Section Name
2021 YEAR BOOK A visual insight into our Year at NHS
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CONTENTS P.3
INTRODUCTION
P.10
TRIPS & ACTIVITIES
P.36
OPTIONS
P.42
CLUBS & SOCIETIES
P.48
LOCKDOWN
P.57
CREATIVE ARTS
P.81
HOUSE NEWS
P.86
SPORT
P.101
FAREWELL
p.100 Sports Day
p.44
Biology Club
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Midsummer Night’s Dream
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One Day Film School
Student Leadership Team
2020-2021
STUDENT LEADERSHIP TEAM
Maddie W Head Girl
Razeen S Head Boy
Archie B Deputy Head Boy
Emily B Deputy Head Girl
Tom B Deputy Head Boy
Lucy C Deputy Head Girl
Ellie M Deputy Head Girl
Matthew R-L Deputy Head Boy
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Section Name
WELCOME TO OUR NEW
YEAR 7S
AND ALL OUR...
NEW STAFF Richard Alexander Raised on a farm in Norfolk as one of three children, it was clear that a work ethic was instilled in all of us from an early age. I was always busy getting involved in activities from Drama to Kayaking and enjoyed trying new things and endeavouring to master them. In 2005 whilst on tour in South Africa I was lucky enough to represent my country for the first time and fortunate enough to have a long international sports career. In 2008 I became an Olympian, in 2009 a European Gold medal champion and 2010 Silver in the World Cup event. Since retiring from professional sport, I have devoted my life to teaching and my family. I have experienced an incredible amount through my sport and travelling the world and I now spend my time trying to give others opportunities to create their own incredible experiences.
Staff Arriving
George Walsh I am delighted to have recently joined the High School as a Teacher of Chemistry. Originally from Liverpool, I also went to University and started my teaching career there at an independent day school. I moved to the East Midlands to take up a teaching post at Welbeck College, a school for potential technical officers in the armed services, where I was also a boarding housemaster for a number of years. I very much enjoy contributing to school life outside of the classroom and have previously been involved in CCF, Duke of Edinburgh, sports coaching including football and archery, and I am looking forward to taking part in some of the activities offered at Nottingham High School. Outside of school I love to travel and be in the outdoors, regularly going for long walks, as well as playing the occasional round of golf. I also love mental challenges like quizzes and cryptic crosswords. I have really enjoyed my first term here and am very much looking forward to getting to know many more of you in the future.
Georgia Hird I am really excited to begin teaching at Nottingham High School as Teacher of Girls PE and have a degree in Sport and Exercise Science from Leeds Beckett University and I have recently completed my PGCE at the University of Buckingham achieving distinction. I teach A- Level and GCSE PE as well as Core PE and Games. I have spent 3 years at a boarding school in Yorkshire allowing me to have a wide breadth of experience as a boarding tutor as well. I will also be a 7-10 Tutor for White’s house. In my free time i enjoy running, playing hockey and walking. I am middle-distance athlete having competed at county, and regional level. I am a certified Youth Strength & Conditioning coach having recently been involved with Yorkshire County Cricket Club working with grassroots to professional level. I am looking forward to this academic year.
Jane Potter I am loving my new role as school nurse at Nottingham High School. Having previously worked for many years as a primary school teaching assistant I then went onto re-train as a paediatric nurse. Since qualifying, I have worked in a busy Children’s assessment unit and an even busier Children’s Emergency department at the QMC, Nottingham. It is great being back in a school environment combining my past experience of working in schools together with nursing. I like to keep fit and enjoy cross country running on the mud and the hills! I also enjoy practicing Pilates for relaxation. I would like to try indoor climbing and another sporting ambition is to do a sky dive one day!
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Staff Arriving
Craig Johnson
Jo Wynell-Mayow I’m delighted to join the Nottingham High community this year as a Teacher of Classics and History. Previously I have taught in the southwest of England, first in Devon and then in Bristol for the last eight years. I’m originally from New Zealand, which is where I completed all of my university education – all the way up to a PhD on ancient warrior women! Ask me about Wonder Woman sometime. In my years of teaching I have not only enjoyed introducing the ancient world to students in Years 7-13, but have also organised numerous school trips in the UK, Italy and Greece, and have attended many, many Duke of Edinburgh expeditions in all types of weather! I am thrilled to be joining the CCF at Nottingham High as an adult volunteer and am also running the Year 7 & 8 Classics Club this year. In my spare time I have a large garden and am cultivating a loyal bird population within it, as well as growing my own plants from seed. My other hobbies include adding to and enjoying our growing record collection, walking in the beautiful outdoors, and watching a good game of cricket.
I’m thrilled to be joining Nottingham High School and the Computing department. I originally come from Harrogate in Yorkshire but have been based in Nottingham for the past 8 years, when I moved here to do my PGCE. Prior to that I moved to the north west of the country to study Computer Science at Manchester University. In the 8 years I’ve spent in Nottingham I’ve taught at a couple of schools in the area, worked with supply and behaviour units, but also spent 2 years outside of teaching being a Mobile App Developer, and exploring the more technical and industry-based side that my degree offered. Software engineering was a wonderful opportunity to see first-hand what industry experience is like, but I felt hugely drawn to come back to education, and the High School is my second job since returning from industry. Outside of school hours I try to dabble in as many activities as possible, from walking in the Peak District to (poorly) playing video games and from trying to get my wide range of board games to the table through to doing Obstacle Course Races (OCRs). I have 2 main hobbies and my first is running an 11 a side football team through church which aims to get both refugees and those with learning difficulties playing football alongside trying to compete in a very difficult league, and I do my best at right back to keep us from conceding too many. My second main hobby is miniature wargaming, also known as Warhammer, where I have played for England for the last 10 years including 3 years as captain and have had the pleasure of travelling all over Europe with my plastic toys, meeting up with friends from all over the world. I compete in the UK frequently, and have been ranked number 1 for 4 of the past 5 years. To sum up, I enjoy all things geeky, whilst still trying to stay active and I’m always happy to talk about any form of sport or technology!
Bethany Botham It is a pleasure to join Nottingham High School as a Teacher of Geography. Before arriving, I studied BA Geography with Business and Economics at the University of Nottingham, igniting a passion for topics orientated around globalisation and trade. Interestingly, I dedicated a year to studying the U.K. property market, and the London Suburban ‘Bubble’ as part of my independent research. Before coming to the school, I travelled around China with an international teaching company, experiencing the bright lights of Shanghai whilst teaching students’ who speak English as an additional language. I studied my PGCE at The University of Nottingham before relocating to Nottingham, from London, and starting a life here. I love singing, and performed in London’s West End in my youth. Good music, a nice beach, and great food, is my idea of bliss.
Staff Arriving
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Stephanie Hawkins I am really excited and honoured to join Nottingham High School. I studied for a BA in History at Newcastle University before completing an MA in History at Warwick University. In short, History is my passion and I can often be found dragging disgruntled friends around windswept castles, museums and other historical sites! I am fascinated by 20th century Russian history and have visited Moscow and St Petersburg a number of times to visit key sites, such as the Winter Palace and the basement where Rasputin purportedly met his demise which was particularly exciting. Outside of school, I love travelling and the outdoors. Following university, I travelled to Eastern Europe, North Africa, China, South-East Asia and India. This inspired me to travel solo back to central Africa and take up a volunteer teaching position in the remote Usumbara Mountains of Tanzania. I completed my PGCE at Birmingham and returned overseas to live and work in Bahrain for a further two years. I love sports and became a convert to Gaelic football while in Bahrain, and also play hockey locally. I am a keen table tennis player and look forward to a few matches on the school tables! I’m a huge armchair fan of rugby, cricket and formula one…with some added minor obsessions with Harry Potter, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings! I discovered a great love for Shakespeare in my early 20s when I saw Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. I am from Warwickshire originally so I try to see most productions in a season, often combining it with a visit to see my cat Winston who I adopted in Bahrain but he now calls England home!
I can often be found dragging disgruntled friends around windswept castles, museums and other historical sites!
Natalie Davis I am so excited to be able to introduce myself as the new Head of Philosophy Religion and Ethics. This is my first time in this role but I have 10 years’ experience of teaching this most fascinating of subjects in independent schools both in Chester and Nottinghamshire. I was born and lived in North Wales for over 20 years then moved to Nottingham for work and haven’t looked back. Being able to contribute to the school’s ethos of academic achievement as well as enrichment and wellbeing is thrilling. It is my hope that once we can enter post-pandemic times, we as a department are able to embark on some of the same thrilling trips as I’ve led in the past – Amsterdam, Rome, India to name a few! Local trips are also really informative for our students as they continue to learn about communities and faith – Beth Shalom in Newark is a place that everyone should visit and if they have the chance to meet a Holocaust survivor and discourse with them about their varying experiences, it enriches the educational experience and brings our subject even more so to life. I love to travel and pick up new stories of real-life people I can use in my lessons but I also enjoy knitting, crochet and sewing. I am at the stage of making my own clothes though the stitches are still a bit wobbly! This hobby really helped during lockdown and so I have set up a Craft Corner club in school for anyone interested in arts and crafts. Students can involve themselves with a variety of projects from glass painting to crocheting a granny square or even sewing their own bunting for the garden.
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Staff Arriving
Jacob Read
Naomi Mackness I am excited to join the fantastic Geography team at Nottingham High School. My career to date has enabled me to teach in a diverse selection of schools from coastal Norfolk, leafy Surrey to the beauty of Tanzania. I love Geography for the very fact that it is constantly around us and interacts with us each and every day meaning that the concepts which we teach enable students to understand their own world and develop a worldview that fosters an appreciation of the interconnected nature of the globe. Some of my favourite times as a teacher have been on field trips and I have been lucky enough to visit Mongolia, Iceland and the Azores as part of my teaching as well as spending many nights out on D of E expeditions. Outside of work I am a mum to my young son who certainly keeps me busy, as well as being involved in my Church and a leader in Guiding – mainly brownies which I have done now for around 20 years.
I love Geography for the very fact that it is constantly around us and interacts with us each and every day meaning that the concepts we teach enable students to understand their own world...
I’m very happy to be joining Nottingham High School as Head of Hockey. I am originally from the south but consider myself to be a Midlands boy at heart having grown up in Lincolnshire for most of my life. After finishing School, I studied Sports Coaching (BSc) at Cardiff Metropolitan University. I have been very fortunate to work in the Hockey industry ever since graduating University in 2016. Few people can say they have manged to turn a hobby into a career, but I am one of the lucky ones. After University I spent 3 years working in Schools as a Sports Graduate Assistant and Hockey Coach before gaining my first appointment as Head of Hockey at the University of Warwick. After Warwick I spent 2 years as the Head of Hockey at Queen Margaret’s School where I took our U14 Girls to their first ever National Finals. Currently alongside my position as Head of Hockey at Nottingham High School I am the Beeston Ladies 2nd Team Head Coach in National League and England O45 Men’s Head Coach. Coaching is something that fills me with tremendous pride and allows me to give back to a hockey community that has given me so much through my years as a player. As a player I have been fortunate to represent Wales at U21 level and have played in the National Premier league for 4 years and currently for Beeston HC. What I am particularly looking forward to in my new role at Nottingham High School is meeting the students and creating a programme to both challenge and excite them when it comes to Hockey. After such a strange year with COVID-19 and lockdown, it will just be fantastic to be out on the new Hockey pitches with the students back playing.
Staff Arriving
Dimitrios Theodorakis I am fairly new to Nottingham having moved here just over two years ago to teach. Prior to Nottingham I trained to teach in Bristol and gained my Masters in Astrophysics from Sussex University in Brighton (with a sunny stint in California). I look forward to spreading my Astronomy specialism throughout the school via World Space Week and our brand-new Astronomy Club. My passion is getting students involved in real scientific research and interested in coding. Programming is becoming a vital tool for all scientists and I will be looking at ways to support students interested coding explore the wonders of computational physics. One student research project at my previous school saw students analysing telescope data of black holes and I’d encourage any student at the High School interested in Astronomy research to come talk to me about potential opportunities. I run a project creating coding activities with astronomy links and maintain a Python package for astronomy educators to use in their teaching. When I’m not teaching I take photos with my trusty Pentax 67II and on occasion develop the film myself. I love to bake and have a very sweet tooth – if I could live off cake and pastries I probably would.
Ruth Turnbull Due to the persuasive powers of Mrs Stafford, I have had the pleasure of joining the Food and Nutrition department of Nottingham High School. Previously teaching Food Preparation & Nutrition at Kesteven & Grantham Girls School. I have had a very varied career with several years in the Clothing industry running factories in the UK and Morocco, manufacturing clothing for Marks & Spencer and many years working as an Intelligence Analyst for Nottinghamshire Police in the Homicide and Serious & Organised Crime Units. Always looking for a new challenge, 8 years ago I decided to follow my passion for food and working with young people and completed my PGDE as a Food & Textiles Teacher. Outside of work, I spend time cycling and walking with my family who are big nature enthusiasts and passionate about environmental issues. I grow lots of fruit & vegetables and enjoy cooking and eating great food. I love sport and play squash, tennis & hockey. Having played hockey for over 40 years, I hope that I can help to inspire more young people at school to enjoy such a brilliant sport.
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Section Name
TRIPS, VISITS & ACTIVITIES
Year 10 Spring Lakes
Trips, Visits & Activities
LOVE YOUR BODY WEEK D
ecember was Love Your Body Week, where we dedicated a whole five days to celebrating body positivity and self-love. We are trying to promote a healthier attitude for our students towards their self-image and shift the focus from constant comparison to things they see on social media, to all the fantastic things their bodies can achieve! The week included strategies on self-care, the fundamentals of nutrition, the importance of sleep, body image in the LGBTQ community and a cookery challenge from our two Deputy Heads, voted upon by our students. It was a fiercely run race, however Mr Spedding just pipped Miss Gritti’s meatballs with his pan-fried salmon and vegetables! The week stimulated some very pertinent conversations between staff and students on their own thoughts on body positivity and hopefully everyone was able to take away some helpful strategies to boost our self-esteem moving forwards.
MONDAY 7TH DECEMBER Shift the Focus: Ms Luxford How are we supposed to have a positive relationship with our bodies when we are constantly bombarded with images that make us feel like we are ‘not enough’? We just need to change our perspective and find a new way of appreciating what our bodies can do, rather than how they look! Healthy Mind: Healthy Body: Mr Drummond From a sports science perspective, Mr Drummond is focusing on the link between physical and mental health. If you need some insight into gaining confidence in reaching your training goals, this is the talk for you!
TUESDAY 8TH DECEMBER How to practice Self-Care: Mr Hawes our School Counsellor It has been a really challenging year with a lot of extra anxiety and stress which many of us have found difficult to deal with. Mr Hawes gives us some fantastic practical strategies for practicing good self-care. Time to show our minds and bodies some positive self-love!
WEDNESDAY 9TH DECEMBER The Power of Sleep: Ms Stapleton Sleep is one of the most important factors in healthy mind, healthy body. We are doing ourselves a huge favour when we get it right! Ms Stapleton guides us through the sleep cycle, gives an insight into dreams, and tells us why sleeping is so beneficial! Body Positivity in Dance: Ms Ryan For those of you in Year 10 who are addicted to Tiktok dancing, this one is for you! Come and dance with Ms Ryan in the Old Gym on Wednesday lunchtime 1:10pm. Let’s celebrate how our bodies can move by learning a commercial dance routine and seeing what you have in the way of free-styling!
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CONTINUED
LOVE YOUR BODY WEEK
THURSDAY 10TH DECEMBER How to Eat Well: Yusuf from Principal Nutrition Here comes the sciencey bit! If you want to learn about nutrition and how to successfully fuel your body; should we eat carbs, fats and protein? How to avoid a diet but learn great healthy eating habits – this is a blitz through nutrition 101. All from the mouth of a qualified nutritionist, personal trainer and overall great guy Yusuf. The Cook Off: Mr Spedding Vs Ms Gritti It’s so important to fuel our bodies like we would fuel our cars if we want them to perform well for us! Ms Gritti and Mr Spedding cook us through some easy and nutritious dishes of their choosing, but whose do you think is the best? Let’s see what the student verdict is with our interactive vote!
BIOLOGY
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION It was a great pleasure to be able to hold the Nottingham High School Biology Photography Competition in 2020. This is the third year that the competition has been held, running from Biology Week in October until just before the end of the Autumn term in December. The students (and staff) were challenged to submit an image that celebrated the beauty of the natural world and it was wonderful that so many students entered. The consistently high quality made judging difficult, but enjoyable! It has been especially important to appreciate the natural world around us during these difficult times and spending time in nature has been a source of great comfort for many people, especially when other activities have been curtailed. Well done to all of our photographers!
Mr Duckett
Head of Biology
PS – full disclosure – I come up with the names for the images, unless they come to me already named, so all fault for any terrible names lies with me (sorry). Don’t blame the photographers!
THE
AWARDS YEARS 7-10 Scan this QR to watch ‘The Cook Off’! FRIDAY 11TH DECEMBER Body Image in the LGBTQ Community: Mr Beattie What does it mean to identify as LGBTQ and face additional body image issues? How can we as individuals help promote positive body image regardless of how we identify and what is already being done to celebrate the gloriousness of our bodies in current campaigns? Mr Beattie tackles these big questions in his presentation and taps into our psychology when trying to build a positive relationship with our own bodies. Bonus - Read your way to Positive Body Image! Ms Gunther has put together a collection of nonfiction and fiction books in the Library for those of you who want to delve into body positivity a bit deeper! She will be Instagramming some top reads all week, which can also be found in the school Library.
Winner Matthew M, Year 8 ‘Long Way to Go’ Runner-Up Henry B, Year 7 ‘Fungal City’
YEARS 11 - 13 Winner Daniel W, Year 12 ‘Splash of Colour’ Runner-Up Al Q H, Year 11 ‘Autumn Glow’
STAFF Winner Mr Gericke ‘Duck a L’orange’ Runner-Up Mr Hurrell ‘Relic of the Old Days’
Section Name
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Clockwise from Top Left: Mathew M (Winner) Daniel W (Winner) Mr Gericke (Winner)
Mr Hurrell (Runner Up) Al Q H (Runner Up) Henry B (Runner Up)
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Section Name
BIOLOGY WEEK N
ational Biology Week was held in October, a familiar and welcome (although slightly altered) event in a very strange year. First up was the now regular biology club special with Year 7 where we dissected a fish, frog, rat and pigeon for some comparative anatomy, while Year 9 were able to get hands on with our department animals in beast club (Year 10 also got involved with the beasts on Friday). Monday was also the launch of our biology photography competition, which ran on until December. The tutor groups considered some UK freshwater species and voted on their favourite on Tuesday and on Wednesday discovered some scientists who made important contributions to biology and medicine but suffered from prejudice due to their race and are not as well-known as they should be. This tied in with the school’s work on diversity as well as Black History Month. Wednesday also involved a citizen science project where students were able to help in real scientific studies by identifying animals in photographs. Year 11 were able to enjoy a Biology Olympiad seminar on Thursday (these are normally just for the sixth-form) and all years had a go at some quizzes during tutor time on Friday. And the result of that freshwater species vote? The overwhelming and rather predictable winner, with 39% of the vote, was the Common Otter. It is super-cute I suppose! Runner-up, with 19% of the vote, was the Water Vole. Representing non-mammals, the Common Toad came in third (13%). Here’s hoping we’ll be able to run a full programme again next year, with students from all year groups able to take part in each activity.
