School Magazine, 2020 - 2021

TO THIS YEAR'S SCHOOL MAGAZINE

It is my pleasure to introduce this year’s school magazine How can a school magazine be packed full of events, clubs, partnerships and achievements, in a year when students have had to be off-site or in bubbles for much of the year? One answer lies in the ingenuity of our teachers and girls, finding smart and adaptive ways to operate, and indeed bringing in new ventures The other answer rests on the excellent team behind this great publication, who have managed to track down and capture so well the past year’s ventures I hope you enjoy delving into your copy: it is a reminder of all that was achieved in the midst of extraordinary times.

15 QUESTIONS WITH MR SHOULTS

On a scale of 1-10 how excited are you about this interview?

10!

What is the best gift that you have ever received? When I was 7 I was given a small football table, which I knew about for about a month before I received it because it was hidden somewhere at home but I found it At that age it seemed THE most exciting thing

Your favourite breakfast to be ready for the day? Porridge then marmite (thick marmite) on toast and earl grey.

What was your first ever non-teaching job? I worked for the Department of Transport specialising in international road haulage. That was my first paid job, before that I delivered newspapers for most of my teenage life.

What did you want to be when you were younger? A bit older.

Who is your celebrity style icon? Haha! Style? I’d say you're making a big assumption.

Who would you want to play you in a film about your life?

Oddly many students have said Kelsey Grammar He plays Frasier You could say I found this disappointing

What is your secret talent?

On a good day I can juggle three tangerines.

What is your most embarrassing teacher moment? On a Duke of Edinburgh trip celebrating a student’s birthday and setting off the fire alarm causing the entire youth hostel to be evacuated

What is the best thing about living in London? It is dripping with culture

If you could have a superpower, what would it be? I have really bad breath control as a singer. To be able to sing long phrases without running out of breath. It really irritates me!

What is one book which you wish you had written? I think George Eliot’s Middlemarch.

What would you be if you weren’t a teacher? Sad. I think I’d be sad but I might take a strange pleasure in being a minibus driver.

What is the first thing you do each morning? The first thing I do is turn off my various alarms and iron a shirt, and I wish daily that I ironed it the night before

What advice would you give your teenage self? Everyone has imposter syndrome

Mr Shoults

THREE DECADES AT NHEHS

I started working as a Maths teacher at NHEHS on 3rd September 1991 and never for one second imagined that I would still be here 30 years later My first day was also the first day for the new Head Teacher, Mrs Whitfield, who was to be our Head for the next 17 years Physically, the school was a very different place to today’s NHEHS There were virtually no computers anywhere and teachers wrote with chalk on blackboards There was no West Wing and the new block with the Sports Hall in the basement did not exist The Science block extension had not been built so there was no DT room; our DT lab was the top deck of a white double decker bus that was parked outside the front of the school when it wasn’t at Heathfield, a GDST school in Pinner, with whom we shared the bus. Skipton House was on the corner of Wimbourne Gardens and there was an odd collection of buildings housing the Sixth Form, the gym and the school hall in the space where our new atrium block has been built.

By Ms Critcher

1991

2001

Christmas 1993

This was a memorable year for me for personal reasons; my daughter was born which meant I was not in school until September of that year Looking back to the school magazine from 2001, it reports that there were two staff babies that year, somewhat different to the baby boom we are currently experiencing. During my maternity leave, I missed a fire which started in the basement and it is thanks to Mr Patel for pressing the fire alarm so promptly that much more severe damage wasn’t caused. I vividly remember popping into school with my baby daughter in the Summer Term and there being a strong smell of the smoke damage that had been caused; there was neither electricity nor phones – but lessons were continuing as normal. When I returned to school in September, I found that I had joined the 6th Form tutor team, a role that has been an immense pleasure and privilege over the last 20 years, and a lot of fun too!

By now, Ms Hunt was our Head Teacher and she was a driving force initiating improvements with many of the school’s buildings, including opening the Sixth Form Centre and extending the dining room During this decade we lived through huge building programme on the main school site as a huge hole had to be dug for the Sports Hall We had a temporary ‘big space’ on the netball courts for assemblies By now, all teachers were using laptops in their lessons and school trips had become increasingly adventurous When I joined the school, European coach trips were the big expeditions whereas by 2011 trips had gone as far as China, Russia and Borneo (but fortunately not by coach)

People sometimes ask me ‘isn’t it boring teaching the same subject in the same school for so long?’ Well, it has never been boring for me I truly believe that a school must be one of the most stimulating places to work; there is always so much going on and after the past year of online teaching it is clear that there is no substitute for the excitement and energy of actually being in the classroom Staying in one school for so long really gives you a connection to so many people’s lives and I love the fact that I taught a number of our current students’ mothers plus numerous sisters and cousins. Teaching alongside former students has been a joy too, as has working with so many marvellous colleagues who are now lifelong friends. Thank you, NHEHS, for a truly rewarding and special career

Tara to Mr Cheney!

It is with sadness that I bid farewell to NHEHS at the end of my 15th year here but those 15 years have brought with them many incredible memories. When I first joined I didn’t know if I wanted to be a teacher for the long-term but, the incredibly warm and welcoming spirit of the girls and staff here quickly made it obvious that this job (and school) were for me.

The 12 Days of Christmas and carols in that final Christmas assembly will always be remembered alongside the month-long expedition to Botswana (even with the infamous sickness bug that went around), the DofE trips, the ski trips and the amazing form groups I had over the years. I will be coming back whenever I can to visit and will see all of the shows and concerts as this place will always be very special to me. On that note, ta ra!

An Interview with the School Radio Team

Year 12s Freya, Amber and Alice talk about their radio show “Outside-In” that they started this year. The show discusses politics, trivia and has interviews with everyone from teachers to political candidates. Outside-In is hosted by Freya McNeill, Amber DeaneJohns and Ruby Herbert and is produced by Alice Rowlands; it is available to listen to on Spotify.

Why did you want to start up a school radio?

Freya: It was my idea. I wanted to start it up for selfish reasons, primarily because I’m interested in doing journalism in the future but most importantly I wanted to spark dialogue in our school and, as our name suggests, bring the outside world into the school, be that through culture or through politics

Did you face any challenges trying to set it up?

Amber: It was mainly admin Alice: We first started trying to do this in lockdown, mostly over the summer term last year, so we didn’t have any proper recording equipment and we couldn’t be in the same room as each other We were all at home so we did a lot of things where we did screen recordings on chrome extensions It was terrible audio quality and we were very unprepared and very new to it. I think our first episode is maybe 20 minutes long? And it took us 3 hours to record because we were so inexperienced and we didn’t really know what we were doing with content or technology but I think we’ve got better.

Is there anyone you would like to have on in the future? Why?

Freya: My dream guest would be the 2021 London mayoral candidates who rejected my emails.

Alice: Freya, for over 6 months now, has been tirelessly emailing and calling all of the London mayoral candidates and none of them have responded. Well, one has responded.

Freya: Dr Gammons, UKIP candidate! The candidates would be my dream guests but I think they’re just too scared of my interviewing skills; they’re scared of me and that's okay.

If you could describe your entire experience with the radio in 3 words, what would they be?

Amber: Confidence building, fun I should say ‘nice’ and be the English department's least favourite person

Alice: Difficulties with technology As the producer that sums up my experience pretty well

Freya: Frantic, thrilling, fun Fun is a word that's underrated

Mr Cheney

Meet the House Captains:

An Tan and Francesca Leonard

Hi, I'm Li An and I'm currently studying Maths, English Literature, Biology, and Greek (Classical) at A Level with hope to do a joint degree in Classics and English at university. One of the reasons I wanted to become a House Captain was to be more involved in creating fun events and it was something that had interested me since Year 7. I would say the best bit about being House Captain is that you develop so many new skills, get more involved in school life and get to know the younger years better. You also have so much freedom about different events you can run!

Hi, I'm Francesca and I'm studying Philosophy, Theatre Studies and Geography at A level and I would love to study Philosophy and Politics (aka PPE minus the E due to my lack of mathematical talent and desire to be PM). I applied to be House Captain because I always looked up to them in Year 7. I also wear a lot of green so the wardrobe shift didn't require too much effort. The best part of being Vice House Captain is getting to eat the cake that Li An makes for house baking events so make sure you have a baker on the team when you apply!

HOUSES

Sideso and Mia Mutadich

Hi, I'm Lily and I'm studying Economics, Maths, Further Maths and Geography at A Level, hoping this will lead onto studying something to do with Economics and Finance at university. I applied to be House Captain because I wanted to take on a role where not only did I become more involved in school life but I could encourage others to get more involved as well. The best part of being House Captain is having the chance to run old events and start up new ones. It's also great to see everyone getting competitive and motivated!

Hi, I'm Mia and I study Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science and I'm applying to study Computer Science at university I applied for House Captain because I wanted to make loads of new exciting events to improve house spirit and obviously to get Eliot's winning streak back I would recommend for anyone to apply for the role because it's really fun working together as a team; I even look forward to our meetings every week.

Hi, I'm Annika and I'm studying Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Biology I'm hoping to study Medicine at university I applied to be House Captain because I wanted a leadership role within the school where I could encourage more students to get involved in school life Also Hepburn hasn't won in ages so maybe it'll be our lucky year! The best part about being House Captain is seeing all of your changes around the school.

Hi, I'm Izzy and I study Politics, Art and Philosophy at A Level. After Sixth Form, I'm hoping to do an Art Foundation to lead into something arty like Graphic Design Applying to be House Captain, I really wanted to boost the social media aspect of the house system as well as having a leadership role within school Working with your friends in a competitive environment makes school ten times better so I am really glad I was part of this year's team The role also helps you gain more confidence, become more organised and you might even gain new friends at the same time!

Li

Lily

Annika Malhotra and Isobel Smallman

House Maths Challenge

This year House Maths featured a quick fire round with impressive homemade buzzers provided by the Physics department, and a relay round which saw students racing across the room, proudly brandishing their solutions!

In Year 7, Nightingale swooped into first place with 16 points. Hepburn won with 16 points in Year 8 and in Year 9, Nightingale was victorious, winning with 12 points. Year 10 saw yet another victory for Nightingale who won with 17 points, closely followed by Eliot (16) and Hepburn (15).

Congratulations to Nightingale on their victory and thanks to all the Maths Representatives and teachers involved in creating the event!

Li An Tan - Year 12

On a wet and grey day in May ...

With exams looming, I wait to interview the legendary Easter Bunny. I can hear the off-screen muttering of bland curses and chuckling as he tries to connect to the Zoom call, with the assistance of one of his great, grand-kits. The Easter Bunny had come to NHEHS as a special guest to help the House Captains in their assembly. Had he enjoyed his trip to NHEHS from Somerset?

“Oh! It were marvellous I do like the h’opportunity to come into schools and talk to all the lovely boys and girls Oh, thass right, you don’t ‘ave any boys at your place What was it that was making that funny smell then?’

It is this directness that has historically caused trouble for the Easter Bunny. I steered the Easter Bunny to safer ground. Tell us a bit about your background, I ask.

"Well, you know the most of it, if you were paying h’attention. Pagan goddess called Eostre, who was the Goddess of the Dawn, and the rabbit or hare was ‘er sacred h’animal. Eventually, Pope Gregory was so fed up with all the pagan’s ignoring his attempt to make them Christians that ‘e, said ‘stuff it, let’s make the festival part of our calendar'. Obviously, I am not the original Easter Bunny. I’ll be passing it onto my lad, Jethro, an’ I got it from my father, George. It’s always on the male side for a reason As rabbits, we’re famous for one fing only Come Easter everyone expects to see lots of little kits ‘opping around My wife says to me ‘I’ll be blown if you fink I’m traipsing all over the world delivering eggs, ‘aving sprung that lot ’ So she does all the promo stuff like the calendars and sweet bunny stuff, and I do the Easter Bunny thing

"'Ere let me tell you something nice to end on I’m an old rabbit, and I’ve been doing this for a long time What people really want more than chocolate eggs after a long winter is the brightening days, the daffs and bluebells bloomin’. Spring brings hope."

And with that he is gone. My interview with a legend is over, I smile and the grey day in May brightens.

Dr Pearce, aka. The Easter Bunny

University Challenge Photography Challenge

My photo was inspired by one of Van Gogh's self portraits I chose to do this because I've never re-created a painting before It links to 'Backwards in time' because I took a modern day photo of an old Van Gogh portrait from 1889 I took the photo of my brother

Maintaining NHEHS traditions this year hasn’t been easy but the House Captains rose to the challenge of COVID-19 and organised this year's House University Challenge in November Mr Shoults once again took on the role of Quizmaster Houses competed with each other within their own year groups and the winning teams from each year group then competed in the final round

There were a variety of subjects including Art, Geography and Science as well as some generlal knowledge. Questions ranged from 'what is Elton John’s real name?' to 'hydrophobia is a symptom for what disease?' The final round was filmed and shown during assembly with Eliot’s Sixth Form team narrowly winning over Nightingale’s Year 8 team. I would highly recommend taking part as it was fun and best of all you get chocolates if your team wins.

Imogen Laurence - Year 12

Introducing the Fourth House...

Returning as a House to NHEHS like an asteroid from the depths of the Milky Way: Helen Sharman

Helen Sharman is the first British person and one of the youngest astronauts to fly to space What other way is there to describe her except inspirational, motivational and over all sharming? The Sharman House is a new addition to the house system It has been launched and is now an official and established House.

