Welcome ONLs!
We are excited to publish the second Old North Londoner's termly newsletter where you can read updates and announcements from ONLs themselves and find out what happened this term at North London Collegiate School. We look forward to our calendar of events in 2022 and hope to see as many of you there as possible. Please click on the relevant event below to register! If you want your news published in the next termly newsletter, please email your news to onla@nlcs.org.uk or message us on our socials. The next newsletter will be published in July. If you would like to be informed about current news and events going on in school, you can email us at onla@nlcs.org.uk to subscribe to the weekly School newsletter
Events Calendar: Classes of 1970, 1982, 1992, 2002 & 2012 Reunion - 21/05/2022 ONLA Summer Picnic - 12/06/2022 Class of 2019/2020 Reunion - 23/06/2022 Class of 2021 Reunion - 07/09/2022 Class of 1971 Reunion - 12/09/2022 Class of 1972 Reunion - 19/09/2022 Frances Mary Buss Fellowship Lunch - 28/09/2022
Please click on the links above to sign up.
ONL News: Olivia Aaron (Class of 2014) – ‘Play in a Day’: When the lights went out in theatres last year, newly graduated young actors and dancers were left without the opportunity to kickstart their careers on stage and screen. Play in a Day, a love letter to the arts industry, gave some of them that chance. Over the course of one weekend, Sky Arts assembled three creative teams and gave each of them just 24 hours to stage and perform a 15-minute play, musical and dance on a given theme. Industry heavyweight writers, directors, composers, and choreographers were joined by graduate performers finally getting their time to shine with a handful of famous faces acting and dancing alongside them on stage. Multi awardwinning dance superstar Sergei Polunin stayed up through the night to choreograph one-off dance piece Endlessness. Sergei performed in the piece and was joined by graduate dancers Kamal Singh and Leigh Shaked. Also taking part in the project, Olivier award-winning writer James Graham and director Josie Rourke created a short new play Shoot. The cast included Charlie Creed-Miles and BAFTA awardwinner Rakie Ayola alongside graduate actors Mary Malone and Stefan Chanyaem. Writer Chris Bush, composer Ruth Chan and director Matthew Xia created musical The New Normal, performed by Olivier Award-winner Maria Friedman, Tyrone Huntley and graduate performers Aoife Dunne and Liv Andrusier.
Socials:
Anonymous (Class of 1994) - Operation Magic Carpet: Many of us will have seen and been devastated by the horrifying footage of the chaos that unfolded in Afghanistan over the summer leading up to and following on from the withdrawal of the American and British troops. In mid-September, I received a Facebook message from another ONL in my year saying 'Hi! What can we do to bring the other animal rescue teams to safety?' as we had both been sharing the attempts and eventual evacuation of 67 staff members, their dependents and approximately 200 dogs and cats of the Nowzad animal charity. I responded in the best way that I knew by suggesting contacting people that had actively been campaigning for Nowzad's staff, families and animals to leave Afghanistan. My friend reached out to a number of people, amongst them Dominic Dyer, one of the key organisers of Nowzad's evacuation mission, 'Operation Ark', who to our pleasure and surprise, responded and offered to help. Before we knew it, the three of us had formed an impromptu working party and were holding Zoom meetings to discuss what we could do to help these people leave Afghanistan and 'Operation Magic Carpet' was born. After a harrowing two months of evacuating the people in small groups, during which the situation in Afghanistan was becoming increasingly bleak, the group of 92 and their companion animals who put their faith and trust in a group of complete strangers living thousands of miles away, are now safer in Islamabad where they will be securely accommodated while plans are made for moving them to a permanent home in Britain, Canada or other countries around the world. We are looking for support to find safe countries for the group so would appreciate any assistance or leads that ONLs may have to offer. We are also looking to raise funds to meet the monthly accommodation, food, utilities, medical bills and animal care costs for the evacuation group from January to March 2022. These funds are critically important for supporting both people and animals as we seek a safe permanent country for them to call home. Any donation, no matter how small, will be gratefully received. Donations can be made via the Gofundme appeal by clicking here.
Gabriella Carr (Class of 2015) – Wildscreen: I work for Wildscreen, a charity based in Bristol with Sir David Attenborough as our patron, working to inspire the public to care about nature through the power of visual storytelling. This year I have stepped up to the role of Awards & Film Programme Coordinator in time for the 40th year of our film festival (informally called the 'Green Oscars' by the natural history industry. Wildscreen Festival is taking place 10-14 October 2022 and will be a hybrid event so that we can be as accessible as possible. We are also accepting submissions to our festival! I'm currently coordinating our call for submissions, implementing strategies to welcome films from diverse storytellers from underrepresented backgrounds in the industry and planning our juries and programmers for 2022.
