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Headteacher’s message
Dear parent/carer,

I am delighted to welcome you to our latest addition of Northwood News.

This edition is special because it is the first that has been led and written by our students.
We hope that in the coming months our new student journalists will help make future
editions of Northwood News even more engaging.

As you will see from this edition, school life is now starting to get back to normal with
sporting fixtures, school trips and the return of outside visitors to the school. It is these
aspects of the school that make life so enriching for our students.

I’m delighted to see the number of students who are taking up extra curricular and student
leadership opportunities: on top of our established prefects, Interact fundraising group,
house team and school council, we also have dedicated teams of diversity ambassadors,
technology ambassadors, mental health ambassadors, ‘green team’ and more. Each of
these groups has been involved in leading assemblies for other students this term which
has been a pleasure to witness.

I’d also like to draw your attention to the celebration of our students' achievements outside
of school. It is easy at times to forget that our students have a life outside of school and so
we want to recognise and celebrate their achievements too.

This will be the last edition of Northwood News before Christmas, and though the festive
season is not quite upon us I would like to thank you for your support this year and to wish
you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Best wishes,

Mr Anderson
 Your Student Editorial Team
Chief Editor: Aatifa 9EN

News and Sub Editors: Eyshal 8R, Lara 8C, Kiera 8E

Reporters: Adib 7R, Dhruv 8C, Fatima 8EN, Priscilla 8EN, Leona 8R, Livie 8R

Notices
Food bank

We are Sewa Day Watford, (some might have heard of us), a local charity with a food bank
based in Watford on Tolpits Lane. We provide food parcels to vulnerable families and have
been since the beginning of the pandemic. If you need support, please contact Reshma
Shah (Sewa day coordinator) [email protected]

Parent trip team

As we build up our school trip offers for students, we would like to get a group of
parent/carer volunteers who would be willing to act as chaperones, alongside school staff,
on some of our larger trips. Please get in touch with [email protected] if you are
available during the day and would like to help with this. You would need to complete a
DBS check and attend a brief safeguarding training session in school before starting the
role.

CareersEd Bulletin: coming soon!

Watch your inboxes for our termly CareersEd bulletin, showcasing the variety of careers
related activities going on in school this term.

Student Leadership
Diversity Advocates

Reporter: Dhruv, 8C:

Our school launched a new leadership role in the last half term known as the ”Diversity
Advocates”. This group of students fights for equality and supports diversity in our school
and in our community. The advocates will focus on many different topics relating to
neurodiversity and many more interesting topics before the year ends. Here is some
feedback from a Year 8 diversity advocate who has recently joined the group: “I really like
being part of the diversity advocates because I get to support diversity in my school and
community and I can show my classmates what I think the meaning of diversity and
equality is in my school. I also think this will help me in the future“ - Hiren, 8I.
 Enrichment & Special Events
Reporter: Priscilla

Rabbi Visit

Year 8 got an amazing opportunity to speak to a Rabbi for RE. We got to ask him many
questions which helped with our knowledge about what we have been learning about in
class. In addition, we had a virtual tour in a liberal synagogue which all of us really
enjoyed.

Live music and dance

Years 7 and 9, and GCSE music

students have been treated to
live music performances and
dance, including professional
pianist Inga Liukaityte,
saxophone quartet the Marici
Quartet, and dance company
‘Extended Play’ with their dance
piece ‘Donut.’

“I enjoyed the variety of songs

they played; I have never heard
anything like that before!” -
Aatifa, 9EN
“The dance performance was
very entertaining and unique. It was especially interesting because we are doing that exact
style of dance in the Dance Company!”- Nya, 9EN
Armistice Day

Northwood School made Remembrance Day a special occasion for everyone to really enjoy.
All students participated in making a poppy wreath and hanging it in Main Street. Our
lovely design teacher, Miss Parsons, sewed beautiful poppies and the trees going down the
Main Street have been decorated with bright red poppies. In the playground by a tree a
memorial was placed around with ruby red poppies covering it.

Click for Remembrance Day and Armistice Day pictures featuring Northwood School
Live poetry

Years 7, 8 and 9 were lucky enough to be visited by Poet P.M. on National Poetry Day. P.M.
performed several of their spoken word poems, and answered a huge number of questions
from curious students! Inspired by the visit, some students put pen to paper to write their
own spoken word poetry, including competition winners Mukhtar and Leona in year 8.

