NLCS Omnibuss 2023

JUNIOR SCHOOL MAGAZINE

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CONTENTS FOREWORD

4

CREATIVE WRITING

8/20

RECEPTION

6

TRIPS & VISITS

12

SPORT

ART & DESIGN

44

50

MUSIC

57

LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

CHARITY & COMMUNITY

61

CORONATION

64

66

STEAM

68

YEAR 6 MEMORIES

70

DRAMA

54

FOREWORD

Mrs Sarah Cartwright-Styles

Head of Junior School

A Memorable School Year: Celebrating Academic Achievements, Community Engagement, and Cultural Enrichment

T

he school year has been a remarkable journey filled with joyful learning, community connections, and outstanding achievements. I have had the pleasure of witnessing the wonderful atmosphere in the Junior School, where the love of learning is infectious. The scholarly attributes of our pupils have been awe-inspiring, and the collaboration with parents and staff has been truly enriching. This article will highlight some of the memorable events and activities that have shaped this extraordinary school year, including curriculum evenings, cultural workshops, author visits, sports events, choral workshops, and more.

One of the highlights of the school year was the curriculum evening, where we launched our renewed focus on education, particularly in the areas of Oracy and the Zones of Regulation. This event provided an opportunity for parents to learn about the curriculum and engage in meaningful discussions with staff. The enthusiasm and involvement of the parents have been invaluable in creating a strong partnership between home and school.

Throughout the year, our school celebrated cultural diversity through various workshops and visits. During Black History Month, we commemorated the occasion with an African drumming workshop, which allowed students to experience the vibrant rhythms and traditions of African culture.

Additionally, the Year 6 students had the privilege of visiting the Black Cultural Archive, delving deeper into the rich history and heritage of Black communities. A visit to Tate Britain provided an artistic journey, where students explored the works of renowned artists and gained inspiration for their own creativity. To foster a love for literature, we invited authors such as Robin Stevens, Dinah Orji, and Karl Nova to engage with the students, sharing their passion for storytelling and encouraging young minds to explore the world of books.

Sports events played a significant role in promoting teamwork and healthy competition among our students. Netball tournaments, swimming galas, IAPS skiing competitions, and the inaugural Aquathlon showcased the dedication and sporting prowess of our pupils. These events not only enhanced their physical abilities but also instilled important values of sportsmanship and resilience.

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FOREWORD In the realm of music, choral workshops led by Dr. Douglas Coombes provided an excellent platform for students to refine their vocal skills and showcase their talent. Our Canons Choir achieved remarkable success, winning the GSA Choir of the Year award and the Barnardo’s Choral Competition. The pupils’ musical achievements were celebrated through Breakfast Buskers and ensemble concerts, where they showcased their musical prowess to a wider audience.

Exhibition Saturday was a true testament to the creativity and hard work of our students. The school premises were transformed into a vibrant gallery, displaying a diverse range of artwork, projects, and academic achievements.

The pride and enthusiasm radiated by the students were truly contagious. Furthermore, our theme of Giving Back for this year’s Founder’s Day has never more so been relevant, our Harvest festival, Canonaid and numerous cake sales for KDSP have been such key events, demonstrating our commitment to social responsibility and instilling empathy in our pupils.

As the school year ends, it is with great pride that we reflect on the achievements and experiences that have shaped our educational community. The strong bonds formed with parents and staff, the infectious love of learning, and the cultural enrichment opportunities have made this year truly remarkable. We commend our pupils for their scholarly attributes and their commitment to excellence, in both academic and extracurricular pursuits. As we bid farewell to this memorable year, we look forward to even more growth and success in the years to come.

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5

RECEPTION

6

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RECEPTION

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

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CREATIVE WRITING Reception Our budding storytellers and poets in Reception unleashed their creativity and imagination to re-imagine some well-known tales, adding a touch of magic and breathing new life into these classic stories and poems.

Fireworks Pink, crackling Fireworks!

Sizzling, crashing Fireworks!

Twirling, sparkling Fireworks!

I love Fireworks!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ayla RO Sizzling, big Fireworks!

Exploding, flashing Fireworks!

Glowing, flower Fireworks!

I love Fireworks!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lavanya RO Pink, fizzing fireworks!

Twinkly, glittery fireworks!

Sparkly, shimmery fireworks!

I love fireworks!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Mia RH Sparkling, banging fireworks!

Shooting, shimmering fireworks!

Pretty, fizzling fireworks!

I love fireworks!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Aliya RH

The Gruffalo

Jack Frost cold, blue fingers.

Jack Frost glittering, sparkling wings.

Jack Frost icy, spiky toes.

Jack Frost glowing, freezing nose.

Jack Frost, Jack Frost, FREEZE. Chiara RH

He has prickly claws And sharp jaws.

He has hairy toes And a green nose.

He has prickly hair And a dangerous lair.

Amaya RO He has spiky claws And sharp jaws.

He has pointy toes And a fluffy nose.

He has tickly hair And a dark lair.

Lana RO He has white sharp claws and sparkly jaws.

He has hairy toes and snuffly nose.

He has prickly hair and a hard lair.

Lara RH

Red Riding Hood Dear Little Red Riding Hood, I am sorry for eating grandma. I am sorry for scaring you.

I will give grandma a bath and you a big hug.

Love from the wolf.

Nithya RO

He has sharp claws and white jaws.

He has prickly toes and a brown nose.

He has spiky hair and a cosy lair.

Amina RH

Jack Frost Jack Frost pointy, sparkly body.

Jack Frost speedy, fast feet.

Jack Frost sharp, freezing fingers.

Jack Frost shiny, scrunchy legs.

Jack Frost, Jack Frost, Freeze.

Liya RO Jack Frost spiky, blue hair.

Jack Frost bumpy, glittery cloak.

Jack Frost sharp, white finger .

Jack Frost pointy, wintry toes.

Jack Frost, Jack Frost, Freeze.

Isla RO Jack Frost blue, sharp hair.

Jack Frost icy, cold fingers.

Jack Frost shiny, shimmering nose.

Jack Frost long, silver legs.

Jack Frost, Jack Frost, FREEZE. Emily RH

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Dear Little Red Riding Hood, I am sorry for breaking grandma’s cup.

I will buy her a new cup. I am sorry for scaring you in the woods.

I will make you a strawberry cake.

Love from the wolf.

Anya RO

Letter from Goldilocks Goldilocks, 5 Buttercup Lane, The Village Dear Three Bears, I am sorry for going in your cottage and eating your porridge and breaking your chair and sleeping in your bed. I will make you some more porridge and I will fix your chair and I will bring some more honey from the bees.

From Goldilocks xxx Mira RH

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CREATIVE WRITING Reception Goldilocks, 5 Buttercup Lane, The Village Dear Three Bears, I am very sorry for going to your cottage and for breaking the chair. I am sorry for eating your porridge. I am going to help you fix the chair. Sorry.

From Goldilocks xxx Arya RH

Space Party Menus Drink – Green alien water Starter – Blue space spaghetti and Mars sauce Main Course – Space pizza and sparkly broccoli Dessert – Moon cupcake and white Pluto cream.

Ellie RO Drink – Fizzy Mars juice Starter – Hot astronaut soup Main course – Alien fish and chips and moon salad Dessert – Star jelly and Neptune tart.

Grace RO Drink: icy yellow lemonade Starter: spicy moonrock garlic bread Main Course: space sun cheese pizza Dessert: Pluto purple Jelly Anahita RH Drink: fizzy Saturn orange juice Starter: tasty moonrock bread Main Course: cold Jupiter fish and chips Dessert: space alien strawberry cake Evaa RH

Teddy Adventures in Space Teddy is called Gia Bear. Teddy is going to space in a sparkly spaceship. Teddy is packing a teddy toothbrush, a shiny headlight, an apple sandwich, a warm spacesuit, and a starry telescope. Teddy lands on the rocky, grey moon. Teddy can see golden stars and an asteroid.

Teddy meets a jelly alien and a loud monster. They play catch behind the shiny stars. Teddy’s adventure is nearly over. Before he goes home, he needs to go to visit hot Mars. He sees shiny stars there. Teddy’s favourite memory from space is meeting the jelly alien and sliding on the slippery rings. He liked travelling in his fast rocket.

Lara RO Teddy is called Honey. Teddy is going to space in a silver rocket. Teddy is packing honey sandwiches, a soft suit, hard boots, a moon map and a strong backpack. Teddy lands on sparkly Mars.

Teddy can see the starry galaxy. Teddy meets a fiery alien. They have an alien party. Teddy’s adventure is nearly over.

Before she goes home, she needs to collect some moon dust. She played with the cold alien. Teddy’s favourite memory from space is jumping on the gold stars.

Ava RO Teddy is called Pearl. Teddy is going to space in a sparkly spaceship. Teddy is packing honey sweets, a shiny telescope, an ice collection kit and a protective helmet. Teddy lands on icy Saturn. Teddy can see golden shiny stars and deep craters. Teddy meets a pink, nice alien.

They found a diamond. Before she goes home, she needs to go to pick up some shiny ice. She cuddles the pink alien and says goodbye. Teddy’s favourite memory from space is seeing sparkly Saturn and twirling in the glittery spaceship.

Reiva RO Teddy is called Lily. Teddy is going to space in a racing gold rocket. Teddy is packing sandwiches, a camera, peanut butter sandwiches and moon water boots with sparkles! Teddy lands on the golden moon and Neptune had a shiny belt. Teddy can see shooting stars in the

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sky. Teddy meets a bumpy alien and they play tag together.

They ate pizza. Teddy’s adventure is nearly over. Before he goes he needs to collect some grey moonrock and his best suit. Teddy’s favourite memory from space is seeing some sparkly stars in the sky.

Lottie RH Teddy is called Fluffy. Teddy is going to space in a sequined red rocket. Teddy is packing a cheese sandwich and chocolate biscuit and an apple and a camera and water and fizzy juice. Teddy lands on the sparkly moon with craters on it. Teddy can see a star that is twinkly. Teddy meets a red and green slimy alien that has horns.

They played fetch. Teddy’s adventure is nearly over. Before he goes he needs to pack his suitcase with red gloves and woolly hat. Teddy’s favourite memory from space is looking at the shimmering, sparkling, flashing, golden stars.

Reva RH Teddy is called Lily. Teddy is going to space in a golden, fiery rocket. Teddy is packing shimmering hula hoops, a honey sandwich, a cold camera and a Greek flag. Teddy lands on shining Saturn.

Teddy can see a golden alien. Teddy meets a sparkling space dog. They hula hooped. The space dog skipped and Teddy tried it too. Teddy’s adventure is nearly over. Before he goes he needs to pack his stuff up in his golden rocket.

Teddy’s favourite memory from space is seeing the sparkling space dog.

Reiva RH

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CREATIVE WRITING Reception The Enchanted Forest One sunny day I went for a walk in the deep, dark forest and suddenly I saw a star light flower, it shimmered. I found a glowing butterfly. I spoke to it. “Hello” it said “don’t be scared. I can lead you to a tree.” Suddenly something flew past me, I did not know what it was. Then I saw it was another colourful butterfly. I flew on it all the way to the green, curly tree and I went inside the tiny hole. It felt magical. I peeked out and I saw a brown monster. It is a kind monster. It offers me a mushroom umbrella as I climb out of the tree.

Charlotte RO

The Perfect Garden Take a pretty parrot.

Add a high swing.

Stir in a shooting fountain.

Sprinkle on a tall tree.

Decorate with a glittery swimming pool.

Now enjoy your garden!

Daisy RO

One sunny day I went for a walk in the deep, dark forest and suddenly I saw a pink flower and I played with it. I saw a yellow and red mushroom and I bounced on it. I saw a friendly monster and I played with it. We played catch. I saw a small, purple butterfly. It landed on my hand. It was looking for nectar. We climbed on tall vines and slept in a lot of green, swirly leaves.

Pahel RO

One sunny day I went for a walk in the deep, dark forest and suddenly I saw a fluttery butterfly. It said please can you fly with me today. Yes I said. I will fly with you. I will. And then I had a picnic with the fluttery butterfly and then we met the grey monster. It was friendly. We played hide and seek with him. When it was his turn to hide he hid behind a magic mushroom and I found him. And then it was the fluttery butterfly’s turn to hide. She hid behind a green tree. Me and the grey monster found her and I went back home with my friends.

Colette RH One sunny day I went for a walk in the deep, dark forest and suddenly I saw rainbow flowers and a spotty mushroom.

Then a monster tapped me on the shoulder. Then I hid behind a tree. Then a butterfly flew around me. Then I ate a magical mushroom. Then the monster was cross because I ate his mushroom.

Adina RH

Take a rainbow flower.

Add a noisy beehive.

Stir in a sparkly pond.

Sprinkle on blossom trees.

Decorate with soft petals.

Now enjoy your garden!

Elise RO Take a rainbow flower.

Add a gold leaf.

Stir in a shimmery pond.

Sprinkle on a confetti chair.

Decorate with a fluffy sheep and a red apple tree.

Now enjoy your garden!

Tara RH Take a sparkly daffodil.

Add a shimmery pond.

Start in red tulips.

Sprinkle on tasty seeds.

Decorate with orange fairy lights and an apple tree.

Now enjoy your garden!

Eliana RH

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CREATIVE WRITING Reception Bubbles One sunny day there was a girl. The girl was named Pia. She was walking on the rocky beach and she was sad. She found a bubble pot. She picked up the bubbles and blew magic bubbles. Then she floated up in the sky. She bounced on the bubbles. She felt happy. Suddenly, she went in a bubble and dived under the wavy sea. She saw some red fish.

She went up into space. She saw shiny stars. She was excited. She saw a girl. The girl was sad so she put the bubbles on the sand.

Pia RO

There was a sad little girl. Her name was Lara. She was walking on some sandy sand and then she found a pop bubble pot.

She started having fun. She blew a pretty bubble and she landed on it and started to fly and in a few minutes she was in the sea. Well she wasn’t swimming - she was in a bubble under the sea. Then she went up and jumped on the bubbles and ended back where she came from. She saw a girl looking sad so she put the pop bubble pot on the floor and hoped that she would have fun. And the girl picked it up and had fun.

Gia RH

Jack & the Beanstalk Jack got to the top of the beanstalk, and he saw candyfloss clouds floating in the sky. There was an enormous castle in the blue sky. The castle was made out of wood. The rainbow flag was waving in the wind. There were lots of cute windows. Jack went through the iron gate. He felt scared.

Gitanjali RO

Once upon a time there was a girl called Rose. She was at the beach and she was sad. She found a small jar and she picked it up. Then she blowed a lovely bubble. Then the bubble lifted her up.

Then she was in the purple sky. Then she was bouncing on the bubbles. Then she was in a bubble. She was in the sea.

She saw some fish. They were yellow.

Then she was in space. She saw sparkling stars. Then she went back. Then she saw another girl so she bounced off the lovely bubble. Then she hid behind the huge rock.

Alison RO There was a girl. She lived at the beach.

She asked her mum can I go out? Her mum said yes. Can I get out my magic bubble mixture? Yes her mum said.

Then she jumped onto a bubble in the sky. Then the bubble dropped into the ocean. Then the girl and the fishes had a race. It was a draw. Then the bubble took her to space. Then she saw a rainbow, glittering, gigantic star. Then she saw a little girl sad. She dropped her bubble mixture and then took turns. Then another girl took it.

Adela RH

Jack got to the top of the beanstalk, and he saw a huge castle and a flag. He went inside. He felt scared. He went in and he went up one hundred steps. He went to the turrets and saw everything below.

Jack saw sparkly clouds and some shiny seagulls. The beanstalk tips were curly and green.

Gaia RO Jack got to the top of the beanstalk and he saw a pink fluffy cloud and a tree that was shaped like a unicorn. The castle was made out of candy floss. He crept in and he saw a giant that was cooking and he slammed the door of a cupboard. Then he ran away and he never came back again.

Avika RH Jack got to the top of the beanstalk and he saw a big castle. It was so big and huge. He went inside the castle. There was a huge smell of food. He was hungry.

The woman was scary inside. I am scared said the little boy. The woman shut him in the oven. The woman said the giant will go to sleep. The boy waited until he went to sleep. The boy took the money.

He got the sack of money.

Huda RH

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TRIPS & VISITS Year 1

WILLOWS FARM

On Thursday 22nd June, Year 1 had a fantastic trip to Willows Farm.

We road Tristran the Tractor and sang songs as we travelled around the farm and through the muddy puddles. We learnt about the cleanest animals on the farm – the pigs and found out all about blue milk. We fed an array of different animals from donkeys to Florence the cow. The highlights were holding the adorable guinea pigs and playing in Mr McGregor’s Garden. It was an amazing day.

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TRIPS & VISITS Year 2 & 3 LONDON ZOO

To support the learning the girls did in their Summer term science lessons, we took them off to London Zoo to see some wonderful creatures, big and small!

From snake-necked turtles, to adolescent tigers, we were thrilled to see such a variety of animals on our tour. Highlights of the trip included a very informative talk about the vultures from one of the keepers. She told us that the vultures have such good immune systems; even though they eat dead animals, even rabies wouldn’t harm them! Another highlight was watching the majestic penguins taking to the waters and showing off their incredible swimming capabilities. The day was topped off with an ice lolly – what fun!

ROALD DAHL MUSEUM

In the Spring term, Year 2 were whisked off to Great Missenden to learn more about one of the most famed children’s authors of all time - Roald Dahl. We had the opportunity to explore the village, which Dahl drew lots of inspiration from, including Crown House, which inspired the orphanage Sophie lived in in the BFG. Whilst at the museum, the girls learned editing skills that Roald Dahl employed in his own writing and even improved some of Dahl’s writing! Although Roald Dahl’s home is not part of the museum itself, they have managed to move the interior of his famous writing hut for visitors to glimpse into what his life was like whilst busy writing.

A whizzhopping, fizzbanging day all round!

CHILTERN OPEN AIR MUSEUM

In November, Year 3 stepped back in time and visited the Chiltern Open Air Museum. They spent time in the dark, primitive Iron Age house where they needed to use all their strength to grind wheat into flour, make bread on an open fire and whip cream into butter. Although the fur-lined beds looked cosy, no one was keen to spend the night and use the ancient toilets! The girls had to use their full range of historical skills to dig for artefacts and then try to put together the pieces to see what treasures they

had discovered. There was still time for a quick tour of the museum grounds to explore the homes from times gone by.

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TRIPS & VISITS Year 4

BUSHCRAFT TRIP

When we arrived at Bushcraft, we were taken to our campsite for the rest for our trip by our guides, Meixi and Toby. We were shown round it and then we went to the yurt which is a big canopy which has a fire in it. First of all, we were taught how to make a fire. There are lots of different ways to make a fire and some examples are, flint and steel and fire by friction. Then, we went to our assigned tribes. I was in a tribe with the camp leader Rosie, and we decided to be called Minions! Then, we made a fire and cooked our burgers on it! Once we had finished eating, we learnt how to make shelters! There was a prize for the most creative shelter and Minions won. After, we went to dinner and then came back. We also learnt a song about a moose called Fred.

We came back and then had some s’mores. Then, we settled into our allocated tents or went to our shelter and we went to bed. The next day, we were woken up by a rap. Then, we went over to have some breakfast. After all of the washing up, we did a scavenger hunt! Minions won again! Then, we had a delicious lunch and set off back to NLCS. This was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget!

By Elina 4F

CENTRAL LONDON MOSQUE

We went to the Central London Mosque and it was amazing. To get there, we went on the Underground and finally arrived at St John’s Wood station. There was a dress code so we all had to wear head scarfs to cover our head and hair.

In the tour of the mosque, we first went to the library, where we saw a huge model of the Saudi Arabia Mosque that Muslims believed Prophet Muhammad created. After that, we went downstairs to see the school where they taught us about the religion and history of Islam.

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Our tour guide, Mezzi, told us that the children who were not as fortunate as us, learned at the school. Mezzi also taught us that Muslims believe that Allah (only god) created the world. The main prayer hall was really special to Muslims and had a huge dome. They were facing the Kaaba in Mecca. All Muslims need to do a special ritual to wash before praying. Separate sections were placed for women and men. That was the end of our great trip at the mosque.

By Yining 4F

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TRIPS & VISITS Year 4 ST ALBANS CATHEDRAL

I really loved the trip to St Albans Cathedral as it was very fun and interesting. We learnt about why St Albans is called St Albans - it is because a man called Alban was around when the Romans didn’t like Christians, so a priest was hiding in Alban’s house. Alban had a chat with the priest and decided to become Christian but then the Romans found Alban and killed him! This was very interesting as I love history.

We got to dress up as monks and walk around the Cathedral as if we were in Tudor times. I was the Prior the second most powerful monk after the Abbot.

During the visit, we learnt some Tudor dancing that the Tudors would do in court with a partner. We did a few other dances called the snail and thread the needle. This was all very fun.

Later, we learnt about Tudor instruments and we got to play replicas of the instruments that musicians would play to Henry VIII at court. I got to blow on a horn that looked like a saxophone.

By Sylvie 4C

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TRIPS & VISITS Year 5

GUDWARA TRIP

During the Spring term, Year 5 visited a Gurdwara, or a Sikh place of worship. In R.S lessons Year 5 had been learning about Sikhism, and how their religion affects their daily life.

When we went, we were taught about what you do in the Gurdwara. We were told that you needed to cover your hair/head and had to take off your shoes.

When walking into the room where you perform your prayer or meditation, you had to bow down to the Guru Granth Sahib as a sign of respect. It was placed on a red velvet pillow and treated like a real person.

We learnt a lot about Sikhism and how interesting the religion is, we can’t wait to explore even more.

By Anya 5H

INDIA DAY

On Tuesday 1st November Year 5 had India day. This was an amazing experience to learn more about other people’s culture. First off, everyone had to come to school in an Indian style dress, whether it be a sari or lengha-type of dress – or anything else. We got to take part in lots of fun activities such as Bollywood dancing, diva lamp painting, we also had a chance to try some Indian foods which was a lot of fun. My favourite part was definitely the diva lamp painting as I got to explore all the different colours and intricate designs you can imprint on to a diva lamp. I also really enjoyed the Bollywood dancing; it was an amazing experience to do Indian dance and learn about Indian music and the Indian culture. The Indian food was really delicious and very flavourful.

Mrs Shah told us all about how many different spices you could find in India, and also some of their uses. For example, turmeric, as well as adding lots of flavour to food, it can also help with

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healing wounds and numbing stinging.

Or cinnamon and cumin seeds, which both help keep blood sugar levels low.

Just a little bit in your tea every morning

could help prevent diabetes! India day was an amazing chance to learn about a different culture.

By Sophia 5F

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TRIPS & VISITS Year 5 PRESTON MONTFORD

A few weeks ago, we spent two nights at Preston Montford. This was really exciting since it was one of our residential trips. We had to wake up at around 6:30 and get to school by 8:30.

The coach ride was a journey in itself! It was filled with sing-alongs, card games and fidget trading. We got off halfway through to go to Iron Bridge. Whilst there, we learnt a lot about its history, played a variety of fun games and took a lot of photos with our disposable cameras. After about an hour, we arrived back on the coach and took off again for an hour and a half journey to Preston Montford. When we arrived at Preston Montford, we were all buzzing to find out our dorm mates. We had previously put down on a piece of paper the names of the girls we would like in our dorm and were promised at least one. I was one of the lucky ones and got to share

PRESTON MONTFORD

Preston Montford was a fun and exhilarating residential trip. This trip was 3 days and 2 nights of all the girls in year 5 making new friends and getting along.

We went from school to Iron Bridge in the Shropshire hills. There we learned about the fascinating history of Iron Bridge. It was built in 1777 by Abraham Darby III. Next, we went on the Iron Bridge and took part in a fun searching activity. We were met by the staff from Preston Montford, and they showed us around.

Once we arrived at Preston Montford, we found out our dorms, and listened carefully to the safety rules. We then went to set up our beds. We also found out the passwords to our dorm doors.

We then had dinner and an evening scavenger hunt where we got to look around the Preston Montford grounds.

Afterwards, we had dorm time where we got to go to our friends’ dorms. We then went back and then went to bed.

The following day, we went to Carding Mill Valley. This was a place where our school Geography lessons came to life.

Before we started our hike to the top of the mountain, we made predictions on whether the river would be wider or

a dorm with all my best friends.

When we got to the dorm, we had to make the bed and unpack. I learnt a lot about my friend, and we even had a midnight feast! The next day (after having a delicious breakfast) we travelled all the way to Carding Mill Valley. We had to do a lot of walking and got to see some absolutely amazing views. We found it a little daring since it was really high, and we are really scared of hights, but it was all worth it when you got to take the most breathtaking view of a lifetime. There were quite a few animals as well, including sheep, horses and even foals. We did a lot of activities from identifying animals to measuring how fast the river flows and how deep the river is. What really surprised us was how peaceful it was and how many sheep there were there! The funniest part was hiking up the rocky hill to get to the waterfall where our camp leader told us a story. On the way back to Preston Montford we filled in our work sheets.

The next day it was our last day. There was a lot of chaos and lots of people

narrower, slower or faster and deeper and shallower than it was at the bottom.

When we eventually got to the top of the waterfall at Carding Mill Valley, we measured the 3 things. Then we went back down the waterfall but not before stopping and admiring the view of the Shropshire hills. It was stunning and we could clearly see the V shape the mountains made in the valley. When we got down to the bottom of the valley, we measured the 3 things there too so we could compare them. Finally, we did some pond dipping to try and find bugs in the bottom of the waterfall. We caught them in a net while doing the dipping dance. We then put them into a tray and carefully used a spoon to sort them out. We then identified them with a small booklet. We learnt all about the wildlife of the invertebrates living in the stream.

Afterwards we went back to Preston Montford and did an outdoor orienteering activity. This night, most of us had an epic midnight feast. Some were even at midnight!

For our final day, we went to Blists Hill Museum. This was a place where we learnt about the lives of young children

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

kept forgetting things. Then my class went to the tuck shop and had £5 to spend on whatever we wanted! After that we went to Blists Hill. It is an authentic Victorian village.

We got to see what life was like in the Victorian village. We learned lots of cool facts. We also had £10 to spend! We (as a surprise) even got to dress up as Victorian children and then we when to a Victorian school and got to experience a school day in the life of a Victorian child. It was a lot of fun, but the teacher was extremely strict! After that we had to go back to NLCS. It was one of the best school trips we have ever been to, it was incredible.

The food was fantastic, the rooms were amazing, the scenery was messy. (Oh, sorry that’s our dorms!) The scenery was breath taking. Plus, you got to share dorms with your choice of friends. We had a huge variety of food with them providing for all our dietary needs. The view was amazing! It was really one of the best trips ever.

By Sophia 5F

in the Victorian times as this is what we have been studying in school. We had a Victorian school experience where we learnt about how harsh and depressing life was. Here were some rules we had to do, no slouching, no elbows on the table, no left hand, and no chatting. We visited the shops in Blists Hill, and each got £10 to spend although they exchanged it for Victorian money, and we were given a sheet of how much each coin was worth. It was fun to do, and it was fascinating to learn about the money they used to use. We went shopping and got loads of items including sweets, food, and objects.

There was also a fun fair that some groups got to go on. We then went back to school. This was an amazing, fun filled journey we won’t forget.

By Jiya & Annabelle 5F

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TRIPS & VISITS Year 5 WONDERDOME

Part of our experience in Year 5 was the Wonderdome. As we entered the ITS, we were excited, wondering what was about to happen. At that time, we were learning about space, and the universe. Then, we saw a humongous inflatable dome in the centre of the hall.