Lucy Danser (Class of 2005) – Chatback Theatre and Comedy: Lucy Danser is a playwright and the artistic director of Chatback Theatre and Comedy. Her shows have been seen at Soho Theatre, Theatre 503, Greenwich Theatre, Komedia Brighton, VAULT Festival and more. Next month she's heading off on a UK Tour with her critically acclaimed play If This Is Normal which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe back in 2019 before transferring to VAULT in February 2020. Following three friends over the course of ten years, If This Is Normal is a coming-ofage comedy drama in which a romantic encounter gone awry suddenly sees everyone's loyalties and beliefs put to the test. The tour heads to Bristol, Oxford, Guildford, Manchester and Liverpool and starts on April 12th. The play will be published in April by Methuen Drama. Lucy’s website can be found here.
Charlotte Allen (Class of 2008): I’m a hair, make-up and prosthetics artist working in film and TV, and I spent most of last year as the crowd coordinator for Bridgerton Series 2. The crowd hair and make-up team of a big production like this make sure that all the extras (we call them supporting artists) are camera ready with Regency perfect hair and ‘no makeup make-up’ as they mill about the various beautiful locations we filmed in. My role meant early 4/5am starts, lots of organising and, of course, a lot of hair!
Classes of 2016 & 2017 5-Year Reunion: On Saturday 19th March, the School was delighted to welcome back the Classes of 2016 and 2017 for their 5-Year Reunions. It was a special occasion and a lovely opportunity for ONLs to meet up and enjoy the sunshine at Canons. ONLs had the opportunity to explore how the School has changed since they left, as well as enjoy a delicious lunch in the Dining Hall. Hazel Bagworth-Mann spoke to the ONLs in the PAC about their time at the School, accompanied by a slideshow of photos. Gavin Mann spoke about the IDEAS Hub and the importance of STEAM to the School. One ONL commented, “It was so special to catch up with old friends and hear what our year group has been up to since leaving NLCS. It was lovely to walk around the amazing grounds and sitting in our old classrooms brought back so many funny memories. It somehow felt so normal to be back at the School!”
Staff Reunion 2022: It was exciting to host the first ever Staff Reunion at Canons. This reunion was open to all current and former staff and was an amazing opportunity for colleagues to reconnect. Guests were treated to tea in the Buss and Drummond and had the chance to enjoy the weather on the Terraces. One former staff member commented, “it was such a pleasure to come back to North London for the Staff Reunion event. I was impressed to see so many former colleagues there and delighted to catch up with their news and, of course, with what has been happening at the School over the last two years. The weather was perfect, and Canons looked every bit as beautiful as I had remembered.”
ONL Profiles: Margaret Leeson (Class of 1965): In October 2021, I was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Art History by the Open University (as a very mature student!
ONL Digital Survey: Thank you so much to everyone who completed the ONL Survey and a huge congratulations to the winner of the prize, Jennifer Roper (Class of 1958). Jennifer has told us that she plans to spend the voucher on new art supplies as she really enjoys going to art lessons every week.
ONL Publications: Jacki Reason (Class of 1969) and Jan Marsh (neé Penny, Class of 1962) – Portraits for Posterity: Jacki and Jan have recently published a book of photographic portraits and testimonies of 101 Holocaust survivors who made their lives in Great Britain. They initiated the project Portraits for Posterity in 2007 and the portraits, by photographer Matt Writtle, have been exhibited at venues throughout the country, including at NLCS in 2009. In 2020 they decided to publish the material, to help achieve the aim of educating people about the Holocaust and ensuring continuing memories of the survivors. For further details, please contact info@jackireason.co.uk
Varsha Shah (Class of 1999) – Ajay and the Mumbai Sun:
A high-stakes adventure story full of heart from debut author Varsha Shah. Abandoned on the Mumbai railways, Ajay has grown up with nothing but a burning wish to be a journalist. Finding an abandoned printing press, he and his friends Saif, Vinod, Yasmin and Jai create their own newspaper: The Mumbai Sun. As they hunt down stories for their paper, the children uncover corruption, fight for justice and battle to save their slum from bulldozers. But against some of the most powerful forces in the city, can Ajay and his friends really succeed in bringing the truth to light? Not to mention win the most important cricket match ever... A high-stakes adventure story full of heart, written against the backdrop of modern India: Emil and the Detectives meets Slumdog Millionaire.
Leonora Cohen (Class of 2011) – Parallel Hells: I was a student at NLCS from 2005-2011 and I have fond memories of studying English at the School and curling up in the Library most lunchtimes. My debut collection of short fiction Parallel Hells was published just last week by Sceptre Books under the pen name Leon Craig. It's a collection of thirteen gothic queer feminist tales about demons, golems and vampires and perhaps other literary ONLs might enjoy hearing about it. https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/leoncraig/parallel-hells/9781529371437/
Alisha Allana (Class of 2008): Alisha authored the medical textbook, Clinal Cases for the FRCA, a selection of short, succinct clinal cases that are mapped to the RCoA curriculum and are suitable for use when teaching or as a viva revision guide. Alisha is an aesthetic registrant in the Wessex Deanery, with a particular interest in medical education and simulation.
