phil nelkin - nhehs.gdst.net
TRANSCRIPT
notting hill and ealing high school
No doubt many of the Sherlock
fans in school will be going to the
cinema to see Benedict
Cumberbatch in the wartime
drama The Imitation Game where
he plays the computer pioneer
Alan Turing. However, the Year 12
and 13 Computing students have
been instead to the National
Museum of Computing at
Bletchley Park to see, at first hand,
the incredible journey of
computing and learn a lot more
about Turing and the evolution of
computers.
Year 13 students, Katy Harbidge
and Priyata Kaneria had already
studied the “Turing Machine” and
the architecture of modern
computers but all the girls in the
group loved seeing the ‘Colossus’
and ‘Witch’ giants (Charlotte and
Georgia are pictured above with
Colossus) and having a go at
coding on BBC Micro Computers,
which some of us remember from
the 80s.
Mr Walker, who drove us there in
the school minibus, and myself,
were blown away by the story of
Computing History Phil Nelkin
the German Enigma machines and
how the efforts at Bletchley Park
cracked the German code and
possibly shortened World War II by
two years. We all enjoyed the
Women in Computing gallery
which depicts female pioneers of
computing and we were
astonished to learn that the
industry, until 20 years ago, was
dominated by women.
Senior School Newsletter Autumn 2014
Now, according to a recent e‐skills
UK report, women make up only
17% of the UK’s tech workforce
and this is falling every year. They
also report that in 2011 there was
only 1 girl for every 11 boys in the
average UK A Level computing
class. Meanwhile, at NHEHS
Computing A Level is in its second
year and our girls are relishing the
challenge of coding and mastery of
computational thinking.
2
The Alchemists Andy Crame
The Alchemists group meets
bi‐weekly at lunchtimes to
explore interesting aspects of
chemistry that fall outside of the
normal curriculum. In the first
week we looked at polymers with
such questions as can you put a
skewer through a balloon, how
does a polymer make a
disposable nappy absorb water
and how much will it take up
Less Than, Greater Than Paul Quarmby
(200 times its own weight if you
are interested.)
In the next session the group
made a synthetic dye and
learned about what factors
make a dye. This is a practical
experiment, usually associated
with Year 13 chemistry, which
the mix of girls from Years 8, 9
and 10 attending the session
managed very successfully. In
the following meeting the girls
had great fun dyeing different
fabrics and looking at how the
different mode of action of
each dye affected both how
strongly they were absorbed
and the final colour.
Other good things are planned
for the next half term so watch
this space.
This photo was taken in a maths lesson on a charity “own clothes day”. It turned out that the girls have increasingly wider stripes on their tops as indicated also by the inequality signs.
3
On 17th September, the Year 13
History of Art group were able
to enhance their understanding
of German Renaissance painting
when they visited the National
Gallery. We started by
examining Albrecht Dürer’s
exquisite devotional panel of
St. Jerome in the Wilderness in
which Dürer depicts the
penitential saint against a
backdrop of dramatic Alpine
scenery, beating his chest with
one hand whilst holding the
Bible in the other.
Another highlight was Hans
Holbein’s “Amassadors” (see
above). Having studied this
double portrait in class, it was
very exciting to scrutinise
Holbein’s virtuoso handling of
paint and to consider the deeper
meaning concealed in this work
which lies in the distorted skull
splayed across the canvas.
Meanwhile, both Year 12 History
of Art groups also enjoyed trips
to the National Gallery where
they were able to put their
newly acquired skills of visual
analysis to the test. We took a
journey through European art
history from Duccio to Renoir
and considered a selection of
works in terms of subject and
genre, materials and
techniques, composition and
style. A particular highlight was
Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne,
perhaps the greatest love
Activities on offer included abseiling, archery,
trapeze ....
PGL Trip At the beginning of the summer holiday Year 8
girls and their teachers headed off for a week at
Marchants Hill– an adventure and activity centre
in Surrey.
..... and treetop adventures including the ‘Giant
Swing’
Art History at the National Gallery Juliet Learmouth
painting ever created, where
Bacchus is poised mid‐air as he
leaps down from his chariot, his
ardent gaze transfixed on the
abandoned Ariadne who turns
towards him
4
MUN Conference Lauren Eells
Perspectives Miss Cagnino, Miss di Paola and all the Year 12
artists went to the astonishing Anselm Kiefer
exhibition at the Royal Academy, followed by a
visit to An Idiosyncratic A to Z of the Body at the
Wellcome Collection in the afternoon. These
inspiring exhibitions provided two very different
slants on their AS coursework theme:
‘Perspectives.’