We were practically vibrating with excitement by the time we were in the dome. Suddenly, like a virtual phenomenon, an image appeared on the walls. We were shocked to find ourselves floating in Outer Space, zooming past the many planets in the universe. We met a man who explained to us the experience that we were about to have. An immersive, 4-dimensional science lesson! We’d never done anything quite like this before. We lay down and gazed up at the stars above. As the lesson progressed, the man explained where we were, and taught us many mind-boggling facts. We found out that we cannot actually see the Milky Way from Earth, as we are inside it. We also learnt about the lunar calendar, and how lots of countries use it. At the end, we went on a virtual tour of the stunning solar system, which was baffling. When the session was over, we were devastated!

By Rania & Juliette 5F

Wonderdome was a delightful experience. It took place in the ITS. Well, not really in the ITS but an eye-catching tent that someone had set up there.

We all went inside to experience the wonder. The guide projected a beautiful starry sky which truly awed us and gave

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us a taste of what was to come next. An astonishing, highly visual science lesson.

A trip through space.

It really looked like we were floating aimlessly through the cosmos. Well, with a guide. We saw some beautiful swirls of colour, galaxies. If I didn’t know where I was, I would have thought that I was in some cosmic environment. Then, we fastened our seatbelts and used a supersonic spaceship to travel to our Solar System.

We learned facts about every mystifying planet in our Solar System.

For example, Uranus rolls on its side unlike Earth. We also found out that if you look at the Sun, you will see what it looked like eight minutes ago. This is the same for other galactic objects, but there is a different amount of time

for how long ago you would see them.

We even adventured to one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. Apparently, Europa could have life in the depths of its glistening oceans. We watched as we glided through the water and caught a glimpse of never seen before life.

Wonderdome made me want to shoot up into space and solve all of its alluring mysteries while exploring many of its celestial bodies as well. It also reminded me that no one really knows much about the expanding void that lies above the clouds. Oh, and that we are tiny compared to the gargantuan size of the Universe.

And there you have it. Our wonderful experience in the wonder filled Wonderdome.

By Vesper 5F

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

TRIPS & VISITS Year 6

MAISON CLAIRE FONTAINE

In an exciting and educational journey, Year 6 students embarked on a remarkable adventure during their French Residential trip. Over the course of six days, these young explorers experienced a whirlwind of activities, lessons, and unforgettable memories, all while immersed in the beautiful French language and culture.

One of the most captivating aspects of the Year 6 French Residential was the opportunity for students to have their lessons conducted entirely in French. This immersive experience not only allowed them to improve their language skills but also helped them gain a deeper appreciation for the culture and history of France.

The fun didn’t stop in the classrooms; the students had a blast participating in various activities. From thrilling high ropes adventures that tested their courage and teamwork to engaging workshops that delved into the culinary arts, there was never a dull moment. One of the highlights was undoubtedly the cooking competition, where budding chefs showcased their culinary talents and creativity.

The tantalizing aromas of their dishes filled the air, and the judges were left in awe of their skills.

JEWISH MUSEUM

Year 6 were thrilled to be able to learn about Jewish traditions and beliefs at the Jewish Museum. They were given the opportunity to use a quill to write Hebrew letters in calligraphy! Year 6 students also experienced a mini Passover meal. We tried the symbolic special foods, such as the bitter herb in salty water to represent the tears and bitterness of slavery that the Jewish people experienced. Additionally, Year 6 students got to learn all about the Torah and special events in the lunar calendar. Luckily, they got to enjoy a taste of Rosh Hashanah by eating an apple slice dipped in honey, symbolising a sweet new year. For a taste of Hanukkah, Year 6 got to enjoy a delicious doughnut as it is fried in oil- symbolising the candle that lasted eight nights with a small amount of oil. Year 6 had a truly unforgettable time at the Jewish Museum.

By Anna R & Lily P 6IW

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

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CREATIVE WRITING Year Reception 1 “Dear Diary, Today was the first day of my new job. I am the castle candle maker. First, I made a candle for the hall. Then I went to the hive to get some wax. On my way I watched out for enemies. Next, I made more than 100 candles for every room! I was so tired, so the cook made me a yummy pie. It was so yummy that it gave me energy so I could make some more candles. After that, the messenger gave me a letter by the king. It said I could rest but I could not sleep because I was worried that evil Sir Geoffrey will attack.

Alisha 1B

Super Butterfly!

Super Butterfly is super fast!

Super Butterfly is super lovely!

Watch him dance, See him fly.

Hip Hip Horray for Super Butterfly.

Quick! Help! Baby toad is in a bog.

Look Super Butterfly is here.

Well done Butterfly. You saved him.

Kaira 1B

Twist Recount Last week we performed the magnificent play Oliver Twist.

In the play I was a sneaky, cheeky pickpocket. The stage was very colourful and very bright! The dance was quick and quite magical! I loved it when Olivia chased the mean guys.

Olivia 1B

Beginning of Jack and the Beanstalk Once upon a time, there lived a nice, poor boy called Jack. He had a wooden bed. They had no money so his bed was dusty.

One windy morning his mum asked Jack, “Can you sell the cow?” So, he went to sell the cow. Quickly, a wizard shot in front of Jack. “Take these beans and plant them in your garden.” he said. So, Jack rushed into his garden, and he told his mum.

She threw them out.

Molly 1B

The Prince and the Sweetcorn Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess. She felt lonely.

She only had the King and Queen to keep her company. So, one day she went to find a handsome prince. It was drizzling so she had to be quick because there might be a storm happening.

After looking for a handsome prince, she almost gave up.

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Later that day a huge, booming storm came. But then someone knocked on the door, the princess opened the door. Standing outside in the rain was a drenched prince. “Please may I come in?” he said. “Of course!” said the princess. So, he went in. The princess put a shining, yellow sweetcorn under ten mattresses for him to sleep on to see if he was a real handsome prince.

The princess led him into his bedroom. He climbed up a ladder and went to bed.

The next morning the princess asked the prince, “How did you sleep?” The prince replied, “It felt very uncomfortable.”

So, the princess and the prince got married and they all lived happily ever after.

Kaiya 1B

The Middle of Jack and the Beanstalk Overnight the magic beans grew into a changing Jellybean Stalk.

It changes and changes to jellybeans and normal beans. In the morning Jack went outside. He went to the changing beanstalk; he asked his mum if he could climb up the beanstalk and he did. He crept into a cool castle, and he found a golden goose.

Soon Jack rushed down the beanstalk with a giant running after him. “Will I make it on time?” Jack asked himself.

Elisabeth 1B Ben is a boy who is 13 years old. One evening, Ben tiptoed to the park because he didn’t want to wake anyone up. When he got to the dark park, he played on the long, steep slide.

Suddenly, the gate closed. He didn’t realise how late it was.

He heard the owls hooting and the wolves howling. He was starting to feel frightened.

He looked behind him and saw the Florence Nightingale statue wave at him and it came to life! It said, “hello young man, do you want to learn how to be a doctor?” The boy replied and said, “Yes please!” So, she taught him how to be a great doctor. He had so much fun.

A few years later he learnt how to be a really good doctor and so he became a doctor. He always helped people when they were ill and sick. Every day he thought of all the different cures that could help people. He even won a trophy and became the world’s most famous doctor.

Asha 1B

End of Jack and the Beanstalk Quickly, Jack hurried down the beanstalk with the golden goose in his arms. The giant was following Jack shouting, “Fee fi foe fum, I smell the blood of and English man!” Jack’s heart was beating fast . He finely got to the bottom of the beanstalk.

“Mum bring me the axe!” said Jack. So mum immediately brang the axe. Chop chop went the axe. Thud went the giant. They lived happily ever after.

Maia 1B

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE CREATIVE WRITING WRITING Reception Year 1 Once upon a time, in a land far away there lived a cat who had a cute little kitten, and her name was Rapunzel. One dark night a wicked witch stole Rapunzel and took her away to a dark forest. Rapunzel’s tale grew long and wide.

Years passed and Rapunzel grew into a tall cat. Rapunzel’s evil mother would always say, “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your tail” “Okay” she would say. One day a prince saw her evil mother call, he had an idea. When the wicked witch left, the prince called Rapunzel in a high voice. She let down her tail and he climbed up. As soon as Rapunzel laid her eyes on him, she was surprised and fell in love. But then the witch found out and tricked him. He fell with a thud and hurt himself. Rapunzel’s tail got cut off and she cried.

All of a sudden, she saw him. She cried happy tears which healed him. She told him the witch was dead and they lived happily ever after.

Habibah 1B

The Three Little Horses Once upon a time lived three horses. The first horse was called Browny, the second was called Spotty and the smallest one was called Jumpy. They all liked chewing the green grass. They lived on a hill, but it was Autumn, so the grass was old.

One day the smallest horse saw a bridge. He went on the bridge. His hooves went trip, trap. As quick as a flash the big dinosaur popped up. The dinosaur said “Where are you going? “ I am going to eat the green grass,” The very same thing happened to the middle-sized horse.

Finally, the biggest horse came. His hooves went trip trap trip trap. As quick as a flash the dinosaur popped up. Then he bent his head down low and walked to the dinosaur and quickly put his head back up and the dinosaurs went flying into the air. He shouted help, help and splash. And he was never seen again. The biggest one skipped along happily to join his brothers and they lived happily ever after.

Kyra S 1B

The Princess and the Dragon Fruit In a small palace lived a queen and a prince. They were looking all over America for a real and true princess for the prince to marry but they could not find one. “Who is that knocking on the door?” asked the prince. “I do not know” replied the queen.

They opened the door. It was a princess, but they didn’t know it was a true princess. “Hi, I’m a princess” she shyly said. She was muddy because there was a muddy storm. The queen hid some dragon fruit under 100 mattresses. That night the princess fell asleep on the bed, but she found it hard to sleep. The next day the queen asked her if she had slept ok. She said, “It was so so so uncomfortable”. Then they found out that she was a real princess and they loved happily ever after.

Ari 1SN

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

The Three Kittens and the Big Bad Wolf Once upon a time there lived three brave kittens. The first kitten was a daddy, the second one was a mummy and the last one was a little kitten. The next day the cats were thirsty. They found a bridge and on the other side was a bowl of water. “I will go first” meowed the kitten bravely. So, she ran over the bridge. Suddenly a giant wolf popped up! He had claws as sharp as a sword! “What are you doing here?” thundered the wolf. “It is only me” whispered the kitten trembling. “I’m going to drink the refreshing water” “No! I will eat you” snorted the wolf.

“Please don’t eat me, get my mum, she is much bigger than me,” said the kitten. “Ok” snorted the wolf “it better not be a trick” boomed the wolf “Go!” So, the kitten ran off. After a while the mummy came running across the bridge but up popped the wolf! “What are you doing here?” demanded the wolf. “I’m going to drink the water” replied mummy. “No! I will eat you!” shouted the wolf. “Please don’t eat me, eat my husband, he is way bigger than me!”

“Alright” said the wolf angrily “Off you go”. Finally, the daddy crossed the bridge. I will get him thought the wolf. He jumped up and shouted, “I am going to eat you!” “No” shouted the daddy cat, I will get you!” He charged at the wolf and pushed with all his might the wolf into the freezing water and that was the end of the wolf.

Freya 1SN

The Three Pink Pigs and the Big Bad Lion Once upon a time there were three pink pigs. A baby pig, a middle-sized pig and a humungous sized pig. The baby pig was the most brave. She was strong also. The middle sized one was the funny one and the daddy one was silly and also brave. That sunny morning the next day the pigs were out in the brown gooey mud. They saw lots of fresh mud across the big mountain. So, the baby was brave, and he went up the mountain. But the furry lion popped up and said, “Who is climbing on my mountain?” But baby said “Don’t eat me, the middle-sized pig is going to come. I’m not going to fill you up.

The lion said “Okay, and the baby pig went across the mountain to the mud. After a while the 2nd pig was going to cross the mountain. Trip Trap Trop. The lion popped up and said, “Who’s trip trapping on my mountain?” “It’s just me,” said the middle pig. The lion said, “I’m going to eat you up” “But” the pig said, “you don’t want to eat me up, I’m just the middle-sized pig”.

“The lion said “Okay”, So the pig climbed the mountain, and he was safe. An hour later the pig was coming. The lion popped up again, but the big pig said, “You are not going to eat me up!”

But the lion said, “Yes I am” But the pig stamped his foot, and the lion was never seen again.

Abigael 1SN

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 1 What is Pink?

What is gold? A statue is gold, Of someone that is really old.

What is green? The grass is green But there is no grass on Halloween.

What is black? The midnight is black, Walking through the muddy track.

What is white? A swan is white Sailing, swimming in the light.

What is blue? A canoe is blue Which has a very good view What is blue? The sky is blue I know you know that’s true!

Ire 1SN

Mounzel Far, far away there was a kind boy mouse and a gentle lady mouse. All their life all they wanted was a baby. Soon their wish was granted, and they had a baby mouse. They called her Mounzel. That night a horrid, evil witch came and took the cute baby!

The witch locked her up in a cage high on a tree branch.

When the witch wanted to check on the baby (from the ground) she would call out “Mounzel, Mounzel let down your tail”. Mounzel would let down her cascading tail. One day a handsome, smart prince heard this call. The next day the prince cried out “Mounzel, Mounzel let down your tail (in the witch’s voice) and she let the mouse prince climb up.

Day after day, week after week Mounzel and the prince spent time together and soon fell in love. But one day the witch saw the prince and she was furious. She threw the prince out of the window into some traps. The prince fell into one which was full of prickly sharp thorns. As soon as one of the thorns touched him, he shouted “Help, Help!”. Then Mounzel heard his call she begged the witch to let her go. Finally, the witch agreed and Mounzel, helped the prince. The prince and Mounzel returned to Mounzel’s parents and the mouse prince and Mounzel got married and lived happily ever after.

Ellabee 1SN

Koala Poem Sharp, shiny pointy claws climbing the tree.

Fluffy little ears hearing all the waving grass.

Black, big nose sniffing the air.

Pink cut mouth eating all the eucalyptus.

Round big eyes rolling seeing all around.

Furry small pouch with a little baby inside Grey pointy fingers climbing the eucalyptus trunk.

Fluffy silver legs Ripping off the tree bark.

Soft silky fur waving in the air.

Mina 1SN

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Where the Scary Things Are One rainy night Max wore his cat suit and made mischief of one kind and another. His mother called him naughty thing and Max said I will gobble you up. He got sent to bed without gobbling anything! That night a forest grew and grew. A private aeroplane for Max came, it zoomed through weeks and in and out of days to where the scary things live. They gnashed their terrible teeth and Max looked into their eyes without blinking once. They called him scariest thing and made him king of where the scary things live. Max said let the wild rumpus begin.

Finally, Max sent them to sleep but Max grew lonely. So, he flew away. The scary things said please don’t leave. Max waved goodbye and flew away into his very own bedroom where he found his supper waiting for him and he ate it all up.

Kyra 1SN

Where the Grumpy Monkeys Are One night Max was wearing his tiger suit and he made mischief of one kind. Then his mum called him grumpy monkey and sent him to his room. Then a forest grew. Max found a boat and sailed for a day and a week and a year. The grumpy monkeys roared their terrible roars and scratched their claws. Then Max tamed the grumpy monkeys, and they called him the scariest thing of all. Max said let the wild rumpus begin and they swung on the trees. He gave up being king because he missed his mum. Max sailed off and the grumpy monkeys said, “Please don’t go we will eat you up”. Max got home and his supper was still hot.

Ariella 1SN

Jack and the Beanstalk Far far away in a magical land there lived a poor boy. He lived with his mother in a forest. He had a cow but needed to sell it because he had no money. On the way to market he met a man who gave him magic beans in exchange for the cow. When he got back his mother saw the beans. She was furious and threw them out the window, but Jack tried to explain to her they were magic.

The next morning something miraculous happened. A giant beanstalk was placed in the middle of their garden. Jack pleaded with his mother “please can I climb the beanstalk?” His mother shouted “OK”. So, he climbed the beanstalk with all his strength. At the top he saw a castle. He went inside the castle; he saw some shiny money. But then he saw the giant snoozing in the chair. But the giant awoke, and he boomed “Fi Fi Fo Fum I smell the blood of an Englishman”. Then Jack saw something shiny, he realised it was a golden goose. He quickly stole the goose and fled. Then Jack felt the beanstalk getting heavy. He turned around and saw the giant trying to climb down. But then he realised he was at the bottom then he yelled “Help mum!”. “Please can I have an axe quickly” he yelled. The giant rushed up the beanstalk, so Jack followed and went into the

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 1 castle, and he stole the harp too. Jack climbed down the beanstalk again and the giant followed him down. Jack cut the beanstalk with the axe and the giant fell to his death. Jack and his mother lived happily ever after.

Serena 1SN

Jack and the Beanstalk Long, long ago in an old cottage there lived a poor, brave boy called Jack. His mother didn’t have any money at all. They didn’t have any nice food. All they had was a cow. They had to sell the cow. Jack came back with magic beans. His mother was mad, she threw the magic beans away into the big, ugly garden.

Then his mum shouted like she was very angry as a giant

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

beanstalk grew. Jack went outside as he wanted to see what was happening. He wanted to climb the beanstalk.

His mother yelled “Just this time” “OK” said Jack. So, he climbed up the very green beanstalk. Jack climbed on an on until he had finally got to the top of the beanstalk. He saw a gigantic castle and he saw sparkly golden treasure. He also saw a golden egg.

He took the egg and climbed down safely before the giant could move. Jack climbed up the beanstalk and went into the castle. Then he tried to escape with the treasure with the giant stumbling behind him. When the giant reached the castle door Jack quickly climbed down the beanstalk. After a minute he saw the giant still on the beanstalk. When Jack was at the bottom of the beanstalk the giant was at the top. He climbed down safely before the giant could move and he lived happily ever after.

Maggie 1SN

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 2 Pop! Bright colours flew across the coal black sky.

I can hear cheering people as happy as can be. Watching stunning fireworks.

I can smell burning fire all around me and I can smell gunpowder, it smells like bitter.

I can hear bangs of bright colours.

Eye catching fireworks all over the place. It was incredible.

It was the best night ever. I loved it!

Rockets whooshed everywhere, all around me. It glowed.

The fizzing magical fireworks crashed everywhere.

Leah 2M

An owl is…

A teddy bear sitting in a tree.

A tiger waiting to be caught.

A chocolate cake ready to be eaten.

A wise old man sitting in a library.

Greta 2M

An owl is….

A chocolate cake waiting to be eaten.

A dog eating greedily.

A firework ready to set off.

A cotton ball rolling off the carpet A number sitting on a number line.

A solider standing guarding Buckingham Palace.

Emma 2M

A Winter Recipe Winter is a soft white blanket covering the land.

First break pieces of slippery icicles.

Next pour loving Christmas spirit carefully in.

Seconds after sprinkle tiny snowflakes in.

Scrape off bark from bare trees.

Finally blow with freezing air and watch the children play.

Lyra 2M

A Winter Recipe Winter is a blanket of snow.

First put in a dazzling spiders web with a hairy spider on it.

Next sprinkle in a crispy, fiery orange leaf.

Seconds later plop five robin feathers in and stir it. Splash!

Pour in a sweet milky hot chocolate.

Carefully watch the children crying with joy.

Aiyla 2M

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Stop That Train!

Crash! Boom! Zoom! Rapidly the old, rusty runaway train sped faster that the fastest lightning in the world! The grey fluffy smoke filled the air with darkness. The commuters were shouting ‘stop that train, stop that train. When will the train stop?’

Everyone’s tummy churned like a fast speedy roller coaster. The monster rampaged through the fields, the farms and the tracks.

Everyone’s head was beating like rampaging elephants. Suddenly the train came to a stop. Phew! Exclaimed the commuters.

Sara 2M

NLCS Times On the night of 6th September 1838, a horrible storm blew up! A young, brave woman called Grace Darling was getting ready for dinner. Suddenly Grace heard a terrible noise. She jumped out of her chair. When she peered out of the window she gasped ‘there is a shipwreck in the sea’ Grace shouted. ‘I must go and save them’ Grace ran to grab her father. Grace and her father got into their tiny rowing boat. They were in a tiny rowing boat in the aggressive sea. Grace rowed the boat as hard as she could while her father looked for survivors.

Mr Darling pulled as many people as he could out of the sea until the boat was full. They saved nine people, but Mr Darling couldn’t spot anymore. Grace rowed the boat towards the light of the lighthouse as hard as she could. When they got to the lighthouse Mrs Darling gave them a cup of tea and a biscuit and some blankets.

Early the next morning the storm had passed, and the survivors went on their way. Over the next couple of weeks people from newspapers came to the lighthouse. They thanked Grace Darling a lot and they even wanted to paint her portrait.

Anjali 2M Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Descriptive Writing In Charlie’s factory, I can hear the bubbling chocolate being made and the wafting smell of cocoa. I can feel Wonka’s hand softly touching my shoulder. I can taste sticky bubble-gum, it’s watermelon. I can see chocolate rivers that are almost overflowing!

I can barely see anything except for people that aren’t edible.

There’s a cake swimming pool with lemonade bubbles for floating on. You need to wear Wonka’s special goggles!

Lottie 2M

Up, Up and Away From my basket way up high I can see a carpet of white snow, Beautiful birds in the dark sky.

I can hear noisy planes gliding in the massive sky.

Birds swooping on top of me.

Above me the fiery smoke came down to my nose.

I can smell salty sea below.

Inside I feel brave.

The rough basket tickled me when we floated down like a feather.

Saphira 2M

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 2 A Winter Recipe Winter is a warm cuddly toy.

First, gather white snow on the soft ground.

Next, add pinecones.

Seconds later, pour hot chocolate into a warm hug.

Whoosh! Mix the wind with the snow Finally sprinkle tinsel on the green tree.

Everyone is putting their hands in the air and cheering all the celebrating.

Sonia 2SW

A Winter Recipe Winter is a wonderful present coming your way!

First, choose a glimmering design for you wrapping paper!

Next, pick an extra special Christmas surprise!

Seconds later, add a multi-coloured string Crackle! As I handle the wrapping paper.

Finally, I can position it under the Christmas tree!

Watch everyone rejoice!

Electra 2SW

Hot Air Balloon Poem From my basket way up high, I can see my colourful Lego home which makes me smile.

From my basket way up high, I can hear the birds chirping around the clear blue sky.

From my basket way up high, I can smell the sweet scented air floating around.

From my basket way up high, I can feel the bumpy basket that I am inside!

Shreya 2SW

Persuasive Letter Dear Space Team, I am ready to shoot for the stars and reach my potential! I am writing to you to you to apply for this fantastic opportunity to become an astronaut. My name is Kiara and I a remarkable 7 tear old pupil and I believe I will be an extremely good astronaut. I am a brilliant problem solver! Did you know I can tie a bow in 20 seconds? I am also very good at Maths. In my last Maths test I got 100 per cent! Yours Sincerely, Kiara Kiara 2SW

Firework Poem Pop! I can hear fizzing fireworks go up into the air.

Whizz, Bang, Crash! A firework shot into the sparkling sky Crackle! A big rocket flew into the glittering sky Zoom! The big firework exploded into the air.

Woosh! A rainbow firework glowed up the whole sky.

Aashni 2SW

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

Cat Story

Chapter 1: Katie, her cosy cat Lavender and the Bonjour family lived near the Eiffel Tower. The Bonjour family used to give the cat treats like crispy croissants and hot chocolate. They liked to put Lavender in a fluffy, little basket.

Chapter 2: The next day, Lavender fell asleep in a rough basket, but it wasn’t just a basket! It was a hot air balloon! It took Lavender to England! She jumped out of the basket and curled up in the freezing cold. Waiting for the cold to pass, she could hear people speaking a different language and she could see Buckingham Palace, so she thought she must be in England!

After a few minutes, Lavender curiously looked around. It was a massive place, with lots of people!

Amara 2SW

Persuasive Letter

Dear The Space Team, I am a remarkable 7 year old girl and my name is Ishiraa. I think I am ready to face the challenge that space will throw at me. I hope you let me be an astronaut because I stay fit by running around the playground and in nearly every lesson at school my hand shoots up in the air narrowly missing the person sitting next to my head (especially in Maths). I love every subject in school and that includes science and sometimes I have to work under to pressure. I love working as a team and I also love solving problems, like the time when my dad asked me to untangle my shoelace and I did it in five minutes. Did you know that I am brave because I have watched all the Harry Potter series and I am only 7 years old.

Yours Sincerely, Ishi Ishi 2SW

Cat Story

Chapter 3 Minutes later, Livy could hear a loud beeping sound. Rushing down the street, there was a black taxi. Feeling tired, Livy jumped into the shiny taxi. She hoped it would take her home!

When the taxi stopped, she rushed out. A tear dropped from her eye. She wasn’t sadly home. “Oh wait, I know what I will do!” shouted Livy.

Chapter 4 Livy rushed to the calm beach and waited for a boat to arrive.

Seconds later, a boat arrived, and she hoped on. When Livy got on the boat, it wiggled and wobbled and she couldn’t stand up!

Unfortunately, the boat tipped over and SPLASH! She fell off!

Ivy 2SW

Firework Poem

Boom! The firework exploded with sparks coming out of it.

Crackle! The bonfire was fizzing with excitement.

Pop! Went the colourful firework Zoom! The Catherine went whizzing past!

I was astonished by the fireworks in the night sky.

A rainbow firework popped out!

Amelie 2SW

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 3 Extract from a setting description – The Wild Robot The sparkling aquamarine ocean surrounded Roz, sending mists of spray on her every few minutes. The waves hit her.

The blue beasts crashed on to the craggy rocks. Indignant clouds covered the sky, stacked like a skyscraper. Amongst all this ugliness the beautiful sun was setting. Roz looked up. The clouds that had covered the sky had been replaced with white balls of fluff. She could smell the salty sea and could hear the chirps of the birds.

Kaeya 3B

Extract from Stone Age story There stood a brown, furry, furious monster of an animal.

It was a woolly mammoth. A tiny lemming scuttled away in fear. All was quiet for a moment, and then the chase began.

Cherry dashed over a rock and jumped into.... quicksand! The mammoth stomped after her. She thought all was lost until a Stone Age man pulled her out with an “OOF!”. Cherry thought that that meant help, so she put on her courage coat and ran up to the mammoth. Luckily, she was not alone. Cherry was determined to stop that mammoth. Trees were falling as the mammoth stomped through the forest to the cliff edge. Cherry was not going down with the mammoth, so instead she jumped onto it. Its head was furry, very furry. Of course, Cherry was scared. Why had she done that? How would she get down? The view would have been amazing for you and me, but not for Cherry. She had forgotten she was afraid of heights.

Avery 3B

Extract from The Supply Teacher story Before I even knew it, I was at my classroom door, ready to start the week. Just then, as I got to my seat, we all heard a loud sound of stomping feet. We didn’t know who might be stomping in the hallway. Ms Bayliss would never stomp in to the classroom! She would walk in as gracefully as a dancer!

All of a sudden, the door flung open and a short plump lady strode into the classroom. She had orange unruly hair that looked like fire blazing round her head. She also had dark frosty eyes, nearly purple under her eyes. She roared out “Quickly girls, get out a pencil. We are going to start with some basic maths.”

Break time came and went and were still inside toiling while everyone else was having fun outside. Mrs KooKoo, for that was the name of the supply teacher, only believed in hard work.

