NP News

Headmaster Writes

I have great pleasure in inviting you to Speech Day on Saturday 14th July. There are very few occasions on the calendar when we are all together as  a school. With the building works at Northwood Prep impacting on the access to the grounds and sports hall, we are very grateful to Mr. Wright, Headmaster of MTS, who has given permission for us to use the Great Hall of Merchant Taylors’ School on this occasion.  Speech Day promises to be a very proud time when we celebrate all that the boys have achieved throughout the year. It has been a particularly noteworthy period,  marked by our outstanding inspection report  as well as our sensational achievements in the 13+ scholarship and entrance exams. It is good to report  further examples of pupil achievement— Peter Ladd and Durshan Mistry have qualified for the UK Junior Maths Olympiad. “It is the first time we have achieved two qualifications. This is a fantastic achievement and we wish the boys well in the final papers”, said Mr. Westacott, Head of Maths. The Y8 boys have also covered themselves in glory after being awarded a distinction in this year’s TES Newsday Competition. Also, the website team received particular praise for their design, which was highly commended.  Mr Smith, Head of English, adds, “I was delighted that both teams maintained the extremely high standard achieved in previous years”. Kind regards, as always

KS3 News

The summer exams completed a short but busy half-term. Parents will be sent a ‘Record of Exam Results’ on Friday 8th June once papers have been marked and checked.
A recent highlight was the visit of poet Brian Moses and pupils thoroughly enjoyed their poetry sessions with him. For those who like a puzzle, the Post Exam Challenge is in your son’s possession and is also posted on the school website. The      solution will be available from Wednesday 6th June.
Thoughts now turn to Year 7 Field Study, the Year 8 Leavers’ Programme, the seniors production of ‘Joseph’ and our House Athletics. We look forward to seeing parents at Sports Day on Friday 8th June.
Congratulations to our athletes who enjoyed individual and team success in the Europa Cup at St Martin’s. We look forward to some better cricketing weather next half-term.  

KS2 News

Exams have now finished and I’m sure that all the boys are now looking  forward to a relaxing and well deserved half term break.
Since the last newsletter Brian Moses, a poet, came in to recite and perform poetry to the boys in Year 3, 5 & 6. Thanks to Mrs Smith for organising this exciting event.
Although the weather has been mixed some of the cricket teams have been able to play their matches, even if it has been raining! Luckily the weather held for the Europa Cup athletics match against St Martin’s & York House. The boys performed very well with some promising performances as the team finished second. Please see the sports report for the full details. Well done to all the boys who have represented the school so far this term.
On Saturday 5 May 2007 four Northwood Prep boys, Roman Mitra (Y3), Azaan Kassam (Y3), Kavan Kothari (Y4) and Kyan Karashah (Y5) took part in the Hertfordshire Chess Megafinal. Some 300 Hertfordshire pupils, aged 6-15, from many different schools, played six rounds of chess where a win in four rounds guaranteed a place in the South of England Gigafinal in July. All four boys played really well and Kyan Karashah and Kavan Kothari gained the four points required to qualify for the Gigafinal. Well done to all of them for their effort, enthusiasm and concentration. The day was a really interesting experience for everyone concerned. Thanks to Miss Bangert for supporting the boys throughout the day. Finally have a relaxing half term break and remember that Sports Day for Y3 and Y4 is on Thursday 7th June and for Y5 to Y8 on Friday 8th June.

Junior School News

This highlight of this week has been our production of “Maui’s Canoe” which was written by Miss Studman and performed by the Reception and Year 1 children on Wednesday and Thursday. I know that the parents really enjoyed it and the children performed wonderfully, as always. It is very exciting to think that our next production might be in our new theatre. It was great to meet last week with all the new parents to Reception in September, and Year 2 parents have also been invited to a Senior School transfer meeting on Monday 11th June. The old cliché about time flying is certainly true in this instance! We are looking forward to Sports Day on Wednesday 6th June and your children have all brought a letter home today, outlining the details. Many thanks indeed for the numerous Tesco and Sainsbury’s vouchers that have been donated so far – please send any remaining vouchers to school so that we can send them off after half term.