As the House Captains of this new house, we are super excited, and you all should be too! Throughout this year we encourage you all to take part in as many house events and activities as possible, to enjoy yourself, win house points and make Sharman the best House!

Pillai and Charlotte Pons - Year 11

To create the photo, I used a dark blue blanket as the background and got one of our old paint palettes for my brother to hold I then painted my brother's face orange to make him look a bit more like Van Gogh Unfortunately, while I was painting his face I got a bit of face paint on his white T-shirt. If I could change anything, I would probably take the face paint off the T-shirt and change the angle of the paint palette. Overall I really enjoyed taking this challenge.

Pooja

Megan Hamilton - Year 9 (Winner of the Lower School)

CHARITY

Letters to the NHS:

An interview with Hannah Safi - Year 12

Where did you get the idea from? What made you take action?

I was reading an article on BBC News that highlighted the large spike in cases of depression and anxiety among health care workers during the pandemic and I read a testimony about how terrified a nurse was to return to the front lines for the second wave It made me want to somehow communicate to every staff member in our local hospital just how grateful we are, and how we see them as the heroes of this country which we are so lucky to have I acted after speaking to a psychiatry trainee, who spoke about seeing her colleagues in massive amounts of stress, and the struggle of coronavirus in all specialities.

How did you get it agreed as a school-wide initiative?

I emailed Miss O'Connor, the Head of Charities, and she has been wonderful in helping me arrange everything and knowing all the little things I would have completely skipped over when planning. We then emailed the Head of Years and the Form Tutors who were fantastic in getting all the classes involved.

Is the Junior school involved too? And the staff?

Yes, the junior school has been involved too We emailed them and Miss Pitt was so helpful and accommodating! I'm really excited about the letters they'll write, since there's something so special and wonderful about how younger children write! I think they'll produce brilliant letters containing things that us older students wouldn't even think of

Who are the letters going to?

Ealing Hospital. There is such a wide variety of staff that have done so much during the crisis, and we wanted to thank everyone involved, no matter their role.

Have you had any feedback from the letter recipients? We're still contacting Ealing Hospital to arrange to drop off the letters, but since they're so swamped, I haven't been able to reach them yet.

What have students put in their letters?

I believe Dr Li put up Maths jokes on the board for her form, which was very popular. Some people have written personal stories of how the NHS has helped them or a loved one at this time We hope to show the hospital how much we appreciate them

Harrow Club Laptop Appeal

At the start of this school year, the Charity Team launched the Harrow Club Laptop Appeal

The Harrow Club is a youth club for children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds where they can grow and fulfil their potential in a safe and supportive environment Due to the previous lockdown, many young people did not have access to computers and online resources making it difficult to access school remotely. Therefore we launched this laptop appeal to the school. Our Just Giving page has accumulated nearly £2000, 780% over our £250 initial target. These outstanding donations supplied over 8 children with a computer during the lockdown.

Brianna Freire - Year 12

Park Rangers

The Year 10 and 11 Enrichment Programme is where students take part in activities such as volunteering with the Book Project or litter picking on Wednesday afternoons For me, volunteering to be part of the Ealing Park Ranger Team, was a fantastic opportunity to get our hands dirty and help out in the local community

For a few weeks, each pair of students took over a small section of the park and cleared up the rubbish that people had left behind Every week we would rotate our roles so some of the students would be weeding and clearing up the small garden areas in the park whilst others picked up litter This was a great opportunity to get involved with the wildlife and give back to Mother Nature.

Afterwards, we assisted the Park Rangers in digging some of the land in order to create a new pond area. It was gruelling, and backbreaking but overall a strengthening experience. When we returned to the pond area a few weeks later, we saw that some water had been brought in, and it was gratifying to have something to be recognised for. We then gathered the woodchip the rangers had made from fallen trees to make a pathway around the pond and this final activity was extremely enriching and fulfilling because every time each of us walks by the pond, we feel a satisfactory kind of pride in the work that we did.

Tara

Al-Haddad

- Year 10

Year 9 Charity Quiz Night for Beat

This year we decided to run a quiz night for our charity event. We opened up the quiz night to parents, staff and students. We thought it would be fun to do a quiz because due to lockdown and Covid-19, not many people have been able to take part in quizzes. This made it the perfect opportunity. All of the money that we raised in this event and our other smaller events, was donated to the charity, Beat. Beat is a charity that tackles eating disorders We all felt very passionate about this charity as so many people struggle with eating disorders

In my opinion, the quiz night was really good fun and I enjoyed not only being at the event, but also helping to make the quiz and challenging everyone with our more difficult questions Each of the Charity Representatives was given a round My round was music and I found it very interesting to see what some teams came up with for what the famous theme tunes were. One of the Charity Representatives came up with the amazing idea of having a lucky wheel. This meant that at the end of each round, a team could donate £1 and spin the wheel. The wheel could make you either gain more points or sometimes lose them! This was really fun to take part in and to watch what people got from the wheel. This also helped us raise even more money!

Overall we raised a total of £905 for Beat. Our target was £500 so we were all extremely happy that we almost doubled it!

Megan Hamilton - Year 9

My experience as a Year 7 Charity Representative ...

This term, the other Year 7Charity Representatives and I have been meeting up every Wednesday morning to plan our charity events. We have been raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital through several events, including our Bake Sale, Students vs Teachers Sports Day event and a fair

We had our Bake Sale the week before the Summer Exams Each day, one form had its bake sale for a different year group: 7S baked for Year 7; 7G for Year 8; 7D for Year 9 and 7T for Year 10 We sold many baked goods, including brownies, cookies and cakes, and managed the stalls at break

time

Over the following weeks, we ran a fair with stalls by the Year 7s and a Students vs Teachers fun Sports Day Both of these events were very popular and ended up raising money for Great Ormond Street We also had sponsorship for The Harrow Club, to help provide activities and trips for the residents over the Summer Holidays

I have really enjoyed being a Charity Representative this year. It has been fun and interesting to work with my peers, Mrs Johnson and Miss Newman to organise the charity events. Overall, I have found it particularly exciting to see a charity event which you helped organise raise lots of money and start to make a difference.

Adeline Goh - Year 7

Livia Harris - Year

Livia Harris - Year

Alex Warren - Year 12 Alex Warren - Year 12

Isobel Smallman Isobel Smallman

Sabah Suterwalla - Year 12 Sabah Suterwalla - Year 12

Eva-Marie Weintraub - Year 11 Eva-Marie Weintraub - Year 11

Bella Bacon - Year 13 Bella Bacon Year 13

Sofia Bevers - Year 11 Sofia Bevers - Year 11

Zoe Milionis - Year 13 Zoe Milionis - Year 13

Isabel Hepburn-Scott Isabel Hepburn-Scott Year 12 Year 12

Zoe Milionis - Year 13 Zoe Milionis - Year 13

Art Enrichment

During Art Enrichment we explored artists and mediums outside of the curriculum to broaden our understanding of artist's movements. Last term, we made boxes considering negative space inspired by Brutalist Architecture and the Bauhaus Movement. We experimented with a variety of materials such as paper, metal sheets, rods of paper and string to emulate the geometric patterns of this style of architecture.

Sabah

Suterwalla

- Year 12

Life Drawing

Every week the A-Level Fine Art students take part in an after-school Life Drawing session. These sessions are a great opportunity to explore different mediums we are not as comfortable with, from chalk and charcoal to ink and acrylic The classes are hugely enjoyable and provide the freedom to be as experimental or refined as we like.

Art Representatives - Year 12

Art Against Abuse

This summer the Year 12 Art and Charity Representatives collaborated to create a clothes store to raise money for SafeLine; an independent non-discriminatory charity which provides help for anyone affected by sexual violence and sexual abuse. The Art Representatives created their own graphic designs, which were then heat-pressed on the buyers choice of t-shirt, tank top or vest, and finally sold in the school courtyard. The whole process has been incredibly rewarding and we raised over £400 profit for a charity we are all very passionate about

Art Representatives - Year 12

Livia Harris Livia Harris

PHOTOGRAPHY

‘Self Isolation’ Project

Olivia Frew, Josie Lloyd, Yasmin Hussain, Lottie Peel and I have taken part in the Year 12 Photography short course led by Mr Futter and Ms Waller. It has been a very interesting way to learn about the skills required in photography as well as giving us the opportunity to be creative outside of our A-levels.

I wanted to undertake a project to showcase the portrait photography skills we had studied and also collaborate as a team This project aimed to put our skills into practice through adjusting lighting, composition, exposure and shutter speed. This project was inspired by the change in our learning environment due to Covid restrictions, such as distancing, bubbles, lockdown learning and the mandatory wearing of masks.

On the 19th March 2021, we asked Year 12 students to dress in a school outfit that expressed their individual personality The black background we used created a colour contrast to the students' outfits, whilst maintaining uniformity within the set of images.

The montage of photos depicts each student in isolation, wearing a compulsory face covering The mask being a key symbol of separation and distancing but also of safety and protection What is striking about the images is that you cannot see the girls' smiles, therefore it brings great focus to their eyes, allowing them to do the ‘smiling’. Although the mask hides part of our faces, it also conveys a message of respect for our friends, teachers and colleagues as we strive to keep our school community safe When we came to display the project, we chose to place each individual photo in a grid layout, which we have all become so used to through ‘Google Meet' The images were positioned closely, illustrating the importance of coming back together as a year group.

All photographs were placed in an installation in the atrium and students could remove their own images following the government announcement on 17th of May, where masks were no longer compulsory

Chmiel - Year 12

Darcy

ARTiculate

Enrichment Sessions

As part of our weekly enrichment activity, Year 10 and 11 had the opportunity to participate in the ARTiculate competition Each form had a particular time period and were each given a corresponding piece of artwork to analyse. There were a number of activities that we participated in in order to help us prepare for our presentations and presentational skills. We then presented these to smaller groups and a winner was chosen from them. I was delighted when I found out that I was going to be in the final.

My piece was the New York Kouros - an Ancient Greek statue from the archaic period. This statue represents a deity which people would worship. Its current location is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Overall, I found this experience very rewarding and I thought my piece was very interesting to analyse. I would like to thank all the teachers who helped with our presentations.

Nanki Bawa - Year 11

H I S T O R Y O F A R T

Year 12 ARTiculate Presentations

When taking part in the ARTiculate prize I chose to speak about a painting by Frida Kahlo titled 'Henry Ford Hospital' which depicts a very emotional and painful experience in her life. I was incredibly moved and inspired by this painting, and so I felt that it would be the perfect choice for me to speak about. When researching Frida Kahlo’s work, I learnt about how powerful she was as a female artist and how she embraced her femininity in her art, which inspired me to incorporate feminism and gender equality in my presentation.

Before ARTiculate, public speaking was extremely difficult for me, however after this experience I have definitely gained more confidence through being able to talk about an artwork I am incredibly passionate about Although the event took place online during the third lockdown, the organisers at the Roche Court Educational Trust did an amazing job at making the day an incredibly fun and exciting experience Before giving our speeches, all the students taking part were able to meet and get to know one another, discussing our various breakfast choices and toast toppings, which certainly helped create a friendly atmosphere

Overall, I found that ARTiculate was an enriching experience that allowed me to not only work on my public speaking skills and explore my own passions, but it also allowed me to meet other young people who are also passionate about art. I would highly recommend taking part as it was an amazing experience!

Alex Warren - Year 12

A Level History of Art Tate Trip

During research week, the History of Art students visited the Tate Britain’s Turner exhibition We closely observed the painting and saw the fine detail and techniques For example, the impasto he added in order to create a textured and layered sunset and the expressive, horizontal brush strokes which resembled the texture of the sky

As well as the Turner exhibition, we were able to see the permanent exhibition at the Tate Britain We enjoyed seeing works from sculptor Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, and Sir Jacob Epstein’s statue “Jacob and the Angel”. Having previously completed a visual analysis question on this statue, experiencing it in the flesh allowed us to really appreciate the time and skill that was put into making it. The experience enlightened us and made us appreciate our case studies and Turner’s art more. We highly recommend a visit!

Josie Lloyd - Year 12

Trip to St Augustine’s

We were learning about wall paintings and neo-Gothic architecture this week, so we visited a wonderful building that demonstrated both Whilst there, we undertook visual analysis of the architecture and paintings, sketched architectural features, and identified types of marble in the church floor

The History of Art Representatives - Year 12

St Augustine's Neo-Gothic church in Kilburn St Augustine's Neo-Gothic church in Kilburn

On Thursday lunchtimes, NHEHS hosts Classics Masterclass, in which girls prepare and present presentations on various interesting topics from the Classical world, in order to delve deeper into topics outside of the syllabus. I have most recently led a session about People of Colour in Ancient Rome. I was inspired to do more research on this topic after seeing numerous articles on Black Lives Matter and the growing racial unrest, especially in America, in 2020 This led me to question, was the classical world any different to ours in this respect?

The answer is, yes, very. Firstly, it is important to remember how classist ancient society was. Due to how widespread the influence of Rome was throughout the Ancient World, what really mattered was whether you were a Roman Citizen One could gain citizenship through being born in Rome, through descent, or through being a freedman As a result, people from all parts of the Empire became citizens, so there was diversity.

But, what if you weren’t a citizen? You’d be a slave Slaves were subject to a terribly poor quality of life, and were largely undocumented; we have no idea how many slaves Rome had Rome was much more a classist society than a racist one. It was the slaves, and not the freedmen, who suffered from inequality.

