event. Abigail won gold in the sub-junior under 63 kg category and recorded a combined total of 282.5 kg, earning her the title of Overall 2nd Best lifter of the entire tournament. As a result of this stunning  performance, Abigail has now qualified for the National Championships, which will take place before the summer. 

 

Finally, we are always delighted to hear of the success of former students and a subsequent warm well done to Will Fazackerley, (NSB- 2005-2012) who has been assigned to a prestigious National "Bowl" game as an American Football referee. Will has seen off huge competition to be handed this top-tier game which will take place in Loughborough on Tuesday, March 24th. Will has been given the BUCS Division 1 Final between the Lancashire Rams and the Bournemouth Bobcats to officiate, which is a well deserved appointment after a 2024 season which saw him win the 'Alan Wilson Award' for best new official.

Richard Bernard

Headteacher