EventsCalendar
• Class of 1972: 50-Year Reunion, Mon 8 Feb 2023
• Class of 2018: 5-Year Reunion, Mon 13 Mar 2023
• Class of 1983, 1993, 2003, 2013: 10-, 20-, 30-, and 40-Year Reunion, Sat 13 May 2023
• Class of 1978, 1988, 1998, 2008: 15-, 25-, 35-, and 40-Year Reunion, Sun 11 Jun 2023
• Class of 2022: 1-Year Reunion, Tue 12 Sep 2023
• Class of 1973: 50-Tear Reunion, Wed 20 Sep 2023
Join our community of giving – The 1850 Club
The 1850 Club is a way for us to recognise and thank our supporters who make a recurring gift to NLCS. Designed to be accessible to all and make donating a positive experience, The 1850 Club also provides a sociable platform to thank regular supporters. Simply pledge a regular donation of your choosing to support bursary students, capital projects or a specific area of interest by clicking the donate button below:
Donate
We want to recognise your support and show our appreciation for your generosity, so all members are listed in our Alumnae Donor Report and invited to special events hosted by the Headmistress and Governors.
NLCS News:
Vicky Bingham
We are delighted to announce that Vicky Bingham will be taking up the position Headmistress at our wonderful School from September 2023.
A Graduate from Keble College, Oxford, Mrs Bingham has more than twenty years’ of teaching experience in leading independent girls’ schools. Mrs Bingham joins us from South Hampstead High School, where she has been Headmistress sine 2017, and which, under her leadership, was recently named Independent Girls’ School of the Year.
The Well-being Centre
Over the pandemic we’ve seen an unfortunate rise in children with mental health issues. In July 2021, one in five children aged 5-16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem, which is a huge increase from one in nine back in 2017.
Here at NLCS, we pride ourselves in the safety and well-being of our students, and thanks to some creative thinking and support we are developing a well-being centre, which is due to open early 2023
The centre will provide several benefits for students:
• Spaces for workshop and group activities
• A place for students to undertake online counselling and CAMHS sessions
• Spaces for meetings – e.g., Head of Year and students, pastoral staff, and parents
• In-person meetings with social workers an outside professionals
• A space in which students can feel safe, and confident and take full advantage of the counselling opportunities
This is very exciting development for our school, in which we will aim to offer nothing but the best for our students, aiding their education and future.
Mentor Programme
For those ONLs looking to get involved in our mentor programme, you can get in touch with us via E-mail at onlmentor@nlcs.org.uk
Please include:
-Your full name
-What industry you work in
-What you studied at university (if applicable.)
Samuel Farrer, our Alumnae Engagement and Events officer will let you know what type of mentorship is available and the different ways you can help our students.
Volavka (ONL, 1997)
Series 2 of The Pact offered a brand-new storyline and cast, and I wanted to take the show to darker, more gothic visual style. It is psychological thriller about a social worker who has four adult children, one of whom died recently. One day, the doppelgänger of her dead son turns up, and this tight-knit family is blown up as a secrets are revealed and a murderous pact is formed.
It was such an adventure to film on the Welsh coast, which offered incredible cliffs, beaches, and ruins. We took over the main Pier Café in Penarth and re-decorated it to suit our jewel colour palette, which was fun. We had a fabulous cast crew, which helped on the long cold night shoots! I particularly loved collaborating with the Spanish Cinematographer Sergio Delgado, who had previously worked (as a Focus Puller) on Pan’s Labyrinth, one of my all-time favourite films.
Hannah Minghella (ONL, 1997):
Hannah Minghella is a film producer who worked on Lou, a Netflix movie. This movie is about a young girl who is kidnapped and whose mother teams up with the mysterious woman next door to pursue the kidnapper. A journey that tests their limits and exposes shocking secrets from their pasts.
Another one to add to your watchlist. (Available to stream on Netflix)
Sophie Duker (ONL, 2008):
Comedian Sophie Duker is currently on a U.K. tour with dates up to end of April 2023. Her ‘HAG’ tour is in full swing, starting back in August 2022. She has received some great feedback with one viewer quoting “A riotously funny journey of self-discovery”.
Noureen Lakhani (ONL, 2014):
Congratulations to Noureen Lakhani for completing her Doctorate from UCL in July 2022.
Noureen’s time at NLCS
“During my time at NLCS, I was the Co-Chairperson of the Psychology Society, got involved with several volunteering opportunities with young people such as travelling to Flying Angels School n Zambia, reading with pupils in the First School or assisting teachers at Northway School for children with learning disabilities. All combined prepared me extremely well for university in Birmingham and later added to my combined experience of working with young people, giving me the foundation to complete my Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at UCL. I graduated in July 2022 as Dr Noureen Lakhani, with my thesis focusing o teachers’ views on working with children who have experienced trauma. I always hold a great deal of gratitude for my teachers and friends at NLCS that enabled and empowered me to this point in my education and career today.”
Nicole
The Archives
With Christmas around the corner, we thought we’d share some Christmas cards from as far back as the 1940s. These cards were addressed to various students and staff member from that era.
Four generations at NLCS
Mrs Gower, or Kruger as she was known at NLCS, is part of a family that have attended NLCS over four generations and four different Headmistresses. It’s clear that it’s a tradition for the girls in the family to attend NLCS, and each have enjoyed their time greatly. With a total of 17 family members, from first cousins to sisters and grandmothers, the corridors have heard many a laugh and shared a multitude of memories with the family.