Zeina 3B

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Extract from Animal Rescue story Our cabin was in the wild. Nobody was there. It was nearly bedtime and I looked out of the window when I suddenly saw something. An outline. I heard it howl. In the morning I went searching for it, except it wasn’t it. It was a them. I could barely see them. There were camouflage experts, ears twitching, eyes like black shiny buttons and fur as white as snow. They were arctic foxes, and they were twins and very friendly. But then I realised something. The boy arctic fox had a blue net of some kind and the poor, poor girl, she couldn’t get it off. His paw had swollen twice its size. I decided to give them some biscuits.

They immediately trusted me. As soon as they were finished, I named them. The boy was Speedy, and the girl was Pip. Berry 3B

Extract from Time Travel Story Crash! Her head throbbed with pain. Her heart raced and July could hear it thumping like a drum. July opened her eyes.

Where was she? How did she get there? She was lying on her back on a damp emerald, green patch of grass fresh with sparkling morning dew. Through the towering canopy of trees July could make out the sun a giant ball of fire. July got up slowly as she rubbed her painful head. Suddenly the distant sound of yelling could be heard. July dashed to the sound, and it led her to a gigantic cave. Cautiously she crept quietly into the dimly lit opening. As she ventured a little deeper July spotted a fire crackling in the pit. Next to it was a pile of berries which were juicy jewels. It was too much for July who was starving. Before she could stop herself, July scoffed up the scrumptious berries ravenously.

Mei 3B

Extract from newspaper report – The Last Bear However, disaster struck when their boat capsized. Luckily, the girl was still alive. Miraculously, she was found in a bear’s jaws.

April Wood says the bear is safe but according to our Winter Weekly experts this is highly impossible. When interviewed, April said: “There was no chance of me leaving Bear on Bear Island and if I did, he would not have survived.”

April’s father was worried as he was at the scene of the rescue. When interviewed, Edmund Wood said: “Their friendship will change everything.’’

Anushka 3B

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 3 Extract from Stone Age story Something was different. Sammy could tell it in every way. It wasn’t long until he became aware that he was not looking at the museum anymore. He was looking at a sea of blue and wisps of white. Could it be the sky? Yes. Sammy sat up and without warning, a twig snapped behind him and suddenly he darted off. He turned around as quick as a flash and clambered up some stones into a cave. But abruptly the cave began to crumble. A second later, Sammy realised he was trapped. He turned around quickly and standing there as still as a statue.

Was. A bear. The cave bear was furry and terrifying, and the bear started to approach Sammy.

Edie 3B

Extract from a newspaper report – The Last Bear A girl has been found in the Barents sea with a polar bear. Early this morning, a cargo ship came across April Wood, an elevenyear-old girl from England, who was found in a polar bear’s mouth. The amazing rescue happened at approximately 7 am about 2 miles off the coast of Svalbard. It appears that the girl was trying to take the polar bear to Svalbard on a small rowing boat. But disaster struck when a terrible storm hit and threw her overboard.

Kiana 3B

Extract from Animal Rescue story Suddenly my mum called me. “Quick we have to go there is a forest fire!”

I could not leave him. I was scared and I noticed the problem was his tail was trapped under a heavy tree that was on fire! I used all my strength to lift the tree. I carefully picked up the delicate animal. I put it in my adventure backpack and left it a bit open so the animal could breathe. Then I quickly sprinted to our forest green truck which had thick, grey, strong wheels. I unzipped my bag and peeked in. It was the most beautiful and cutest thing I had ever seen. “Oh no! What has happened to your tail?” I whispered, careful that my mum and dad wouldn’t hear. “You must have gotten separated from your mother. “I have to look after you until your tail heals. Then I will return you to the forest where you can find your mother.”

“We are going to a different part of the forest that hasn’t caught fire yet.

Expecting him to take the register, he suddenly whipped a microwave out of thin air. He shoved some tasty chicken covered in foil in the microwave. All the children were baffled at what was happening. Without any warning, the microwave exploded, making a huge bang. It was commotion and everyone leapt from their seats and ran around the room.

Chloe 3B

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

Extract from a postcard – Coming to England Dear Aunt Olive, It seems a century since I’ve left you. I have so much to tell you! I have just arrived in Spain. I felt nauseous and exhausted.

However, we grew our sea legs days later. Once Ellington had a fight with another passenger. They nearly rolled of the edge.

I kept on shouting “STOP!” but they were too busy to listen.

Afterwards the captain stormed down from the bridge and kept them in their cabins. We were rebellious when we realised we were unsupervised.

On one hand, I miss you and Trinidad. On the other hand, I’m ecstatic to be reunited with my family. Missing you lots.

Love from, Floella Sinya 3B

Kenning Poems Mischief-maker Stepmother-hater Claw-grabber Sand-hider Art-singer King-listener Ariel-follower Sophia E 3C Mud-roller House-builder Pot-boiler Brick-builder Mum-leaver Path-walker Wolf-scarer Alice 3C

Geography letters to a different desert Dear Arctic Hope you are well with all the snow. My name is Sahara and I’m in Africa. I’m nearly a third of Africa! I span 11 countries which are Algeria, Mali, Chad, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya and Niger. How big are you?

How many countries are you made up of? Do you even make up a country? I am also 58 degrees Celsius which was my hottest record. My coldest record was -11 degrees Celsius, your one was -69.6 degrees Celsius! What’s your climate like? I heard it’s very bad because all the ice is melting! The animals that are in my desert are scorpions, crocodiles, lizards and ostriches and in the Arctic there are arctic foxes, deer and lemmings.

Best wishes, Sahara Desert Kayshimi 3C

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 3 Dear Gobi Desert My name is Sahara Desert. I don’t mean to be impolite, however I am the largest and hottest desert in the world.

I am in the North of Africa and I stretch all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea which is almost 5,000km (over 9 million square miles). I cover nearly a third of Africa and cover 11 countries including Egypt, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Western Sahara and Tunisia. My name ‘Sahara’ is from a word in Arabic that is ‘sahra’ which means ‘desert’. I am the hottest desert because I can reach up to between 30-40 degrees Celsius! However, my sand gets even hotter often reaching to over 80 degrees Celsius!

My desert is ‘hyper arid’ which means I am extremely dry.

Most of me is made up of sand dunes. Even though it is really hot here at night time, I cool down to about 20 degrees Celsius.

Yours sincerely The Sahara Desert Eyrah 3C

Dear Antarctica Did you know I am the largest hot desert in the world? I heard that you are the biggest cold desert in the world but don’t you think I’m still the best? Get comfy because we’re going to talk about why I am the best now, sit back, relax and enjoy!

First reason why I am the best is because of the temperature.

It can get up to 80 degrees Celsius and if you think that’s hot, the sand can get even hotter that that. Yeoch! Sometimes the temperature can change a lot like at night it can be -4 degrees Celsius (which is 84 degrees Celsius difference). Last reason is because I am in a country where even if I put India, USA and China together there would still be room! But I also take up one-third of Africa and it would take about a week to cross it and it’s 4008 kilometres. Now, I hope you ‘ve learnt your lesson.

I have to go to speak to Gobi. He still thinks he’s the best now.

Will you excuse me? I have to go.

Bye bye!

Sincerely, Sahara Desert Lucia 3C

Stone Age Story This school trip starts like others but is not the same. Tiredly, Misha was listening to the tour guide droning on and on and on, going up stairs and in different rooms. Misha’s feet were aching and she was bored seeing the Roman and Ice Age exhibition until she came across the Stone Age. 5H thought this is cool too and Misha was so eager to come across this.

The mammoth tusk was as white as a pearl and the flints were so sharp. When no one was looking, she quickly touched the mammoth’s tusk and then everything went black.

Something was different. After seconds, Misha realised she was lying on the floor on her back. Confused Misha was because she was looking up at the sky. The clouds looked a fluffy as a dog. Misha also noticed that she was lying on a layer of moss. She sat up straight and looked at the trees in the

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distance with light shining in between! Misha had a big smile on her face. There was a slight breeze which Misha liked. She saw a glimpse of this gargantuan fluffy chocolate brown animal with huge pearly white tusks. The smoke she saw was as grey as a rock. It was surprising to see snimals that were extinct. In the corner of her eye, she saw caves and in it she heard twigs snapping.

All of a sudden a bow and arrow shot on a tree nearby. Misha looked all over her body and saw the mammal’s tusk around her neck. Misha thought they wanted this. Misha stood scared and started running. Misha looked back and saw he had a sharp axe in his hand. The flint he had was as sharp as a pin. Misha kept running, breathing quickly when she saw a cave and went in it and remembered her necklace.

Happily, she touched the mammoth’s tusk and teleported back to the museum.

Ishika 3C

The true story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears I am Goldilocks and I am going to tell you the true story. You might think I broke into the bear’s house but I was invited in for breakfast but the bears forgot. They had given me the key. We were going to eat porridge and I brought honey as a present for the bears (because they love honey). Let’s start the story.

On my way on a crispy autumn morning to the bear’s little wooden cottage on the side of the road, I was excited for my breakfast with them. I saw the wooden side frame. At last I was here, yay! Then I stepped on the doormat covered with a blanket of leaves. I opened the door with my shiny key.

Inside the house, the bears were not even in! I called but they didn’t answer. In the kitchen there were only 3 wooden bowls. I felt wary and I definitely regretted what I did. I tried them all! Regretting my behaviour BUT that was not the end of the problem! Anxiously awaiting for the bears, I sat down on a small chair with photos of baby bear when CRACK! BANG! SNAP! Obviously angry, I felt so bad I had broke it. I stomped up the stairs to see if they were upstairs so I could explain and apologise, then I just felt nauseated and worn out with problems. I leapt on the bed. I woke to a golden sticky liquid and I realised the honey SPILT! Now I was mad. I tried to clean it up. I was terrified the bears would come in and be MAD! They called the police and said I had broken in. Those mean bears knew I was coming. They now only wanted to arrest me because of the mess. What did I ever do to them? Three seconds later I was in a slimy cell! Can you imagine a little girl invited to a bears house and then they forget and you make a mess and to jail you go!

That is not the end of my punishments, My mother tried to bail me out but she’s very scared of those devious bears. Now I have to do a few weeks of making them breakfast. But do you also think I’m innocent?

Amber 3C

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 3 The true story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff You all think you know the true story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, but you don’t. You have not heard my side….. My name is Maxxy Troll but you can call me Troll. Get comfy!

It was a beautiful morning. The sun looked like a yellow balloon stuck in the tree tops. The water twinkled in the grand stream. I could smell the sweet smell of the flowers, as green as a leaf. I had just rented a golden, colossal bridge. Suddenly I heard hundred’s of hooves galloping on my bridge. They were brazen goats!

Every morning goats did the business on it. I got headaches.

They kept saying they would help but they didn’t. They kicked down my jars and flowers. I had to clean up. Eventually I got frustrated and the next day I waited and waited for the goats and when they came, they had a mischievous grin.

The next day I found out that the goats had framed me. I was known as the Big Bad Troll!

Esra 3C

Animal Rescue Story The day Alice rescued a koala was exactly 4 weeks after she arrived in Australia. Alice was going on holiday to Australia in the Christmas holidays. To get there, she had to get to the airport by train with her dad, then take the plane to America, then change plane to Australia. Soon, they gathered the luggage and took the bus to the hotel. The sun was as bright as a newly clean table and you had to squint to look into the city. The hotel was called ‘Sweet Hotel Australia’. It had a swimming pool the size of a park. They settled down in the luxurious hotel. A short while later, the two of them had a bus tour of the town.

She heard a sound. The sound like a bleating baby goat that is hurt. Alice hurried towards the sound, she was in a wild place.

“Alice. Slow down!” called dad panting. It was a grey dust coloured animal covered in fur as soft as a cushion. There was the noise again. A screeching noise. The creature stared at Alice with its black beady eyes.

The damp overgrown forest crept into her. There is was, between rough rocks that dug in the soil. The thick rope net with an animal in it. The net wrapped tightly, the creature calling for help. It was a koala, a young one. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to help” Alice said gently. She was careful not to frighten it.

She looked for something sharp in her backpack. Her dad’s pocket knife! Maybe he packed it for her when she wasn’t looking! She carefully cut the toddler koala free. “Alice! What are you doing with a wild animal?” Dad asked. “It was trapped Dad. I want to help it” pleaded Alice. Finally, her dad accepted her pleas and let her keep it in the hotel! “Excuse me, do you except animals in here?” The receptionist nodded.

Soon enough, the koala was ready to leave. Alice told her dad and wrote a short goodbye note saying: Dear Dad, I am going to set the koala free. I might miss you. See you after. From Alice.

Isa 3C

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

Supply Teacher Story Yesterday was the best day of my life because I was on the news! It all started like every normal school day until I walked into my classroom. It was silent. Very silent., and my class is never silent. Then I realised the Miss Honey wasn’t at her seat.

At that moment I heard shuffles in the hallway heading this way….

“Hello” someone or something said in a croaked voice as they shuffled into the classroom. Then the person walked in. They had eccentric funky hair that puffed up and thick black circular glasses that overlapped their greenish blue eyes and they were short and dumpy. “Hello everyone. My name is Mr Cookie Chip and today I will be your supply teacher” he croaked. I was flabbergasted. No teacher, no student or my parents told me this. Suddenly it came to me. What if Miss Honey quit?

Like a cheetah it was the first period, my heart was in my throat, my jaw was trembling, my teeth were chattering and no matter how much I tried I couldn’t control them. But in maths we were weighing different cookies and did I mention Mr Cookie Chip smells like caramel cookies! Then in English we had to write all about a cookie monster finding a friend. The day was fine but in science we were baking cookies and then BANG, BOOM. There was a colossal explosion and the roof blew off!

Suddenly Mr Hodge the Principal stormed in like a monster.

He slammed the door open and screamed “Why is the roof blown off?” Mr Cookie Chip sprinted while trembling. “I never want to be a supply teacher ever again!” He was gone and then we saw news reporters outside who were reporting what had happened. Just at that second, Miss Honey was back. We bought a new roof in the science room and everything was back to normal, for now……

Temi 3C

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 4 The Best Part of Me My mouth helps me to speak and say, And read a map and say which way.

My mouth helps me to read a book, And read the ingredients when I cook.

My mouth tells stories that are fun, I’ll tell the stories under the sun.

My mouth can help me eat a cake, But after that I’ll need a break.

My mouth helps me answer a question, When I’m in an English lesson.

My mouth helps me speak in my house, The best part of me is my mouth.

Lakshmi 4C

The Best Part of Me The best part of me are my feet, They help me creep downstairs to get a sweet treat.

They help me win running races, When I finish, they’ll be smiles on their faces.

They leave footprints where I have been, They help me balance on a beam.

They help me kick around a ball, They help me kick it to the playground wall.

My feet are the best part of me, They don’t cost anything – they are free!

Alice 4C

Walking into ice world (extract)

A huge white marshmallow stretched across the plain, freezing land. Naina was petrified. She stood in nothing but a pair of aquamarine blue denim shorts and a matching jacket which had pretty flowers on the sleeves. Naina had “borrowed” it from her mum because she thought the jacket was the perfect one for her playdate later on. Her feet were far too chilly for she had no shoes on. She stood frozen to the spot when a terrible thought crept into her mind. “Will I be able to get back home?”

She looked over her shoulder. The sleek brown wardrobe was still standing there, stock still.

A rush of relief washed over her mind. She was just about to get out of this crazy land when she heard a snort, a sneeze and a harrumph all at the same time, how odd! Puzzled beyond all measure, Naina spotted a fully grown golden CAMEL! This camel had a golden-brown fur coat that was the same colour as the trunk of a Hawaiian palm tree. Its sturdy legs looked like it would have won thousands of races. And the humps on his furry back would have made the perfect Legoland ride!

His eyes were a caramel chocolate brown colour yet were filled with tears. “Why on earth is a camel in the middle of Antarctica?” Naina spoke aloud without meaning to. Cautiously, she held out a trembling hand to stroke the camel’s rich coat.

As soon as her hand, (which was extremely soft yet very chilly) had touched the camel’s bumpy back, she immediately noticed something, something sad.

Suri 4C

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Into the Underworld (extract)

One hot summer’s day in Ancient Sparta, there was a girl called Anastasia. Everyone called her Ana for short. She had long, ginger hair and sharp, crystal blue eyes. Ana loved to collect pearls for her sick mother. Doing this every day developed her swimming skills massively. She was a very good swimmer.

As Ana entered the water, the cold sharpness of the water hit her. It was so refreshing. Crystal clear water swirled around her.

Out of nowhere came a voice, “Follow the octopus!!!!” said the spooky voice. She was about to reply, “What octopus?” when an octopus appeared. The octopus was neon pink with blue, yellow and green spots, dotted all over its body. It was a dazzling sight to see. Suddenly, a tentacle shot out from its mess of a body and grabbed her by the arm. The octopus pulled her past many different parts of the Greek sea including, coral reefs and hotspots for shoals of fish. Just when Ana was about to run out of breath, they entered an air-filled cave. Poseidon appeared from the shadows. “I need your help.”

The surrounding was strange. It was a colossal place. The cave had rocky, moss-covered walls and beautiful, intricately carved shells. “You need to help me rescue the Hygonix. The Hygonix is the guardian of the sea and is essential for the sea to stay alive. It is currently stuck in the underworld with no way of getting out.

It is about to have a baby which will be the next guardian of the sea when it’s mother dies. The baby will die in the underworld.

You need to rescue the Hygonix.” said Poseidon solemnly.

Ana didn’t realise her hands were shaking until now. Was she really taking on this heavy burden? Or was this just a mind’s hallucination happening because of too much sun? No. This was real. She was going to do this. “Here is a lucky shell that will help you to repel Hades when you get there. It will also help you leave the underworld to return to the normal world.”

Evie 4C

Tilly’s Quest (extract) …After a long tiring journey, she reached a deserted island and saw the old creepy cave. Legend said it was guarded by the undefeatable monster, the hklon. Suddenly, a terrifying roar came. Bright yellow eyes stared at her, and the monster breathed fire! She ducked under a rock. Bravely, she kept on lunging her sword at the evil monster it dodged away. Hopelessly, she kept on lunging. Her wild bunches flew around as her determined body continued. One moment, a cloud moved away from the shining sun, making the hklon unable to see. STAB! Blood leaked everywhere and the hklon gave a roar of defeat.

Carefully, Tilly tiptoed into the dark, cold cave and found the sparkly, gold trident on a stone. Gently, she picked it up and went on her long journey all over again. Through the murky rivers, forbidden forests, the seven seas. At last, she arrived home and went to the magnificent temple. As she went through the pearly white marble door, she felt tremendously proud. When she sat down and placed down the beautiful sparkling trident, it instantly turned into a basket of delicious bread. A glittery rainbow message formed in the baby blue sky saying, “Thank you”. Her brother would have been proud of her. Slowly, she grinned from ear to ear. She had defeated the terrifying hklon.

Xiaoyi 4C

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 4 Setting Description As I stepped out the wardrobe, my burning, hopping feet vanished into the warm disintegrating sand. Staring hard, I could faintly see a long, towering flagpole. Hanging on this peculiar pole, was a tattered, ripped up, foreign, filthy flag most likely from an endangered or even extinct civilisation! Looking curiously into the distance, I noticed the beautiful sunset calmly looming over the small, tired village. The bright sun was one of the few nice things in this worn-out, small village. Above it all, I was glad to see some wildlife. The most delightful animal I saw was an interesting leopard that was secretly eyeing the travellers sadly walking by. At least I was nice to see someone, or something, happy!

Sindhu 4C

First Letter to TUI Dear Friedrich Joussen, I am Sasha and I have seen your tweet about building a hotel in the Amazon rainforest.

I feel very strongly against building this hotel as I am a great believer in maintaining the natural environment.

In order to build this hotel, many trees will have to be taken down which will create deforestation and disturb the animal’s habitat. We are already facing a problem of deforestation so why make more? The beautiful scenery will be destroyed, and once destroyed it won’t be a very nice scene for your guests.

This may be a hazard for your workers since you cannot avoid the dangerous animals and plants. Are you going to risk a major injury? I want you to be mindful about the ruins as you will probably damage or destroy them and the main attraction will be gone.

Think about the animals, plants and ruins. Do you want to be responsible for this destruction?

Overall, I think this plan should not be carried forward and should be stopped. You are going to destroy a lot of wildlife and pollute the rainforest. This may be a good attraction, but you are sacrificing a lot.

Yours sincerely Sasha Sasha 4C

Second Letter to TUI Dear TUI, My name is Thea and I am outraged that you went along with this plan! However, even I can see you need help and after many fights with myself I decided to help you.

Firstly, if you are going to go along with it you must be careful of deforestation. Since 1990, 420 million hectors of trees or more have been lost. If you are going to use wood, you could say for every tree you cut down you plant two more or use bamboo. Deforestation can lead to loss of wildlife habitat and that can upset a lot of people and make wild animals end up in the wrong place.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

Secondly, you could use renewable energy like solar panels. You might want to use recycling bins or have limited time in a shower or a bath. 80% of 24 people said that renewable energy is better than normal energy. You can also put solar panels on the roofs of the hotel because there is lots of sunlight in the Amazon Rainforest. You could also put solar panels on bins and especially on the recycling bins!

I believe that you can plant a garden on the roof for animals.

We could also make a small pond with a wide variety of bugs and fish. Maybe you can hire some indigenous people to be tour guides or rangers to help the tourists get around. I urge you to build a big building for the hospital. Otherwise, if someone was badly hurt, there would not be anywhere for them to recover. You could hire more indigenous people to help in the hospital. The hotel could be meat free, or the only meat is lamb or fish so there is no cow because cattle ranching accounts for 80% of current deforestation which is destroying our environment.

I hope you like, use, and respect these ideas. Good luck with the plan.

Yours sincerely Thea Thea 4C

News report based on ‘Children of the Benin Kingdom’ Good morning, I am reporting live from Chief Iwe’s land, about the horrifying thing that happened last night. While the feast was happening a little girl came to Uche, who was guarding a prisoner, and told him that his father was in danger. The little girl showed him a beautiful orange armlet that had attractive, big carvings and explained “Chief Iwe was giving us gifts and then the men attacked.”

Uche sprinted to where this event was meant to be happening. When he got there everyone was chatting happily and the feast was still going on. By the time he got back, the prisoner and the girl were gone and the cage was left hanging open. We immediately interviewed Uche and one of the things he yelled was “I feel horrified that that little girl outsmarted me. I demand you to bring her and the prisoner back to me by tomorrow so they can be punished and questioned about what they were trying to do.”

We’ll report as we get more information here on NLCS news.

Amit 4F

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 4 Extract from a Greek myth

Extract from a Greek myth Long ago, on the island of Crete, there was a hero named Perseus, who had fought countless battles, and always won.

Each monster he had faced had succumbed under the mighty blade of his sword, all except one. The Serpenteye. A terrible beast with tentacles that had daggers, armour plated scales across its muscular torso, a red eye which could kill at a glance, and lethal claws that conjured deadly poison. It left chaos and destruction wherever it went, and it had recently paid a visit to Crete. Perseus was in the royal palace, awaiting his punishment.

“On account” the king of Crete, Minos, boomed, “That you have failed to slay this creature, I have no choice but to banish you!”

“Give me another chance, my king!” Perseus pleaded. “This time, the beast will perish!”

“Very well” came the answer “If you don’t succeed this time, you will be exiled. Your fate is on your own shoulders.”

“Thank you, my lord” said Perseus “I shall not let you down!”

Perseus knew that the beast lived in the underworld. He journeyed to the river Styx. There was a boat tied to the riverbank, and a strange hooded figure on it. The figure beckoned to him, his gloved hands reaching out, as if to grab him. Perseus stepped tentatively onto the boat. It rocked violently, and nearly tipped right over into the swirling black waters of the river. Perseus jerked his head up with a start, but the figure on the other side of the boat merely sat, as if it was nothing more than a gentle sway. Cautiously, Perseus lay his hand on the side of the little rowing boat and sat too.

Immediately, as if by magic, the boat started to glide forward, following the twists and turns of the river. But then, after a long while, Perseus could see an ending. As the boat came closer and closer, it became obvious that at the end of the river, there was a steep drop. A waterfall.

Perseus managed to stop himself screaming as the rowboat shot down the cascading stretch of water, spray wetting his skin, sweat slicking his hair back to his neck. The boat travelled deeper and deeper, at an unimaginable speed. Finally, the boat splashed into a little pool, and came to an abrupt stop. Perseus gasped with relief. Then he gasped again, this time in shock. He stepped out of the boat, staring at the hauntingly eerie scene that surrounded him. The underworld was dark and humid, and steaming ribbons of thick black liquid flowed down the walls and collected in puddles on the floor. The ground itself was rocky and uneven, and littered with bones. The dripping of water could be heard in the distance. Perseus turned to the boat and thanked the boatman. He didn’t answer. He just lifted one skeletal finger and pointed behind Perseus. Perseus turned back. In a throne behind him, was the god of the underworld, Hades.

Laila 4F

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Penelope was Odysseus’s wife, she lived in Ithaca in a majestic palace of marble, doting servants tending to her every need.

Something was not right though and an anxious feeling started to nibble at Penelope’s insides. She felt her husband drifting away from her, sometimes weeks passed and they did not speak once. So, unknown to her husband, she slipped away one night deciding that if she gave him the jewel of life surely it would be enough to reunite them. Feeling nervous she headed to the Goddess Athena’s temple, knowing she would need knowledge and intelligence for her trip. Penelope got there and sat down on the cold, stone floor and started to pray to the gods and goddesses. Quite suddenly Athena appeared in front of her. “What do you seek?” roared Athena her chestnut brown eyes x-raying Penelope. “I-I seek help in my quest.”

Athena looked as if she was taking this into account and then disappeared with a faint “pop”. Penelope was startled to see a sword had materialised in her hand. Anticipating she would need it she stuffed the blade into her belt and set off to the north.

Penelope reached Delphi (the island) and looked frantically for the protectors of the gem, a herd of Elphyna. They were nowhere to be seen and as Penelope traipsed through the dense wood, she began to give up any hope of finding them and with a heavy heart decided to turn back. But on her way back Penelope heard noises coming from a small clearing and saw hundreds of thousands of Elphyna all protecting the sacred jewel of life. Penelope felt sick. How on earth would she fight them all off? Penelope turned around intending to sneak in through the side but found her way blocked by two Elphyna.

“You zould not be ‘ere” hissed one. “Ve vill take you to ze Queen” snarled another.

They picked her up with their powerful talons and, despite her struggles, began to tow her away into the clearing. All of the Elphyna were female, Penelope found out as she was dragged to the heart of the Elphyna’s home. The children had pastel yellow hair in a long sheet down their back while the adults sported bright pink hair some up in ponytails while others wore it in the same style as their children. But whether their hair was yellow, pink, up or down they all turned to look at her as she progressed down to the edge of the clearing where an Elphyna so tall it towered over everyone stood, a large, bejewelled crown sitting on her mane of pink hair. “Vhy are you ‘ere?” asked the Queen whose name was Aria. “Toto steal your jewel,” she gestured to the red gem sitting on a podium beside Aria “and prove my love” mumbled Penelope sheepishly.

“You do, do you” said Aria looking at Penelope hard. She nodded. “Fight vith me and vhoever vins gets ze jewel.” “I accept.” These words erupted out of Penelope’s mouth before she could stop them and she soon found herself longing to take them back. But the damage was done, Aria was preparing herself for battle.

