North London Collegiate School

The Prince's Teaching Institute

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 13:43:33 PST

The Prince's Teaching Institute Schools Programme

The Prince's Teaching Institute runs a membership scheme for school departments - the Schools Programme - which recognises and facilitates the achievement of excellence in schools. Participating departments commit to increasing the challenge of the curriculum, extracurricular provision, increase their professional development of teachers, and provide greater subject-based partnerships in the wider community for their students. Today, the Prince's Teaching Institute have more than 300 departments in over 200 schools participating in the Schools Programme. In 2010, 90% of the departments that have signed up said that they have already raised the level of challenge in their work as a result of their participation.

On Monday 4^th July, The Prince's Teaching Institute launched its Schools Programme Associate Scheme for school departments that have been members of the PTI's Schools Programme for three years and want to continue their professional development in a specialised area. The Scheme invites school departments to undertake a more detailed and sustained project in one of the areas highlighted by the Schools Programme; the curriculum, extracurricular provision, professional development of teachers, and subject-based partnerships in the wider community. The Scheme was announced at one of the PTI's Schools Programme events, attended by HRH The Prince of Wales, who is President of the PTI. Over 300 delegates were in attendance to celebrate not only the outstanding work that has been done all over the country by school departments that has positively affected the education of over 150,000 pupils, but also the continued success and development of the PTI itself.

2012 Leavers say Goodbye

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:02:47 PST

Yr 13 students say goodbye to NLCS with laughter, singing and vintage uniform!

Visit by Mary Cozens-Walker ONL

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:22:26 PST

Mary Cozens-Walker ONL (1957) and her husband Anthony Green RA visited NLCS to view the current Sixth Form art exhibition in the Performing Arts Centre and to speak to the Head of Art, Mr Hardy. Mrs Cozens-Walker discussed her new book Objects of Obsession 1955-2011 and the possibility of holding an exhibition here at NLCS next year.

Picture from Mary Cozens-Walker's book

Mencap Funday 2012

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:36:56 PST

Mencap Funday took place on Sunday 29^th April and proved, once again, to be a huge success.

Over fifteen children with special needs and disabilities attended the event for an exciting day of activities, ranging from cookie decorating to ten-pin bowling. Thirty girls from Years 7-13 enthusiastically looked after and supervised the children on the day. Everyone had a brilliant time swimming, playing ‘pass the parcel' and jumping around on the bouncy castle!

All the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves throughout the day and went home in the afternoon cheerful and happy, with gifts from the day as souvenirs.

Hanaa Khan, the Co-chair of the School's Canonaid Committee said that "the best part of the day was without a doubt meeting the children and making new friends."

Thanks to all the teachers, members of Canonaid and other volunteers for making the day possible.

Aritcle: Unnati Patel, Yr 12

'82, '92 and '02 Reunion

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:23:29 PST

The 10^th, 20^th and 30^th anniversary reunions for the Classes of 2002, 1992 and 1982 were celebrated by over 100 ONLs who returned to Canons on Saturday 12^th May 2012.

The day began with coffee in the Old House, followed by a welcome in the Performing Arts Centre, which included an update on the school from Mrs Bernice McCabe, the Headmistress, and a description of the ONL community from Mr Joe Voelker, Marketing and Development Director. After lunch in the dining hall and group photographs, the ONLs were free to wander the grounds and explore old haunts. The dungeons were very popular, but the roof was illusive. The day at Canons ended with tea and cakes, but renewed friendships continue.

The Facebook groups for these years offer plenty of more personal news and photos from the past and from the day. The easiest way to join the Facebook groups is to ‘Friend' Frances Mary Buss (with her daffodil profile picture).

Yrs 7 & 8 production of Alice

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:22:46 PST

On Wednesday 9^th and Thursday 10^th May, audiences were treated to wonderful performances of Alice by the girls from Years 7 & 8. A modern take on the traditional story of Alice in Wonderland, this talented and vibrant cast brought to life all the characters we love and recognise. There were many skilful, mature performances and this highly enthusiastic cast of 50 performers worked together beautifully to create this magical world. Directed by Miss Woodacre this was a very exciting start to our summer programme. The production was supported by a large group of Year 10 students in all other areas. Their maturity and commitment was outstanding.

