The North Londoner 2021

The North Londoner NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL | SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2019

2021

The magazine of North London Collegiate School

2

WELCOME

WELCOME TO THE 2021 EDITION OF THE NORTH LONDONER

Staff testing team

The academic year proved extraordinary for us all due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We saw new challenges, including wearing masks, year group bubbles, social distancing, and regular testing. The Performing Arts Centre, Music Hall and Canons Sports Centre were transformed into testing centres facilitated by our wonderful support staff. Staff and students became well-versed with hybrid lessons as some students were self-isolating at home while others were in the classroom. We quickly became proficient in developing our presentation of online performances so that musicians, dancers and actors could still perform for all to see.

T

here have been so many fantastic lessons and extracurricular activities despite the restrictions. Symposiums and partnership activities went online, speakers visited virtually, and sports, music and drama performances still took place. We held a Founder’s Day unlike any ever celebrated – complete with an outdoor daffodil procession.

We were also delighted to hold a carefully planned and executed inperson Valedictory Service for our leaving Year 13 students.

Our Design and Graphics space was refurbished into a state-of-theart Engineering and Technology department featuring 3D printers,

a laser cutter and a computer suite to support the School’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Maths) initiative. Our curriculum and enrichment programme encourages students to solve real-world design problems and inspires finding creative and practical solutions. This year’s projects have included Mars landers, wind turbines, pneumatic grabs, and robotic programming. Students have also developed their skills beyond the classroom, with many achievements in this exciting area, including VEX Robotics, Cyber security and the F1 in Schools competition.

We have continued our drive to become Carbon Net-Zero by 2030.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

School 2021 magazine Students have been taking the lead on the School’s ‘Green’ priorities, organising a programme of activities and embedding sustainability into day-to-day school life. Mrs Clark’s Founder’s Day address highlighted how, over the years, the School has responded to matters relating to their environment and of students and ONLs who have made an impact or contribution to the fields of climaterelated research and activism. She also discussed how the School has begun to consider how it could mitigate its effects on our carbon footprint on the planet.

Supporting the community and giving back takes a priority in our termly activities. It was a busy year for Canonaid, the School’s Charity Committee, who helped our local community through food collections to fundraising for international aid for communities overseas. We have also seen collaborations with our international schools, sharing students’ experiences of the pandemic and coming together creatively through music and prose.

Mental health and wellbeing have been at the forefront this year, and our pastoral teams have worked with great imagination to support students through the challenges that Covid-19 presented. A fantastic variety of assemblies and activities addressed concerns and worries relating to the pandemic, including PE Week, Feel Good Week, Screen-free days and Tea and chat sessions.

In this magazine, we are delighted to celebrate with you how our school community responded to the continued challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic and maintain everything that is so special and unique about North London Collegiate School.

Editorial Team 2021

3

CONTENTS

4

HIGHLIGHTS

19

8

FEATURES

20

YOUNG ENTERPRISE ENRICHMENT & MUN

30

34

10

STEAM

24

GCSE ART

40

16

WELLBEING

27

SIXTH FORM ART THE DESTINATION OF LEAVERS 2021

43

SUBJECT AREAS

20

MEDICINE

10

8 ENGLISH

PERFORMING ARTS

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY

7 PPE

LANGUAGES 6 HISTORY

8

TOP SPORTS

8

ECONOMICS

Durham

9

UNIVERSITY

Cambridge

18

University College London

11

Oxford

9

King’s College London

12

Warwick

LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

62

VALEDICTORY

46

SUSTAINABILITY

66

DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNAE

50

FOUNDER’S DAY

68

CREATIVE WRITING

Birmingham (1), Bristol (5), Cambridge (9), Cardiff (1), Durham (8), Edinburgh (6), Imperial College London (6), King’s College London (9), Leeds (4), London School of Economics (2), Manchester (1), Nottingham (5), Oxford (11), Queen Mary University of London (3), Southampton (1), University College London (18), Warwick (12)

LEAVER’S DESTINATIONS DESTINATIONS

STUDENTS STUDYING AT INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES

Stanford University (1), University of California, Los Angeles (1), Yale (1)

McGill University (1)

44

STUDENTS STUDING AT UK UNIVERSITIES

Students have chosen to take a gap year and will apply for entry to university in 2023

The impressively wide range of disciplines taken up at Higher Education by the Class of 2021 include: Architecture; Biochemistry; Biomedical Sciences; Bioprocessing of New Medicines; Chemical Engineering; Classical Studies; Classic; Computer Science; Dentistry; Design Engineering; Drama; Economic Studies & Global Sustainable Development; Economics; Economics & Management; Economics & Politics; Engineering; English; English & German; English Literature; Financial Mathematics & Statistics; French; French & German; Geography; German & Italian; History; Information Management for Business; International Social & Political Studies; International Relations; Law; Liberal Arts; Mathematics; Mechanical & Electrical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Medicine; Modern & Medieval Languages; Modern Languages & Cultures; Natural Sciences; Pharmacy; Philosophy; Philosophy & Russian; Philosophy, Politics & Economics; Psychology; Sociology; Spanish & Latin; Sport & Exercise Sciences; Theoretical Physics; Veterinary Medicine

60

CHARITY

71

IN MEMORY

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

4

HIGHLIGHTS

At the heart of NLCS is the highly academic curriculum, and despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the quality of our offering to students has not diminished. Despite the problems faced, we continued to offer a wealth of activities, clubs, music, drama, sports, and society meetings each week. This year has shown that NLCS is an adaptable and resilient institution, and we are so proud of staff and students who have continued to excel in all areas of academic challenge.

Cambridge Chemistry Challenge Students from Years 10, 11 and 12 participated in the C3L6 Chemistry Challenge, a competition run by Cambridge University, to stretch and challenge students passionate about chemistry. Thaleesha (Yr 12) achieved the highest award challenge only given to the top 0.7% of participants; this is an outstanding achievement. This award comes with an exciting invitation to attend a unique Cambridge Summer School, an offer extended only to the top achieving pupils in the country.

In addition, Jenny (Yr 11) achieved an Au award, and Shreya (Yr 10) was

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

awarded a Cu award and was only one mark off an Ag award, which is incredible for a student in Year 10.

HIGHLIGHTS

5

HIGHLIGHTS Summer Festival Students took part in an incredible variety of activities on the theme of ‘Communication’.

They designed and built model tension structures, created sustainable art and discussed their ideas in STEAM and humanities symposiums. Presentations by students included those on holograms, wearable tech, nanomedicine, animation in Japan, freedom of the press, the power of language and more. We talked about topics from British Sign Language and the print revolution to blasphemy and the Opium Wars. On the final day, Year 12 students organised a Festival Fair allowing younger students to understand the vibrancy of the NLCS Enrichment programme and take part in activities, ranging from communication in medicine and designing escape rooms, through to a feminist Zine Workshop.

Latin Competition Three students won prizes in the ARLT Latin Reading Competition.

The students spent several weeks practising reading aloud prescribed passages of Latin, which were recorded and sent directly to the judges. Irene (Yr 9) was awarded 1st prize in the Junior section, and Lina (Yr 9) was ‘Highly Commended’ for her readings of a story from the Cambridge Latin Course about a fatal riot in Alexandria (‘tumultus II’). Tara (Yr 10) read the scene in Virgil’s Aeneid II , which describes the tragic and brutal death of Priam, king of Troy, for which she was ‘Highly Commended’ in the Intermediate section. Congratulations also to Shivani, the only student in Year 8 to submit an entry to the competition.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

6

HIGHLIGHTS

STEAM With the support of our Chemistry, Physics and Engineering, Design & Technology departments, Amelie and Masha in Year 11 made the top 7 finalists for The UK Junior Water Prize this year. The competition, organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, aims to solve environmental challenges linked to water. Participants had to identify an issue and undertake research and experiments to find a practical and innovative solution.

Their ‘AquaFibre’ was designed as a filtration system to catch microfibres, with an aluminium plate charged at a high voltage to attract the fibres for cleaning.

Mr Forde, in the History Department, created a video walking tour of East London, with a focus on the area’s long history of immigration and covering the Huguenots, Jewish immigration, and the more recent role of the Bangladeshi community.

We also hosted a wide range of talks from academics, including Dr Carolina Zuccotti from the European University Institute on the Impact of Migration and Dr Cecilia Tarruell from Oxford on early modern Spanish migration. Students in the Middle School had a special session as part of Young Historians Club on the Empire Windrush, and the History and Politics Department created an introductory reading list to connect with the themes of the week and also the wider Black History Month.

Discovery Through Translation Languages Week saw Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 students embark on a discovery journey through translation, magnificently hosted by Ros Schwartz (ONL) and Shadow Heroes, an education initiative supporting young people in embracing all sides of their linguistic and cultural heritages. Not only did students have their eyes opened to the cultural and linguistic constraints implicated when faced with rendering into another language,

lifelong research in linguistics and delivered an impressive talk on how linguistics is present in our daily life in more contexts than just the languages classroom. Ranging from Medicine to Anthropology, she demonstrated how studying Linguistics alongside another subject can be an enriching experience.

Symposium on Intersectionality Students from Years 11, 12 and 13 took part in an online symposium with a selection of schools hosted and organised by Eton College.

Pupils from Wimbledon High School, Eden Girls’ School, LAE Tottenham, Windsor Girls’ School, HolyPort College, St Paul’s Girls’ School and the boys of Eton’s FemSoc discussed definitions of Intersectionality in legal, educational and medical contexts, and in particular, cases that have arisen recently in current affairs. Inequalities highlighted during the pandemic were scrutinised, such as those suffered by women of colour, and the forum raised the urgent need for new legislation to eradicate an increasingly complex form of prejudice.

Poetry Recital Year 7 gathered online for the final of their poetry recitation competition.

History and Politics Week History and Politics Societies organised a fantastic array of activities for their annual History and Politics Week on the theme of immigration. Highlights included the launch of an NLCS oral history project on immigration, encouraging students to interview family members who have experience of immigration and migration. Modern historians use oral history interviews to research and understand their field of study, so this project taught students the skills used for historical research at University level and beyond.

but they also experimented with how creative the process can be.

In Senior Societies, Dr Alison Wray, Research Professor in Language and Communication, talked through her

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Ten selected students took to the virtual stage to perform. Although they didn’t have the grand piano as the backdrop, they had been creative in their own settings, including a reading

HIGHLIGHTS

from a virtual wood of bluebells.

The performers were all wonderful, demonstrating an intelligent understanding of form and content as well as creative and sensitive dramatisation. Our visiting poet-judge, Anne-Marie Fyfe, chose Maya as the winner for her recitation of Remember

by Christina Rosetti.

English Partnership The English department led a joint online project with Sacred Heart Language College for aspiring writers from Year 8. The students worked independently to produce a book of writing in response to the Pandemic.

As inspiration, they were given a document of stimulus material on five topics intrinsic to all we have been experiencing globally: community, hope, solitude, travel and innovation.

The result is a magazine full of

No.1 School in the UK for the IB NLCS was ranked No.1 in the UK for the International Baccalaureate (IB) by The Sunday Times. This comprehensive survey of schools’ academic performance is the benchmark for academic excellence throughout the UK. NLCS has offered the IB programme as an alternative to A levels since 2004. Since then, we have had a consistent record of success, ranking NLCS as one of the highest-achieving IB schools not only in the UK but in the world.

7

‘She Plays to Win’ Chess Champions Team NLCS won the inaugural ‘She Plays to Win’ Secondary Girls online chess league, led by Mr D’Costa, England International Women’s Coach and NLCS Chess Teacher. Competing against 37 teams across the UK, with over six events throughout the school year, our students emerged victorious to take the crown as champions.

NLCS Singapore On 24 August 2020, NLCS (Singapore), our third International School, opened to its first pupils. At the heart of all NLCS schools is a shared educational vision – a determination to instil a love of learning. We look forward to the new partnerships and close links formed through pupil and staff exchanges, joint departmental projects, educational visits and extra-curricular activities, such as video-conference debates and jointly-produced student publications.

personally felt and effectively executed pieces, with each piece demonstrating a considerable level of thought and sensitivity.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

8

FEATURES

In 2020, aspiring Year 10 playwright Tammy had an idea for a play. She wanted to create a tense urban drama featuring a group of teenagers who get out of their depth. Through several meticulous drafts, she crafted her play. Then came Covid-19 and the

W

ith the advent of the ‘new normal’, Tammy had a brainwave - what if she adapted her play for the screen!

Tammy turned her talents to a new medium, rewrote her piece and was ready to call ‘action’. Then, in the Spring of 2021 came the second lockdown. With the project halted, Tammy, her cast and crew displayed fortitude and flexibility as they storyboarded the action and waited for the time when they could finally begin filming. At last, that moment came, and the students gathered at Canons to start principal photography. Learning to deliver lines for camera was an exciting challenge, and continuity provided a few near misses. The crew

worked to a tight schedule to ensure they had good coverage, fitting in pickup shots and close-ups into lunchtimes and after school.

Tammy and one of her producers, Amy, took some time out from creating the final cut to discuss their experience.

“The idea came from a teacher’s comment on a piece of my English work. ‘Why don’t you write a play?’ said Miss Anslow; this planted the seed that would become Found. At the start of Year 10, I gathered a cast.

Everyone was excited to be part of a student-led production, especially as filming was a new experience. It took us a while to figure out the best way

first national lockdown.

Rehearsals got underway online, and hopes were high that the cast could assemble and perform Tammy’s play once everything returned to ‘normal’.