Cordelia Feldman (1980 – 2022):
Cordelia joined the Junior School in 1986 and left the Senior School in 1997, where she had been very happy. She read Modern History at St Peters College, Oxford between 1998 and 2001 and studied Creative Writing at Birkbeck College, University of London, receiving her MA in 2007. After being diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder in her early twenties, she devoted herself to raising public awareness of the illness – she featured in Stephen Fry’s BBC documentaries on manic depression in 2006 and 2016 as well as discussing her own experience on a number of radio programmes, and in magazine and newspaper articles. After Oxford, Cordelia joined Pollinger literary agent, where she worked for a couple of years. She then spent some fifteen years working at Eric Glass, a literary and theatrical agent – reading submitted manuscripts and selecting their actor clients for auditions. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and, again, endeavoured to alert young women to the possibility of its early onset. She featured in a film for the Estee Lauder breast cancer awareness campaign in 2014 and discussed her own experience on BBC Woman’s Hour. Cordelia was happy to see her two books appear in 2021 - In Bloom is a semiautobiographical novel about the teenage clubbing scene in the mid-90s, which describes the onset of bipolar disorder. Well Done Me is a memoir about her eight and a half years of cancer treatment – told with humour and honesty. She died on 8th January 2022 aged 42.
Sarah Sultoon (Class of 1995): Sarah Sultoon previously wrote The Source, which came out in April 2021. Her new book, The Shot, is out on April 28th, 2022. Both will be available on Audible Plus. The Source: “1996. Essex. Thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Carly lives in a disenfranchised town dominated by a military base, struggling to care for her baby sister while her mum sleeps off another binge. When her squaddie brother brings food and treats, and offers an exclusive invitation to army parties, things start to look a little less bleak. 2006. London. Junior TV newsroom journalist Marie has spent six months exposing a gang of sex traffickers, but everything is derailed when New Scotland Yard announces the reopening of Operation Andromeda, the notorious investigation into allegations of sex abuse at an army base a decade earlier. As the lives of these two characters intertwine around a single, defining event, a series of utterly chilling experiences is revealed, sparking a nail-biting race to find the truth... and justice.” A riveting, devastatingly dark thriller, The Source is also a story about survival, about hopes and dreams, about power abuse and resilience… an immense, tense and thought-provoking debut that you will never, ever forget.
The Shot: “Samira is an up-and-coming TV journalist, working the nightshift at a major news channel and yearning for greater things. So, when she's offered a trip to the Middle East with Kris, the station's brilliant but impetuous star photographer, she leaps at the chance. In the field together, Sami and Kris feel invincible, shining a light into the darkest of corners... except the newsroom, and the rest of the world, doesn't seem to care as much as they do. Until Kris gets the shot. With a single image of a young Sudanese mother, injured in a raid on her camp, Sami and the genocide in Darfur are catapulted into the limelight. But the shots taken by Kris reveal something deeper and much darker… something that puts not only their careers but their lives in mortal danger.” Sarah brings all her experience as a CNN news executive to bear on this shocking searingly authentic thriller, which asks immense questions about the world we live in. You'll never look at a news report in the same way again.
Tiffany Philippou (Class of 2006): Tiffany is a writer and podcaster, and her writing has been published in Stylist, Refinery29, Sifted, The i Paper and The Startup. She co-hosts the work, life and happiness podcast Is This Working? The Guardian commented on the podcast stating ‘its look at mental health, productivity and even loneliness feels increasingly vital’. The podcast is a number one show in the UK Apple careers charts and is frequently in the top three in the business charts. Tiffany wrote Totally Fine (and other lies I’ve told myself): What my decade in grief taught me about life. This is a heartfelt memoir on grief, shame and love. It’s an honest and ultimately hopeful account of Tiffany’s life after the tragic suicide of her boyfriend, Richard, when the couple were students at Bristol University in 2008. The book follows her journey in the ten years after Richard’s death – as Tiffany confesses – she spent her twenties pretending this incident didn’t happen. It has taken Tiffany many years to navigate her grief and shame but by opening up and embracing her past, she has been able to look to the future and to understand that there is no right way to grieve and no right way to live. Her hope, is that by sharing her story, she can encourage others to tear down the walls and to not suffer under the burden of shame alone.