Sophie Plowden
We would love to hear from any
parents, or contacts of parents,
with expertise in the fields of
darkroom developing of
Photographs and modern camera
techniques. We are planning to
set up a school photography club.
If you can donate any time or
advice please contact the me at [email protected]
Robotics On Tuesdays after school, nine students from
Year 7 to Year 13 have been designing and
making a robot.
We have built a functioning robot which can
pick up objects and move around. It can be run
by a remote control and we are now
learning how to program it so that it works
without the remote control. It is being built for
the Skyrise Competition in which robots will
compete against each other on a 12 ft x 12 ft
field to move game objects into or onto goals.
The competition will run between November
2014 and February 2015, with the UK National
Championships in March 2015.
Rosie Lewis
Wanted—NHEHS Photography Club Anna Duns
On Saturday 13th October, a
group of Notting Hill and Ealing
High School girls from Years 11‐
13 took part in an Model United
Nations conference at Alleyn's
School in south London. Four of
our girls represented Egypt and
the other four took on the
challenge of representing North
Korea. The emergency
resolution on the day happened
to involve North Korea directly
and Emelia Newton Jones had
to address the General
Assembly on two occasions and
performed most impressively.
Our MUN team: Natasha
Sharma, Livia Harper, Georgia
Macpherson, Becky Bollard,
Serena Lit, Emelia Newton
Jones, Kate McGreggor and
Ella Zussman.
5
Year 11 Geography Field Work Sally Cohen
Year 11 Geographers
accompanied by Miss Cohen,
Ms O’Leary and Mrs Maynard
spent two days at Lulworth
Cove. They were undertaking
Sixth Form News Rebecca Irwin
work for their GCSE course and
looking at the benefits and
disadvantages of tourism in this
spectacular “honey pot site”
which attracts more than
half a million visitors a year..
The weather was lovely and the
girls a pleasure to be with
as they worked with a wide range
of fieldwork techniques to collect
primary data for their Controlled
Assessment.
The work of writing up their
findings and conclusions is still
on‐going but the girls have really
benefitted from this fantastic
opportunity to see at first‐hand
classic examples of coastal
scenery at Durdle Door and
Lulworth – well worth the busy
weekend schedule!
Life in the Sixth Form Centre is off
to a flying start this term.
We began with everyone from
Year 12 and 13 spending a day
working together with visiting
company Young Film Academy
to make short films and get to
know each other better.
Girls involved in the Big Sister
scheme have been getting to
know their Year 7 little sisters,
meeting regularly and providing
our newest girls with a helpful ear
and friendly face. Meanwhile,
our Year 13 students have been
welcoming Year 11 girls at a
series of breakfasts, filling the
Sixth Form Common Room with
early morning smells of croissants
and coffee as they chat and share
their experiences of sixth form
life, opportunities, subjects and
more.
Right from the beginning of term
Year 13 have been busy with their
UCAS applications and Year 12
have also begun thinking and
planning ahead using Unifrog, a
fantastic on‐line tool for
comparing universities and
courses.
Nevertheless, however busy
we’ve been, we’ve still found
time to have our first pyjama day
of the year!
Week 1, Year 7 Kitty Scales
At the end of their first week at NHEHS, Year 7 and their tutors made the trip to Hillingdon Outdoor Activity Centre
for a day of team building and getting to know each other better. This year we had lovely weather for the team
games with rafting (and falling in) being as popular as ever. The girls all said how much fun it was and how much
they enjoyed making new friends.
7
Charity Reports Beth lowen
Self Portrait At the start of the year, Year 10 art students
took a trip into central London to visit the
National Portrait Gallery and the British
Museum.
Since we are now studying self‐portraits and
discovering our individual styles and paths in
creativity, it was both interesting and insightful
to discover artists and pieces that are unique
and full of meaning, which can now give us
inspiration towards our own work for GCSE. A
personal highlight, and one for the whole
group, I think, was being able to freely explore
the National Portrait Gallery and see to the
fullest what it had to offer: ranging from
portraits of the Brontë sisters to David Beckham
asleep. It gave us a strange sense of walking
through history to see artistic styles develop
through the various rooms of the gallery.