Gaby recalls looking for tunnels in the dungeons, and actually located one which was boarded up halfway down, the Edinburgh Festival which she and her classmates attended and Senior Societies just to name a few. Reminiscing her memories, she mentioned that friends she made in school are still some of her closest friends she made in school are still some of her closest friends now proving that the relationships built at NLCS last a lifetime.
ONLs favourite Christmas memories at Canons:
“Junior School Christmas party, when we took party frocks in, and they hung up all round the classroom all day… Many pink frillies as you’d imagine in the 1960s, but I was smugly proud of the black velvet shift dress my Mum had made me.”
-Jane Schofield (ONL, 1975)
“I loved the classroom post boxes making and delivering Christmas cards.”
-Katie Schenk (ONL, 1994)
“Mr Lawrence on the piano playing Jingle Bells in the style of different composers!”
-Penny Osmond (ONL, 2003)
“Canons Follies Twelve Days of Christmas. I was the partridge in the pear tree. Dressed in brown I’d come on stage for each verse and when we all sang “and a partridge in a pear tree” I’d reply, “that’s me!”
-Justine Solomons (ONL, 1993)
“The Christmas hat competition in Junior School.”
_Claudia Saunders Goodman (ONL,1993)
ONL Regional Coordinators:
The ONL Community is a wide international community, and we have ONLs living in all parts of the world. We have regional coordinators for several parts of the UK as well as overseas. Please find their details below should you want to get in touch. We are always on the hunt for more regional coordinators, so please contact us if this is something you are interested in doing.
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Cornwall/Devon - Jill Hall (née Hankins) - jill22hall@gmail.com
Midlands - Kate Jones (née Levinson) - kate.levinson@talk21.com
South-West – Jane Watkins - janewatkins645@btinternet.com
Hampshire - Amanda Collins - alcollins@doctors.org.uk
Australia - Kay Moyes - moyes_kay@hotmail.com
USA - Sophia Breslauer - sophia_breslauer@yahoo.co.uk
Regional ONL meet-up
“The Scotland ONLs inaugural event was held at the Royal Botanic Gardens on Sunday 3rd July 2022. We had eight attendees in total. The weather was kind to us and we had a lovely walk around the gardens, followed by tea and scones at the café. There was lots of chatter reminiscing about our days at school, which spanned form 1952-1983!”
-Ali Harris (ONL, 1982)
Autumn Term at NLCS:
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On 10th November, we had the pleasure of welcoming back Anushka Shah (ONL, 2016), the founder of Casa Nushki, an ethically sourced fashion brand, to talk “sustainable fashion and what does it mean beyond buzzwords and green washing?”
A big thank you to Anushka for the talk she gave to our students in the Drummond Room.
If you’d like to check out Anushka’s brand head over to: https://www.casanushki.com/
A huge thank you to the ONLs who joined us for a student-hosted panel discussion about international careers this week. These ONLs with experience spanning entrepreneurship, marketing, publishing, PR, presenting, teaching and more, follow their natural curiosity. They demonstrate the importance of being true to yourself, nurturing interests and developing soft (or rather hard) core skills, to find happy fulfilling careers.
I December, students hosted the Fantasy Fashion, which is now in its 26 year. This annual event has raised well over £160k for the Karenni student Development Programme (KSDP).
The was a poignant evening, with the ONLs Maitreyi, Tamara, Shivali, Hannah, and Gabrielle from the Class of 1998 in attendance. KSDP was founded by their classmate ONL, Stephanie Lee, during her gap year. Stephanie had been deeply moved by the situation of the Karenni people, who lived in the most horrendous conditions in a refugee camp on the Thailand-Burma border. However sadly, at just 21years old, she was killed in an accident near the camo. Stephanie’s parents, Beryl and Steve continued to run the charity after the tragedy.
Beryl and Steve, who are well into their retirement, announced at the show that they will be winding down for the charity, with all funds to be transferred to Advance Myanmar at the end of 2022. Advance Myanmar is a charity with a very similar ethos to KSDP. NLCS will continue to raise funds for Advance Myanmar’s Karenni education and healthcare projects in Stephanie’s memory.
We had a fantastic weekend exhibiting at the Independent Schools Show (ISS) & The British Boarding Schools Shows (BBSS). On Saturday 12th November Dr Hazel BagworthMann appeared on the panel ‘North of the Thames – finding the right London school for your child’. On Sunday 13th November, Director of Development, Gavin Mann spoke about our brilliant bursary provision in the Bursary & Scholarships Pavilion.
It was wonderful to meet so many prospective families over the weekend and we hope we managed to give them a small taste of what NLCS has to offer!
Saint George and the Dragon
Years 8 and 9 put on production of Saint George and the Dragon on 16th and 17th of November. A tremendous amount of effort was put into both the scenes and the set. Confidence oozed from the stage as they bellowed their voices for all to be heard. Through sacrifice, battle, and a classic love story with a brutal twist, they really engaged the audience.
Big Cedar’s ‘big ouchy!!’
After some high winds, Big Cedar lost a branch, but for all of you worried we can assure you that Big Cedar isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
The average life span of a Lebanon Cedar is 2-300 years with some having lived to 1,000.
NLCS at ISS