FOUND - YEAR

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

FEATURES to film; should it be on a stage or in the studio? However, lockdown got in the way of rehearsals, and we even considered moving the production onto Zoom. Then, things fell into place when school returned in the Summer term. Our producers, Amy and Anusha, stepped up to help organise everything and recover our motivation. The entire cast spent a Sunday in school filming group scenes, collapsing into laughter, playing responsibly with plastic weapons and befriending geese. We filmed the remaining scenes during lunchtimes and after-school. Despite being just a little stressful, the process has brought me closer with friends and given me a sneak peek into the ups and downs of working in film and

9

theatre. It has been a great experience that I have loved, and I hope everyone else has too.”- Tammy “As part of the Year 10 production, Found, I worked behind the scenes before and during shooting to make sure everything ran smoothly. Along with a few others, I spent lunchtime scouting for locations, trying to find appropriate places within the school grounds that both fitted our director Tammy’s vision and were suitably accessible. Almost as soon as we started planning the sets, we realised the vast number of props we would require for the film to seem as realistic as possible, so we visited the school

10 PROJECT

props cupboard. Among the weirder things we found was an entire box of Jedward wigs, circus props and a donkey mask, but we eventually found everything we needed (including a fake snake in a hamster cage). As well as locations around the school grounds, we also needed to recreate various household locations, including the main characters’ bedrooms. We all contributed items from our own rooms, and by the time we had finished setting it up, it really seemed like there was a teenage girl’s bedroom in a school corridor! After working so hard preparing, it was very rewarding to shoot the film with minimal assistance, and everyone who took part really enjoyed the experience. - Amy The final film is a testament to the students’ teamwork and creative approach to problem-solving. Director Tammy was awarded the honour of Half Colours for her leadership and contribution to the artistic life of the school. Congratulations to all the cast and crew on a terrific achievement.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

10

STEAM

ST EAM To support the School’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Maths) initiative, we completely refurbished our Design and Graphics space into a state-of-the-art Engineering and Technology department featuring 3D printers, a laser cutter and a computer suite.

T

his year, students have had the opportunity to access a curriculum that develops their confidence in making quality products through practical tasks and supports trial and error in solving problems. We encourage students to solve real-world design problems and provide a hub for inspiring creative, practical solutions for projects such as Mars landers, wind turbines, pneumatic grabs, and robotic programming.

are excited to continue expanding and adapting our curriculum to reflect the constant changes in the workplace, ensuring we position our students at the top of the national cohort and give them every chance to excel in life. We also have a dedicated NLCS STEAM website featuring our students’ articles and podcasts to inform and inspire each other www.nlcssteam.com.

Our future STEAM curriculum will see students applying their subject knowledge holistically across subjects, supported by a collaboration between departments. With our new IDEAS Hub planned for completion in 2024, we

Engineering Society Competitions

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Our Engineering Society launched a series of competitions this year featuring a rocket project, a penny

STEAM

11

programming skills, which are autonomous with limited human interaction.

launcher and a marble run. It was fantastic to see so many students and their families rising to the challenges and creating some truly remarkable outcomes.

VEX Robotics Club In the Autumn term we launched the VEX Robotics teams which are made up of 4 teams from across Years 7 to 9. With hot competition, students had to undergo a selection process to make this year’s teams, with a driving and programming challenge to get them started.

design, build, program, and drive a robot to complete the challenge. This year the challenge was called RISE UP. During the competitions, two robots compete in the teamwork challenge as an alliance in one-minute long teamwork matches, working collaboratively to score points. Teams also compete in the robot skills challenge attempting to score as many points as possible.

These matches consist of driving skills and

The aim of VEX is to encourage creativity, teamwork, leadership, passion, and problem-solving among groups. The teams are also working to compete against other schools in regional and national competitions, but who knows even the World Championship could be a possibility for our highly ambitious engineers in the future.

Cyber Security NLCS team Bitm4p was selected as the Senior division winners, in the national final of the CyberCenturion V11 Security Challenge, with their

Within VEX, students are given a new challenge annually and must

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

12

STEAM

all-female team. The objective of the competition, run by Cyber Security Challenge UK, is to successfully find and fix cyber security vulnerabilities on computer networks to defend them against attack.

Class team, their achievement is even more impressive as they competed against Professional Class teams who have been working to the World Finals standards throughout their journey in this competition.

In the Cyber Discovery Program, organised by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as part of the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy, three students progressed through all stages and were invited to participate in the Elite Summer Camp. The program attracts more than 2000 participants nationwide and aims to raise awareness of careers in cyber security, giving students the opportunity to learn about real-life cyber security techniques, such as interrogating javaScript, social engineering and using cyphers.

F1 in Schools is a team-based competition where students design, manufacture and race a mini F1 race car out of balsa wood. “Throughout the competition, we have produced an engineering portfolio, an enterprise portfolio, a social media portfolio, found sponsors (Including MasterCard and Ferrari) produced several prototype cars, and more! It has been a really great experience”.

F1 in Schools World Finals Five NLCS teams competed in the F1 in Schools Competition, with one team competing at the World Finals. Team IQ made it through the North London Regional Finals and the UK National Finals to represent the UK at the F1 in Schools World Finals. Competing against 43 teams the team finished in 5th overall place, with the 3rd fastest car! The team was also nominated in two awards categories; Women in STEM and Pit Display. Having competed in and won the Regional and National Finals as a Development

“Their engineering and enterprise portfolios left judges beyond impressed, and they spoke confidently and knowledgeably at the judging sessions. The discipline, time management and technical skills the girls have gained through this competition will be invaluable to them.

We are immensely proud of them.” said Ms Lisa Timm, NLCS Director of STEAM and Innovation.

NLCS Tech Talk At the start of the Autumn term, student Priya launched TechTalk, an online technology magazine featuring articles, interviews and other special features that are all things tech. Priya tells us about the inspiration behind her new blog.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Technology: it’s new, it’s exciting and it’s all around us. Each and every breakthrough ever made throughout history is down to the advancement of technology, in all of its various

STEAM

13

forms, from the mRNA vaccine to your mobile phone. Every advancement in automation is mind-blowing, with each new technology that comes to life,

gradually influencing our actions, our thoughts and then suddenly, our entire way of living.

It was this realisation of the true impact of technology on society that inspired me to create an online magazine, collating the extraordinary and promising innovations of today and beyond together, resulting in the launch of our very own, future-looking web publication called NLCS TechTalk.

TechTalk is a collection of articles,

videos and interviews relating to the various fields of technology, which I use as themes for each edition – in the past, there have been editions on Biotechnology, Tech for Good and AI & Machine Learning. An important part of TechTalk is of course the interactive element of the magazine, where we have many contributions from across the Senior School, with girls having submitted some fantastic, eye-opening pieces.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

14

STEAM

Who is Team IQ? Creating and editing each edition of TechTalk gives me the opportunity to engage with the readers, particularly our younger students, on the current issues facing our world today: these include the challenges facing healthcare and environmental sustainability – both of which I focused on in my 3rd and most recent edition of TechTalk, centring on the theme of “Tech for Good”.

In this edition, released in 2021, my aim was to show to our readers that technology truly does hold the power in overcoming some of society’s biggest problems, and to bring us hope during these rather challenging times. After much research, TechTalk featured some astonishing innovations, an example being the world’s first commercial carbon removal technology. This works by capturing CO2 in our atmosphere, which can then be sold to certain markets to produce carbon-neutral hydrocarbon fuels, so has the promising potential to be an absolute game-changer in our struggles with CO2 emissions.

Another advancement most worthy of note is that created by BenevolentAI, a company which uses AI developments to generate new treatments for some of the world’s 8000 untreated diseases. The potential these technologies have is life-changing, and something I felt the students here at NLCS were most fascinated by.

I have also been very lucky to be able to interview some pioneers in technology as a continuation of my “Women in Tech” series, a series in which I interview an incredible female entrepreneur or pioneer in

technology, who has ventured into the field of STEM. This edition, I contacted and interviewed Agne Milukaite, the inspiring CEO and founder of Cycle.

Land, a unique bike-sharing platform that is breaking boundaries when it comes to sustainable transport. It was incredible to be able to ask Agne some questions about her own journey to creating her business, as an Oxford alumnus, and also her personal advice for female business leaders. She talked about some very important issues in the industry, particularly regarding gender equality, as well as the importance of sustainability for our planet, so it was a pleasure and a privilege for us to be able to hear her views.

I am currently working on my 4th TechTalk edition (2022), with this term’s theme being AI & Machine Learning. It looks to be a hugely interesting and diverse read, with multiple student contributions from across the school already having been submitted, so do check it out when it has been published!

Technology is our biggest hope for the future, because each day it is constantly changing, updating and advancing to have a massive impact for years to come. With the promise it has shown, I am confident that it will be a game changing factor for human life.

By Priya (Yr 11), Editor of NLCS TechTalk NLCS TechTalk can be found on our dedicated NLCS STEAM website called nlcssteam.com

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Team IQ is a collaborative effort made up of NLCS students Emily, Lara, Diora, Sophie and Old North Londoners (ONLs) Alyssa Quinney and Isabella Menendez.

Reaching the World Finals and being crowned National Champions is an outstanding achievement as this is the first time Team IQ has entered into the F1 in Schools competition, Team IQ are definitely pioneers! Without a template to work from, Team IQ, did all of the hard work from scratch, researching funding as

STEAM

well as the design of F1 vehicles. They reached out to sponsors, including Ferrari and Mastercard, and the team members had to use computer-aided design (CAD), computer numerical control (CNC) machining, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to design, manufacture, and analyse its car. Congratulations on a fantastic achievement.

15

For each area she gives a fantastic detailed explanation, featuring information about famous engineers within that area along with projects and competitions for students to get involved with.

www.iwanttobeanengineer.co.uk Engineering Blog Member of Team IQ, engineering enthusiast and Sixth Form student Emily also created her own blog ‘iwanttobeanengineer.co.uk’, which she has designed to inform and engage other students about engineering.

Features include “The Many Faces of Engineering” which consists of articles about the main engineering branches, as well as interviews with engineers. Emily contacted a wide range of professionals with questions about their careers and published their responses. She is continuing to reach out and expand the series across all areas of engineering.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

16

WELLBEING

WE LLB E IN G

Feel Good Week

At North London, we believe that happy students are successful students, and our pastoral care supports every student to develop resilience and a sense of perspective so that they can rise to challenges and have the confidence to try again if things don’t work out initially. The pandemic presented more challenges than usual, but by working closely together, staff and students have found ways to support each other.

M

any student-led initiatives supported the pupils and helped foster a sense of community. The ‘Big Six’ developed ideas to create an atmosphere of tranquillity during the school day and started weekly relaxation sessions.

We are also incredibly proud of the work our Mental Health and Wellbeing Society has done alongside our student peer mentors in providing support for students across the school,

particularly their activities for Mental Health and Wellbeing Week. The whole Senior School enjoyed a wealth of activities on top of their usual sports at lunchtime. Thanks to the extracurricular talents of our academic staff, we had hula hooping with Miss Chapman; tag rugby with Miss Glover and Mr Pike; Couch to 5k with Miss Holley and Mr Forde; walking club with Ms Nesbit and Dr McLoughlin; football with Dr McCormick, Miss Glover and

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Mr Pike, volleyball with Dr Browning and dancing with Miss Gibbs.

The launch of the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website brought into focus the experience of many students (both current and historic) at secondary schools in the UK. The discussions provided the opportunity to reflect on how we address these difficult conversations and introduce new talks from visiting speakers to discuss

WELLBEING

issues of relationships and consent.

Police Officers from the Safer Schools initiative of the Metropolitan Police spoke to Sixth Formers, and Deana Puccio, former US District Attorney from the RAP Project, talked about the importance of consent in sexual encounters and how to be an active bystander to help keep others safe.

PSHE teaching focused on change and anxiety after the lockdown in

the spring and the return to face-toface lessons. Parents and students attended a series of talks and workshops from experts in the field of child psychology and mental health, including ‘Communication and Mental Health’ presented by Natasha Devon, mental health campaigner and ‘Empowering your children’ from family psychotherapist, Jason MaldonadoPage who looked at how parents can help their children to understand and explore diversity.

We held four fabulous focus weeks for students throughout the year, including an Anti-Bullying Week, Mental Health and Wellbeing Week, Kindness Week and Feel-Good Week.

17

spreading smiles and laughs through the barriers of the computer screens.

Sixth Formers sent words of kindness, inspiring quotes and hopeful messages to students in the lower years. This initiative was a great success and was beneficial for the recipients, but the older students also reported that writing down kind messages, creating happy Spotify playlists and compiling lists of feel-good movies made them feel better themselves.

Sixth Form Tutors joined in with the fun by leading a carousel of relaxing, uplifting activities, such as Musical Theatre Appreciation, Poetry Reading and Cookery, during our ‘Be Kind To Oneself’ form time.

In the Middle School, girls were encouraged to participate in random acts of kindness across the week by playing Kindness Bingo! The girls completed a bingo card, filling in details of their kind acts towards others and examples of self-kindness.

Kindness has always been at the core of NLCS. However, during the challenges of the pandemic, we have all learned just how vital being kind to one another and oneself truly is.

In a time of isolation and uncertainty, these small acts of kindness bring

Mental Health and Wellbeing Week

Kindness Week

Kindness Week Kindness Week is an important part of the annual NLCS calendar. It was even more significant this year as we were amid another national lockdown.

NLCS students undertook small acts of kindness throughout the week,

us together as a whole community.

As Kindness Week drew to a close, students were encouraged to pass on acts of kindness, and share love an joy to those around them.

By Charlotte and Caroline (Year 12)

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

18

WELLBEING to encourage and promote positive mental health. The week gave the whole school community opportunities to try something new and experience a ‘feel-good factor’.

Activities included sports and relaxation sessions, drop-in ‘Just Dance’ sessions, led by the student Sports committee and a ‘Great British Sewing Bee’ style transformation competition, led by Arts Society challenging each form to create an outfit fit for the catwalk from recycled material.