On behalf of all Year 10 students, I would like to
thank Ms Plowden and Ms Cagnino for
accompanying us on the trip, which has opened
all our eyes to a world of culture and skill.
Médéa Nikolov
It has as ever been an excellent
start to the year as forms choose
the charities they wish to support
and raise money for them.
So far, we have raised money for
charities such as Asian Circle,
which is part of the Oxfam group,
and Macmillan Cancer Care. The
annual theme of teacher
humiliation has continued, much
to the enjoyment of all involved
(minus said teachers)! There has
been a teachers’ karaoke, a
teacher challenge (with rather
disgusting smoothies as
punishments for failing in the set
tasks) as well as a teachers versus
pupils Qudditch match (pictured),
all in the name of charity.
All of the forms involved are
currently going through the
process of counting their money
and collecting pledges so please
do keep an eye out to see how
much their efforts have raised.
This half term also saw the annual
food collection for the
Ealing Foodbank. Once again
Junior and Senior School girls
donated an outstanding
amount of food all of which the
Foodbank was extremely
pleased to receive. We are still
waiting to hear the exact
weight of our collection but we
are hoping to have beaten last
years’ metric tonne.
Well done to all the pupils who
have run charity events this
term and a big thank you to all
the teachers who have taken
part with such good humour!
Thank you also to all the girls,
their families and staff who
continue to support all our
fundraising efforts so
generously.
Power Games Kitty Scales
Coding Workshop Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron, is
regarded as the first computer programmer as
she is credited with developing the first
algorithm intended to be carried out by a
machine in the 1840s. A group of Year 9 and 10
girls ,accompanied Mr Nelkin and Ms Baboolall,
were invited to Streatham and Clapham High
School to be part of an Ada Lovelace Day
designed to celebrate women in computing.
It was a day of stimulating talks, coding sessions
and workshops run by experts in the digital
field. Professor Lord Winston opened the
conference with a thought‐provoking talk about
his pioneering work in IVF and the need for a
sound scientific knowledge in all areas of life.
The Duke of York was also present during the
morning session talking to the girls in a number
of workshops and introducing them to his
digital entrepreneurship initiative, iDEA.
There were also inspirational women speakers
from Microsoft and Google and very cool
coding workshops ‐ one of which is pictured
above.
Phil Nelkin
Year 12 have been studying
Stalin’s Russia including the
reasons for his emergence as
undisputed leader of the USSR
in 1929. We have been looking
at how during the power
struggles of the 1920s he
managed to defeat the other
contenders, through a mixture
of luck, timing, personal
strengths, policy and arguably
manipulation‐ he was always
agreeable to the majority!
To map the shifts of power girls
looked at the roles of Trotsky,
Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev,
Rykov, Tomsky and Stalin
himself in a version of The
Power Game. Chocolate was
used to represent power and
transferred between the
contenders as we studied
events and how they
influenced the rapid and
sometimes subtle shifts in
power that are a mark of this
era.
These events included Lenin’s
funeral where Stalin was chief
mourner so gaining power; or
how he used his views on the
economy (first of all
supporting the New Economic
Policy which allowed peasants
to sell some of their produce
for profit and small traders to
run businesses, and then
switching to promoting rapid
industrialisation) to win
support from the communist
party once again gaining
power.
The picture shows Stalin (by
the lion) having won, after
defeating the six other
contenders, who are looking
suitably disappointed.
8
It’s All Greek to Me! Isobel Alexander
Dr. Philomen Probert, a lecturer
at Oxford in Classical Philology
and Linguistics, came on a
Thursday evening after school to
give a lecture to the Classics
Society on the pronunciation of
Classical Greek. She quickly
dashed any notion that we might
have of the stability and reliability
of the pronunciation of language.
Before Dr Probert, I’m sure many
of the Greek and Latin students
had taken Mr Smith’s word as
gospel on pronunciation (and
many other things). However, as
we learnt, the history of Classical
Greek pronunciation was a war‐
zone.
In the past most people had
learnt pronunciation from their
teachers and their teachers from
their teachers and so on.
However, during the 15th
Century, pronunciation was called
into question mainly by
Desiderius Erasmus, due to the
migration of Greek speakers after
the Ottoman conquest of the
Greek Empire. Erasmus noted the
mispronunciations of Classical
Greek where people
misinterpreted accents, making
them long or short when they
simply indicated the tone or
register. Erasmus reformed
pronunciation, giving us Erasmian
pronunciation, but the fun didn’t
stop there.
