What a phenomenal Personal Development Week! Y8 and Y12, out on residential education, Y10 out on Work Experience and the rest of the school off timetable and undergoing a bespoke programme of PSHE, Careers, House activities, Arts and interventions alongside external providers, a theatre company, speakers and special guests.

It is a mammoth undertaking which sees everyone out of their comfort zone, requiring collaboration between staff and students and an enthusiastic buy in at the end of a long term! To their credit, everyone rose to the occasion and the buzz across the school was impressive. It really is appreciated, all the hard work staff put in from admin, theatre, support staff, estates, IT, canteen, Inclusion, cover supervisors through to Year 12 helpers, teachers and SLT and equally, the hard work, focus, curiosity  and insight the students provide too. A special mention to Miss Kennedy, Director of PSHE, the PD Team and the Careers team who have provided many of the resources, external providers and guests, but everyone has given their all and adapted to the organised chaos of PD Week!  I hope that parents and carers, Grannies and Grandads and all the family get the chance to discuss what the students have been doing – I find that I am always learning something new from our young people – it is definitely a two-way street as was mentioned on our role models assembly for Year 11 by Simon Hepher. Throughout the year, but especially during such a focussed week as this, witnessing discussions and listening to their opinions and questions really opens up your eyes to the world that our young people are navigating, particularly with the pressures of social media. The programme of preventative education in place aims to raise awareness of so many areas of modern life and helps to keep young people safe now, and as they venture out in the wider world, alongside preparing them for the next steps of their journey. 

There are just too many activities and too many amazing moments from this week to go into them all and convey just how productive this week has been. Hopefully you can get a flavour of the week from the photos, but there was so much more...

Upfront Theatre performed In Harm's Way to Y11 about mental health and wellbeing and positive ways to approach situations when things go awry. The role models panel with special guests David Arpaccio, Deidre Kennedy, Andre Arrisol and Simon Hepher alongside staff and students from NSB and The Phoenix Project came in to present on exploitation. There was an excellent trip out for our Year 8 students not attending the residential trip to Festo as well as visits to country parks and some making of flapjacks! The Careers input was again top notch with Year 7 and Year 9 undertaking a whole day with The Inspirational Learning Group which had such a wonderful purposeful atmosphere focused on building a new sustainable town and creating a business plus Northampton University and Moulton College speakers and the Apprenticeship Fair with a diverse array of careers represented. And that hasn't even covered all the dedicated staff who delivered lessons on violent crime, exam stress, media literacy, hate crime, financial literacy, British Values, equalities, study skills and subcultures including misogyny and extremism.   

Needless to say, it has been a wonderful week that really benefits our students and ensures that they are thinking critically, questioning, discussing and debating and working collaboratively.  They are building their resilience, confidence and self-awareness, learning how to express themselves in a respectful manner, navigating outside their comfort zone on occasions and consolidating on fundamental values and emotional intelligence. 

We saw so much positivity this week, and we still have our fabulous Year 9 Arts exhibition and performances to come, focusing on "Honouring Our Communities" - always a highlight of the week, seeing their collaborative efforts come together in such a thoughtful and creative way, supported and cheered on by their peers – such an uplifting and hopeful end to an exceptional week! 

We are now all, students and staff, ready for a break! Hopefully, students will contemplate on what they have learnt, but as is the nature of personal development, they may not realise how important it is or what impact it has had until later in life! 

 

Our leading senior mathematicians have delivered a barnstorming performance in the recent national Senior Maths Challenge, as Mr Hatton-Perkins reports:

We had 60 students participate in the Senior Maths Challenge, a national mathematics competition. Of those 60, 15 qualified for the “Senior Kangaroo”, a follow-up round for which normally only the top 10% of students qualify.

On top of that, two Year 12 students – Nandan Sathian and Olly Tallack – qualified for the British Mathematical Olympiad, a competition reserved for only the top 1–2% of participants.

Qualifying for a follow-up round is a tremendous achievement in itself, but this cohort has excelled, with 80% of students receiving either a Silver or Gold certificate.

 

Last Friday, the school was awash with red in support of ‘Wear It Red’. Mrs Greenaway describes the day's events:

It was wonderful to see the school awash with red last week in support of the anti-racism campaign “Wear It Red”, organised by Show Racism the Red Card. In assemblies across the week, students learnt how the organisation was established back in 1996, thanks in part to a donation from Shaka Hislop, then goalkeeper for Newcastle United. While filling his car at a petrol station near the ground, he heard racial abuse directed towards him. As the group came closer, however, they recognised him and suddenly became friendly because he was their team’s goalkeeper. The experience prompted him to help create positive change and educate young people, using football as a springboard – hence the organisation’s name.

In 2014, 7,000 people took part in “Wear It Red”; by 2024, that figure had risen to more than 770,000, and this year the hope is that more than a million people will take part.