We also welcomed Nutritionist Tracy Bennet, who explained to Year 7 the important role food and drink has on our wellbeing and health, providing practical tips to encourage healthy eating habits and a positive mindset.

Feel Good Week

Feel Good Week Students and staff enjoyed a fabulous Feel Good Week in the summer, immersing themselves in a wide variety of different activities

Screen-Free Day Activities

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

During the challenging times over the year, it was more important than ever to look after our wellbeing and mental health, and our Feel Good Week was the perfect opportunity to pause, reflect and enjoy a selection of relaxing and fun activities, bringing our school community together again.

YOUNG ENTERPRISE & MUN

YOUNG ENTERPRISE

T

he Young Enterprise Company Programme is a Europe-wide business competition for schools that has proven tremendously popular amongst our Year 12s for many years, and in 2021 record numbers of NLCS students were involved. Every company goes through ups and downs and must face unexpected challenges, and the year certainly delivered its fair share of those! Despite the issues and constraints, three NLCS teams took part and made remarkable progress.

Team Aether developed a range of elemental necklaces, promoting the balance of the elements for physical and mental wellbeing; team Juno developed a tote bag that promotes their powerful feminist message, and team Hibernation has an ethos of self-care and cultural awareness and has produced a sleep-oriented self-care package with products inspired by different cultural motifs.

Over the year, the teams worked brilliantly to form their companies, develop their product and service ideas, navigate the complexities of running a business in the modern world, and negotiate their way around the many additional challenges brought their way by the pandemic. All three teams made it to the North London final of the Young Enterprise Company of the Year competition. On the night, they faced fierce competition; however, team Juno took home the Best Teamwork Award, which was a fantastic result and richly deserved.

All three teams worked exceptionally hard and formed successful, profitable companies and learned a range of skills that they will carry into their future endeavours.

19

MODEL UNITED NATIONS

O

ur Model United Nations (MUN) began in earnest at the start of the year as students prepared for their own conference in November.

The Year 12 Committee led two events introducing students in younger years to the MUN format and holding ‘just-a-minute’ style speeches on a variety of topics, from favourite Disney characters to favourite chocolate bars. The two sessions were a great introduction to MUN and started the term’s work in a highly energetic and lively fashion.

The inaugural NLCS MUN defied the limitations that Lockdown 2.0 presented. The overall focus, quality and composure of all the delegates was excellent. The drive, energy, commitment, adaptability and organization of the event on behalf of the MUN Committee was immensely impressive. We have every faith in the future of global politics as the event revealed the sheer quality of resolutions achieved because of the delegates’ passion, consistent and thorough research and knowledge of current affairs.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

20

ENRICHMENT

S E NIO R S O CI ETIES One of the pillars of an NLCS education is the rich vein of academic enrichment available to our students inside and outside the classroom. Whilst ensuring academic excellence and intellectual challenge, equal attention is given to supporting the development of the whole person and inspiring self-belief.

T

he School offers a wealth of extra-curricular activities satisfying all interests and curiosities and enabling students to take risks and try new things.

A distinctive feature of our Sixth Form is the volume of opportunities that students have to develop their leadership skills. We are hugely proud of our Senior Societies programme, which is run by the students themselves. There are more than 40 societies, each offering the chance for pupils to explore their academic passions in more depth. The student leaders of the societies regularly invite in external speakers and set up activities such as debates between students and staff.

Alexandra Shulman

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

The Keynote address in the Autumn term was delivered by journalist Helen Pluckrose who spoke about social justice, arguing that control of language was a detriment to free discourse. Her lecture allowed students to reflect on the sweeping political changes across the past few years and challenge previously held paradigms.

Other speakers included: • A fro-Caribbean Society – Funke Alafiatayo; a dentist, filmmaker and poet who has won an International Emmy for her work.

• R ichard Taylor from the Damilola Taylor Trust. Over 20 years since his son, Damilola, was murdered by a gang of youths in Peckham, the charity seeks to provide young people with opportunities to play, learn and live their lives free from fear and violence.

• A lexandra Shulman CBE, the former Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue.

Alexandra spoke about her 25-year reign at Vogue, discussing some of the publication’s most iconic issues, including the 1997 cover in memoriam of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Dr Nitu Bajekal

ENRICHMENT

21

• H istory Society - Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A and former Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for Education. Dr Hunt discussed Britain’s imperial past and the artwork that has made up the British museums that we know today.

• S cience Café - Dr Nitu Bajekal, Consultant Gynaecologist and a Women’s Health Specialist with over 35 years of clinical experience, who provides medical and holistic care for women with a variety of health concerns.

Three of our societies talk about some of the events they have held and speakers they have welcomed this year.

Medsoc - Medical Sciences Society Medical Sciences Society faced a year full of unique challenges - yet during our involvement, we have been able to host a wide range of activities both new and established.

Senior Societies Debating Competition

Medical ethics discussion group created a fantastic space to further explore the philosophical side of Medicine with other aspiring medics and interested peers. The sessions also provided opportunities to connect with students from across the School during a time of isolation. By hosting it online, more people could voice their opinions on a wide range of topics from mental health, prison welfare, and artificial intelligence to discussions

about systemic social issues such as diversity, accountability and women’s rights.

This year, Medsoc launched the student termly magazine Prescription that provided an opportunity to discuss specific topics of interest with contributions from students in Years 10-12. Feature article topics include an exploration of Alzheimer’s disease, medical imaging, antibioticrelated discoveries and even aspects of medical history such as the importance of germ theory.

As part of Science Café and Senior Societies, MedSoc had the privilege of welcoming speakers from a range of different specialities, albeit virtually, to showcase the plethora of opportunities a career in Medicine has to offer. Ayla Emmink told us

Richard Taylor, Damilola Taylor Trust

MedSoc Publication

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

22

ENRICHMENT

Middle School Debating Club

about her experiences working on the frontline for Médecins Sans Frontières, whilst Dr Ranjan Suri and Dr Miriam Fine-Goulden, both of whom work in Paediatrics, told us about the emotional awareness required when caring for young children, as well as many of the fascinating cases they had encountered.

We also had the pleasure of hearing from Dr Sarim Siddiqui, co-founder of Quit-Genius, a cognitive behavioural therapy application to assist tobacco users in their journey to stop smoking.

Meanwhile, Professor Nikolas Lemos, a forensic scientist working in the field of analytical and forensic toxicology, gave a fascinating talk about his research into drug analysis in fingernails and other biological specimens, while Dr Constance Wong gave an informative talk on her journey to becoming an Oral Medicine Consultant and the many obstacles she has had to overcome. Through a varied programme of speakers, we have had

the opportunity to hear about the realities of a career in Medicine and both its challenges and rewards.

Despite a challenging and unpredictable year, we have enjoyed working collaboratively and leading the School’s Medical Sciences Society.

We hope that the events, publications and discussions have informed and inspired our future aspiring medics.

Janavi and Onali, Co-chairs

FemSoc – Feminist Society The academic year saw a wonderful revival of our Feminist Society. The year started with a Senior Society discussion led by FemSoc co-chairs Elilee and Isabelle on the topic of ‘What is a Woman’ and the launch of the weekly art competition to design a themed poster for FemSoc sessions.

Our weekly sessions covered a vast range of topics such as feminism in music, period poverty, women and mental health, gendered violence, as

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

well as themes wholly dedicated to particular figures. We had uplifting discussions and fierce debates, all held within a wonderfully supportive environment, and we thank everyone who has attended. International Women’s Week was one of our more noteworthy successes. Students in every year group were invited to discuss various topics, prompted by a series of questions. The feedback we received for these form time conversations was lovely, and another thank you to everyone who participated. The committee curated extensive recommendation lists with support from the Library with our favourite feminist literature, film, music and more. The highlight of the week was a visit from Professor Juliet Mitchell - author of ‘Women: The Longest Revolution’, founder of the Cambridge Gender Studies department, UCL’s psychoanalysis department, and an important figure of Britain’s New Left who spoke about her essays, feminism and female liberation.

Elilee and Izzy, Co-chairs

ENRICHMENT

Jewish Society - Holocaust Memorial Day At virtual Canons, we commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January 2021, with a number of varied, fascinating and inspiring speakers as well as thoughtful discussions led by our Sixth Formers.

Members of Jewish Society and Human Rights Society in Year 13 led a deeply poignant and moving assembly.

The girls eloquently broached the subject from the perspective of the year’s theme, ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’. They explained how many extraordinary people, ‘lights’, contributed to saving the lives of victims of Nazi persecution in the depths of darkness. This was put into context by the stories of students, Tami and Dalia’s respective grandmothers, both Holocaust survivors, saved as children by the kindness of numerous strangers and divine coincidences.

The pupils also learnt how they could be the light in the darkness of today; that includes shining a light on Holocaust denial and warped historical

23

revisionism wherever it is encountered and being a light of kindness to others at difficult, dark times.

Ravensbrück concentration camp and Bergen-Belsen and losing many of her family members.

All members of the School community heard from the second generation children of Holocaust survivors. Years 7 and 8 heard from Alain Bornstein (a parent at the School) and Years 9 to 13 from Anita Peleg (an ONL), each of whom recounted their respective parent’s journeys through numerous concentration camps and death camps, including remarkable, miraculous instances and encounters with individuals, who did not lose their humanity, that ultimately saved their lives.

Numerous societies also discussed the Holocaust during their weekly clubs and meetings, including FemSoc’s discussion of ‘Women in Genocide’ and other conversations across the School community led by the History Society and Medical Sciences Society, amongst others.

Years 11 to 13 had the immense honour and privilege of hearing the first-hand testimony of a Holocaust survivor, the incredible Mala Tribich MBE, in the Senior Societies programme. Mala detailed her story of survival with strength and courage that all were deeply in awe of. She endured intense psychological and physical trauma at the hands of the Nazis, from being incarcerated in a Polish ghetto and then as a slave labourer in

Thank you to all teachers involved for giving us the autonomy to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day so extensively. I genuinely feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to be involved with leading the Holocaust Memorial Day events as it is a subject very close to my heart, and I feel that everyone has received the testimonies so maturely and respectfully. It has been the most significant privilege.

Dalia Bornstein, Chair

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

24

ART 4

G C SE ART 1

2

3

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

5

6

ART 7

25

10

8

11

9

1. SAKINA

7. ESHA

2. MIA

8. ZOE

3. STELLA

9. BEATRICE

4. COCO

10. IMAAN

5. HANA

11. ISABELLA

6. JESUTOBI

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

26

ART

14

G CS E A RT CON TI N UE D 12

12. AALIYAH 13. ANNA 14. YAHVI 15. DAMINI

13

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

15

ART

SI XTH FO RM ART

27 3

1

1. AMELIE 2. ANASTASIA 3. EMILIE 4. TINA

2

4

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

28

ART

S IX T H FORM A RT

7

CONTINUED 5

8

6

5. SHAIRI 6. SHAIRI 7. EMILIE 8. DEFNE

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

ART

29

9

9. TINA 10. AMELIE 11. ANASTASIA 12. DEFNE

10

11

12

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

30

SPORTS

Our Sports department provided an outstanding variety of in-person and online activities for all students and staff to become engaged in physical activities.

Although there were inevitable restrictions in light of the pandemic, promoting physical exercise for good mental health was a key priority.

PE Week

SPO

O

nce lockdown was lifted, in addition to daily sports activities, the department offered weekend training sessions across the School from Year 3 to Year 13, which were a resounding success with activities ranging from netball and lacrosse to athletics, tennis and rounders. Fun fitness activities were also included, such as orienteering and fitness using the X-Trail, kindly donated by the Parents’ Guild.

The Elite Athlete Mentoring Programme continued with online talks and lectures offering a quality programme of support, advice and mentoring for our Elite level athletes.

The programme uses the expertise of external professionals in nutrition, sports psychology, rehabilitation, and injury prevention and offers access to individual support from staff. We have also continued our symbiotic links to

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

ORT

SPORTS

31

and Wray Foundation has enabled us to continue to provide access to this elite level of coaching.

Physical activity played a prominent role in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Week, with a large carousel of activities on offer throughout the Senior School encouraging us all to be active. The whole Senior School enjoyed a wealth of activities on top of their usual sports, led by academic staff members, including hula hooping, tag rugby, Couch to 5k, walking club, volleyball, and dancing.

We created competitive challenges with our international sister schools in

incorporate Saracens Rugby, Saracens Mavericks Netball, Saracens High School, The Scottish National Lacrosse Squad and the England Lacrosse Junior Talent pathways and the Senior Super League structure as well as potential partnerships with Middlesex Cricket and Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club.

Year 7 Dance Display

PE Week focused on all-round physical fitness and our community’s mental health and wellbeing. We had remote sessions with a Saracens Mavericks Player and Coach, Kat Ainsworth. Our Strength and Conditioning Coach and Welsh and Great Britain Lacrosse player, Laura Warren, worked with students on the latest tactics and principles of competitive play, including trialling some of the proposed Lacrosse Olympic rules and format. The generous sponsorship from Saracens

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

32

SPORTS Mental Health and Wellbeing Week

Dubai, Jeju and Singapore to create fundraising opportunities to assist with digital poverty that has affected our neighbouring communities with access to remote education possibilities.

In conjunction with Saracens, we held a sponsored “Laps for Laptops” fundraising event, featuring a virtual House challenge, our virtual run, swim and athletics fixtures within the NLCS community of schools to raise funds for schools in our extended community.

The Year 7 Dance Display was a fantastic event featuring our newest students. The whole of the year group took part in class dances performed in the Performing Arts Centre and

Year 7 Challenge Day

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

SPORTS

33

Football recorded for parents. The programme featured some outstanding pieces created by a Year 13 student as part of their Extended Project Qualification providing a unique event highlight.

Students from Years 7 to 13 eagerly rehearsed in preparation for the Annual Gym and Dance display in the Summer term. The dance-based theme included a superb selection of stunt group cheerleading displays and focused gymnastic performance.

