NOWER HILL NEWS
February 2024
From The Headteacher Dear Parents and Carers It really is difficult to believe that we have arrived at another holiday already, half way through the academic year - it must be true that time flies when you're having fun! Welcome to this half term's Nower Hill News, a round up of all the exciting things that have been happening in school over the past 5 weeks; I think you will agree that it is pretty impressive how much we have managed to do, alongside of course our regular teaching and learning, in such a short space of time. We try to encourage our students to try new experiences to challenge their comfort zones, in order to thrive, develop skills outside of the classroom and develop their cultural capital. Please read through the Nower Hill News with your child and if they are not getting involved with extracurricular activities, please encourage them to do so. A special moment this half term was being able to share the outcome of our Ofsted report with the school community - we had waited such a long time for them to come, but when they did, they found us exactly as we are, Outstanding! Congratulations to everyone for this fantastic achievement and I know that my colleagues will continue to evaluate everything that they do for your children, to be an even better school moving forward. It is part of the culture we enjoy here at Nower Hill and one of the things which makes this such a special place to work and learn.
UPCOMING EVENTS February 2024 12th Feb – 16th Feb 29th Feb
20th Mar 27th Mar 28th Mar
Wishing all of our families a very happy, restful halfterm break, thank you for all your support so far this year and let's hope that snow stays away! Louise Voden Headteacher Nower Hill High School
View online school calendar April 2024 15th April First Day of Summer Term 17th April Year 7 N side Parents/Carers evening 16:00 - 19:00 25th April Year 7 H side Parents/Carers evening 16:00 - 19:00
Half Term Year 8 N side Parents/Carers evening 16:00 - 19:00
March 2024 5th Mar
And speaking of learning, I can't let an opportunity go by without reminding you that when we get back, there will be only eight and a half more teaching weeks left until our Year 11s and 13s go on study leave to start their GCSE and A Level exams. Our students understand very well the importance of these exams and we have been clear with them that with super hard work, there is still time to make a difference to their predicted grades and push them up further still; thank you in advance for ensuring that whilst they take some time for R&R this holiday, there is still plenty of solid revision going on!
Year 8 H side Parents/Carers evening 16:00 - 19:00 Year 12 Parents/Carers evening 16:00 - 19:00 Last day of term for students Inset Day
May 2024 24th May Last day of term for students 27th May – 31st May Half Term 01
NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
NOWER HILL NEWS Grassroots: Change makers We have just had our second ‘Grassroots’ session with our change makers and we are delighted to announce that we have had 100% attendance for the second week running, which is fantastic! Grassroots is a programme linked to UCL and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) who fund this exciting work. It is an evidence based programme delivering anti bullying workshops and prosocial behaviour resolution that has proven results. The students have been selected strategically, based on a questionnaire, which enabled the organisers to gather a range of students who have key links throughout the school community to come together to make real change. In the first session, the students had the opportunity to anonymously express their concerns about any aspect of school life and particularly, the way that peers interact with one another. During this session the providers asked them to take part in “speed talking” to further discuss these concerns; this enabled the group to integrate and explore the matters that are important to them as a collective. They also completed some reflection on incidents which have happened to them, or something they have witnessed happen to another student, to investigate how they respond to some of these issues and what we could do differently as a community. Right now the change makers are setting the foundation to implement that change, exploring concerns and reflecting on their school experiences to then look at what to change and how to change it. We cannot wait to hear about their next steps! Ms Hawkins
Countdown On Tuesday 23rd January, six students attended our first ever Maths department Countdown competition. They used mini whiteboards to try and reach target numbers, following the rules of the game show. Congratulations to Jason Bucur 7FN, who not only won but beat Mr Preston!