Beatrice 4F

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 4 Diary entry from the perspective of a Windrush child Dear Diary, Today I am on a ship called the Arosa Star. First Mum told me that we were going to leave for England without Grandma.

Yesterday, I got on a bus full of people where the driver was too busy eating a banana to focus on his driving. He went round the corner so sharply that a lady, who was sitting on the roof, lost her suitcase. Then Mum and I stayed in a hotel for the night.

Today, we waited in a long queue behind a lady with two daughters. The lady was apparently praying to Jesus. When we finally reached the front, there was a big desk with a very mean man behind it. The man wanted to see a book called a passport that mum had to show she was British. It wasn’t fair because I wanted one!

Finally, Mum and I reached the ship and walked up the steps.

We met another white man who was much nicer. He gave me a piece of paper that had our room on it which was room 323.

Our room was small and I could hear the people in the room next to me. On one side was a baby and on the other was a lady. When the ship left, Mum made me come and wave bye to Jamaica. People I did not know were waving. When Jamaica was out of sight, we went back to the cabin. Mum lay looking at the ceiling whilst I watched the sea.

Sophia 4F

Letter about construction in the Amazon Rainforest Dear Malcom Sutherland, My name is Kiki, a pupil from NLCS and I am yet again writing to you about the tweet you recently posted on twitter to advise you on some things to include in your idea of an eco flagship hotel. I implore you to take on board some of my suggestions because I am a reliable contributor to this topic and I think my ideas are extremely valuable.

One of my main concerns is that building a resort in the Amazon will have a disgusting impact on deforestation and beyond. How could anyone possibly disagree with the fact deforestation has a sickening effect on the world? Firstly I think you should find a clearing rather than cutting down trees, however if this happens to occur I would recommend to use the excess wood for further construction such as furniture and materials for the structure. How would you feel knowing that your company has contributed to this issue? Surely you should begin to plant a new tree every time you sacrifice another. I insist that you know deforestation costs a humongous 2-4.5 trillion pounds a year! There is no doubt that this crisis is ongoing and you need to make a difference to that. Research suggests that trees are compulsory to the earth and you need to think about that.

Obviously, sustainable energy needs to start in the resort otherwise who knows what could happen? Our world is slowly being destroyed and you need to do something about it.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

However, here are some of my suggestions, firstly in the gym you could create workout mats that consume energy to reuse it and have no wasted materials. Many people believe that sustainable energy is a much cleaner and better way of living and no one can deny that. Meanwhile you could have a large filter inside the drain to prevent wasting water. Also you must produce a small farm for local food resources so no pollution will be released into the atmosphere.

Overall I think my suggestions are very creative and reliable under these circumstances and of course you would disagree with a handful of my ideas, but I continue to urge you to create a small farm and include a large filter in the inner part of the drain. Thank you for considering my suggestions and I hope you will embrace my ideas.

Sincerely, Kiki Kiki 4F

“Goodnight mom,’’ said Nadiya as she walked up the stairs to her room. As she opened the door, her magical wardrobe started to glow. It filled her teal room with an eerie glow.

Nadiya knew it was time for another magical adventure.

‘I wanted to see the narwhals anyway,’ she thought as she stepped through the welcoming doors of the ancient wardrobe. But instead of the warm water and beautiful scenery, sunlight poured over her like a jug of hot milk. The bubbling of a waterfall and the rustling of grass...where was she? Slowly, she removed the arm that had been blocking her sapphire blue eyes from the blinding sun. First she noticed the elegant rainbow that was soaring across the sky like a phoenix that connected to a waterfall of brilliant blue. The grass covered the floor like an emerald carpet as neon colours were scattered across the grass in the form of flowers. As she took this all in, her hands flew across her body, managing to locate a flowing teal dress covered in sapphires and other jewels. It was only then that she realised that she was holding something in her hand. She was holding a sceptre, which had colours flying through it, quite like the one the sea witch had. As she was processing these thoughts, a voice rang out through the trees, “Hello?”

Amara 4F

The Best Part Of Me The best part of me is my very smart brain, It helps me perfect my aim, It tells my body what to do, It’s very big and slimy too, It tells me not to give up already, It tells me to go slow and steady, My favourite thing about the brain, It never gets old and you can use it again, Even if it wasn’t smart, We could never be torn apart, The best part of me is my very smart brain, I can’t thank it enough for all that I gain.

Grace 4F

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 4

Caroline Gerstein was born on the 23rd November 1959 in Nottingham. Caroline was born as a Jewish child. She has two younger siblings: a sister called Vicky and a brother called Nigel.

Her parents names were Mirelle (her mother) and Manfred (her father). Of a young age, Caroline really wanted to be a librarian in fact she would organise her books by the surname of the author. She also loved reading; some of her favourite books to read were Pride and Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables and the Malorie Towers series. In year three however she changed her mind about being a librarian because her teacher (Mrs Williams) was so inspiring which is why she wanted to be a teacher. For high school she went to Nottingham Girls’ School.

As a young adult, Caroline worked at the Marks and Spencer’s on Saturdays as an assistant in ladies fashion department.

Then when she went on to go to university she studied at the University of Roehampton. There she studied and obtained a degree in history and education.

When Caroline was fifteen, she met her husband Richard Gerstein. Before she got married her surname was Dessau. In 1981 she got married to her husband Richard. With Richard she had three children. Their names were Juliette, Debra and Gina.

When Caroline is teaching, all of her pupils call her Mrs Gerstein. The first school she taught at was a school called Simon Marks Primary in Hackney. She joined Simon Marks in 1981 and then left in 1985. She then moved to Stanmore to

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teach at a school called Aylward. Caroline joined Aylward in 1994 and worked there for a couple of years on supply. In 1996, she joined North London Collegiate School which was just across the road.

After teaching at North London Collegiate school for five years, Caroline became head of the First School in the year of 2001 taking the place of Mrs J Newman. Some her favourite things about being head of the First School are Rainbow Sports Day, Founder’s Day and the First School play. Getting this job was one of her proudest memories. She also enjoys doing show and tell assemblies and hearing the Year Two animal projects.

Some of Caroline’s hobbies include walking, cooking, reading and holidaying. Her dream holiday would be going to Antarctica so that she could see her favourite animals -emperor penguins.

She also enjoys playing with her four grandchildren. Their names and ages are Miriam who is six, Joseph who is three, Millie who is one and Rafi who is five months old.

When she is retired, Caroline will enjoy spending more time with her family including her grandchildren especially. She would also enjoy going on more holidays as well as work in school.

Isobel 4F

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 5 Gothic Story Extract Step after step, I made it to the end. There was a steel door in front of me. My train of thought ended by telling me, “It’s going to be locked. Don’t even try.” But then, it seemed that the train had not fully left the station. Another carriage was there. It told me, “Just try. If it doesn’t work, go back! But at least try.” I decided to do just that. I pushed, and lo and behold, it opened!

That was good. But what was behind the door was another thing entirely. The room was plain; the walls were beige, but there were no windows. The walls went so high I wouldn’t be surprised if they swam amongst the clouds. Up on the ceiling, far out of reach, was a golden candelabrum. I forced my gaze downwards. Chained to a chair, a man wearing rags and a wideeyed gaze stared at me. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a squirrel living in that beard. I frowned. I had seen him before.

His picture…was in the news! He was the missing madman!

Foaming at the mouth and growling, he launched himself at me. I heard a scream, and it took me a second to realise that my own vocal chords had made it. Stumbling backwards, my heart stopped and horror choked me. My heart suddenly started pounding, using my happiness as drums and serenity as drumsticks. Sweat poured down my face like I was standing outside in the thunderstorm. The madman’s claws scrabbled at my arms, hissing as if he were a cat. He punched me, and I fell to the floor. 5F’s voices echoed down the corridor “Adelaide?

Adelaide!” The spiders watched from their secure dwellings up above. I longed to be them. Knowing that you’re safe.

Adelaide 5F

Gothic Story Extract Suddenly I heard an eerie scratching from a small, enclosed cupboard from the back of the classroom. At first, I didn’t think much of it but then I heard a continuous, vague screaming.

I started to get a little bit scared. So I looked around the classroom to see if anyone else could hear it, but it seemed I was the only person who could. Then I said to myself you are just hearing things, so I tried my best to ignore it. But then I heard it again even louder this time. So I told Mrs Freeman about the noise, but she said ‘’there is no noise you’re just hearing things so go back to your chair and carry on with your work’’ Reluctantly I made my way back to my chair and sat down. I stared at my book sick with fear, unable to get the noise out my head. Soon it, was time for science, I took this as the perfect opportunity to dart into the cupboard to examine the source to the noise.

Anaya 5F

The Graveyard As I stepped through the gate, the leaves crunched under my feet. I walked through the graveyard, occasionally stopping to look at a tombstone. The trees towered over me like a dome or a roof, almost frowning down on me. The graveyard was strangely quiet, and from time to time, I heard crickets chirping, and crows cawing. A small wind rustled the leaves, stirring up

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

clouds of dust and soil into my eyes. I blinked, hard, and brushed the dust from my eyes. Moonlight shone on my long black hair, giving me a source of light. The wind whistled past my ear, and I heard something else too, the sound of wolves, howling into the night. The clouds above my head, revealed the moon, shining blood red, and bathing the ground with a reddish glow. It was at that moment, when I knew, that something would happen tonight, something bad. I heard hooting, and saw a owl looking at me, almost as if saying, “I know your future”. A shiver ran down my spine. I shuddered, and it seemed like the temperature had dropped.

Then, I heard a branch snap. There was a flurry of wings, and a flock of crows landed on the tombstone in front of me. The engravings on it read: Here lies Lord Albert III. As I was reading this, the tombstone cracked and crumbled into dust. I froze in shock. No! It couldn’t be! But even as I said this, a long bony finger with rotten flesh and bugs crawling on it, emerged. Then, the hand reached over the edge, and pulled the rest of the body up. I shuddered from foot to toe, slowly backing away, as Lord Albert III’s decaying, rotten, shrivelled corpse, came to existence in front of me. The crows took off, flying in a circle around us. Wolves lurked out of the shadows, and surrounded us, their teeth bared, blood dripping from their fangs, their sharp teeth glinting maliciously. There was no escape. I would die, here, surrounded by blood-thirsty wolves, another dead body to add to the graveyard. But, I knew if I showed any sign of weakness, the wolves would pounce on me, eat me, kill me.

Annabelle 5F

Anger Anger is a place that is red and fiery like the fire under the chimney Anger is a place that is cold and hard like the water in the arctic sea When it’s red and fiery I want to fight a bear When it’s cold and hard I want to scream into the air Elsie 5F

The Jabberbot T’was gloomy, and the cloudy fog Did stretch and spread in the cupboard: All rusty were the cogs, And the old springs bounced.

“Beware the Jabberbot, my son!

The magnets that attract, the fingers that strangle!

Beware the speedy legs, and eyes The sudden movements!”

He took his plastic armour in hand; Long time the terrifying robot he sought—

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 5 So rested he by the toddler playpen And got ready to fight.

And, as in confidence thought he stood, The Jabberbot, with hundreds of mechanics, Came stomping through the wooden castle, And clanged as it came!

One two! One two! And through and through The shiny sword went clank and click He left it dead, and with its head, He went galloping back.

‘And hast thou slain the Jabberbot?

Come to my arms my brilliant boy!

Oh wonderful day! Callooh! Callay!’

He cackled in his joy T’was gloomy, and the cloudy fog Did stretch and spread in the cupboard: All rusty were the cogs, And the old springs bounced.

Jiya 5F

Gothic Story Extract Mrs West turned her back on me and returned to writing things down on the board. Now it was safe. I looked at my friend who gave me the thumbs up and winked. I knew she wouldn’t have done it. I don’t really know why I was about to do it. Slowly I crept, crept on all fours, crept to the door of the cupboard where something snuck around lurking in the shadows ready to attack brave victims…

I opened the cupboard and slipped inside without making a sound. I think I was lucky as no one pulled me out of the cupboard. I don’t think Mrs West even noticed me vanish. I think It is safe for now…

There was no light in the cupboard so I left the door slightly open. I tried not to stand on the many skulls that littered the floor. Even though I was freezing my clothes were damp with sweat. I walked for what was probably 5 minutes although it was probably 5 minutes though It felt like more. Along the low ceilinged deserted passageway. It wasn’t long until I heard the source of the noise…

Juliette 5F

The Graveyard I stepped on to the path, stones crunching beneath my feet.

The only sound that reached my ears was crackling of the cobbles and the howling of the wind. The sun had just set. I was nearing a graveyard but one, on my many travels, I had never seen before. The stones were covered in huge clumps of moss. Some kind of rodent scuttled around my feet, almost blocking the way. Gargantuan shapes flew over my head like shadows, but the most unsettling feature of all was the tomb.

In the middle of the gravestones sat a huge tomb. It loomed over all the other stones and made them look young. No one had touched it for years. My heart raced. This was definitely an abandoned graveyard, one of the ones I had heard stories about at home. The souls that lay here were never offered

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anything so they haunt whoever disrupts their sleep. But surely this was a story. Just a story that was made up by the oldest and wisest of men. The writing on the tomb stated, here lies Jacob black, you who disturb him shall pay the price. That was when the ghosts emerged. First just a small white finger which soon turned in to a hand, next an arm. After what seemed like an age, the things full body came out . “After all these years a sacrifice of sorrow is not enough. I need something live,” rumbled the misty creature. This would surely all be a dream.

Just a super realistic dream … Hopefully.

Lydia 5F

The Graveyard The winds howls began to erupt. The night was dark, and unmerciful rain pelted down creating pools of water. A fierce bolt of lightning crackled across the vast, black carpet that encompassed the solitary graveyard. Knobbly, coarse stones were abandoned, strewn across the floor. A torrent of thunder circled above the tombstones, surging through the atmosphere.

Trees danced around, withered, each one filled with wisdom and curiosity. The moon was prudent, a large slice of its ghostly white face in shadow, and it looked like a bent penny dropped in a wishing fountain. The miserable graves were lone and unmoving, but they showed no sign of emotion. The thick dark clouds hid the moon from view. One sinister tombstone in particular had scruffy rats that scurried around it sniffing eagerly, desperate for satisfied stomachs. Without warning, a stone flew through the air, arcing over the exterior wall. It had come from that particular tombstone. Suddenly, a thin bony hand crept out of the grave that was now wide open. The hand was caked in blood, and it slyly gripped the side of the stone, holding on to it for support. Slowly, a silhouette of a woman who was as thin as a needle clambered up, so she was sitting upright. Her bones cracked and were strangely displaced.

“Arghh!” She screamed, red, bulging eyes popping out, hair sticky and straw-like. Her eyeballs were the colour of squashed raspberries, crammed around a black pupil. The zombies head twitched vigorously and cuts and bruises covered her whole body. The appearance of this strange monster sent a flurry of chills throughout the whole grave. Not even the wind swept by.

No bird dared to tweet. It was silent. A deadly kind of silence.

Rebecca 5F

Gothic Story Extract This was going to be the most soul-sucking hour of my life.

Mrs Freeman droned on and on about buoyancy in her usual monotone voice. Even the clock looked bored as it ticked on endlessly as if looking for something else to do. In desperation for the tedious lesson to end, I looked outside for something much more interesting. The ominous sky was shrouded in grey and white. Rain lashed against the windows and the sun seemed to be in hibernation. When am I ever going to use buoyancy? 22 minutes until the end of the lesson. Mrs Freeman waffled on endlessly. She might as well have been a robot programmed to bore you to death.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 5 Suddenly the cupboard door twitched. Then I heard a haunting wail followed by rhythmic thumps which seemed to be coming from the unremarkable cupboard. What could it be? I looked around at the rest of the table. Sienna was half asleep and Rebecca was busy being tedious and clever. They definitely hadn’t heard it. Could I be imagining things?

Sophia P 5F

Rooftoppers As the child moved fiercely through Paris rooftops, the sun setting, grabbing on her smooth skin. Her mint green dress flowed behind her, as she galloped between rooftops barely taking in the jaw dropping view.

In front of her was at least a 1 metre jump. With no hesitation she leaped from one rooftop to another, her walnut brown hair was tied back, she could finally hear the birds from over a mile away, her ears were finally uncovered. Minutes later she took a second to take in the view, the lights on the Eiffel Tower was something she could never ever forget.

The birds were tugging against her dress, she could feel the rooftop below her feet, as she leaps to the next rooftop her feet were in pain they were being tortured it had felt like she was stepping on Legos. Her eyes were focused on the rooftops ahead, galloping through the air just rooftops to safety she was almost back home, dancing like a ballerina she landed safely back home.

She had finally reached home as she used all her muscle to explore the wonderful rooftops of Paris. She took a minute to take in the breath taking view that stretched all around her, she smiled showing her pure white teeth.

Darcie 5H

Gothic Graveyard Suspense

I stepped inside the graveyard, my torch was the only source of light in the moonless night. Silence roamed the open air and fog swirled around. A twig cracked. I spun around. A false alarm.

My torch flickered, casting an unsteady light on the overgrown path. The sky roared like a lion. Lightening ripped through the velvet sky, leaving the stars agitated. I felt like I was being watched. An eerie silence hung upon the graveyard. My torch started to flicker, it flashed. Then it turned off, it was out of battery. Rain shot down like bullets. My heart was in my mouth.

Fear washed over me. I was being watched…

Trees moaned and groaned in the night. A chill ran down my spine. The graveyards were covered in moss and the writing on the stone faded. A wail whooshed past my ears. Hesitantly I started running, galloping over vines and jumping over bushes.

Only then I asked myself why I was here. Shadows towered over as if warning me to turn back. I noticed something moving at the corner of my eye. I turned, but there was nothing there.

I shook my head, trying to dispose the uneasy feeling. But it remained, nagging me, like I was being watched.

A large Cathedral loomed in the distance, its shadow stretching out before me. The ground was uneven, rocks scattered before me, piercing my toes as I walked over them. I pressed on. Just then I realised the graveyard was deserted. If I was trapped no one would find me. I turned back, I couldn’t do

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

this. If I failed my quest, I would die. The path lay ahead of me. Only I could choose.

I kicked the wall in frustration. It crumbled. Guilt surrounded me as I started to walk back. The bushes rustled, then the leaves, a twig snapped. Then I realised I wasn’t alone. The wind picked up, rustling leaves and whispering secrets I couldn’t understand. I saw it. There it was a figure, shrouded in the darkness, standing before me. It beckoned towards me. What was it? I cautiously stepped forward. Suddenly a light flashed.

My body felt limp…

Ariyana 5H

Rooftoppers

Niagara Falls. Finally, after all the energy and effort, he made it. As the journey progressed, a shadow, dark and ominous had eaten the once amber sun. Pushing his way past Canada’s usual summer torture, he took his first step on the icy, craggy surface. Shaking his foot, bruised and bare, he continued on to his next powerful step. Confidence excelled up his spine. Violently, he tensed all the muscles in his small young body, and took an aggressive stomp, barely chipping the rocks. More assured, he tried again, only this time he chipped more than his own weight.

Daringly, he jumped until, CRASH! Consequently, this time, he slipped, ending his streak of adrenaline. Every moment, every second, his grip tightened, but was it enough to secure the safety of his short life?

Time slowed down whilst his heart sped up. Flooded with anxiety, his weak bony fingers bathed in sweat, almost making him lose his grip. Almost. His veins throbbing in his long, muscular arms, fought their way up the cliff.

Nests of amber locks tried to free themselves of his scalp, under the winds peer pressure. Foolishly he stretched an arm out to hold his hair down, in attempt to block the peach sun. His limp agile body, paralysed by fear, was left dangling in the heat.

Clouds, the last he’d ever see helped him with his heat issue but there was one problem he was still left with.

Tall as he was, high as the falls may have been, the drop lasted what appeared to be years in budding Sami’s eyes. Red water suddenly invaded, and a body lay lifeless in the water. All that was left, was the skull of an ignorant boy, never to learn his lesson. Never to learn anything again.

Sofia 5H

Silly Poem

Silly is a place That is fun and warm Like a field filled with flowers Silly is a place That is irritating and excitable Like a football match filled with people When it’s fun and warm I want to skip outside When it’s irritating and excitable I want to hide inside.

Leila 5H

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 5 Shipwreck The ship was struck, tossed, beaten, battered, pounded, hammered, and smashed into the sea. Out from the sea emerged a child grasping onto a small piece of what was left of the ship. The ship had been bombed; loud screams had curtained the air. Deafening roars sprung to life as the waves thundered into sight. The child had managed to jump off as all this commotion was happening.

The girl was tiny and delicate like a china doll. She was painfully thin, and her face was deathly pale. Her legs had powered down from all the kicking and splashing she had done.

A dark shape approached the girl, riding on top of the waves.

As the figure of a man. A tall man. With hips that stuck out like tusks and his eyes were lost within his wrinkles. Laughter lines surrounded his face. This man’s name was James, and he was here to rescue the girl. She held out her bony hand which felt as cold as a skeleton.

The girl’s eyes slowly opened and gazed around the room.

It was a small cosy lounge with a slopping ceiling. The lights flickered as if the bulbs were coming to the end of their days.

It was a small, wooden hut that was set right in the heart of the forest. Ivy clasped the walls of the home and curled through the roof. A bowl of pottage was left at her feet along with a note. “I am out fishing and will be back soon.” She started to wonder around the house, just as she was reaching the hallway, the doorbell rang, she opened it, and a knife was placed directly at her throat.

Urja 5H

Rooftoppers The girl had a long wave of hair tied back with a piece of straw.

She had crackling green eyes that were hard to see under her long fringe which was stuck to her forehead when she was soaking in sweat on days it when it was half Egypt half boiling oven at its highest temperature. Her long lanky legs resembled a baby horse, and her arms were long and muscular from climbing drainpipes about 5 storeys high alone.

Hera 5H

The Gobblesmack ‘Twas stunder, and the deween valls Did dway and swance in the brair: All vunnocent were the frals, And the animares pounded with flair.

“Beware the animare, my son!

The claws that scratch the tail that whacks!

Beware the danky birds, and slun The hangry Gobblesmack!”

He took his shong sword in hand; Long time the cunil foe he sought – So rested he by the runding tree And stood a while in shought.

And, as inbetain thought he stood, The Gobblesmack, with eyes filled with fire,

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Came pouding through the det wood, And mumbled as it came Vanshika 5H

Rooftoppers But the child’s smile soon turned into a frown, as she approached an old house whose tiles were clearly unstable.

Confidence disappearing, she jumped to the nearest wall and scaled it, barely holding on to the small crevices in the wall that offered support and pulled her agile body up with one hand.

Nothing happened she smiled and proceeded along the way, running across the spine, but she didn’t notice one particular tile that was attached to the roof, and due to her carelessness, she slipped and grabbed a rusty weathervane, she waited a long time before hearing the clatter of metal against concrete.

Slightly put off by the unexpected event, she continued, this time more cautiously, as if death’s shadow was creeping up on her, ready to push her off, but this alone was not enough, she had weakened the roof, and one step out of line sent her tumbling over the edge, and with an ear-splitting screech she plummeted, falling to certain death.

Sophia DA 5H

Gothic Graveyard I trundled down the dark dusty path, nearer to the big set of iron gates, a chilling feeling rushing down my spine. I pushed open the creaky door and stepped into the cold graveyard as I felt a gust of wind slowly pull me in.

The gate swung shut behind me closing with a clang, making me jump. Only then did I ask myself why I was here…

My torch flickered, casting a shadow of an oak tree behind me.

Watching me. I carried on, ignoring the feeling that I was being followed, and I walked up to the crumbling gravestone with an angel carved in it, dried blood dripping from it. I shivered then read the plaque and snapped a photo of it before walking on, listening to the rumble of the thunder as I swiped though the photos. I zoomed in on one of me by the gate and wiped at a smudge in the background, but it didn’t move. I squinted, but it was there, a dark silhouette behind me, a hand on my shoulder.

I gasped and out of the corner of my eye I saw something move.

A gust of wind knocked the phone out of my hand, onto the dusty floor. I was bending to pick it up when suddenly a text message pinged, making me jump.

I grabbed the phone and opened the email and went ridged.

I had ten more minutes to collect the parcel. Another message appeared showing a photo of me at the gate the same shadowy figure behind me, then one of me standing on the path with my phone, followed by a message that read “I can see you, complete your task or I will spill your secret…”

Molly 5H

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

CREATIVE WRITING Year 6 Writing inspired by ‘The Woman in White’ A half moon bathed the whole scenery in a strange, uncertain light. I ambled down the path – the trees were standing out of a swirling and a dense white fog that hung over the silvered lake. I idly wondered around Queen’s Park, wisps of nighttime mist slithering around me. I strolled on, sinking once again into a pleasant reverie.

It was at that moment that every ounce of blood in my body was brought to a stop by a soft tap on the shoulder. I turned on the instant, my fist clenching around my phone. There in the middle of the broad bars of silver light – there, as if she had that moment sprung out the earth or dropped from heaven – was a fearful woman, dressed in all coarse black.

Lucile 6B

The Scrapyard The dilapidated scrapyard was empty of life. The weather matched the scenery. Dull, ugly, steel grey clouds filled every centimetre of the sky. Towering over me, was a concertina of shiny steel that gleamed under the midday sun. I looked around and saw layers of dirt and grime coated on some of the cars. They were like wounded animals as every single one of them was spilt down the middle. I took a few more steps forward but halted. In front of me I spotted shards of glass scattered on the concrete ground. They glistened like a million diamonds - they almost looked like sharp stars, as if they would cut you if you dared to touch them. I coughed loudly as the smell of rank petrol lingered in the air and clouds of grey dust floated around. I could hear the sound of the cars creaking and moaning in the gentle breeze. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a twig snap and the sound of footsteps getting closer. Just then, a small creature rushed past me. What was it? Where was it going? All of a sudden, the machine hummed to life. Lights blazing. Engine purring…

Aisharni 6B

Writing inspired by ‘The Woman in White’ Idly wondering whether my family would like their presents and weighed down by shopping bags, I walked along the lonely high road whilst late night shoppers dispersed and cars blared their horns. Wisps of nighttime mist slithered and twined around me forming a dense white fog as the half moon bathed the whole scene.

Every drop of blood in my body came to stop as a hand was laid lightly but suddenly on my shoulder. I turned on the instant, immediately paralysed by the dreadful shape of an ethereal face cloaked in white. My fingers tightened around my shopping bags as my first instinct was to think it was a thief.

The extraordinary apparition was covered from head to toe in white garments. I blinked several times thinking my eyes had

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deceived me as her hand pointed to the darkening sky.

It was as if at that moment she had sprung out of the heavens or from hell: ghostly and unearthly in every sense.

Anna 6B

The Scrapyard There were mountains of glistening scrap cars, towering over me like large metallic giants. The sun was a golden lamp in the sky as it reflected off the cars’ battered steel bonnets, making them glisten like a sea of diamonds. Shards of glass that were as sharp as daggers were scattered across the oil-splattered floor.

It was a barren landscape filled with piles of distorted metal, a space empty of life. Occasionally the towering monsters would let out a painful groan, as if they were wounded animals who had been split open so you could see their innards. Emerging from the shadows came the guardian of the scrapyard, the jet black cat. It blinked its haunting jade eyes. In a fluid movement, it slinked back into the comforting darkness of the scrap cars.

The foul aroma of oil and broken engines invaded my nostrils and caused me to cough violently. “Ugh”, I cursed silently under my breath. “I hate scrap cars.”