PE Week

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

34

PERFORMING ARTS

P ERFO RMI NG ARTS O

Whilst schools re-opened in September 2020, the

impact of social distancing measures meant that our extra-curricular program was impacted acutely, however despite the problems faced, we continued to offer a wealth of activities, clubs, music and drama

Grimmers

ur Drama department ensured that the performance opportunities continued to be as vibrant as ever, ensuring that students continued to develop their dramatic skills and give them creative outlets to help support their mental wellbeing, confidence, and peer relationships, all of which have been impacted during the lockdown periods.

We were unable to welcome audiences to school or mix year groups, so performances were filmed and hosted via our YouTube channel, opening with an online premiere to build the excitement and atmosphere of a live shared experience.

Physical Theatre Evening

Year 12 Concert

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

In a gruesome adaptation of Grimm’s Tales, a cast of over 150 students across Years 7-9 came together online for Grimmers, and our Virtual Theatre Festival offered students an avenue for exploring their experience of lockdown artistically.

Upon the re-opening of schools, Year 9 performed a lyrical movement-based production of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

For our Summer Festival, we held a celebration of Agatha Christie involving Sixth Form students for an original murder mystery Radio Drama, and Year 7 gave a live performance, featuring Christie’s famous sleuths and a scavenger hunt for murder mystery clues concealed around the grounds.

PERFORMING ARTS

35

Romeo & Juliet Goes Wrong - Virtual Theatre Festival

P

upils continued to be involved in a wonderful selection of ensembles and choirs, in a mixture of online concerts and live performances, providing opportunities for pupils of all abilities to share their music with their year-group peers and bring live music back to

NLCS. Students took part in a wholeschool recording project of Imagine

by John Lennon and collaborated with our NLCS International schools on a remote recording project. Our International Concert celebrated global musical styles and featured recordings from our ensembles and choirs.

Pandemica - Virtual Theatre Festival

The Casting Meeting - Virtual Theatre Festival

HI SPANIC T H E AT RE F ES TI VA L

W

e celebrated the VIII Hispanic Theatre Festival, hosting online, Charterhouse, Eton, St Paul’s Girls’, St Helen and St Katharine, King’s College, Wimbledon, and Wellington College.

Our Year 13 students won three awards for Best Group Spoken Spanish, Best Unique Theatrical Experience and Best Actress. The distinguished judges were impressed by the high standard of the performances and the Spanish language. Our Year 12 Spanish Glee Club entertained guests as a wonderful end to the evening.

NLCS Spa

nish Glee C

hoir

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

36

PERFORMING ARTS

C L A S SI C A L T H E AT R E P R O JE CT Now I am ready to tell, How bodies are changed into different bodies OVID

C

lassical myth is brimming with transformations in which the gods morph humans into spiders, trees, and even solid gold statues.

During the Summer term, Year 9 created a unique whole-year group production inspired by Ted Hughes’ translations of the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Creating the piece in their Drama lessons, each class set out to adapt a classical myth, lending their chosen tale its own distinctive flavour. Drawing from the theatrical style of Physical Theatre, students choreographed expressive movements to bring the verse vividly to life.

The production opened with 110 pupils spanning the width of the Performing Arts Centre stage in a suspenseful sequence choreographed

by Mrs Wettreich. The chorus chanted Ovid’s verse in the original Latin ‘In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora,’ announcing the speaker’s intention to tell something strange and wonderous. The students worked with a professional sound engineer to record their eerie prologue which was underscored with music composed by Year 9 student, Hiral.

9L began the evening on an eerie note, clustered in spotlights gazing skyward, pleading with the gods to descend. This dramatic and powerful piece saw some stunning standout performances from Tammy, Ilora, Hope and Antara as the class told the story of creation, describing how the arcadian earth was ruined by the advent of man. Working together as an ensemble, the whole class remained

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

on stage throughout the piece, shocked bystanders, haunted by what they had witnessed.

9F furthered the ghostly atmosphere as the girls decided to cast themselves as a cult drawn to worship at the foot of Myrrha’s tree, led by a high Priestess played with hypnotic intensity by Maemenah. The poem explores the origin myth for the precious perfume Myrrh, the sacred resin famed as one of the gifts of the Three Wise Men. According to legend, the beautiful Myrrha transforms into a tree and her tears become the magical drops of the weeping bark.

Costume designers Olivia and Sania chose Grecian gowns and a colour palette of vibrant greens to unify the worshipers, dressing Maemenah in a striking white robe and floral garland

PERFORMING ARTS

on the cautionary tale of King Midas, who wishes everything he touches would turn to gold. Exploring the interplay between voice and gestures, they presented their story as a mime, choreographing physical gestures and overdubbing their performances with whispery, echoey rendition of the poetry.

Performed on a sparse stage in simple black costumes, the results of this aural approach to their drama were chillingly effective.

to indicate her sacred status. A subtle aspect of their design was an intricate henna pattern which wove up the girls’ arms, a sign of their initiation rite into the cult, painstakingly created

by Hannah during lunchtimes in the week leading up to the production.

9N wove magic with their retelling of Arachne, the downfall of a beautiful seamstress who enflames the goddess Minerva’s jealousy.

Through striking ensemble movement, the class showed the two sides pitted against one another. Vidya’s spidery gestures foreshadowed Arachne’s fate and Anya convincingly captured Minerva’s imposing air of command. Making inventive use of strips of elastic, the students created dramatic stage

images with economy, enhancing the theatricality of their piece with evocative projections.

The play built effectively to the climactic final moment of Arachne’s transformation, ingeniously staged with elastic and gymnastics.

9C brought blossoms and a bold use of colour to the stage for the tragedy of ill-fated lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. Their visually stunning mixture of red and white rose petals was a beautiful metaphor that was used throughout, entwining the theme of romance with Ovid’s original tale, the creation myth of the mulberry tree’s white fruit with its purple stain. Anya and Lola shone

37

as the leads, while the whole cast performed with discipline and focus as they assembled on stage to reveal how the tragedy unfolded.

9N spun gold with their stylish take

9B concluded the evening with their beautifully physical presentation of the story of Eco and Narcissus. Inspired by Classics Week and a talk by Miss. May enjoyed by the students in the Spring term, the production brought to life the fate of Narcissus who gazed too long at his

own reflection and wasted away. The students explored the idea of social media as a modern day mirror pulling us in. They focused on the use of space, exploring the idea of gazing on the beloved from afar, and how space can be used to express human longing and isolation. Of many highlights, Tiana, Aiyana and Imani told the climax of the tale with tremendous sophistication and power.

The evening culminated with all of Year 9 filling the stage once more, their story complete.

Congratulations to all of Year 9 on a richly rewarding production.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

38

PERFORMING ARTS

A g a tha Christ ie C elebrat ions

A

gatha Christie is feted as the bestselling novelist of the twentieth century and has since been hailed as one of the most successful authors of all time.

2021 saw the 100th anniversary of the publication of her first book in Britain, The Mysterious Affair at Styles and the Drama department marked the occasion with a series of special events across the Summer Festival.

Throughout the week, students were challenged to guess whodunnit in a suspenseful radio play written by teacher of Drama, Mr Tosh. Reimagining the Canons estate as a grand country house in 1948, The Mysterious Affair at Canons, is a tale of espionage, family feuds, hidden secrets and suspicious twins, packed with plenty of red herrings and plot twists. Clues were hidden around the grounds in a trail for girls to discover, and the range of cunningly-concealed locations ranged from lampposts to birdfeeders. Linking to interactive videos, students could scan each of the 22 QR code-clues to find out more about the suspects, alibis and motives.

Over three compelling episodes, the talented Year 12 cast captured the

arch tone of the genre and cleverly used the radio conventions of foley sound to thoroughly absorb the audience and keep them guessing right to the end.

Year 7 presented The Christie Murders, an original play written

by Mr Gatherer, teacher of Drama.

Super sleuth P.C. Poppy Picklesworth is called in to investigate when a spate of copycat crimes breaks out, each one spookily similar to one of Agatha Christie’s most well known stories. With Poppy’s trusty sidekicks, Sergeant Balderdash and Constable Codswollop on the case, there were plenty of laughs in this spirited criminal caper. The Year 7 Music scholars set the mood, treating the audience to a rendition of famous theme tunes from adaptations of Christie’s works. The event featured brilliant performances from the students who took to the Performing Arts Centre stage for the first time in their NLCS school careers.

We could tell you the solution, but as

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

with The Mousetrap, the audience was sworn to secrecy…

Christie was an accomplished chemist who trained as a pharmacist before trading the pipette for the pen and a number of ingenious poisonings occur in her books. Year 8 enjoyed a taste of ‘Criminal Chemistry’ thanks to the Science department, with a chance to conduct a series of lunchtime experiments inspired by the author’s plots, from invisible ink to fire writing.

Year 9 also had a treat instore provided by the library, who created a special display of the 42 novels and numerous DVDs and adaptations of Christie’s novels. The shelves were soon picked clean, with the girls eagerly scooping up a thrilling summer read.

PERFORMING ARTS

39

Congratulations to all involved for their skilful sleuthing and deft detection!

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

40

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY

E Q U A L I T Y & DI VE RSIT Y At NLCS, we are proud of our heritage of supporting, embracing and celebrating all the members of our community. We teach our students to respect themselves and others as they work hard to prepare to take leading roles in our future society.

O

ur teaching reflects the diverse nature of our modern world and through our extra-curricular activities, partnerships, and School societies we seek to challenge inequality and promote fairness and equality for all and to celebrate the

Black History Month NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

differences that make us all valuable members of society. The enrichment programme at NLCS has been crucial to ensure that students constantly engage with issues that have arisen, most notably, following the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter campaign. Helen Pluckrose,

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY

41

Alda Manuel - Black History Month author and cultural writer gave our keynote Senior Societies lecture, which addressed these issues ‘headon’ by asking students to question key normative ideas, including their use of language. Students from a range of Societies led assemblies and theme weeks ensuring that the Senior Societies programme is used to edify the school community about a range of topics. In addition, each Society has appointed a Diversity Officer to ensure that diversity is constantly being thought about in their weekly meetings, invitation of speakers and engagement with school life.

Throughout the year, assembly themes have included inspirational people and their qualities, the role we all play in creating a kind and respectful community, Remembrance, and the role of people from non-white and European backgrounds in World War One. Middle School PSHE lessons focused on unconscious bias and privilege, tackling the issues of racism, ableism, sexism and homophobia.

Year 12 students examined diversity and inclusion considering the shift in global understanding of the issues and focusing on ways of building inclusive environments.

Society discussed cultural appropriation and appreciation and the impact Black people have had on popular culture. The Medical Sciences Society looked at figures who have significantly contributed to medicine as we practice it today, and the Economics Society examined how race impacts employment and the BAME pay gap. Middle School Engineering Club heard from Alda Manuel, an African based electrical engineer and ambassador for the Next Einstein Forum (NEF), who spoke about her career and the challenges she has faced in a male-dominated profession.

LGBTQIA+ As part of our celebration of LGBTQIA+ History Month, we welcomed Dr Sarah Jones, a social and cultural historian of gender and sexuality in modern Britain and America at the University of Bristol. Dr Jones gave an incredibly insightful talk on American Sexology and LGBTQIA+ History, exploring key developments in the perception of human sexuality during the mid-20th century.

Pride 2021 During Pride Month we welcomed the ‘Self-Esteem Team’, who gave an insightful talk on issues facing the LGBTQIA+ Community. They explained the use of pronouns and examined current attitudes to the community and how students can respond. Our library celebrated with a ‘Read with Pride at NLCS’ project and their colourful ‘pop up’ library display travelled around the School with a selection of contemporary books and authors relating to LGBTQIA+.

Self-esteem Team

Black History Month Afro-Caribbean Society’s leadership of Black History Month and collaboration with other societies was a superb example of the potential the Senior Societies programme has to impact the cultural life of the School. During the month, Culture and Anthropology

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

42

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY give in groups of aligned university disciplines such as Economics and Business, Politics and Law or Modern Foreign Languages and Classics. We also had three medicine and science groups where there was a wealth of topics discussed such as the effects of diabetes in Covid-19 patients and the use of dental stem cells in treating acute lung injuries in Covid patients.

Scientists managed to combine both issues by addressing such questions as ‘Why has the death rate of NHS staff from ethnic minorities been so considerable?’. In the history and philosophy group, one student spoke about the comparisons between the social impact of coronavirus compared to that of past pandemics.

A Real-Life Conversation

A Real-Life Conversation NLCS students were given the valuable opportunity to take part in “A Real-Life Conversation” on Zoom focussing on the Israel-Palestine conflict. We were delighted to welcome, Dr Yuravlivker, Head of History, and Mr Shirwani, Head of Arabic from Eton College who modelled how to engage sensitively and respectfully when talking about emotionally charged and complex issues. The conversation wound through a variety of different topics, including the history of the conflict in the region, the definition of Zionism and the usage of emotive slogans.

their views and reactions, and it was fascinating to hear what everyone had gained from the evening.

Sixth Form CrossCurricular Symposium Year 13 students took part in an in-house cross-curricular symposium delivering their own personal and academic response to two central issues of our time: the Pandemic and Black Lives Matter and Racial Diversity.

The task in advance was to prepare a presentation which they would then

It was particularly inspiring to see how differences of opinion were handled, with mutual respect always maintained on both sides.