In the mid‐1500s John Cheke and
Thomas Smith, professors of
Greek at Cambridge adapted the
Erasmian pronunciation, mixing
Greek dipthongs (such as ει, αι
and οι) with new English long
vowel sounds that we know as a,
e, i, o, and u. Cheke and Smith
encouraged students to use this
new pronunciation, but as one
can imagine, this caused outrage
throughout the Classics
community. It was seen as
scandalous particularly by the
Bishop of Winchester, who in
1542 issued a decree forbidding
its use.
Despite this, no one has ever
been able to stop the inexorable
march of change in language,
even when they are a supposedly
“dead” one, and thus the decree
was rescinded in 1558.
This brings our total to three
different well‐known
pronunciations of Classical Greek;
the Erasmian, the unreformed,
and our modern pronunciation.
So we ended our session singing
Old MacDonald in the three
different pronunciations, with
some Classics teachers , who shall
not be named, singing quite
enthusiastically.
This was a very interesting lecture
and we are most grateful to
Dr Probert for leaving us more
informed and nonetheless
hysterical about the
pronunciation of Classical Greek.
9
10
Year 7 at The tower Lauren Eells
In history this term Year 7 have
been studying a number of
different topics related to life in
medieval England and at the
beginning of October the whole
year group headed off to the
Tower of London. The first thing
which struck us was the beauty
and significance of the ceramic
poppy instillation, Blood Swept
Lands and Seas Of Red. Though
it was threatening to rain, the
sight of the 888,246 ceramic
poppies set against the
magnificent historical buildings
forced us all to forget about the
weather.
Inside the walls of the castle, the
girls were able to see the crown
jewels, walk the battlements
and see magnificent chambers
located around the site. They
also climbed the many steps
inside the White Tower where
they saw the Royal Armouries
and the remnants of The Royal
Mint, as well as the living quar‐
ters of monarchs prior to
Elizabeth I. There was so much
to take in and not as much time
as some might have all liked, but
by the end of our tour the girls
had really gained a sense of the
importance of the Tower.
Every girl also had the chance to
put on white gloves and take
part in a short educational
session where they were
allowed to handle primary
evidence including artefacts
such as such as animal bones
which had been found in the
grounds of the Tower, pottery
and other utensils. These
enabled the girls to make
inferences about what the
castle had been used for during
its long history and allowed
them to experience real
examples of what they been
learning about in recent lessons,
'What is History'.
Overall we had a fantastic day
and the rain even held off until
we got back onto the coaches to
return to school.
The A Level Spanish students
went to Godolphin and Latymer
School to hear a lecture, “Magic
Moments: Garcia Marquez In
Memoriam” by Robin Fiddian,
Professor of Spanish at Oxford
and expert in twentieth‐century
Spanish American literature.
The talk was in honour of Garcia
Marquez, who died recently and
who is probably best known as
the author of the novel,
100 Years Of Solitude.
Magic Moments Aisha Hussain and Eliza Argyropoulo
9
Tea Time Concert Caroline Watts
The Music Department had its first Tea Time Concert of the year in
October, showcasing the talent of students from Years 7 to 11. As
ever, the concert offered the opportunity to perform in a relaxed
setting in front of friends, family and staff.
This concert featured a large number of wind players including a
very cheery start to the concert by Charlotte Grimwade playing
With a Hint of Lime! The fun theme was continued by the Senior
Flute Group playing The Entertainer and a lovely arrangement of
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes played by Philippa Jones. The saxophone
is becoming increasingly popular in school – Amira Nuseibeh gave
a very good performance of Saint‐Saens’ The Swan ‐ better known
as a piece for cello, and Georgia Colfer played Waltz for Emily.
Julia Flint ended the concert with a very accomplished
performance of Sicilenne and Allegro Giocoso by Grovlez .
Professor Fiddian spoke to us
about the concept of Magical
Realism, the movement that
Garcia Marquez greatly
influenced. The lecture opened
our minds to the idea that life is
in fact magical, a key theme
within the novels of Magical
Realists, such as Marquez.
Through their literary
techniques, these authors
expressed the idea that
supernatural phenomena can
be seen as natural.
We all really enjoyed the
lecture and the chance to
broaden our knowledge of
Hispanic culture and its literary
history.
A World of Chocolate On Monday 6th October, the whole of Year 9
set off for Cadbury World where, despite the
rain, they enjoyed a fantastic day out!