Photos by Graham Ryder

Diamond Jubilee Union Flag

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:27:29 PST

At the beginning of next month, there will be a special extended bank-holiday weekend to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. But as the national celebrations fall during the School's half-term holiday, we will be holding our own special day of celebration in two weeks' time, on Friday 25^th May.

There will be a ‘red, white and blue' theme for the mufti day and a Jubilee-themed picnic during the lunch hour.

As part of our celebrations on that day, we will be hoisting the School's new Union flag on the School flagpole. But it's traditional that, before a new flag is raised, it should be ceremonially unfurled and publically displayed - Mrs McCabe unfurled the flag in assembly together with Ellie Pead, our outgoing Senior Student.

NLCS London Marathon runners

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:39:33 PST

NLCS is very proud to report that Renate Fromson (Yr13) and Mr Pearson (History Department) successfully completed the London Marathon 2012.

Renate Fromson

"Running the marathon has been on my to do list for a long time and as soon as I turned 18 I signed up. I ran for the One to One Project, an amazing charity that supports Arab and Israeli children affected by war. This charity is really important to me and I managed to raise over £2000 sponsorship. The marathon was an incredible experience; the atmosphere was fantastic and thousands of spectators lined the streets, handing out sweets and cheering for everyone by name. That really helped me get through the pain and kept me going, past Tower Bridge and all the way to the finish line along the Mall. I finished in a time of 4hrs and 40 minutes and, despite not being able to walk down the stairs for a week after, I can't wait to run it again."

Mr Pearson

Mr Pearson, a very experienced marathon runner, completed the course in 2hrs 49mins 41secs and has raised £2,000 for Starlight (a charity dedicated to granting wishes for terminally and seriously ill children). More information about this charity can be found on Mr Pearson's justgiving site www.justgiving.com/Charlie-Pearson2 .

Incredibly Mr Pearson ran and won the Bungay Black Dog Marathon the weekend before. "I ran 2hrs 48mins 50secs at Bungay (in Suffolk - on Sunday 15^th April) and won it and so was pretty chuffed about that! Perhaps partly due to being a bit fatigued from this race, I then ran a slightly disappointing 2hrs 49mins 41secs on a much easier (flatter) London course - 8 minutes slower than last year. Still, it was, as ever, a great day out, and it is brilliant to have raised all that money for the very worthy Starlight children's foundation."

Many congratulations to Renate and Mr Pearson for this fantastic achievement!

Yr 8 Rhineland Trip 2012

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:24:07 PST

On Sunday 15^th April, at 4.45am, 20 excited girls and 2 enthusiastic teachers from North London Collegiate set off for a jam-packed week in the serene state of Rhineland. The week was full of activities to add to our linguistic skills. As we travelled to Germany, we passed many countries including the Netherlands, where we stopped and practised our German.

In Rhineland we stayed at the Hotel Kurfurst where the food was fantastich! On Monday we went on a boat ride along the Rhine, took a chairlift up to the top of a majestic hill, went bowling and of course we went shopping. Whilst in the shopping street we all tried spaghetti ice cream, it was sehr gut! During our visit we also saw the Gutenberg museum, Reichsburg castle, we splashed about in Tauris (a futuristic swimming complex) and screamed our way through most of the rides at Phantasialand. But we didn't forget our German; we put our linguistic skills to the test at every possible opportunity.

The trip was a great success and everyone learnt more about the German language and the culture and the history of Rhineland. It was an amazing trip and thank you to Miss Machemer and Frau Pampus for making the trip even more enjoyable.

Article: Sahana Amanan, Yr 8

NLCS mock election May 2012

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:41:35 PST

On Monday 30th April, girls from the sixth form represented the candidates for the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Green Party and the Independent candidate for the Mayoral Elections at our very own North London debate.