An emphasis was placed on the importance of listening to others, and students were often asked to explain what they thought another person had said, enabling any misconceptions to be identified. Students were exposed to viewpoints which they may have not previously encountered, and both teachers explained the importance of understanding different biases and perspectives. The student-led discussion at the end of the event gave everyone the opportunity to exchange

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Year 13 Symposium

THE DESTINATION OF LEAVERS 2021 SUBJECT AREAS 20

MEDICINE

8 ENGLISH

10

8

ECONOMICS 7 PPE

LANGUAGES 6 HISTORY

TOP

8

Durham

University College London

11

Oxford

9

UNIVERSITY DESTINATIONS

Cambridge

18

9

King’s College London

12

Warwick

STUDENTS STUDING AT UK UNIVERSITIES Birmingham (1), Bristol (5), Cambridge (9), Cardiff (1), Durham (8), Edinburgh (6), Imperial College London (6), King’s College London (9), Leeds (4), London School of Economics (2), Manchester (1), Nottingham (5), Oxford (11), Queen Mary University of London (3), Southampton (1), University College London (18), Warwick (12)

STUDENTS STUDYING AT INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES Stanford University (1), University of California, Los Angeles (1), Yale (1)

McGill University (1)

Students have chosen to take a gap year and will apply for entry to university in 2023

The impressively wide range of disciplines taken up at Higher Education by the Class of 2021 include: Architecture; Biochemistry; Biomedical Sciences; Bioprocessing of New Medicines; Chemical Engineering; Classical Studies; Classic; Computer Science; Dentistry; Design Engineering; Drama; Economic Studies & Global Sustainable Development; Economics; Economics & Management; Economics & Politics; Engineering; English; English & German; English Literature; Financial Mathematics & Statistics; French; French & German; Geography; German & Italian; History; Information Management for Business; International Social & Political Studies; International Relations; Law; Liberal Arts; Mathematics; Mechanical & Electrical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Medicine; Modern & Medieval Languages; Modern Languages & Cultures; Natural Sciences; Pharmacy; Philosophy; Philosophy & Russian; Philosophy, Politics & Economics; Psychology; Sociology; Spanish & Latin; Sport & Exercise Sciences; Theoretical Physics; Veterinary Medicine

44

LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

The History of Science Teaching to Girls

T

he North London Collegiate School Archive is a treasure trove of exciting documents.

They are important not just for the history of the School, but for the history of women generally. I have recently published an article in Paedagogica Historica on the importance of schools like NLCS in shaping women’s opportunities and identities in the nineteenth-century. I am particularly interested in how NCLS encouraged girls to study science, from which women were professionally excluded and marginalised.

North London Collegiate School was pioneering in teaching science to Victorian girls.

Education for girls at the beginning of the nineteenth-century was limited.

Even the daughters of wealthy men would be encouraged to learn ‘social

accomplishments’, or, in other words, to be polite, gentle and ladylike to make suitable future wives. The establishment of NLCS by Frances Mary Buss in 1850 marked a milestone in equality for women, by offering them an education the same standard as boys. According to Sara Burstall (1859-1939)- a former Head Girl of NLCS, and later headmistress of Manchester High School for Girls- the point of schools like this was so ‘that the woman should have her rights as a human being to mental culture’.

This included teaching science. In the nineteenth-century, science was not ordinarily taught to boys or girls so its inclusion in the curriculum was quite radical. Pioneers like Buss were not just copying the equivalent schools for boys; they decided for themselves what made a suitable education for Victorian women. In the earliest years of the school, science classes covered a range of content, including simple chemistry and electricity, geology,

botany and natural science. In 1892, former student Edith Aitken returned as a science teacher, and with the headmistress Sophie Bryant, she reformed science teaching. To Aitken, science was important because it was a form of brain training, to supply ‘a quite special form of training, a kind of mental gymnastics essential to intellectual symmetry’.

Documents in the NLCS Archives, such as old exercise books, show that girls were doing experiments in science classes in the school laboratory- this was a marked departure to only 50 years earlier when very very few girls in the country would have had this opportunity!

Katie Carpenter Lecturer in Modern British History & Empire University of Lincoln

L IBRARY & A R C H IV E S

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

45

We’re never reluctant to bake, and World Book Day always gives us a great excuse to exercise our creative side! Pupils across all year groups set to work in their kitchens to make tasty book related cakes - we’re sure you’ll agree the samples here look stunning, and no doubt tasted just as good.

Lockdown Book Group In the Spring term, when we were all shut away at home, the highlight of the librarians’ week was our Teams meet up with Year 7 and 8. Each week, two pupils presented on a chosen title or series of books, with a variety of methods and styles. We learnt about books that were new to us, such as Karen McManus’ Cousins and the

Chris d’Lacey Last Dragon Chronicles series. Others presented on titles they loved, but were unread by others in the group, such as Andy Weir’s Martian and John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down. We also enjoyed revisiting old favourites such as Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights trilogy, and even explored some non-fiction in Randall Munroe’s What if? Serious scientific

answers to absurd hypothetical questions.

Every week, we were amazed by the pupils’ imagination in their style of presenting. We were absorbed into the world of James Dashner’s Maze Runner by virtue of a virtual background, and as the weeks went by, the powerpoint presentations that the pupils shared to each other’s screens became increasingly detailed.

Librarians are always keen to recommend books to anyone who will listen, but recommendations by peers is a far more powerful incentive for a wider reading experience. Over the course of the spring term, the group members all extended their reading habits, learnt how to present online, and practised their public speaking and presentation skills in a safe, friendly and encouraging forum.

Hopefully we won’t need a further lockdown to enable us to run this group again!

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

46

SUSTAINABILITY

S USTA INABILITY

It was imperative that we didn’t forget the threat of the climate crisis and our endeavours to become more environmentally aware amid the continued disruption of the pandemic. At the start of the year, the School created its Environment Strategy outlining our commitment to become a leading eco-school, with activities led by the School’s Environment Committee, consisting of student representatives and staff. It has been impressive to see students taking the lead on the School’s ‘Green’ priorities, organising an extensive programme of activities online and in-person.

T

o embed our sustainability work into the day to day of school life, each form appointed Eco-Reps who led a #FastFashionFreeFebruary campaign, including a collaboration with NLCS Jeju and NLCS Dubai, a sustainable Secret Santa and a #NoMowMay campaign.

In support of Earth Day, our Sixth Form Environment Awareness Society created a variety of activities for students, led by each form’s Eco-Reps, to highlight issues of the climate crisis and ideas for how we as individuals can make small changes every day to help.

Students have continued to play an active role in the London Schools Eco-Network and the UK Schools Sustainability Network. Our Year 12 students regularly chair London Schools Eco-Network meetings attended by schools across London, including Highgate, St Paul’s Girls’ School, City of London Boys and Girls and London Academy of Excellence Tottenham. Two Year 12 students represented the London Schools Eco-Network at the UK Schools Sustainability Network meetings, and students have attended a variety of high-profile events, including a mock International Climate Conference with InterClimate Network and a bespoke climate solutions workshop by Project Drawdown.

Our library created a ‘Pop up display’ that travelled around the school showcasing the wide selection of ecological and environmental books available for students to read. Earth Day serves as a conscious reminder of the fragility of our planet and the need to protect it. This year the event was held over three days from 20-22 April, closing with a World Leaders Summit hosted by President Biden to highlight the economic benefits of stronger climate action and the urgency that is necessary.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

The theme was ‘Restore Our Earth’ and encouraged us to reduce our impact and fix the damage already done. A free app and website helpful in tracking your environmental footprint is Giki Zero – it’s like fitbit for your green lifestyle.

SUSTAINABILITY

“It is extremely

important to us as a school community to minimise our impact on the environment and protect and preserve it for future generations.

”

The app gives tips to help make positive changes in your life. Our Eco Reps encouraged everyone to sign up online to see who can get the lowest impact score! The Giki founder, Jo Hand, visited Canons in 2020 to speak about eco entrepreneurship in our Senior Societies.

their data collection, analysis, and proposed solutions’ costs and benefits.

They presented their findings to a panel of staff and demonstrated how thoroughly they had analysed the data and immersed themselves into their research and how knowledgeable they had become about the feasibility of the proposed solutions and their potential impact on our school community.

Environment Awareness Society

W

orking with Junior School students, the Year 12 Environment Awareness Society discussed campaigns and shared ideas to implement change

47

across the whole school. To support our efforts to reduce food waste at NLCS, the society created a video to highlight the issue. During the Summer Festival, they ran a collaborative game called Carbon City Zero encouraging students to work together to design a city whilst balancing carbon budgets.

Ideas Hub

S

ustainability will play a significant part in our IDEAS Hub, opening at Canons in 2024. We have been working with the team at Stanford University so that we build one of the country’s leading science,

Eco STEAM Awards

T

o help the School achieve our sustainability goals, five groups of Upper School and Sixth Form students took part in an Eco Awards programme. The groups looked at sustainability tech such as kinetic tiles, at the benefits and drawbacks of outdoor learning, at our food waste and ways to minimise it, as well as researching strategies that will encourage long-term changes in behaviour. Each group produced an industry-standard report, presenting

ECO Team

engineering, technology & innovation hubs at NLCS, which gives students opportunities to work with some of the leading innovators, organisations and businesses across fintech, healthtech, smart tech and biotech.

Environmental Awareness Society

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

48

SUSTAINABILITY

Youth Climate Summit News of the School’s sustainability agenda reached The Daily Telegraph in November in an article about the Youth Climate Summit, an event created as a response to the cancelling of the 2020 UN COP. Not wishing for the climate crisis to slip off the agenda, students set about planning a virtual climate conference to bring together universities, politicians, activists, charities and - most importantly - schools and children. Members of our Senior School were involved in the planning and delivery of this important event asking questions about careers to a panel at the forefront of sustainability, talking about the establishment of the London Schools EcoNetwork and presenting a talk all about marine pollution

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

49

SUSTAINABILITY

Student Alina writes about her involvement in the Summit:

T

he Youth Climate Summit was an engaging week filled with an incredible range of events, from the Marine Conservation Society’s presentation on marine permaculture and how algae can save our planet to Greenpeace’s presentation about the problem with fast fashion.

As part of the London Schools EcoNetwork and as a Youth Ambassador, I helped organise several sessions and promoted the Summit to teachers and students across the UK. In the lead up to the Summit, in addition to helping create a promotional video, I was invited by the National Education Union to present to 100 teachers about why schools should participate in the Summit. I also interviewed seven sustainability professionals ranging from Jo Hand, Co-Founder of the Giki Carbon app, to Bernardo Maza, Director of PPL PWR, a collective aiming to promote sustainable change, who explained how they decided on their career paths and their organisations’ goals for the future. The Summit also resulted in several NLCS students actively looking to participate in eco-initiatives. Caroline was involved with the Career Conversations, and Clara spoke about the London Schools Eco-Network at the Summit.

My presentation titled ‘Respect the ocean - protect the ocean; be part of the solution - not the pollution, screened among presentations by Greenpeace and WWF, aimed to educate students about the serious threats facing our oceans, such as

plastic pollution and overfishing. I discussed why oceans are so precious and how they play a vital and central role in global climate and regional weather patterns. I shared some shocking facts about the mind-boggling quantities of water used to create items such as rice, beef and jeans and encouraged listeners to be conscious of how much water they waste and what they can do as individuals and school communities to protect our oceans.

So, how can each of us engage?

Please stop buying and using singleuse plastics such as bottles and start using reusable stainless-steel ones.

Pledge to stop buying fast fashion and

buy second-hand clothes instead. Walk or cycle more instead of using cars.

Lobby your local politicians to create greener policies. I reached out to my local MP, Tulip Siddiq, and she invited me to a roundtable discussion with key constituents where we brainstormed ideas for a greener Covid-19 recovery.

She then took those ideas to Parliament, with some of the ideas, such as widening cycle lanes, being actually implemented. Each of us has a voice. Let’s use it. Let’s act now to make a difference to our planet!

Alina, Youth Climate Summit Ambassador

Alina an

d Carolin

e, NLCS

Environm

ental Am

bassado

rs

Alina and Caroline, in the School gardens, which are home to lots of different insect and animal species. We have ensured that our gardens are full of pollinator-friendly flowers, and we are cultivating green-fingered students with a Gardening Club. We have lots of wild spaces around the School which have deliberately been left unmanaged to encourage wildlife. We only use peat-free products and we compost our garden waste on-site. Over the past year, students have created mammal footprint tunnels and ‘hoghouses’. Bat Boxes have been installed across the site and we are currently assessing the school site to house beehives.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

50

FOUNDER’S DAY

FOUNDER ’S The last day of the Spring term is Founder’s Day at NLCS, 171 years after France Mary Buss founded the first-ever independent school for girls. On Founder’s Day, we celebrate and remember the work of those School leaders, members of staff and students who have come before us. Each year the Headmistress selects a theme and traces its influence on the School through time so that we can see how connected we are to our past and how extraordinary and special North London Collegiate truly is.

D

ue to the pandemic, celebrations once again were very different from other years, with many of the activities being pre-recorded to be broadcast to pupils in their classrooms as well as being available to the wider community to watch on YouTube.

One Founder’s Day tradition that we were able to retain was our

popular daffodil procession. In the Junior School, the girls walked across the sports pitches to process down Lime Avenue where they all laid their daffodils. In the Senior School, the students all processed in their year group ‘bubbles’, socially distanced and wearing face coverings, around Big Cedar and the South Terrace, around Budge Square and finishing up outside

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

the South Courts to present their daffodil to Mrs Clark and the Big Six. The Sixth Form all looked resplendent in their finery and the Middle School pupils were smart in their uniforms. It was a lovely celebration and a fitting end to the term.

FOUNDER’S DAY

DAY

I am speaking from my office at Canons because the Coronavirus pandemic Covid-19 is still preventing us from being together in person. That is very sad, of course – and it’s not the first time that the pandemic has interrupted our plans for Founder’s Day. Last year we were only able to commemorate it through a recorded prayer and images from our archive, but humans are so adaptable! Over the past few months, while our lives have been so disrupted by the need to isolate and remain apart, there has been an explosion in the use of technology here at North London. We have been able to teach online, keep up with friends if not quite in person but certainly face to face, host lectures and seminars, showcase drama productions and hold concerts.