We began with a tour of the packaging plant,
completed a quiz, ate free samples of
chocolate, spent lots of money in the shop and
had a great educational talk about the workings
of a Trans National Corporation.
Cadbury are now part of Mondalez
International an American multinational
confectionery, food and beverage
conglomerate, but have kept the brand name of
Cadbury for many of the chocolate products.
We learnt about how ingredients are sourced,
the economic geography of the company and
about the buying processes and policies that
mean that some of their chocolate products
now carry the Fair Trade logo.
On return the girls designed their own original
chocolate bars and some even made them,
including Frankie and Georgie shown above
with their Zebra Bar—which when bitten into
reveals a stripy surprise of alternate milk and
white chocolate!
Sally Cohen
11
12
Poetry Day Workshop On National Poetry Day visiting poet Sarah Kelly
held workshops in which she helped us to
develop our writing skills, she also taught us
how poetry is not just about rhyme and rhythm
but the expression of your thoughts flowing
onto a piece of paper.
Remember Viki Leung
This year’s National Poetry Day
celebrated the theme of
‘Remember’.
Students all participated in a
school‐wide competition to
write a poem on the theme
and then recite it off by heart –
in a further twist on the idea of
remembering! The English
Department were thrilled with
the imaginative and creative
flair which was displayed by all
the students and everybody
thoroughly enjoyed listening to
the performed poems. The
winning entries from Year 7, 8,
9, 10 and the English
Secretaries were delivered in
assembly alongside the works
of visiting poet, Sarah Kelly.
Sarah describes herself as “...
an interdisciplinary artist and
poet primarily concerned with
text and surface.” Her work
explores process in language
making and marking and
encompasses poetic practice,
sculptural page and paper
making, typography and
calligraphy as well as
inscription, translation and
iteration.
She ran an inspiring workshop
which involved rethinking our
perceptions of the body and
how we remember experiences
through our senses. She
challenged Year 10 to
reconsider their notion of how
and whether poetry needs to
‘makes sense’. The students
engaged in some meditative
reflection which led to free
writing and finally the shaping
of these ideas into the form of
a poem.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the
day and will certainly
‘Remember’ it as a highlight of
the calendar this year!
We did activities like lying down and closing our
eyes while she read out words. We responded
by writing our thoughts on the lexical choice on
a piece of paper. Using those words we later
formed poems. The workshops were a great
experience and a great insight to how
poetry is created.
Aarti Agarwal
Poetry Day Competition Winners Year 7:Isabella Stevens
Year 8: Libby Warren
Year 9: Nathalie Wickremeratne,
Year 10: Jasmine Baldock
13
The NCS Challenge—Just Say Yes! Sara Farooq
Like most of Year 11, I was sick
and tired of revision before my
GCSEs had even started. So,
around May, I decided that I was
going to do all that I could to
make the most of my summer. An
organisation called The Challenge
had come into school a few
weeks earlier to talk about this
programme called NCS (National
Citizen Service) which they
claimed would be unforgettable
(!) I was sceptical to say the
least... I didn't see how spending
some time doing volunteer work
and hiking would be so life‐
changing, but I decided to bite
the bullet and sign up anyway. I
can honestly say that my
preconceptions couldn't have
been further from the truth.
NCS is a programme that
encourages young people to do
something positive with their
time which will provide them with
valuable skills for the future. The
fortunate side effect is that it's
genuinely a joy to be a part of!
There are three parts to the
programme: the Personal
Challenge, the Team Challenge
and the Real Challenge (consisting
of Design and Action).
All of these challenges are
undertaken with a team of twelve
people and a Senior Mentor (the
adult responsible for your team)
who become your second family.
The Personal Challenge consists
of a week's residential stay at an
outdoor activity centre trying
activities such as Gorge Walking
and Canoeing. Despite the initial
awkwardness of being thrust into
a team of strangers and spending
the night in a tent with them, the
Personal Challenge really allows
you to get to know and trust your
team. The awkward stage is a
distant memory by the end of the
week.
The Team Challenge involves
another week away from home,
this time in university Halls
allowing you a taste of student
life while also learning a new skill
from choices such as Photogra‐
phy, Media and more. I think
most people would agree that it's
always a good thing to widen
your skill‐set by learning
something new. With NCS you
are given the chance to do it in a
relaxed atmosphere whilst
meeting new people.