Maya 6B

Writing inspired by MR James Stephen stepped into the room with trembling legs. His legs were shaking so much he could barely walk. As he stepped forward something crunched beneath his foot. The sound sent a trickle down his spine. He glanced down to see that there were tiny pieces of glass on the floor. Some pages were scattered around, all torn up.

On the floor, Mr Abney lay there. Heartless. Where his heart was meant to be there was a hole. Around the hole his clothes were torn and there was a gooey red scar. Blood had been smothered over his face.

Stephen thought, who could have done this? The answer was right in front of him. The two mysterious kids that he’d seen earlier were standing next to the corpse. They were both drooling. The boy’s black gaping rent was completely gone. It was healed.

None of this made sense to Stephen. Who are these children and why had they torn apart Mr Abney? Stephen wanted to say something, but he was speechless. He just stood there staring at the children.

Mia 6B

The Scrapyard Today, the scrapyard was in the worst possible condition. The weather matched the scene: dull, dark, and steely grey. Slicks of oil slithered through every crack and crevice of the concrete.

Concertinas of gleaming steel wobbled like a million scoops of ice cream. Rats and bugs crawled and scurried through the mouldy scrap cars, making it their home. The ground was covered in shattered shards of glass like scattered diamonds.

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 6 The cars were like the dead bodies of animals, their metallic insides perfectly but horribly visible. The light from the sun only made it worse, reflecting on the metal like an angry fire.

Insidious odours filled the air - the unpleasant stench of oil.

One creak of the steel scraping would send goosebumps rushing down your spine.

Alexa 6B

Poem inspired by ‘High Flight’ Lifting off the ground Is the most wonderful feeling of all.

The engine’s spluttering sound Was my waking call.

Soaring through the air Is full of lots of laughter, smiles and joy.

Gliding was my only care.

Flying past the sun Looking outside me, Is a new world unlike any other I’ve seen Plains of blue is all I see Now a sunlit golden dream Planes meant escape I was sure that it was true All the memories I could make I treasured them; I still do.

Amya 6B

The Scrapyard I looked up and saw piles of steel that creaked. Mountains of wobbling multi – coloured cars like Neapolitan ice – cream towered over me. The smell wasn’t very appealing - it smelt like mouldy cheese and old takeaway food. Wire hung off the cars, like a frightened animal clinging to its mother. In every crack and crevice of the concrete, slicks of oil were scattered. Tiny, little mice and rats ran across, from car to car. Glass glistened like diamonds on the floor. It was as though the floor was blanketed with sharp stars. Sadly, dust flew everywhere and blew in my wide eyes as the wind whistled in the cool gentle breeze. Everywhere I looked parts of cars could be seen, such as doors, boots and bonnets. Machines hummed to life. A group of rats sat smack bang in the middle of this hell. The dilapidated scrapyard was very oppressive.

Shanaya 6B

Writing inspired by ‘The Woman in White’ It was dusk and wisps of warm, silvery mist slithered around me. Thick overgrown vines tripped me up as I wondered around with my torch in one hand, my Petri dish in the other. I had

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been to this jungle twelve times and only for one reason: to find a Tiger Flower. Tiger Flowers are very rare and they only flower every three years. Their vibrant colours petals and sweet scent trick inexperienced explorers into touching them but a touch of a Tigers Flower can result in death. Around me were the shadows of flitting creatures, their amber eyes like the dying embers in a fire. I was determined to find this flower, however dangerous it was. I was determined to use it to create a vaccine that would change medicine forever.

Suddenly, I turned on the instant. I dropped my Petri dish which shattered, and my torch which flickered. I could hear the faint sound of singing, a ghostly longing tone. Something heavy was laid on my shoulder, a lifeless hand. Fear engulfed me. Looking behind me I saw the tall figure of a lady. She had a youthful face and mousy brown hair tinged with silver.

Shivani 6B

The Feeling of Flight As if in slow motion, I saw his leg arch up and pummel into my lower back, pushing me out of the plane.

I fell.

I knew nothing for the first few seconds but that…fear. That black angel. That ugly beauty. That anger and hope. My fear was the hellhound. The devil. I could not stop. The cruel wind swept past my tiny body in the vast space of blue. It buffeted me across the heavens, and the glaring sun watched me in amusement. My life flashed past my eyes and I was sure that soon our camp leader would be ordering the janitor to scrape me off the road.

I was turned this way and that, my head spinning and I felt that I was going to black out. Just give in. The sweet unconsciousness would soften the blow of the impact. The only thing that kept me sane, kept me conscious, was the fact that every time I turned to face down, I could see the ground rushing towards me.

I would only have one more chance. Blindly, I wildly flailed for the parachute cord. I could no longer discern how long I had been falling for. My hand made contact again with the plastic.

God seemed to be smiling on me today. This time I didn’t hesitate. I pulled. I pulled hard.

Helen 6B

Writing inspired by MR James But now everything was quiet, and the door yielded to Stephen’s terrified and frantic pushing. He stumbled into a warmly lit room, looking around in shock. Had he dreamt everything? Was he hearing things? The study was in pristine condition. The marble shelves were free of dust, and their books presented neatly in precise rows. Warm, glowing chandeliers filled the vast study with welcoming lights, reflecting off the polished, gleaming tiles. Plants stood in perfect procession of height order, at ease, bordering the room, leading to a glass tea table that stood in the exact centre of the room, with a pair of tall, looming leather armchairs standing uncomfortably of either side. A heavy, rich velvet

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 6 carpet lay on the ground, as if unrolled for a five time Oscar winner. Stephen saw a silver kettle steaming on a little stove in the corner of the study, clearly having been set recently by Mr. Abney. As Stephan thought this, he realised with a start, that Mr. Abney was not there.

Melissa 6B

Writing inspired by ‘High Flight’ I was soaring. I gazed at the patches of land underneath me, inhaling the refreshing, crisp air whilst absorbing the beauty of my surroundings. Soft, puffy clouds formed endless tunnels of glory. They looked like chunks of fresh, fluffy cotton candy.

Adrenaline pumped through me as I swirled through a portallike cloud opening. Golden sun glazed me with its glow, like icing glazes a donut. The wind tickled my face and stroked its fingers through my hair gently, filling me with inner peace and freedom. It felt unusually nostalgic, almost like I had been flying before. It felt natural. It felt like home.

Over time, the clouds had merged together, forming a new shape every once in a while. It was magical seeing nature react in such magnificent ways. I felt like a bird, dipping through rings of cloud, flapping and beating its wings against the wind.

My stomach felt like it was adjusting to the feeling of gliding.

Before, it was jolting and almost jumping around. I opened my parachute, letting it take control, comforting me and letting me relax into heading down. The sky was a canvas, smeared with warm, vibrant colours. I felt overwhelmed with tranquillity. I felt different. I felt… better.

Olivia 6IW

Writing inspired by ‘The Woman in White’ Secrets seemed to flitter from wall to wall in the deathly silent train station. The moon was a goddess bathing the whole scene in a soft uncertain light. The dilapidated train station was empty, strange for this time of day and especially odd for a weekday. My mind wandered aimlessly, drifting off into space, watching leaves floating down off the serrated roof. Fog wreaths floated above, swirling through the platform as wisps of night-time mist slithered and twined through the open windows. I idly wondered if dead spirits were truly haunting the station and sank once again into a pleasant reverie.

In one moment, every drop of blood in my body came to a sudden halt. I froze paralysed by fear and terror, rooted to the spot. The touch of a light hand was laid lightly on my shoulder.

Beads of sweat dropped from my head and fell to the ground.

Mechanically, I turned around to see, standing before me, a flitting creature of the dark. It was as if it had sprung from underneath the earth or was dropped from heaven. A stooped black figure layered in black garments stood before me. A nightmarish face, obscured by darkness. I was far too seriously startled by the suddenness with which the apparition had appeared to say anything. Her face was bent in grave inquiry over mine as she whispered, “Tell me first.” She spoke in an

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unearthly monotone, a grave voice. She lurched at me. I opened my mouth, but no words came. Her hand pointed to a dark cloud above the train station as I faced her.

Fear closed its fingers around my heart like tendrils of opaque mist reaching out from the darkness. My voice was choked with fear. Her eyes were filled with untold secrets as she continued to point at the dark cloud above.

Anu 6IW

Writing inspired by ‘High Flight’ I was soaring. Gliding. I was a bird dancing in the sun dappled blue. Gracefully, I swiftly cut through the balmy air spreading my feathered wings as the soft breeze tickled my face. I felt an unimaginable sense of freedom fall upon me while the I flew through the sharp, golden shafts of sunlight. The wind whipped in my flowing hair as I advanced through a cloud. I weaved through swirls of white mist and miniature droplets of vapour hung limply in the air like spiders hanging delicately from their silken webs. I shot out of the cotton cloud portal and almost instantly the sun glazed me with its heat. As I soared through the cornflower blue skies, I looked down at all of the unimportant things that I could forget while I was up in the air.

I was free.

Alayna 6IW

Writing inspired by ‘The Woman in White’ It was past the rush hour and I was idly slumped upon a bench waiting for the train. The weather was particularly odd for March. The wind moaned and howled like a ghostly spirit and dragged with it a veil of mist. An eerie silence flooded the empty platform.

Then I heard a sound, a scratching sound. I turned round to see where the noise was coming from but it had stopped.

I fell back down on the bench wondering if the sound was my imagination. But then it came back, becoming louder and louder, shattering the silence with its echoes although I could not see anyone.

I turned on the instant, checking if anyone was behind me as the feeling of someone watching me grew. Behind the bench I saw a tattered white shirt and a torn black blazer with a bright yellow tie. I stepped backwards to see the full picture of this unusual figure which I so abruptly encountered. His face was solemn, his chilling gaze pierced through the deep silence. He was painfully thin and his face deathly pale. His eyes were icy blue – cold and dangerous. His nails were chipped and encrusted with dirt. I shoehorned myself into the tiny, claustrophobic space of peace left in my chaotic mind as fear choked me.

I was far too seriously startled by the suddenness of his appearance that I was lost for words and felt so stupid as I was gawping at him. In a slurred unearthly monotone he said, “I have finally found you.”

Amaya 6IW

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 6

Writing inspired by ‘The Woman in White’ I meandered around Sainsbury’s slowly, waiting for my parents.

Wisps of the cold from outside slithered in. As I looked around, I realised the aisle was unusually quiet. My eyelids sagged down, and I was wondering if I should leave. I peered at my watch: 18:27. Where was everyone? I mechanically turned towards the door in a fretful manner, frustrated that I was left isolated in a shopping aisle.

At that moment, I felt a cold long hand being gently placed on my shoulder. I instantly spun around and was far too seriously startled to react to the figure who stood before me. I could perceive the silhouette of a man. Looking up, quivering, I caught a glimpse of his face. Fear surged through my body.

Who was this person? What did he want? Did I know him?

Lamide 6IW

Writing inspired by ‘The Woman in White’ It was past the time that my lesson should’ve started. No teachers or students had arrived yet. I thought maybe my watch was wrong, that I was early. The classroom lights were dim, the tap faucet leaking at the pace of a steady ticking clock, fixed on the beat. I swivelled my head towards the window, looking out at the bank of dense white fog swimming and dancing outside.

Wisps of mist were slithering and twining through the window, touching the edges of old posters on the walls.

Suddenly, a harsh gust of wind brushed past me, moving my hair. I felt an awkward, cold radiation as though something lifeless was nearby. Every drop of blood in my body came to a stop. In one, single moment, a small, pale hand was laid lightly on my shoulder and suddenly a quiet, gravelly voice spoke: “Excuse me?”

My fingers tightened around the back of my chair as I mechanically turned my head to face something, something that must’ve sprung from the earth or fallen down from the heavens. Its face was obscured by a dark hood, hiding its eyes in the shadows and a knitted winter scarf wrapped tightly around its neck.

Lily 6IW

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The Scrapyard The sun shone on a shimmering structure of steel. Towers of scrap stretching as high as the clouds teetered as the wind whistled through withered windows and mangled metal.

Glass lay crushed like snow on an uneven ground with debris scattered everywhere. Ragged dents in the yellowed fabric on the seats were leaking stuffing and housed a pack of rats.

Crushed cars lay on their backs like a sea of half-mashed potatoes. Clumps of metal slowly made their way to be crushed on large conveyor belts. It was like a car graveyard. All that was missing were the tombstones.

Elina 6IW

Writing inspired by MR James The door swung open, the metal hinges groaning at the force of which Stephen had thrust the door forward. Stephen stumbled slightly, but then steadied himself.

The room was still, and deathly silent. Stephen, breathing quietly, looked around.

Not a paper out of place! On the mahogany table, piles of paper were stacked neatly. A kerosene lamp glowed softly, and a quill, slightly black, was perched in an inkwell. The books on the bookshelf were lined up like soldiers reporting for duty, and outside the tall window the moon glowed. Stephen kicked himself and breathed a sigh of relief. Of course he had imagined the talking. Of course he had imagined the door’s stubbornness, of course he had imagined the cry for help.

Click.

Stephen spun around. He was sure he hadn’t closed the door behind him. Beads of moisture clung to the trenches etched into his brow as he walked towards the door. As he tried to turn the doorknob, he noticed something blocking the keyhole.

A key. He froze, his breathing becoming shallow and fast from beneath the door, in between the wood and the floor, thick, sage-coloured vines slithered like poisonous snakes across the floor, coiling around the chairs, the table, and climbing up the bookshelf. Stephen backed away from the door, trying to pry some of the vines plastered on the bookshelf, struggling to stand in the rough sea of green. They would not budge, instead they gathered height at an alarmingly rapid pace.

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CREATIVE WRITING Year 6 Stephen went back to the door, tugging at the vines furiously and shouting for help, but they would not move. He was about to cry out for help when a vine launched itself towards Stephen’s neck, squeezing it with a vice-like grip, making him unable to scream, or breathe. As more vines came flooding into the room, he succumbed to them.

Mr Abney sauntered down the corridor as the hour appointed for his meeting with Stephen was near at hand.

However, to affect an entrance was not so easy. Stephen was engaged, he was shouting. What? Why did he try to cry out?

And why was this cry choked in his throat? But now everything was quiet, and the door yielded to Mr Abney’s pushing.

The room was deserted, though perfectly in order. Everything was lined up, even his papers were in place. He must have imagined Stephen’s shouting, cries and the door’s stubbornness.

Click.

Aleya 6IW

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Writing inspired by ‘High Flight’ I was a bird, soaring through the blanket of blue, swiftly cutting through the frosty air. My hair whipped at my face, the wing like icy fingers tapping on my cheeks. I dived through the expansive cyan sky, my wingsuit wings flapping by my sides. The wispy, soft puffs of cloud floated around me as the sun shone on my dappled wingsuit. For the first time I saw the world from a new perspective. There was no longer any people around, skittering to-and-fro, this world up above was untrespassed. I felt blissful as I glided through the footless halls of air.

I witnessed the wisps of white mist as I flew through the cauliflower-like clouds. It was as if I was swooping into a portal in the clouds that opened up into a new world. I felt a gush of sensation wash over me. I was calm in the tranquil skies. As I glided further down I could see the breathtaking view of the land below, looking like a patchwork quilt, sewn meticulously in varying shades of green and yellow. Adrenaline floated around in my stomach like butterflies doing somersaults. This new, unimaginable view was freeing. I still could not believe that this was real.

Sareena 6IW

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ART & DESIGN Year 1

Ellie

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ART & ART DESIGN Year 2 & DESIGN

Lucy 6Q

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Maya 6Q

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ART & DESIGN Year 3

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ART & DESIGN Year 4 ART & DESIGN

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ART & DESIGN Year 5

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ART & ART DESIGN Year 6 & DESIGN

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SPORT Reception Cross Curricular Swimming Reception were treated to a cross curricular extravaganza in the Autumn term where the girls were given the opportunity to combine their love of MFL and their passion for swimming. They were able develop their Spanish outside of the classroom and their stroke technique by building the language into their swimming lessons, which was a very enjoyable experience.

Bien hecho, chicas!

Sports Mornings During the Autumn term, the Lower School took part in some fantastic sports mornings. This gave the girls an opportunity to enhance their skills and develop their game play and the girls relished the chance to work on their fitness through the medium of games. The Year 5 and 6 teams used it to prepare for their netball tournaments and the Year 3s and 4s were able to develop their understanding of the game of netball through some fun games. All the girls loved the opportunity to work on their shooting and prepare for a busy season of netball!

Swimming Galas

Dance Squad Our Dance Squad have had a fabulous year! In March, eleven of our Junior School dancers took to the stage in Stevenage to perform their “Fight Song” piece. They had spent six months working on this as part of the club session with Miss Bush. During the regional heats, the girls performed with maturity and determination, earning themselves second place in the competition and getting through to the national finals in Oxford. They continued to train hard over the Summer term and in early June, the girls from Year 4 to Year 6 travelled to Oxford to compete at the national finals. The girls once again performed with great maturity and despite it being a long day, beat the winning team from the regional round and finished in the top 20. A very well done to Miss Bush and the girls for a great achievement and an extremely exciting year of dance.

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CHANNING This year we were fortunate to be invited to compete against Channing in a friendly swimming gala and we were also joined by North London Grammar School at this event. The Year 5s put in some great performances and showed their NLCS spirit on poolside, being commended for their support throughout the galas. Our Year 6s dominated in the water and came away with an array of medals. The girls in Year 5 and Year 6 enjoyed the opportunity to compete in some more swimming galas this year and we look forward to more of these events next year.

PRIMARY ESSA TEAM Four girls from Year 6 took part in the Primary ESSA team swimming gala at Woodside Leisure Centre in Watford. The team demonstrated some great technique in the water and were able to improve upon their personal best times achieved in lessons and during club sessions. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to competing again in the Senior School.

IAPS SWIMMING LAC FINALS In February, a team of eight girls from Year 4 to Year 6 took part in our first IAPS Swimming qualifiers at Latymer Upper School. It was a wonderful opportunity for our swimmers to take part in a new event and we even had one of our Year 4 swimmers competing up an age group. She managed to dominate in the water and got through to the finals at the London Aquatic Centre in June. With Mrs Britton and Mrs Rafter there to support her, she swam fantastically in the heats, confidently securing her place in the final, where she held her own against swimmers a year older than her. We have no doubt she will be back next year looking to secure a podium finish!

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SPORT Lower School Sports Day Our ten colour teams once again took to the track and field this year to compete in the Lower School Sports Day. It was great to see the support from the crowd as they paraded during the opening ceremony and the Athlete’s Oath, recited by the PE ambassadors. The competition was fierce, but it was great to see the whole Lower School community come together to celebrate the girls’ successes, regardless of which colour team they were representing. All the competitors did a sterling job and put in some great performances. It was lovely to see everyone participating in the event and perform their best for their colour team. For the second year in a row the Green team were victorious in securing a win, with the Navy and Mauve teams close behind. Well done to all the competitors and a big thank you to all the staff who assisted at the event and to the parents and families of our competitors who came to support the colour teams.

Lord’s Cricket

LOWER SCHOOL SWIMMING GALA The annual Lower School Swimming Gala took place in May. The Year 3 and 4 colour teams took to the water first. The atmosphere was amazing, and the girls showed true NLCS spirit supporting their peers. Following on from the fantastic efforts of the Year 3 and 4 girls in the morning, the Year 5 and 6 swimmers took to the pool in the afternoon. Once again, the girls demonstrated great sportsmanship throughout and there were some nailbiting races, making the place judges sweat! Once the racing had drawn to a close, the Lower School came together in the Lower School Hall for the results. A big thank you to Mrs Ivory for her wizardry with the spreadsheet and a special shout out to the yellow team who performed fantastically and climbed the leaderboard, progressing on their results from last year and well done to everyone who took part.

Congratulations to the Green team who were the overall winners of the 2023 Lower School Swimming Gala.

In March, the Year 5 and 6 girls had the opportunity to attend a day at Lord’s Cricket Ground as part of the MCC Indoor Cricket Tournament. The girls attended trials to earn their place in the team and we took 12 girls across both year groups to compete. The girls performed exceptionally well throughout the day, only narrowly missing out on a place in the finals. The winning team congratulated our girls on their outstanding performance and for providing such good competition throughout the day. Year 5 and 6 thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to tour the grounds and see the changing rooms that players prepare in before playing. This led us nicely into our summer term clubs and provided an opportunity to build on the work we did last year - our first year of cricket. Since the tournament, we have been able to work on our skills on the pitch and our tactical understanding of the game and have even had the chance to play in some more fixtures against other schools, something we are looking to build on next season.

Rainbow Sports Day It was lovely to be able to welcome so many parents and supporters to the First School Sports Day. The weather held out for us which meant girls across the First School were able to compete within their colour teams and demonstrate their athletic prowess in a variety of track and field events. This year we introduced some additional track races for all the girls in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and the girls rose to the challenges and put in some great performances in middle-distance running, sprinting and relays. The Year 2 students also enjoyed the opportunity to showcase their skipping talents. It was a closely fought contest, resulting in a joint win for the Red and Violet teams. Mrs Britton and Mrs Gerstein are incredibly proud of everyone who took part.

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SPORT

YEAR 4 RMS

NLCS Netball Highlights YEAR 3 EDGE GROVE

In February, the Year 3s took on Edge Grove in some small-sided games, with four teams playing 4-a-side games. This gave everyone the opportunity to practice their skills across the court. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to practice their skills in a game situation, NLCS won almost all of their games and the girls loved the yummy post-match tea.

Despite the weather not being on our side for the Year 4 netball against RMS it did not deter our players. The girls performed well and came away with two wins and a very narrow loss. The small-sided games gave everyone the opportunity to practice their attack and defensive skills in competitive situations. The girls are looking forward to progressing with their netball in Year 5.

YEAR 5

The U10 netballers have had an exciting year of match play. The girls have loved the chance to play more games and develop their tactical awareness on court. The girls have been able to play a variety of 7-a-side games and Bee Netball to progress with their match play and develop their understanding of the game.

Despite having some mixed results throughout the year, the girls have remained positive and have learnt a lot. They are looking forward to putting their newly acquired skills into practice next year.

YEAR 6

COLOUR TEAM NETBALL

Berkhamsted Tournament - In November we took two teams to the Berkhamsted Netball Tournament. Our A team took part in the Bee Netball Tournament whilst our B team took part in the festival. Both teams had a great day of competition with the A team securing a silver medal in the Bee Netball Tournament and the B team taking the opportunity to enhance their skills throughout the day. We look forward to attending this event again next year.

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In the first term of school, there was a Year 5 and 6 colour team netball league. The teams we played against were randomly selected, with a random captain, and we played different colour teams! It occurred once a week on every Tuesday long break. This meant that everyone had a chance to play netball, whether they were in the squad or not. We enjoyed having a chance to mix between year groups, getting a chance to run around and have fun!

By Kyra 6B

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SPORT U11 INVITATIONAL NETBALL

On Saturday 9th October, NLCS hosted a big Year 6 annual netball tournament for 15 schools. The NLCS A and B team were playing; the captain of the A team was Alayna and the captain of the B team was Lamide. The captains led their teams warm up and oversaw doing the toss for the first center pass.

It was 7 aside netball, and each team had substitute players. The matches were 10 minutes long, and there were 5-minute halves. The A team’s first match was against Newland House.

They did incredibly well, coming out with a score of 3-1. Whilst other teams played in the next match, Team A had a team talk about what they could work on. Team A’s second match was against Berkhamsted school. The A team tried their absolute best, but Berkhamsted were very good and won 4-2. NLCS Team A enjoyed playing a tough team and were coached on what they needed to work on for their next match.

Devonshire house was their third match, and they drew 2-2. Next was St Helens and NLCS proved their skill, winning a spectacular 6-0. During half time, NLCS Team A and Team B were informed that they had qualified for the cup. Other teams that qualified for the cup were HABS Team A, HABS Team B and St Albans. The next set of matches started.

We started with St Albans. NLCS A beat

them 5-1, starting off with a bang. After this, they played HABS Team A - the match everyone was looking forward to.

NLCS Team A already knew they were going to be tough, but they went out fighting! It was a very tough game and NLCS emerged victorious, with a score of 4-1! Team A then played HABS Team B. NLCS Team A showed what they were capable of and beat HABS B 10-0!! Next up was NLCS B! The A team was excited to play against them, as they played with NLCS Team B in netball training.

It was a fantastic friendly match, and the final score was 8-0 to Team A. The second and final set of matches were over. All the schools headed over to the ITS to grab a well-deserved hot dog, sandwich, crisps, and a piece of fruit. It was delicious! Chocolate cookies were also handed out. Then, all the teams sat down in rows on the Junior School field and waited patiently for the results. The winners of the Plate competition were Devonshire House and NLCS Team B

came 4th in the Cup competition. NLCS Team A came 1st in the cup competition, receiving medals and certificates. The overall winners were Stormont school, who won the Championships. The MVP (Most Valued Player) of NLCS Team B was Amelia C, and the MVP of NLCS Team A was Mia K. They both received bracelets. At 1:30 pm, the other participating schools left and NLCS girls were picked up by their parents after a tiring but exhilarating morning.

By Alayna 6IW

U11 IAPS SQUAD

This year we have been able to take part in a variety of IAPS sport competitions. The U11 netball squad was entered into the IAPS Netball tournament at Felsted School, where the girls performed to a high standard and got through to the semi-finals. The team put up a great fight, despite it having been a long and tiring day and after having to play an extra game, they narrowly lost out on getting through to the finals. The team thoroughly enjoyed the day and were thrilled to be part of the first team NLCS has taken to the IAPS Netball. Well done Year 6!

IAPS NETBALL

This year the Junior School joined IAPS for the first time.

IAPS stands for Independent Association of Prep Schools and this year they hosted six regional netball tournaments across the country. Our Year 6 A team enjoyed taking part in the East Regionals and we managed to come an amazing fourth.

This year there was a twist, we got to play Bee Netball. Bee netball celebrates versatility and instead of playing the normal

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seven a side game we played without wing attack and wing defence meaning we ended up playing a full rotation of all five positions. NLCS qualified into the top knockout round, the cup. We won all our matches except for two and got to play in the semi-finals. It was an amazing experience to play Netball for the entire day, and we cannot wait to see how NLCS do in the future.

By Emilia 6B

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DRAMA

THE YEAR IN DRAMA Year 3 Year 3 kicked off the Drama this year with their play Princess Problems, written especially for them by Mrs Rushbrook. In just four weeks, the girls put together a wonderful theatrical treat for their families and the Junior School.

The action takes place on Fairytale Day in Sandall Road Primary school, where two Year 3 classes are doing a presentation to their parents. However, they can’t seem to start the assembly because of all the princess problems the pupils have been having! To keep the audience busy, the pupils start to explain what’s been going on and flashbacks reveal some of the class dynamics and the princess stories the children have been thinking about. In Mrs Jay’s class, new girl Kira is welcomed warmly by a group of girls who are eager to help her fit in, however Kira isn’t entirely happy being told what to

do. When she presents the story of Princess September, a princess who learns why her caged bird will not sing, the class begin to see that true friendship is not controlling or caging and allows people room to be themselves. In Ms Katimsky’s class a huge argument ensues over what princesses should be like after Elodie tells her princess story A Toy Princess.

The class decide that being a princess is not just about looking pretty and

sparkly and there is room for all sorts of princesses, and children, in their school. The production was beset with a few princess problems of its own as a bug swept through Year 3 on performance day, but in true NLCS spirit, the girls were flexible and resilient, with many pupils taking on extra roles and responsibilities at the last minute. Year 3 brought all the different themes to life beautifully, and their finale of the Learning Habits Song that Mrs Cox and Mrs Rushbrook adapted for them sent their audience singing happily into half term.