Ms O’Shea
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
NOWER HILL NEWS The Nower Hill Grand Totaliser = 204 UCAS is the vehicle through which Year 13 students are able to apply for courses at university. Nower Hill students got things started back in July last year during ‘Life After Nower Hill Week’ and have been supported ever since by their teachers and the 6th Form Team. Deadline day was 31st January, although students started receiving offers as soon as they submitted their applications. Good luck to all of our students. Here are some current stats for this year’s cohort. Each student makes 5 choices. Data correct as on Friday 2nd February 2024.
Mr Carter Applicants
204
Courses chosen
1018
Course rejections
Oxford Offers
3
50
Cambridge Offers
1
Conditional offers
465
Medicine offers
2
Awaiting decision
470
Medicine awaiting decision
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
NOWER HILL NEWS Alan Senitt Upstanders Leadership Programme 2023-24 Nower Hill has been involved in this programme since 2008 as a founder member in memory of Alan Senitt, who was a student here from 1991-95 and tragically lost his life in 2006. The programme’s aim is to train Nower Hill students as future leaders in the community by working with other schools and devising their own social action project. This is Shreeya Rajdev’s account of our turn to host this year: On Wednesday the 31st of January 2024, Nower Hill hosted four other schools – Immanuel College, King Solomon High School, Copthall Girls’ School and JFS as part of the Alan Sennit Upstanders Leadership Programme. We took part in a series of workshops working on our communication skills and learning how to create a successful presentation. We also talked about what kind of school Nower Hill is and delivered a presentation explaining the school’s values. Afterwards we led a tour of Nower Hill. Later in the day we were able to socialise with the other schools over lunch. We discussed our social action project, which is to tackle discrimination within the South Asian community and why we feel it is important to us. With the help of Stand Up, we were able to organise fundraising ideas for our project, and how to budget correctly, as well as what charities to contact and what to say to them and how to actually implement our social action. https://www.standupeducation.org/programmes
Mr Mason
Nower Hill Eco Club What have the Nower Hill Eco Club been up to this half term? We participated in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch by counting the number of birds of popular species seen in the Nower Hill grounds during lunchtime. We counted 3 woodpigeons, 2 blackbirds and 20 black headed gulls! We have also been discussing our ideas for how to be more eco friendly at Nower Hill, and of course enjoyed watching some of David Attenborough’s inspirational documentaries too. Please come along on Wednesday lunchtime in H7 to join us at our Geography Eco Club if you are interested! Next half term we are planning exciting activities for Earth Day 2024 on the 22nd April - watch this space … Miss Eveleigh, Miss Trivedi & Ms Devlin 04
NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
YEAR 10 – HOW TO BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE LEARNERS FOR LIFE
On Thursday 11th January, all Year 10 students were treated to what has become an annual tradition: a fascinating and motivational presentation by chartered psychologist, Dr. Martijn van der Spoel from Glia Learning. Dr. van der Spoel outlined which study strategies are the most effective and the small changes to work patterns that can make a big difference to outcomes. This presentation to Year 10 signalled the start of weekly Form time registration activities to revisit effective study skills in preparation for their end of year assessments, which take place week beginning 22nd April. Year 11 students had these in the Autumn term leading up to their mock examination period. Now they have received their mock examination results, the sessions will begin again straight after half term We were also delighted to be able to invite parents and careers of students in Years 10 -13 to an evening presentation by Dr. van der Spoel. The queue of parents who wanted to stay after the main presentation to ask follow-up questions was testament to the quality of his work. We look forward to welcoming Martijn back next year!
Do use the email address: revision@nowerhill.harrow.sch.uk if you wish to ask for any further advice or support about study or revision habits for your child, no matter what their Year group. Ms Wilkinson
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
NATIONAL CIPHER CHALLENGE 2023/24 The National Cipher Challenge has been run by the University of Southampton Mathematics Department since 2002 and has attracted a wide following. Cabinet Ministers, media scientists, journalists, authors and actors are just some of the fans of this competition. The challenge is a code breaking competition written for UK secondary school and 6th Form students of Mathematics and Computer Science. It has always had a wide following among teachers and parents and across a range of age groups.