The Real Challenge consists of
volunteer work in locations such
as care homes and then the
planning and subsequent
execution of a social action
campaign. This campaign can
tackle any issue your team
decides is relevant to you, for
example my team, decided to
spread positivity around our
community while another team,
decided to tackle the problem of
racial stereotyping. The feeling of
contributing to the atmosphere
of your area is a very rewarding
one and it completes the NCS
experience perfectly.
I can honestly say taking part in
NCS was one of the best decisions
I've ever made. I've met some
amazing people and learnt so
much; I'd wholeheartedly
recommend getting involved. It
provides you with an array of
skills useful for the working world
such as teamwork and leadership,
and for the 'Uni‐aware' among us,
NCS is also recognised by UCAS
(anything for that application,
right?).
Personally, I’m so glad I decided
to do NCS as it allowed me to
meet a variety of people from
many different backgrounds. At
the start of the process, Fadi, our
brilliant Senior Mentor, reminded
our team that we'd be spending
the better part of a month to‐
gether. 'You guys are either going
to hate each other or love each
other by the end of this'.
He got that right. Luckily, it was
the latter.
India
Sixth form geography students accompanied by Miss Cohen and Mrs Maynard spent a fascinating 10 days in
India this summer.
Their trip began in Delhi where they looked at the rise of industrialisation and how a city copes when the
highly developed and urban meets chaotic and unplanned expansion. A visit to Agra and the Taj Mahal was
followed by a journey on the ‘toy train’ built by the British to provide access to their summer capital of
Shimla. The 96 kilometers, 102 tunnels, 800 bridges, and an incredible 900 curves made this an undoubted
highlight of the trip for many. They also visited Dharamsala with its hilltop monasteries and a chance to
experience the more rural side of India before a final stop in Amristsar.
14
We then had to plan a mass
fundraising event for our
assigned charity. We had to
take into account all aspects of
the event including finance and
advertising. We conducted
market research in Bath and
had various progress deadlines
to meet throughout the day. By
7 o’clock in the evening we had
to have everything for the
event finalised and a finished
presentation to be handed in.
On the final day each team
went up to pitch their event
idea. One winner was chosen
for each charity and an overall
winning team was selected as
well. This team was asked to
pitch their event idea to the
chief executive of their charity.
At the end of the weekend we
were all exhausted but had had
a fantastic time. We came away
having a learnt a lot and feeling
much more confident and with
lots of skills that will come in
useful as we prepare for going
off to university next year.
Macbeth The trend for all‐female casts taking on the
Shakespearean tragedies has been high profile
of late and why would it not be? Its significance
lies in giving women of talent some of the
greatest roles to play; roles which might
otherwise be denied to them. Here at NHEHS
we are excited to be embracing what is
considered to be one of Shakespeare’s darkest
and most powerful works: Macbeth. Almost
from the outset, the play depicts Scotland as a
land shaken by inversions of the natural order
and although recent events make it a perfect
backdrop for our senior production, the themes
of destruction as a means of fulfilling ambition
are universal. We have therefore used the
context of the Middle East to explore the
ambitions of Macbeth. Set in a desert army
outpost, our vision is realised in‐the‐round and
uses multi‐media to draw the audience into
Macbeth’s quest for power
20th, 21st, and 22nd November at 7.00 PM.
Tickets £14 adults; £7 children/concessions
Tickets on sale from school now.
15
Young Leaders’ Conference Antonia Mathias
Earlier this term the NHEHS
Head Girl Team went down to
Royal High School in Bath for the
weekend to take part in the
GDST’s Young Leaders
Conference.
The conference began with
three speakers who really
fuelled us up for the rest of the
weekend. They talked about
their experiences with failure
during their careers and how
they had all battled with
prejudice because of being
female. Our favourite speaker
was Tracy Edwards, who told us
about how she skippered the
first all‐female crew to take part
in the Whitbread round the
world race. Her team received a
lot of criticism from the media
but in the end they came second
and set seven world records
which have yet to be beaten.
The rest of the weekend was
hectic but fantastic. We were
split up into teams and allocated
a charity: HFT or The Children’s
Society or Water Aid.
Choir Trip to Tuscany
The Senior Choir of 40 girls
accompanied by Mr Jeanes,
Mrs Watts, Mr Conley‐Harper,
Miss Bushell and Dr Sheldon
spent five days in Tuscany
during the summer holiday.