But if you had a Roman Citizenship, the classical world was your oyster! Skin colour didn’t impact a Roman’s social standing, to the extent that there was no bias in hiring, so everyone had access and an equal chance at getting the same jobs, and interracial marriage was not stigmatised. Skin colour was not nearly as important as citizenship.

Additionally, skin colour was of such little importance to the Romans that authors generally didn’t describe it in detail In carrying out my research for my Masterclass I was delighted to discover some high-profile Romans who were people of colour, which also showed the jobs were available for Romans of all skin colours. For example, we consider the job of Emperor as the most important job in the Classical world, and it is generally agreed that Septimius Severus was black due to his birth in Libya Additionally, we also have the Tunisian playwright Publius Terentius Afer Berber, and in mythology, Memnon, who was described as Achilles’ equal.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed presenting my Masterclass, and really liked being able to explore new ideas to do with Classics that interested me outside the classroom, and can’t wait to do it again

Imogen Day - Year 11

Classics Club

Classics Club is run by the Classics Representatives, Amber Deane-Johns and Sofia Stidham.

Here's what the Year 7s thought about their first session:

“This activity was extremely fun as we all got to work together and see how archaeology is done. The chocolate chips were the artefacts, so we needed to treat them delicately. At the end of our club, we counted how many artefacts (chocolate chips) we had found and compared our findings amongst ourselves.”

Claire Ihezie - Year 7

“The Classics Club was super fun We were all archaeologists and were out on an important mission to find chocolate chips in cookies We had to use cocktail sticks to fish them out and we had to try not to break them. It was just like digging through sand to find fossils and bones so we had to be careful and not poke too hard down. Overall, it was amazing and next week we will be writing our names in hieroglyphs!”

Olivia Bebb - Year 7

CLASSICS

Talk by Helen Morales

On 1st December we had a talk from Dr Helen Morales, a classicist, author, and lecturer at UC Santa Barbara She shared her thoughts with us about the relevance of classics and classical mythology in our modern world, following the recent publication of her book Antigone Rising She touched on topics such as misogyny and racism and brought our attention to disturbing similarities between ancient society and our modern society These included the parallels between strict dress codes for girls in schools nowadays and the gunaikonomoi or ‘women controllers’ in Ancient Greece who policed women’s clothing in the streets during festivals

However she also told us about some myths that are relevant to struggles that people face today that have been written out of the well known compilations of myths. For example, the story of Caeneus who transitioned from a woman to a man. While he faced prejudice and confrontation that we would call transphobia today, he was also invulnerable to weapons following his transition. All in all, the talk was very interesting and provided a great insight into the connections between ancient and modern civilisations which can tell us more about our society than you might think.

Amber Deane-Johns - Year 12

Interview with Dr Swallow

Dr Swallow is a new Classics teacher who joined the department this year so we wanted to ask him a few questions.

Most embarrassing moment as a teacher?

I narrowly missed having to dance-off against Miss Nicholas in the sixth form song contest dressed as Anna Kendrick

What A levels did you take?

I actually did the IB, so I got to take six subjects: Greek, Latin, History, Maths, Biology and English

What about your subject do you most like?

I just love all the integrated, complicated, wonderful things you can do with language, and I love how studying classical languages gives you the tools to pick that apart

What is thee most impressive thing you have done over lockdown?

I’ve done a lot of baking and managed to keep my sourdough starter alive. (Thanks for the bread making tips, by the way, Li An.)

Have you always been a teacher? Any interesting previous jobs?

I used to teach at KCL and Goldsmiths while I was doing my PhD. My first job was assistant librarian at a school in Oxford.

What is your favourite piece of Classical literature?

I love ancient Greek comedy, and my favourite is probably Aristophanes’ Birds In it, Aristophanes imagines the birds building a giant city in the sky called Cloudcuckooland, and once that’s built they wage war on the gods It’s completely wacky and makes no sense, and it’s hilarious

If you were an ancient Greek/Roman god, who would you be and why?

It would have to be Dionysus, the god of theatre

PHILOSOPHY RELIGION ETHICS

Philosophon

On March 3rd the first Philosophon, held by Northwood College, took place. It was a day of abstract philosophical enquiry and debate, using famous pieces of philosophical material to spark discussion on matters such as the justice system and the existence of evil and suffering in the world. Although the event unfortunately had to take place online, causing some difficulties in the overall flow of the debate, the afternoon was a great chance to hear opinions from a range of students from all across the UK with a total of fourteen different schools taking part.

The unspecific starting point allowed the conversation to take multiple turns, with students giving their viewpoint on notions such as how justice should be measured, defining the problem of evil, and what suffering means for the place of God in our modern world. The event concluded with a panel of well-established judges noting students who stood out in the debates for their use of reason and collaborative thinking We were particularly pleased to see Francesca Leonard, Year 12, being awarded from NHEHS

All students were encouraged to share their ideas on the topic and, in particular, respond specifically to a previous point which had been raised

Overall the day was a very positive experience; providing a chance to explore Philosophy outside of our usual lesson environment and we all hope the event can take place again in real life! The PRE department is keen to host our own philosothon at NHEHS, so look out for further information about this in the future

Livia Harris - Year 12

Ethical Dilemmas Club

This term I have been attending Ethical Dilemmas Club. We have been discussing many different issues ranging from 'what we would do had we been in that situation?' and 'what would be the most ethical action based on...?'.

Last half term, we had a session where we discussed ethical dilemmas in film. We discussed films such as Mulan, The Hunger Games, and more. It was a very interesting discussion as it made me think about film in a new way.

This half term, we had a debate about animal testing and whether it was ethical It was a thought-provoking debate as we considered some of the major advantages and issues with performing experiments on animals In the end, the ‘for’ team won, with strong points such as vaccinations Overall, it was very fun and made us think about what is morally correct, and what the ‘right’ thing to do is

Adeline Goh - Year 7

We asked the school for their thoughts on some philosophical questions. Here are the results:

D h f ill? Do numbers really

A Visit from Rupert Elderkin

Year 11 were fortunate enough to welcome Rupert Elderkin from the UN to talk to them about the nature of his work and both the political and philosophical dilemmas it entails As Chief Prosecutor for Rwandan war criminals, he spoke about the challenges that often face the UN when it comes to countries getting involved in the issues of others This can often pose ethical questions but he explained how the starting point for the UN is always the individual and what is best for them This ultimately influences UN intervention when it comes to dealing with issues such as FGM

The discussion soon turned to wider philosophical debate. He spoke about the importance of not treating people as a means to an end and considered what Kantian ethics has to offer.

The talk was fascinating as it allowed the class to have a glimpse into the type of work that is dealt with at the UN.

PRE Representatives - Year 11

Remote visit from the vicar of St Stephen’s

Year 11 PRE students enjoyed a visit from the Rev. Steve Newbold, vicar of St Stephen’s Church during lockdown He attended a remote lesson in March, where he spoke and answered questions relating to a variety of Christian beliefs and practices The class quizzed him on his motivations to become a vicar and where he'd been on pilgrimage. They were then interested to hear his views on marriage and divorce within the Church. Furthermore, the class appreciated being able to ask questions relating to famous inspirational Christians and whether he preferred Christmas or Easter

It was particularly interesting to hear about the challenges that lockdown had imposed upon his own parish and the way in which it had had to adapt to the restrictions of it

Overall, the visit provided an interesting opportunity for the class to ask questions of someone practicing faith which enabled them to engage with more nuanced and insightful views.

PRE Representatives - Year 11

Can both God and evil exist?

exist?

ENGLISH

Book week 2021: Monsters, Mavericks and Misfits!

It was no surprise that this year’s Book Week theme was ‘Monsters, Mavericks and Misfits; the Outsiders in Literature,’ especially as ‘outsider’ characters have consistently provided the reader with a personal connection to their own thoughts and feelings. From demonstrating the flaws of societal eras to creating pathos for a personal experience, outsiders have opened the conversation for exploring new concepts both externally and internally.

Outsiders have always existed in literature, but became very popular in the Victorian era, with books such as Frankenstein, Jane Eyre and Bleak House featuring characters who do not fit into the frame of the ideal member of Victorian society Of course, the outsider in literature is not confined to the Victorian era Winston from 1984 is an outsider in that he rebels against the watchful eye of Big Brother. Holden Caulfield, the main character of The Catcher in the Rye is an interesting outsider as he can be seen as a deliberate outsider, satisfied with his anonymity.

There are many proposed reasons why we love the outsider in literature Reading about a character that is considered different to the ‘standard’ taps into the human desire to experience things which are unusual, unfamiliar and novel. As outsider protagonists are often humiliated and isolated from society, outsider’s in literature are used by authors to connect to the readers on a personal level. Works that aim to make a societal or political commentary often use characters who are outsiders It is easier and more effective to comment on something from an outside perspective Telling a story through the lens of a societal outsider allows the average reader to explore a new and exciting world from the comfort of their own home.

Baking Books Competition

The English department held an exciting competition for our virtual World Book Day this year where students had to bake a cake inspired by a book I decided to base my cake off the brilliant, award winning, classic, Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson (possibly my all-time favourite author) I started by making all the animals in the story out of fondant, left them to harden, and painted them with diluted food colouring It was great fun to make though it was extremely challenging and time consuming! Getting all the tiny animals to sit on a skewer was unbelievably fiddly and there were so many different parts to the cake that it took me a number days to make, decorate and assemble it (this is partly why I decided to make a fruit cake as it would last a very long time. I also just really like fruit cakes). Overall, I really enjoyed making this cake and am very happy with how it turned out. If you have the time, I would really recommend baking a cake for a family member’s birthday (or just for fun!) and decorating it in the theme of a favourite book/film/TV show as it allows you to be very creative. My favourite thing about decorating cakes is figuring out ways of recreating something in an edible form as it is always challenging but somehow possible, so I highly recommend giving it a go!

Alice Rowlands and Aliyyah Tahir - Year 12

Whether we consider improving vocabulary and written skills, developing an increased awareness of wider societal issues or for enabling wellbeing, readingforpleasureisproventohavewide-rangingbenefitsforeveryone

The point about wellbeing is a particularly significant one when we considertheturbulenceofnationallockdownsthroughout2020and2021 During this time, communal events hit a standstill and for many of us the amount of time spent alone or on screen increased. Many people started to turn to books as a welcome relief from watching the news or another Zoomcall Itwasinthis‘remote’contextthat#StopDropReadwasborn

As part of Book Week 2021, the English department wanted there to be an opportunity for the school community to come together for a shared experience, despite our separate locations For this, all students and staff were asked to pick a book in advance of World Book Day that they would like to read; this could have been fiction or non-fiction, but the idea was for this to be separate from their academic studies. Then, at 12pm on World Book Day, the entire school community paused their remote learning, picked a book of their choice and had time to lose themselves in another world. Those in lessons stayed on their Google Meets with their classes, but spent the time looking at a novel rather than a screen. This then led to fascinating discussions in all subjects – not just English –about the books they had chosen and what they enjoy reading.

We hope that #StopDropRead will become an annual feature of future Book Weeks – bring on 2022!

English Representatives - Year 12

Getting to know... Mr Rodgers Endersby

What do you like most about your subject?

I love that it’s a discussion based subject and that’s what I always enjoyed at school and what pushed me into reading it at university But what I enjoy the most is the fact that I am teaching you books that I have read and studied and thought about many many times over, and yet every term you will be faced with one student’s response to something that completely changes how you look at it

Why do you like teaching and why did you decide to become a teacher?

As much as it is a cliché, I like working with young people. It will stop me from becoming ancient and fusty even though I was born middle aged so I won’t get any older than I already am. I love the holidays and it turns out I’m entirely institutionalised and I’ve never really got over needing three terms a year and I need to have custard with my pudding at lunchtime, otherwise I’m not quite happy. So the reason why I am a teacher is that I’m actually just a very young schoolboy who has never really coped with leaving a three-term system.

Do you have any pets?

Yes and no. I share a cat with the lady who lives downstairs. His name is Eric; he is a black cat; he is nine. All we know about him, from his pet passport, is that he was born in Spain and that his name is Mr Eric Dickson. He’s not mine but I have signed a legal document with the lady downstairs that, should anything happen to her (she is quite elderly), I have to take ownership of this cat So strictly speaking he is not mine but he sleeps up here a lot, he has a bed up here, he has a spare emergency set of food up here, and crucially he has lots of cat treats up here

HISTORY

A short extract from this year’s NHEHS Historical Fiction

Writing

winner:

Many more soldiers arrived throughout my vigil that night and the cheering did not stop. But, no matter how many passed my window, not one did I recognise. In the faces of these broken men were the ghosts of the people they had lost The people they had killed scarred them and prevented them from slipping seamlessly, subtly back into ordinary life. The mud on their shoes was like the blood on their hands and the blood in their eyes, mouth, ears, nose, roaring, tumultuous, endless blood Earthy green uniforms were built too thin for the glacial weather they had endured; too thin for the bullets that had pierced their skin.

The congregation of soldiers grew thin. I had become so good at pretending that everything was fine, I had forgotten to imagine that my brother might never come back He will, he must, he might I hoped But as the faces of the soldiers blurred through my tears I watched and waited and wondered what I would tell my mother.

I looked across the street at the houses of my neighbours The soldiers would not return to the safety of the homes they once knew, but to the rubble and destruction they could not prevent.