Mr Duckett
Head of Biology
Trips, Visits & Activities
YEAR 10 BIOLOGY
PERLETHORPE TRIP Our biology trip to Perlethorpe environmental education centre allowed Year 10 to practice our ecology skills and complete some required practical for our GCSE course. We investigated populations of plant species in different habitats, plant distribution and the effect of pollution on aquatic invertebrates. We practised a variety of sampling techniques in different habitats. Initially we were split into groups to study the invertebrates living in the stream and the effect that pollution from the road would have. We compared the biodiversity upstream and downstream of a bridge on the stream. Many of the group found this to be the most entertaining part of the trip as it involved kicking up sediment from the stream bed to catch in our nets to discover the species that live there, and those who did not bring wellies got quite wet! I even caught a little fish!
It was a lovely day, so we soon got dry as we ventured to the grass and woodland areas to sample the plant populations. We used a quadrant to observe accurately the species of plants and their population numbers. It was interesting to compare the woodland and grassland biomes. This was quite relaxing as we studied the different species in the habitat and compared our findings. This trip was very enjoyable and fascinating to study and appreciate the different invertebrates and plant species that lived in the area. It’s so helpful to see how the data we’ll be using in lessons is gathered. The stunning views of the estate and very sunny day certainly also added to our enjoyment of the trip!
Lucy B, Year 10
CHEMISTRY RESIDENTIAL
ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
A
fter receiving a Roentgenium award in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, I was invited to attend a 4-day residential camp at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge where I attended many fascinating lectures on Organic and Physical Chemistry given by world-famous chemist, Dr Wothers. These lectures varied from learning about formal charges and functional group levels to wave functions and solving Schrödinger equations. I also had a lot of fun using problem-solving skills and working with others to work out the organic synthesis of various pharmaceutical drugs, and doing many complicated and enjoyable practicals. What made the practicals even more fun was that we needed to plan a method before doing some of them; my favourite was an experiment where we successfully figured out the formula of a copper(II) complex. Some other highlights of the trip were getting to stay on college grounds and experience what it would be like to live and study here. It was an amazing experience and I would definitely recommend it for anyone who gets this incredible opportunity.
Neel B, 6E2
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Section Name
FOOD
GLORIOUS FOOD! I
t’s been yet another highly successful and event filled year for us in Food and Nutrition. Despite the challenges of teaching Food in a pandemic, we have continued to deliver safe, engaging, action packed practical lessons and also offer a whole host of exciting co-curricular activities. This has only been possible through the adaptability, creativity and flexibility of our students and staff, and I’d like to thank everyone for their remarkable efforts. Highlights of the year include our ongoing community partnership work, with Year 10 and 11 students cooking over 350 hot and nutritional meals for local homeless charities, The Guru Nanak and Emmanuel House. Just before Christmas our students also generously donated toiletries and selection boxes to create over 200 gift wrapped personal hygiene packs and chocolate treats for distribution to homeless and local refugee families living in Nottingham. Our Food clubs continue to prove very popular and it was great to see them run throughout the spring term lockdown with our very own Nottingham High School MasterChef competition. The virtual MasterChef ‘World Cuisine’ saw some fantastic creative cooking from many of our talented students who really impressed
the judges with their wonderful dishes. Our congratulations go to Matthew M in Year 8 crowned MasterChef of The Year 2021 who made his own Ravioli Bergese, Korean Kimchi and some beautiful fruit filled crepes for the pancake day challenge. Our Christmas Bake Off was another highlight with over 50 beautiful seasonal entries with many creative and complex designs. The Ready Steady University also continued virtually, giving our Y13 students the opportunity to develop practical skills so they will be ready to impress new friends at University with their amazing cooking abilities and recipes, all of which are nutritional and affordable on a student budget. We are all now really looking forward to a return to normality next year and continuing with all these exciting community partnerships, clubs and initiatives. On top of this we’re also planning to rearrange a date for our Cultural Food Trip to Southern Italy and The Bay of Naples where we will be learning all about food from this region. The trip will be an unforgettable opportunity for students to experience the subject firsthand, supporting their classroom learning and bringing the subject to life. Highlights of the trip will include visiting an authentic Olive Oil producer, a buffalo mozzarella farm, and masterclasses in making pizza, pasta and ice cream.
Mrs Stafford Head of Food and Nutrition
Section Name
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COOKING FOR THE
HOMELESS NIGHT SHELTER & EMMANUEL HOUSE
A
t a time when Food poverty is a real issue and as part of our Year 10 activities week, we volunteered to prepare, cook and serve nutritious hot meals to donate to the Emmanuel House homeless charity. This is an independent charity that supports homeless vulnerable and isolated adults in Nottingham. They aim to prevent people becoming homeless and to support those who are homeless into accommodation. This particular charity challenge was for us to cook 100 healthy and nutritious meals including dessert for the night shelter and this time there was a special request for something different to the usual pasta, chillies and curries served regularly there. We decided to make a range of nutritional and healthy pies including vegetable, cottage and steak pies finished off with seasonal summer fruit cheesecakes as dessert. We were split into different stations and every group had a different dish they were responsible for cooking within a tight time schedule. It was always a race against time, but in the end we all pulled through and completed the challenge set for us. Everyone worked together in order to get all the meals ready from mashing potatoes, making filling for the pies to the final stage of packing and getting them prepared for transportation down to the centre. We are thankful to the Food and Nutrition Department for offering us this great opportunity to get involved in the local community and participate in such a worthwhile and rewarding cause. This is an invaluable project that really makes a difference to the lives of so many and one that I would really like get involved with again next year as part of Community Action.
Zurain Z, Year 10 Scan this QR to watch the cooking in progress!
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Trips, Visits & Activities
YEAR 11 FOOD AND NUTRITION (DECEMBER 2020)
CHARITY COOK FOR THE HOMELESS
T
he Guru Nanak Mission in Nottingham is a local charity which aims to serve hot meals to those in need. Three times a week the volunteers serve and cook up to 70 portions of fresh meals in Gurdwaras across the city. Recently they have also worked hard to reduce their plastic use and have begun serving all meals in biodegradable and compostable packaging. The Guru Nanak Mission was founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev ji; the first Sikh Guru. All of their food is vegetarian and eggless in order to not exclude anyone from the hot meals. By providing hot and nutritional food, especially during the Winter months, the people of the GNM can help protect and care for the homeless. A group of our Year 11 GCSE Food and Nutrition students were set the challenge to prepare and cook over 125 portions of vegetarian chilli for the charity in December of last year. As a group we wore face masks and gloves in order to produce food of safe quality in our Food lesson. Many students across all years also donated gift wrapped selection boxes as a small festive gift and personal toiletries packs. Mrs Stafford then delivered all the food, chocolate hampers and over 200 personal toiletries kits to the Guru Nanak for distribution that evening on Albert Street in Nottingham. Our school and students have a social responsibility to help people around us and show empathy and kindness to all. We are able to do this by helping charitable organisations like the Guru Nanak Mission and providing free food to people who need it. We look forward to continuing to support the fantastic work of this local charity next year in the sixth form.
Evie B-S, Year 11
Scan this QR to watch the cooking in progress!
Trips, Visits & Activities
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YEAR 8 CREATIVE DAY
THE ARTISAN SCHOOL OF COOKERY
For our Creative Day, at the end of exam week, Year 8 students were treated to a day of Artisan bakery and handmade chocolates. Artisan Ingredients are foods made using traditional methods and made by hand the homemade way. We were really lucky and made focaccia and cinnamon swirl style Chelsea buns as well as making and tasting delicious Artisan chocolates with different % of Cocoa solids from 100% to zero! We learnt so many new skills on Creative Day such as learning how to make enriched doughs and crème patisserie which is a great skill to learn as it is used in many bakes. Another new skill we learnt from creative day was how to make and temper chocolate – a skill you need to know to make high quality chocolate. Tempering chocolate is when you slowly heat and cool the chocolate
to make the fats crystallise uniformly, so the chocolate has a glossy finish and makes a snap when broken. My favourite part was the Cinnamon Chelsea buns because for me it was the most technical and also because it tasted the best due to the balance of ingredients. After a hard week of exams, we found it really enjoyable to be able to have some fun and to get creative because we had just been concentrating very hard on exams so to have time to relax and have a good social time was really needed. Also, the foods we made were a super gift at the end to a long week for us, Year 8 students. Thanks Mrs Stafford, Amelia and the Food and Nutrition Department for a memorable and fantastic day.
Sam B, Year 8
CHRISTMAS Christmas is always a magical time at Nottingham High School, with lots of events like the Christmas Bake Off, Carol Concerts and festive activities. You can watch these fun festive videos that capture the School spirit.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Sporty Santas
THE GREAT NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL
CHRISTMAS BAKE OFF We had 38 entries and Mr Fear and all the judges were really impressed by the quality and originality of the designs, baking and decoration. Congratulations to all our winners and well done to everyone who entered and participated in the competition.
1. OVERALL BAKE OFF WINNER: Matthew M for his spectacular triple white chocolate Christmas Cake with Gingerbread decorations.
2. BEST CHRISTMAS THEMED DECORATIONS: Sienna W for her beautifully decorated Christmas North Pole cake with an important global warning message for us all.
3. MOST FUN AND CREATIVE CHRISTMAS CAKE:
5.ORIGINAL IDEA DEMONSTRATING CREATIVITY:
Asha D for her stunning Santa Claus getting stuck up the chimney triple layered cake.
Arnav S for his great Traditional Christmas cake and stacked gingerbread tree.
4. CREATIVE CAKE DEMONSTRATING GREAT TECHNICAL SKILL:
6.BEST STAFF ENTRY:
Holly P for her beautiful triple chocolate cake beautifully decorated with handmade chocolate sculptures and shards.
Rebecca A for her very creative construction site/careers gingerbread house.
Trips, Visits & Activities
It is my first year at Nottingham High School and although I absolutely love baking, I had never entered a bake-off before. Before lockdown, my family used to come round on the weekend, and I would love to make cakes/desserts for all of us. Unfortunately, during Covid they could not come round but that did not stop me from baking; lockdown gave me a lot of spare time to practice and become more creative. For my bake-off entry I tried to think of a Christmassy theme and the first thing that came to mind was the North Pole. This then gave me the idea to give my cake an important message about Global Warming; the North Pole is becoming increasingly threatened with the icebergs melting and destroying animals’ habitats. To represent my theme, I made some penguins protesting with little signs containing the global warming message. I also showed the polar bears habitat being destroyed. To create the effect that the ice was melting, I used some royal icing and spread it across a smaller piece of cake. Overall, I am very proud that my cake won a category in the Christmas bake-off and I had a really great time making it. It was an exciting opportunity and I am glad that I could take part. I also entered the ‘Round the World’ Master chef competition and I can’t wait for more challenges like these to participate in!
Sienna W, Year 7
Award No. 2
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I was extremely excited about the chance to do some baking for the school competition. I have always loved to bake, and I started when I was around the age of four, helping my mum to bake cakes for family birthdays. Since then, I have started trying new things by myself, such as making a lemon tart in the summer holidays or making crumbles when all our apples ripen from our allotment in the Autumn. During lockdown, there were few things to do, so I started experimenting with my baking, like making raspberry blondies. It was good to try new hobbies or activities in lockdown, because there were times when you could just be doing nothing or watching television. I was therefore extremely excited about the chance to do some baking for the school competition. For my Christmas bake off cake, I decided to make a ‘Santa stuck in the chimney’ and I won the most creative prize. It was a challenge to make, with a lot of small intricate icing decorations such as the fairy lights around the chimney, and it was a three-layer cake with the top tier a small square that I had to piece together. During the process, I was up late, adding the finishing touches of icing! In the middle of making the cake, Santa’s legs fell off, so I had to prop them up with cocktail sticks!
Asha D, Year 7
Overall Winner
Award No. 3
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Trips, Visits & Activities
LGBTQ+ MONTH I
n February 2021 the High School celebrated LGBTQ+ History month. At the start of the month we raised our very own LGBTQ+ Flag inspired by the progress flag by Daniel Quasar. We were so thrilled with the positive attention that the flag received both in school and also as part of the wider community. Throughout the month our students were able to watch a number of interviews, and presentations from members of staff that explored the many layers of LGBTQ+ . Our students and staff were also able to get involved with a house music competition where they submitted a video of themselves performing a piece by an LGBTQ+ artist, the entries were brilliant and really highlighted some hidden talents both in our students but also in our staff. The competition was a tough one but Maples’ came out as the winners closely followed by Mellers’. During the month we also launched a History essay competition where we invited students to submit an essay on a figure who is significant to LGBTQ+ History. We were pleased that so many students took up this opportunity and submitted some really thoughtprovoking pieces of work. We selected two winners, from Year 7-10 we selected Muskan’s piece about William Shakespeare and from Year 11-13 we selected Grace’s essay about Rachel Held Evan. The two winning entries received a cash prize that had generously been donated by an ON. We are already planning our LGBTQ+ History month for 2022 so watch this space!
Introduction to LGBTQ
Exploring The History of LGBTQ
Interview with Jude Guaitamacchi
Trips, Visits & Activities
BRITISH PHYSICS OLYMPIAD Archie B and Thomas B (Year 13) competed in the British Physics Olympiad (BPhO) Physics Challenge. The BPhO challenges a range of student knowledge, preparation and ability, whilst also aiming at stretching and challenging the top young physicists in the country in a national competition. Every question requires a different perspective to get the measure of it. This fluency in recognising topics and linking ideas is, in part, what develops the physicist's confidence and mastery. The challenge also stretches thinking into applications and ideas
rather than to keeping to the relatively narrow content of the syllabus. This is an excellent tool for preparing students for further work or university interview. In Round 1 Archie achieved a Gold Award and Thomas achieved a Top Gold, placing him in the top 7% of all the students in the country who sat the paper – over a total of 270 schools. Thomas then took part in Round 2 in March 2021, once again doing the school proud and achieving a silver award.
SENIOR PHYSICS CHALLENGE From December to the end of April, Anna S in Year 12 solved a variety of physics and maths problems on the ‘Isaac Physics’ website coming within the top 50 students nationally. She was invited to a four-day virtual summer school hosted by the University of Cambridge. Over the course of the week, Anna attended lectures on Quantum Mechanics which looked the Schrodinger equations and the maths behind quantum phenomena. In breakout rooms on Zoom, she enjoyed solving problems in small groups and exploring the concepts of the lectures with tutors. One lecture used complex numbers to look at diffraction gratings and derive the Schrodinger equation. On one evening, the group looked at some unusual estimation challenges such as the extra power required to drive a car at 30mph if it had square wheels and how thick a wire made out of the iron in the core of the Earth would need to be to span the length of the observable universe.
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Section Name
HISTORY A LEVEL
This Academic Year, the History Department has been delighted to continue to develop its links with History Departments of the University of Sheffield as well as Royal Holloway, albeit virtually rather than face to face. Thanks to Google Meet, our A Level historians have gained an insight into the study of History at University, with a range of talks from prominent historians in their fields; from Dr Tsai’s talk on the Cultural Revolution, which juxtaposed Mao’s swim across the Yangtze with images from a pool party in Wuhan this summer; to Dr Gibson’s History skills workshop, which encouraged our Year 13 students to take a critical approach to the evaluation of primary and secondary sources; and Dr Toner’s talk on the long Civil Rights Movement, directly challenging the pervasive ‘master narrative.’ Year 13 students also had the opportunity to speak to History students at Sheffield University, which was definitely appreciated, and allowed our students to learn more about university life during a pandemic. In lieu of the regular trips and visits which we would normally organise, Year 12 students participated in a student summit, run by the Institute of Education and University College London, to mark International Human Rights Day. Under the guidance of Simon Schama, as well as other presenters, students were invited to safely explore important concepts such as extremism, equality and human rights with a focus on the events of 9/11. The wealth of online experiences this year has truly enriched our A Level Historian’s experience of the Department’s curriculum and beyond.
KS3
HISTORICAL FICTION COMPETITION It has also been great to see our students get involved with a number of competitions outside of the usual 6th Form essay competitions. During lockdown, our intrepid Y.12 Historians ran and organised a Historical Fiction competition for students in Y.7-9, leading sessions on what makes good historical fiction and supporting lower school students with their entries. They then selected 6 entries to be entered into the Historical Association’s national competition as well as an internal winner. Congratulations go to Chloe for her gripping story centred on Norse mythology, and to our runners up Zara C and Evelyn A for their thoughtfully researched stories on the Battle of Stirling Bridge and foundling Ester Atcheson respectively. It was great to read so many excellent entries from our lower school historians and provide an opportunity for Year 12s to support and interact with Year 7, 8 and 9 during lockdown.
Section Name
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Images are from Year 10 WWI Day
YEAR 9
YEAR 10
During the lockdown period in the Spring Term, Year 9 students, who had been studying the origins and course of WWII, were introduced to an independent research project on the Second World War. Students were tasked with researching an aspect of the conflict that had not been studied or covered as part of our lessons in class. Students were given free reign to explore an aspect of the war that they wanted to find out more about. It was great to read projects on the often neglected theatres of WWII, such as the role of Ireland or colonial soldiers from the British Empire. The top entries from each form were passed to Mr Fear, who judged Sangita M’s project on the role of female agents to be the best in the year. With William H and Sarah L’s projects coming in at a close second.
In the Summer Term, thanks to the relaxation of some of the government’s Covid restrictions, the History Department was thrilled to invite Frontline History into school to work with our Year 10 historians, providing a hands-on experience of the First World War. Students were introduced to artefacts from their study of the origins and course of the First World War, gaining an insight into not only the global aspect of the war, but truly getting to grips with what would have motivated people of their age, such as Horace Iles and Valentine Strudwick, to enlist and fight for King and Country. Not only were students able to try on aspects of a soldier’s uniform and see the equipment they would have used for night raids in the trenches, but they also discovered how well soldiers were prepared (or not) for the nascent gas attacks during the war. It was great to see students getting hands on and being able to fully immerse themselves into the study of their GCSE History.