The assemblies explored racism and its impact, alongside allyship, the ways young people can promote positive change, how to report concerns and how to become involved in constructive activism, including through our Race Ambassadors group in school.

And to top it all off, more than £1,100 was raised for charity. Thank you to everyone involved.

Miss Kennedy (Director of PSHE) attended the recent “Every Woman, Every Girl: Recognising Harm, Building Safety” Conference at Northampton School for Girls and has shared her reflections on the day:

The aim of the conference was to bring together professionals from across the county to develop a practical, connected response to violence against women and girls in Northamptonshire, uniting education, health, policing, local businesses and charitable organisations.

With highly informative presentations on topics including forced marriage and honour-based abuse, the role of AI in extremist misogyny, financial abuse and domestic abuse, the conference shone a light on areas of safeguarding that are vital for the young people in our county. The speakers were compelling, particularly Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, who spoke with passion and personal experience about honour-based abuse.

This was a genuinely valuable experience for everyone in attendance and will undoubtedly provide inspiration for new initiatives and opportunities for collaborative working. It has ensured that attendees are far better informed about the harms to which our young people may be exposed and the risks they face. Thank you to the organisers for hosting such an important showcase of safeguarding and preventative education.

 

Our Performing Arts students have also been enjoying opportunities to work with and observe professionals, as Ms Hasan and Miss Clark report:

Last Wednesday, the NSB cast and crew of our next musical, Hadestown, travelled to London to experience the West End production ahead of rehearsals beginning next term. Excitement on the coach was electric, with students singing along to songs from the show on the journey down.

From the moment the performance began, students were captivated by the incredible ensemble of actors and musicians as they followed the characters on their journeys into a reimagined underworld and back again. The powerful storytelling, stunning music and emotion of the performance left students in awe of the cast’s extraordinary talent, inspiring them as they look ahead to bringing their own production to life.

Ralph Walters and Oli Dalton shared their experiences of Hadestown: “It was so exciting to see the show! It was wonderful to see how the characters interacted and to get ideas for how I am going to play my character.” Oli

"Seeing this live, was one of the most inspiring experiences of my life" Ralph

The trip provided a fantastic opportunity for the cast and crew to gain inspiration, explore the world of Hadestown and begin imagining how they might bring its characters and story to the stage themselves.

We look forward to welcoming you to NSB’s production of Hadestown in July, as we invite you to imagine how the world could be.

 

Ms Hasan reports: On Monday afternoon, the Year 12 & Year 13 A- Level Drama students welcomed Martin Murphy (their assigned mentor playwright) to conduct a playwriting workshop, launching Phase 1 of their participation in the National Theatre New Views scheme. During the workshop, the students immersed themselves in a range of playwriting exercises, under the guidance of Murphy whose publications include, Villain, Victim and The Ghost of White Heart Lane, which was performed in the West End and has just come back from a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. For all you Spurs fans, the play is about John White, a revered footballer of the 1960’s who played for both Scotland and Tottenham Hotspurs and who sadly came to a tragic end at the age of 27. Murphy spoke avidly about his love of football and playwriting, and it was so wonderful to see the students latch onto his every word. 

      

Phase 2 entails the students submitting their own playwriting outlines, to gain further feedback before submitting their own 30- minute play for final scrutiny in April.  We are super excited to see what our students produce, and I will keep you updated on the first Scratch Night, where our young playwrights will share a selection of scenes from their new plays to an invited audience. Who knows if the Bard lives among us, but I know our students will work hard to do him proud! I will keep you posted.  

 

Well done to the U15 Rugby Team, who brought home silverware from the recent St Joseph’s College Festival – a major junior rugby event watched by thousands via live streaming of the matches. After a sluggish start, the squad moved impressively through the gears, defeating strong Samuel Whitbread and Campion sides before silencing a capacity home crowd – and the accompanying pyrotechnics – with an emphatic 22–3 victory over the hosts in the Final. Congratulations, too, to the U18 Girls Team, who secured a superb third place on the Saturday in the inaugural Girls competition.

              

 

In the first two weeks of Term 2, the school will place a strong focus on Remembrance. In the lead-up to Armistice Day, students will take part in Remembrance assemblies, reflecting on the sacrifice of all those who gave their lives in times of war. Our annual NSB Remembrance pins will also be available to purchase at £3 per badge (through Parent Pay), with all proceeds donated to the Royal British Legion.

 

Finally, we have some major Music and Arts events to look forward to. This weekend, we host the annual festival honouring the renowned composer and former NSB student, Sir Malcolm Arnold. Then, on Tuesday, 3 November, we will enjoy the ever-impressive NSB Visual Arts Exhibition, celebrating the exceptional work of our students across all age groups.

We hope all students have a fantastic holiday, and we look forward to their safe return on Monday, 2 November.

 

Richard Bernard MBE

Headteacher