Iris Cummings - Year 9

A talk from... Suzanne Bardgett

During our History lessons we have been discussing the horrors of what life was like during the First World War. Because of this, I found the talk with alumna Suzanne Bardgett very interesting. She talked about her new book, Wartime London in Paintings. She led us through many paintings from the war and what the artist was trying to express through the artwork. Not many books have been written about this topic so it was an area that nobody really knew much about to start off with. However, throughout the talk I learnt a lot more about the war as a whole, even by just looking at the artwork. Something that really struck me was the viewpoint of war from a fireman's perspective and how they expressed this on a canvas. More specifically, I was struck by the fact that the firemen were so barely equipped when you see the size of the bombs and fires they were trying to put out.

The session provided us with a small, yet fascinating, insight into all of the destruction from war. On top of this, it was very interesting to find out more about Suzanne Bardgett’s career as a historian at the Imperial War Museum and how she investigates areas in London to find the origins of paintings. Overall, I found this talk very interesting and I definitely took a lot away from it.

Horrible Histories Club

Horrible Histories Club is a Year 7 club where we learn and explore all things historical through a mixture of games, quizzes and craft Starting up in lockdown did not stop us, from a virtual Victorian escape room to making a carrot cake from a real World War II recipe in ‘The Great British Ration Off!’. We certainly started off with a bang (Google Meet glitches aside).

Some of the students' favourite memories of the club so far has been our Aztec Mythology display This topic had been suggested by one of our members so the students’ amazing drawings of Aztec Gods and Goddesses were displayed on the school gates This helped to brighten up the public’s day by introducing the exploration of a topic not widely taught and putting their newfound knowledge to the test with our interactive quiz!

So if you are able to sing the whole ‘Kings and Queens’ song from Horrible Histories, want to build a Viking longship in your kitchen sink or just curious about the past then come along to Horrible Histories Club!!

Freya McNeill - Year 12

Getting to know... Miss Hunter

What A levels did you take?

History, Latin, English Literature, Chemistry and General Studies

What aspect of your subject to you like the most?

I like the range and variety of topics Though I’m a modern historian I love teaching the lower school about plague doctors and the Tudors

What is the most impressive thing you have done over lockdown? I haven’t done a lot over the last lockdown, but in the first lockdown I ran 200km I feel like that’s not actually a lot and I haven’t exercised since!

Have you always been a teacher? Any interesting previous jobs? Yeah, pretty much always. I was an account manager in a marketing company for about 6 months, but I didn't really like it.

Have you always wanted to be a teacher?

Yeah I always did. Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher or a vet, but at some point I discovered I was not so good at science so becoming a teacher was the obvious choice.

Do you have a fun fact about yourself? It's not really a fun fact, but I’m a terrible cook! And I have my little chubby bulldog friend who features in a lot of my online lessons

What is your favourite period of History?

I’m a modern historian so generally modern history I really like the First World War and the causes of it On the surface it seems straightforward but it's actually really complex

If you could meet any person from the past, who would it be?

At the moment it would actually be Louis XVI. We could invite him into school and ask him how he felt the French Revolution went down.

POLITICS

Politics from across the Pond

Last November, my Politics class spent a lesson talking to an American school in Pennsylvania online to ask each other questions about American and UK politics

The video call took place during the highly anticipated 2020 American election and here we had the opportunity to ask American people about those engrained parts of their culture that we don't share. We split into two groups and asked them questions about Trumpism and the cult-like culture of the American far-right, about how they thought the election and their state specifically would vote and about American commitment to gun rights. We also took the opportunity to ask more specific questions about American school life as we all found it weird that they have flags in classrooms. They also had the opportunity to ask us questions and grilled us on the complexities of Brexit and seemed to be so intrigued about how our general election system works given how starkly it differs from the American system

The experience was so insightful and interesting because despite being able to ask our teachers, consult textbooks or articles on CNN, it enabled us to really understand the completely different political nature of the USA Jess

NHEHS Mock Local Elections

The local elections nationwide in May this year allowed us to conduct a mock election in school. With a virtual “ballot” replicating the London Mayoral and Assembly ballot, Sadiq Khan won the mayoral election in school, with 36% of the first choice votes - similar to the London election. In the Assembly, school results would have given the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats 7 of 25 seats each, with 4 seats each to the Conservative and Green parties. The remaining 3 seats would have been split between the UK Independence Party, Burning Pink Party, and Women’s Equality Party - but only a bigger sample could determine these results. Compared to London-wide results, the school results had a much better result for the Liberal Democrats (2 seats in the actual London Assembly) , and worse results for the Labour and Conservatives (11 and 9 seats respectively)

Black History Month Tokenism

When have you seen Black History Month sustained throughout the year in order to implement positive change within a workplace or big organisation? The answer is most likely that you haven’t. Why is this you may ask yourself? Well, one of the reasons is that Black History Month has been used more and more frequently as a sign of tokenism rather than an actual desire to learn about the struggles that black people have had to face throughout time and the challenge they continue to face today

Black History Month is becoming more prominent in big organisations but some people may argue it is not for the right reasons. Rather than a genuine need to learn it has been turned into a way for big organisations to say that they represent the underrepresented minorities in society in order to give the appearance a company is racially equal. By using Black History Month in this way, some companies are taking away the weight behind the movement and proving they don’t really care about the previous discrimination against black people They continue to use Black History Month as a temporary monthly movement and may go back to excluding their black employees or even paying them less due to their race. When used in this way, Black History Month becomes a token and merely perpetuates the cycle of discrimination against black people While it could be argued that for that month awareness about previous struggles of black people is spread, if the movement not being implemented consistently and if it's being brushed under the carpet, it may lead to continued ignorance, deeply rooted in society.

Overall, whilst Black History Month is of paramount importance and should be focused on in schools and big organisations, unless this education is implemented throughout time and people continue to educate themselves, Black History Month is of limited use and is nothing but a way for companies to brand themselves as racially equal

Mahmood - Year 12

Zahra

DEBATE & PUBLIC SPEAKING

Debating Club

In debating club, we have been participating in a range of fun activities. We do quick-fire, informal debates as well as longer, more formal ones. One of my favourite warm up games would be the one where you have to talk for a minute without hesitating or saying anything along the lines of ‘um’ or ‘er’. As someone who struggles with public speaking, this helps to build up confidence and develop speaking skills for persuasive debating.

Our formal debates cover a range of topics from integrating women-only carriages on London transport to whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 Being able to research different topics and debate them has improved our understanding of politics around the world We even attempted to hold a small Model United Nations, as we are not old enough to attend ones with other schools Overall, we have really enjoyed attending the debating club this term and we hope it will continue in a similar vein in the future!

St Paul’s British Parliamentary Debate Competition

Anouska and I took part in the St Pauls British Parliamentary competition, having never done one before We joined the zoom meeting and quickly realised that this was not the 'beginner-friendly, fun debate competition' as advertised by Ms Gordon Instead, it involved an hour explanation of the rules whilst I frantically Snapchatted Anouska that we would be up against schools in the USA

We got put into our breakout rooms and were given our first motion, 'This house would not allow unvaccinated children to school'. We were arguing against it and had to attempt to explain that people needed freewill and that the government should not get too involved with people's lives (difficult to argue whilst in the middle of a government-imposed lockdown). We came 4th out of four teams in our first round and were slightly dismayed to find out that one of the teams that had beaten us was in Year 9. However, we were hopeful for our second motion and were sure that we would not be in opposition again.

Unfortunately, Anouska and I were the opposition again, but this time, arguing against gender balance for religious leaders - not an ideal position to be in when coming from an all-girls school! By the time we got to our third motion we had a good system going; editing the shared Google Doc and bouncing off each other's ideas for rebuttals and points-of-information We came second in our final round and were very proud of ourselves We finally learned to finish our speeches with a prompt 'Thank you' instead of fizzling off into silence I think I am now prepared to face even the scariest Year 9s and I'd definitely do it again (if only for the pure adrenaline rush).

Huet - Year 12

Esmée

Alex Down and Nadia Mubgar-Spencer - Year 8

GDST Public Speaking Competition

The GDST Public Speaking Competition enabled the contestants to write a speech on any topic of their choice as well as asking and receiving questions. I wrote my speech about Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes whilst tying in the theme of Chelsea football club. This is just one example of the huge array of topics that were explored. From the competition I gained confidence, experience, and most of all I enjoyed myself.

I would highly recommend it to all due to the fact it is a safe and comfortable environment whilst it also offers professional and experienced judges to provide feedback The experience seemed to be positive for everyone from Year 7 upwards, making it a great, inclusive event The point system was fair and every success was rewarded All in all, I enjoyed having the chance to hone my skills and practice public speaking

Hope Glyn - Year 9

Year 9 Public Speaking Day

Is it easy to persuade? It is not as simple as one might think, particularly in front of a large group of people and with a time limit. The Public Speaking Day, organised by Ms Gordon, was a highly valuable experience, helping to both develop and practise our public speaking skills in a supportive environment. The workshop gave a useful insight into the main components of a successful presentation: the effects of tone, clarity and body language, as well as the use of humour, pauses and hooks. Students were given the opportunity to work in teams and take responsibility to compose a persuasive presentation under time pressure. As each public speaking experience is different, depending on the audience, topic and format, I feel that the Public Speaking event inspired us to continuously improve our presentation technique and I hope that the workshop is repeated in the future

Daria Gal - Year 9

Photos from the in-school Model United Nations 2021 An event organised and lead by the Year 12 Debating and Public Speaking Reps

GEOGRAPHY

What have the Geography Representatives been up to?

Throughout this year the NHEHS Geography Representatives, including myself, have been trying to explore some of the many different areas of Geography We recently featured on the Outside-In radio station, run by some other Year 12s We did a special feature on fast fashion, and the many impacts that this industry can have With the large majority of our clothes coming from factories which are thousands of miles away, it is more important than ever to understand the impact that this industry is having on the environment From the sourcing of the materials, to where the clothes go at the end of their life, each stage of a piece of clothing’s life is important to consider Cotton, the most widely used natural fibre for clothing, uses at least 10,000 litres of water per kilogram of material Along with this, for non-organic cotton, dangerous pesticides are almost always used, impacting the wildlife living near the cotton fields However, despite all of these negative effects, there are still things that we can all do to stop supporting the fast fashion industry This includes thrifting clothes, from online shops such as Depop and Ebay, along with buying from more sustainable brands such as Patagonia Try to repair old clothes if possible, donate them to charity or send them to a fabric recycling centre. These are just a few of the ways that we can help to be part of a more sustainable world, and reduce our environmental impact. In the future, the NHEHS Geography Representatives are planning on discussing many more geographical issues and topics like fast fashion.

Sophie Levison - Year 12

The Geography Representatives were featured on the Outside-In radio where they discussed fast fashion and the fashion industry over the past 20 years.

Sophie: Fast fashion is a design, manufacturing and marketing method focussed on rapidly producing high volumes of clothing using low quality materials. Now the industry is making up to 52 micro seasons per year with new trends coming out up to every single week

The goal is really for consumers to buy as many garments as possible and as quickly as possible, but the effect of this is that the fashion industry has a huge environmental impact both in terms of production and dealing with materials at the end of their life.

Esmée: So I'm going to go through a brief history of the fashion industry which I found really interesting. In the 1800s the cycle of fashion picked up speed during the industrial revolution as new textile machines, factories and ready made clothing were introduced In 1846 there was the patent for the sewing machine which sped up the manufacturing process and, although most dresses were still being made by workroom employees, some were actually outsourced to people for very low wages called ‘sweaters’ which foreshadows today’s sweatshops In the 1900s and 1950s most clothing was still custom-made but World War II led to an increase in standardised clothing. In the 1950s to the 2000s, young people started wanting more so fashion brands had to cope with this demand and started outsourcing across the world with factories springing up all over the world.

Anouska: The manufacturing process of cotton, and also the process it goes through after its been bought, is actually really damaging to the environment Cotton starts its life cycle in America, China or India where it is grown and requires more water than any other crop as it needs 2,700 litres of water to produce the average t-shirt. It also requires a massive volume of pesticides which can be poisonous to not only the workers but also surrounding ecosystems, especially if it leaks into the waterways. Luckily organic cotton is on the rise and this is cotton that is produced without these harmful pesticides, but this cotton makes up less than 1% of cotton produced at the moment

Eco Week

The Year 10 and Year 12 Eco Leads worked hard to organise Eco Week, announcing the week at assembly and explaining the environmental benefits, producing posters for the TV screens and putting together display boards in the atrium advertising things that are good and bad for the environment. Letters were also sent to the Junior and Senior School parents making them aware of the week and encouraging them to take part.

Monday 17th: Meat-free Monday was enjoyed by the Junior and Senior School. The Thai quorn curry and pesto pasta proved very popular and in the salad bar edamame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds were enjoyed by all.

Wednesday 19th May: The Year 10 Eco Leads talked to the Year 4 pupils about Eco Week and provided an interactive session - thumbs up if it is good for the environment and thumbs down it it’s bad for the environment Class 4F told the Eco Leads how they had all travelled sustainably that day, they also explained to the Eco Leads about Park and Stride which simply means driving some of the way to school, parking up and walking the rest of the way

17th -21st May: During the Junior and Senior School Bike & Walk to School week, active travel was promoted All methods of sustainable travel were allowed, including the school bus, public transport and park and stride The pupils arrived and registered to let us know how they travelled to school Senior pupils received an edible treat and the Juniors received a sticker Day by day it got busier with more and more pupils taking part meaning that on one day we actually ran out of treats. Two pupils told me that they cycled in from Chiswick for the whole week which was extremely impressive and the first time they had ever cycled to school. It was not just pupils that were involved in this week, staff also took part by walking and cycling. Mrs Blenkinsop cycled an impressive 45 miles during Eco Week and sent a picture in to prove it.