WWII PROJECT
WWI DAY
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Trips, Visits & Activities
MUSIC
LIGETI QUARTETIN-RESIDENCE The Ligeti Quartet were our Quartet-in-residence during 20202021 and they certainly had a huge impact, working with students across all three schools. Over the course of the year they delivered high quality composition workshops, working with GCSE and A level music students, as well as Year 9 musicians. They even gave some of the workshops online during the pandemic! The Year 12 Baroque Ensemble and Year 8 Violin Quartet benefitted from their expertise, receiving coaching sessions. The Year 12 Jazz Band also took part in a performing workshop, and the members of the quartet thoroughly enjoyed improvising alongside the students in the Band. The quartet also gave a recital in the Senior School and the Junior Atrium, as well as informal performances outside. We are very much looking forward to seeing them around school next academic year, as they continue to work with the musicians in the school. April 2021 May 2021
Trips, Visits & Activities
YEAR 9 APRIL 2021
DJEMBE WORKSHOP Year 9 music students were extremely lucky to participate in a drumming workshop with Steve Rivers from “Unbeatable Energy”. Steve was passionate about djembe, and that reflected in our enthusiastic response. He started the workshop by showing us the basics of djembe drumming, demonstrating the different techniques used, and what sounds they produce, followed by some basic rhythms. For this he split us into groups to combine the rhythms, creating both a polyrhythmic and cross-rhythmic effect. He also introduced us
to the dunduns, giving lots of us the opportunity to play those. Towards the end of the workshop, Steve taught us some traditional dance, giving some initially reluctant volunteers the chance to showcase their skills, which everyone enjoyed by the end. Overall, the workshop was a great experience, and I know that we all thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to work with Steve, and learn more about djembe drumming.
Phoebe F
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Trips, Visits & Activities
GEOGRAPHY YEAR 7
ATTENBOROUGH Year 7 enjoyed their annual field trip to our local Attenborough Nature Reserve, where they spent a sunny day exploring and investigating specific habitats in the reserve. The groups rotated around 3 in depth activities. The first in an area of woodland, where they were testing the impact of trampling on woodland ecosystems by using quadrat surveys to identify species and other aspects of the fragile ecosystem. The second was collecting data to test the impact of pollution on one of the ponds in the reserve, where they
YEAR 8
BURBAGE BROOK The Year 8 classes visited Burbage Brook in the Peak District National Park during June. The aim of the day was to see how the stream changed its and the valley’s profile as it travelled downstream. A variety of equipment needed to be collected and carried by each group and each site they needed to divide themselves up to speed up the data collection. Whilst some groups relied on the pencil and paper approach, this year allowed for some groups to collect the data on an iPad, allowing them to see their graphs being drawn as they entered the data. We really had to work together to help collect the data but it was good to see some people in the river and others climbing up the rocky sides of the valley. The walk down to the river proved tricky for some, getting stuck in the bogs, but fortunately no lost footwear to report this year. Lunch was a particularly pleasant event with a nice spot next to a meander and the weather stayed dry. How wonderful it was to be allowed to be outside with school groups after the last year. As can be seen from the pictures a great day was had by all. When we arrived back at school we were still somewhat wet and a little smelly, but we were filled with memories of a great day by the river and the knowledge of the river and valley changed as we moved downstream.
had a great time finding and identifying aquatic wildlife. We saw plenty of beautiful dragon flies and tiny newts too! The third activity was a walk that focused on understanding the sustainable catchment-based approach to flooding on the River Trent. A great time was had by all; the highlight of the visit may possibly have been the gaggle of geese that persisted on following our lesser spotted Year 7 students around at lunchtime!
Trips, Visits & Activities
YEAR 10
HOLDERNESS COASTLINE
T
he air was full of anticipation as Year 10 Geographers embarked on one of the first school trips since the lockdown. The task in hand was to learn more about the natural processes of erosion, transportation and deposition along the coastline, to look at some of the fantastic scenery and to understand the scale of the processes. We also needed to collect some data. The final part of the day was to look at some of the many and varied attempts that are being made to manage the coastline. As it turned out the journey was long, but being in just one year group it meant we did not need to wear the dreaded face mask and it would have been rude not to have participated in the eating of snacks. The first site we visited was Flamborough Head and the chalk cliffs. At over 50m tall they were certainly impressive. The tide was in and this meant we could not explore the geo or arch but we could skim stones and visit the caves. Our second site was Sewerby beach. We had the task of see if the beach profile or size of the sediment changed as we went along a 1 Km section the beach. If Longshore Drift is occurring, we would expect to see the sediment become smaller and rounder and the beach profile become gentler. The beach was a little narrow at times due to the high tide but it was great to work as a
team to collect the data. Whilst our data would confirm our results it was pretty obvious as we walked towards Bridlington that the beach material was changing as we went from large boulders through pebbles and shingle onto mainly sand. However, working in groups made the whole process a lot of fun and will certainly help when it comes to the exams. As we reached our lunch spot the ominous very dark clouds that had been heading towards us finally arrived. The torrential rain started and most of us huddled under the little shelter there was but several of our group decided lockdown had been hard and the chance of a much-needed game of beach football could not be passed up. The final place to visit was Hornsea, but the torrential rain continued unabated so the teachers very wisely decided to keep this visit short. We looked at the various types of coastal management and why it was required and quickly retreated to the warmth and relative comfort of our coaches. This was a great day in which we spent plenty of time on different beaches in Yorkshire, the weather was not particularly kind, but it really did not matter at all. Many thanks to all the staff who gave up their time to allow the trip to take place.
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REC
YEAR 9
ONE DAY FILM SCHOOL A
fter a year of “bubbles” and a very hard exam week, Year 9 had the opportunity of releasing their creative skills as we welcomed the return of the “One Day Film School”. This proved to be a very enjoyable day after the rigours of exams during the week before. The day involved a practical introduction to filmmaking followed by the production of a short ten shot film using iMovie. The workshops in the morning covered some really interesting facts and skills such as film history, screenwriting and camera work. We also had a fight choreography session, learning the art of throwing a punch without actually making contact (it’s all in the camera work). In the afternoon, everyone then broke out into groups to make a series of films utilising the skills learned in the morning. The day culminated with our very own Oscars ceremony and the crowning of our winning film. Although it was a very busy day, the students worked very hard to produce a series of really enjoyable films. So many key skills were learned during the day such as the importance of storytelling and the art of good camera work but it was clear that everyone benefited from working in a team, being creative, innovative and taking on specific leadership roles within their teams. All the films proved very enjoyable to watch but there could only be one winner; the Oscar went to Runway Madness.
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10X CHALLENGE Congratulations to Rohan, Callum and Leon in Year 10 for taking part in the 10x Challenge. They had 4 weeks to turn £10 into as much as they can and decided to run a football tournament for their year group. In their sales pitch Rohan commented that football is a sport that many in his year are keen on, but that there currently isn’t a school tournament for the enthusiasts. It’s been great to see the support from so many students in the year group, including some who said they’ve not played the game for 4 years! Well done to the team for persuading the whole year to get behind the tournament, paying to take part and also spending money on refreshments after the games. In just 4 weeks they managed to turn £10 into £76 for the Football Foundation.
SCHOOL CHARTER In 1513, the "Free School" was founded by Dame Agnes Mellers, after the death of her husband Richard in his memory.
To do so she enlisted the help of Sir Thomas Lovell as Governor of Nottingham Castle and Secretary to the Treasury. Through their combined efforts, King Henry VIII sealed the School's foundation deed at Westminster. In the Foundation Deed, Mellers provided for a Commemoration Service in St Mary's Church in the Lace Market "on the Feast of the Translation of St Richard of Chichester, namely 16 June" each year, although the service is now held on the nearest Saturday to that date. With the exception of Nottingham Goose Fair, this is the most ancient ceremonial event still held Our production in the City of Nottingham, featuring the School’s and the oldest still largely in Charter is still available its original form (the Goose to view here Fair now being a funfair rather than a livestock fair). The School Charter is usually safely stored in the Nottingham Archives. It was withdrawn on this occasion to create our Founder’s Day 2021 production #TogetherApart when our annual event was cancelled due to Covid19 restrictions.
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Section Name
YEAR 10
SPRING LAKES
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YOUNG ENGINEERS
O
n Activities day on Friday 25th June, Young Engineers were visited by VEX Robotics for a fun day of designing, building and programming robots. Our first challenge was inspired by robots involved in the clean-up efforts of the Fukushima disaster. It involved designing, building, and programming a robot capable of moving a radioactive substance (a blue box) from a danger zone (a red box) to a safe zone (a green box). Working in pairs, we used the VEX robotics pieces (a cross between LEGO and KNEX) to build a simple moving base, onto which we added a claw to grip the box that needed to be moved. Next, we used an advanced version of the Scratch programming language to program our robots. There were many factors we had to take into account when programming, including the distances that needed to be travelled to reach the boxes, the angles to turn the robot, the opening and closing of the claw, and, of course, the robotic victory spin! Our next challenge was to design a robot which would be capable of carrying a drone and a supply box through an obstacle course on Mars. We adapted our robots from challenge 1 to include a platform on top, to carry the drone without it falling off. Next, we had to program the robot to navigate through the obstacle course, reach the Mars base, and then go back to the start. Finally, we had to program the claw to carry the box through the course before dropping it of at the
end. This challenge incorporated the skills we had learnt from the previous challenge, but gave us new knowledge about how to build the robots. Our final challenge was a team one. We had to combine all four of our robots from challenge two to build a better robot with a larger, more secure platform for the drone. The idea was that the drone would take off once it reached the Mars base and then land back onto the robot before it drove back to the start. We had to work as a team to solve the problems we encountered, for example, we had to make the robot as lightweight as possible so it could still move freely. Also, we had to make sure the drone didn’t fall off the robot when the robot was moving. We also encountered problems when programming, for example, sometimes the robot wasn’t turning exactly 90 degrees or it didn’t stop for long enough at the Mars Base to allow the drone to land again. Unfortunately, due to the air conditioning in the room, we didn’t quite manage to get the drone to be able to land onto our robot. However, we felt that the robotics, engineering, programming, problem solving and teamwork skills we gained from this experience certainly counted as a victory. It was a very enjoyable day and we would like to thank the DT Department and VEX Robotics for making the day such fun.
Em A, Year 9
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Section Name
YEAR 7 FRI 25TH - SAT 26TH JUNE 2021
ACTIVITIES DAY & MOUNT COOK RESIDENTIAL
A
t last it was the Week of Year 7’s long awaited Transition Trip to Mount Cook in Wirksworth Derbyshire. This was unable to take place earlier in the Year, and with many of Year 7 having missed their Year 6 residentials, there was much anticipation, excitement, and a little nervousness at the prospect of staying away from home with the rest of the Year Group. In these unusual times, and being the first residential of 2021 for the Senior School, the staff were feeling some trepidation also! We would be put into smaller group bubbles for the weekend, and students were introduced to others and to group leaders whilst taking part in a treasure trail; a fun walk around the Nottingham Castle, Broadmarsh, and Canal areas of Nottingham, solving clues as we went. With approximately 5 miles of walking we were glad it only rained for a small part of the way! A highlight of the route was getting to meet Robin Hood, although Mrs Stafford may disagree as she was put in the stocks by the Nottingham Legend, ably assisted by his partner in crime, Little John. Once we had eaten lunch at school, we were put into bubbles and on our way to Wirksworth. Some had a little sleep on the coach, already having been tired by the morning walk! Refreshed by lunch and some downtime on the bus, we all got straight on with various activities as soon as we arrived at Mount Cook. One of our teachers remarked that, in her many years of teaching, she had never seen such a fantastic range of activities on offer; high ropes, team building, archery tag, rock climbing and abseiling were enjoyed by all. Those who were
feeling unsure about tackling some of the challenges were put at ease by the brilliant instructors, and encouraged to have a go by their peers. Many were surprised by how much they achieved and how much they enjoyed it! We finished activities at 8pm on Friday evening. Everyone was ready for dinner, and some even had energy for ball games while they were waiting, despite having walked over 20,000 steps that day! After dinner there was time for a quiz, and more sports for those still not tired before bedtime at 10pm. Despite a rather late night, everyone was raring to go again in the morning, and looking forward to a hearty breakfast. Through the day everyone got to try all of the activities on offer, and to encourage their friends and teachers to have a go too. Mr Morgan and Mrs Stafford were most keen to try everything, and both took the Leap of Faith on the high ropes, cheered on enthusiastically by their groups. 5pm came around all too quickly, and we were back on the buses, returning to Nottingham. Everyone was a little more subdued than on the way out, and a few more took advantage of a little “power nap” enroute, but had we managed to wear them out? Feedback on Monday back in school seems to indicate so, with one student reporting that he’d even had to get an “early night” on Saturday to recover! All-in-all a great trip, with brilliant feedback from everyone who was lucky enough to be there. And the best news is that Ms Matthews and I get to go again in September with the new Year 7s!
Mrs Andrews Assistant Head of Year 7
Section Name
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Section Name
OPTIONS
Bronze D of E
Options
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COMBINED CADET FORCE
CONTINGENT COMMANDER’S REPORT
T
he Combined Cadet Force continues to provide outstanding Co-Curricular opportunities for the students of the school through military sponsored training, which at its core, holds high personal standards, cadet leadership and active participation as paramount. The Cadet-led Contingent, which has become the hallmark of the CCF in recent years, continued to provide excellent opportunities for our Year 12 and 13s to influence the training of the younger cadets. An excellent NCO team, led by Cadet Warrant Officer Razeen S, provided engaging activities and showed themselves to be excellent role models for all 200 cadets in the Contingent. A number of cadets this year attended CCF courses to enhance their skills. Unfortunately, a large number of courses, including the school activities days were cancelled due to Covid19. The cadets however will not miss out on these courses, with many being re- scheduled for later in the year. Section staff and their NCO teams have continued to lead a wide variety of training for the junior members. Cadets participated in leadership, first aid, drill, field craft, fitness, music and water based activities and a whole host of other practical training
during their Monday evening sessions. Cadets have also completed various elements of the CCF national syllabus, which covers many other aspects of military training across all three sections Beyond the Monday sessions, the Cadets usual range of public duties, including the Nottingham Club’s Armistice Dinner, the Nottingham City Remembrance Parade and the Albert Ball Parade at Nottingham Castle, were all cancelled due to the pandemic. We look forward to participating in these events next year. The Cadets and staff of the CCF continue to impress me with their dedication and high standards and it is down to the efforts of the staff and cadet leadership of the Contingent that the CCF has grown over recent years. My sincere thanks go to the departing cadet leadership team, Razeen S (CWO) and the Heads of Section: William H (Navy) Andrew H (Army) and Sandeep D (RAF). I have thoroughly enjoyed my fourth year as Contingent Commander and I look forward to seeing the CCF grow from strength to strength in future years.
Mr Allison Lieutenant Commander
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Options
D OF E EXPEDITIONS A
fter the bad start to 2020 due to Coronavirus, I didn’t think we would get any expeditions out in 2020/21. Luckily the restrictions started to ease and we were able to get all participants out on expeditions with some modifications and safety measures in place.
BRONZE The bronze group started their training on the 28th March with an in-school training day supported by an Approved Activity Provider called Karos Adventure. This saw all 86 participants take part in sessions on Map Skills and Planning, Kit and Rucksacks, Cooking Safely, Menu Planning and Campcraft. This gave them the vital basic skills required to complete their expedition section of the award. Their practice weekend was a non-residential weekend, due to restrictions, where they left the school on coaches and went to the White Peak area to practice their navigation skills. This was run over the two days necessary to fulfil the requirements of the award. The teams completed their practice successfully. In July, the participants finally experienced the camping residential expedition, still with special measures/ restrictions put in place to keep everyone safe.
Options
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SILVER The Silver group came into School on the 21st March to plan their practice routes and then in some after school training sessions, where they planned their expedition for the qualifying element. For their practice, we went to the White Peak area on a day walking expedition, again due to Covid we couldn’t stay over. The first two days were difficult with teams getting lost and forgetting their training. The final day of the practice we had the worst weather for quite a long time and it rained from the moment they got off the coach to the minute they got back to school. This was an enormous learning curve for the students as none of them had completed their bronze expedition due to Covid. For their qualifying expedition we went to the Lake District, starting at Coniston Hall, on the shores of Coniston Water and walked through Great Langdale and Borrowdale before finishing in Keswick. The weather was good throughout the weekend and all teams managed to successfully complete their expedition section of the silver award.
COMBINED CADET FORCE
RAF REPORT
Whilst this year has been incredibly frustrating, with CCF parades not possible for a good chunk of the time and the senior NCOs not able to mix with the younger cadets, I have been very impressed with the positive attitude and ‘can-do’ spirit shown by the members of the RAF section. In the Autumn term we were fortunate to be able to get the Year 10 cadets through the remainder of their part 1 training, which of course had been interrupted the previous year with the onset of the pandemic. The Year11 cadets, meanwhile, developed their leadership skills through the completion of some tricky command tasks. It turns out that leading a mission to light a small candle in the rain at a distance using just string, paper and a limited supply of matches is an excellent test of leadership potential and determination (and, all credit to the cadets, they eventually succeeded)! Sadly, the Year 12 and 13 NCOs were forced into limited, remote interaction with the younger year groups. They rose to the challenge of planning lessons and activities which could be delivered remotely or at a distance and were able to use these to pass on some of their valuable experience to the Year 9 cadets.
The Year 9 cadets, once they were finally able to join us, quickly proved themselves to be a fantastic crop of recruits. Super-enthusiastic, they engaged in their training well and certainly made up for lost time. Meanwhile, the Year10s spent the summer term earning their radio communication and cyber qualifications and then polishing up on/relearning their drill (which, I think they’ll be the first to admit, was pretty desperately needed). My heartfelt thanks goes to our outgoing senior cadets, Sandeep D and Joey E. It is such a shame that you were prevented by circumstances from carrying out all of your ambitious plans for the section. Your efforts in spite of everything have been very much appreciated. A huge thank you also to Miss McCullough for leading training with both Year 10 and, especially, Year 9, ensuring that their start with us has been so positive. The future is exciting, with eager and able Year 12s chomping at the bit to lead the section as we hopefully return to some semblance of normality in September.