Cipher Challenge Leader board 1
We are delighted to announce that 2 teams representing Nower Hill High School have been awarded Silver medals in this year’s National Cipher Challenge. Leon He (Year 13) led a solo venture into the competition, and a second team consisting of some of our brightest Year 12 Further Maths students in Shaan Bharj, Nikhilesh Butti, Jai Mashru and Aryan Karadkar. The judges were very impressed by their submission and they have been invited to attend a prize giving ceremony at Bletchley Park on Wednesday 28th February to receive their award. The students have been offered a private tour of Bletchley Park, which was once the top-secret home of the World War Two codebreakers followed by talks by leading Mathematicians such as Professor Kit Yates. There will also be an opportunity to meet delegates from sponsors of the competition such GCHQ, IBM and Netcraft. A truly fierce competition, we would like to wholeheartedly congratulate Leon, Shaan, Nikhilesh, Jai and Aryan for their success in the competition and inspiring other students at the school to participate in the competition in the years to come. Mr Shah
Bletchley Park
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
NOWER HILL NEWS UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge Well done to the students from Years 9, 10 and 11 for taking part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge on Wednesday 31st January 2024. We are super proud and want to take the time to congratulate them for their hard work with preparing for this challenge. UKMT encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency to make students think. The problems in the challenge are designed to make students think; most are accessible, yet still challenge those with more experience. We are very grateful to have had the UKMT successfully take place this year to allow KS4 students to really test their problem solving skills nationally! To the right are photographs of the students hard at work completing their challenge. We eagerly await their results to see who has made it onto the next round. Good luck! Ms Jilka
House Competition result On Monday 22nd January 2024, students representing the different houses took part in the Science Competition to build the Tallest Paper Tower. Students were tasked with designing and building the tallest tower using just newspapers, tape and paper straws. The competition was fierce and the creativity on display was truly inspiring. The students rose to the challenge, applying scientific principles and problem-solving strategies to construct impressive paper towers. The winners were Serban Schiop, Surja Roy, Devishi Bhavarga, Maya Mosquera, Isabelle Mitchell, Haasith Pelluru, Hareshvijay Varadarassou from Shabazz House, having built the tallest standing tower measuring over 2 metres; 2nd place was King and 3rd place Nightingale. Ms Tshibola
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICS FOR PARENTS & CARERS The Classics Department recently ran two sessions for interested parents and carers, which were attended by around 20 parents and carers each time, either remotely or in person. The first session, delivered by Ms Mussi, was on the influence of the classical world on science fiction, including well-known books and films including Star Wars and Frank Herbert’s Dune novels. The second, led by Mrs Atkinson, introduced our grown-up students to the relevance of Latin in the modern world and how it is taught at Nower Hill. They learnt how Latin sentence structure works and about the role of noun cases in a sentence. We have a rich and varied programme of sessions coming up over the rest of the year and would invite any parent, carer or member of staff who would like to attend (and hasn’t told us via the initial survey already) to contact Mrs Atkinson on atkinson.tara@nowerhill.harrow.sch.uk. There is no obligation to commit to the whole programme. Please see the table for details of future sessions. Google Meet links are sent out to those who have expressed an interest in attending remotely a couple of days before the session.
Weds 21st Feb 6pm
An Introduction to Latin Pt II
Weds 6th March 6pm
The Cesspit of Romulus: History and Politics in the Late Roman Republic
Thursday 21st March 6pm
East meets West: Ancient Philosophy for a Modern Life
Thursday 18th April 6pm
Epic Adventures in the Ancient World: Homer and Virgil
Thursday 2nd May 6pm
An Introduction to Classical Greek Pt I
Thursday 16th May 6pm
An Introduction to Classical Greek Pt II
Thursday 6th June 6pm
Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World
Thursday 20th June 6pm
The Origins of the Ancient Olympics
Mrs Atkinson
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
MUSIC & DRAMA NEWS Footloose Tickets are still available for this year’s production of Footloose. Dates of the performance are:
● ● ●
Wednesday 21st February 7pm Thursday 22nd February 7pm Friday 23rd February 2pm and 7pm
Tickets are available on Parent Pay.