They performed in Montecatini
at the Basilica Santa Mara
Assunta, in Pisa Cathedral, the
Church of Santa Martria del
Ricci in Florence and Chiesa del
Convento San Agostinino in San
Gimignano
There is an excellent account of
the tour in the 2014 edition of
the NHEHS magazine written by
Louise Claxton and Ellen
Coleman. This gives details not
only of the musical highlights of
the tour, but of sightseeing,
very competitive games of
beach volley ball and the
consumption of a truly
impressive amount of ice cream.
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an opportunity to finally involve
themselves taking a couple of
good passes into our ‘d’ and
having shots on goal. But our
defence and goalkeeper Nichola
Greenhalgh coped with them
well, calmly getting the ball out
to start a counter attack.
Unfortunately the curse of the
13‐minute game came back to
haunt us. At the final whistle th
score was 0‐0 and so on we
went to penalty shuffles.
This year instead of traditional
penalty flicks, penalty shuffles
were introduced to decide the
winners at the knock out stage.
These involve an attacker from
one team having 8 seconds to
dribble into the ‘d’ and attempt
to score, whilst the defending
team’s goalkeeper tries to
prevent them, either by saving
the goal or by forcing the
attacker to run out of time. After
the best of 5 we were a nail‐
biting 3‐3 with Northampton.
With our hearts in our mouths
and some of the team unable to
watch we went to sudden death.
We scored they scored we
missed they missed.
Alas it was not to be and we
narrowly missed out on a place
in the semi‐finals. Umpires and
other teachers commented
throughout the day on how
impressive we looked as a team
and how we were unlucky to not
go through. We fought hard and
despite in open play deserving
to progress, we just stumbled at
the last hurdle.
GDST Senior Hockey Tournament Beth Lowen
On a miserable day in early
October, the Senior Hockey team
left for the annual GDST
tournament at Oxford High. We
had the best start to a Trust rally
that I have ever known scoring 4
goals in our opening 13‐minute
game against Portsmouth. We
continued this run with a 3‐0 win
against Howells before finishing
top of our group having won our
last game 2‐0. Lauren Oliver
scored some outstanding goals,
linking with Jess Brisley and Ellie
Benson to convert other
opportunities.
We were on a high and excited to
go through to the quarter finals.
This was another 13‐minute game
with no half time. We were the
dominant team continuing to
show the potential that had got
us noticed in the group stages.
Northampton gave our defence
The team: Jess Brisley (Captain) Lauren Oliver, Sacha Parkinson, Lara Dodd, Sarah Ashraf, Emma Fawcett, Jess Shindler Glass, Freya Hodgkinson, Becca Yates, Elena Colato, Hannah Brisley, Nichola Greenhalgh Ellie Benson and Yssie Richards.
Sports Reports Nicola Evans, Diane Dunkley, Beth Lowen
NHEHS fielded teams in
netball, rounders, tennis and
beach volleyball for the first
ever GDST London Schools
Multi Sports Rally at Barn
Elms which was hosted by
Putney High School.
Football In the week before half term we played
Godolphin and Latymer winning both our
games. The Year7/8 team won 4‐1 and the
Yeas 9/10 team won 1‐0.
GDST Schools Multi Sports Rally
Both the NHEHS
Senior netball
team and the U16s
took part in the Middlesex
School Tournament at Lady
Eleanor Holles School on
Out of School
Hockey Superstars Many congratulations to Lauren Oliver (Year
13) who has been selected to train with the
England U17 Hockey squad. A fantastic
achievement!
Congratulations also to Jessica Brisley (Year 13)
and Emma Fawcett ( Year 12) who have been
training with regional level Tier 1 Hockey which
is the precursor to training at a National level.
It was a very successful day
and in the Year 9 A team
tournament our netballers
missed out on a place in the
final in a nail‐biting 20‐19
defeat in the play offs .
Middlesex Tournament Netball
11th October. Tough matches
were played all round with
the U16s making it through to
the finals which will be held in
March 2015
Darcy Bourke (Year 8) is one of
the many girls who pursue
their chosen sport outside
school. Darcy is competing at
a very high level in Eventing
where she competes against
an almost wholly adult field.
At the end of September
Darcy took part in the British
Eventing Horse Trials and
narrowly missed qualifying for
the Badminton Grassroots
competition. She was
delighted to be so highly
placed and is now working
towards qualifying next year.
Year 7/8 team
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