MrDuckett Flt Lt
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Options
COMMUNITY ACTION I
t has been another busy and productive year for Community Action. We have been hugely impressed by the dedication of our student volunteers and the generosity of the whole school community during such unique times. In October, we arranged a non-uniform day and organised Pudsey merchandise stalls alongside a virtual duck race for Children in Need, raising £2,670.55 for the event. Towards the end of the autumn term, we were grateful to receive many donations for the Bestwood and Bulwell Foodbank and NSPCC Toys Collection. During the lockdown in early 2021, we virtually welcomed our new Year 9 members to Community Action and students used their initiative to find virtual voluntary placements. Such placements ranged from online bird watching and historical projects to calling elderly relatives to provide a reassuring voice over the telephone. We were of course delighted to return to school in March
and received a large number of Easter Eggs for our NSPCC appeal and equally for our second Bestwood and Bulwell Foodbank appeal in the summer term. During the summer term, our Year 9 students hosted a Mini-Olympics day for local primary school children at Valley Road. Year 9 students set up a range of sport stations ranging from football to rounders. This was an excellent opportunity for Year 9 students to demonstrate their adaptability, teamwork and resilience. Year 10 students spent the day with the Marketing and Development departments supporting their work to promote the school and to help support event planning. Despite the difficulties the pandemic posed to the running of Community Action, students have continued to support their local community through in-house events and by volunteering in their community- virtually and in person.
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Courtesy of pic-collage.
Ottilie’s fireplace marshmallow gif Scout Day Hike
A slide from ‘Mission Survival’
A...sturdy vessel, made by the Y7 scouts for her maiden voyage at Hoveringham Scouts Activity Centre
Robin’s Calorific Creation from Chef Dave’s Eggstravaganza
Magritte’s Son of Man, imitated by Ben.
SCOUTS
What a year! The Scouts in 2020-2021 have had a range of activities like never before, with a programme of events carried out in bedrooms, dining rooms and kitchens as well as on the school lawns, in tents and on water. Whilst in lockdown the troop’s adult volunteers still managed to run sessions online. One of the first activities that the scouts took part in was the team roleplaying adventures ‘Mission Survival’, where they needed to navigate themselves away from a crashed airplane, and make it to rescue. Other remote sessions included an online chess tournament, first aid session, navigation sessions and even one session where the Scouts made their own gif. Sometimes the scouts were given fun tasks to try to do between sessions, like recreating a famous art work – with some fantastic results! Possibly the biggest highlight though were the baking sessions run by ‘Chef Dave’. The Easter ‘eggstravaganza’ was particularly salivating, with a host of eggs beaten, smashed, mixed, stirred, licked, melted and scoffed. Delicious. No one joins scouts so that they can stay in their room so it was wonderful to have the scouts back together in the flesh, albeit whilst still remaining in their year group bubbles. A record number of new Year 7s joined the troop and were invested and all Scouts could now get properly involved in activities. Some of the Friday after school sessions involved learning traditional Scouts’ skills, like how to make important knots, use a Trangia stove, and put up a tent… blindfolded. Other sessions instead involved trying to make the biggest water rocket or the most convincing Egyptian mummy out of toilet roll. The troop also enjoyed games like tug of war and of course the ever-favourite wide game ‘man hunt’. One particularly excellent session was ‘incidents’ which was entirely run by Year 8 scouts and involved different teams racing to complete a series of problem-solving challenges. Competing teams needed to solve riddles and challenges like changing the water in a car’s engine or identifying the non-poisonous plant. Outside of the school the scouts enjoyed some wonderful sessions out on the water at Hoveringham Activity Centre. They built rafts, shot arrows, canoed, kayaked and had a jolly good splash too. There were some wonderful hikes also; with the Scouts navigating themselves in the countryside around Calke Abbey, Burton Joyce and Bakewell.
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Section Name
CLUBS & SOCIETIES
Biology Club
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G N U YO RPRISE E T N E
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Clubs & Societies
BIOLOGY CLUB Biology club has been my favourite club this year, with many varied activities that have helped me learn about the natural world. I will really miss attending Biology club; it will be a shame that we don't have it in Year 8! In Biology club, we have taken part in a wide variety of different practicals; ranging from dissections to DNA extractions to raising butterflies. We have performed dissections which have helped us learn about the brain, the eye, and many other things. My favourite activity has been bringing up the ten Painted Lady Butterflies (which are also known as Vanessa cardui), as I find it very interesting watching them grow and change into the different stages of their life cycle and learning about the butterflies.
Biology club is an amazing club and it is packed with really fun activities that widen your knowledge of Biology and gives you a different perspective of Biology to lessons. It is accessible to any Year 7 that wants to join and I am so glad I got the opportunity to be in this club. We have done a huge variety of activities such as pond fishing, raising butterflies, investigating a coconut, dissecting different features of animals such as a lamb’s eyeball and brain to dissecting full animals such as pigeons, a variety of insects, and many more. Attending can also contribute to receiving the high school award and it gives advantages to questions being asked in your Biology lessons.
Leah G, Year 7
Leslie N, Year 7
Clubs & Societies
MIXING THINGS UP
T
he poet Seamus Heaney wrote of seismic change in which ‘nothing resettles right’. We have all had this feeling over the last eighteen months, as normal ways of working have been disrupted. The global pandemic presented – and still presents - challenges for all of us, but it also offered an opportunity: to try new ideas, and experiment. Lockdown gave us a chance to enhance our digital development, and we have found ways to thrive in the online environment of Google Classroom. One of the most positive outcomes of this process has been the move towards blended learning, in which digital devices and online resources have become an increasingly normal feature of lessons over the course of the year. Returning to school after the first lockdown, we were presented with a moment to consider how we revisit concepts to help students bridge gaps in their knowledge and skills while continuing to enhance their understanding. With this in mind, we chose interleaving and spacing as our teaching and learning focus for 2020-21. Through spaced practice, students revisited concepts at regular intervals to strengthen their recall; through interleaving, students reviewed different topics alongside each other, purposefully mixing up material to enhance their understanding of similarities as well as differences. Together, these approaches encouraged students to strengthen the ability to retrieve information from their working memory. One of the aims of this project was to enable students to distinguish between short-term performance and deeper learning. In doing so, they were introduced to a key principle - ‘review aids recall.’ Within individual lessons, students strengthened retrieval skills through low-stakes
testing: in KS3 Spanish, short quizzes provide opportunities to revisit key vocabulary and tenses from previous lessons, while learning checks in Religious Studies challenged students to recall concepts from previous weeks and beyond. In A-level Maths, students engaged in interleaved practice through tackling SSDD problems (SameSurface-Different-Depth) that challenge them to discriminate between topics and identify appropriate problem-solving strategies. Focusing on spacing and interleaving also enables us to take a longer view of teaching and learning, and staff have explored different ways of scheduling topics to encourage an interleaved approach to study. In English Literature, students working on Nineteen Eighty-Four were presented with comprehension tasks that revisit skills covered earlier in the English Language course. In GCSE Biology, students are taught Ecology units at spaced intervals in Years 10 and 11 to boost their recall and encourage them to make connections between this topic and other units covered during this period. Taken as a whole, interleaving and spacing introduce ‘desirable difficulties’ into learning – by working harder to retrieve memories, our students are strengthening their ability to store and retrieve information in the long run. In doing so, this year’s focus reaffirms our philosophy of stretching and challenging students and encouraging them to reflect on how they learn. Our new focus for 202122 will be Learning Talk, and we look forward to seeing our students develop their skills in this area over the coming terms.
Dr Burton Assistant Head Teaching and Learning
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Clubs & Societies
JOURNALISM CLUB
J
ournalism club has certainly been able to continue throughout the challenges of this year. Technology and journalism have always had to work hand in hand and this year that has certainly been the case more than ever. By using Google classroom and Google meet, assignments for the journalists in Years 9 and 10 continued during lockdown. After our return to school around Easter, the journalists had a great opportunity to interview students about how they coped during lockdown and doing online lessons from home. We have also been working with the marketing department this year and hope to continue this into the coming year. Students have been recording mini clips throughout the year about general school life. Each clip is only a few seconds long but when they are all put together, it will document school life from a student’s view. The journalism club has worked with external providers helping them to think about
MATHS There has been an exceptional level of achievement by students in Mathematics this year. Over 400 students at the High School have participated in competitions with approximately 70% of all entries receiving an award. In addition, we have had excellent number qualifying for the various Olympiads throughout the year. All told, these results speak to the enduring strength of mathematics at the school and well done to all who have participated.
how to film and edit video content. Next year we hope to interview a wider range of people from outside of the school and continue to develop our links with news outlets in the region. This year, the students really developed their interview skills by using online meeting tools when we were unable to meet face to face. This use of technology will certainly continue into the coming years. Throughout the School year we asked our Students from the Journalism club to capture school life through their own eyes. In a year like no other their perseverance and resilience shone through.
Watch the video here
Clubs & Societies
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COMPUTER SCIENCE The restrictions this year made it difficult for our competitions to go ahead in a regular fashion. However, in November we had more students than ever before compete in the Bebras Computing Challenge. This year’s scores were not compared nationally, instead awarding a Best in School award to each student who came first in their age class.
THE WINNERS WERE: Juniors (Year 7)
Seniors (Years 10 & 11)
Daniel B
Ben S
Intermediates (Years 8 & 9)
Elite (Years 12 & 13)
William H
Daniel W
In January, 7 students competed in the British Informatics Olympiad. This programming challenge was a gruelling threehour exam which had to be completed remotely. While no one qualified for the national team this year the solutions the students produced were brilliant and showed great promised for next year’s competition. Lastly, students competed in The Oxford University Computing Challenge, William H continued his success in computing, going on to win joint first nationally.
YEAR 7
FOOD & NUTRITION CLUB
T
hroughout the year I have enjoyed taking part in the Food and Nutrition Food Club on Wednesday Lunchtimes. This term I have particularly enjoyed the Year 7 Food Chocolate Workshop. In the Chocolate Workshop we created little truffle-like chocolates, which in my opinion, tasted much better than any store-bought chocolates could! We used a range of techniques to create the many types of chocolates, which were multi-layered, swirled, caramel filled and sprinkle topped. Each of these chocolates could be in a different shaped mould and using a wide range of chocolate, depending on what suited the
consumer. The Chocolate Workshop was changed every week, and this made it much more engaging and exciting. It has now become a new, healthier Workshop, where we have recently made coconut nut free bliss balls! This is one of my main clubs, and my favourite part was making the layered chocolates, and seeing my parents' reaction, which was that they are delicious!
Leah G, Year 7
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Section Name
LOCKDOWN
Lockdown
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YEAR 7 BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
RADIO PLAYREVIEW
W
ith another national lockdown in the New Year, it meant that the Drama Department had to make some creative changes to their CoCurricular calendar. In place of the studio production, our wonderful Year 7 students jumped at the opportunity to rehearse and record a radio play, in line with their studies in timetabled lessons. Throughout January and February, the cast met weekly (virtually) with Mrs Robertson whilst learning remotely in order to perform the radio playscript of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island.’ The story takes place in the days of sailing ships and pirates and tells of the adventures of Jim Hawkins and his search for the buried treasure of an evil pirate, Captain Flint. The story begins at ‘The Admiral Benbow’, the inn that belongs to Jim Hawkins’ parents. Rehearsals and the subsequent recording of the performance allowed our students to further exercise their vocal skills, outside of their timetabled lessons, as well as keeping them busy and providing a bit of variety to the schedule of remote learning. A big thank you must go to Tregi Worsley for her technical support and superb editing skills throughout.
Cast List
ACT ONE:
ACT TWO:
Finley R Alex B Francesca A Lucy M Sienna W Alex H
Daniel B Rahul J Charlie M Adhrit A Zara C Chloe F Elodie M Evelyn A
Act 1
Act 2
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Lockdown
NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL
MASTERCHEF Matthew M, Overall Winner
Sienna W, Runner Up
Lockdown
At the beginning of the third National lockdown, it was announced that there would be a Nottingham High School World Cuisine MasterChef Competition, open to all pupils in the school. This was exciting because I had just won the Christmas Bake Off competition and was looking forward to the new challenge and eager to go. I had done some cooking before such as bread, pancakes, roast dinners, and cakes. I knew that this competition would challenge me to be more creative with my cooking and experiment with different ideas from around the world. It would also be a distraction from the tough times of lockdown and remote learning! I was also inspired by Laurence Henry, a former member of our school, who I had watched win the 2018 BBC Professional MasterChef competition, and who had visited us earlier in the school year. I could not wait to get started and begin to plan my first menu. The competition was split into 5 sections, each with a different international theme. The first one was European and Mediterranean Cuisine. I decided to push myself and chose to make an Italian Ravioli Bergese for my main course, using homemade pasta. This is particularly tricky, as the spinach and ricotta filling has an egg yolk at the center and the test is to ensure that it remains runny. I managed to pull this off! Challenge two was Asian Cuisine. I chose Korea and made my own Kimchi. This allowed me to understand the process of fermentation and the science behind it. I went on to make a dish called Kimchi Jjigae with belly pork and Red Bean popsicles for dessert. Our next was Pancake Day! Hurray! I was thrilled to do this because I already knew how to make pancakes and so I made Homemade Nutella (my favourite!), Homemade Golden Syrup and Cherry Compote. Following this, the fourth challenge was North, South and Central American Cuisine. I chose Mexico, one of my favourite places to go on holiday and made my dad's favourite breakfast, Huevos Rancheros. My family had received a cheese making kit for Christmas and I learnt how to make my very own Queso Blanco, a soft Mexican cheese! The final round was Australian and African Cuisine. My menu included Tunisian Merguez Sausage with Homemade Harissa and this time I made a Tunisian cheese called Lebneh. This was followed by an Assidat Zgougou, an African Pine Nut Cream Pudding! I was delighted to win as the standard from every contestant in this competition was very high. Most of all, I enjoyed sharing my meals with my family, particularly my Granny, who lives on her own and would join our lockdown bubble for these meals on Sundays! Thank you to the Food and Nutrition Department for setting up this competition, it was a huge highlight of our lockdown experience!
Matthew M, Year 8 - Overall Winner
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Lockdown
ART PAINTING WITH COFFEE Art teachers showed great resilience working from home, planning exciting activities with household equipment and materials that students have easy access to. After some experimentation and a small amount of courage. Year 12 artists each produced a beautiful portrait using coffee! Their work proves that coffee isn’t just for drinking.
Y13 TUDOR STUDY DAY Year 13 students took to internet in January, to participate in a Tudor Study Day with the National Archives. This event allowed our students a keen insight into what it is that Historians do, handling and dissecting primary sources on the reign of Mary I (albeit via the internet). As part of the study day, students also benefitted from a talk by eminent Tudor historian Dr Tracy Borman, participating in a Q+A with Dr Borman to learn more about her research as well as careers in heritage.
Lockdown
TOM OSBORNE RECITAL BRASS MASTERCLASS On Wednesday the 24th February, the High School was excited to welcome one of the country’s finest Trumpet players, Tom Osborne, who is co-principal trumpet for the esteemed Halle orchestra. The Masterclass was given online in two halves (Year7-10s and 11-13s) as everyone was home-schooling at this point and it began with Tom’s recital of Bohme’s “Russischer Tanz” (a quick, lively piece) and Schubert’s “Standchen” (a slower, softer piece) which really showed off the instrument. The students performing were then invited to play a piece they were currently practicing and received
some individual coaching. Tom demonstrated sections (superbly!) giving hints and tips for difficult techniques or passages and generally advice on how we could improve our playing. We then tried to implement his feedback before commenting on how we thought it went, ensuring the experience was a two-way process. And this was no mean feat through a Zoom meeting! I found those taking part both enjoyed and greatly benefited from the experience.
Tom H, Year 10
LIGETI WORKSHOP Our quartet-in-residence delivered online workshops to Year 10 GCSE Music students and Year 12 A level music students. Richard Jones, the viola player from the quartet gave the students a brilliant insight into the history of string quartet writing, examining specific works by composers from the Baroque Era through to the mighty Bela Bartok. Once again, the students will have the opportunity to compose for string quartet and will eventually be able to hear their pieces performed by our resident professional musicians.
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Lockdown
REMOTE PHOTO COMPETITION M Robson
E Horsburgh
F Abbott
E Abbott
N Karthik hattal B h g n i S TA D Wattis
Lockdown
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N Bai ns
Mr Gill
aney e K c M H
C Field
an M Mor
J Sehat
E Stevenson
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CONTINUED
REMOTE PHOTO COMPETITION
S Wilson
E Dodd P Allison
VIRTUAL ENGLISH SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Nottingham High School students took part in the national virtual event after the use event was cancelled due to lockdown. The challenge was to run a 2k or a 5k course, verified by a teacher or coach. Times were submitted via a google form and processed by ESAA officials, for accuracy. Participants received a New Balance Certificate for taking part and top times were rewarded with New Balance merchandise. We had entries in the Junior Girls, Intermediate Boys and Senior Boys age groups, well done to Jake G, Katie G & Tom B, nationwide over 1600 students entered.
K Fear
Section Name
CREATIVE ARTS
Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations
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Creative Arts - Drama
DRAMA O
ur rich and dynamic theatrical curriculum inspires pupils to explore their dramatic and expressive capabilities. The Drama department began the Autumn Term with an air of optimism, excited to energise our students by offering a wide range of theatrical opportunities. We were eager to resume live performances and theatre visits and so, the Year 11 and Year 13 students began the academic year preparing their practical assessment pieces. This required them to hone their group performance skills to produced creative interpretations of scripted material and their own original devised work. Unfortunately, given the restrictions at the time of performing, it was not
DRAMA FESTIVAL Delighted to return to School in the Summer Term, the Drama department was a hive of activity as we put into action rehearsals for our outdoor Drama Fest; the first site specific Drama Festival at Nottingham High School. Four groups (Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 and Year 10) were set to present four extracts from four different plays, four times in one evening. The intention was for the audience to move between the different site-specific spaces, seeing into the burrows of ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’, being wowed by ‘Ernie's Incredible Illucinations’, watching the chaos of the lovers during ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ and observing how students view their ‘Teechers’. It was a huge shame that the students were unable to perform live, but filming the shows instead, allowed us the celebrate the students’ hard work and their talent.
Tregi Worsley
The Drama department began the Autumn Term with an air of optimism, excited to energise our students by offering a wide range of theatrical opportunities. possible to invite an outside audience, but the evening of entertainment still enabled the students to play to an audience of their peers. Meanwhile, Year 7 students were using physical theatre to create dramatic interpretations of Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes and given (once again) we could not invite friends and family, some were filmed for the school community to enjoy.
LAMDA Finally, the LAMDA students sat their examinations in the London Academy of Dramatic Arts in Performance. Another outstanding set of results were attained, including Bronze Awards (Grade 6) at distinction level being achieved by Freddie L and William M. In addition to Taona M and Eleanor H achieving Silver Awards (Grade 7) with distinction. Huge thanks must be given to Mrs Ray for her continued outstanding tuition during her second year in role as a peripatetic LAMDA teacher at Nottingham High School. There is no doubt that our students continued to thrive, despite the disruption to the school year and we are very excited to hit the ground running in September with the Main School musical, Little Shop of Horrors.