Guys & Dolls Trip On Thursday 11th January, Year 9 Drama and Music students went on a fantastic trip to watch Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre in London Bridge. This was a unique immersive theatre experience, whereby the stage changed shape and audience members interacted with the cast. Some of our students even got to dance with the cast at the end of the show! Thank you to Miss Poonawala, Miss Jafari-Berenji, Mr Greenwood, Mr Roberts and Mrs Johnson for supporting this trip.
Other Performing Arts News On Wednesday 24th January a group of 10 students from the Orchestra went to see Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and a Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall. Thank you to Mr Hitchcock and Mrs Perry for accompanying the students. Our well known Glee Club are taking part in the Regional Final for the Jack Petchey Glee Competition at Millfield Theatre on Sunday 18th February. We wish them good luck! Mr Roberts 09
NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
SPORTS FIXTURES Year 7 Football
Cross Country
In the final borough tournament of the Year 7 Football season, we had two teams representing Nower Hill High School. Both teams did very well and played some good football.
Well done to all of our cross country runners who had qualified through road run in September and January PE lessons. All of our runners completed the course and did amazingly in cold conditions.
Unfortunately, our B team was knocked out in the group stages due to a loss in the last game of the group. The B team showed excellent football skills and attacking play in a very tough group.
Special congratulations to Soufia Atek (1st), Megan Cadman (3rd) and Tavia Wong (6th) from the minor girls. Ryan Amin (8th) from minor boys.
The A team finished on top in group 1 with two wins and 1 draw. Xavier scored a great solo goal in the first game, and Nevaeh scored the winning goal in the last group game.
Grace Crisp (5th), Lara Russo (7th) and Cara Samuels (10th) from junior girls. Luca Russo (1st) from Junior boys.
The A team played against Salvotorian College in the semi-finals, and once again, it went to a penalty shootout. Neel once again saved Salvotorian’s last penalty, and Abdurrahman scored the decisive kick to send us to the final.
Mariana Ovsyakina (9th) from Intermediate girls. Dylan Ssentoogo (5th), Daniel Shpendi (8th) and Daniel Bantleman (9th) from the intermediate boys. All have qualified for the Middlesex Cross Country, which will be on Tuesday 6th February.
In the final, we played against Pinner High School and, this time lost 3-1. Well done to everyone in the team. In three tournaments, we have reached the final each time - a great achievement.
Table Tennis The U16 team played in the group stage of the borough table tennis tournament in which they won last year. Unfortunately it didn’t go as planned, coming up against a strong Avanti House team and narrowly losing to Salvatorian College in a decider.
Girls’ Football Well done to the U16 girls’ football team who made it through to the quarterfinals of the Middlesex cup. We were drawn away against Queens Park Community School, a strong side evident very early on in the game. Unfortunately we lost 5-1 but the girls battled hard until the last minute.
Overall, the team finished 3rd in the group, so will sadly not progress to the finals later on in the year.
There were standout performances from Cara Samuels, Anaya Johnson, and Nevaeh RittenburgMorris who also scored our only goal.
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
SPORTS FIXTURES Indoor Athletics: Year 7
Year 7 Basketball
Huge congratulations to both our boys and girls Year 7 indoor Athletics Teams. Both teams performed admirably and secured a second-place finish in the Borough competition.
Champions! Congratulations to the Year 7 Basketball Team, who are the Borough champions. They secured a 29-10 victory in the final against Hatch End High School.
Throughout the competition, we achieved numerous 1st place positions.
Daniel Stefanescu was the MVP in the game, scoring the majority of our points and controlling the tempo.
Special recognition to both Megan Cadman and Soufia Atek, who secured 1st and 2nd places in the Speed Bounce event.