First School November saw all the First School take to the stage for Twist our very own twist on the Dickens classic. Under Mrs Oram’s guidance, artwork transformed the First School Hall into Victorian London. Reception glittered and shone as snowflakes and stars in their poems and songs, Year 1 brought verve and charm to their dances and songs as pickpockets and orphans and Year 2 acted and sang with sensitivity and commitment. Our piece centred on the Learning Friends who decide to tell the story of Oliver Twist with a few of their own additions. Their retelling focused on themes of standing up against social injustice and treating everyone as family and gave us an uplifting and thought-provoking end to the term.

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DRAMA Year 4 In February, Year 4 lit up the PAC stage with Nutcracker Dreams, a play written for them by Mrs Rushbrook, taking inspiration from the world of E.T.A. Hoffman’s original story The Nutcracker.

Our play followed Marie who had been looking forward to her ballet school’s end of year production of Nutcracker, but after a difficult ballet lesson where her practise didn’t seem to have paid off, she decides she wants to give up ballet. It becomes clear that Marie is prone to what her brother calls ‘Massive Marie Meltdowns’ when things feel too difficult. When her Godmother makes her a special Nutcracker doll for luck with her ballet audition, Marie isn’t interested. However, Marie soon finds herself drawn into a magical world where her adventures with her life-size toys and some vengeful rats, help her to find resilience. As the real world and the magical world become increasingly intertwined, Marie realises she has the strength to manage when things feel

difficult and that the feeling of struggling to learn something is when the learning actually happens.

This was Year 4’s first full-scale production as a cohort without any pandemic restrictions. Although they only had three days all together to get

the play on its feet, they channelled a bit of Marie and not only found the power to work through the difficult parts but had great fun doing it. The girls sang, danced and acted with incredible energy, bringing out the themes of the story with joy.

Year 2 & 5 The second half of the Spring term was characterised, as usual, by daffodils and Founder’s Day play rehearsals. This year’s theme was ‘Giving Back’ and Year 2 and Year 5 brought important elements of our school’s history and ethos to life in the Founder’s Day services for First and Lower schools. The play was set in the school archives where a group of current pupils encounter the ghosts of a Victorian pupil and Frances Mary Buss herself. They look through the archive together and realise one of the strongest links between all NLCS pupils throughout history has been the commitment to enriching the wider community in sensitive ways.

EXHIBITION SATURDAY gave Drama Club and Shakespeare Club a chance to show some of their work. Members of Drama Club showcased their comedic skill in a hilarious sketch that explored the difference between what characters thought and said, which was written and directed by a budding writer in Year 5. Members of Shakespeare Club performed a scene between Prospero and Ariel from The Tempest, which highlighted Prospero’s control and Ariel’s desire for freedom beautifully.

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DRAMA

Year 6 It was a delight to see Year 6 perform in their last Junior School play in the Summer term. The girls performed with their trademark emotional depth in Learning to Fly. Based on ideas that the girls developed in their Drama lessons, Mrs Rushbrook wrote Learning to Fly for them to perform. The play followed a group of children who find themselves unable to deal with negative emotions. They all experience things that make them sad and frustrated and like they’re beating their wings against the glass, but they think the only way to deal with this is to ignore their worries and stay positive. Eventually this all becomes too much and although they know it’s silly, they start making wishes on anything they find that could be magical or lucky. After 2020, they know the world can be turned upside down without warning, so it isn’t a complete surprise when their wishes come true. However, it turns out magic is not what they need to deal with their problems. The power to change things comes from inside.

As well as performing, each child had additional input into the production, including choreographing the dance, producing costume ideas, helping to design and operate the technical side of the show, stage managing and composing music and songs for the piece. It was a treat to see each pupil acting, singing and working as a part of a tight knit ensemble, whilst adding their own splash of colour to the piece.

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The year ended with a bittersweet slice of theatre as we bid farewell to Mrs Gerstein. In Mrs Gerstein Tries to Retire, members of Year 6 gave us a comedic look at how Mrs Gerstein might find it hard to shake the NLCS ways in her next adventures. As well as cramming twelve events into a day in true NLCS style, organising ‘show and tell’ with her friends and telling them off for having unnamed clothing, our fictional Mrs G drifted off into reveries about her favourite First School Plays. In tribute to our beloved Mrs G, girls from Year 2 to Year 6 reprised some of their roles to perform excerpts from the last five First School plays. We ended our presentation with a special song NLCS In Me amidst happy tears.

We look forward to another exciting year on stage at NLCS Junior School.

Rachel Rushbrook

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MUSIC

Junior School Music Celebrations Our Planet was heard during the Lower School Festive Concert on 1st December. The girls sang beautifully, their voices soaring through the PAC, performing some familiar and some less familiar Christmas music. The entire PAC fell silent as the Orchestra opened the concert with the stunning and melodic The Earth with a planet earth film video providing some captivating visuals. The girls charmed and delighted their audience with music ranging from Gilkyson’s Bare Necessities to Whitacre’s Seal Lullaby.

The ensemble groups produced wonderful music, making their families and teachers very proud.

On 21st June, the girls once again entertained audiences with instrumental and vocal performances for the Lower School Summer Concert Rock Around the Clock, performing and exciting range of pop and rock songs spanning the 60’s to 21st century. The standard of performance was exceptionally high and professional. The show was opened with a big bang by the percussionists which was followed by some remarkable performances including the Flute Group playing Knopfler’s Twisting by the Pool, the Cello Ensemble playing ABBA’s Thank You for the Music, and Coldplay’s Viva

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la Vida by the Junior School Orchestra.

Highlights also included an emotional rendition of Heal the World and melodic recital of Yesterday Once More along with also had two energetic and contemporary pop songs Wake Me Up and Try Everything. The well-known rap song See You Again was also a big hit with the audience, performed with real precision and meaning by Canons Choir.

The evening finished with a fabulous finale of Rock Around the Clock with all the staff joining the perfomers on stage for a spectacular ending.

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MUSIC

Choral Success Canons Choir have enjoyed a number of stellar achievements this year, winning three national titles. On 28th February, the girls won the prestigious Barnardo’s National Choral Competition, ‘Junior Choir of the Year’, held at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. The competition has been running for the last 15 years, and this year saw the top 14 junior choirs and top 6 senior choirs in the country compete for the top prize, having been selected from hundreds of entries. It was the third consecutive year that Canons Choir had been selected for the final and the children were thrilled to get the chance to sing against some superb competition, including the choir who had won the BBC Songs of Praise Competition and the current Llangollen International Eisteddfod Children’s Choir of the World. After working extremely hard to perfect their two pieces, The Seal

Lullaby by Eric Whitacre and Lightning by Greg Gilpin, the choir went on stage full of confidence and sang their hearts out.

It was a very special and moving musical performance which showcased the choir’s remarkable ability to use a variety of tone colours. The event ended with a wonderful concert in aid of Barnardo’s charity where each choir sang one of their pieces before joining forces on stage to sing Feel Good and Hallelujah.

Douglas Coombes, MBE, then awarded the prizes and when it was announced that Canons Choir were the winners, it took a few moments for it to dawn on Mrs Cox and some of the children! As well as bringing home a trophy, the choir will have a piece written especially for them by Douglas Coombes and have been invited to sing at the Royal Albert Hall at the Barnardo’s Young Supporters Concert on 20th November.

Canons Choir also emerged triumphant as winners of the prestigious GSA Junior Choir of the Year competition, held at Warwick Hall on 12th March, which saw some of the most talented junior choirs from across the country come together to compete for the title.

With 10 members down, Canons Choir worked as a team, with many girls swapping their parts last minute and sang their hearts out. Their beautiful performances secured them the crown and the accolade of GSA Junior Choir of the Year. The choir’s dedication and hard work were evident in every note they sang, and it was clear that they had poured their hearts and souls into their performance.

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MUSIC In addition, Canons Choir took the top spot at the Watford Choral Festival for the second time on Sunday 17th March. The girls thoroughly enjoyed singing in front of the huge audience and competed against some fierce competition. Canons Choir finished in first place, receiving the highest mark of ‘Honours’ - a truly outstanding result! Huge congratulations to all the children on this amazing achievement and a thank you to all the staff involved in helping make this happen.

Following on from their success this year, Canons Choir have been invited to record their first professional recording at the famous choral venue VOCES 8 centre.

Instrumentalists Shining Moments

NLCS Young Singers took part in the Young Voices Concert in January which was an incredibly thrilling day out. Nothing can prepare you for the sound of 8000 children singing together at the O2 arena.

With a full 7-piece live band made up of some of the UK’s leading musicians, backing singers, and an internationally acclaimed conductor, it was definitely one of the most exciting and memorable musical experiences our girls have ever been part of. Well done, Young Singers!

We are extremely proud that 99% of our Junior School girls learn at least one instrument, with 80% learning two or more. By the end of Year 6, most of them have reached Grade 4 in one instrument, with a number of girls gaining outstanding Grade 8 results, with many distinctions. In the spring term, Year 3, 4, and 5 classes performed in their class concerts, with every child having the opportunity to perform a piece in front of their peers. It was amazing to hear our wonderful instrumentalists perform their solo pieces so confidently. On 2nd March, the Year 6 girls gave us an instrumental fest, playing brilliantly at their soloists’ evening concert. The audience were entertained by performances demonstrating a wide variety of instruments. On 15th March, there was a veritable feast of music making at the Lower School Ensemble Concert. 83 girls had the opportunity to showcase their musical talent; there was something to satisfy everyone’s musical taste on the programme, with a range of instruments played, including harps, saxophones, bassoons and a large guitar group. We hope all the instrumentalists are proud of their achievement.

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MUSIC

Dr Douglas Combes

Rachel Staunt on

Music Outreach and Partnerships We have built up three wonderful musical outreach partnerships with North London Local Primary Schools, London Youth Choir and Rodofuls Choral Foundation. This year saw us host our first choral training event for local primary school teachers. On 13th December, we welcomed ten primary school music teachers from across Harrow and Barnet. They joined the fantastic workshop led by Dr Douglas Coombes, well-known UK composer and choral director. From warm up games to conducting positions, the participants learnt a lot of tips from Douglas. In addition, Canons Choir performed to the teachers as one of the practical sessions.

Douglas showed the participants how to apply the conducting knowledge to a choir rehearsal and performance. One of the teachers commented ‘The best choral training I have had so far. I wish it was longer.’

‘I so enjoyed meeting those enthusiastic and focused girls.

The music you get out of them is outstandingly good, and they were such fun.’

Mr Allwood

On the same day, Rachel Staunton, Director of London Youth Choir also led another three sessions for the whole Lower School. Our neighbouring school, Aylward Primary Choir, also joined us at one of the sessions. From fun beatboxing to stunning harmonised singing, all the Lower School girls and Aylward singers felt inspired working with the professional singers who helped them to develop their musical skills.

On 3rd July, our Junior School students had the pleasure of taking part in the most exciting and interactive choral workshop, led by renowned British choral conductor, Ralph Allwood.

He was Director of Music at Eton College for 26 years and is currently Director of the Rodolfus (ex-Eton) Choral Courses and Foundation. The Junior School girls sung their hearts out to an array of songs; from the jazzy I Wanna Be Like You from the Jungle Book, emotional Yesterday

by The Beatles, to the challenging Who is Sylvia. It was also a wonderful opportunity for Canons Choir to perform their favourite songs to Mr Allwood, who worked his magic conducting The Seal Lullaby, with Canons Choir instantly producing the most beautiful, blended tone and clear diction. It was a privilege and honour to welcome and work with Mr Allwood at NLCS.

The Winter Concert happened on the 1st December. When we all arrived in school, we were all buzzing with excitement for the day ahead. We had normal lessons in the morning as well as rehearsals with Year 5 and Year 6 choir, Year 3 and Year 4 choir and the whole school. There were also other rehearsals for ensembles such as Orchestra, String Ensemble, Year 3 and Year 4 Percussion, and many more.

There was an afternoon concert and an evening concert. After we all sung and played our hearts out, we were treated to a surprise on our last song, confetti blasted out of confetti cannons!

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LIBRARY & ARCHIVE Benefiting from its place at the very heart of the school, the library has been a hive of activity over the last year!

It has been wonderful to invite three amazing authors to talk to the girls. Author of the hugely popular Murder Most Unladylike series, Robin Stevens made a return visit to NLCS and once again captivated the girls, as she told them all about her brand-new series, The Ministry of Unladylike Activity. We were very pleased to be joined by children from Aylward School for this exciting event.

Hip-hop poet Karl Nova was a huge hit with all years from Reception to Year 6. His energetic presentation style and fascinating life story engaged girls and staff alike. Years 3 and 4 were lucky enough to benefit from poetry workshops with Karl, in which they created their own haikus under his guidance.

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LIBRARY & ARCHIVE Our third author was Sabine Adeyinka. The girls were fascinated to hear about her life in Nigeria and her education at a Nigerian boarding school, an experience which fed into her first children’s book, Jummy at the River School.

Not only a great author, Sabine turned out to be a fabulous singer, and the girls loved creating an NLCS school song with her.

Over the Spring term, a number of Lower School girls joined Miss Forsyth and myself in reading the Awesome Book Awards shortlist.

See Adelaide’s write-up! After our success last year, this year we fielded two teams in the National Reading Champions Quiz. Elina was the captain of the A team and has reviewed her experience.

The Awesome Book Awards Our school was invited to vote in the Awesome Book Awards (a contest between debut authors’ books). We read the shortlisted books and voted to see which one would win in our school. The competing books were: Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths, Edie and the Box of Flits, SkyWake Invasion, The Astonishing Future of Alex Nobody, and Maggie Blue and the Dark World. For the voting, we had multicoloured tokens that meant five points, four points, and so on. We had to drop them into a jar, and afterwards Miss Forsyth counted them up. The winner was The Astonishing Future of Alex Nobody. After the winner was revealed, some people who had participated volunteered, and a few were chosen, to write a speech about one of the books in an assembly with Mrs Taylor, who was in charge of our school’s voting. I, luckily, was one of those few.

Although I had asked to talk about SkyWake Invasion (my favourite), I was asked to do one about Alex Nobody, which I was equally happy with. The overall winner, from all the schools who took part in the voting, was, again, Alex Nobody. I am extremely happy to have contributed to the voting. I hope we will get to do it again next year!

By Adelaide 5F

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LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

World Book Day On World Book Day, the Junior School girls and staff threw themselves into dressing up, with each year group taking a different theme, from fairy-tale characters in Year 4 to literary villains in Year 6 (via a sea of red and white-striped Wally’s in Year 1!). The Year 6 girls loved reading with the First School girls, and everybody had fun trying to guess which member of staff was which from childhood photos and the cover of their favourite childhood book. In assembly, Mr Brown launched a readathon, in aid of Read for Good, and there was a further chance to raise money for this excellent charity as the girls visited a second-hand book sale in the hall.

National Reading Champions Quiz Some Year 6 girls took part in the National Reading Champions Quiz on Friday 3rd March. There were two teams of four and six cheerleaders. It was on an online call and the presenter, Mr Dilly, asked difficult questions about books.

The ages of contestants ranged from 10 to 14 years old. It was very difficult for us, as we hadn’t read lots of the books in the questions, because they were young adult books. The A team came 5th overall and 1st in the junior category. The B team came 11th overall and 2nd in the junior category. Both teams did extremely well and had a great time, assisted by some other girls as cheerleaders. It was a great experience.

By Elina 6IW NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

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CHARITY & COMMUNITY Canonaid with a Twist During the year, Lower School pupils often request for the school to support a specific charity and in the Summer term, we provided those girls with the opportunity to give a presentation to their year group about a charity close to their heart. The presentations took place at the beginning of the term and 34 charities were pitched overall. Awareness was raised about a wide range of worthwhile causes and pupils showed great research, collaboration, oracy and listening skills. Voting took place took place and the chosen charities were The Red Cross Turkey and Syria Earthquake Appeal in Year 3, World Wildlife Fund in Year 4, Spread a Smile in Year and Railway Children in Year 6.

Only one charity could be chosen for each year group, but Year 6 pupils had another opportunity to tell others about some of the worthy causes in the world. They presented a range of charities to girls in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, including causes that help animals, help children living in poverty and help people with sight loss. The First School decided to support Guide Dogs and had fun raising £215.85 by wearing their own clothes to school, guessing how many dog biscuits were in the jar and guessing the name of the toy dog.

Help at Harvest Time Harrow Foodbank was the focus of our Harvest Festival in October. Pupils brought in a wide variety of food and toiletries before the harvest festival assembly and for the first time, the School Council Executives comprising four Year 6 girls, jumped on the school minibus and personally delivered lots of bulging bags of goodies to the Harrow Foodbank warehouse. After the girls helped to unload the bags, a volunteer weighed them and 506.85kg of food and toiletries were donated in total.

Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal For the first time, NLCS Junior School supported the Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal. The appeal inspired pupils in Reception to Year 6 to care for people who are vulnerable or in need during the festive season. An impressive selection of toys and gifts for 0 to 17 year olds, such as soft toys, colourful and fun educational toys, baby clothes, stationery, puzzles, sports equipment and winter clothes and accessories were collected by Captain Lydia Bartlett of the Salvation Army, after attending a First School assembly when she thanked the girls for their generosity.

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CHARITY & COMMUNITY Pets as Therapy Studies have shown that interacting with animals can improve a person’s mental health and overall wellbeing. The charity Pets as Therapy is a fully self-supporting charity that helps thousands of people in communities across the UK each week.

Volunteers and their pets visit a range of places and people, such as: • C hildren in hospital who may be fearful of an operation or medical procedure.

• R esidents in care homes, some of whom may suffer from ill health and can sometimes experience loneliness, depression and anxiety-related conditions.

• C hildren in schools who benefit greatly from a Pets as Therapy dog being around when they are learning how to read, such as helping them to focus and giving them more confidence.

Pupils in the Junior School showed great creativity when dressing up for the animal themed non-uniform day to help raise money for the charity. They also displayed their extensive knowledge of a wide variety of animals facts, such as identifying footprints, recognising different dog breeds and naming the collective nouns for different animals, when participating in the Pets as Therapy quiz. In addition to this, face painting skills were gained, and much laughter was had whilst learning how to paint a dog on their friend’s face during Long Break in the Autumn term. Lower School pupils felt passionately about this charity and raised £1,062.

Apart of Me

For Canonaid in the Spring term, the Junior School supported a charity called Apart of Me. The charity has designed a radical new way of helping children with unresolved grief in the form of an app. Its founder, and child psychologist, Louis Weinstock, wanted to provide children and young people, who do not have access to a counsellor or therapist or who do not feel up to having a face-to-face

meeting, the opportunity to feel safe, learn to accept feelings, discover inner strength and wisdom and to hear stories of people with shared experiences. One of the fundraising activities was a design competition and 38 girls in Years 3 to 6 engaged their inner creativity and produced charm designs that the charity’s founder, Louis, thought were “so thoughtful, creative, and compassionate”. In fact, Louis and other members of the judging panel were so impressed with the standard of designs, they shortlisted 21 of the 38 entries to take part in the design workshop. The charity’s designers visited the School and the winners had the amazing opportunity and first-hand experience of going through the process of designing an app. £1, 079.22 was donated to this worthwhile cause.

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CORONATION On the 5th May, we gathered to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III. The occasion was marked by a grand celebration, beginning with a design-a-tile competition, and culminating in a joyous mixer day and picnic on the school lawn. Vibrant red, white, and blue colours painted the scene as everyone donned their patriotic attire, and the festivities included crown-making and biscuit decorating activities that delighted our young pupils.

The coronation party design-a-tile competition brought out the artistic talents of our school’s students. Pupils were encouraged to create unique and captivating designs on tiles that reflected the spirit of the coronation event. After careful deliberation, three winners were selected, and their extraordinary tiles were displayed prominently within the school premises, serving as a lasting reminder of the historic occasion.

Picnic on the Lawn

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Coronation of

KING CHARLES III

Design-a-Tile Competition

We made the most of the time when the sun shone and the celebration moved outdoors, where a vibrant picnic awaited. The entire Junior School school community gathered, bedecked in hues of red, white, and blue and sang the National Anthem to start this wonderful event.

Colourful blankets were spread across the grass, and picnic baskets brimming with delicious treats were unpacked. The atmosphere was electric, abuzz with the clinking of cutlery, laughter, and animated conversations. It was a momentous occasion for all, as we honoured the ascension of our new monarch, King Charles III.

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CORONATION

Mixer Day of Merriment

The morning of the coronation party was filled with excitement and anticipation as the school buzzed with activity. To foster a sense of unity and camaraderie, a mixer day allowed students to interact and engage with one another in a relaxed and joyful atmosphere. Various activities and games were set up in classrooms and outdoor spaces, providing an opportunity for students from different year groups to bond and forge new friendships. The air was filled with the excited chatter of all the pupils as they revelled in the festivities.

No coronation party would be complete without crowns, and our Junior School pupils did not disappoint. Before the picnic commenced, armed with glitter, sequins, and craft supplies, pupils created some magnificent headpieces fit for royalty.

The air was filled with a contagious enthusiasm as the children donned their creations, their faces radiating with pride and excitement. The crowns added a regal touch to the festivities.

Crown Making Extravaganza

Biscuit Decorating

To indulge their sweet tooth, the young participants also had the opportunity to engage in biscuit decorating. Tables were adorned with plain biscuits, colourful icing, and an assortment of delectable toppings. The children eagerly picked up their edible canvases and unleashed their creativity, transforming the biscuits into edible works of art. The room was filled with giggles and smiles as the pupils skilfully piped icing, sprinkled toppings, and created delightful masterpieces. The biscuits became delicious tokens of the coronation party, providing a tasty treat to savour alongside the festivities.

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The coronation party in honour of King Charles III was an event to be cherished, filled with joy, creativity, and a sense of togetherness.

The design-a-tile competition showcased the artistic prowess of our students, while the mixer day and picnic on the lawn fostered connections and created lasting memories.

The crown-making activity added a real Regal touch, and the biscuit decorating indulged our sweet cravings. As we celebrated the ascension of our new monarch, the coronation party brought the entire school community together in a colourful display of patriotism and merriment.

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STEAM This year every year group in the Lower School were able to experience the excitement of STEAM Day. This initiative aimed to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) disciplines into exciting and hands-on projects. Each year group was tasked with unique challenges linked to what they were studying in their curriculum to stimulate their imagination and promote critical thinking skills.

Year 4

Year 3 In Year 3, budding engineers were given the mission of constructing rafts to save April and the polar bear. This linked with their English reading book The Last Bear by Hannah Gold. Through this project, the girls were introduced to the principles of buoyancy, materials, and design. Armed with creativity and an

understanding of floating and sinking, these young innovators were able to navigate the complexities of their task.

Working collaboratively in teams, they experimented with different materials, considering their weight, durability and buoyancy. Thankfully, their rafts proved to be successful.

The Year 4 students were challenged to construct bridges across the Amazon River (30 cm!), to link with their geography and science topic of habitats. This endeavour required deep understanding of structural engineering. Drawing on their knowledge of mathematics and shape, the students explored various bridge designs, considering factors such as load-bearing capacity, stability, and aesthetics.

By working in groups, they engaged in effective communication, shared ideas and problem-solving skills. The culmination of their efforts resulted in awe-inspiring bridges that spanned the length of the river.

Anushka (3B) – I enjoyed the day, it was really fun trying things out to see if it would float or sink. One of the things we tried out was cork, I was really surprised that they helped with the raft and they helped a lot.

Avery (3B) – I found it good because I learnt a lot, I put too much in at the start.

Then I used the corks and the knots instead of the rubber bands and that worked. It had a base of corks and on top of that some wooden planks. April and the bear got to the shore quickly.

Ishika (3C) – It was definitely fun and it was the first time we had done something like this. We learnt lots of things, like square lashing and cross stitches which was fun. We had to float bear and April on the raft because that was the book that we were reading. We tested the raft twice, we had to change it after the first time but then it worked better.

Sophia (3C) – I thought it was loads of fun, we learnt lots of new things. I really want to do it again.

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Samara (4C) – During STEAM Day we were building bridges that had to cross a 30cm river. We were given different materials. We were taught how to use a saw safely and we used the glue gun. It was challenging when halfway through the day we had to think of other ways to join rather than using glue guns and we had to use light materials. My favourite part was sawing the wood and making a cute railing for the bridge.

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STEAM Year 5 In Year 5, the young scientists and inventors embarked on a mission to create a crazy contraption, like Wallace and Gromit, to help with an everyday task. They used their knowledge of forces and levers which they were learning about in science. The project aimed to nurture their understanding of simple machines and harness their creativity in designing a complex Rube Goldberg-inspired model.

Armed with an understanding of concepts such as gravity, motion and energy transfer, students brainstormed, prototyped, and refined their inventions. They embraced their interactive process of problem-solving, learning from failures and adapting their designs accordingly. This immersive experience honed their resilience and problem-solving skills.

Lucy (4C) – It was a great team building opportunity and I got to spend time with my friends. It was really fun. At the start we didn’t think we could build the bridge but then we did manage to make it come together which was really cool to see it happening.

Arya (4F) – On STEAM Day we learnt about bridges and made a design board about our bridge. It was really fun because everyone was doing something. All my group had something to do, and we gave each other jobs to do that we wanted to do. It was nice spending time with my friends, we got along really well together. The actual model wasn’t quite the same as the one in the design, but it still worked.

Keina (4F) – I liked the designing of the board because you could add ideas on as you went along. We made an arch bridge but it didn’t work out because the doweling rods were too straight so we spent ages making wooden, clay covered bricks.

We eventually ended up using straws.

The testing at the end with the frogs was great fun. The frogs kept falling off the stairs because they were too steep and wonky!

Rania (5F) – We made a crazy contraption and I really enjoyed seeing when it worked. I was really surprised that it worked because we had some problems on the way, and we had to adapt our thinking but eventually it worked and it was exciting. I was so happy.

Sophia (5F) – I really enjoyed it because I got to spend time with my friends.

And it was nice to work together to make and design my project. We made our contraptions from scratch and it was completely up to us to decide what we wanted to do. Our design had to change as things didn’t work as we had hoped so we learnt from our mistakes.

Vanshika (5H) – We made a shampoo contraption with Mr Harrison as our model. It had a spinning wheel. We had to position the lever in just the right place for the marble to fall properly. It was really hard to make but it worked really well in the end.

Year 6 Finally, Year 6 girls delved into the realm of coding and sustainability by undertaking the ambitious task of designing a smart classroom. Equipped with micro:bit coding devices, they employed computational thinking to create a smart and environmentally conscious learning space. This project seamlessly integrated technology, environmental science, and design thinking. Students programmed their micro:bits to control temperature, lighting, and energy usage, they could also create different designs to be shown on them. The project encouraged them to think critically about the impact of their choices on the environment and instilled in them a sense of responsibility for creating a greener future.

Melissa (6B) – We made a smart classroom and coded. We coded micro:bits which helped with the temperature and the lights. We also used batteries to create LED light circuits. It was hard managing all the different parts of the project.

Ashani (6B) – It was fun because we got to design and make our own smart classrooms. It told us the temperature level and light level and also how

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noisy the class was. We coded it using micro:bits. We got to decorate it and make it look like a real classroom by adding star books to it.