Charlotte Govinden Head of Drama
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BY ROALD DAHL ADAPTED BY DAVID WOOD DIRECTED BY MRS PIP ROBERTSON
T
he familiar story of the Fox family was delightfully told by two casts of Year 7 Drama students, from the view of both the underground creatures; the Fox family, Badge and Mole; as well as the Farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean and the villagers who are overground. After having Mr Fox ( Edward M and Charlie M ) visit their farms once too often, the Farmers set up to get Mr Fox, eventually making off with just his tail. They then settled down to wait him out above ground. to show the challenges Mr Fox faced to feed his hungry brood whilst keeping his family safe, the ensemble, assisted by sound effects played by the Production Team members, showed the frantic digging required to bypass Boggis, Bunce and Bean and their shotguns, and the skills needed to sneak underneath the bumbling Farmers, always watching, never seeing. They also avoided being seen by Mabel (Agatha H and Sonam S) whilst ‘taking’ cider from the rats. A delightful re-telling of a childhood favourite, the cast creating the real spirit of overcoming adversity, performing in the beautiful school grounds, showing that despite all the obstacles that may be in the way, with family, friends and hard work, anything problem can be solved.
YEAR 7
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ERNIE’S INCREDIBLE ILLUCINATIONS BY ALAN AYCKBOURN DIRECTED BY MRS PIP ROBERTSON
T
wo Year 8 casts imaginatively showed us the inner workings of Ernie (Matthew M and George T) and his ability to make the most unlikely scenarios happen. The ensemble created the atmosphere of winning the World Cup, showing Ernie bowling out the West Indies in cricket, as well as the hustle and bustle of the fair and the boxing ring, where Kid Saracen (Samseet S and Zak B) after challenging anybody to three rounds to win £50, is embarrassed and beaten by Aunty May (Daisy P and Chloe J) allowing her to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World, thanks to Ernie’s thoughts. Using the Amphitheatre based in the Junior School, the performance was punctuated by music from the Production Team, and the performance skills used by the ensemble helped to create the exciting world of Ernie, and his long-suffering Mum and Dad. The Doctor, who we saw at the start of the performance, not believing Ernie or his parents, seemed to suffer from the same issue, as he marches out of the surgery accompanied by a brass band!
YEAR 8
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE DIRECTED BY MRS CHARLOTTE GOVINDEN
T
YEAR 9
he natural beauty of the lower lawns, with trees in the background, made the location of A Midsummer Night’s Dream a natural choice. Enchanted Demetrius (Tamrat T) lying asleep under a tree, when Helena (Zoe F) entered with Lysander (Akhil B) closely followed by the tempestuous Hermia (Isla S) allowing the four performers to show their acting talents as they fought, with arguments between both the lovers and the friends. The fiery Hermia, always feeling scorned from the mighty heights of Helena, and the jealously of both Demetrius and Lysander, fighting over who will marry the girl they didn’t like at the start of the play were played out wonderfully by the young cast. They were interrupted by Quince and his merry band of Mechanicals, performing their delightful interpretation of ‘Thisbe and Pyramus. Bottom (Sangita M) showing his ability to create a Pyramus everyone would love, and Flute (Otto W) becoming the beautiful Thisbe, ably assisted by Starvling (Kamali k), Snout (Esther W) and Snug (Elektra S) to show the moon, the wall and the lion, played the scene hilariously, under the careful directing of Quince. The extract finished with fairy time from Titania and Oberon, ending with Puck delivering the final words, accompanied by the fairy music played by the Production Team.
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Teechers
BY JOHN GODBER DIRECTED BY MRS PIP ROBERTSON
Y
ear 10 embraced the nature of John Godber with the cast playing many roles, both worn out teachers and unenthusiastic students in the setting of the East Quad, with additional non-speaking roles played by staff members as they walked the corridors, giving the site-specific performance an extra depth. The story of Mr Nixon (Fraser D) during his first year as a Drama teacher, from the viewpoint of the students, (Lucy B, William M, Max B, Christopher M, Freddie P) being sent to ‘cut his teeth’ down in 9.I.B., discovering the delights of P.E. cover for bouncy Miss Prime (Jane A) with Barry Wobshall (Freddie L) and his note (from the milkman) to dealing with rogues like Oggy Moxon (William W). With scenes broken up by that ever ringing school bell, moving through the term to get to the Christmas party, the Production Team members added depth to the performance with sound tracks, as we wondered whether Gail’s spring onion eating to cover the cider would be enough to get past Miss Parry and Mr Hatton. The delightful imagery of a ninja (Grace S) waiting to be called out of the staffroom by teachers with out-of-control students, cartwheeling across the quad, brought this light-hearted comedy to an end, the ensemble supporting to the very end.
YEAR 10
Creative Arts - Drama
ODDSOCKS THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
I
was thrilled to be able to see the Oddsocks performance: The Comedy of Errors on Tuesday 22nd June. After such a long time of the Covid-19 Pandemic, I realised how special it was to be seeing a theatre production, especially as it was here at Nottingham High School. Oddsocks produced and acted out the performance wonderfully: their set design was beautiful, their costumes were magnificent and their acting skills were comical and expressive. There were many great highlights of the performance. One of these included the part of The Comedy of Errors where Jack Herauville came on at the interludes between acts and played the ukulele at tense or funny moments, in the form of sea-shanties. This made the audience laugh and stamp and clap along to the beat. This lightened the mood of the performance, especially when there was an apprehensive atmosphere. It was also funny when Jack came on ready to play and was shooed off by the other actors because they were in the middle of an argument. This made everyone laugh when they saw his face, however it was quite sad that he didn’t get to play and it made everyone boo!
Another moment of the performance which I thought was particularly successful was the language and speech of the actors. This was because they used a mixture of Shakesperian and modern language to get a feel of the play but also allowed the young audience to understand what was going on. The talented actors also used some slang which they cleverly weaved into the script allowing the audience to grasp the plot more easily. Finally, I found the moment when Dromio of Syrasuse and Dromio of Ephesus and Antiphoni of Syracuse and Antphoni of Ephesus both sets of identical twins met each other, successful because it caused quite a bit of confusion which amused the audience. This part was also quite heartwarming at the fact that the twins were being reunited at last. The actors also executed this part of the play really successfully because Andy Barrow (playing both Dromios) and Elli Mackenzie (playing both Antiphonies) made sure that only one of their characters were visible at once. In conclusion, I think that the afternoon of live theatre captured the imaginations of myself and the rest of the audience by using their terrific acting skills, costumes and scenery. I also think that Oddsocks is one of the best theatre companies in the UK because they tour many schools and towns giving performances which please children and adults alike! It was a very cleverly and wonderfully enacted performance which I hope will capture more imaginations in the future!
Francesca A, Year 7
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Creative Arts - Creative Writing
CREATIVE WRITING 2021
THE NEWHAM SHAKESPEARE PRIZE AND B. E. TOWERS PRIZE FOR POETRY Congratulations to Hugo B (Year 12), who won this year’s Newham Shakespeare competition for an excellent analysis of Shakespeare’s sonnet 147. Hugo presented a lucid argument about the presentation of love as disease in the poem, paying careful attention to how the speaker attempts to evade responsibility for their predicament. Through close attention to Shakespeare’s use of imagery, rhyme and rhythm, as well as references to contemporary understanding of disease, Hugo showed how love is presented as a force that appears apparently arbitrarily and overpowers its victim. Written against a backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the essay offered an imaginative and timely close reading that thoroughly deserved this year’s prize. Zara J (Year 10) was also successful in gaining the B. E. Towers poetry prize for a highly imaginative poem written in response to Shakespeare’s sonnet 73. Her poem, ‘Paper Boat’, was very moving and wellcrafted, drawing on Shakespeare’s original while extending its argument to reflect on death and the parting of lovers. The poem’s central conceit of a paper boat, and imagery of navigation in love, draws upon a long tradition of love poetry, including Shakespeare’s own, and Zara handles this with sensitivity in her own poem:
PAPER BOAT In my worthless vessel drifting alone Aid me, slip my moorings as I depart. Calling upon your hand to the unknown, Fear of twilights’ silence tears me apart. A sea adorned with gems we both shall sailPoignant, the end sunset only you greet. With your endless ardour used as my bail, I vow with great ache my death tear to keep. Your soul and deep strength steers us both along Lacking your sails, ebbing aimless at sea. Long may my kiss please you when I am gone. I see those who endured, floating and free. When the anchor plummets, my death awaitsPlease stay afloat with my love, stay awake.
Creative Arts - Music
MUSIC 2020
BRIDGE CUP The Bridge Cup is always a popular competition and despite the changes to learning, students were keen to compete and gain points for their House. Over 100 students submitted performances online, and the Music Staff had a enjoyable time listening to them. The highest number of entries was Maples House, with 53, followed by Coopers with 18, Whites with 17 and Mellors with 13. The finals were adjudicated by Geraldine McElearney, vocal tutor at St. Peter’s Church, Nottingham with the Prizewinner’s Concert held a few weeks later. Adwin G (piano) was the overall winner in the Junior category, with Muskan G winning the trophy for the Intermediate category and Benjamin S taking first place in the Senior category.
THE WINNERS
JUNIOR WINNER ADWIN G
INTERMEDIATE WINNER MUSKAN G
SENIOR WINNER BENJAMIN S
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CONTINUED
BRIDGE CUP
NOVEMBER 2020 (ONLINE)
AUTUMN CONCERT As with most of musical life this year, the 2020 Autumn Concert was recorded. However, despite the austere situation compared to the usual lively night, it set the bar impressively high for the year’s music. We began with the Year 7 Saxophone Septet giving a fantastic performance of the classic “Pink Panther” theme, bringing it to life. The Year 9 Band followed, pulling off a difficult rendition of the beautiful Elgar’s “Nimrod”; the Year 9 Barbershop also did justice to Leonard Cohen’s exquisite “Hallelujah.” It was equally exciting to hear Year 8: the Clarinet Trio played “Highway Blues” in a standout performance and the Band gave a polished performance of Iggy Pop’s “the Passenger.” The highlight of the Lower School ensembles were performances by the Year 7 Band and Year 7 Brass Ensemble, with “Rock Around the Clock” and the “Coventry Carol”, showing the vast strides they made in barely a couple of months. A complete contrast followed: the Year 12 Brass trio’s rousing rendition of Dancing Queen showed the top end of the school’s brass talent. Then came the superb Year 12 Baroque Ensemble, who aced their rendition of Vivaldi’s Concerto in B Minor, a technically challenging piece, performed to perfection. The Year 12 Band rounded off the concert, blowing us away with a performance of “Guaglione.” The Concert was wonderful to be involved in and was certainly a spectacle to watch. We look forward to next year to play live again!
Arunabh D
Creative Arts - Music
DECEMBER 2020 (ONLINE)
AN EVENING OF MUSIC TO CELEBRATE THE FESTIVE SEASON
D
espite the unusual academic year, the strength of the Nottingham High school community shone through in this year’s Christmas Celebration. Throughout the service, there was a vibrant contrast of both modern and traditional Christmas tunes. We kick-started the virtual concert in a spirited fashion with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, arranged by Dan W (Year 12) and played by the Year 12 Jazz Band. Students from Year 12 certainly presented a wide array of festive repertoire this year, with “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” by the Brass Trio, and “Pastorale” from Corelli’s Christmas Concerto by the Baroque Ensemble, which I thoroughly enjoyed participating in. Both groups played in the spectacular Church of St. Mary’s in the Lace Market. Interspersed throughout the service were insightful segments from Charlie (Year 7), Isha (Year 9), and Arjun (Year 8) on what Christmas means to them and their families. The virtual audience also enjoyed recantations of famous festive pieces of literature, such as extracts from Dickens’ “Sketches by Boz” by Sangrita (Year 9), and Anne Bronte’s “Music on Christmas Morning” by Sophie (Year 7). Vocal groups enthusiastically sung carols, such as a lively rendition of “Gaudete” from Year 10’s Barbershop Group, alongside a blend of more contemporary tunes, including the lyrical “Fix You” by the Year 8 Vocal Group and a touching rendition of “Somewhere Only We Know” by the Year 7 Choir.
As with every year, the lower school music ensembles did not fail to impress. The Year 8 & 9 Band performed a joyous rendition of “Christmas Extravaganza” while Year 8’s Clarinet Trio kept the atmosphere jazzy with Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock”. The broadcasting of our virtual concert on Notts TV made this year’s Christmas Concert at the Nottingham High School particularly special. Meanwhile, the imagination and adaptability of Nottingham High, as St. Mary’s Reverend Tom Gillum put it, has enabled the success of this year’s Christmas service, despite the many challenges facing teachers, parents and students alike. There is no doubt that this Christmas concert was unlike any other, and we look forward to next year’s festivities.
Leann S
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Section Name
MAY 2021 (ONLINE)
SPRING CONCERT
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his year’s online concert featured some stunning performances from Years 7-12, beginning with the Year 7 Saxophone Nonet playing ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ by Gershwin. Both Mr Toon and the performers got into the spirit of their superb performance by donning sunglasses to add to the mood. Next up was the fantastic Year 9 Barbershop, singing ‘Sh-Boom’. This piece was counted in (to perfection) by Will H and included some superb dance moves alongside the a cappella. In my (completely unbiased) opinion, this piece, arranged by Mr Lole, was one of the highlights of the concert. Although it was a hard act to follow, the Year 7 Band rose to the occasion, with their outstanding performance of ‘Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho’. We were then treated to the appropriately chosen ‘Spring Song’ by Mendelssohn; this was a jolly performance of the Lieder ohne Worte by the Year 8 Clarinet Trio. To please the Disney lovers, Year 8 and Year 9 were safely joined together as the largest group of the event, performing a medley of songs from ‘Aladdin’. A wide variety of instruments were showcased, with Seb H holding it all together on drums. There was a smooth transition between the songs, and it all came together tunefully, despite this being the first time that the Year 8 and 9 individual bands had played the medley together. The talented Ben S kicked off the next performance with his arrangement of ‘Something Inside So Strong’. Ben cleverly arranged
Watch our Spring Concert here
this piece to synergise the male and female voices beautifully, and the overall musicality of the piece was captivating; the talent of these Year 12 singers is evident. Two performances by the Year 7 Brass Ensemble followed, playing ‘Two Russian Songs’ followed by ‘Chorale in C’. Both pieces were played with enthusiasm by this all-boy ensemble. We were then entertained with another arrangement by Mr Lole, another stunning a cappella of ‘Java Jive’ by the Year 10 Barbershop singers. These five singers came together engagingly to create a polished performance. We were then introduced to a sudden change in genre by the virtuosic Year 12 Baroque Ensemble enlightening us with their rendition of ‘Summer’ mvt. 3, by Vivaldi. This was an impressive performance, showcasing the proficiency of the Year 12 musicians. The penultimate performance was another medley, this time by the Year 10 Band. The ambiance of Coldplay’s music was captured perfectly on a wide variety of instruments by this fine ensemble. The Spring Concert 2021 was perfectly rounded off by the Year 12 Jazz Band. There are some extremely accomplished players in this group, as demonstrated by Dan W with his professional trombone solo in ‘Sunny Honeymoon’. They completed their set with the melodic jazz piece ‘Doxy’- a marvellous finale to a marvellous concert. Hopefully next year, we will all be able to enjoy this display of musical talent in person.
William H
Section Name
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MAY 2021
JULY 12TH
This year’s composition competition saw a former student, David Ibbett, return to judge the competition. David is the composer in residence at Fermilab, and his compositions generally revolve around conveying scientific concepts through the medium of music. In homage to this, students were asked to write a piece incorporating a theme from another subject. The overall winner was Mya P of Year7, who wrote a string quartet based on “The Opera Game”, a famous chess match of 1858 between Paul Morphy and two French Aristocrats. She very cleverly turned the moves played by each side into particular notes, and then filled out the rest of the piece into a beautiful, majestic string quartet. Other notable entries were Chris M, the runner up for KS3, and Dan W, winner for KS5. Chris’ piece, “Chills Down the Spine”, reflected the work on drawing skeletons he had done in Art, while Dan’s piece, “Hanoi Etude” took the mathematical puzzle of the towers of Hanoi, and used it as the base of a short Jazz standard.
On the penultimate day of term, live music finally returned to the high school with an outdoors, socially distanced music event. It consisted of two stages: the main stage and the acoustic stage. Due to the bubbles for both the students and audience, there were four sets of performances from all ensembles for different audiences each time. A special mention should go to Dan W, who participated in six different ensembles across both stages. The main stage consisted of a number of instrumental ensembles, including the Year 7 Brass Group, the Year 10 Band who performed a Coldplay Medley proficiently, the Year 7 Saxophone Ensemble with a polished performance of ‘My Funny Valentine’, and the Year 8 & 9 Band, who gave a splendid rendition of the Aladdin Medley. A highlight was the Year 12 Jazz Band performing Sonny Rollins’s ‘Doxy’, Bruno Mars’s ‘Uptown Funk’ and ‘Chicken’. On the acoustic stage there were many vocal ensembles and chamber groups. The Year 9 and Year 10 Barbershop groups performed extremely well (especially considering many of the students had had to self-isolate, due to Covid). The Year 8 violin quartet played ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight’ from the Lion King and the Year 12 Pop Choir performed my own arrangement of Labi Siffre’s ‘Something Inside So Strong’. The Year 12 Rock Band really got the audience going and the Year 12 Baroque Ensemble gave a stunning performance of ‘Summer’ from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Overall, it was a hugely enjoyable event and a resounding success for live music overall.
Dan W
Benjamin S
SUMMER YOUNG MUSIC COMPOSER OF THE YEAR FESTIVAL
Creative Arts - Music
JUNE TH
6 FORM CHARITY CONCERT Our Year 12 Students worked so hard to put together a charity concert to raise money for Emmanuel House, a charity that fights homelessness and poverty in Nottingham. They raised a fantastic £720. A special thanks goes to Tomos D (Y12) for capturing some great photos whilst recording.
Watch the concert here
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Creative Arts - Music
YEAR 7 BRASS ENSEMBLE
YEAR 9 BAND
YEAR 7 SAXOPHONE NONET
YEAR 9 BARBERSHOP
YEAR 8 BAND
YEAR 8 CLARINET TRIO
YEAR 10 BAND
Creative Arts - Music
YEAR 12 BAROQUE ENSEMBLE
YEAR 12 POP CHOIR
YEAR 12 BAND
YEAR 12 ENSEMBLE
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Creative Arts - Art
ART
THE YEAR 7 MURAL
Holiday options may have been limited in 2020 and 2021 but that didn’t stop our Year 7 students dreaming of tropical seas. This year’s mural drew inspiration from the Great Barrier Reef. Year 7 students worked diligently to finish the collaborative mural that dominates the Art Department gallery space. The end result looks fantastic, filled with brightly coloured fish, lino print shells and cardboard relief starfish. Jellyfish sculptures made from recycled materials hang from the ceiling in the Art classrooms. During the months of remote learning students used artist Darrell Wakeham as inspiration to create cardboard relief starfish, several of these are now displayed amongst the fish on the mural.