This was then followed by our mock election on the 3rd May using the SV system. Staff and students had the opportunity to voice their opinion, where the highest turn out came from Year 10, followed by the sixth form.

The clear winner of the NLCS election was Boris Johnson.

(Conservative) with 61.62%. This was an even clearer verdict than the actual result with Johnson winning with 51.5%.

Article: Luksika Ragudasan, Yr 12

NLCS 2012 Time Capsule

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:54:40 PST

"What is past is prologue." ~ William Shakespeare

NLCS is steeped in history. We take pride in our historic site, our tradition of educational excellence and the powerful role of our founder. But this is just the beginning,

In a ceremony this week, our lives at North London Collegiate School in 2012 were recorded in a time capsule. We have buried it in the school fields and instructions have been placed in the school archives for it to be unearthed in 2062. It contains messages from students and teachers - sharing their stories and hopes for the future, and giving advice to North London girls they will probably never know. This will be our legacy.

In half a century, North London girls will unearth the box which contains little pieces of our lives as we know them. They will discover a 2012 newspaper (coveted by 6th Form for its crossword!), a homework diary, a university application tracking sheet and many more objects which, though ordinary, are inexplicably important in the daily life of a NLCS girl. They will read Mrs. McCabe's Founder's Day speech and see photographs and wonder who we were and where we ended up.

This is how we will be remembered.

This will be our legacy.

Article: Hannah Mills, Yr 13

Sally Gardner visits NLCS

Wed, 02 May 2012 17:12:13 PST

On Monday 30^th April, we welcomed award-winning author, Sally Gardner for a talk about her life as a writer. Her story is one of success but also of great determination to succeed.

Sally was diagnosed with dyslexia and only learnt to read at the age of 14. However, despite being bullied, she gained 5 O-Levels (similar to today's GCSEs) and went on to attend art college at the age of sixteen. At school she had always felt the need to be the class clown or do outrageous things to fit in but at college she was free at last.

After finishing her education, she went on to be a stage and costumes designer. Then, she started illustrating young children's books and soon she was writing them too! She says that she is so grateful to her editor who especially helps dyslexic writers and who encouraged her to write books for older children too.

Her books have won many awards, including I, Coriander which beat Philip Pullman to the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award. They have been published worldwide in many different languages and delighted millions of children with their intriguing plots and amazing characters.

Sally believes that dyslexia is a gift and not a burden. Though it took her awhile, she finally found how to cope and deal with it. She has not let dyslexia get in the way of her writing even though she can't spell Tuesday! She says that we should believe we can do anything and we shouldn't let anything hold us back from achieving our goals.

Look out for Sally's new books, Maggot Moon and The Double Shadow. Arriving on bookshelves soon!

Article: Margaret Peng, Yr 9

Bronze Expedition April 2012

Wed, 02 May 2012 17:00:06 PST

Last weekend 75 girls from Year 10 completed their practice expedition for Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. The weather was terrible, but the girls kept going and helped each other get through. Well done to all girls involved, you showed real tenacity and great team work, very impressive indeed! You are all stars!

Article: Miss Ryan, Bronze D of E Co-ordinator

Paris Exchange 2012

Tue, 01 May 2012 11:37:34 PST

On the first day of our Easter holidays we took the Eurostar to Gare du Nord, Paris, and then took our suitcases on the metro to the Lycée Paul Claudel in the very chic 7^th arrondissement, where we would meet our exchanges for the first time. After the initial, slightly nervous waiting, everyone found their exchanges, and soon we were going home to spend our weekend with the French families.

On Monday morning, with everyone chatting about their weekends, we walked to see the Eiffel Tower, followed by the afternoon at the school itself, going to lessons and experiencing French school life, which we found very different to NLCS.

Other visits during the week included the Musée d'Orsay with its beautiful collection of impressionist paintings and discovering the old Jewish quarter called Le Marais, with its small cobbled streets. We climbed the tower of Notre Dame, which afforded a beautiful view over Paris and was well worth the effort of all the stairs (387 steps!).