Well done to Kayden Ross, Pearse Patterson, Kymani McCallum, Zane Phylatou, Ryan Amin, Ishan Varsani, Azarias Assefa, Diyan Rajdev, Daniel Stefanescu, and Bilal Kidwai.
Megan Cadmin claimed 1st place in the 4-lap race. Daniel Stefanescu excelled, securing 1st place in Shot Put. Diyen Patel achieved 1st place in Speed Bounce. Reuben Pinnock demonstrated outstanding performance, securing 1st place in the 4-lap race.
Indoor Athletics: Year 8
Year 10 Basketball
Well done to our Year 8 indoor athletics team which consisted of Isla Phillips, Melody McCarthy, Elsie Mistry, Lea Smith and Amelie Berbarian-Tuladhar representing the girls, who finished 3rd overall.
To the finals! Our Year 10 Basketball team has clinched their spot in the Borough championship match with a thrilling 30-29 victory over Rooks Heath High School. In the closing 14 seconds of the game, Zannai scored a 2-point basket and sealed the win for us.
Leighton Thomas, Abdalhadi Al Badri, Thomas Morris, Kalil Beharry and Khalil Chung represented the boys, and finished 5th overall.
The entire team has been performing exceptionally, and we eagerly anticipate the upcoming final against Park High School.
Miss Reynolds
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
A LEVEL LAW/POLITICS TRIP Palace of Westminster & Supreme Court Last week, A Level Law and Politics students attended a trip to the Palace of Westminster. Our students engaged in a fascinating and historical tour of the Houses of Parliament, where a few well-known MPs were sighted! Students then participated in a workshop run by Parliament Education on the parliamentary law-making process and parliamentary supremacy. Here, our students showed off their oracy skills while engaging in heated formal debate. Following this, students visited the Supreme Court to see where the law is enforced and in doing so, watched appeal cases from the public galleries. For both Law and Politics students, this was a valuable opportunity to understand parliamentary sovereignty and the law-making process. Ms Azam
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
YEAR 11 TRIP TO AHMISA CAFE On Friday 12th January the Year 11 Food Preparation & Nutrition class took a trip to Ahmisa, a vegan cafe in Pinner. The aim of the trip was for students to sample high fibre breakfast dishes to support them with the research part of their coursework. This experience enabled students to sample dishes that they may have never tried before, as well as looking at the presentation to help support them with their upcoming three hour practical exam. Ahimsa were fantastic with lovely staff and some delicious dishes, we would certainly highly recommend a visit for yourselves! Ms Oliver
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
YEAR 10 MOCK INTERVIEW EVENT Tuesday 23rd January 2024 31 employers kindly gave up their time for the 1:1 mock interview event for our Year 10 students. During the event, every student had a twenty minute interview with an employer and were then given valuable feedback on their performance. Each student also had to bring their CV with them, in order to make the experience as realistic as possible. Prior to the event students had completed a preparation programme covering interview questions, listening skills, body language, hand shake and dress code. Students found the day very rewarding and commented on how beneficial the event was, as many of them had never had an interview before. Employers were very impressed and complimentary about the array of skills and qualities the students’ posses.