Erica (6IW) – I thought it was really fun to do the coding on the micro:bit because we learnt a lot in computing about it and we got to play with all the different options. Our theme was a gothic classroom so we coded a cauldron to flash and bubble, it also detected heat.

Mahi (6IW) – It was fun because it was a good mix of DIY and coding. We got to choose what we coded, it was good to have to decide as a group and work together to make our classroom. Our micro:bit fuse blew so we had to recode everything which was frustrating but we managed to get it to work which was great. Making the decorations for the classroom and pulling it all together felt like a great sense of achievement.

Through STEAM Days the girls learnt to collaborate effectively, communicate their ideas, think creatively, and persevere through challenges. By tackling these problems and finding solutions, they experienced the relevance of their learning. Hopefully, this ignited a lifelong passion for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6B Lucile 6B

Amara 6B

My fondest memory of the Junior School is when I went to Netball IAPs with my friends. It was 5 aside and the rotation was changing so I had to play defence which I don’t really like. I wasn’t playing but someone got hurt so my friend filled in but then she got hurt so I filled in. It was funny. I scored in the second match which I was really proud as I don’t play shooter as I am pretty short. We won all the pool matches so we advanced to the highest league. At the beginning, we played a match and then we got told it wouldn’t count as they got the rotation confused and we played a random team. We were all really tired and then we played a really aggressive team. They cheated in the second rotation and put their best player marking me and she was very tall. Me being small I gave everything I had to mark her and we won! I was so happy with myself! Although we lost the next two matches, I was really proud of my team for getting this far. We thought we would do much worse.

My greatest achievement is being the dance squad solo in the group dance at National Finals! I’ve been in the dance squad for 3 and a half years and we’ve never been to nationals. Anu and I have been in dance squad for the whole of the Junior School, so finally going to Nationals together is amazing!! Anu is leaving next year so we are going to give it our all and hope to win!

A lesson I will remember for the rest of my life is during PE when Karen, who is very nice and gentle, went and got the ball for Emilia who was on the other team and gave it to her for her side line.

But then Miss Hill stopped Karen and said “Karen it isn’t your ball so why are you getting it. Kick it. Kick it so you have time to get ready. Be more aggressive and mean.” Confused, Karen kicked it, and it went rolling away. Miss Hill started clapping and said, “Well done!” We all burst into laughter and now Karen never gets the ball, ever!

My fondest memory in the Junior School is definitely the Year 6 residential to France! Although the 3:30 am start and the 11-hour coach journey weren’t ideal, I enjoyed it from the minute we got there.

We had lots of free time in between activities. This made the trip more enjoyable! The centre where we stayed (Maison Claire Fontaine) had 12 swings in the grounds. The fact that there weren’t enough swings for everyone added a layer of competitiveness as out of the four groups, whichever group that was left out first rushed to the swings to make sure they got a space on the swings, and the last group to be let out had to wait until someone got off the swings to get on, which normally took a very long time!

My greatest achievements in Year 6 are getting picked to be a Junior Leader and a NLCS Speaker and doing better in the PMC (Primary Maths Challenge) than I did in Year 5. My greatest achievement in Junior School is getting 8 Mrs Newman Certificates (now called Well Done Certificates) in Year 3.

A lesson I will take from the Junior School is always try your best in everything and never doubt your ability in anything.

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Amelia 6B My fondest memory from the Junior School is probably when we went to France. I enjoyed many things in France but some of my favourites were probably playing on the equipment in free time, chatting before we went to bed, waking up in the middle of the night to be with the rest of my dorm and chatting all the way through the film. I was in the dorm of eighteen and it was really fun being able to chat to everyone in there even though you had to wait ages to shower. My favourite thing in free time were the swings, which I went really high, and table football where Alayna, Shivani and I beat the other team twice in a row. Every time we beat them, we would go for a victory lap around the field. Some of my greatest achievements were probably doing the

11+, the PMC bonus round, the JMC and competing in many swimming galas including IAPS. A lesson that I will take with me is that if you try hard enough you will always improve.

Emilia 6B One of my fondest memories was at a netball tournament hosted by Beechwood School. It was a really fun tournament with music playing and great sunny weather but what made it even better was coming third and managing to beat our rivals in the 3rd and 4th playoffs. The match was very tight with both teams swapping the lead, but we managed to get a goal ahead of them and when the final whistle blew it was a victory for NLCS! It was such an amazing moment for the whole team, and we still talk about it to this day. What’s funny is Stormont were the first school we ever played against and also one of the last except, the first match we played we lost however this match was a win!

Some of my greatest achievements include getting a silver in the PMC and also getting to take part in the bonus round.

A lesson the Junior School has taught me is to make every moment count.

Though life might not have always gone my way I have learnt to try see the positive in things and to enjoy every moment possible.

Aisharni 6B My fondest memory is the amazing residential trip to France. Although we had to wake up at 3:30am and it was an 11 hour journey, it was definitely worth it. Every day was packed full of activities. Some of my favourite parts were when we found out who was in our dorms. I was in the largest dorm with 17 people which was really exciting! I also enjoyed shopping in Veselay village and the French market where we were put in small groups and we had to ask for what we wanted to buy in French! In France we also did a Tree Adventure which was similar to Go Ape and although some

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6B parts were a bit tricky it was so much fun to do! I also enjoyed doing archery as I popped the most balloons and at the end of the competition Arina and I won!

Finally, on one of the last nights there, we got to watch a film and everyone in year six bought their blankets and pillows and we watched Tintin!

Gym and Dance Display was also very fun. It was one of the first gym and dance displays I got to take part in so it was really exciting and fun to show all my skills to my family and friends!

One of my greatest achievements is when dance squad came 2nd in The Big Dance Off and are going to the national finals. I was also proud of getting good scores in the PMC and the JMC as well.

A lesson I will take with me is if at first you don’t succeed try, try, try again. For example, during my time in the Junior school I have persisted and got better at many different sports since year 3 and now I have got into gym squad, dance squad and I am doing lots of other sports clubs and I’ve made lots of new friends along the way!

Anna 6B My fondest memory is on the first day of year three meeting for the first time, my classmates and all the new girls who had joined, feeling all grown up being in the Junior School. That was one of the best days of my life I felt ready to tackle year three and the rest of the years in the Junior School.

One of my greatest achievements is when Canons Choir won Barnardo’s.

When we heard that we didn’t come second, we thought we had no chance of winning. Surprisingly, and to the great joy of all of us our name was called out as the winners. After the long journey to Birmingham, it felt amazing to return full of glee, even though we returned in the middle of the night.

A lesson I learnt was that if you don’t believe in yourself you won’t achieve your goal. For example, when I was playing a netball match our opponents were really good. But me and my team kept believing that we could win, and indeed we beat our opponents 7-0. That wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t believe we could win or at least draw.

Maya 6B My fondest memory of Year Six was definitely when I was in France and my friend Zehra got locked outside our dorm. For no reason, she suddenly screamed “Zehra is a strong woman!” Everyone else heard “Zehra is a drunk warden” which was not something that Zehra would say about herself. All the people in our dorm burst into laughter, and it was not a moment I would easily forget. My greatest achievement was getting a gold in the primary maths challenge bonus round.

I also got a gold in the primary maths challenge and the junior maths challenge, which I am extremely proud of. I was especially proud when I got my badge on the stage in assembly.

One piece of advice I will take away from the Junior School is ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’. For example, I never thought I would be good at circus skills but in France, after multiple tries, I managed to juggle! Also, I never thought I would be able to learn crochet, but after multiple weeks of hard work in crochet club, I succeeded! I have thoroughly enjoyed the Junior School, but even thought I am sad to leave, I know that Year Seven will be a new opportunity!

Karen 6B One of my fondest memories from my time in the Junior School was when we were at France on a residential trip and everyone in my dorm was in bed after lights out. Mrs West was on her phone, standing by the end of the room when suddenly, pop music started blasting out from her phone. Everyone burst out laughing for a whole minute and then, eventually, fell asleep. Whenever I recall that moment, I still giggle. Another one of my fondest memories was at the disco in France where everyone was shouting the lyrics to many songs, including ‘See You Again’ and ‘Wake Me Up’. The teachers and MCF staff were all dancing and it was very funny. We also did the Macarena dance about a thousand times, which

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was extremely tiring, as well as the YMCA dance. The songs were stuck in my head all night and I couldn’t sleep!

My greatest achievements were competing in IAPS Netball, winning three choir competitions with Canons Choir and I was also quite proud to get a silver on the Junior Maths Challenge.

One lesson I will take with me is that moments don’t last forever so treasure every last second of what you’re doing whether you are playing with your friends or laughing with your class.

I will never forget all of the memories I have created in the Junior School.

Kyra 6B During my time in the Junior School l have made lots of wonderful memories. l have picked out two, the first was the year 6 trip to France and the other was when the year 6 netball A team went to IAPS. In France we had an amazing time, l was in a dorm of seventeen friends and our teacher was Mrs West.

After the eleven-hour coach drive to Maison Claire Fontaine all of us were really excited. One the first day we did some archery and circus skills, in both activities we learnt lots of new words in French. Throughout the week we had French lessons, one day we went to a tree top adventure that was a bit like go ape and amazing. We also went to a town called Vesalay where we learnt about the town’s history and bought some souvenirs. The next day which was the last day we went to a French market and bought lunch within the budget.

My second fondest memory was IAPS. I loved IAPS because it was the first time our school had entered an International Associations of Prep Schools in netball.

On the way there the whole team was really excited. There were twenty teams in total all from different schools. It was held at a school called Felsted, we played in the east region of the tournament.

At the end of the competition we had to play one extra match and ended up coming 4th, which was really good considering there were 20 teams in total.

A lesson l will take with me is never give up when something isn’t going right the first time try again.

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6B Megha 6B One of my fondest memories in my time of the Junior School was going to France.

I was in the dorm of 17 - which was one of the biggest - and had Mrs West as our teacher. Some people in my dorm kept on flashing their torches on and off in the night and making weird noises. Just before Mrs West was about to turn the lights out, there was a huge bug crawling on the floor and someone running to the bathroom squashed it and you could see all its blood, it was disgusting. Every day in France, there were lots of fun activities to take part in such as creating mosaics, learning circus skills, and buying our own lunch at the market. My favourite one out of all of them would be the tree adventure. There were different levels and courses you could try after you finished the practice. The best part was at the very end there was a huge zipline you can go down, it was amazing.

They had swings you could use during your free time at the centre. You could also play table football and table tennis at MCF. My greatest achievement is probably getting a silver in the PMC and also getting a silver in the PMC Bonus Round. One lesson I’m going to take with me is to never give up, no matter how hard it is, be persistent.

Mia K 6B I have absolutely loved my time in the Junior School, I will never forget my amazing seven years here and how much it has taught me in and outside lessons. My fondest memory here has to be playing my first ever netball match on the A team. This memory sticks out for me because it was a new experience that made me love the school even more. My greatest achievement in the Junior School was getting chosen to go to IAPS with my friends even though I didn’t get to play.

I was extremely proud of this because it taught me how to be a team player and support my friends. A lesson I will remember for a very long time is that the smallest hill will seem like the tallest

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mountain until you reach the other side. An example of this would be doing the 11+, it seemed super scary and all consuming, but now on the other side of that hill it seems so small. This is only one of the many lessons NLCS has taught me and I cannot wait to learn more.

Mia Ku 6B One of my fondest memories was when we went to a netball tournament at Beechwood Park School. We made it to the semi-finals, and we had to play our rivals Stormont.

We had played them twice already and we lost both times. It was a very tight match, and we were drawing till the very end and then NLCS A team managed to score one more goal so that they could beat Stormont. I felt so proud to finally beat them and I will never forget that day. I also really enjoyed France. Being in the dorm of 18 was so fun but tiring too. All the activities that we did taught me lots of new skills and it was very enjoyable to spend times with my all my friends. My greatest achievement was getting a bronze in the PMC as I didn’t think I could get any medal in it. A life lesson that I learnt over the junior school is that you have to be patient and you have to practice and eventually you will be able to do whatever you trying to achieve. Overall, my time at the junior school has been so fun.

Alexa 6B Some of my fondest memories from Lower School here are Preston Montford and the Y6 France Trip. I have found all of the school trips super fun, but these two are my favourites and I will never forget them.

In Year 5, we went to Preston Montford for (sadly) only 3 days. The journey was a few hours and when we came near on the coach, everyone started cheering and screaming! I was in a dorm of three: Me, Emilia, and Lucile. We had the biggest room, and it was so fun! Every

night loads of people would come upstairs to our room, and we would play games and eat snacks. When some other people suddenly knocked on the door, we would make up a random code word (that changed too often) and one of us three would shout it and everyone would cram into our bathroom (we had an ensuite) and some people behind the door. Then when we opened it, we would pretend like it was just us three and no one was here. As soon as they left everyone came out and we all started laughing really loudly. The food at Preston Montford was really good and one night we had ice cream for dessert!

The France trip in year 6 was also extremely fun. This time, there were only 4 dorms – 17, 15, 10, and 6 people each. I was in the biggest one, the 17. It was so chaotic each night and all the beds were bunks. I remember everyone fighting for the showers since there was only three!

My bunk was opposite Shivani and Mia Ko’s, so at night me and Shivani would play catch with my toy on the top bunks!

Everyone would always stay extra quiet when it was ‘bedtime’ so the teachers would go out, and as soon as they did, everyone would start whispering. It was really funny because for a few nights, Kyra was sleep talking and nearly the whole dorm was awake, and we were just listening to her talking! Everyone started laughing when she suddenly said, ‘chocolate…’!

My greatest achievements are: Improving my PMC score, getting the music scholarship, Canons Choir winning all the competitions, and Dance Squad coming 2nd in a competition!

A lesson I will take with me is to treasure the time you have as you will have ups and downs in your life but holding a grudge will not help and you should learn to move on. NLCS has taught me so many things and I am looking forward to even more.

Amya 6B The Junior School is most definitely a place I will remember (and treasure) for my whole life, and I will certainly never forget how much I loved it. I have been in the school from Reception, and all

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6B years have been great, however, Year Six will always be my favourite – after all, who wouldn’t love being at the top of the Junior School? My fondest memories lie mostly in the week when we went to France as it was a week away from home, lessons and work, and most importantly, it was a week for us to spend time together as a year group. It was a time to bond with others and have fun, and we certainly embraced the opportunity. Even the long, eleven-hour coach journeys remind me of a time of fun, laughter, and friendship, not of a tedious, long voyage.

However, I most enjoyed our trip to the circus in France, where we learnt various tricks, including the trapeze! We were taken to the woodlands to climb on the ‘tree adventure course’ and it was as fun as it sounds! How can I stop talking about France without writing about the swings? It was so fun, especially when we watched the teachers swing too!

My greatest achievement was getting a fantastic mark in the JMC and PMC! It made me extremely proud to do well!

In addition, my favourite achievement is when Canons Choir won 3 competitions in a row!

It is sad that this chapter of my North London journey is coming to an end, but I look forward to the fun awaiting me as I work my way to the top of Senior School!

Miraya 6B My fondest memory in Junior School was our Year 4 camping trip - Bushcraft. We did several activities over the course of 2 days, including cooking our own burgers over campfire, designing booby traps involving candy to trick our teachers and learning woodland safety. My favourite moment was when we made shelters out of tarpaulins. I was one of the few who slept in our shelter and we were far away from the teachers.

My greatest achievement was improving my self-confidence. For a long time, I was shy in front of others, and would take time to speak to anyone I didn’t know well. During plays and performances, I used to be shy and feel scared to perform. However with a lot of hard work, by performing in a number of plays, concerts and having

the opportunity to give a tour to new parents around the school by myself, I am no longer scared of speaking to new people and doing performances.

A valuable lesson I have learnt is to not give up. During sports day, I was competing in a skipping race, however, I was not a confident skipper and was scared of tripping over. However, I did not give up and practiced a lot during PE lessons, and ended up coming 2nd overall! I also learnt this lesson in on our Year 6 residential trip in France when we did tree adventures, and I had to climb a wobbling ladder whilst clipping and unclipping my harness. It hurt my arms a lot, but I persevered, and when I reached the top I was very proud of myself.

Melissa R 6B The Junior School has been amazing, and I have experienced so many things through my four years here. One of my fondest memories is actually quite recent, I would say the 2022 Winter Concert. With Canons Choir we performed my favourite piece out of all the ones we have ever sung as a choir (Seal Lullaby), and the round of applause was amazing! I also got to play with single reed ensemble for the first time as I only started playing clarinet at the start of Y6. As well as all the performing, the waiting before the evening concert was really fun, with a film going on and Amara doing French braids on me.

Another of my fondest memories was obviously the end of year Y6 trip to France! This was the longest I have stayed away from home before, yet we were enjoying ourselves so much I barely thought of anything back in England!

It was pure fun, especially the circus activities. Karen got super high on the aerial silk, and we were all cheering really loudly! One night we also had the disco, and we were doing each other’s hair, as well as wearing lots of fancy clothes.

Everyone was doing YouTube and Tik-Tok dances too! In the day though, mostly at lunch and dinner in the canteen everyone would start singing the songs we were learning at school, “Wake me up” and “See you again.”

Despite “See you again” being the

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song Canons choir were learning, we sung it so much basically everyone knew it by the end of the trip!

One of my proudest achievements is when this year, Canons choir performed in Birmingham and won Barnardo’s National Choral competition! We were all screaming and cheering so loudly, and Bianca was crying! I was ecstatic, we all were to have won such an achievement.

I am also quite proud of the bronze I achieved in the JMC, considering maths is not my strong point and this was my first time.

A lesson I have learned is that you should always grab an opportunity if there is one. This can be for everything, whether your name is on that netball list for the next match, or even if you want to try a new club. Don’t worry about what others think, it’s about you. Will you grab that next opportunity?

Zoe 6B One of my favourite memories from Year Six was the France trip. All of the activities were fun and even when I felt homesick or upset I had a huge network of support, from friends to teachers. It was a life changing experience and have bonded hugely with my friends and school community. I am also now truly immersed in the French language and find French much more fun and easy than before.

I was awarded a bronze in the Junior Math Challenge and I am very proud of myself for doing that as I found maths a struggle. It reminds me of how far I have come since the start of Year Six. My lesson learnt is that things will always get better and that I will always have support, that I am never alone. I have had some hard times in my time in the Junior School but I have always had friends to support me. I have also had so many happy and wonderful times and have made sure my friends get to experience them with me. I will carry this with me always.

The Junior School has been a time of incredible growth and connections and I hope to have more time like this in the future.

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6B Eva 6B

Shanaya 6B

Shivani 6B

I have many fond memories of the Junior School, but my fondest one is probably when I was a new girl in year 3. As I had just joined, I didn’t know anyone yet, but a girl came up to me and said “Hi”. I used this opportunity to make friends with this girl, and we have been best friends ever since.

My greatest achievement in the Junior School was probably when I was selected to play in the B team in netball tournaments. This was my greatest achievement because it gave me the chance to improve, and go to lots of fixtures.

In my time in the Junior School, a lesson I will take with me is to think before I speak. I know this sounds obvious, but when I was younger, I used to blurt things out without meaning them. this got me into lots of trouble.

During my time in the Junior School, I have a lot of fond memories.

If I had to pick two of them, I would select our exciting trips to France and Bushcraft. In France, I luckily shared one of the largest dorms with all my friends. Just before bedtime, our teacher, Mrs Ivory, who was in charge of our dorm would stand in the middle of the room trying to calm us down and get us to bed! Everyone was laughing and overexcited. More mayhem was caused by the girls in our neighbouring dorm who had a habit of visiting our room and creating more chaos. There was immense fun to be had, and my favourite part was the evening disco and tree adventure. During the disco all the teachers were dancing and my friend Maira captured their groovy dance moves.

Another memory I cherish is our visit to Bushcraft. Mehek made it a memory that I will not forget, there was a gargantuan spider in my tent and she suddenly started screaming. I then realised she is super scared of spiders!

The most amazing experience was cooking our own food and lighting fires under the night sky.

One of my greatest achievements in Year 6 was receiving silver level in the Junior Maths Challenge (JMC), given it is aimed for Year 8’s. Another area I am very proud of is being selected as the Junior Leader in the Summer term as I had the great privilege of taking part in Founder’s Day which was really exciting and fun. Another moment I will treasure for years to come.

My key learnings from the Junior School include take every opportunity that comes by, follow what you believe in and take risks as you never know what might happen. Finally, always try your best and never give up in life.

My most treasured memory of my time at the Junior School was spending a week with my friends in France. Shopping in Vézelay, learning circus skills and archery and staying up late and chatting in the dorms was so much fun. I made the most of the French experience by speaking the language and eating snails, they were delicious! They reminded me of garlic mushrooms.

Another memorable Junior School experience has been learning to play the saxophone. Playing this instrument has helped me to overcome my stage nerves and I now find it fulfilling to perform in ensembles and concerts.

I love being creative and being in the Junior School has allowed me to develop my artistic skills. I was delighted to win the Faberge egg design competition because the prize was chocolate! Also, last year, I was lucky to win the Jubilee cake design competition. It was a moment of great pride to see my design on the actual cake! Plus I got to have my cake and eat it!

Overall, I am proud of how far I have come in the Junior School. I really struggled with my maths and didn’t believe in my abilities, but with lots of hard work I got better and was awarded gold In the PMC, and got into the kangaroo round of the JMC! So, the biggest lesson that I have taken away from my time in Junior School is to always believe in yourself and with hard work you can achieve anything.

Arina 6B My fondest memory of the Junior School was when we went on our Year 6 residential trip to France. An enjoyable moment was in our dorms. We just had a busy day, so we were quite exhausted. Quite quickly, most of the girls in our dorms fell asleep but 5 other girls and I were still awake.

We were whispering a lot and sometimes we were way too loud! We thought we had woken some others as one girl started sleep talking and a lot of others were moving a lot. It was quite funny!

Very suddenly, someone’s bottle went rolling across the room and we weren’t able to stop it! In the end, we decided to end it there and try to fall asleep.

My greatest achievements are in chess as I have played and won many matches for the A team throughout the Lower School, my performance in Primary Maths Challenge and Junior Maths Challenge and cricket as I got to play at Lords Cricket Ground for a tournament as part of the NLCS team.

A lesson I will take with me is that if you don’t succeed at first keep on trying.

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Helen 6B One of my fondest memories in the Junior must be France.

It was the longest and the most fun filled school trip. Away for 5 nights and 6 days, with a few giggling girls in a dorm of 10, was really something. Every day was packed full of activities, and in our free time there was a huge swing set of 12 swings and 3 table football sets which I played on happily against my friends.

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6B I can’t believe how lucky we are, we were the first Year 6 to go the Maison Claire Fontaine after almost 4 years! Of course, coming up second was Preston Montford. It was the funniest trip I had, especially the first night. My friends were doing meditation and one of them fell asleep 3 times in between! We were in hysterics while trying to move her into bed. Thank goodness she was sleeping in the bottom bunk otherwise we may have caused a more serious injury than dropping a sleeping body half a meter off the ground! And of course, how could I forget the time where we beat Mr Harrison in a game of table football in the building?

My greatest achievement must have been either getting a gold in the PMC (when I just did it) or later, it probably changed to getting an Olympiad in the JMC! When I read the memories of Year 6 from the past years, I saw many mention the JMC, and a few Olympiads.

I considered myself not one of those people, but here I am now saying I got that amazing level! One achievement that will stay with me is that I got into Canons Choir in Year 6. This means a lot to me as I remember I was so disappointed that I didn’t get in the previous year. Another thing I am sure I will enjoy very much, and looking forward to very much, is being invited back in November 2023 to perform at the Royal Albert Hall! On the main stage! I can’t even start to express what an honour that is, nor how much excitement it brings me.

One lesson I will take with me, and I would like to share with you is that if you don’t like a subject, work on it! The current Year 5’s, and the future year 5’s, here’s a piece of advice. Maths-you’re not good at it? English-you’re worse? Just remember, these subjects you are not good at don’t really count if you don’t inject every fibre of being to try, at least, work hard on it. Just keep working on those dreaded subjects.

I started NLCS in year 3, hating maths, thinking I was super bad, fluking some assessments. Now look where I got! I persevered, had the help of kind parents, and improved so much, loving maths lessons. (Also, Mrs Ivory is such a great teacher, wink wink) So, if you’re sitting in the subject you hate, just keep going.

Anything could change tomorrow.

Melissa W 6B I started at NLCS in Year 3, coming in from a small private school in Hertfordshire. I remember my first day, coming into a class of twenty-five 7-year-old timid girls, standing awkwardly with the occasional whisper. Our teacher, Mr Harrison, was all smiley and fun, I just couldn’t help settling in. Looking back now, four years later, it seems like a small obstacle, I mean, everyone has their friendship groups now, defined clearly by an unwritten rulebook.

Back then, I was a loud extroverted chatterbox who just needed to be taken out of her shy shell. And that took half a year. Until Year 6, I never settled in a group, as all my friends were in separate groups, and some wouldn’t go near each other with a ten-metre stick!

Another vivid memory was all of the residential trips, Bushcraft in year 4, Preston Montford in Year 5, and France in year 6! In Bushcraft, we were spending one night in a tent, and everyone was suddenly woken by a small shriek. Torches flickered on, one by one, illuminating our faces. Suddenly, one of the girls screamed, staring at horror at something in the middle of the tent. A slimy giant slug. We spent an hour trying to get it out, and it eventually ended up in someone’s welly!

In Preston Montford, we actually beat Mr Harrison in a table football match!

-maybe, just maybe, a tiny bit biased and unfair. France was the best, imagine, an entire week away! We did so much, from mosaics to archery, and cooking to tree adventure!

These 4 years have been filled with fun and excitement. I must think very hard about this, but I suppose my very best achievement at NLCS was when Canons Choir won the National Barnados Choir of the Year 2023. We actually won a national competition!!!! Our prize is to perform at the RAH, !the RAH! in November, 34 people on stage, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra! We worked so hard for it, and it really was an honour to receive this award. It is all thanks to the magnificent musical Mrs. Cox who gave up her Monday evenings, washing up hours (it’s a joke), and lunch times for us.

School has been filled with lessons, Maths, English, Science, Art... But when I

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have to think about the most important lesson that I have learnt, must be: Never stop trying, you can always get better and become that tiniest fraction closer to perfect. I mean, isn’t that everyone’s dream. It is also important to remember that you can’t always be the best, others will take over you and you will take over others, but life is a race against you and only you, no one else.

Summer 6B I really enjoyed when we arrived at Maison Claire Fontaine. I will never forget how loud the coach was or how tired we were when we arrived, but it was all worth it. I will also never forget the Tree Adventure. I have always had a fear of heights, so I was surprised to find myself soaring through the trees, and what’s more, enjoying it! I was really proud of myself.

My greatest achievement was getting a medal in the Tennis Festival. I remember when they called out who won what medals. I was so nervous and really wanted something more than a sweatband I’d won. I waited for NLCS to be called out for medals. I remember thinking that I was unlikely to win a medal. Instead, I walked out proudly wearing a ‘Best Effort’ medal around my neck!

A lesson I will take with me, anywhere I go, will be to never give up. It’s such a cliche, but it’s a cliche because it’s true!

Time after time, this is the main message I have been taught. Most people give up right before the massive improvement starts. That’s definitely happened to me.

But when I don’t quit, amazing things happen.

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6IW Olivia A 6IW My fondest memory is when Aleya started sleep talking in France, Miss Brown was sitting in our room, waiting for my dorm to fall asleep… and suddenly Aleya started educating my dorm about at least 20 animals (in her sleep!). After that Aleya started saying “let’s all be Anna!…. *snoring sounds follow after her statement*.”

