There was little rest for the Music staff and students who came out firing again on Thursday evening with a tremendous Summer Concert out on the top level packed full of brilliant musicianship and creativity. The event marked a fantastic way to say goodbye to an incredibly talented Year 13 group who have greatly enriched the school with their skills during their time at NSB, but it also conversely showcased the rich conveyor belt of musical talent coming up through the lower year group ranks.

 

We were delighted to sign up as a school to the Northamptonshire Women's Charter this week - Mrs Bradley-Brophy reports on an important moment for the school: 

NSB Celebrates Commitment to the Northamptonshire Women's Charter

We were delighted to welcome Danielle Stone, Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, to Northampton School for Boys to present us with our official Northamptonshire Women's Charter pledge certificate.

The Women's Charter is a county-wide initiative, encouraging organisations to create safer, more respectful and inclusive environments for women and girls. By signing the Charter, NSB has committed to continue to listen to the voices of women and girls, promoting gender equality, challenging harmful attitudes and fostering a culture where everyone feels safe, valued and respected.

During her visit, Danielle met with Lindsay Greenaway (Assistant Headteacher in charge of Personal Development), Helen Kennedy (Director of PSHE), Alice Morgan Scott (PD Lead for Gender Equality), Ilona Farkas (Deputy SENDCo and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead), along with a fantastic group of Sixth Form students who shared their thoughts, experiences and aspirations for creating an inclusive school community.

We were especially proud to learn that NSB is the 100^th organisation to sign the Northamptonshire Women's Charter, marking an important milestone in the Commissioner's campaign to improve the safety and wellbeing of women and girls across the county.

The visit highlighted the importance of working together, students, staff and the wider community, to promote respect, equality and positive relationships. We are proud to play our part in this important initiative and look forward to continuing our work to ensure NSB remains a place where every member of our community feels safe, supported and empowered.

 

Sports Day is always an annual gem of the NSB calendar and Wednesday did not disappoint, with a brilliant day of competition and a highly supportive atmosphere throughout. A special individual well done to Ethan Kontoh who broke the long standing School Year 8 High Jump record by 15cm with an amazing clearance of 1m 71cm - which we believe would also be the leading height in the UK this year for his age if it had been an official AAA meet! Chipsey had a fantastic day winning the Y7,8 and 10 competitions as well as the overall trophy - the Year 9 competition went deservedly to Brightwell. We were delighted to welcome Angie Bason to present Chipsey leaders with the new 'Peter Bason House Sports Day Cup' - kindly donated by Peter on his retirement last year as Chair of The Trust Board. It is the turn of the Sixth Form today as they take to the track and field after enthusiastically supporting the younger years on Wednesday!

 

There has been a huge amount of other sporting success to celebrate this week, not least an excellent showing by the First X1 in our annual MCC game with Year 12 student Joe Thompson starring with 5 wickets for 45 runs - the 5 wicket haul earning him a trip to watch a game at Lords! The MCC game was played a day after the NSB U15 team qualified for the Regional Finals of the inaugural U15 Knight- Stokes Cup for State Schools by winning the county section. Two more wins on Monday will see the squad through to Headingly for the Semi-Finals before a possible Final at Lords in September! 

 

Congratulations to a number of students who have been selected for or have recently played for England / UK  or for their region in prestigious National Cup competitions - Hugh Shields and Jack Lewis are currently competing for England in the U20 World Rugby Cup and are off to a winning start with victories over Ireland and the USA.  Four NSB students - Ted Knowlton-Maile (Year 10), Max Glennon (Year 10), Ethan Buckley (Year 11), and Ollie Vasconcellos-Blanch (Year 12) went to the Czech Republic last weekend as part of a combined squad representing Solihull Water Polo to compete in a tournament against other large club and national teams. After beating the host Czech team in a penalty shoot-out in the first game, the team started to connect and went on to win all 4 of their games over the next 2 days against strong teams from the Ukraine, Denmark and Germany before lifting The Labe Cup. Well done also to Tae Lawson, Freddie Jack and Hunter Dowd who have been selected for the Central Region in Basketball for the upcoming Aspire All Star National Tournament which will serve as a feeder for national team selection.

Finally please join us next week for the NSB Production of Show Stoppers! With the following pledge from the Expressive Arts Department:Show Stoppers will be a spectacular evening of musical theatre featuring incredibly talented students from NSB. With just a week to go, our performers have been working hard to bring you a fantastic selection of show-stopping musical numbers, guaranteed to entertain audiences of all ages. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the students' dedication, creativity, and passion for performing. We look forward to seeing you there! 

 

Apparently there are also a couple of toe-tapping all- staff numbers to look forward to!

 

Richard Bernard MBE

Headteacher