Creative Arts - Art
The Art Department once again opened its doors to welcome friends, family, students and staff. It was great to celebrate the fantastic work our students have produced. The exhibition showcased GCSE and A Level coursework. The students and staff have worked tirelessly to complete their work often in very challenging circumstances. Households in the surrounding counties were subjected to having their very own artist in residence, dripping paint, chalk and charcoal dust everywhere!
SUMMER
EXHIBITION
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Creative Arts - Art
YEAR 8
CREATIVE DAY This year Creative Day involved three sessions; a special effects workshop, a Japanese stab book workshop and a visit to the New Art Exchange in Nottingham. The Art Department welcomed Steve and Suzy Best from a special effects company Fake Up. Year 8 students were introduced to the world of special effects and how to create realistic wounds and injuries. Students really enjoyed creating gory wounds on their hands and faces. Artist Christina Williams taught students how to create Japanese stab books, they learnt about book binding and Japanese culture. Year 8 students also visited the Phoebe Boswell exhibition. Boswells exhibition explores the theme of migration and diversity. All of the workshops were well received and feedback was overwhelmingly positive!
UNUSUAL MATERIALS Teachers and students spent hours searching in their kitchens and store cupboards for materials to draw and paint with. Our Year 9 and 12 artists produced artwork made with coffee. Students used cotton buds and even raided make-up bags for brushes. The artist Kurt Jackson inspired the Year 9 work. He creates artwork drawn on whatever he has to hand at the time. Year 9 students used envelops, receipts and old letters to create drawings, paintings and collages.
Creative Arts - Art
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In the art department, we had lots of fun: making our own books and sewing them together; going to visit a nearby art exhibition and taking part in a prosthetic workshop. I really enjoyed the day, especially getting to showcase my bullet and knife wounds. To add to their realism, we were able to paint and splatter all sorts of fake blood, providing an especially gory effect.
Chloe J
BACK IN THE STUDIO
It was wonderful to be back in the studio again. The kilns were on, the press was in full flow and the students and staff were ready to go. The department are extremely proud of all that our students have created and achieved this year. Their work was lively and varied; clay gargoyles, sea urchins and decorative tiles, portrait painting, a Year 7 mural, Day of the Dead lino prints were just some the highlights from this year. You can spot the students’ artwork throughout the Yearbook.
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Creative SectionArts Name - Art
A SELECTION FROM SENIOR ART...
Creative SectionArts Name - Art
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Section Name
YEAR 7 (8TH - 9TH JULY)
CROSS ARTS T
he Cross Arts project was an enjoyable end of year project where the whole year group took part in a series of workshops. We were split into groups covering different parts of the world, Africa and Asia. The two days would cover three sessions, in art, drama and music. At the end of the project, each group performed their work. I (Mya) chose Drama as my performance option and was in an Africa group, so my group were accompanied by music on the Djembe (African Drums). We acted out one of the stories of Anansi the Spider. We were given a script of the play, and everyone was allowed to choose the roles they wanted to play. After this, we started to discuss how we could lay out the piece, for example which parts of the stage would be used and how we could create objects with physical theatre. That night, everyone learned their lines for the performances the next day. In Art we created prints of spiders on top of our own creative African patterns, by using lino prints and jelly printings to design our colourful patterns. In music we learned about the different techniques of playing the djembe and created layered textures with polyrhythms. I (Hukam) was in the Asia group and I chose music as my performing option. The script we used was called ‘The elephants and the mice’. In Art our task was to create lino prints of rats, on top of our own elephant. We did this by using lino and transferring the designs on the huge outline of the elephant. After this the other Asia groups added designs and patterns onto the elephant.
In music we performed a piece using the Gamelan and also composed pieces in smaller groups to insert into the story. I was also given the opportunity to compose my own piece using daw (Digital audio workstation) that would be played during the performance. My ideas for this piece were to compose something sounding royal that would represent the royals entering within the storyline. This is why I decided to use brass instruments as the main melody for the short piece. In drama we acted out the script and worked through scene by scene, coming up with ideas for each and working collaboratively. Every group had a chance to practise their performance on the Founder Hall stage before all being recorded. The stage was decorated wonderfully, some of the actors wore masks and our vibrant art pieces were on show. Overall it was a fantastic experience which gave us a sense of different cultures through Music, Art and Drama.
Mya P and Hukam S
Watch our video on the Cross Arts project here
Section Name
HOUSE NEWS
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Cooper’s House
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Section Name
HOUSE NEWS
MAPLES’
The Wheeler Cup is yours once again! 6 years in a row - congratulations to you all!
In my final year as Head of Maples’ House, this has been another extraordinary one, thanks to Covid-19. Following a disrupted spring and summer term last year and a further few months of virtual school this year, our House activities have had to be adjusted to enable individual year group bubbles to take part in our inter-house Wheeler Cup competition. We have taken the opportunity to revitalise the calendar of events and launch some new competitions, such as the much enjoyed ‘Pub’ quizzes and the Media Prize, which brought in some interesting and moving reports on ‘Me and My World’. My House Captains Sehyr B and Will H have helped enormously with organising events and keeping the team spirit going, especially during our period of lockdown with some charity fundraising and my thanks goes to them. More than £500 was raised during our February Challenge, where members of the House were encouraged to walk, run, cycle, swim as far as they could and pledge support for this. Thanks to all of you who contributed in your own way – this was a fantastic example of the Green Team working together. It was great to be able to hold our Sports’ Day at the end of the busy summer term, albeit in a different format to usual to maintain the separated year groups. True to form, the House spirit was evident throughout the day, despite reduced numbers and we enjoyed some incredible performances on the track and field, with records broken and individuals
Mrs Lemon
filling in for those absent. Special mention must go to our Year 8 students who ran races over and over again, filling in for their absent peers and winning a steady stream of medals; absolutely brilliant energy and commitment! After 8 years of being Head of Maples’, I am handing over the reins to Mr Wantling who is very much looking forward to leading the Green Team. As I move onto a different role in School, I look back on the time I have led Maples’ with great fondness. I have had so much fun as Head of House, despite some challenges along the way. I have been extremely lucky to be so well supported by my team of tutors and the many House Captains over the years who have worked with me to encourage the participation and fierce loyalty which have characterised the Green Team. Countless students in Maples’ House over the last 8 years have willingly committed time and effort to raise the House profile and give it its strong identity and for that I am really grateful. We have raised in the order of £20,000 collectively over the 8 years for our charity Berega Hospital in Tanzania; a phenomenal effort! Huge thanks to all my tutors for cajoling on a weekly basis, you have been so supportive. Finally thank you to my fellow Heads of House, who have been excellent fun to work with. I am proud of the work we have collectively done to revitalise and enrich the House system at Nottingham High School and I look forward to continuing to support it. Best of luck to Mr Wantling, to Sophie B and Henry B our incoming House Captains and to you all in Maples’ House for this year and beyond.
House News
HOUSE NEWS
MELLERS’
It has been good to be back at the helm of Mellers’ House this year. Covid has necessitated some innovating to accommodate year group bubbles, but this has given us a new style of quiz and made some other events more efficient for future years. Participation has been good in all years, and our Year 7s have been an excellent addition to the House. That said, it will be good to have a more normal year in 2021-2022. In particular, I am hoping that as restrictions lift, we will be able to take a more active role with our House Charity (Operation Orphan) again as we have missed out on the opportunity to volunteer directly with them, and to work more collaboratively between Year groups. Next year’s House captains, Neel and Kate, are already full of ideas, and I am looking forward to working with them in leading the Purple Team.
Mr Smith
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House News
HOUSE NEWS
WHITE’S
I certainly never imagined at the start of the year quite how disrupted and restricted this year would prove for all our House events. Being unable to mix year groups meant we lost some of our most loved activities such as the Choirs and Rowing. That said, it has been so pleasing to see how each member of the “red team” has stepped up when needed so that we were able to run a significant number of events. Our Year 13 cohort put aside the disappointment of not being able to run the choirs to perform exceptionally well in all the events for their year group, including outright wins in Rugby and Badminton; it is fair to say that they set an excellent example to all our junior students. I should also make special mention of the efforts of this year’s House Captains Kain and Luisa. Both displayed great leadership skills and a deep sense of duty in all they did and they inspired those around them to get involved. The Wheeler Cup competition has proved to be a very tight one this year. There were a reduced number of events and we were unable to allow spectators to many which was a shame. Once again, the House was victorious in the General Knowledge competition which was run in the style of a “pub quiz” this year due to the restrictions. There was a much improved performance in House Cross Country and it was so pleasing to see students willing to run for the benefit of the House. Other notable successes include Year 10 Rugby, Year 8 Badminton and Year 11 Netball. It is fair to say that everyone is looking forward to September when we should see a full Bridge Cup programme; this means the return of the choirs and I am sure that we can build on our success of two years ago. Next year, we will continue to support
the charity Aid2Gambia. Again, our fundraising has suffered because of the bubble restrictions but I look forward to seeing all members of the House taking an active role in all manner of fundraising activities. This is a wonderful cause supporting orphans and other vulnerable children in the Gambia. In addition to the Year 13 cohort moving on, we must also say goodbye to Mr G Whitehead and Mrs Costante. Both have given years of loyal service to the House and their tutees and their support and wisdom will be greatly missed by us all. Both are retiring and White’s House wishes them both a long and enjoyable retirement. Finally, we welcome our new House Captains Joe and Piya who are taking on the reigns of leadership. I wish them well in their new roles and I look forward to working with them to ensure that we build on the excellent spirit that we have to take us forward in 2021/22.
Mr Barr-Smith
House News
HOUSE NEWS
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COOPER’S The house system has certainly had to make a few adaptations this year. It has certainly been a team effort with all four heads of house working together to ensure we can provide as many events as possible for students to participate in. Each event has been in year group bubbles which has meant more students than ever have been given an opportunity to represent Cooper’s and it has been great to see more students than normal trying things they would not normally do. Cooper’s have certainly had some successes across the year, winning Year 7 girls hockey, Year 9 badminton, Year 12 quiz and Year 9 debating to name a few highlights. We have also continued to support the Rosie May foundation and despite the challenges and limitations to fundraising we have still been able to organise a Year 7 football tournament and various bucket collections. This year, we also set up a just giving page for the charity which made it easier for students and their families to make donations after doing a sponsored event at home. Cooper’s house has risen to the challenge of year group bubbles and lockdowns and as my first year as head of house it has been an absolute pleasure to see so many students getting stuck in to so many different house events. We look forward to having more opportunities next year and continuing to develop an interesting range of activities.
Mr Kelsey
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Section Name
SPORT
Sport
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SPORTS ROUND UP What a year it has been for school sport, not only at the High School but nationally. Never in living memory have we encountered the circumstances school sport has faced over the past 12 months. The traditional school calendar of fixtures and even seasons was ripped up and replaced by a new experience-based format as we navigated a whole new set of regulations designed to keep the nation safe, but actively engaged in physical activity. Home workouts were a feature of much of the year, with a range of personal challenges set in google classrooms for students to complete. Some students embraced this style of learning opportunity, presenting fantastic training diaries and results from their workouts. Reflective practise became a regular feature of these sessions, and in many respects, students benefitted from the experience. Adaptability, resilience and individual responsibility are all valuable lessons to be taken from this time. We all however craved the opportunity to get back out onto our fields, and to engage with others in a social form of sport. September has been Rugby time at the High School for over a century, but this year with restrictions in place it was not possible. Never before has the sound of willow on leather echoed around Valley Road at this time of year, but this year was different. Cricket and Athletics through the week in games lessons, and on Saturday’s enabled the school to enjoy team sport again. The turnout from the lower years was fantastic, with many students able to continue with this up until the half term. It did not quite make up for the loss of the previous season, with only one inter school fixture for teams, but did give a flavour of what might still be possible. The second half term saw the return of Rugby to Valley Road, but not necessarily as we know it! Regulations meant that the “touch” version of the game was the competitive option available. This required slightly different skill sets from some older players to be developed; younger students took to the game like ducks to water, which was just as well, given some of the weather we encountered.
Inter house competition was as fierce as ever, and enabled the majority of students in all age groups to enjoy a competitive element once again. For the first time Association Football, normally a preserve of the sixth form was played in all age groups at Valley Road, and a great inter house competition was completed in this too. The girls had been fortunate that Hockey was able to be played on our fabulous new astro pitches at Nottingham Hockey Centre. Inter school fixtures were tricky to organise, as different schools found different ways to interpret government guidance, midweek lessons continued, and weekend practise and internal training sessions on Saturdays enabled many more students to participate in sport than may previously have had the opportunity. We did manage a couple of fixtures against local opposition from Trent and Worksop Colleges respectively, and benefited from the experiences. The boys Hockey and girls Netball seasons were unable to take place as the whole country retreated for a prolonged spell. Internal sessions in Hockey for boys again allowed for many students to participate and develop their skills through the week and on Saturdays. Netball took place at Valley Road, and despite the lack of external competition, skill development and game understanding all took place for all students who opted in. The summer term brought renewed hope and more external competitive opportunities were available in Cricket, Rounders, Tennis and Athletics. As a school we adapted well to new circumstances, continued to develop our practise, and offered our students every opportunity available to continue on their sporting journeys. Many of our students took up the challenges offered, for which we are truly thankful. We all however, are looking forward to getting back to our more traditional programme next year.
Mr Whitehead Director of Sport
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Sport
ATHLETICS REPORT Although the athletics season was shorter than normal due to the pandemic, it still proved to be another successful one with a number of fixtures attended by both the boys and girls teams. Sports day was again staged at Harvey Hadden Athletics Stadium. The weather, a healthy number of spectators and a large number of new records made the event a memorable occasion; over 400 students took part. Two students won four Gold medals each and shared the ‘Geri Thomas Sports Day Shield’ Sehas M and William H. It was very pleasing to see both the Senior Boys and Senior Girls teams compete in a local fixture against Welbeck College. The Seniors also contested the annual Decathlon Shield (Boys) and Heptathlon Shield (Girls). The winners were Enzo P-D-N and Amelia B-G. We also managed to participate in a mix of inter – school, city and county school’s competitions followed with a great deal of success. A large number of students competed well in the Nottinghamshire County Schools Championships in June. Congratulations to Jake G, William H, Millie W, Ethan H and Noah B who were all crowned county champions. Jake G also broke the U15 Boys 1500m school record that had stood since 1977. Amelia B-G was successful in selection for the English Schools Championships in Manchester and
was awarded the Turner Trophy for her outstanding season. She was also crowned Midlands champion in June for the 400m Hurdles. School records and sports day records were broken this year, which highlighted the quality of athletics at Nottingham High School. The season ended by hosting our annual invitation match for Warwick Group Schools where we finished first overall for Coeducation schools.
Mr Allison
County Schools Athletics Medallists
Sport
FITNESS SUITE REPORT Although it’s obviously been a difficult and stressful academic year for a lot of people, it has been great to witness such a positive environment in the School Fitness Suite. Pupils from Year 7 through to Sixth Form have used the gym as a place to not only work on improving physical fitness, but to reduce stress and issues associated with mental health. In PE, we have welcomed all the Year 7 groups into the gym during Health-Related Fitness (HRF), and have worked on developing a better understanding of the components of fitness, the importance of efficient technique and how to set up basic fitness tests to evaluate personal/group fitness levels and set subsequent training goals. The HRF Triathlon – cycle, row and ski (on the ski ergometer!) - has proven to be very popular amongst the Yeargroups 7-9. Year 8 and 9 have started to work a bit more independently within HRF PE lessons, and using the knowledge they gained during previous years, are now able to identify key strength and fitness exercises, and how different training methods can have transfer to sporting competition and everyday life scenarios. Before-school and lunchtime open gym sessions for Year 8-11, have once again proven to be a very popular option as part of the wider school co-curricular offering. We have been delighted to see so many pupils committing to regular gym sessions. We’ve seen a good mix of both Year 8 boys and girls using the gym on a Wednesday lunchtime, and they will have the opportunity to access the gym twice weekly from next September – which should allow for even greater numbers! Year 9 have been fantastic this year and have tremendous amounts of energy in the gym. They have created a really fun and welcoming training environment for their peers. At times there was often a 50/50 split of boys and girls training together – which is amazing to see. Year 10 and 11 have been a joy to coach in the gym, and we are sure that a lot of pupils from both of these year groups are looking forward to facing the demands of senior sport next year. There are many ‘gym regulars’ from these year groups, who have utilised the amazing facilities since the Fitness Suite opened in September 2018. We hope that these individuals can continue to inspire the younger year groups, and their peers in the school, to engage in regular exercise, with the goal of staying healthy and active.
Mr Drummond
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Sport
ROUNDERS & GIRLS’ CRICKET A
fter an unusual academic year of sport… the girls were ready for Summer term! Training commenced the first week of term and the momentum from that week was creditable to the girls. Rounders was being played by Year 9 upwards and Cricket Year 8 and below, it has been great to see Cricket take off properly this year and it is certainly an exciting prospect how well the girls have taken to the sport and the potential we have here at the High School. Cricket will be continued to be phased up through the school, and this year all Years up to Year 9 will be on Cricket and we aim to progress on to hard ball with the Year 9 age group as they develop. Although summer fixture opportunities were heavily impacted by Covid and on occasions weather, the U12 and U13 teams managed to play a few Cricket fixtures. With some wins and losses across the year groups, it really was just about playing and the learning process through the fixtures. Likewise, the U14 and U15 teams played a couple of fixtures also, it was wonderful for the girls to be playing again. Impressively each team won the second innings of their fixtures, this shows the reflective and reactive process that our girls take when performing, something which we need to build on as I am sure the girls will do throughout next season. The U14 and U15 teams also played a couple of Cricket fixtures midweek, transferring skills well from Rounders. It has been a shame that the Summer season did not pan out as initially planned, the PE department are very proud of the dedication in particular to training that the girls showed, next season we will hit the ground running!