Our community has also raised money for local and national charities, supported our NHS workers and facilities, found ways to stay in touch pastorally speaking and discovered more about their local area than they ever thought possible from walks, runs and bike rides. Despite the restrictions and all the negative things that have made an impact on all of us, Covid has also reminded us what joy there is to be found in others and what solace can be found in the little things, the local things, things that we have perhaps in the past taken utterly for granted – our environment. This is something that I hope we never lose.

When this pandemic is past – and it will pass, I wonder if we will

51

snap back to our pre-Covid lives? In many respects, we will, of course, but I think it would be a shame if we missed the opportunity to learn from our experience. For one thing, the pandemic has encouraged us to consider our habits – how often do we shop and what do we buy when we go there? What do we eat, and how can we cook it? How much do we travel in our daily lives, and further afield – how many holidays were cancelled, and flights not taken? Many of us tried to stay fitter and focused more on our wellbeing and the care of others during the periods of lockdown – through keeping in touch with friends, neighbours, and relatives. We also focused more on exercise and nutrition. Meditation and mindfulness saw continued growth of interest, with apps such as the excellent ‘Headspace’ reporting a significant increase in subscribers during this period of time.

In this year’s Founder’s Day Address, I want to tell you some stories from the past about how North Londoners have responded to matters relating to their environment. In our early days, the School addressed concerns about overcrowding in classrooms, worries about the everincreasing pollution in the air around Camden and the noise pollution from the traffic, and even about the drains and use of water on the School site. Later in the School’s history, an opportunity presented itself to buy the site here at Canons and move the

Founder’s Day Address 2021: The Environment

T

his is a very unusual Founder’s Day. Never have we conducted Founder’s Day online, but even though these are such strange times, we must make the best of the situation and even take advantage of the technology that is able to unite us.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

52

FOUNDER’S DAY

School north enabling the girls and staff to escape the chaos and smog of London town for the green fields and healthier environment of the Duke of Chandos’ estate and the impact that spending their school days here surrounded by the trees, ponds and fields of Canons had on the students of our School. I also want to tell you about students and ONLs who have made an impact in or contribution to the fields of climate-related research and activism and how the School has begun to consider how it could mitigate its impact in terms of our carbon footprint on the planet.

As the School began to grow, it rapidly became evident that the numbers of girls wanting to take advantage of Miss Buss’ education were too great to be accommodated in a semi-detached townhouse.

Overcrowding had an impact on the quality of practical work that the girls could undertake, for example, experiments and artistic endeavours, as well as impacting on the amount of space for games and other forms of physical activity (something dear to Miss Buss’ heart, even if it appalled some of her student’s parents at the time).

Finally, I want to end on the work that is being done today and our plans for the future.

Arrangements were made to move the School to a larger site in Camden Road – but it was very clear from the start that such a move could only be a temporary stopgap. By 1871, the School was bursting at the seams again already. A proposal for governors and trustees of the School to move to bigger premises was made in which it was stated that “the 254 pupils now in the School entirely fill the utmost available space and without further accommodation, further pupils must be refused.”

In this way, I hope to illustrate how the environment has affected the development of our School and how, in turn, our School has affected and hopefully will continue to impact positively on the environment in the future.

The Early Days 1850 – 1927 The environment of our school was always a consideration for the Founder.

Frances Mary Buss travelled widely and indulged in the Victorian love of

46 Camden Road 1 & 2 – The first home of North London Collegiate School

the elemental and the gothic tradition that embraced wild places and lands.

She reported back to her staff and students about her travels in much the same way as Mrs Newman in our Junior School speaks to her children about what she has done on her holidays! North London was initially established in the Buss family home – that was a matter of pure expediency, of course.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Sandall Road In 1879 the School moved again to Sandall Road, and Camden School for Girls, the other school established by

FOUNDER’S DAY

53

Sandall Road

Miss Buss, moved into the Camden Road site – also filling it to the brim with students. It is clear that the early school buildings were rapidly outgrown by the numbers of students who wished to study there. This necessarily had a huge impact on the environment in which the children and staff were working. In 1904, the Camden School received a final notice requiring them to completely upgrade their waste and water systems. The notice speaks of “leaking downpipes, inadequate cisterns, the need for the bath apparatus to be repaired” – and the headmistress’ lavatory was condemned as being “defective”.

Shocking stuff.

In 1906, an Inspection report on the Camden Road site deplored the lack of ventilation in the gymnasium “on the occasion on which I was present,” it records, “I was struck by the excessive closeness of the atmosphere and its effect on the densely crowded children was very noticeable” – the headmistress replied with some asperity (and no logic) that the door to the gymnasium was often kept open but that this had not been possible during the Inspector’s visit…!

There was tension between the schools and the local authorities over such matters. In 1899, North London Collegiate School was taken to court because Sophie Bryant, our second headmistress, refused entry to the School to all the local St Pancras Vestry commissioners who wished to

inspect the School’s drainage, heating and water systems.

The School argued that the commissioners had exceeded their rights according to the 1891 Sanitary Act, and the magistrate ruled in the School’s favour. Of course, it was an important point of principle (the principle of who should have the right to inspect a school) – but I can’t help but also think that Miss Bryant wasn’t very proud of her loos!

There were more frustrations with the Sandall Road site as far as the staff and students were concerned.

But Miss Buss was a pioneer in other directions, encouraging gymnastics, swimming, skating, hockey, and athletics. She incorporated in the new buildings the first gymnasium designed for a girls’ school and obtained the use of the St. Pancras baths, but her proposal to make the girls ‘really bold swimmers’ by capsizing a boat in open water was not adopted. She started a school sports day, and in the interests of dress reform, organised a tug-of-war between pupils who wore stays and those who did not; the latter won. Miss Buss had little time for fainting girls, for whom she recommended the coldwater treatment. She also encouraged the more usual accomplishments such as art, music, needlework, cookery, and handicrafts.

A report by Frederic Hammond Architect on 24 November 1924 stated

that “the hockey pitch … is not only much narrower than regulation but it tapers very considerably towards one end, owing to the circular line of large trees, and there is no doubt that this tapering and the general narrowness of the pitch is bad for the game.”

It wasn’t just the number of students vying to join the School that caused conditions to be ever more cramped and challenging. “EMO” recalled in the School magazine in 1941 – “The School became famous for its science teaching, more laboratories were needed, more accommodation all round … later on Mrs Bryant added a second gymnasium and a handicrafts room, but no thought or care could lessen the noise of the stream of motor transport which now passed up and down the Camden Road, nor diminish the dust and dirt which came in through the windows.”

There are numerous additional references to “cramped conditions” in the archive and to the frustrations of the increasing levels of traffic, both in terms of the noise as well as the smoke and fumes which challenged the girls on their way to and from the School as well as affected their concentration during lessons.

The girls themselves were not impressed by the environment surrounding the School but matters were already in hand because the move to Canons was well and truly under way.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

54

FOUNDER’S DAY

Canons 1927 – 1940

Avenue and even jumped off the wall around Queen’s Seat, until we were dazed with fatigue and fresh air.”

NLCS legend says that Isabella Drummond found the Canons Estate in 1927 while taking a Sunday stroll in the countryside. Excited by what she found at the end of Canons Drive, Miss Drummond then spent the next 12 years securing the funds and support of the Governors for the whole School to move out to Edgware.

What attracted Miss Drummond to Canons? Simply, the environment.

The Duke of Chandos, James Bridges, had developed the Canons Estate in the seventeenth century, designing it, as was popular at the time, with long vistas of managed parkland and smaller manicured gardens both for the kitchen as well as for gentle strolls on beautiful days. Coffee and pineapples were grown for the Duke and his guests’ pleasure.

Our school archive is full of happy reminiscences about the early days at Canons. The girls swam in the pond, searched for wildlife in its edges and performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the grounds and under the Great Cedar tree.

Cedar Tree

The Herbaceous Border

When Miss Drummond came upon the Chandos estate, she could see that the house and gardens at Canons would provide enough space for her students to enjoy Biology, English Physical Education and Art one day per week. Despite the journey, the girls were eager to go to the Old House, its gardens and trees, as Margaret Hicks recalled in 1989: “Dismal brick buildings smelling of chalk and dust, crammed to the brim

The School deserves full credit for improving the working environment for its staff and students. Through the vision of its headmistresses Buss, Bryant and Drummond, the pupils had, over time, been removed from the dangers and risks of poor air, heavy traffic and challenging sanitation. As Mrs Clanchy stated in her Founder’s Day address in 1989, “we give thanks that we have inherited Canons as our workplace, that we still look out on

Rose Garden

with hordes of ever-rushing, earnestlooking girls and staff were exchanged for the idyllic peace and beauty of Canons at its best”… “The sun shone unremittingly then, and play-time was a constant joy. We rushed to climb the Cedar tree and swung from dizzy heights; we basked in the reflected heat down in the empty Roman Bath (on the site of the Joan Clanchy Building); we played ‘hide and seek’ in the Rose Garden, raced along Lime

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

the trees, that the moorhens are still here, that the mallards and geese still come.” But with our inheritance comes obligations.

Thus far in my story today, I have shown that the response of our school towards environmental threats was largely to remove itself from them. But that is not the full story.

FOUNDER’S DAY

55

Swimming in the pond

Midsummer Nights Dream

ONLs Research and Activism While I do not want to argue that Miss Buss was an environmentalist (the term was not understood as we understand it today during the Victorian period), we can find examples of how she and her successors sought to encourage our students to care about the world around them and to take active steps to change it.

One such example is the establishment of a branch of the Kyrle Society at North London Collegiate School. The Kyrle Society was founded

by Octavia and Miranda Hill in 1875 to lift the spirits and life experience of the poorer classes in industrial towns through the conversion of derelict open spaces into peaceful and relaxing gardens.

Always one to grasp new ideas quickly, Miss Buss agreed to divert a little money from her school’s funds to enable her girls to have their own garden spaces, even indoors, inspired by the Kyrle movement!

There was a distinct understanding that the students would benefit from being closer to the natural world – and in typical North London fashion, that was often represented in a very scientific way; for example, by taking measurements such as weather recordings. Here are some students in 1921 and 1922 taking readings from their new equipment.

The students at North London have always had a care for their surroundings, and there are examples of early forms of what we might now call environmental activism.

Weather Observation

Do you remember the hat that SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

56

FOUNDER’S DAY led in particular by pupils from Year 8. Mary Rice, the Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, visited the School to speak about a range of illegal activities, from the ivory trade to unregulated logging and deforestation, which her organisation was helping to monitor and stop, often putting themselves in danger, as they did so.

Passionate interest in environmental issues led to the creation of the wildlife mural on our dining room’s walls as well as the foundation of various clubs and societies from the First School to the Sixth Form, which sought to draw attention to the destruction and exploitation of the natural world.

Our archive is also full of examples of ONLs who have contributed to the field of environmental activism, either through charity work or research.

Weather Observation

Neville Longbottom’s Boggart Snape wore in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkeban?

This fashion for wearing dead birds on hats was a very real thing in late Victorian England. In 1890, the School magazine printed An Appeal to Ladies Against Wearing Feathers, a leaflet by Professor Tomlinson from the Selborne Society (an early Victorian animal rights organisation). The pupils at North London were clearly throwing themselves into the campaign to stop this harmful practice.

“I do not know whether the tyrant Fashion still requires that the beautiful hummingbird shall be slaughtered, but I know that a few years ago, the demand was so great that they were brought to this country by hundreds of thousands. How can this cruel slaughter be stopped?” the pamphlet asks, “There is only one way, and that is by refusing to wear feathers in your hats and bonnets.”

More recent campaigners in the 20th and 21st centuries include a number of our students and ONLs who have made their mark in the effort to reform our behaviour and challenge

us to lead more sustainable and ecofriendly lives.

The School magazines are a mine of information! Through their pages over time, you can see that issues relating to ecological campaigning mattered a great deal to our students in the last fifty years. For example, in 1991 – the Earth Action Society campaigned for paper recycling and fuel efficiency.

Three years later, the whole magazine was dedicated to green issues – the School had a recycling igloo and car-sharing rotas for the first time. Much work had been done by the School community, and North London won the Greenest School in London award (and therefore was able to send a student representative Laura Yates to New York to collect her prize and represent the UK at a global summit.)

Student Aimee Nathan, in 2008 challenged the School to use reusable coffee mugs – something that is almost ubiquitous nowadays. And two years later, in 2010, our Parents’ Guild invited everyone to take part in a mobile phone recycling scheme In 2011, our archive shows several environmental projects which were

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

Wildlife Mural

Examples of these trailblazing women include: • S ally Willington stood as a Green Party candidate/member of CND • P atricia Davis and Jennifer Holden have played important roles in environmental charity work.

FOUNDER’S DAY

57

Sir David Attenborough unveiling the NLCS wildlife mural

• J enny Bishop works as an architect in East Anglia, specialising in environmentally friendly design.

• O NLs are also running environmentally friendly start-up businesses such as Kate Hoffman and Tasvi Shah.

The Future And so, what of our future in environmental terms, once this pandemic has passed and life returns to normal? Will we leap back into our destructive habits again when we are freer to travel and shop and consume?

How will NLCS continue to lead the way in encouraging and enabling environmental change?

All the hard work of individuals in the past, both students, staff and ONLs, is hugely impressive – but despite the enthusiasm of individuals and small groups, it lacked a coherent vision. Informed by the latest scientific research and the desire to create lasting and measurable change in our impact on the planet, as well as to continue to educate, debate and inform our School community At the start of 2021, we launched our Environment Strategy, the overall aim of which is to become carbon neutral as an institution by 2030.

With a community of over a thousand people, old and listed buildings, an extensive transport network, international commitments and a vast site, this is no small task!