We spent a day in the Latin Quarter; took a look at the prestigious La Sorbonne university, relaxed in the Jardin du Luxembroug and ended the day at the theatre to watch a production of the ‘Cyrano de Bergerac'. We spent our last day visiting the Opera Garnier and spending some time (and money for some) at the Galeries Lafayette. This provided a rare opportunity for us to see a play in French, and was really enjoyable as well as improving our French.

We managed to pack so much into our short trip and can only thank Madame Dean and Mr English for organising everything and taking us there.

Article: Joanna Yass, Yr 10

Picardie Trip 2012

Tue, 01 May 2012 11:30:16 PST

On the 2^nd of April we woke up early and excited. We were raring to go. France here we come!

When we got to Dover we were lucky enough to catch an earlier ferry. This enabled us to go to a beautiful beach when we arrived; we sat in the sun with ice-creams! After this we went to the Chocolate factory, the smell wafted towards us before it was even in sight. We had an inspiring demonstration about where chocolate had come from and how to make it.

When we arrived we were warmly greeted by the staff at the Chateau. The food was delicious and some of us daringly tried frog's legs! We practised our French by interviewing people on the streets, asking questions and ordering food in the market. We learnt to make mayonnaise and we went on a horse and trap tour of the nearby city of Amiens. We did an obstacle course which enabled us to use skills such as team work and we overcame some of our fears of heights. We also did low ropes which was very fun. We mostly had good weather apart from the last day, but it didn't matter as we spent the morning at Nausicaa, a huge aquarium in Boulogne, which we all enjoyed.

It was a quiet journey back as we were worn out from an exciting week. We all enjoyed the French trip and we now feel that we know each over much better especially those in other classes.

Au revoir!

Article: Amber Herdman-Hyams & Keya Patani (Yr 7)

Seville Trip 2012

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:45:10 PST

At 3:30 am on Sunday 15^th April 2012, 25 tired girls along with Señora Kollkowska and Señoritas Suri and Hickman, met at the loop road to travel to Seville. The journey was fine in the end and at 1:15 (Spanish time) we arrived in Seville. For the next five days, twelve families (selected by the Language School) would have two or three girls each to stay in their homes. At 1:30, the families arrived. We walked back to their flats and got to know them. We all slept very well that night after a long and tiring day.

The next morning at 9:00am, we all met at the Language School. There were two classes and we learnt quite a lot in a fun way. At 11:00 the teachers met us and we set off on our first trip, a tour of Seville and Santa Cruz, the area in which we were staying. We saw the Giralda Tower (a huge tower that was built by the Arabs for the daily prayer call and is now part of the Cathedral), the magnificent Cathedral, the third largest in the world and many other sights around Seville. All the sights were very pretty and to make the day even better the temperature was between 25 and 27 degrees all day! At 19:00, we met the families at the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, which was to be the meeting place for the rest of the trip. The next day, after Language School, we went on a trip to Córdoba. It was an hour and a half by coach but it was worth it. We saw the Mezquita, an amazing mosque which has been turned into a cathedral. It was stunning and one of the best sights we saw all holiday.

The next day we went to Carmona. Here we saw a Roman burial site, where we got to climb down into a tomb which was slightly creepy! That evening, we had a great activity to take part in, a flamenco class. We learnt a dance and then persuaded the teachers to take part. After this we watched a flamenco show, which was beautiful.

On the final day we went to the Plaza de Toros, or the bull ring. It was an amazing place. We did not watch a bull fight but saw the museum and the arena. After a quick lunch break, we went to visit the oldest palace still in use, the Alcázar. It is an amazing palace, built for a Christian king yet decorated in the Arab style. When this final trip was over, we met our families for the last time at the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes and went home to pack. At 9:00 the next morning we boarded the coach to take us to the airport. We loved our trip to Seville!

Article: Lucia Rimini & Krishna Kadiwar, Yr 8

Chambéry Exchange 2012

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:37:45 PST

From 30^th March to 5^th April this year, 8 girls from Year 8 visited the delightful town of Chambéry in the Savoie region of France as part of the annual exchange with the Collège St François de Sales. While there, apart from spending time with host families, they visited not only the town of Chambéry itself but also Lyon and Annecy. Their exchange partners came to London at the end of April.