Getting to know... Ms Aherne

What do you most enjoy about being Head of Sixth Form?

Just spending time with the girls, and helping them at a time when their lives beyond school are coming together It's fun working towards one end goal

What is the most impressive thing you have done over lockdown?

Moving to London in the middle of a pandemic from the Wiltshire countryside

What A levels did you take?

History, Geography, English Literature and Economics

Have you always wanted to be a teacher? When did you decide you wanted to teach?

When I was at University, I thought I would do a law conversion but I changed my mind in my third year and thought that, as I loved my subject and working with young people, it would be a good combination

Ms Henry - Facilities Manager

ECONOMICS

Tycoon Enterprise Project: Paws for the Planet

Hello! We are Paws for the Planet We are a small business selling eco friendly pet products whose aim is to make having pets 100% sustainable Paws for the Planet is comprised of 7 members, all working tirelessly together to create, package, market and sell our products Currently we are taking part in the Tycoon Enterprise competition however we would love to continue this business further into the future. We wanted to run a business to do something we were passionate about and many of us own dogs so this was really an easy decision. Along the way we did encounter a few difficulties however, we battled through them together as a team.

Creating Paws for the Planet has taught us many valuable life lessons especially during the pandemic. When lockdown struck, we had to quickly adapt and change our entire way of selling. We made a website and we posted endlessly on our Instagram. This has all played off as we have just hit 150 orders! Throughout this entire experience we have had to be resourceful, resilient but, above all, worked together and now we are like a well oiled machine!

As previously mentioned, we make, package and send all of our products, of course abiding all current guidelines and government advice We pride ourselves in being eco friendly as we packaged in recycled paper and we have a zero plastic policy! Our products include, dog toys, dog treats, cat treats, lead organisers, wooden decorations and a favourite of many people, bandanas Finally, 10% of all of our profits will be donated to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home We believe strongly in supporting them as they provide homes for dogs and cats who have been deprived the best start in life

I would recommend entering the Tycoon Enterprise Competition to anyone who has an interest in marketing, business, social media and also to people who are creative. It taught our entire group so much about how the world works and how to run and manage your own business. Overall it was an incredibly positive experience that I would do again in a heartbeat.

Abigail Schroeder - Year 8

The Ten X Challenge: Buzzy Bees

The Ten X challenge was a difficult yet rewarding activity. I was in a group of five people called the Buzzy Bees, and we wanted to make something that many people would benefit from. Firstly, we sent out a market research form to see what people would be interested in buying and for what price as it was important for us not sell something that nobody would be interested in To start our business, we made a logo that gave the viewers information and detail to see what we were selling We made sure the logo had color and was neat and attractive

We ordered the components that we needed to make the scrunchies and the terrariums that we had decided to sell It was very tricky to get our head around what price to sell our products to make a profit As the orders came in, we had to adjust the prices as we were not making a profit yet It was very important to be sure to make a profit otherwise we would be making a loss It became hard and stressful, but it was very rewarding when the Ten X challenge was over, and we had successfully made a profit

Clemmie Lloyd-Williams - Year 9

The Tycoon Enterprise Project

The Tycoon Enterprise project is also open to older years as well as Year 8. Scrapbuds is another group that took part from Year 12.

We borrowed £40 and have made a profit of £947 We felt really strongly that the thing that was integral to our small business was the fact that the products were homemade We honed in on the fact that the unique factor about our product and overall our general experience, was our time and commitment What we also felt was important was that there was a demand for our product as we wanted to sell something that helped people be more environmentally friendly and reduce their carbon footprint in a fun and accessible way

Our beeswax wraps allow people to reduce food waste and plastic usage in a new, easy way. We made our wraps out of scraps which we sourced from material shops and people’s donations in order to utilise leftover material that would not otherwise be used. We also used plastic free packaging to ensure that our wraps were completely carbon neutral.

The fact that our product is inexpensive to make, but requires time and skill, allowed us to be able to borrow a small loan and make a huge profit from it. We only borrowed what we needed which meant we have made a huge return on investment of 2,255% We researched how much we could sell our wraps for and ensured we sold them for competitive prices We also sought financial expertise and were encouraged to keep a spreadsheet recording the amount of each product and how many sales we had

Scrap material used in Scrapbuds' products

We have used Instagram to help market our product as well as creating a website This has allowed us to communicate with a wider community very easily and efficiently This has been especially advantageous when displaying videos, as posters cannot always illustrate the uses of beeswax wraps as well. We have uploaded many videos of how to use beeswax wraps in different ways which allows people to see the range of uses of the product. We have also used our digital skills to create spreadsheets to show how much money we are making and to manage our stock.

We all had different roles within the group meaning that we had different responsibilities. This allowed each of us to focus on one area and make sure that it was the best it could be, whether that was the product itself, the social media, or the marketing element. This really motivated us as we were very organised and knew what we had to do and work on to make a higher profit

Scrap Buds Economics Research Books

Raima Garodia, a Year 12 Economics Representative, gives her top recommendations for books and podcasts about economics.

Isabel Hepburne-Scott, Li An Tan, Dulcie JohnsonYear 12

MATHEMATICS

Pi Day Celebrations

The annual Pi recital competition was held to celebrate Pi day at our school In first place was Cleopatra Deitsch in Year 13 with an unbelievable 180 digits! Rahel Habtemichael in Year 8 was the runner up with an incredible 140 digits! Well done to both of them for the impressive reciting of digits.

Senior Maths Challenge

The UK Senior Maths Challenge is a national competition aimed to encourage good mathematical reasoning, technique, and fluency, as well as problem solving It’s a 90 minute paper made of 25 questions which cover different areas of Maths Although I did some practise questions as preparation for the paper, the UKMC is partly such a good challenge as it doesn’t rely on remembering formulae or knowing advanced methods - it is just an interesting challenge and encourages you to think outside the box and from different angles. The problems are always creative and it’s an enjoyable way to develop thinking skills - if you want to try some questions, they’re on the UKMT website.

Ruby Herbert - Year 12

12

Maths Challenge Club

The Team Maths Challenge Club, run by Ms Weir, created a unique environment in which we could explore a variety of problems, requiring us to think outside the box. It was a wonderful opportunity to work in teams, solve mathematical crossword puzzles and participate in the Maths Relay, cheering on our teammates as they ran to and from the teacher, delivering our answers Whilst the regional Team Maths Challenge competition did not run, it was still a truly fun, rewarding and entertaining experience As a little taster of some of the types of questions that you can encounter in the club, I would like to share with you this interesting problem:

How many rectangles, that are not squares, are formed by the lines of the 3 × 5 rectangular grid of squares?

Have fun!

Daria Gal - Year 9

Baking by Annika Malhotra - Year 12

Baking by Li An Tan - Year

Getting to know... Miss Weir

What is your most embarrassing moment as a teacher?

This would have to be all the times that my six year old theatre students were much better at their dance routine than I was! They were always keeping me right with their entrances to the stage and the moves for each dance.

What A levels did you take?

As I grew up in Scotland, I did not study A Levels. For the equivalent of AS I studied English, Maths, Physics, Graphic Communication and Music. For the equivalent of the A2 qualification I studied Maths and Music.

What is the most impressive thing you have done over lockdown?

Over lockdown I arranged and organised a remote singing project with a youth theatre school in Scotland After helping to record a backing track, I arranged teaching tracks for the different age groups and vocal types and sent these to the group of students Once I had received their submissions, I was able to edit their videos and sound files to create a lockdown singing project. This allowed the students to continue learning and actively being involved in their theatre school whilst they were unable to meet in person.

What do you like the most about your subject?

I really enjoy the satisfaction of being able to solve a tricky puzzle or proving a mathematical concept. It is like another language, and it is enjoyable to talk with other Mathematicians about their projects and/or interests in different areas.

Have you always been a teacher? Any interesting previous jobs?

Prior to becoming a Secondary Teacher, I worked as a Teaching Assistant to younger children at a theatre school, helping in their lessons and equipping them with skills in Singing, Dancing, Acting and Filming. I have also worked on various Youth Theatre projects as a Stage Manager and as an Events Technician.

What aspect of Maths have you the found most useful outside of school?

Not one specific topic has been particularly helpful, more often than not it is the analysis and problem solving skills that are advantageous to everyday life and help me greatly when trying to solve problems within a theatre setting If I were to choose one aspect, it would definitely be the triangle inequality My understanding of this concept makes all of my walks shorter!

Baking by Ms Critcher

COMPUTERSCIENCE

Lectures from Dr Pebody

This term, a group of Computer Science students have had the opportunity to participate in a series of lectures from Luke Pebody, who currently works in financial services. He was admitted to Cambridge University at the age of 14 to read Mathematics, Pebody went up when he was 16, making him one of the youngest undergraduates in modern times. After graduating he proceeded to a doctoral degree at the University of Memphis, where, working with the respected graph theorist, Béla Bollobás, he came up with a solution for the renowned necklace problem. After this, Pebody completed a year's research at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton before returning to the UK for a Junior Research Fellowship at Cambridge University.

In each session, Dr Pebody would walk the group through the process of coding solutions to the questions from the British Informatics Olympiad that many of the students sat earlier in the year He talked us through not only the specific solutions to each problem, but also the general process of decomposing problems into more manageable parts Throughout the sessions, Dr Pebody also taught the group coding tips and tricks which provided ways to solve the problems quickly and more efficiently These skills will help to improve our ability to tackle any computational problem

The British Informatics Olympiad

The British Informatics Olympiad was held on the 5th of February 2021. It consisted of three coding challenges to be tackled within the space of three hours. This was nothing like anything I had tried before and made for a really interesting Friday afternoon of coding and logic problems The questions forced you to think abstractly and try various potential solutions before an answer could be reached Despite not finishing all the questions within the allotted time, I am proud of how I did and I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Olympiad even with the restrictions that COVID imposed

Gen Pearce - Year 10

The BIOs is a very demanding national competition in computer programming for any student younger than 19 The Olympiad involves a three hour exam, which is answered with restricted use of a computer It is designed to be particularly difficult and it was

Although the exam consisted of three main questions, I found it challenging to even partially answer the first question, despite the three hour time limit, a sentiment shared by all who participated. The questions and scenarios were rather obscure and it was onerous to simply try and understand what was being asked, let alone implement it into code. The BIO is definitely not an exam for the faint of heart.

Sophie Claxton - Year 12

Sophie Claxton - Year 12

The Amazon Longitude Explorer Competition

The Amazon Longitude Explorer Competition sets us the task to design an app, product or service that would benefit people We decided that our design would focus on helping the environment We designed a bin that could weigh the amount of waste a user creates and recommend alternatives with less packaging We had to fill in a form detailing the ways we would deal with the ethical sides to our product, as well as how we wanted to make the product work We submitted it before Spring Half Term, and we made it through to the finals! The next stage of the competition is actually making our product and using technology to bring our idea to life We are also going to have to collect data about the products and create the code for our product, which will be a fun challenge! We chose to participate in this competition as we thought it was really interesting and very different from anything that we had done before.

Coding Club with our Computer Science

Year 12

What do you like best about Coding?

I enjoy problem solving and that is fundamentally what coding is, having a problem and breaking it down into more manageable parts and finding a viable solution

Why do you think it is important to learn to code? Do you think it is something everyone should learn? As we move into this modern age more and more systems will become computerised, therefore we will become more dependent on people with a coding skill So, I think it is a very useful strength to have However, I don’t believe that everyone should be forced to learn how to code because, like everything, not everyone will enjoy it

What inspired you to set up and run this club?

Currently Computer Science is not always a very popular subject at our school, so, if we can get the younger students interested in it earlier on, then they will be more likely to choose it as a GCSE or A Level option. For students who attend this club they will find that if they do choose to study Computer Science they will have an advantage over their peers, as they will have already learnt a lot of the coding skills needed.

Are there any fun ways that a beginner can learn to code (other than joining your club)?

Yes! There are some really good websites that walk you through each step - for example Codecademy.

Heather McManus, Ansley Vicars and Abbirami Yogarajan - Year 10

Representative, Evie Bryant,

PSYCHOLOGY

Psychological Investigations

All Year 12 psychologists chose a topic of their choice, conducted some preliminary research on the area, and taught the class about what they discovered through an academic presentation We have had engaging presentations on everything from the difference between psychopaths and sociopaths, to understanding the psychology behind stereotyping, and the use of hypnosis in a therapeutic setting These presentations have not only expanded their horizons to understand how diverse the field of psychology is, but they have also acted as an opportunity to develop key research skills which will be useful in the future as university students (and maybe even as psychologists).

Miss McHenry - Head of Psychology

Getting to know... Miss McHenry

What do you like the most about your subject?

My Psychology presentation investigated how hypnosis works and whether or not it is effective. I always thought that hypnosis was a form of mind control, but from my research I realised that it is more of a state of mind. But how does it work? From Sigmund Freud’s (our favourite neighbourhood psychoanalyst) perspective, hypnosis quietens the conscious mind to reveal the depths of the unconscious mind, which controls the majority of an individual’s thoughts and actions I picked out psychological experiments to find out if these applications of hypnosis were actually effective From this, I concluded that hypnosis is not wholly reliable for many of its applications

Sofia Stidham - Year 12

It’s hard to identify one thing. I feel that the best part about teaching the subject is that it teaches people about themselves. The one thing that I always emphasise is that I want people to feel more empathetic at the end of the course.