SEA 2 SEA

From— Sanjay Shah. On 26th May 2007, the next May Bank Holiday weekend, I (Rishav's Father Y5), along with 14 other adventurers, am going to set off on a cycle from Whitehaven on the Cumbrian Coast to cycle 140 miles to Sunderland on the North Sea Coast. We hope to complete the ride in three days. I hope to raise money for the School's Theatre Appeal. If every family sponsors me just £50, with the 300 boys in the school, we can easily collect £15,000 [plus gift aid]. This will help us get closer to our ultimate goal to raise £500,000 towards our £2m state of the art Theatre / music school / sports changing facilities. Hopefully many other parents/families might also be encouraged to take other such initiatives to raise funds for this very  worthy cause. If anyone would like to sponsor me, please send your pledges/cheques (made payable to NPS  Appeal Fund) to the School  Office, marking the envelope C2C. Sanjay can also be contacted on sanjay.shah@planetcouriers.com. Thank you. If you need any further info, please do not hesitate to contact Sanjay on Planet Couriers Ltd. t: 020 8931 1111.  f: 020 8931 9191. m: 077100 31713.  w: www.planetcouriers.com

MIP & MVP

Most Valuable Pupil

This time we congratulate Andrew Beveridge (Y8) Kyan Karashah (Y5)

Most Improved Pupil

This time we congratulate Tsukasa Yamano (Y6) Durshan Mistry (Y8)

To encourage further effort and achievement, two cups are awarded to boys in the Senior School each week: Most Valuable Pupil of the week and Most Improved Pupil of the week.

sports round-up

The start of the cricket season has coincided with a terrible run of weather. Boys in Years 4-8 have made a start to their fixture calendar but are itching to get a succession of fixtures completed as the weather continues to improve.
Our 1st XI suffered a narrow defeat to  Merchant Taylors’. We were under pressure having posted only 98 runs but the whole team bravely defended it, before eventually losing with 2 overs to go. Our Under 9 A team comfortably beat Belmont by 25 runs. Again the depth of talent was excellent; Luke Withell produced a fine all round performance, finishing with bowling figures of 3   wickets for 8 runs. The Under 10 A & B team were even more convincing winners over Thorpe House. Both sides  restricted Thorpe to very small totals and plundered good totals when batting. Stand-out performer was Kyan Karashah, who took a hat-trick and in total took 5 wickets without conceding a run! Our Under 11 A team were also victorious in an excellent display against Thorpe House. Accurate   bowling restricted Thorpe to 69 runs. Vivek Midha was the pick of the  bowlers, finishing with 3 wickets for 8 runs from his 4 overs. Final mention must go to our Athletics squad, who competed in the St. Martin’s Meeting. The team finished above the hosts, with York House finishing in first place. The boys performed really well and we managed to win 5 of the 8 relay races that were run! Individual winners were Peter Sinderberry (400m), Kyle    Meadows (Discus), Durshan Mistry (100m) and Savan Shah (Y6 Long Jump). Best of luck to all boys with the forthcoming Sports Days and the remaining sporting fixtures.

ECO PROGRAMME

We have recently registered with the Eco-Schools Programme, so we are now part of an international group of schools working towards education for sustainable development and a better quality of life for local and global  communities. By following the programme, our school will reduce the environmental impact on the   community. More information  - http://www.eco-schools.org.uk Over time we can apply for Bronze and Silver awards and finally the very prestigious Green-Flag status.  These awards reflect the degree to which we help to provide a sustainable environment. As well as recycling paper we are now able to recycle cardboard, glass and plastic bottles here at school. The recycling bins will be delivered over the next week and will be placed alongside the industrial bin in the top car park.  Senior boys learnt in Assembly about recycling and that it takes over 100 years for a plastic bag to decompose!  If each of us tries to bring a snack in a plastic container that can be reused on a daily basis it will help in the long run.  It would also be beneficial to bring a piece of fruit into school as it is better for your health and the leftovers can then be placed in the school wormery.  The decomposition  process will eventually produce fertiliser which can then be placed back into the soil.  All these little things will make a big difference.  I hope we can all do a little bit to help. 