“If Dolly Alderton, Glennon Doyle and Elizabeth Day had a love child, this is the writer they’d produce” – Laura Jan Williams, author and journalist The Archives As the Spring Term draws to a close, it only felt right to share a photo from the Archives of a beloved NLCS event, Founder’s Day.
ONLs Favourite Founder’s Day Memories: “Masking tape on the floor to show where to pivot in the daffodil procession” – Pat Phillips (Class of 1980) “Spending the coach journey and whole morning trying to keep the daffodil alive and looking decent whilst not getting covered in dew… the relief once the procession was over was palpable!” – Emma Lomas (Class of 2002) “My first Founder's Day in the Upper Thirds, seeing all the teachers walk into Founder's Day Assembly in full academic dress. If I'd been told to expect that I'd either forgotten or not understood what it meant, because it came as quite a surprise.” – Shereen Benjamin (Class of 1983) “Handel songs: in the 70s there was always one, but it wasn’t always ‘Where’er you walk’. Also, turning form rooms into elaborate installations and being taken round the School, class by class, to visit them. For the Juniors, this was the only day of the year we got to visit the Old House and it was *very* exciting” – Rachel Phillips (Class of 1982) ONL Regional Coordinators: The ONL Community is a wide international community, and we have ONLs living in all parts of the world. We have regional coordinators for several parts of the UK as well as overseas. Please find their details below should you want to get in touch. We are always on the hunt for more regional coordinators, so please contact us if this is something you are interested in doing. Cornwall/Devon - Jill Hall (née Hankins - jill22hall@gmail.com Midlands - Kate Jones (née Levinson - kate.levinson@talk21.com South-West – Jane Watkins - janewatkins645@btinternet.com Hampshire - Amanda Collins - alcollins@doctors.org.uk Australia - Kay Moyes - moyes_kay@hotmail.com USA - Sophia Breslauer - sophia_breslauer@yahoo.co.uk Spain - Sakhee Sukhwani-Joisher – sakheej@gmail.com Autumn Term at NLCS:
Looking back at some of the news and events that took place this term at NLCS. For more school news, please click here. Treasure Island: In the first week of March, Year 10, 11 and 12 put on performances of Treasure Island. This fabulously fresh take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, first staged at the National Theatre, mixed comedy with drama to create an unmissable evening of entertainment. It was wonderful to welcome audiences back to the Performing Arts Centre for our first Senior School production since 2020, and what a way to open!
Annual Philosophy Conference 2022: The School were delighted to be able to host the annual Philosophy Conference in person again this year on Monday 7th February 2022. Sixth Form Philosophy students from NLCS, as well as students from Bentley Wood, London Academy of Excellence and QE Boys enjoyed a wide range of talks from speakers including, Professor Robert Simpson, Sailee Khurjekar, Dr Naomi Richman and Professor Bill Brewer. Canons Follies 2022: On Tuesday 8th February 2022, the School were treated to a fantastic Canons Follies from the Year 13 Students. The annual performance featured skits of various departments, songs, dances and a few surprise cameos from our teachers! Congratulations to all of Y13 for a brilliant evening with a special thanks to NLCS’s Big Six for putting together the event!
Fantasy Fashion 2022: For the past 25 years, NLCS has been showcasing the talent and creativity of our students in an evening of fashion all to raise money for the Karenni Student Development Programme. This year’s theme, “Myths and Legends”, provided the audience with some breathtaking designs including pieces inspired by Pericles and Medusa to name but a few! We were delighted to welcome three fantastic judges this year, fashion designers Helen Hutton, Louise Bennetts and Stella McCartney, who had the rather tricky task of picking the winning designs from such a variety of dresses. After much deliberation prizes were awarded for best Middle School dress, best Senior School dress, runners up prizes and the best eco dress.
Whilst the judges deliberated there were chances to bid on some excellent prizes in the auction. Prizes included Stella McCartney trainers and bags, a walk with Mrs Clark and her dog Penda, a form breakfast and even a commissioned art piece by one of our Sixth Form Art students. A special thank you to Miss Aldcroft who took the role of the auctioneer and did a fantastic job! All the money raised went to the Karenni Student Development Programme, a charity set up by ONL Stephanie Lee in 1999, after Stephanie was tragically killed in 2001 her parents Beryl and Steve took over the charity in Stephanie’s honour funding many projects for Karenni/Burmese refugees. To date, NLCS has raised over £152,000 for KSDP.
Alumnae and Development Department update: This term, the Development Office welcomed a new member to the team – Tara Stephens. Tara is NLCS’ new Development Office Administrator and works closely with Gavin (Director of Development) and Emily and Claudia (Alumnae Relations Officers). Although not an ONL herself, Tara is embracing the NLCS community, meeting lots of new people and discovering our weird and wonderful traditions. Tara will be attending many of the upcoming events alongside the rest of the department, so if you are coming to one of these, please introduce yourself!