Founder’s Day 2021

Our strategy covers five areas: • C ommunity engagement and participation • Energy Consumption • Travel • Waste, water and food • Biodiversity Our community engagements and participation will enable all our students to be actively working towards various environmental goals, from reusing and recycling to effecting psychological change and suggesting technological innovations to help us to reduce our carbon footprint.

We will implement energy-saving measures, such as installing double glazing and insulation, to bring our

existing buildings to the required standard by 2026. We will also investigate ways to generate more of our energy on-site.

We aim to reduce car journeys to and from School to improve the quality of our local environment. NLCS already offsets all its business travel by investing in environmental projects.

All overseas trips that necessitate air travel now include a small fee to offset flight emissions. Students have voted on the organisation they wish to use for offsetting and chose Trees for Life, a charity working to rewild the Scottish Highlands.

We will monitor resource use and continue to provide a straightforward recycling infrastructure. Waste management plans will be developed for all capital projects and major SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

58

FOUNDER’S DAY

works over £50,000. We will preferentially source all timber from Forest Stewardship Council-certified suppliers and require our preferred contractors to do the same. We will ensure our cleaning products and chemicals used in the gardens, such as fertilisers, are as low impact as possible. As far as water management goes, we will carefully monitor our water consumption to help us identify where we can make savings. We will investigate the feasibility of installing water management measures, such as rainwater harvesting and urban drainage systems.

As far as food waste management is concerned, we are investigating the possibility of installing an anaerobic digester to produce biogas from our food waste. We have started tracking plate waste to detect trends and opportunities for reduction. We will

This last point reminds me of something written by the ONL Stella Gibbons in her article from 1938 about our move to Canons, away from the smog and pollution of Camden.

“An Old North Londoner, wandering under the great chestnut trees and watching the girls sprinting across the ancient lawns in their well-cut shorts after the hockey ball, cannot help wondering what Miss Buss would have said to it all. Then she reflects a little; and cannot help feeling that Miss Buss would be delighted … because her girls are so happy in the unselfconscious freedom that she helped to win for them.” Stella Gibbons, A School Moves House, Good Housekeeping 1938 Our past is important to us. It provides a context for our work and confidence

challenge is even greater.

The behavioural change that is being asked of us all at this time right now is huge - but it is one that we are all able to address. Many of the changes that we need to put in place in order to reduce our carbon footprint require all of us to change our habits and alter our mindsets. Can we share cars? Remember our drinking water bottle? Stop choosing fast fashion?

Switch the lights off and turn down our heating? Bring shopping bags to the supermarket? Take the train rather than fly? Buy less, recycle more?

We are on our way. In the last twelve months alone, we have: • R educed our waste from food • I ncreased recycling • I nstalled double glazing windows • R eplaced old lightbulbs with energy-efficient LEDs • C hanged our energy supplier to one with green credentials • O ffset all flights made on School business and increased the offset for those taken on School trips • A ttended local sustainability conferences

communicate these data and strategies with care, taking student and staff welfare and nutrition into consideration alongside environmental impact.

Finally, we will continue to care for and protect the biodiversity of our school site. Canons is such a precious resource. The diversity of its wildlife and plant life is something to be carefully protected and managed both to enable future generations to understand the importance of nature and the natural world and also as a vital area of green space in an otherwise very urban environment.

• L aunched the Homerun App to monitor and reduce our travel footprint • Installed a charging station for electric vehicles • Introduced biodegradable cutlery and take-out boxes that we are all walking in the footsteps of extraordinary women – but it is, of course, the future that truly matters.

• Removed single-use plastic cups

There are significant technological challenges in the fight to address climate change – who will be the first to discover a wholly new replacement material for plastics? When will we be able to charge our electric cars as quickly as filling up a conventional fuel tank? Who will find the way to achieve commercially viable nuclear fusion?

But it strikes me that the psychological

• W orked with Olio to ensure that our excess edible food goes to those in need in our local community

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

• R emoved palm oil products from our menus, alongside stopping serving beef and lamb

• I nstalled an efficient watering system in the grounds and increased the amount of wild and unmanaged places on the School site.

The Covid-19 pandemic is teaching

FOUNDER’S DAY

59

to reduce our negative and destructive impact on our environment will not only affect our own lives but those of future generations. It is a responsibility and a challenge that we will not shy away from.

So, on this Founder’s Day, so unusual and unprecedented, we should embrace this opportunity to take strong and determined action on behalf of our environment, knowing that this commitment reflects part of our history as a school too.

us so much about our ability to use strength, empathy and determination to support each other through this period of difficulty and challenge.

We must use those same skills and abilities to meet this new threat with

energy, deliberation and imagination - qualities that North Londoners possess in abundance!

Climate change is a threat of such order and magnitude that we must act now. What we all do in this moment

North Londoners have always cared about their surroundings and sought to effect positive change, at first for themselves and the School as an institution. Still, later and certainly in recent years, we have sought to reach more ambitious goals.

Together, we can achieve them and help build a better world for us all.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

60

CHARITY

C HAR I TY

Harvest Collections

It was a busy year for Canonaid, the School’s charity committee, with representatives from each year group offering opportunities across the School to get involved in fundraising.

I

n the Autumn term, Canonaid voted to fundraise for Refuge, which supports women and children experiencing domestic violence. Tuesday morning collections continued, and student societies had the opportunity to use these to fundraise for a charity of their choice. During Black History Month, the collection was donated to Black Cultural Archives. Other initiatives included a Harvest collection, two ‘wear your own clothes’ days and the collection of sanitary items to support members of our local community experiencing period poverty.

Fantasy Fashion NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

In support of The Childhood Trust, a charity helping children and young people living in poverty in London, the Year 10 Canonaid committee hosted the NLCS Houses of Games 2.0. virtual quiz. From the comfort of their sofas, students, teachers, and their families answered ridiculous quiz rounds. The event was a great success and raised £350. For a more physical challenge, Sixth Form students hosted a 24-hour online Danceathon raising a staggering £2565. As part of the Danceathon extra House points were given for special awards including the Best Outfit, Best Family Dance and Best Sister Act. Congratulations to all the teams for their creativity and commitment, it was an exhausting and extremely rewarding challenge.

We were all shocked by the horrific events in India due to the Covid-19 crisis, and in response, a group of Year 10 students have organised a charity event called ‘Teacher Two Truths One Lie’, raising £1,000. One of our wonderful ONLs, Shalni Arora (1989), Treasurer of British Asian Trust, kindly matched the donation, increasing our total contribution to £2,000.

Students raised over £500 during the Canonaid Mixathon, where they participated in running, step, or reading challenges over three weeks. The Year 7 Charity Committee promoted a food collection for World Hunger Day. We also welcomed ONL Tiara Ataii (2015), founder of ‘SolidariTee’, a student-led charity raising awareness of the refugee crisis and offering grants to organisations and individuals, which she set up

CHARITY

61

Danceathon

Renaissance – An Evening of Fashion

Canonaid collections during her first year studying at Cambridge, In the Summer term we hosted Martin Fagan, National Secretary of the Community Heartbeat Trust and campaigner, Dr Roshni Ruparelia (ONL) who introduced us to the incredible work they do in raising awareness of cardiac arrest, first aid and fundraising for defibrillators in public places with 24/7 access. In response to this, Canonaid helped to raise money to support the funding of a defibrillator in our neighbouring Canons Park.

In the Spring term, Art Society organised a fantastic online event called an ‘Evening of Fashion’.

Designers and artists from the fashion world, including Stella McCartney and ONLs Louise Bennetts, a fashion designer, and Lizzie Paton, Fashion journalist for The New York Times, came together for a star-studded virtual evening offering students a fascinating insight into studying and working in the creative industries and was a fantastic way to launch our annual Fantasy Fashion runway competition. Due to the pandemic, the Fashion Show was held virtually.

Students filmed their outfits, and a fabulous film was created to showcase the unique designs. As part of the event, we held an auction to raise money for the Karenni Student Development Programme (KSDP), founded in 1999 by Old North Londoner Stephanie Lee. Stephanie tragically passed away two years later in a road accident near the Karenni refugee camp on the Thai/Myanmar border. Since then, her parents have continued to run the charity, helping to support the Karenni people through funding medical, educational and humanitarian projects.

In addition to Fantasy Fashion, we launched an emergency appeal with KSDP following the military coup staged by the Army generals in Burma/Myanmar who were running the country with extreme brutality and destroying homes, medical centres and churches, killing many innocent villagers. Thanks to the generous

donations from the NLCS community, we were able to support the charity to purchase emergency items such as tarpaulin sheets for families to shelter from the monsoon rains; medicines to help stave off the many diseases that jungle living brings, and food, mostly basic rice and dried vegetables.

Community Service Covid-19 and the national lockdown inevitably meant that we could no longer physically get out into the community. However, that didn’t mean that our charitable work slowed down.

While unable to visit in person, the students maintained regular contact with the care homes, Knights Court, Henry Nihill, Sydmar Lodge and Livability Edgware and Harrow. We could not host the annual Community Christmas Party, but all classes had the opportunity to contribute one gift to a resident at a care home.

Additionally, students could meet to create a handmade gift for a resident during afternoon activities.

The students created ‘Community Service Log Books’ to record their volunteering achievements during the academic year. Activities ranged from assisting in online shopping, helping a neighbour each week with sweeping leaves, gardening, or collecting groceries for a homebound person.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

62

VALEDICTORY

VA LE DI C T OR Y We were delighted that our Valedictory Ceremony for Year 13 students could be held at Canons after the easing of the lockdown restrictions in July.

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

T

o come together in our beautiful grounds to celebrate together in person was a joy, albeit with social distancing measures still in place and facemasks worn.

Sadly, Mrs Clark was unable to attend and deliver her Valedictory address.

She was contacted by NHS Track and Trace to inform her that she had to self-isolate as she had been in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19. She was so very disappointed not to be present, but

VALEDICTORY

her speech was delivered in person by Dr Bagworth-Mann, Deputy Head Pastoral. In her speech she offered our Class of 2021 some thoughts and advice, as they look forwards and ahead to their exciting futures.

Firstly. Be kind. Treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself. You are already starting from a position of great and enormous strength and privilege – you are graduates of one of the most prestigious schools in the country. The people around you will go on to leading roles in the country or beyond in some form or another one day. Make good friends worthy of your trust and stick to them with loyalty and honour. They, in turn, will repay you a

thousandfold. You all have the means to inspire others, the confidence to lead and the assurance to step up when needed. Stick together and take care of one another.

Secondly, work hard. You have learned how to work here at School.

Many of you have long commutes, busy schedules on top of the work you have done in your lessons and beyond. You can focus and direct your passions.

Hold on to that ability to strive and put the hours in. Be humble and continue to learn from others. You will gain immense satisfaction from it.

Thirdly – trust your instincts and judgement. In your twenties, you can feel tossed about, feeling that you lack agency and power. Try to stay calm and trust in yourself. Don’t overthink others’ motives, words and actions. Be in the moment and make your choices with your characteristically analytical

63

minds. Be ready to deal with the next thing that happens.

Fourthly – be prepared to fail and embrace the opportunity to do so. The next thing that happens could well be a disaster, but wait, is it really?

Once the shock of disappointment or ‘failure’ wears off… often something that seems utterly terrible opens up a new possibility and a new direction of travel. The road to great success, scientific or emotional breakthroughs, great works of literature or art, new theories, techniques and discoveries is littered with the husks of the broken, unproven and failed. No matter.

Albert Einstein famously said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” – and he’s probably worth listening to.

Men seem to find it easier to “have a go” at something – know that and let that thought empower you. Failure is SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

64

VALEDICTORY

always a beginning, not an end.

Fifthly – Be joyful and celebrate the everyday. We can all have big dreams and aspirations – some of you may already know where you want to be in ten years’ time. Others will not have a

clue. Live in the moment and savour the everyday. Two of my favourite things are walking my dog and enjoying a freshly brewed cup of tea. A pot of tea enjoyed outdoors after a walk or run with my dog, Penda, or a bike ride

is the best thing on earth. Learning to savour the little things will enable you to take pleasure and happiness regularly. Luxuriate in that thought.

Finally – even as you enjoy your everyday pleasures, also think big

BIG SIX

E

ach Spring, the School appoints a Senior Committee: a team of six Year 12 students elected by staff and students. Our ‘Big Six’ for 2021 had a time unlike no other. They started their new roles just as the national lockdown began and schools across the UK closed their doors. Not to be deterred, they rose to the challenges.

Through a fantastic and

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

highly creative mix of videos and virtual assemblies, dress-up days and online tea and chat sessions, they kept spirits high amongst our student body. We want to say a big thank you to our fantastic Big Six (Class of 2021) Talia (Senior Student), Sandhya, Shairi, Raina, Izzy L and Izzy B (Sports Captain).

VALEDICTORY and leap for it. You all have great courage in you. Your teachers, tutors and parents have seen it. When you decide what it is you want to do or to be, no matter how far-fetched it might seem to some – you should go for it! Are you going to be on the first astronaut mission to Jupiter? Write the next bestselling series of children’s books? Design the mechanism that can rid the oceans of plastic waste?

Set the next land speed record? Travel the world solo? Ski to the pole? Be a barrister, surgeon, or the next dragon on Dragon’s Den? Whatever it is, leap

for it – back yourself and dare. One of my favourite historical figures is Eleanor Roosevelt, a human rights activist and immensely influential politician, who among her many other accomplishments served as the first chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

A fierce and powerful advocate for women’s emancipation and rights, Roosevelt wrote: “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Do the thing you think you cannot do.”

65

The Valedictory address finished with a short poem by the Greek author Constantine Cavafy, which summed up Mrs Clark’s hopes for the students and their future ahead: Ithaka by CP Cavafy, translated by Edmund Keeley As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbours you’re seeing for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.