Students evaluation of the event were: ‘Having the experience of an interview makes me feel more confident about the situation’ ‘Need to practice asking more questions to the interviewer’ ‘Articulacy is key. Be able to comfortably have a conversation’ ‘I should only put positives on my CV’ ‘To be confident in my own achievements and abilities’ ‘It is good to be prepared and organised’
A huge thank you to the representatives who volunteered from the following companies: Barclays Bank, CapGemini, University of Westminster, Stanmore College, Brunel University, GSK, Accenture, Prospects, Army, Education Development Trust, Bank of England, Vodafone, STRABAG UK, Park High School, Ernest Young, Danny Sullivan Group, Department for Work and Pensions, Oxford Brookes University Ms Doshi
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK Monday 5th – Sunday 11th February 2024 To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, the Careers Department invited a former student, who is now an apprentice, to talk to interested Year 11 students about her apprenticeship journey so far and to answer questions about apprenticeships. She is completing a Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship with Capgemini and is enjoying learning in the workplace. We have also invited another former student to talk to Year 12 Law students about her Solicitor Degree Apprenticeship with KPMG after half term. These talks will undoubtedly raise awareness of apprenticeships as an attractive pathway after leaving school. Have a go at the apprenticeship quiz and games and watch the film to test your knowledge about apprenticeships. Ms Murray
Apprenticeship Quiz 2024 The Apprenticeship Quiz 2024
Key Apprenticeship Terms Game Key Apprenticeship Terms (Wordwall) The Apprenticeship Film Apprenticeship resources for schools, teachers, parents True or False Apprenticeship Facts https://amazingapprenticeships.co m/resource/true-or-false/
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
TRIPLE P Positive Parenting Solutions Reducing Family Conflict On the 26th of January we had a group of parents visit and participate in this fantastic workshop, to help build their tools and problem solving skills when managing teenage conflict in the home. All parents who took part had an opportunity to express their struggles regarding parenthood and managing their children’s challenging behaviour. The reducing family conflict workshop was underlined by three main objectives: to have patience, perseverance and persistence when dealing with conflict in the home. The providers wanted to encourage parents to really look at things from another perspective whilst introducing practical solutions to help manage the complex issues that surround raising a teenager. There may be more workshops that take place closer to summer, so please do look out for these! ‘The Triple P Programme helps parents set more realistic expectations of children and helps them communicate with their child when they display negative behaviour. As parents they must nurture ambition and aspiration in their children and understand that they are the role-models who can ensure children go into life with confidence and self-belief.’ – Brilliantparents.org
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
STUDENT WELLBEING Remember, there is always someone at school that students can reach out to. Students can access the Student Wellbeing Page using their Google Account. A reminder that if parents/ carers need any support, you can access a range of resources on our school website
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
HARROW EARLY SUPPORT – HALF TERM ACTIVITIES
Harrow Children's Centres
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
PTFA COMEDY NIGHT Wednesday 6th March 2024 The fabulous line-up includes:
The PTFA are excited to announce the return of Nower Hill’s comedy night on Wednesday 6th March 2024. The evening will be hosted by Keith Farnan and feature comedians Ria Lina, Ben Van Der Velde and Gary Colman, who have appeared on TV shows including Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, Live at the Apollo, Have I got News For You and Mock the Week.
MC – Keith Farnan
Tickets can be booked via the Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/comedynight-tickets-798893751717
Gary Colman
Ria Lina Contact Us Parents and Friends of Nower Hill High School
Registered Charity Number 1097399 C/O Nower Hill High School, George V Avenue, Pinner, Middlesex, HA5 5RP
Ben Van Der Velde
Email: nhhspta@gmail.com
This evening will be for adults only. No students will be permitted.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted” – Aesop
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NOWER HILL NEWS February 2024
OTHER INFORMATION Hire our Facilities Looking for a venue for your function? Nower Hill High School is proud to offer many facilities for hire to the local community, clubs and organisations at an affordable price.
Astro Turf Pitch Indoor Cricket Nets Hall Dining Centre Drama and Dance Studio Gym Tennis / Netball Courts Classrooms
For further information on any of our facilities, including availability, please email: lettings@nowerhill.harrow.sch.uk
Work Experience
YEAR 12 Are you able to offer one of our 6th Form students a work placement? Year 12 go on work experience from Monday 24th June - Friday 28th June 2024 The placements will be linked to the degree course or apprenticeship they wish to study at University.
YEAR 10 Are you able to offer one of our Year 10 students a work placement? Year 10 go on work experience from Monday 29th April – Thursday 2nd May 2024
The placements will help our students understand the world of work, develop skills and help to motivate them at school.
If you are able to offer a Nower Hill student an opportunity to work in a professional working environment, please contact Mrs Doshi at careers@nowerhill.harrow.sch.uk or on 0208 863 0877
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