Everyone (including Miss Brown) started laughing! Another memory is when on one of our last days in France, we had a disco and Anika and I taught our instructors Charlotte and Sam a TikTok dance (Cupid). And of course, we had to ask the teachers to play the song that goes with the dance….

Some of my greatest achievements are getting a silver on the PMC, getting a bronze on the JMC and achieving Grade 6 in both Piano and Singing.

A lesson that I will always take with me is always try your best and listen to your parents/teachers as they only want to help you do your best.

Olivia B 6IW NLCS is such a unique community, a second family that I will always treasure for the rest of my life. Even though my chapter is ending in the Junior School, I have so many memories that I will never forget. My fondest memory in the Junior School was the last day of Year 2 when we made an assembly all about our fondest memories in the First School, recalling going on the canal in Reception. Another one of my highlights in the Junior School was Canons Choir winning The Bernardo’s competition at The Birmingham Symphony Hall. All of us were in tears and it was one of the happiest moments ever to share with my friends, one that I will never forget.

My funniest memory remains in France, when Aleya was sleep talking! During lights out, it started off with a gentle whisper, which as it got louder, became even greater than her speaking voice, and sometimes she would randomly

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shout “GOBELINS!” then go back to whispering “blue, green, blue green...”

My greatest achievement was when I got to perform The Spanish Dance on my cello for Founder’s Day. I am so honoured to have been given this opportunity. Another one of my greatest achievements was becoming a Year 6 speaker and explaining about the amazing music and drama at NLCS. Lastly another achievement was getting through to the finals of the poetry competition in Year 5.

A lesson that I have learned is that when you believe in yourself, you can do anything.

My life in the Junior School has been incredible and I have made so many memories, ever since Reception. NLCS is such a special community, and I am so delighted to say that I am a part of it.

Mahika 6IW I have numerous lovely memories from my time at NLCS. One of my favourite memories is from the Year 5 trip to Preston Montford. I particularly enjoyed the experience of going to a Victorian school, paying with oldfashioned money to buy many Victorian sweet treats. Being away from our parents for three days without contact seemed daunting at first, but once we commenced our journey, the fear flew out of our minds. Another favourite memory is from the recent Year 6 trip to France. The 11 hour trip to France was worth it as everything I did over there made up for it. I especially found joy in practising my French skills to buy lunch, making mosaics, learning archery and trying out circus skills for the first time.

I will never forget the moment in Cookery club when my creation flew all over Yaana’s and my face! I couldn’t stop laughing my head off at the disaster I had created. Luckily for me, Mrs Cooke was nonplussed by the incident and let me off the hook!

My greatest achievement was winning the ‘Kids of 2020 Letting Writing Project’ in Year 4 with my letter to a child in 2030 displayed at the Postal Museum. From the NLCS 2020 lockdown activities, my

miniature book of poems was chosen

by The British Library for the ‘National Library of Miniature Books’ and displayed at the Treasures of the Library exhibition in 2021. I am proud to have two of my creations displayed at prominent museums and libraries in this country. I stood in front of over thousand people at the Music for Youth festival in the Royal Albert Hall in 2021 and spoke about my lockdown experience. I was one of three girls chosen from NLCS to do so, and this memory will be etched in my mind forever. Another one of my greatest achievements has been getting a great mark in the PMC, as I improved from Year 5 results. I participated in the DC Beagle maths competition and in Year 6, I performed from the front desk for the cello section of the junior orchestra. I was also the swimming captain for the Navy team.

A lesson I will always take with me is to be resilient and be strong. Even if you don’t get something you want, persevere and try harder next time. Put it behind you and focus on a growth mindset.

I am sad to be leaving my wonderful friends at NLCS as I embark on my senior school journey elsewhere but I will always cherish every moment since I joined the school in Reception year. I wish everyone the very best of luck for the future!

Ellie 6IW My favourite memories of the Junior school are all of our residential trips.

Spending time with friends is really important to me, and residential trips are the definition of spending time with friends.

I remember in Preston Montford I was in a dorm with Olivia A, Yaana, Elina, Maya and Dahlia. We all couldn’t get to sleep one night, so Dahlia told us all a story about unicorns. It was hilarious, but eventually it worked and we all fell asleep!

My greatest accomplishment is being 1 point away from a bronze in the PMC. I am really proud of this, as the last time I did the PMC I wasn’t close to a bronze at all!

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6IW A lesson I have learnt in the Junior School is to always have a positive attitude, because a good attitude gets you further in life.

Mehek 6IW I’ve got many fond memories in the Junior School but one of my fondest memories is the trip to Maison Claire Fontaine, France in Year 6.

It was lots of fun going across ziplines and climbing across the trees in the tree adventure. I loved all the activities like mosaic making, circus skills and visiting Vézelay but I also loved getting to know my friends better. In our dorm we barely got any sleep because we were up whispering, there were so many funny moments like when things kept on falling on me from the bunk bed above and people were fake snoring. I’ve enjoyed all the school trips (not counting Bushcraft) including Preston Monford and Legoland.

My greatest achievement is winning first place in the DC Beagles maths competition as well as getting a gold on the PMC and JMC. I am also proud of getting selected for school council.

A lesson I have learned from the Junior school is take all the opportunities you get, make the most of it, savour every moment and make sure you don’t take anything for granted.

I have loved every moment of the Junior School and I am sad to leave but I look forward to all the exciting opportunities in the Senior School.

Maira 6IW My fondest memories are from lockdown, where we had to do online schooling.

Although it was a difficult time, we all got through it together. We still had fun in and out of lessons, and we could call our friends afterwards. I remember doing different stretches and fitness activities in our PE lessons and doing meditation afterwards. The Year 5 Founders Day Play was conducted online, however everyone still enjoyed watching it.

Another fond memory of mine was our Year 5 team-building day during autumn term when we had to wear warm clothes as we were outside the entire day doing various activities. We were in groups, and an activity I remember fondly was trying to get our whole group from one end to the other in the field with only two wooden planks! We had many fun dressup days in year 5, such as India Day. On India Day, we had to wear an Indian skirt or dress for the off-timetable day. We learnt an Indian dance and tried some food from South Asia.

Some of my biggest achievements were getting voted for Form Monitor in year 4. This was such a big achievement for me as I tried every term, and I was very proud when I achieved this role.

In Year 6, I was also chosen for Junior Leader in the Spring term. This allowed me to do the Founder’s Day walkthrough with Mrs Cartwright-Styles. I was a very proud and we even had other responsibilities, such as sitting with one of the school governors at lunchtime and touring some of the visitors that came to see our school.

A lesson I will be taking with me is that I have to stay persistent. I can’t give up, no matter how long things may take. I have learnt not to give up, and embrace opportunities to try new things, even if they are outside my comfort zone.

Building my confidence was a hard challenge, but it helped me to be more resilient, brave and try more things.

Bianca 6IW I have loved the NLCS Junior School community. My fondest memory of the Junior School is quite recent. It is from when Year 6 went to France for our residential trip.

We went to Burgundy, and we spent 6 days there. I loved the disco, and the songs were all quite fun to dance to.

We did lots of fun dances, including the YMCA, the Macarena, and dances to some newer songs. I loved watching the teachers dance, especially Mrs Ivory, as that was our only opportunity to see her dance.

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My greatest achievement was getting into Canons Choir as I love singing, but last year I wasn’t able to do it and I also didn’t have the courage to audition. I am so happy that I auditioned because it has taught me a lot about singing, texture and even collaboration.

I love Canons Choir and I am very proud of us, as we won all the competitions that we attended!

A lesson I will take with me is ‘Never Give Up’ as when I started at NLCS in Reception, I would try something and then if it didn’t work, I would give up.

Now, that I am a bit more mature than in Reception, I try and try again, and now my work is much better and well thought out. I am very glad that Junior School has taught me this, and I will be very sad to leave, but I am very excited for the Senior School next year.

Anu 6IW Happiness, they say, is a journey rather than a destination and within this journey lies countless treasures each unique and unforgettable. The Junior School has been such a thrilling experience filled with happiness and joy and I can undoubtedly say that it was one of the greatest highlights of my school life. My fondest memory of the Junior School has to be going to France. From discos to puzzle competitions, and circus skills to tree climbing France was certainly a trip to remember and cherish forever. I loved singing songs on the coach journey, playing ping pong with friends and teachers and swinging on the swings at the top of the field. I can’t believe that I managed to beat Mr Brown when playing ping pong! Another one of my fondest memories was STEAM Day in Year 3.

I was very new to the Lower School even though I had been at NLCS since reception. I didn’t have anyone from my class in green team so I felt really worried that the other three girls wouldn’t include me. On that day, I had so much fun and really felt like I was part of the Lower School community. To this day my plane still hangs in the art room! The older girls were so welcoming and kind

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6IW and I hope there will be another STEAM Day in the future! It was a memorable day that I will never forget.

Some of my greatest achievements in Year 6 was getting 25 out of 25 on the PMC bonus round and getting into the Olympiad in the JMC which is a Year 8 maths challenge. I honestly didn’t expect to get into the Olympiad as it is a very high standard to reach. I was also absolutely thrilled to make it into the National finals with the rest of dance and was extremely proud to perform on the stage in Oxford. Furthermore, Canons Choir won three competitions and I can’t wait to perform on the stage in Royal Albert Hall in November. I was extremely proud to make the Netball A team and go the IAPS with my friends and compete. Only eight girls went so I feel immensely proud that I was chosen.

Lastly, I was fortunate enough to be chosen for Junior Leader, school council, music monitor, Junior School speaker and from monitor.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt is never to expect less and not to take anything for granted. We are very lucky to have such an amazing school, with fantastic teachers and incredible facilities and grounds.

I have loved every moment of the Junior school and can’t wait to begin a new chapter of my school life.

Alayna 6IW I have loved every second of NLCS Junior School and are sad to be leaving. My fondest memory in the Junior School was either when we went to France or Preston Montford. In France I had so much fun as I was in the dorm of 17 girls which was the biggest one.

Before lights out, we would go onto one of our beds and play with our torches.

We took so long to fall asleep because we were chatting and whispering about the fun things, we had done that day.

Also, in France when I went on the tree adventure activity my pully and clip got stuck and me and Bianca could not move! We had to call an instructor to help us untangle ourselves. In Preston Montford we went to Blists Hill where

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we did a Victorian school workshop and had to wear Victorian dresses and hats.

We experienced a lesson in the olden days, and it was different to lessons now.

My greatest achievement in the Junior School was getting silver in the PMC, considering I did not get anything in Year 5. I also got bronze on the JMC which is a Year 8 challenge, and I was not excepting to get something. I was also immensely proud of making the Netball A team and even going to the IAPS netball tournament and missing one entire day of school! One particularly important lesson I have learnt from the junior school is you have to step out of your comfort zone and try something new as that is how you develop new skills and make lots of new friends.

Amaya 6IW My fondest memory in the Junior School is when we went to France. I know the whole year group loved it, but it was a special and memorable trip for me personally. It was the last residential trip where the entire year group was together before some of us go to separate schools at the end of the academic year. It was where we could not only practice our French but create memories with people we were not as close to before. It was an amazing experience and trip that I will cherish for a long time.

My greatest achievement from the Junior School happens to be from Year 6 too where I received a silver in the JMC. I was extremely proud of myself as the JMC is a big challenge to take in Year 6 as it is nationally aimed for Year 8s which implies that hard work and determination always pays off which leads me onto a lesson that I have learnt in the Junior School.

I have learnt to take on whatever opportunity you can grab with both hands be it sports, drama or music even though you may have initially thought it wasn’t your cup of tea because it isn’t about what the outcome is but the feeling of being part of something and I am proud to be part of the NLCS community.

Lamide 6IW The Junior School has been an unforgettable experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I will always remember standing on stage in the Year 2 play, travelling to France, the fantastic Junior School STEAM Days and every second of the Junior school.

One of my fondest memories in the Junior school was the amusing Year 2 production and just Year 2 in general. I remember standing on the First School stage and performing my lobster dance with my friends, I remember how nervous I was but then how relieved I was with my applause. In Year 2 I remember my fun packed art lessons with Mrs Marks and how much I enjoyed my PE lessons. And how much I treasured things like visiting Sainsbury’s or having a last day picnic with my friends. Year 2 was definitely one of my most memorable years in the Junior school at NLCS. France was my most unforgettable memory of the Junior School, and as well as being my most recent it was the most fun packed school trip I have ever been on. One of my favourite aspects of France was my dorm, having the 15 dorm was the most fun (and noisiest) experience ever! I also loved having time to be with my friends, for example I often played table tennis and spent endless hours on swings. In France I really enjoyed having French experiences such as visiting a traditional French market or the village of Vézelay. I loved learning about different peoples’ cultures and daily lives. Travelling 11 hours across the sea to the Masion Claire Foundation definitely was worth it, as it was an unforgettable event that will stick with me forever.

In their Junior School I have had many achievements including piano and band achievements and more. The achievement I am most proud of is my JMC result, I am extremely happy with my mark and how well I did.

A lesson I will take with me from the Junior School is to always be creative, in the Junior School we are always upcycling and recycling things, whether it is plastic cups or clothing and we are

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6IW always making discarded things into art. I will always remember how to be creative with everything I have or don’t want anymore.

From art lessons to science lessons my experiences in the First and Lower Schools made a memorable time in the Junior School for me and was certainly a great experience that I will never forget.

Zehra 6IW My best memories were when me and the other Year 6s on my coach would all chat together and share food and stories. We would always laugh so much and make jokes about each other.

I would always be kind of sad when I had to get off at my stop because the fun would end, but it would always be there again next week. Especially in the spring and summer when it was warm, Wednesdays were so lively and they really brightened up my week. Also in France, after I had a shower one night and was coming back to the dorm, it was raining outside and I realised that the door to the dorm was locked and I was locked out! As I was pounding on the door, yelling ‘Zehra is a strong woman!’, Erica was doing her lenses near the door and heard it, and came to unlock the door for me, but everyone else at the back of the dorm heard ‘Zehra is a drunk warden!’ because my voice was muffled by the door. When I came in, everyone was asking why I was yelling that I was a ‘drunk warden’ and even though I explained the story, my nickname from then on by the people in my dorm became ‘warden’.

My greatest achievement was probably when I got a gold in the PMC, which I was very proud of as I love maths and puzzles.

The most important lesson I learned was that everyone has good in them, so you should be kind to everyone to bring out the best in everyone, including yourself. And the people that really matter are the ones who appreciate you for who you are, not what others say you are. As a very wise person once said, ‘just be yourself. The people who mind don’t matter, and the people who matter don’t mind’.

Yaana 6IW Year 6 has been a fabulous year with so many different challenges and experiences I will cherish and remember for an exceedingly long time. My fondest memory was our trip to France. We stayed at Maison Claire Fontaine, and I was in a dorm of 15. My most favourite activity was when we did the tree adventure, a tree climbing activity similar to Go Ape. It was particularly challenging to climb the obstacles but also exciting at the same time to be up high in the trees with my friends! And the zip lines at the end were incredibly fun to go down on.

From circus skills to archery to cooking to swinging I could not describe France better. There were also some hilarious times in our dorms where we could barely fall asleep as bags and clothes kept falling on my friend from the bunk above or my friends would make strange noises which sounded like monsters. I also miss all the French staff as they were so kind, thoughtful, and made me have the best trip I could ever experience in the Junior School. Another memory I will cherish forever is winning the Barnardo’s National Choral Competition. Canons Choir were up against 20 finalist choirs, and we were performing two songs The Seal Lullaby and Lightning. It took place in the Birmingham Symphony Hall on the 28th of February, and we were taking part in the largest school choir competition in the UK. They also had over 600 people competing during the day. So, winning the junior section was so fortunate and a delightful experience!

My greatest achievement is probably getting a Gold in the JMC which I did not expect at all as it is a Year 8 challenge and it also meant that I was in the top 1/12 of the country. I also got selected for Canons Choir this year and I am proud that I auditioned and faced my fear.

A lesson I have learnt is to be optimistic no matter what the situation and that you should stay positive and open to any new things you have not tried before as you don’t know what it could lead to in the future.

I will really miss the Junior School as this is the last time I’ll be in a full year group before anyone leaves and I won’t

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see the Year 6 teachers that often anymore. But I am also excited and looking forward to going to the Senior School as there will be so many new opportunities and I will make so many new friends!

Anika 6IW I have many amazing memories of the Junior School: so much has happened in the seven years I have been here at North London Collegiate! However, one of my favourite activities was STEAM Week in Year 3. It was an entire offtimetable week dedicated to learning about the aerodynamics of a plane and what makes it fly, and designing our own in groups, before competing to see which one would go the furthest.

Mine didn’t win, but it did get into the finals. We studied streamlined shapes and light materials before creating our design, the Penguin Jet. It was made out of corrugated plastic for the body, with a paper cone for the beak and thinner sheets of plastic for the wings. Although since I was in Year 3 I didn’t get to do much, it was a very unique experience, and one that I would remember forever.

We even got a talk from a professor afterwards!

My favourite trip was when Year 6 visited Maison Claire Fontaine in Burgundy, France, where we bought food from a local traditional French market. It was quite challenging because we had to ask for everything in French, as well as doing a presentation (also in French) displaying the food that we had bought. In groups of eight, we had to create an authentic French meal with a starter, main course, and dessert course.

It also made us feel very independent as we could choose what to get and we were going around on our own. In the end, we won a prize for the best quality French food, which I was very pleased about. Our meal consisted of cheese with apple slices and salad for our entrée, sandwiches with cheese paste, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and sausages for our main course, and waffles with strawberries for dessert. It was delicious!

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6IW I think my greatest achievement in the Junior School was when I got my first book published and put on sale to the public. I had started writing books after our Year 3 Viking saga project. I had really enjoyed writing my first longer story and I ended up creating some illustrations to go with it. In the end, it was quite substantial, so my mum had formatted it and got it printed as a book for me and my family.

The following summer, I decided to write another, slightly longer and more developed, complex book. I worked on it in much of my free time for a few months and created illustrations. With the help of a publishing company called Lemon House Publishing, The Greatest Reward was published and put on Amazon as my first proper book. Since then, I have also written a book called The Stars Will Lead Us Home and I might try to write another this Summer Holiday. I look forward to writing many more books in future.

I have learnt a lot of lessons from the Junior School but I think if there is one that has really stuck with me and been the most important in my life growing up, I think it is that if you want to achieve something, it isn’t enough just to hope for it, and wish. You need to work hard now, so you can congratulate yourself on it later. You can’t change any results after the exam, and sometimes that can mean other things have to compromise, like free time, or extra-curricular. But if you do so, you will definitely be much happier later. There’s no use in complaining after the exam or wishing you had worked just that 1% harder. I think this lesson means the most to me because especially now, at the end of Year 6, I have several music exams and other competitions, and sometimes I lack the motivation to study for them. However, I just have to remind myself why I am working, and what I want to achieve.

Mahi 6IW Some of the fondest memories I have in the Junior School were from our Year 6 residential in France, at a place called Maison Claire Fontaine. The first of these memories was when one of the helpers at MCF had their birthday during our stay. She asked

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us to sing a song called Wake Me Up. She chose this song as she had heard us sing it multiple times before and evidently liked it. As we sang, I remember feeling a sense of community as I was taking part in something with all my friends and making someone happy. I remember smiling and laughing as we sang and being happy.

Another two of my fondest memories were during the MCF disco. A song that was trending at the moment started playing. I remember all of us doing the dance and singing really loudly along to Cupid, and the teachers laughing at us, and when one of the teachers’ favourite songs came on and they were dancing to it. We were all laughing so much!

One of my greatest achievements is getting a special mention in France, due to my improvement in French speaking.

A lesson I will take with me is to always be kind, as that is the most rewarding thing you can do.

Lily 6IW Some of the fondest memories I have from the junior school are running my Christmas fair game and the trip to Maison Claire Fontaine in France.

My Christmas fair game was pin the jellybean on Santa’s mouth and guess the jellybean flavour. It was so funny watching people’s reactions to some of the disgusting jellybean flavours we included. Adding to this, I really enjoyed seeing how happy people were when they won a prize at our stall.

At Maison Claire Fontaine, when we first arrived, everyone was so excited to go to our dorms. I had so much fun with all my friends doing circus skills, especially the ‘flying’ activity where you balance on each other’s knees! I also really loved baking an apple pie in Maison Claire Fontaine with my friends (even though it tasted terrible!)

Some of my greatest achievements have been popping many balloons in archery at Maison Claire Fontaine, completing the 11+ and making a clay sculpture of a building in Yemen.

A lesson I have learnt that I will always take with me is to always believe in yourself!

Elina 6IW My favourite memory from the Junior School was probably either Preston Montford or France. I really enjoyed both experiences and have learnt a lot from both trips. I also got to know my friends a lot better and made lots of new friends during those trips. Another fond memory I have is when Canons Choir won the Barnardo’s National Choral Competition. None of us were expecting it, and we were all so happy. We all almost lost our voices as we screamed so loudly!

My greatest achievement is probably getting a Gold Kangaroo in the JMC, as if you got a gold you were in the top 1/12 of the country! I am also very proud of getting selected for 2 swimming galas over Year 6, as I had never been to one before. We even won the last one!

A lesson I have learnt would be to always try your hardest at everything, even if it isn’t your strongest subject.

Anna 6IW My fondest memory is when Aleya started sleep talking in France, Miss Brown was sitting in our room, waiting for my dorm to fall asleep... and suddenly Aleya started educating my dorm about at least 20 animals (in her sleep!). After that Aleya started saying “lets all be Anna!.... *snoring sounds follow after her statement.*” everyone (including Miss Brown) started laughing! Another memory is when on one of our last days in France, we had a disco, Anika and I taught our instructors Charlotte and Sam a TikTok dance (Cupid). And of course we had to ask the teachers to play the song that goes with the dance....

Some of my greatest achievements are: getting a sliver on the PMC, getting a bronze on the JMC and achieving Grade 6 in both Piano and Singing.

A lesson that I will always take with me is: always try your best and listen to your parents/teachers as they only want to help you do your best.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6IW Aleya 6IW One of my fondest memories from the Junior School is Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebration. We all dressed up from an assigned year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, and our year group got the 1960s.

Mr Harrison, as usual, wore the most original costume imaginable, and came dressed as Neil Armstrong from the first moon landing. A few people dressed as hippies, and others in long, formal gowns. We had orchestra that day and it was really funny seeing hippies and ladies playing flutes, French horns and bassoons. Another of my favourite memories was during an English lesson.

We were studying gothic writing and all the lights were off, and the curtains were drawn. We were reading Jane Eyre, about a ferocious woman called Bertha who was locked in a room. There was a noise in the cupboard, so Mr Harrison asked Maira, who was sitting near the cupboard, to check on the cellos, that stayed in the cupboard. Suddenly, as the door opened, Zehra jumped out, wearing a black cloak just like Bertha’s. The entire class screamed their heads off!

My greatest achievements in the Junior School are both maths based. Mehek and I were partnered for the Year 6 DC Beagle competition, and we won!

Maths has become one of my favourite subjects and I was very happy to qualify for the Junior Maths Olympiad in the JMC. One thing I have learnt in the Junior School is to always persist. From finishing a tricky comprehension, to swimming 5k in a Swimathon to raise money for charity. NLCS has taught me to never give up, and in turn achieve great things.

Amelia 6IW During my time in the Junior School, I have had a great time and I have many memories that will forever stay in my heart, but one of my favourite memories is when we went to France, and we played table tennis against Mr Brown! I must admit Mr Brown was good but some of us managed to beat him. Another one of my fondest memories is when Dance squad came 2nd in the Great Big Dance Off, I remember everyone being so excited that we qualified for nationals.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

My greatest achievement in the Junior School was when I got into gym squad in Year 2, because I knew that it would be a challenge, but I worked very hard and, in the end, I achieved my goal, which is incredibly special to me.

I have learnt about many things in the Junior School that help with my everyday life but the lesson I have found that will help me, even after I leave to go and explore the real world, is to never give up because in the end I will always achieve my goal if I try hard enough.

Sareena 6IW My fondest memory of the Junior School was going to Preston Montford in Year 5. We all had such an incredible time there and we were all sad to leave after 3 days, but it was my birthday on the last day and we all had great fun celebrating in Blists Hill (a Victorian village). Another fond memory was our trip to Maison Claire Fontaine, France. Everyone had a fantastic time, and my favourite activity was the tree adventure. I faced my fear and did one of the hard activities.

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YEAR 6 MEMORIES 6IW

Unfortunately, I forgot to put the pulley on when I was on the zip line, and I got stuck! I had to pull myself along and it was really tiring. Mr Brown was also trying to defeat everyone in table tennis; however, some people beat him. At night, my dorm always laughed so much that Mrs Ivory had to stand in the middle to make us quiet down. One day, Yaana and Mehek had mistaken Summer’s pink bedsheet for her underwear! Our dorm could not stop laughing!

My greatest achievement in school was winning the Barnardo’s National Choral Competition – the biggest choir competition in the UK. Canons Choir went to the Birmingham Symphony Hall to compete in the finals of this prestigious event. It was an unforgettable experience that I will treasure forever.

A lesson I have learnt from the Junior School is to enjoy every single moment of school and have fun with friends and teachers.

Erica 6IW My fondest memory in the Junior School was definitely on our France residential.

At night, in our dorms, Melissa R, Helen, Jialin and I were doing press-ups, sit-ups

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and ‘superman bananas’ on our beds after lights-out! After that, we would meditate for roughly 10 minutes- it was really funny to watch everyone so I kept giggling. Another memory was in Year 5 when we were learning about suspense in Jane Eyre and Zehra, playing Bertha Mason, jumped out of the cupboard.

It was really funny (now looking back) because she kept making really creepy noises which scared everyone and the lights were switched off. What’s more, when we asked Mr Harrison where she was, he said that Zehra had a ‘maths thing to do’ so she wouldn’t be here.

Also, it was really fun in the ESSA (England Schools’ Swimming Association) when Alayna, Sareena, Amelia and I wore the NLCS T-bags and ate snacks in the break.

Throughout my time in the Junior School, I have had many achievements.

I was fortunate enough to be a music monitor, form monitor, School Council and Junior Leader. I was also Mauve’s swimming captain, in the school netball team, able to participate in the DC Beagle maths challenge, Junior Orchestra first desk and I won the Year 5 talent show with Melissa W, Jialin and Zehra. I am really proud of getting a gold in the PMC, JMC and also qualifying for the Junior Kangaroo. Additionally, Canons Choir won 3 choral competitions and we have been invited to perform live in the Royal Albert Hall in November.

A lesson that I will take with me to year seven is to always believe in yourself and to try your best.

Jialin 6IW Out of all of my memories I have from the Junior School my favourite is when we went to France. We did archery, ate snails (they were AMAZING), did circus skills, had a disco, puzzle competition and many other fun activities. However, my favourite part was when we had the Tree Adventure.

There was the practice run, green, yellow, orange, blue and red in difficulty order.

I managed to do the blue and the red which was both fun and physically demanding. The triangle area required a lot of core muscle and one of my clip things for the wire fell off resulting in a very scared Jialin.

My greatest achievements are participating in the Year 5 Herts Maths Challenge scoring 254 points and we were only 11 points away from winning!

Another achievement that I am very proud of is becoming a Junior Leader for the Summer term.

A lesson that I have learnt to welcome every opportunity you have with open arms.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OMNIBUSS 2023

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