Without her you wouldn’t have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

66

DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNAE

DEVE LOP ME NT & A LU M NA E We were delighted to start the academic year by welcoming all the students and staff back to the School for in-person teaching. While the year continued to be unpredictable, we are extremely grateful for all the support and resilience from the NLCS community.

N

LCS is dependent on philanthropic support to raise money for important capital projects and bursaries. The provision of bursary places is central to the ethos of the School, and the Bernice McCabe Bursary Fund continues to thrive, providing opportunities to transform lives. Funded by donations, franchising, and investment income, during 2020/21 the School awarded 68 bursaries, with a total value of £1,435,208; 64 students were on 100% bursaries. The School’s strategic intent is to increase bursary provision to 10% of Senior School tuition fees.

We would like to thank all the outgoing Year 13 parents who donated their

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

school deposits to the bursary fund.

Although the pandemic meant we could not host all our events in person, this did not stop us from getting the NLCS community together for a series of online events. In October 2020, we were delighted to host a 50+ ‘Zoom’ reunion for the Class of 1970, other ONLs (Old North Londoners) from previous years and some of our Frances Mary Buss Fellowship legators. We were joined by over 100 ONLs from countries across the globe, including Australia, New Zealand, the east and west coasts of the USA, and France. This was a lively event with ONLs sharing their memories of their time at school and updates

DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNAE

67

to the students at the school – Mrs Clark shared a poem written by an ONL in 1932, entitled ‘Night Traffic’, which talked about the pollution from traffic that surrounded the School in Sandall Road. It was exciting to hear her outline the School’s Environment Strategy 2020-2030 at the end her address. The online event was so well received, that future Founder’s Day services will be streamed online so that any ONL can join.

During the pandemic, the mentoring and career services programme continued to play an important role in the lives of the Sixth Form students.

We would like to thank all the mentors who took the time to support and mentor these students for the next phase of their educational journey.

We continue to reach out to more and more ONLs to strengthen our network. If you are aware of any ONLs who are not receiving communications directly from the Alumnae Relations Department, please ask them to contact us at onla@nlcs.org.uk.

on their lives since leaving. This was accompanied by a slideshow of old photos from the archives, including a section about Theatrics at NLCS. As Christmas approached, we hosted a festive online Carol Service.

ONLs joined us to watch pre-recorded videos of current students singing a variety of carols, including ‘Silent Night’ sang in German by some of the Junior School students, and Mr Lawrence’s rendition of ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ on the organ.

This year’s Founder’s Day was hosted online, which meant that the event was open to all ONLs, many of whom joined us to celebrate. Mrs Clark’s Founder’s Day Address focused on the theme of ‘Sustainability’ at NLCS. The environmental surroundings have clearly always been important

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

68

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

CRE ATIVE WRITING More than 50 clubs and societies, run by the students themselves, take place each week and include subjects from philosophy to climate change, human rights to chess, and dance to literature. Our students also create magazines and publications on topics of their choice, including Law, Languages, Science, Economics and Maths, to name but a few.

A

lthough the pandemic prevented students from being together in the classroom, this did not deter their commitment and enthusiasm for creating their termly publications. We continue to be astonished by the number of enrichment activities that our students eagerly throw themselves into, and the magazines that are regularly published are a delight to read. All publications can be read online through the school website.

Here is a selection of extracts from some of the publications produced this year, demonstrating the breadth of creativity and discussion.

Oyster Magazine

O

yster seeks to shift the focus of our media from its Western narrative and embrace different cultures. In its third edition entitled ‘Looking Forward’, we explored our collective futures and the importance of mutually assured cooperation regarding the problems we face.

Karel and Anoushka, editors

How Long is Forever?

Large numbers and concepts such as infinity, eternity, and forever can be very difficult for humans to grasp.

Time is digestible in small divisions, such as seconds, but get too big or small, and it can be difficult to understand. Such is the concept of forever - when one thinks about the length of forever, it can be difficult to wrap one’s head around the seeming enormity. However, such an ambiguous concept can have many different interpretations.

Looking at the universe, its age, and its lifespan, can give us a sense of forever. The human race, Homo sapiens sapiens, evolved about 200,000 years ago and despite that, the number is just a blip in the age of our planet and universe: the earth is 4.5 billion years old, while the universe, from the Big Bang, is 13.8 billion years old. The human experience, particularly the modern human, is less than minuscule. The universe is theorised to have an

endpoint as well - the heat death of the universe. In the next 100 billion years, the bigger stars will burn out, leaving only dimmer red and white dwarfs. These, too will eventually burn out over trillions of years and leave the universe at its last stage – heat death – where the universe will be in a state unrecognisable to humanity: cold, dark and unchanging.

The universe is so large temporally and spatially, it can be equated to forever from a human perspective.

If forever is synonymous with the universe, forever could be defined to be as long as the lifespan of the universe, from the Big Bang to its death. Thus, forever can be assigned a numerical value, albeit a number so large and imprecise, that we are no better off than describing forever as forever.

Another view of forever could link to temporal illusions. Time can be felt prospectively (feeling time as it happens) or retrospectively (feeling time after it has happened). Whenever

FIGHT FOR THE VOICELESS, ISSUE 2

2020

Footprint Edition 2

1

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS a period of time feels brim-full of events or stress, during that time, one may prospectively feel that time is short, as there is so much happening in little time. Yet retrospectively, it can feel longer, as if it was more eventful, the time is more memorable and ‘full’.

On the other hand, during a period of time that feels unfulfilling and boring, prospectively, time may pass slowly, but retrospectively that time period will not be memorable. This means that our perception of time can be distorted. A numerically short time period can seem subjectively eternal, and a time period that was numerically long can feel subjectively insignificant.

To quote Lewis Carroll, “Alice: How long is forever? White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.”

Similarly, our past and everything that came before it could be considered to have happened instantaneously, as they are nothing but speculations (or memories if it is directly tied to oneself). In a sense, we have all already experienced forever. Time before one’s birth can be perceived to have passed in an instant, despite possibly starting from the beginning of time as we know it. 13.8 billion years have passed since our birth, yet if such a large stretch of time worthy of being called nearly forever can be perceived as inconceivably small, then perhaps forever isn’t so large. To quote Kurzgesagt, “Close your eyes. Count to one; that’s how long forever feels.”

Forever can be considered with another lens – the lens of an individual human. It is unknown what happens after death. Religion can provide different beliefs on the afterlife, for example, reincarnation in religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, or heaven and hell in Christianity. These ideas may give us solace and an impression of what forever means in terms of after death, but due to the unknowns surrounding death, it is impossible to measure, meaning we may end up dead forever. Following the certainty of life, it may therefore be suggested that forever is one’s lifespan. One may consider that the existence of an individual doesn’t cease after their death, as they can live on in the memories of their loved ones, but if our own life is the only thing we can experience, then why should anything else matter? As time is subjective, one may view forever from a personal perspective, and thus define forever as the length of their own lifespan.

69

Global – Student Magazine with NLCS International Schools

S

ince its foundation in 1850, NLCS has been a strong and supportive community. And now that it has branched out from the UK to Jeju (South Korea), Dubai (UAE) and Singapore, the sense of unity has not diminished. In fact, the international sister schools have given us reason to form a global school community and create a space to share experiences, opinions and ideas: Global Magazine.

The aim of the publication is to allow young people to think beyond their school microcosm into the wider world. Exploring variety of people and experiences that are yet to be discovered. After all, diversity can only make the world a more colourful place to live.

A concept that seems as large as forever at first, can be interpreted to have a range of lengths, or even seemingly contradictory interpretations – how can forever be viewed as so obscenely long, yet so forgettable short, and vice versa? Such is time: subjective and open to interpretation.

Therefore, forever is as long as one thinks it is.

“It was eye-opening to collaborate with students of similar ages across the schools - we are as similar as we are different. Creating the magazine allowed us to foster friendships across borders - the editors have grown close over the writing and editing process, and we have seen that the experiences that young people share regardless of where they are in the world.”

By Mary

Reva, chief editor NLCS UK

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

70

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

“ Our topics aimed to focus on the good that came from our quarantined lives – and how we can appreciate such an unprecedented time. I am incredibly proud of the magazine, how far it has come despite the obstacles, and how we were able to make our magazine as global as possible.”

Alhena, chief editor NLCS Dubai The first issue of Global for 2021 saw the writers and editors return to their respective school buildings after disruption due to the coronavirus pandemic. An onslaught of new writers, alongside some old faces, produced a range of outstanding articles, all on the theme of ‘adaptability’. All communities needed to adapt to the everchanging pandemic. In London, January bought a return to online schooling, while in Jeju, the school adopted a two-thirds campus capacity arrangement and abiding by social distancing regulation. Dubai saw a return back to school with masks and extra sanitation, while Singapore continued with their socially distanced and covid restricted schooling, having been put in place since August when school resumed.

Reva, Alhena, Juhyun, Siyeol and Amy – Global Editors (UK, Dubai, Jeju and Singapore)

Writer’s Blot

L

aunched in 2020, it encompasses everything literary, sharing students’ passion for English with the school community. It features poetry, short stories, book reviews and literary analysis.

The January 2021 issue, entitled ‘Ancient’, explored the passing of time and the past; what came before the present, admittedly, defines us, but the past is what irrevocably shapes who we are. We are at once enriched and scarred by our pasts. If we can accept this, then, where do our pasts end, and our presents begin? The better question, posed in myriad novels and films, is whether we are

ever separate of, or indeed free from, our pasts. Perhaps it is an intricate melding of both past and present that lends significance to our greater lives...

Beyond the personal, culture as we know it is inextricable from the past. It is the product of ancient society, and exists in the present day in a hundred different languages, taking on a thousand different forms.

Alex and Schuyler, Editors in chief

‘Dear Distant Future, Love Ancient Past’

I

am writing this letter long before your birth, in the hope that it will give you some advice, something to help guide you. It is just two simple words – sustain peace. Now that I think about it, it is less words of advice and more a plea. You may think it strange that I am requesting something that seems so obvious, so straightforward, but you are wrong. It is something I failed to do. Look in any book and you will understand what I mean.

We would fight, often to the death, for anything and everything – food, money, land, and sometimes just for the sake of it. Our ancient bodies lie forever beneath the ground, our ancient memory lies forever inked onto paper, a grave reminder of what we

NORTH LONDON COLLEGIATE SCHOOL

did, and a warning to those to come not to follow in our footsteps. But when those who were to come came, they did not listen. So those who were to come went. Went with the same fate of those who were, those whose words of caution were shunned to the side and ignored.

I see people reading books, learning about what happened not only in recent years, but in years so ancient that their events are learned and not remembered. I pray that as each new person begins to read, they also begin to learn not only about history, but from it. Because somehow, even Present has not learned. She carries out the same fights, the same arguments, the same exasperating disagreements as the ones carried out by her ancestors. She somehow believes that this time things will be different, they will change, even though they never have. I believe that this is the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.

But there is one flicker of light in this darkness, one glimmer of hope in this abyss of despair – you. Holding the fate of the world in your hands, you must tend to it with kindness and tenderness, not the bitterness mistakenly used by all those before you. I made a dreadful mistake, one that continued throughout the ages, but what is the use of making a mistake if only to make it again? We make mistakes to learn from them, and that is what nobody did. History does not define us, because we all have the power to change. It simply teaches us to change wisely. So it is down to you, Future. Choose the right path. Do not be afraid, for I will be watching you from the places in which I remain, in the shadows of crumbling monuments and the cracks of buildings people once called home.

Just because the past didn’t travel down the right road, doesn’t mean that the future can’t turn the car around.

Love, Ancient Past

By Emma

In Memory

71

I N ME MO R Y

JOAN CLANCHY, N L C S HE AD MI ST R E S S (1986 – 1997) On 15 January 2021 we heard the sad news that Joan Clanchy, our former headmistress, had died after a final battle with lupus, which was diagnosed a few years after she retired from NLCS.

S

he was born Joan Milne in 1939 in Glasgow and attended St Leonard’s School in St Andrews, where she became head girl. In 1958 she went to St Hilda’s, Oxford, to read History and became President of the JCR. Her first teaching job was at Woodberry Down School in London, followed by an appointment as Head of History at Park School, Glasgow.

In 1976 she was appointed Headmistress of St George’s School for Girls in Edinburgh before moving south to the position at NLCS in 1986. In 1963 she married Michael Clanchy, a fellow historian from Oxford, who went on to have a distinguished academic career.

She is survived by Michael, their two children, James and Kate, and five grandchildren.

Joan was Headmistress at NLCS between 1986 and 1997. Those who worked with her described her as a wonderful Headmistress, a passionate advocate for her students and a determined and principled leader. She had a strongly positive impact on both the physical school and the students.

Joan championed the development of our Junior School, moving it to its current building and creating

the First School. She led a successful fundraising appeal to create the Canon’s Sports Centre with its excellent facilities and the School’s first indoor pool, to the great relief of the girls who had previously been braving the outdoor pool. She led initiatives to improve the management of the School and was instrumental in creating many of the pastoral structures and systems which helped to shield NLCS girls from the increasing pressures that everhigher expectations of top grades were driving.

Beyond the school gates, Joan was involved with many national educational organisations, notably the National Curriculum Council from which she resigned in 1993 over the re-writing of the English curriculum, which she said had been ‘constructed for tests as if the Highway Code had been narrowed down to instructions on the three-point turn’.

We received many fond memories of Mrs Clanchy, with many mentioning her vivacious sense of humour, kindness and her ability to remember not only every child’s name at the School but also the names and ages of children of staff members.

Mrs Sarah Clark, Headmistress

SCHOOL MAGAZINE 2021

North London Collegiate School Canons Canons Drive Edgware Middlesex 020 8952 0912

HA8 7RJ

office@nlcs.org.uk www.nlcs.org.uk Charity No. 1115843

Board

C022132