The outgoing Y13 Student Leadership Team had a huge positive impact on the school and their worthy successors have now been appointed! Mrs Greenaway reports on a very competitive hustings process!

New House Leadership Team - Hustings

After an intense process of writing an application, followed by crafting an impactful speech, then delivering their thoughts on what they can do for their House, and why they are right for this role to a quarter of the school...the votes have all been counted and verified!

There are only 16 positions, four per house, with one House Leader and 3 deputies. We were privileged to have a fantastic group of 34 young people who put themselves forward and, so unfortunately, some awesome individuals didn't get these roles. However, I have asked all applicants to keep involved in the House system as House Seniors and to get involved in other student positions available, as they have all shown such a positive connection with the school and fantastic ideas as well as strong leadership and communication skills. So, whilst I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate those who gained the roles, I would also like to thank everyone for taking part. You made the Hustings process really enjoyable and gave the students so much to think about. We had a strong voting turnout and only 4 spoilt ballot papers and in most cases the vote was very close, everyone received votes and in some cases people missed out by 1 or 2 votes.

The new incumbents have already started their weekly leadership meetings, have taken a House assembly and attended their first School Council, and they are about to review some school policies. They also have a string of commitments already in the diary and they are looking forward to meeting the incoming Year 6 students coming to NSB in September and welcoming them into their House next term when they come to visit. There is always something to do as a Student Leader, as they are finding out, and, if their speeches and abundant enthusiasm are anything to go on, it looks like it's going to be another very positive year.   

Brightwell House Leader: Patricia Dinu Deputies: Archie Ayling, Cameron Edwards and Josie Mansell	Chipsey House Leader:  Charlie Morrow Deputies: Aoife Coles, Poppy Moore and Ivanna Obi
Manley House Leader: Harry Grimshaw Deputies: Robert Ciornei, Evie Matthews and Blessing Oppong	Washington House Leader: Mihir Sharma Deputies: Will Civil, Evie Kendall and Malachy Renihan

 

There are undoubtedly some budding business superstars of the future within the NSB ranks and this was proven at the recent Final of the National Young Enterprise Competition. Mr Crooke reports on exceptional success for our Year 10 cohort:

Young Enterprise - National Finals

Across April and May a group of our Year 10 boys entered the Young Enterprise 10X Challenge where they were tasked with producing a successful business with a starting investment of just £10. More than 30 students from Year 10 signed up to the challenge and while they all learnt a great deal about team-work, communication and all the necessary skills required to get an enterprise up and running, two businesses stood out to the Judges of the Young Enterprise 10X Showcase.

Yuition (Hussain Qureshi, Cezar Levinte, Aaron Thomas, Aaron Staples and Hargun Singh) was set up to offer bespoke tuition in Mathematics, Science and Computer Science to students aged 10-13 and A 'n' E (Aditya Pandala Anish, Neil Chawade and Eric Chen), also a tutoring company, targeted a younger audience of students who wanted to get ahead before starting secondary school.

In the National 10X Showcase, these businesses were winners or runners-up in every category that they entered. This is no small feat; hundreds of student companies from across the country were competing for these prizes, but the quality of their work stood out consistently. 

Best Logo - Winners (Yuition)

Best Sales Poster - Runner-up (Yuition)

Most Inspiring Individual - Runner-up (Neil Chawade - A 'n' E)

Best Overall Business - Runner-up (Yuition)

As category winners, Yuition won themselves a £50 gift card and £100 for the school, which we'll undoubtedly put to good use to ensure more Young Enterprise success in the future.

 

The standard of debating at the school has been on the constant rise due to the outstanding work of Ms Morrisson, who works with our KS5 orators and also through the highly engaging Year 9 Oracy curriculum overseen by Miss Bason. Tuesday was the turn of our Key Stage 3 students to rhetorically shine, as Miss Bason reports:

Key Stage 3 - Inter-House Debate

On Tuesday lunchtime, the annual Key Stage Three Inter-House debating competition took place. All House members arrived ready to debate, beginning with the topic of whether AI should be allowed for students to use in school, and finishing with the challenging question of whether the death penalty should be law in the UK.

It is fair to say this is one of the most difficult debating competitions I have judged. All House members who took part were outstanding; they demonstrated excellent articulation and presented their points in a clear, structured debating style. 

It was a very difficult decision. In first place was Brightwell, followed by Chipsey and Washington in second, with Manley in third.

Well done to everyone who came along to represent their house – your efforts were truly outstanding!

 

As well as the National Cup Football success there has also been national glory to celebrate for NSB students in chess, powerlifting and golf.

Abigail Davie - Year 12 recently competed in the National Powerlifting Championships where she did outstandingly well to win silver, finishing just behind the current world record holder for her category. Aby performed brilliantly under the intense pressure of such a high level competition, continuously making Personal Bests on every lift! Aby is a year young for the competition and with the Gold Medalist moving out the age category next year, the top podium position beckons for 2027!

 

Harry O'Dell, overcame a three year age gap to give a magnificent account of himself at the recent Schools U15 National Championships as Mr Bradbury reports:

English Schools Golf Association U15 National Final

On Monday 18th May, Harry Odell represented NSB at the ESGA U15 Golf Finals held at Stoke Rochford Golf Club. The event brought together the top 33 under-15 golfers from across the country, with every player having earned their place by winning their respective county qualifying competition earlier in the season.

Playing against such an elite field was a significant achievement in itself, particularly as Harry who is in Year 7 was the youngest competitor taking part in the finals. The standard throughout the day was exceptionally high, but the difficult conditions ensured that scoring remained challenging for everyone involved. Strong winds throughout the round, combined with fast and demanding greens, tested every aspect of the players’ games and were reflected in the overall scores across the field.

Despite the demanding conditions and the strength of the competition, Harry performed admirably and showed great composure and resilience throughout the day. His efforts resulted in an excellent 10th-place finish in the nett competition and 19th place in the scratch competition, placing him comfortably amongst some of the best young golfers in England.

We have more on the horizon too, with 4 NSB golfers qualified for the Regional Finals in the half term break, with Harry Odell, Oliver Golby, Jadon Pham and Cameron Black all representing Northamptonshire in a 36 hole event at Stratford Golf Club.

Congratulations to Sunny Dulal, Year 7,  who won the Under 12's Category at the Stowe School Chess Championship (Sunday 10th) which was an open competition across the county.

Finally, we hope all students have a good break - albeit full of revision for Year 11, Year 12 Further Maths and Year 13(!) and we look forward to the students returning on Monday, June 1st.

 

Richard Bernard

Headteacher