Miss Bray
U14 ROUNDERS This year, due to Covid, rounders was a lot different than usual. Over the season, we developed loads as a team, trying to recall our skills from year 7. We had lots of time in training and games to improve together, as well as really enjoying doing summer sport again. We managed to play one fixture, which was against Bablake. Despite losing, we had an amazing time, and enjoyed putting together everything we had practised. The first innings of the match wasn’t our best, as we were working out how to put everything together, however in the second half we did much better, adapting to the team, and learning what works best. We also played house rounders, which was super fun, letting us have some friendly competition against each other. This year we learned lots of new skills, including different tactics, and improving our general play. We’re all super excited for the season as U15s, with more fixtures, and we’re hoping to improve even more than we have this year. We’re also very grateful to Miss Bray, Mr Hamilton, and Miss Thompson for spending their time helping us improve.
Phoebe F
U12 CRICKET The U12 Team have experienced a season like many others. With setbacks arising from the pandemic, the weather and pitch safety, matches against West Bridgford School, Mount St. Mary’s College and Newcastle-Under-Lyme were not meant to be. Thankfully, the few early Saturday training sessions at Valley Road allowed us to brush up our bowling, batting and fielding skills to secure a win against Worksop College in our home match on 22nd May. Thanks to Captain, Sienna W, Mr Baker and Miss Bray, the score was NHS 205, Worksop 175. A great win!
However, our team work was tested on 12th June in our away match at Ratcliffe College. Captain, Emma T supported the team to achieve 149 runs but we were defeated by Ratcliffe College whose score was 194. We were glad to have the occasional opportunity to play as a team and hope that as restrictions are lifted, those of us who relish the Saturday alarm clock can get back to our teams and fixtures.
Agatha H
Sport
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U15 ROUNDERS
U13 CRICKET
After missing the 19/20 season, we were excited to start the rounders season. Following on from weekly training sessions, we were ready for our first fixture against Bablake- losing by just 2.5 rounders despite amazing batting efforts from Millie scoring 4 rounders, along with great fielding from Angel; individually responsible for catching out 3 batters within one innings. The final score finished 16.5-18 however, we did not let the loss dampen our spirits and moved onto our next match- Ratcliffe College. The first innings saw the score sat at 8 rounders for Ratcliffe and 4 for us, however in the second innings we turned this around leaving the score at 15-15, after scoring a remarkable 11 rounders. This game was a notable achievement for the team as it showed the important of determination and resilience within sport. We also took advantage of the opportunity to transfer our skills to cricket; a sport newly made available to girls. Our first game of cricket was close to a debut win against Trent College, losing by just 4 runs with the final score being 166-162. Seeing the loss as an opportunity to greater enhance our tactical batting along with aimed bowling, we looked forward to the next game. Advancing those skills lead us to our game against the Nottingham Girls’ High School which concluded 165-144 to the High School. Overall, we greatly enjoyed our opportunity to try out cricket, allowing us to expand our skill range and widen our sporting knowledge. On part of the team I would like to thank Miss Bray and Mr Whitehead for organising fixtures and leading training sessions for the benefit and development of us as players. We look forward to the next season!
For the Year 8 girls it was their first ever season of cricket, as last year the coronavirus pandemic was during the season. But it was worth the wait, many people were unsure about cricket, having never played before but after a few training sessions it felt like we had all been playing for a long time. The rapid improvement was obvious, and everyone could bat and bowl after only two or three weeks. Then came the first match for the U13A, this was against Worksop College- we bowled first, the fielding was very good and supportive, Elyssa and Anna came to bowl, both getting a wicket, Anika also bowled very well, almost getting a wicket a few times; Nicole and Priya were also excellent. Mysha also fielded very well, and stopped many runs. After the first innings the team was on good form, as we all felt we fielded well. When Henna was batting it was amazing, she hit so many fours and sixes we all lost count. We won the match, and were very happy, the bus ride back was fun and altogether a good atmosphere as winning your first game is a big boost for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, we only played two matches this season, the first against Worksop- where we won- and the second against Ratcliffe College, which we lost, but even after losing the team spirits were high, and there was no bad sportsmanship at all. Ratcliffe were a very good team. Altogether our first cricket season at school was very fun and introduced a lot of the girls to a new sport, which I feel was enjoyed overall, the teachers also made it a lot more enjoyable, with Miss Bray, Mrs Gillet, Miss Fallon and Mrs Marquez Godoy helping with matches and training sessions, always with a positive attitude which made cricket even more fun.
Sarah W
Scarlett B
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HARDBALL CRICKET A
strange year, to say the least, saw our school cricket programme start off with a mini season in September, for the first time ever. Due to the summer term being lost in 2020, there was a real anticipation and commitment to getting some cricket going. This period saw some exciting house cricket competitions and a successful block cricket fixture versus Trent College, with the High School winning 4 from 6 overall, including some exhilarating tight finishes, such as the U14A team winning from the last ball of the game. A productive pre-season Spring Nets programme took place indoor at the end of March (postlockdown) to then help prepare players for the summer 2021 cricket season. The Under 12 cricket teams had an enjoyable opening season for the School, developing nicely with their cricket and enjoying taking the field together. They have much to look forward to over the next six years of cricket at the High School. The Under 13 cricket teams showed their talent and depth at times with some very convincing performances. Rayhan D batted particularly well, scoring 2 half centuries, whilst other batting honours were shared throughout the team by Armaan B, Adit G, Sasmeet S and Taran S. The bowling unit was solid throughout, with Ayush K starring with a 5-wicket haul versus Mount St. Mary’s College. There is certainly a lot of potential for this side in the future. The Under 14 cricket team suffered from numerous cancellations and unfortunately did not manage to play many games in end, but they did enjoy winning all three games that they managed to play in the end: Trent College, Mount St. Mary’s and Birkdale. Honours were spread throughout the team with some excellent progress made by individuals, in particular Milo W who has become much the better all-round cricketer in 2021. The Under 15 cricket team also struggled with cancellations, but performed well secure wins against Trent College, Birkdale and the MCC Hub side. Fielding standards were often very high, whilst Krrish M and Dillan G displayed some excellent bowling, and batting honours spread across the team, notably with Rayan M’s 50 versus the MCC Hub and Manraj B’s crucial 43 not out versus Birkdale. They should look forward to open age cricket as seniors in 2022. At senior level, due to the restrictions of year
group bubbles, this year saw separate mixed ability year group sides at the top end of the school. The Under 18 team played with excellent team spirit and camaraderie as they enjoyed their tight game against Nottinghamshire CCC U15’s and a convincing win against the Old Nottinghamians (ONs). The Under 16 team had the privilege of playing a declaration match versus the prestigious MCC – Alexander E-K winning the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket Award for his excellent contribution with the ball and his determination with the bat. The Under 17 team managed to get several games played and enjoyed a successful mini season, with wins against NewcastleUnder-Lyme, Solihull and Denstone College. Rayan Z was often the pick of the bowlers, whilst Captain Rohan S pipped the batting, registering impressive half centuries in each of the first two games. However, Jai V’s incredible 108 not out in a T20 versus Denstone College is certainly the highlight of the season. We are also proud of the following students who represented Nottinghamshire at county age group level in 2021: Arush D, Jay G, Olivia G (U12); Adit G, Sasmeet S, Rayan D (U13), Alex S and Jamie S (U14), Sammy K and Ben M (U18 and 2nd XI). Pleasingly, several girls have progress from girls’ softball cricket to perform in the hardball cricket teams with the boys in 2021: Olivia G, Elodie M (U12); Priya M, Nicole B (U13); Kari G (U14). These girls should look forward to what 2022 has in store for them on the development pathway in hardball cricket.
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S
TENNIS
chool team tennis had a brief, yet tough season. The usual summer weather variances combined with Covid related issues made for a really bitty term of tennis. The senior boys had a really close match with Worksop College, just losing out by 5-4, before the next two fixtures, Loughborough and KES Birmingham were cancelled. The next outing in the national knockout cup saw us visit an incredibly strong Leicester Grammar side, where the team battled hard to win games, but unfortunately not sets! Warwick on the hottest Saturday of the year were next up, and unfortunately this too proved to be a very stiff test indeed, the team going down 9-0 on both occasions. The ON fixture, always a highlight, offered a final chance for victory in the season, unfortunately Rick Britton (ON) assembled another strong team which ultimately won 6-3 at Valley Road. The under 15 boys side also had a tough year, only managing to get 2 fixtures played, and losing both, 6-0 v Trent College and 6-3 v Warwick school. At under 13 the story was similar, only 2 fixtures were able to be played, and both ended in losses. The senior girls side managed 2 fixtures, one with NGHS and one with Worksop. Covid restrictions played a big part in this, and sadly they were unable to record a victory. At under 13 the girls again sadly were only able to play 2 fixtures. An incredibly tight match v NGHS went down to a deciding doubles tie break which eventually went the way of the opposition. They did however record an excellent victory over Trent College, again on a deciding tie break 7-6. Team results are not the whole story for tennis this year however, as Henna Q in Y8 played brilliantly for school, winning all her individual matches, and excelling in competition outside of school. Henna played in the National Junior U14 Wimbledon Finals. Over 8,000 children took part and Henna ended up being in the last 16! She won her group round at Wimbledon and was playing on the legendary grass courts. Competition was extremely high with some international players also taking part. Henna thoroughly enjoyed this experience and played exceptionally well amongst some really talented players. In addition, she was as also selected for the Fred Perry U14 Regional Championships, where she reached the semifinals. Henna also won the Midlands U14 Championships, reached the semi-final of the Nottinghamshire U16 Championships and was runner up in the Nottinghamshire U16 County Doubles Championship. All of this achieved whilst still in Y8! We look forward to seeing how her tennis progresses over the coming years.
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2020
HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY Year 7 Boys Nabil N - Cooper’s
Year 10 Boys Jake G – Maples’
Year 7 Girls Francesca A – Mellers’
Year 10 Girls Krystal M – Maples’
Year 8 Boys Armaan B – White’s
Year 11 Boys Joe G– Mellers’
Year 8 Girls Eloise C – White’s
Senior Boys James G – Maples’
Year 9 Boys Charles P – Maples’
Senior Girls Luisa M – White’s
Year 9 Girls Katie G - White’s
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2021
U12A CRICKET The U12As began our cricket season amidst the difficulties of the Covid 19 pandemic. The season felt like a rollercoaster ride due to the everchanging weather conditions, restrictions posed due to Covid, and a few brilliant wins along the way. It was clear from early on that our batting was much stronger than our bowling. Our strategy was to try and get 150+ runs in most games we played. We aimed to start solid and try and finish with the big hitters at the end in a hope to put pressure on the opposing team. We didn't quite manage to follow this strategy through in all the games we played but we tried to play the best we could. We started the season slowly with losses against Trent College, and Bedford School. Due to Covid restrictions, we were unable to get any match practice before our first game against Trent College, however, we played as a team as best as we could and learned a valuable lesson of building an innings which helped us do better against Bedford School. Following the loss to Trent College, we performed better against Bedford School. We lost the toss and were put to bat. The batting conditions were tough due to sticky and slow surface, but we managed to make a good start with Alex G hitting 2 fours in the first over and both Alex and I scored 14 runs in that over. Unfortunately, with the loss of two quick wickets of Alex and Daniel G, our run rate slowed down but it was important for Jay G and I to steady the innings such that we could bring the team back to a good position. I managed to score 29 runs and Jay managed a quick fire 18. The rest of the team contributed well to finish the innings with 90 runs in 20 overs. Whilst Henry B took an early wicket, the game started to slowly slip away from us resulting
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in Bedford School winning by 7 wickets. Had we put a few more runs to our score, we would have stood a better chance at defending the game. Unfortunately, several fixtures were cancelled due to rain and problems relating to Covid. However, we finished the season with a commendable performance against East Leake Academy. We won by 81 runs in a pairs game, and every pair made a contribution towards the runs scored. I bowled a tight, economic spell of three overs, taking four wickets, and Daniel G took three wickets too, reducing the runs scored by the opposition team. We enjoyed playing this game together and ending such a tough season and year with a fantastic win. We are all excited for next year in the under 13 season and hope to play more games and win more matches for the team and School. I believe strongly that if we work hard and practise together in the Spring Nets, we will develop as an excellent team and perform to our best potential. We as a team would like to thank Mr Heath for coaching and managing us and mentoring me as a captain. In addition, we would like to thank Mr Baker and Mr Hussain for helping us improve technically as players.
Arush D, Year 7
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2021
U13A CRICKET The U13As took part in a very bizarre and peculiar year of cricket, playing 6 games where we won 3, lost 2 and 1 game which was abandoned halfway through. Going into the season we knew we were strong in all aspects of the game from an immense victory over Trent College in September beating them by a huge margin of 128, thanks to Armaan and Sasmeet (VC) putting together a significant partnership getting the team to 168 after 20 overs. Backed up by a stunning performance with the ball, bowling them out for 40. We came into our next game full of confidence against MCCF Hub U13 X1 looking to take of where we left from against Trent. We had a splendid opening stand between me and Rayhan putting our self in a strong position at the start of the game. Shortly after, both of us retired on 40s then in came the Armaan and Sasmeet who secured another great partnership. Abruptly, the rain kicked in and the game got abandoned! Looking to continue our form, we were back up against Trent College not knowing what a cracker of a game it was going to be! We won the toss and elected to bat first. After a few early wickets our team was not looking in a great position. The next batsman in was Rayhan who dominated with the bat to reach his first 50 for school. His innings bringing the team to a well-made 148. After lunch, we were sharp and ready to go and produced a great bowling display and lots of intensity in the field to win by 10 runs!
We came into the next game against Bedford determined to continue our winning streak. We knew we needed to be at our best as this was a cup game. Unfortunately, we did not perform after putting 124 on the board after 25 overs, with Rayhan getting another resilient 72. However, against a strong Bedford batting side we were unable to take early wickets and lost by 7 wickets. The following game we bounced back into winning ways with some strong performances both with the ball and bat. With Ayush picking up a five for and Taran getting a well-constructed 50. After a strange year of cricket, we all look forward for playing U14 cricket next year, hoping to get more games in and face all the challenges that follow. I would like to thank Mr Hussain for managing our side and helping me as captain. Also, I would like to thank Mr Baker and Mr Mohammed for helping us during training and improving us technically as players.
Adit G, Year 8
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2021
U14A CRICKET Despite a highly unusual cricket season due to Covid, the Under 14A cricket team were still very successful and went unbeaten. We played two games, one against Mount St. Mary’s College and the other against Birkdale. In our first game we performed very well as we bowled the team out for 59. When we batted we chased it down in 16 overs with a good overall team performance. Later on, in the season we played Birkdale which was a very tight game. We bowled first and they got 180-8 off 25 overs, which was a great score. In the second innings it went right down to the wire. We were on 180 with one ball left; the batsman hit it and ran and just got through. It was a very good performance
and a good end to a short but fun cricket season. The members of staff, particularly Mr Baker and Mr Mohammed, who helped us get these games on and plenty of training, deserve a massive thank you, as I am sure it was very difficult battling against Covid and the weather. We’re looking forward to building on our success, training hard over the winter and a more normal 2022 season.
Alexander S, Year 9
2021
U15A CRICKET Unfortunately, this season has been one full of disturbance due to the ongoing pandemic we find ourselves in, however it is safe to say that all of the boys who have competed for the U15As this year have done themselves proud through their patience and hard work. After a very successful year of Cricket in Year 8, we were unfortunate to miss a whole season worth of cricket due to the Coronavirus pandemic and resultantly, we were lucky to be able to have a competitive fixture against Trent in a novel and unusual September fixture. After a strong bowling performance, we chased a score of 82 to win well against a good Trent side, which stood us in good stead for the season to come. After a good few weeks of preparation, we were unfortunate to have a number of games cancelled this year however, praise must go to the coaches for being persistent and giving the boys opportunities to express themselves in high-pressure game situations. Our first outing of the regular season was a return fixture against Trent, in which a disappointing lack of urgency within the field and lapses of judgment with the bat saw us lose out to a mediocre Trent side - this game left us with plenty to work on. With a short time to dwell on our defeat to Trent, our next game against the MCC Hub XI. Once again, an extremely strong performance from our bowlers in both T20 games left our top order batsman with little work to do. Mention must go to Rayan M who scored an impressive 50 not out in the first game and also to Noah B and Manraj B who powered us to an impressive 10 wicket win in the second game of the evening.
Next, we came up against a strong Birkdale side who we strived to put in a ‘close to complete’ performance against. Thankfully, I can report that this was the case and after a powerful 43 not out with the bat from Manraaj B we set a competitive total of 156 from our 25 overs. What came next was a brutally accurate spell of fast bowling from both Dillan G and Krrish M (who picked up 4 wickets). However, I must also mention our effectiveness in the field which turned out to be a deciding factor. Unfortunately, this turned out to be our last game of the season after fixtures against Loughborough and East Leake were washed out. What is left for me to say is how proud I am of all of the boys who have represented the school this year and, another short but successful season is testament to their attitude and will to win. Finally, on behalf of the team, I would like to thank Mr Neale, Mr Baker and everyone else who has contributed to our summer of cricket – we are grateful for the work they have put in behind the scenes which has allowed us to play competitive fixtures in this pandemic dampened season. I am sure I speak on behalf of all in saying that we are once again excited for the cricket to come in future years as seniors.
Tom T, Year 10
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U17 CRICKET Our last ever game as an age group was against Loughborough and we finished the season in style U15A cricket report 2019. Oh Mr Sandhu - even you can't predict the future. I think our year group has always had quite a strong sense of unity – most of us have been playing club cricket either alongside or against each other for nearly 10 years now. Against Newcastle-Under-Lyme, despite a fast start from their opening batsmen, Ryaan Z’s excellent 4-8 backed by bowlers around him restricted our opponents to 142. Our top order batsman each contributed well to comfortably see us over the line in 17 overs. A great start for the season ahead. Batting first against Solihull we collectively managed to put on a solid 153 in the 20 overs with many people doing their bit to get there. Again, despite another strong start from their openers, even stronger group spirit in the field with yet another 4 wickets for Ryaan and 3 for Abhishek T sealed the game. There have been some individual performances other than Ryaan’s tight bowling in those first few games. In my opinion Jamie M has been an unsung hero with the bat consistently hitting the ball out of the park towards the back end to boost our totals. Dillon S’s role with the ball is also not to be ignored having been a rock opening the bowling each game against strong opposition. It must be said that we did meet some exceedingly strong opposition during the season against whom we did struggle. But even in loss, that same team spirit shone through always. We’ve just enjoyed our cricket. But it is the game against Denstone school that really made the season for me. Opening up the batting, Jai V played a perfect innings with an amazing tempo. In the last over of our innings, sat on 95 he produced a breathtaking flick flying over
the ropes for a huge six. The first hundred in our year group for school and one we won’t forget. Thank you for that Jai. 194 in 20 overs, and a comfortable victory in the end. We know that we have been very fortunate to play at all this year and fortunate to stay together - my thanks go to all of the staff who offered to supervise us for matches and helped to make it happen. I would also like to thank Mr Hussein our coach this year. For your words of advice, your calm and your support, we are all grateful and are honoured to have met you. And to Mr Baker, well, you’ve been watching us play cricket together at school for 10 years. We’ve enjoyed it all and thank you so much for being our Director of Cricket during the time. Looking forward to next year.