Have you always wanted to be a teacher? When did you decide you wanted to teach?

I sort of stumbled upon the fact that teaching A Level Psychology existed For me it’s the perfect marriage of a lot of things that I really love doing I have always wanted to have a job that involves working with other people

Do you have a fun fact about yourself?

When I was 12 years old and then again at 13 years old, I ran the LA marathon Not quickly I ran the whole thing well there was a lot of walking involved. I remember at about mile 19 sitting down on a curb, crying because I was in so much pain and I think my mum had to run a bit of it with me at the end. It’s a very strange fun fact.

What’s the biggest difference between Britain and America?

The one I struggled with was the sense of humour. It’s very sarcastic, very dry and you have to be really clever to pick it up.

Mindfulness and Psychology Club

I have been attending Mindfulness and Psychology Club for a term and I have really enjoyed it. We have done meditation in various sessions, which has been really relaxing, yet somewhat energising. Meditation and mindfulness are similar as both make us focus on our surroundings and help us to be present in the moment, without thinking about anything else, and just being aware of everything around us. In our sessions, we have been doing different activities, including listening to meditation videos on YouTube, mindful colouring and drawing our breathing I am really enjoying being part of Mindfulness and Psychology Club and I am looking forward to attending future sessions

Adeline Goh - Year 7

SCIENCE

Medical conference

On the 16th of March the Year 12 Oxford High School aspiring medics organised a virtual medical conference. Dr. Strobel, the head of careers, began the conference and talked about how the day would run. Dr. Warrell, a Tropical and General Medicine Registrar at UCL, then gave some very useful advice about studying medicine and having a career in medicine, including keeping open-minded about the paths medicine might take you down and asking yourself, 'what would make me a good healthcare professional?' The Year 12 medics then introduced themselves and said a little about why they were interested in studying medicine and dentistry.

We also had the opportunity to listen to and learn from a panel of GPs and other medical professionals about their jobs and their journey into medicine. We heard from a variety of healthcare professionals, ranging from an Infectious Disease Specialist who told us about her daily life and a trainee GP who spent several years in Haiti working for a charity doing disaster relief

A portion of the day was spent listening to various surgical specialists. Dr. Nicola Petrie, a Consultant Breast Plastic Surgeon, discussed the various different experiences she has had throughout her career as a surgeon. A few of her jobs have included: being an expedition medic, doing research at Harvard University, and attending conferences internationally and nationally These have taught her how important communication is as well as how medicine can bring people together, no matter the language they speak, their race, their sexuality or gender Ms Rebecca Grossman, a General Surgeon Trainee, has been raising awareness for women's rights in medicine Even though over 50% of medical school students are women, only 1 in 3 surgeons are female and only 1 in 10 consultant surgeons are female. In order for women to thrive in a medical environment, they need not be scared of the so-called ‘boys club’ which is unfortunately extremely evident. She also discussed the balance between work and life and how being pregnant has impacted her career Listening to these women was truly inspiring and useful to hear

Infectious Diseases Conference

On Wednesday 7th October, Year 13 biologists helped Dr Pearce in hosting an Infectious Diseases Conference for us and a variety of other schools including Twyford and Wimbledon. We were incredibly lucky to have highly respected speakers from very prominent research backgrounds talk to us on a huge span of topics, such as the use of technology in slowing and preventing the spread of dengue fever and even the background of how COVID19 tests are developed. It was a fascinating day for all and really helped in linking and improving our knowledge in our A Level course and general biology knowledge and more than that, was just really good fun!

Schroeder - Year 13

Hannah

Maya Shah and Annika Malhotra - Year 12

Biology Olympiad Silver award winner encourages students to take part in Olympiads

I enjoyed doing the UK Intermediate Biology Olympiad as I found the questions challenging, but, on the whole, doable. I also enjoyed the questions on inheritance and genetics, which we haven't covered since GCSEs, so I had to try and remember this topic. I think Olympiads are a great opportunity to apply your knowledge of a subject and push yourself, as well as having to apply problem solving skills Like everything, they also require a bit of lucky guessing and intuition; there was a section on pre-mRNA, Introns and Exons which I had no idea even existed so I guessed my way through those questions I am really pleased I got a Silver in the Olympiad and slightly shocked (initially I had not believed I had done so well) Even if you think you are not going to do well I encourage everyone to take part in Olympiads as you might surprise yourself

'Do Not Try This At Home Challenge'

As part of our #donttrythisathome challenge, the Chemistry Representatives shared a fun experiment that could be easily replicated with ingredients at home For this, I mixed together some lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda to produce a large volume of carbon dioxide bubbles, formed in the reaction between the citric acid in the lemon juice and the soda It was a fascinating reaction and one so easily replicated at home! The smell produced was similar to that of lemonade, even if the product was slightly fizzy lemon juice that was not lemonade at all!

Hannah Safi - Year 12

Maya Shah - Year 12

Engineering Development Trust Project

Over 6 months a group of Year 12 students (Alejandra, Sophie, Natasha, Esme, Edie, and Amber) took part in the Industrial Cadets Gold Project, which is run in partnership with the Engineering Development Trust (EDT) We were asked to design an innovative solution to a real-life issue. We were paired with two mentors from the engineering company Arcadis and each week we met with them online to brainstorm ideas, problem solve and develop our skills. The brief we chose was to design an 80m pedestrian bridge at South Dock, in Canary Wharf. The bridge was required to open for boats, and we thought the moveable aspect would be an exciting challenge to design

To develop our solution we interspersed research and designing. Over the course of the project we researched the stakeholder and site constraints, cyclist and pedestrian prevention options, materials, and construction methods. We also created initial designs, parapet (railing) and lighting designs, and cycle lane designs in order to produce our final design.

Our final design was an Asymmetric Single Pivot Swing Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists To accommodate both cyclists and pedestrians safely, we created a cycle lane on a drop curb so cyclists could cross without having to dismount. When researching materials we considered different factors that would influence our choice such as: cost, sustainability, durability, and abundancy. In addition to this, we used Google Sketch Up to create a Computer Aided Design (CAD) Model as we were unable to create a physical model due to COVID restrictions. All our research was presented in a report that was sent to a panel of judges accompanied by a presentation at a later date

This experience has helped us to develop so many skills, particularly project management and teamwork, as this was the first time any of us had taken on such a large project. We are so thankful to EDT and our Mentors for giving us this opportunity as it has been extremely valuable.

'The Whitest Paint Ever'

During our Chemistry Masterclass, the Chemistry Representatives prepared conversations about different chemistry related topics and subjects One of the most recent talks was inspired by an article in the BBC about a new paint being labelled as the "whitest ever" This may seem irrelevant in the field of chemistry but is being considered as a viable solution to climate change This specific paint has been proven to reflect 98% of sunlight; if you were to use our paint to cover a roof area of about 1,000 sq ft it is estimated you could get a cooling power of 10 kilowatts That's more powerful than the central air conditioners used by most houses This is already something that's been introduced to New York, and California is updating building codes to promote cool roofs In a world which is so energy dependent, out of the box solutions like this are necessary and are leading the global fight against climate change

Alisha Ahmed - Year 12

Alejandra Branley and Sophie Claxton - Year 12

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

RSA Pupil Design Awards

In July 2021, Grace Kenyon (KS5) and Heather McManus (KS4) reached the finals of the RSA Pupil Design Award Both girls presented to established judges from fields of Art and Design and they each had 20 minutes to discuss their projects and answer questions from the judges

Grace’s project was called ‘Vibe Vest’ which was a prototype piece of clothing that would vibrate with music to enhance the music listening experience of the user Her product was inspired by a spider's web and allowed music to vibrate across the torso of the user to have a fully immersive music experience.

Heather was keen to incorporate more plants in a school and office environment to help improve air quality in addition to other benefits such as positive mental well-being and benefiting the environment Her product, (model pictured on the left) inspired by beehives, had hexagonal plant pots which could all be interconnected and added to a classroom wall

Both Grace and Heather completed incredibly impressive work considering much of the project was undertaken during remote learning. They both came runners up in each of their age categories and received prizes from the RSA for their achievements.

DT Club

Throughout the year, DT Club has been very busy with a range of activities We started the year with students completing some James Dyson Foundation ‘Challenge Cards’, which included a spaghetti bridge and an unsinkable boat made from recycled materials The girls also created their own bespoke phone stands by drawing their designs in CAD software and then having this cut out of acrylic on our laser cutter With Easter approaching, students created biodegradable easter egg stands for Lindt eggs, which they could hand out as gifts

Later in the year, our DT Representatives teamed up with the Geography department to create bird boxes to be fixed around the school. These should be ready by winter, just when the birds will be needing them the most! A big shout out to our previous DT Representatives - Cristina and Thushika, and our new DT RepresentativesAmber and Ellie, and of course to Mrs Massey and Caroline for running the ever popular DT Club.

One of the marble runs created by students using materials they had access to at home

GCSE Coursework

Our Year 11 students successfully completed their coursework NEAs despite the challenges of having to do the majority of their work remotely All students followed professional iterative workings whereby they identified a potential design problem that could be solved by creating a product A few highlights include:

Charlotte Pons’ home exercise device, which allows the user to operate a standard bicycle at home, with the added bonus of the energy created powering built-in generators situated within the product. The product includes a folding desk for a laptop, which can be charged as the user exercises whilst working.

Elina Mistry created a modular desk storage inspired by a natural honeycomb design. Her product neatly organises belongings and has added technologies, such as wireless charging for the user’s phone.

Hannah Fackney decided people could benefit from a portable work surface so they could complete their work in lots of spaces, rather than being confined to a desk indoors. Her product neatly folds so it can be transported easily and also has an integrated battery to charge devices, in addition to all-round lighting for convenience

Well done to all students for completing their projects.

A Level Coursework

Cristina realised that following lockdown and remote working, there was a real need for people to create a collapsible working space at home. She experimented with a great number of mechanisms and folding/collapsing designs and eventually focused on an eye-catching combination of combined table and desk Her clever design not only folds completely flat but also efficiently utilises a full sheet of wood with hardly any waste, making it cost effective and environmentally friendly Her final product, named ‘FlexiFocus’ is below

T H U S H I K A R A V I C H A N D R A N

As an asthma sufferer, Thushika stumbled across a significant flaw in existing inhalers She identified that in order to deliver the appropriate dosage, an inhaler needs significant pressure from the user's thumb This process is difficult for very young children and the elderly, especially those with arthritis In the event of an asthma attack, the user may panic and find it incredibly difficult to operate the device effectively, which could have serious consequences Experimenting with mechanisms and closely analysing the ergonomics of users, her product is operated with the palm of their hand rather than thumb, which evenly distributed the pressure, improving usability.

DRAMA

Photos taken from this year's production House of Bernarda Alba

Getting to know... Ms Moore

What can you tell us about this year's play ‘House of Bernarda Alba’?

I have always found it an incredibly powerful and interesting piece I am very interested in Lorca as a writer and obviously this is his last play and it differs from earlier plays in that it has a poetic lyricism to it but it is not as allegorical and jam-packed with symbolism as his other plays, such as Blood Wedding

What inspired you to do the House of Bernarda Alba for the school play?

Coming to the school, as the new Director of Drama, I deliberated about either doing a rip-roaring comedy or doing something the absolute opposite, a tragedy. After many discussions, we decided that this play would be the right thing to do. One of the big draws for me is the notion of oppression and repression which is so important thematically in the play. From early on, I was really interested in getting across elements of the anxiety and the ritual aspect of COVID. This inspired elements such as, the knee jerk panic physicality that you get in the movement sequences and in the opening section I also thought it would be great to put on a play with all female characters I felt very instinctive that it would be the right play to do with the Sixth Form age group The appeal of it, the strength of the characters and the ensemble nature of the piece would be a good draw for girls who were talented and able

COVID created a lot of extra challenges with the play. Why do you think it was still so important to do it?

We are in a very, very unique position because we are in a very creative education institution in which the senior management team right from the word ‘go’ were very keen, if at all possible, to give the girls in Year 13 an opportunity to have a final show.

What do you think the importance of theatre is the current times of COVID?

As we have the year group bubbles, we have been able to be safe and work with the restriction. However that is not the case in professional theatre. A big part for the girls and me was the privilege of being able to perform and getting to the point where we had something to present to an audience, which is why I made that dedication to live theatre and the professionals that work in it in the programme.

I personally really enjoyed the use of dance techno in transitions, which juxtaposed with the traditional, rural setting of the play. Why did you choose to do this?

I was an actor before a teacher and I worked in a very physical base through body performance with avantgrand companies It has always been something that I have found very inspiring in terms of how I watch theatre, but also in how I work with my cast I wanted to juxtapose the idea of everything that the girls in the play can’t say - what they are unable to express in terms of their passions, their desires, their wants, their needs - and present that physically to an audience. Before I had even arrived at the school in September, I had listened to the remix version of the song ‘Hey Now’ by London Grammar. I had a very strong idea about how I wanted this physicality to be expressed visually: working with Jo Smith, we worked out how we would present that in terms of the screen work being minimalist and also symbolic of the girls' bedrooms, as well as the transitions of the actors being the ones to change the set between each act. Myself and the girls worked with a Choreographer and Movement Director, Lee Crowley, who was amazing. I had the vision but he was able to execute it

What was your favourite part of doing the play?