FIRST INVESTIGATORS AWARDS

Congratulations go to Andrew Wells, Shamil Shah, Freddie Minihan, Charlie Miles, Kavan Kothari, Paaras Kantaria, Luke Esson, Robert Wells, Jolyon Shah, Rishi Patel and Gregory Hunt, all in Year 4 who were presented with their BAYS First Investigators Silver Star badges in Assembly last week. In order to qualify for this prestigious award from the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the boys had to coax a tune from five test tubes, identify a calculator, a toy train and one of Mr Ballinger’s socks using only their sense of touch,   investigate moving air currents with shiny paper spirals and construct a silver foil boat to carry as many marbles as possible (without sinking!). The boys all worked with enthusiasm and enjoyment and should wear their badges with pride!

"YELLOW PAGES

We recently took part in the Yellow Woods Challenge which is a competition carried out by the Three Rivers District Council to collect as many Yellow Pages as possible to be recycled. Our school managed to collect 75 Yellow Pages so thanks very much to all those who brought them in.  For every pound that is donated to schools an equal amount is donated to the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity.

Here are two members of the eco-club, help to stack up the Yellow pages.

STAFF / PARENT ASTRO FOOTBALL CHALLENGE

Four teams competed in the mini football tournament with Y5 dads and the staff progressing to the final after an initial round robin with Y2 & Y3 parents. After a 2-2 draw in normal time, the penalty shoot out was won by the teachers. £200 was raised   towards the school’s overseas sports tours. As you might know, the senior cricket team is touring Antigua next Easter. Your support of the  Caribbean Evening on Saturday 30th June would be welcome.  Plans are now afoot for a mixed softball/rounders event for adults on the final Thursday evening of the summer term. Please see the next News Letter for details.

LOVE SICK POETRY

"You are the Ronaldo of love, diving your way into my heart… You make me feel like a hat-trick hero…” Peter Ladd Y8
“You are like a computer, without the correct software I simply couldn’t work…
If you left me I’d be like an iPod without a charger…” Durshan Mistry Y8
Just a taste of some of the offerings from the boys in Y8, who joined Brian Moses for a poetry workshop   during his daylong visit to NP on 10th May.
Everyone, including Mr Crook, Mr Smith and I, had to try and write a poem in just ten minutes.  The first activity was to compose a love poem, using vocabulary that linked expressions of love with a favourite topic. Many of the boys then read their poems aloud to the rest of the group, which was a very courageous thing to do. In a second activity the boys had to try and write a poem about a place which was only revealed in a surprise ending. The boys were obviously inspired by his encouragement because there were some very promising lines from the two sessions.
“Each time I gaze upon your face, The velvet curtains open…“.  David Randall Y8
You will be able to read the rest of this poem in the 2007 Yearbook, which everyone, including Brian, found particularly effective.
Brian Moses is a very well known poet who has written or edited over 150 books and performs his poetry and music all over the world. Years 3, 5, 6, 7 & 8 were very pleased to meet him and   were impressed with the way Brian incorporated rhythm, percussion and rap into his poems, making each reading a special performance. He also told many stories to explain the origins and inspiration for much of his work.

toxic childhood

Sue Palmer’s Talk for Parents – Toxic Childhood. We have  a few tickets remaining for the talk on Tuesday 12th June when Sue Palmer will be talking about many important issues relating to childhood.  Further details from the Office or Miss McNerney.

french link

Link with a Tunisian School Two weeks ago, we received a DVD from the French School Paul Verlaine. It contains the answers to some  questions our Year 5 boys had asked them and has additional information about the French and Tunisian pupils.
We were thrilled to see them talking in pairs and were impressed with their level of English (They started learning it only a few months ago). Now, we will endeavour to reply by filming our pair-work. This educational link is a most  invaluable addition to the  Modern Foreign Languages Dept.  as it brings the boys` learning to life.