Rohan S
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HOCKEY PITCH BUILD T
his year saw the much anticipated opening of the school’s fantastic new hockey pitches at the Nottingham Hockey Centre. The completion of these pitches on this site makes it the biggest hockey facility in the UK. The process of construction was intense, as shown in the time lapse photos, but will help the development of school hockey tremendously. For many years now we have been reliant on hiring other club’s facilities, but the completion of this project has provided us with guaranteed pitch space for both boys and girls throughout the year. This can only aid the development of hockey both in the school and Nottingham as a whole. Working in conjunction with Nottingham Hockey Centre, we are able to host 5 full pitch games or multiple seven a side fixtures at once which helps us greatly in planning our seasons. No other school we play can offer so many fixtures at once. The pitches have already attracted a wealth of international hockey, with UK Masters fixtures being played here this summer. These pitches are also used by England Hockey for regional Hub training and matches, and there is no doubt as to whose space they are. We look forward to hosting both regular season and festival hockey, as well as or own hockey camps. They will not be idle through the summer term, as they have already proved an excellent venue for our girls’ softball cricket matches too. The project was capped off with an opening ceremony in September 2021, and an excellent festival of hockey which brought together members of the school community both present and past.
THE STATS... 1,181,703,600.00 TUFTS OF TIGERTURF IN THE SURFACE
4670
METRES OF SEAMS
JUST UNDER 1KM OF SPECTATOR AND BALL STOP FENCING
OVER 9600
TONS OF STONE IMPORTED
4500
TONS OF TOPSOIL REMOVED AND RECYCLED
Hockey Pitch Build
Time Lapse
2.6KM
OF ELECTRICAL CABLES FOR THE FLOOD LIGHTS
248MM
OF RAINFALL RECORDED SINCE THE PROJECT STARTED
OVER 75,000
MAN HOURS ON SITE
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Sport
SPORTS DAY 2021
Staff Leaving
GOODBYE TO ALL OUR...
STAFF LEAVING Miss Luxford Miss Luxford joined the High School in September 2019 as a Teacher of History, also teaching Geography and Games. Prior to joining us, Miss Luxford was an Advanced Lead Teacher at Sandringham School. She then spent five years as Assistant Head of Faculty at the Tanglin Trust School in Singapore before moving to The British School Rio de Janeiro as Head of History. Since joining us, Miss Luxford has been involved in the History Film Club and started a Year 8 Fit-Club. She went on the History trip to the Battlefields in October 2019 with the GCSE History students and ran the hugely successful Love Your Body Week in 2021 to raise awareness of self-esteem issues with young people and their body image. We wish Miss Luxford all the best for her future and thank her for all that she has contributed over the past two years.
Miss Wilson Miss Wilson joined the High School last September as a Teacher of Geography, providing maternity cover for Mrs Bunn. During her time with us she has been a Form Teacher and introduced the Mindfulness Club during the winter lockdown. Miss Wilson’s previous experience has included working in primary and secondary schools, including pastoral roles and learning support. She has really enjoyed her time here at the High School and is sad to leave the pupils she has taught. After 30 years, Miss Wilson is moving back to Derbyshire to be closer to her family. She has enrolled on a business course for September and is considering setting up a support group for young adults who have been exposed to domestic abuse as children. She is also considering returning to the primary education sector. We wish to thank her for all that she has done this year and wish her all the very best for the future.
Miss Paterson Miss Paterson joined the High School in November 2019 as a Teacher of Biology to provide cover for Mrs Poole, she has also taught Physics in the last year and has been a Tutor for Y11-13. Prior to joining us, Miss Paterson attended Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, to study Natural Sciences, then studied at the University of Nottingham for her Masters in Clinical Microbiology. She worked for Severn Trent Water as a Microbiologist for 3 years before retraining as a teacher in 2015.
Miss Paterson has been involved in the Bronze DofE trips this year, as well as the Year 10 field trips. She has managed the Biology department Google classrooms and assessments for end of year exams. She will really miss working in the Science Department and says what a massive privilege it has been to take her first class of A Level through from Year 12 and Year 13. Miss Paterson leaves us to join Loughborough College as a Lecturer of Biology and we wish all her all the very best for the future.
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Staff Leaving
Mr Whitehead
Mr Whitehead was actually a pupil here at the High School from 1968 to 1977, where Mr McMurchy, who was then Head of German, was an inspiration to him. He went on to study Modern Languages at Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1978. He spent a year abroad in Stuttgart as a University Tutor and a student. After graduation, he spent some time working on research into medieval German before going to Graz, Austria, as a Lektor at the University. He thinks his love of teaching began before this though, when he did some part-time German language teaching at Leicester University, and it was certainly reinforced by his time in Graz. Mr Whitehead joined the High School as a Teacher of German and French in September 1993. He was Assistant Form Teacher and Assistant Tutor in White’s House. He became a Tutor in 2001 and Head of German in September 2009. He served as Head of MFL from 2013-2018. He was involved with Community Action including in a leading role from 1993 to 2010 and Editor of the Yearbook for several years. He has also been significantly involved with reference-writing and reference-editing for UCAS, especially for Modern Languages applicants. Throughout his time with us, Mr Whitehead has run and been on a number of School trips to Germany. These have included the annual Rhineland Trip which ran from 1994 to 2006 for Year 8 students, the Sixth Form Exchange to Münster, the Sixth Form trip to Berlin in 2018, and the Gilching Exchange – including accompanying Mrs Griffin on the inaugural visit in 1998. Mr Whitehead has cared about all of his pupils as people and seen their progress in his subject as just part of who they were; he has believed in them, to
nurture their talents as best he could, especially the talents of the gifted, whose needs it would be easy to overlook. He has shared with them the excitement he feels about words, in whatever language, and about the beauty of elegant and crafted expression. At the heart of being an outstanding teacher is the care that is shown to pupils, Mr Whitehead has shown consistently throughout his time here that he cares deeply and his sensitive, empathetic nature has made him a truly outstanding tutor. He takes time to get to know students and then has supported them superbly. Similarly, he has inspired many, many students to study German and to take it on to some of the most prestigious universities in the country. He has always identified talent early and then done all he can to nurture this so as to help them gain impressive university places. He has also always cared deeply about achieving the highest possible standards in German and has always been prepared to work tirelessly to introduce change when this has been necessary. As a colleague he has always been a very caring support to so many staff – quite simply people trust him, trust his empathetic response and his care and he will be sorely missed by many colleagues. He has always been one of the first members of staff to arrive at School and one of the last to leave – his dedication to all that he has done has been fantastic. Few members of staff in the School’s long history will have put in as many hours as he has to ensuring that his students are supported and cared for. He has enjoyed being part of a team within the MFL department and, in his leadership roles there, he has supported and learnt from his colleagues. His strong relationships with colleagues have been very important to him. He has tried to value and to pass on the potential within language-learning to strive for the highest standards of intellectual rigour and aesthetic sensitivity. He has been kind, and taken the opportunities that each day brought to do a little good and as little harm as possible. He has tried to be true to those whose example inspired him, and to Dieter Hecht, who passed on to him the responsibility of sustaining the German Department. He has kept going when things have been difficult and when it would have been easy to be discouraged. As a teacher Mr Whitehead has been a true academic with a real passion for his subject and for education. He has instilled a love of learning in many High School students. He has outstanding subject knowledge and a thirst to broaden his mind at all times. He has always shown strong individual concern for his pupils and worked hard to create a relationship of empathy with them. He has always been prepared to give up countless hours of time outside of lessons to help to nurture the talent of the very able and to support others who have found the subject more difficult. In terms of what Mr Whitehead’s future plans are, he is uncertain but feels he has neglected the needs of
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Mrs Bunn His sensitive, empathetic nature has made him a truly outstanding tutor. He takes time to get to know students and then has supported them superbly. his partner Wendy. He says that she has supported him to the hilt when, through what he feels is his own fault, his work-life balance has been awful; he wants to put that right now. He also feels that he has neglected his own responsibility to learn and expand his knowledge, so he wants to set about some serious catching-up of reading, studying, visiting places and people. He is also learning Italian. Though Mr Whitehead leaves his post here, he is not retiring, just rebalancing his efforts during a sabbatical period, after which he may well look for new opportunities for work and involvement. I have so enjoyed working with Mr Whitehead over the years and have so admired the way that he cares so much about all that he has done – he really has made a huge contribution to the High School for so very many years and I thank him very warmly for all that has done. His compassion, his sensitivity and his kindness will be really missed by us all. He has been scholarly yet patient, sensitive, creative and genuinely engaging. He is a true visionary with the ability to identify present strength s and to bring out the latent potential in staff and pupils. He has been a pillar in the languages department and in language learning in the School for over 20 years. We wish you, Mr Whitehead, all the very best for your future. It has been an enormous privilege to work with you and to be inspired by just how dedicated you have been to the School. Thank you.
Mrs Batt Mrs Batt joined the High School in November 2020 as a Teacher of Religious Studies, providing maternity cover for Mrs Russell. She previously worked at the Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton, St. Paul’s in Leicester, and in 2008 she took up the role of Assistant Headteacher at Christ the King School in Arnold. In 2012, Mrs Batt became a mum to her daughter Hollie. She gave up teaching for a period, spending a lot of time in Paris where her husband worked. On her return to the UK, Mrs Batt took on various projects, including doing ‘Spaghetti Maths’ with primary school children. Mrs Batt has thoroughly enjoyed her time here and is genuinely sad to be saying goodbye. She leaves us to take up a new role at the Girls’ School, and we wish her all the very best or the future.
Educated at the Girls’ School, Mrs Bunn attended Lancaster University, with an exchange year at the University of Toronto, studying Geography. She began her career in executive recruitment before training as a Geography Teacher in 2012. She taught at Queen Elizabeth’s High School in Gainsborough, and Sacred Heart in Hammersmith, London, before becoming Head of Geography at the British International School in Riyadh for 3 years. On her return to the UK, Mrs Bunn worked at Colonel Frank Seely School in Calverton before starting here in September 2019 as a Teacher of Geography. Since joining us, Mrs Bunn has been an Assistant Tutor in Mellers’ and has supported Y10 Girls’ Games. She has been involved with the DofE Bronze training and expeditions, and ran a Y7 netball club pre-Covid. She has particularly enjoyed the Geography field trips to Slapton, Holderness, London, Burbage Brook and locally in Nottingham. Mrs Bunn has loved working at the High School. She has particularly enjoyed the wonderful camaraderie in the Geography department. Although circumstances have meant she has not been here long, Nottingham is her home and she hopes that this is just the start of a long relationship with the School. Mrs Bunn is moving to the Middle East in January with her family due to her husband’s job posting. She hopes to get involved with the International School in Amman in some capacity, but is mainly looking forward to spending more time with her children and exploring the world with them. We wish her well for her travels and for the future and thank her warmly for all she has contributed here.
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Mr Williams
Mr Williams was born in Sheffield, but grew up living in villages around Sleaford, Lincolnshire, where he attended Carre’s Grammar School. He graduated from the University College London in 1984 and attended the University of Evansville, Indiana, USA for a year where he obtained a Master’s degree. He returned to the UK and began here at the High School as an Assistant Teacher of History in September 1986. History has been Mr Williams’ main role at the High School, although he also taught Politics from 2015 – 2019 and has always taken part in the School’s Games programme throughout his career here. He has been a Form Teacher in Y9, Y10 and in the Sixth Form. He was Assistant Tutor in Cooper’s House for around 13 years and a Tutor for over 20 years. He has also helped extensively with writing and checking UCAS references. He has done a superb job in all of these roles, providing so much good common sense to all of his tutees and a really good splash of humour along the way. In the History Department, he has taken responsibility for the curriculum in Year 7 and 9, as well as many courses at A Level, and had a role in overseeing the History Society in recent years. He has helped to take students on many trips both home and abroad, including organising trips to the Imperial War Museum Duxford, Royal Armouries at Leeds and Lincoln Castle and Cathedral. He has contributed to a range of assemblies on both historical and current affairs topics. He has been a truly outstanding History teacher – his subject
knowledge is really thorough and well-researched and he has always achieved truly excellent results. He has helped to inspire many students to take up the subject at university and the depth of his historical knowledge has been put to so much good effect in his teaching. All of his Heads of Department have really enjoyed working with him and valued his support within the department. He has played an important part in attracting so many students to study History. He was also Assistant Editor of the School’s Yearbook for a number of years and, for the last 9, the Editor of the Yearbook entries. This has involved countless hours of proof-reading and also chasing his colleagues to meet deadlines but the yearbook has become a really engaging read during his editorship. Mr Williams has been heavily involved with our cocurricular programme. He was a cricket coach to Year 8 and 9 teams and, for one year, helped out with the 2nd XI cricket team. He has had a long association with Sixth Form football, including taking the 1st XI on occasion, and running the 2nd XI. He was Assistant Venture Scout (now Explorer Scout Leader) for 12 years and helped with expeditions to Scotland, the Lake District and Snowdonia for 33 years, as well as day hikes and expeditions to the Peak District. He has also helped with the Scouts’ DofE Award expeditions for over 30 years, including being a Silver and Gold DofE Assessor. Colleagues have enjoyed travelling with him on all of these trips and also on many history trips where again his deep knowledge has come to the fore. He says that he has been very fortunate to be able to teach his subject of History, which he loves and says is clearly the best subject on the curriculum, to intelligent students and with good resources. He feels that his most significant achievement is, hopefully, to instil an interest in at least some of these students for life. Some have ended up as Oxbridge Dons, others as spies or ambassadors, others as professional sportsmen – a mixed bag indeed. He feels that he has played a part in advancing the knowledge the School now has about the former pupils who fought and, in over 200 instances, died in the First World War. He very much enjoyed taking part in the School’s Centenary Commemorations of the First World War and contributing to the Nottinghamshire Great War Roll of Honour. It has been his careful research that has been behind so many of our Remembrance services over the years. He has really enjoyed the outdoor activities he has taken part in with the Scouts and particular highlights include jumping over thick cornices in the Scottish Highlands in Winter and glissading down snow gullies, as well as the scout expedition to Switzerland in 2012 where the group climbed 4000 metre mountains, walking in the wonderful southern Swiss Alps. In the History Department, trips to the First World War battlefields, Moscow
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and St Petersburg, Berlin, Washington DC and New York will live long in his memory. He suggests that you really haven’t lived if you haven’t caught the night train from Moscow to St Petersburg with a colleague who snored all night, or spent half the night in a German Police Station, twice, because students had left inconsequential things, like passports and money, on Berlin trams. Another of his favourite memories is the occasion when, on an expedition, the staff left a whole minibus full of students sitting on the yard at school and only realised they didn’t have a driver for their vehicle when all the staff arrived with the other students at Scotch Corner. He says that he feels very grateful to the School for the many opportunities he has been able to take here and urges students to make the most of their time here at the High School and all that it has to offer. Mr Williams’ future plans include travelling, once Covid restrictions are behind us, including a long visit to New Zealand, Canada, various parts of the USA, Europe (particularly Eastern Europe and especially Hungary and Croatia where his wife has family), as well as parts of the UK. He is hoping to move away from Nottingham to a different part of the country, possibly the South-West of England or the Welsh borders. He also wants to learn more about things he knows very little about, including animals and plants, and to spend a lot of time walking in the hills and elsewhere. Gardening is an area of interest, as is developing his limited musical talents, doing some voluntary work and a lot of reading. History will continue to play a significant role. However, he shall always keep an eye on what is happening at the High School and he would like to wish everyone in the School, staff and students his very best wishes for the future. I want to thank him very warmly for his scholarship, for his humour, for his unfailing support, for being prepared to say things as they are yet at the same time for being such a loyal and dedicated colleague. I very much enjoyed my time earlier in my career at the School working with him within the History department and learnt much from him. Mr Williams has been an outstanding member of staff in every respect and we all wish him the happiest of retirements. Thank you, Mr Williams, for all you have done and for your support over the years. We wish you all the very best for the future.
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Miss Fallon
Miss Fallon joined us in September as a Teacher of Spanish and French, providing maternity cover for the department. Prior to this, Miss Fallon studied English and Hispanic Studies at the University of Sheffield. She moved to Spain, working as an EnglishSpeaking Assistant with the British Council in Lorca, Murcia, then as an English Teacher in Murcia and Valencia. On her return to the UK, she undertook her teacher training in Secondary Modern Languages at the University of Nottingham. Since joining us, Miss Fallon has been a Y7-10 Tutor in Mellers’ House and a Form Teacher to 7C. She has been involved in the Bronze DofE training and the Bronze DofE practice expedition with Year 9. She has supported Year 8 Girls’ Games as well as Saturday netball training after lockdown and summer cricket and rounders fixtures. She has particularly enjoyed learning to umpire cricket. Miss Fallon leaves us to continue as a Teacher of Spanish at another secondary school in Nottinghamshire. We wish Miss Fallon all the best in her future teaching career and thank her warmly for all that she has done in her time here at the High School.
He says that he feels very grateful to the School for the many opportunities he has been able to take here and urges students to make the most of their time here at the High School and all that it has to offer.
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Mrs Costante
In September 1999, Mrs Costante moved from the Grove School Newark, where she was the Head of Chemistry and KS3 Coordinator, to join our Chemistry department as Teacher of Chemistry and has now taught at the School for 22 years. She felt it important to encourage the enjoyment for Chemistry from an early age and so set up the Year 8 Chemistry Club, entering a team every year to the Salters’ Chemistry Club Competition,
managing to come back with a prize on some occasions. Furthermore, she designed and introduced the Murder Mystery Day for the Year 4s – where the High School host local primary schools. This has proven very successful and she hopes it will be able to continue again soon. Over the years, Mrs Costante has been a Y7 and Y8 Form Teacher, has helped in the Learning Support Department and was, for a number of years, part of the PE department helping teach Hockey when it was offered only as an option in Year 10. She also was a member of the Staff Common Room committee for a number of years and organised several social events for staff. Above all she has been a stalwart of the Chemistry department for many years – helping to write schemes of work and consistently delivering excellent exam results in one of our highest achieving departments. On top of this she has also been a very effective tutor and supported many students over the years she has been here. Mrs Costante leaves us in order to reflect on her next venture – one that is in the pipeline is to look to buy a property in Italy when restrictions change. Thank you to Mrs Costante for all her contributions over the last 22 years and we wish her all the very best for your future.
FAREWELL AND GOOD LUCK
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