The process with the girls has been extraordinary and they are amazing as an ensemble I don’t think I have ever had a better group of student players, including the crew - they are all brilliant The background of it has been quite stressful because we never knew if it was suddenly going to be cancelled and all that hard work would go to nothing There was a lot of pressure, particularly with the play being filmed. The girls are very brave and they held their own. Everybody that I have spoken to that works in educational theatre has commented on what a great production it was. That’s not me as a director, I helped and facilitated those girls, but that it is them and their ability.

This year the school, despite the obstacles of COVID, put on a fantastic performance of ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’

An Interview with Francesca Leonard - Year 12 Drama Scholar

What was your experience of the play? Any highlights or challenges you had to overcome?

Timing was a challenge because Sixth Form work gets a bit harder and takes up more time. It was also the first time that I ever wore a microphone which was exciting. When I was doing a costume change backstage, it came off and I had to put it on myself which was the scariest thing ever!

What was your first impression of ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’?

I had done one part of the play as part of a LAMDA script and so I did know part of it, but I didn’t know what the overall storyline was I initially thought it was a bit depressing, but the more you look into it, you realise that it is a more normal family setting than you think and it is the situation that turns it all a bit mental

For anyone in the younger years who want to get involved in the school play, what advice would you give them?

Do it! It’s really fun and worthwhile We always need people, whether it's a Year 11 morning chorus, backstage or a main part, we always need people in plays.

What do you do if you mess up during the play? Keep calm and carry on.

The Carol Service, in my opinion, has always been the best time for the Music Department to showcase their various ensembles and orchestras in St Barnabas Church.

2020 was definitely not the year we all had planned, however the school did try to make traditions like this as ‘normal’ as they could. So, on the week of the 7th of December, we began the process of recording our virtual Carol Service. A number of choirs including Senior Choir, Chamber Choir, the Year 13 Choir and Lower School Chamber Choir took part, accompanied by the Year 10 ensemble and Mr John Hudson on the organ.

The whole virtual element in the end was not as bad as I thought it would be, because having each individual piece recorded meant that if we messed up, we could just have another go, which definitely took the pressure off us It was also quite nice being able to actually watch the concert and listen to the pieces from an outsider’s perspective, because you never really know how you sound until you listen back to yourself! So overall, all was not doom and gloom, but was in fact a unique end to my time at Notting Hill (which I now have video evidence of!) and one that I will never forget.

India Bonnor-Moris - Year 13

11 Live Lounge

MUSIC

Last term I was fortunate enough to host the ‘Live Lounge’. The aim of which was to take people's mind off everything that's been going on in these unprecedented times and to lighten up the mood, especially with GCSE mocks just around the corner. This event was a rare and special opportunity for many of us to gather together and enjoy listening to music for one of the last times as a whole year group, as some people will be leaving for different Sixth Forms. It was great to hear the vast variety of music genres, with everything ranging from classical to pop. I would like to thank all of the Music department and everyone who supported the occasion, as it was truly a special moment

Pooja Pillai - Year 11

The Endangered Instruments Scheme

The ‘Endangered Instrument Scheme’ is an event that helps to raise awareness about instruments that are a lot less well known and used When I was chosen for the Endangered Instrument Scheme, I started learning how to play the viola; and I think that it has been one of the best experiences ever It was extremely fun because, although I play the piano and the guitar, playing the viola was a type of instrument that I had never played before as it includes bowing Overall, I think that it is a great experience because really gives variation to our school's musical community

Fernandez Antao - Year

7

Caitlin

A Musical Advent Calendar

During the Christmas season, our school hosts multiple events related to music, one of which was the Musical Advent Calendar, where several Notting Hill girls across all years contributed by performing a seasonal piece and recording it on a device. These recordings were then shared with the rest of the school on each day of Advent. The piece I performed with Grace Kenyon was the Pastoral Symphony from Messiah by Handel for two violins, featuring on day three of Advent. This was an immensely exciting experience because the piece was exceedingly festive and it was really nice to be a part of the event.

I thought it was a great idea for the school to promote this Advent calendar because it highlighted the impressive musical talent across all of the year groups I’m sure everyone listening to the tremendous performances truly enjoyed it, especially during 2020 which was a difficult year for everyone

Avneet Sekhon - Year 12

A visit from Rosalind Ventris

Rosalind Ventris is a leading advocate of the viola and works as a performer, teacher, researcher and writer, splitting her time between London, UK and Dublin, Ireland

On 2nd October 2020, I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in a strings masterclass led by her. I was so pleased that even with COVID restrictions, I was able to play and watch others perform in small groups

I played Beethoven’s Romance in F for violin, and although it was quite nerve wracking to play in front of such a well-respected musician, it was incredibly helpful to get personal feedback about how to improve the musicality of the piece and my technique. Some things that she helped me with included taking more time in certain places, and really connecting the different bow strokes She helped me with this by making me hold my bow upside down Though this sounds strange, having the weight at the opposite end of the bow helped my bow changes to be much smoother. Another tip she gave me was breathing. This is something that sounds quite obvious but when you are playing, it is often hard to think about your breathing as well, so I was challenged to breathe in the opposite way you would usually do and expect for certain bow strokes

Overall, I feel that the strings masterclass with Rosalind Ventris was such a valuable and inspiring experience. I would like to give a huge thank you to her for giving up her time to help us to become better musicians.

Shreya Grover - Year 10

MUSICAL MENU TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS

CREATIVE CANAPÉS

Mrs Fisher-Black - Ironic by Alanis Morissette

"It reminds us all that life is precious and that we should not waste time sweating the small stuff I still love it today like I did when I was at school"

Mrs Moore - Graceland by Paul Simon

"It makes me feel hopeful and like there are always new beginnings after endings”

Mr Futter - Keep Your Head Up by Ben Howard

"The album speaks of the emotional highs and lows of travelling and hiking, with a mellow start that builds to a spirited ending, leaving you feeling uplifted and positive"

STEM STARTERS

Dr Pearce - Mayonaise by Smashing Pumpkins

"As a miserablist 16 year old teenager (now miserablist adult), this song spoke to something in me and told me there were others who felt the same way”

Dr Sheldon - Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein

"It’s exciting, rhythmic and colourful music; the start of Part 3 is some of the most powerful music I know"

Miss McHenry - Resolution by Matt Corby

"This song is incredibly nostalgic, deeply moving, emotional and is great fun to belt out to! It has always managed to calm any nerves and relieve stress when I feel overwhelmed”

Dr Li - Canon in D major by Pachelbel

"It reminds me of sunrise; picturesque fields blanketed by a peaceful mist gently and magically transformed to reveal glistening dewdrops by hopeful rays of sun"

HEARTY HUMANITIES

Mr Livings - Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi "Growing up with this song, my friends adapted the title to match my surname and it has become a bit of an anthem for me ever since It also featured at my wedding, so it evokes a lot of positive memories for me"

Miss Longmore - Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John

"My Dad got me into Elton John and I love how this song builds and changes throughout It always peps me up, especially on a Monday morning!”

LINGUISTIC LUNCH

Ms Barnard - Love On Top by Beyoncé

"It is just so joyful and hopeful; it showcases this icon at her most powerful personally, lyrically and musically”

Mrs Schindler-Smith - Heroes by David Bowie

"It captures a particularly troubled time in Germany with the city of Berlin still being dividedit was a fascinating and very moving time to have lived through and experienced”

Dr Snook - Hallelujah

"It’s a great one to sing in the car and always reminds me of my Nan who would try to sing along to the Alexandra Burke version, but was usually an entire line behind the actual song”

Dr Swallow - The Bridge by Dolly Parton

"I’m a bit of a Dolly enthusiast, and the story the song tells is just so tragically beautiful. It also has a really powerful ending that makes me gasp every time ”

SPORTY SPECIALS

Miss Nicholas - I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi

"Without getting too deep, the way the song ebbs and flows reminds me of my journey in life. Building up to big moments, but equally having moments of calm, pause and reflection”

TECH TREATS

Mr Khan - With a little bit of luck by DJ Luck and MC Neat

"It's an epic song, you don't really need to understand the lyrics, it's one of the first songs I remember listening to and sometimes you just need a little bit of luck ”

Madame Spencer was kind enough to share a French classic with us, her fabulous crêpe recipe! We tried it ourselves, and they were delicious!

INGREDIENTS

250 grammes de farine / 250g of flour 2 cuillères à soupe de sucre / 2 tbsp of sugar Une pincée de sel / a pinch of salt

2 cuillères à soupe d’huile (tournesol ou olive) / 2 tbsp of oil

(sunflower or olive)

3 oeufs / 3 eggs

400 ml de lait / 400ml milk 100 ml d’eau / 100ml water

Le petit plus: de la vanille, du rhum et/ou…. De l’eau de fleur d’oranger (chut! C’est le secret de ma grandmère!) / the little extra: Vanilla, rum and/or ... orange blossom water (shh! that's my grandmother's secret!)

Mettez la farine dans un saladier avec le sel et le sucre.

Faites un puits au milieu et versez-y les œufs. Commencez à mélanger doucement. Quand le mélange devient épais, ajoutez le lait froid petit à petit, puis l’eau. Quand tout le lait est mélangé, la pâte doit être assez fluide Si elle vous paraît trop épaisse, rajoutez un peu de lait Ajoutez ensuite l’huile, et le parfum (vanille, rhum et/ou l’eau de fleur d’oranger Mélangez bien Faites cuire les crêpes dans une poêle chaude (par précaution légèrement huilée si votre poêle à crêpes n'est pas anti-adhésive). Versez une petite louche de pâte dans la poêle, faites un mouvement de rotation pour répartir la pâte sur toute la surface. Posez sur le feu et quand le tour de la crêpe se colore en roux clair, il est temps de la retourner. Laissez cuire environ une minute de ce côté et la crêpe est prête.

Répétez jusqu'à épuisement de la pâte.

Put the flour in a bowl with the salt and sugar Make a well in the middle and pour the eggs into it

Start to mix gently When the mixture becomes thick, add the cold milk a little at a time, then the water When all the milk is mixed, the mixture should be fairly thin. If it seems too thick, add a little more milk. Then add the oil, and the flavour (vanilla, rum, and/or orange blossom water). Mix well.

Cook the pancakes in a hot pan (as a precaution, add oil if your pancake pan is not non-stick). Pour a small ladle of the mix into the pan, rotate to distribute the mixture over the entire surface. Put on the heat and when the crêpe turns a light brown color, it's time to turn it over. Cook for about a minute on this side and the pancake is ready. Repeat until all the mix is used up.

German Society

In our weekly German Society club we have been up to many interesting things! From theatre to history, from politics to art; we have covered many different topics and aspects of German culture we wanted to learn more about In the Autumn term we thoroughly enjoyed watching and discussing ‘Die Welle’, a German film, and despite the unprecedented challenges we faced during lockdown, German Society continued throughout online learning During the Spring term we independently completed miniresearch projects based on our own interests and presented our findings to the rest of the group, followed by Q&As

The presentation on German politics gave an overview of the main political parties in Germany in comparison to their counterparts in the UK. For example, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Germany compared to the Conservative Party in the UK. This gave us a stronger insight into what each party stands for and hence from their popularity, what policies and priorities the voting German public find the most important. We were not surprised to find out how popular the Green Party has become in Germany, so much so that they are now in a position to name their first-ever chancellor candidate, Annalena Baerbock. Discussions on political issues such as the leadership elections in the CDU and how they might affect Britain, were very insightful and fascinating

Another member of the German Society gave a presentation about the life and work of Bertolt Brecht, a playwright, poet and theatre practitioner in the early 20th century. He is most well-known for his ‘Epic theatre’ and Verfremdungseffekt - meaning “Alienation effect” Brecht also wrote a film called ‘Mysteries of a Barbershop’ Unappreciated at the time, it is now considered an influential film in German film history

We also delved deeper into German history and explored the time before German unification in 1871 During that time the princely states of the Holy Roman Empire had autonomy over their affairs and were even able to implement their own foreign policies. This was even more apparent after the Empire was dissolved. We then discussed how the relatively recent unification in 1871, and even more recent reunification of Germany in 1989, had many challenges when forming a federal state. This was because so many regions had different customs, cultures and identities whilst also having a common linguistic tradition. Of course we also learnt about the Berlin Wall in detail, the events that led to it being built and being taken down some 28 years later. Watching the film ‘Goodbye Lenin’ allowed us to directly see the sudden changes that the collapse of the GDR had on Germany and to what extent this event shaped people's lives

German Representatives - Year 11

HotLips Chinese Restaurant

Spanish Debating Competition

Participating in this year’s Spanish debating competition was an excellent confidence booster before our A Level oral exams. Having prepared the notions beforehand, we felt excited to debate over freedom of expression, religion’s place in society and how technology influences education. Getting the opportunity to converse with Spanish students from different schools was very enjoyable, and watching the final debate was heated! We won our debate about freedom of expression due to our interest on this topic which clearly paid off. Overall it was a valuable learning experience and lots of fun - good luck to next year's debaters!

Ealing has a lot of Chinese restaurants. My favourite is HotLips, it’s a bit of a speciality. As Hotlips is a Northern Restaurant, most of the food is very spicy. If you don’t like to eat spicy food, don’t eat at HotLips! I think the best food there is the Stir Fried Chinese Cabbage with Sichuan Peppers, it’s very sour and very spicy. I also like their stir fried egg and tomato, although it’s a little sweet it’s still very tasty The price isn’t bad either!