Young Enterprise Success

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:43:46 PST

Over the past year, North London Young Enterprise companies have taken the business world by storm with their innovative, high quality products and eye-catching marketing. Their achievements have been confirmed at a series of business competitions in recent months, where the NLCS teams have dominated.

Impress

‘Impress', with their stylish range of unique jewellery, certainly impressed the judges at the Brent and Harrow Final, held at NLCS at the end of last term, deservedly collecting the prize for Best Company Report.

The Education Station

‘The Education Station', with their ambitious and innovative ‘Scribble Seat', were very strong competitors throughout the year, winning the prize for Most Innovative Product and being judged Overall Runners Up at the Brent and Harrow Final. They then progressed to the West London Final, held recently at the University of West London. The company gave a fantastic performance and received the prize for Best Company Presentation.

Forty Winks

‘Forty Winks', pioneers of designer sleepwear, have shown themselves to be an outstanding company throughout the year. At the Brent and Harrow Final, they won the awards for Best Trade Stand and Overall Best Company. Progressing to the West London Final, Forty Winks were again victorious, winning the prizes for Best Trade Stand, Most Innovative Product and Overall Best Company.

Best Company - Forty Winks

Over the last two competitions, the NLCS teams have won 9 out of the 11 categories of award available. As one of the top five companies in the whole of London, Forty Winks will now compete in the pan-London Final, to be held at the offices of State Street Bank, Canary Wharf in June.

Congratulations to all the teams!

Article: Dr. Goward

Gold & Silver Expedition April 2012

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 10:11:32 PST

At the beginning of the Easter holidays 16 gold Duke of Edinburgh pupils from Year 12 and 17 silver pupils from Year 11 headed up to the Peak District by train.

Stanage Edge

The silvers spent three days walking in the Edale Valley as well as heading up the intimidating contour lines to the ridge between Lose hill and Mam tor. The weather was forgiving - either cool and cloudy or cold and sunny, but it was perfect for strenuous walking, missing the very hot weather the previous week and the endless rain the next.

Druid's Stone

The gold groups walked 80km over four days and ventured to Wild Country, in the access land above the boundary wall, of heather and peat, curlews and sheep, where they are allowed to roam free off the public footpaths, following little but a compass bearing at times. Apart from a few blisters, all went well; the scenery was quite exhilarating and we only had a little rain on the last day. We were lucky we finished when we did - one day later we would have woken up to a foot of snow at the camp site with the road to Snake Pass closed! All pupils will go on to the Qualifying expedition later this year.

Article: Mrs Betts

Golden Clough

Vale of Edale

Mam Tor

Ludwigsburg Exchange 2012

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:54:54 PST

Following the extremely successful London leg of the 63^rd year of the Ludwigsburg exchange, an excited group of Year 9 and 10 students left Stansted aiport in the last week of the Easter break, bound for Ludwigsburg. This trip also saw the first year of our new European Work Exchange programme, which offers Sixth Form Germanists the opportunity to complete a work experience placement in areas as varied as journalism, medicine and business.

As well as spending time with our new friends and families, we had two days in lessons in the Goethe Gymnasium and a full programme of interesting visits in the surrounding area. We went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, after which we spent the afternoon shopping. We also went on a day trip with our exchanges to the university town Tubingen. We spent the day exploring the town and learning about the rich cultural background of the university which was established there in 1477. In the afternoon we went punting along the river and as we were leaving, we met the newly elected president of Germany who shook the hands of some of our pupils!

Other highlights included an evening of traditional cabaret in a historical Stuttgart theatre and a tour of the imposing and outstandingly grand palace of Ludwigsburg.

The week in Ludwigsburg flew by and all too soon we were on our flight back to London, reflecting on fond memories of new experiences and many already strong friendships set to endure for years to come. Bis nächstes Jahr!