Chinese Bridge Competition

The competition was a wonderful experience, allowing us to improve our Mandarin skills as well as become more confident public speakers, be better conversation holders and improve our teamwork among many other things. It was a very fun experience and we had a great time throughout the process. Researching Chinese culture was very interesting and eye-opening.

We learnt a lot about Chinese mythology and martial arts. Writing the script proved a bit of a challenge but it was worth it. Finding the right word for the right effect and meaning was hard but rewarding in a weird way. Filming was by far the most enjoyable process. We had a lot of bloopers and outtakes and we had to get the pronunciation as close as possible (which is VERY hard)

Dressing up and executing our idea was really fun and being able to do it with our friends made it even better. We spent a while editing to make the video perfect which was also fun. It was a shame that we didn't have enough time to really work on the script and filming but nevertheless we tried our best. No matter the result, we were proud of ourselves.

I really recommend taking part in the competition for anyone interested If you don't want to do it by yourself then do it with your friends; it is worth it!

Nina Goodland and Sabah Malik - Year 13

Ms Hopkins, the new Head of Mandarin at NHEHS reviews a local Chinese Restaurant

Nirupama Krishnakumaran

The #BeYou Project

During Lockdown, the PE department released a fun initiative called the #BeYou Project for Years 5 to 9. Goals included doing a regular workout, going on a walk/run with friends or learning a new sports skill. Sometimes friends and family participated with us. During my lessons I completed many exercises that I liked and even some I didn’t think I would enjoy, like yoga! My goal was to try and achieve five or more physical activities in a week, which I managed to complete. As part of the project, I went on many walks with my friends, which I have continued to do since lockdown. At the end of the project, it was interesting to hear about everyone in my class’s goals, as we had a whole range of activities including tennis, riding a Peloton bike and skateboarding!

Meher Garg - Year 7

SPORT

Sitting down to write a reflection after hearing pupils do their final presentations of the project was humbling. When family members helped to complete the #BeYou challenges with pupils, this helped them feel that they built a strong bond and created memories that they wouldn’t forget One of my Year 7 students, Karma, shared a video of her dad cheering her through her first 3500m run; Lollie in Year 9 spoke about her brother and her playing football each week together in the garden

The other thing which struck me was the girls’ gratitude to being able to do something they chose, not something that was thrust upon them! That was always the main aim of this project, to get girls to be themselves.

Sports Clubs at NHEHS: How to find your sport

Moving from primary school to secondary school was a massive change and was certainly a bit scary at first! But one of the things that helped me settle in and have some fun was participating in sports clubs

Finding “your sport” can be difficult but here is a few tips:

1 Try new things When I joined NHEHS I had never tried half of the clubs that I chose to do Clubs are not about being perfect at something, it is about practising and participating

2 Ask around See what your classmates enjoy and who knows, maybe that could end up being your favourite sport

3. Make an effort to participate. You may be tired from a day's work, but physical exercise is sure to cheer you up if you are willing to put in the work.

I hope these tips help you find your favourite sport, and that you can cheer yourself up by trying something new.

Klara Strange - Year 8

Miss Newman - PE Department

Netball Webinar with Kadeen Corbin, Razie Quashie & Zara Everitt

In March we were fortunate enough to hear from three members of the England netball team: Kadeen Corbin, Razia Quashie and Zara Everitt.

Kadeen’s story was especially interesting, as she was asked to try out for the Middlesex County trials at just the age of 14. She continued to play at county level for two years before being spotted by an England scout and joining the England team. Zara spoke about both the excitement she felt when she was selected for the tour to Jamaica, and her disappointment when she was forced to drop out of Super League for a year in order to focus on her studies One of Razia’s biggest lows was not getting selected for Netball Europe A high for her was playing behind legendary Geva Mentor, and learning from her Listening to each of their stories pushed me to stay motivated during lockdown, particularly alongside the restrictions that have been placed on sport over the past year

Netball Webinar with London Pulse Adean Thomas

During the latest lockdown, Year 9 got the opportunity to join a session coached by Adean Thomas, the WA on the Jamaican netball team and London Pulse Super League team She started with a fitness warm up, leading onto some movement drills We focused on moving around the player and staying ball side for an interception This really helped with our on-court playing when we came back to school At the end of the session, we had the chance to ask questions, including: How do you stay fit during lockdown? What do you eat before a match? Which drills do you use to practice your movement around the circle? All in all, it was an amazing experience that we have taken lots away from!

Ella Milner - Year 9

Sport Science Lecture Series

Over lockdown we were given the opportunity to learn something new through a series of weekly Sports Science lectures. Miss Nicholas taught us about various personality theories and their relations to sports. Miss Newman taught us about mindfulness and visualisation. In particular, she talked about the seven key steps to a visualisation script : Physical, Environment, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion and Perspective (PETTLEP). This involves creating a strong mental image of a future event such as putting on your swimming hat before a race, enabling you to see yourself doing a task before it actually takes place. Practical sessions were led by Miss MunroHall and Ms Nicholas. This involved making pasta, delicious fruit smoothies, protein balls and healthy snack bars. This series of lectures was very fun and something to look forward to after online lessons during lockdown.

Mazaheri - Year 11

Natasha Bennett - Year 8

Isla

SPORT IN LOCKDOWN

Sports Clubs

In Netball and Hockey club, we were given the opportunity to advance our skills and knowledge through a range of live fitness sessions and webinars In Hockey, we participated in a live Zoom meeting with GB

Petty, who ran a Tabata HIIT session with us This was a great opportunity to ask questions, giving us insight into what it is like to be a professional athlete

Sports Quiz

Sports Quiz club was a fun way to interact with friends and challenge us on our sports knowledge We were also able to compete against some of our teachers and Sixth Form students, which made our team more determined to win! We are incredibly lucky to have such amazing PE teachers and coaches who have supported us throughout this time

#NHEHSdailysportschallenge

During lockdown 3.0, the PE Department brought back the weekly #NHEHSdailysportschallenge.

There was something for everyone to enjoy, with sports ranging from gymnastics to netball. Every single challenge set was extremely beneficial for fitness levels and helped keep away the endless boredom quarantine brought us. For example the 'Yoga Stretch Challenge' was a follow along video from Ms Le Brun, who owns a yoga studio My personal favourite challenge, however, was the 'Accumulative Circuit Challenge' This fitness challenge was a good workout to help with strength

Alex Down - Year 8

player Suzy

Dana Niama, Zoe Down and Jaspreet Gill - Year 8

Sporty Scarecrows

The Scarecrow Stroll was a walk around Ealing, where you could spot homemade scarecrows in front of local schools, sports clubs, and houses. It ran from 1st - 7th March 2021 on the last week of virtual school. Overall, 29 scarecrows could be found over Ealing, and families could spend their daily walk spotting them. The theme of the whole event was sports which lead to some incredibly creative scarecrows being made, including ‘The Skicrow’, ‘Netty’ and so much more

I came up with the idea as I am trying to qualify to become a Willow Tree Sports Ambassador. To become a Sports Ambassador, you have to complete tasks, one being you had to create a fun challenge that could get children active I wanted to not only incorporate going outside and doing exercise, but also doing something creative By putting these two ideas together, I could create something that the whole community could take part in.

But why scarecrows? My family and I often go to small villages in the countryside where they sometimes would have a variation of a Scarecrow Stroll I have seen flowerpot creations, people made from recycling and, of course, scarecrows I believe that having these around the village or, in fact, Ealing gives a real sense of community and I really like that.

I want people to have fun making and creating scarecrows, give people something to talk about and do something different on their daily walk.

Pearce - Year 8

Morven

Morven Pearce in Year 8 set up an exciting lockdown activity including some sporty scarecrows.

NHEHS was pleased to see the return of Sports Day to round off the school year especially as it had been unable to take place the previous year. Despite the lack of sun, everyone gathered to cheer each other on in a variety of events The competition was close and fourteen records broken making it a very successful day overall Jessica Ennis-Hill cup winners:

Natasha Bennett: 800m (2m 30s)

Natasha Bennett: 1500m (5m 24s)

Morven Pearce: 75m hurdles (12.59s)

Morven Pearce:100m (13.54s)

Hannah Pilkington: 300m (47.55s) Year 9:

Nicola Hewitt: 1500m (5m 32s)

Rosie Hewitt: 800m (2m 35s)

Rosie Hewitt: 200m (28 43s)

Ella Milner: 300m (45 39s)

Year 10: Maddie Halliday: 200m (29.13s)

Y

RESULTS

RECIPES FROM THE NHEHS KITCHEN

Method: Melt the butter, chocolate and syrup in a saucepan then pour into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, mix and then slowly add the cornflakes. Pour mixture into paper cases and place in fridge. Leave overnight to set firm and then enjoy!

Method: Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4, and line the tin with baking paper. Melt the butter or margarine, sugar and syrup together. Stir in the oats and vanilla essence Let the mixture cool and sprinkle chocolate drops Spread the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes

OVERHEARDAT

"She's not cool with a K" - Year 7 pupil

"I have some changing the subject practice for you. Not changing your subject from Maths, of course, changing the subject of the formula!" - Ms Critcher

"I haven't been to Canada in such a long time"in a Geography Lesson

"I live off pot noodles" - Mr Gill

"Do you really have to revise for English?" - Ms Critcher

"Darling, of course it's vintage." - in the bathrooms about a hoodie

"If you don't like the gift, say 'thank you I really liked it', then go back home and re-gift it" - Ms Motyer

"Oh, so the window's more interesting than me, huh?" - Mr Cheney "[about diuresis] So I said, its dire-wee-sis"Dr Pearce in a Biology lesson followed by ensuing groans about the advent of yet another Dad joke

"Document everything. If you drop your project and it breaks, you still take a picture." - Mr Futter

STAFF NEWS

We have had another unprecedented year at NHEHS, in and out of remote teaching, but our characteristic energy and enthusiasm has been ever-present. We were delighted to welcome some new staff at the start of the year. Miss Aherne joined us as Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Moore as Director of Drama, and Miss Hunter as Head of History and Politics. Miss Weir joined the Maths department, Miss Doughlas-White joined the PE department, Miss Miller joined us to teach Biology and Mr Crofts to teach Physics Miss Gamberini joined as a Mandarin teacher and Mr Guarneiro to teach Italian Miss Truman also joined the admissions team to work on Alumnae relations We welcomed Mrs Frost as Director of Finance and Operations and Mrs Prothero as the new PA to Mr Shoults

We were delighted to send our congratulations to a number of staff on the birth of their children; Mrs Drummond, Ms Hughes, Mr Stark and Mrs Farmer all had sons and Mrs Heppenstall, Ms Motyer, Mrs Woolner and Mrs Living welcomed daughters to the world. We wish them health and joy with their new arrivals.

We were delighted to congratulate Mr Shoults on his marriage in the summer and wish them great happiness.

We are grateful to staff who helped with maternity cover and illness: Miss Ait Ibrahim worked in the Physics department while Mrs Heppenstall was on maternity leave. We said a fond farewell to staff at the end of the year. We thanked Mr O’Connor and Mr Brownett in Drama, Mr Barber in Mathematics and Miss Cusworth in Physics.

Miss O’Connor taught here for two years, inspiring students in Maths, revving up charities and volunteering, and covering for Mrs Drummond’s maternity leave as Head of Maths She is moving to America

Mrs Holliday worked with us for three years, encouraging enthusiasm for all things Hispanic She moved to a new school in West London

Mrs Woolner left after four years here. She showed an absolute passion for PRE, inspiring a loyal following in the subject, and has worked tirelessly as an Assistant Head, encouraging great teaching, and helping to introduce Chromebooks among other initiatives. She left to teach part time nearer to home.

Mr Baines worked as Director of Finance and Operations for seven years, working with determination for our school to flourish both in terms of the site, looking after the safety of our buildings and supporting staff, students and parents in allowing our school to function financially. He was also a valued member of the Senior Leadership Team, working with integrity and dedication. We wish him well in his new school as he moved nearer to home.

Mrs Castano taught in the MFL department for nine years She was an enthusiastic languages teacher, and also for a number of years a caring and supportive Head of Year, steering students through the GCSE years She was always willing to help with DofE expeditions and overseas trips She has relocated to southern France and we wish her every success

Mr Cheney served for 15 years in the school He had a hugely loyal following in the Biology department, inspiring great numbers of students about the subject. As an Assistant Head in recent years, he initiated lots of new extra-curricular opportunities, leadership positions, the extra-curricular fair, the film festival and new House opportunities. He also built years of timetables. He headed off to a promotion position in Weybridge.

Mrs Cleary worked as PA to four Headteachers at Notting Hill & Ealing for 27 years. She retired this year after looking after so many aspects of school life. She worked with complete commitment, genuine enthusiasm and professionalism throughout her time here, supporting staff, students and parents with compassion, kindness and expertise We wish her well in this next phase

Mrs Silva retired after 30 years at NHEHS We are extremely grateful for her years of service here, caring for the Junior school students and inspiring generations of girls here She worked with extraordinary energy, positivity and dedication as the Head of the Junior school and valued member of the Senior Leadership Team We were able to give her some wonderful celebrations to mark her considerable time here and wish her great happiness in the next chapter of her life.

Indeed, we wish all our leaving staff well and send them the best of luck for their future endeavours.