Maths week England: England Rocks National Competition

Mr Hajghassem, maths teacher

For Maths Week England, we wanted to make Maths exciting. Between the 8th and 11th
November, all students at Northwood were entered in the England Rocks National
Competition held by TTRockstars (TTR). The aim of the competition was simple: students
were required to answer as many questions correctly on TTR and earn points for both
Northwood and their respective Maths classes. Student engagement was brilliant, and it
was really encouraging to be approached by students enthusing about their class’s position
in the league table. The competitive spirit of our students was a great source of motivation
for me and at the end of every day I would eagerly look at our league position hoping to
see us climb the table. The students did not disappoint, rocking away and making strong
strides. By the end of the competition, with the
brilliant efforts of our students, Northwood
finished in 11th place out of 256 competing
secondary schools and internally Mr Kavanagh’s
7x4 finished in 1st place with the highest average
score per student amongst all the Maths classes
across Years 7 to 13. The Maths Department is
extremely proud of the collective efforts of the
students and we would also like to extend our
congratulations to Rohan, Sophie and Nathan for
finishing in first, second and third place
respectively in Northwood. It is only fitting to
close with a quote from our very own champion
Rohan who describes TTR 'as a fun way of
practising timetables, whilst competing with
friends and other schools'.

Life Skills

Mr Clark and Miss Griffin have started working

with 11 of our students in Years 9-11 on a brand
new ‘life skills’ programme. This project will support students to deal with day to day
scenarios that will really support their next steps in life.

Miss Griffin, LSA:

It is going extremely well; the students are responding in such a positive way. We are
focusing on communication skills, at the moment, and the activities have really helped
support the children and have got them working well together and building on their
confidence. We received a lovely email from one of the parents, saying how much their
child is enjoying the life skills programme.

Lewis, 11Ma2:
"I really enjoy our life skills lesson because it is good to learn how to communicate with
each other, I liked the role play we did, and the questions
we did today about finding out about each other"

Mock COP26

Eight geography GCSE students attended a mock COP26

hosted by Northwood College. They all got very immersed
in the debate and showed great confidence, team work and
oracy.

.
 Library Corner
Reporter: Livie, 8R

Remember Remember Non-Fiction November

This month, don’t forget to drop into the library to choose one of the fabulous non-fiction
books available. Mrs Underwood is running a competition for the most interesting fact
found in a nonfiction book. To join the competition, simply borrow a book, write a fact onto
a competition slip, and join the display. Prizes available for the most interesting facts!
New non-fiction include: ‘Raheem Sterling’, by Musa Okwonga, ‘Dosh’, by Rashmi
Sirdeshpande and ‘Kay’s Anatomy’, by Henry Parker and Adam Kay.

Book News

Northwood is lucky to have received some fantastic new reads from the Book Trust Charity.
These include
❖ ‘Wink’, by Rob Harell
❖ ‘Sky Wake Invasion’, by Jamie Russel
❖ And ‘You Must Be Layla’, by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

New recommendations for reluctant readers:

❖ ‘When the Stars are Scattered’, by Victoria Jamieson
❖ ‘Everdark’, by Abi Elphinstone
❖ And ‘Black Brother, Black Brother’, by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Autumn recommended reads include:

★ ‘One in a Hundred Thousand’, by Linni Ingemunson and ‘Dog’, by Andy Mulligan, for
key stage 3.
★ For key stage 4, ‘We Played with Fire’, by Catherine Barter, and ‘Everything
Everything’, by Nicola Yoon.
★ Key stage 5, Mrs Underwood would highly recommend, ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’, by
Jay Asher, and ‘Me Being Me’, by Todd Hasak-Lowy.
★ Brilliant Books for all key stages are ‘The Voices in the Shadows’, by TLA Black
Women in Tech.
This month’s student recommendation for Key Stage 3 is ‘Wolf Wilder’, by Katherine
Rundell. It is a story of friendship, hope and sweeping adventure.

Book Clubs
The Year 7 book club has been a huge success. The first book that they reviewed was ‘The
Last Zoo’, by Sam Gayton. Currently, the group is reading ‘Wink’, by Rob Harrell. Every
Week 2 Thursday, any student in Year 7 is welcome to join.

New Year 8 Sora Book Club

The first ever Northwood Sora Book Club, started by Livvie Year 8 who enjoyed the Year 7
Book Club and wanted to run a new Year 8 group commenced on Tuesday 9th November,
and will continue every Week 2 Tuesday, 2:50 -3:30. The first book, ‘A Glasshouse of Stars’,
by Shirley Marr was a great success.
 Year Group Spotlight
Year 8 - Ms Van der Spoel

As their Head of Year, I am proud that the Year 8 students are respectful, open-minded, full
of energy and willing to be challenged. A beautiful combination.

In Year 7, the Form Tutors and I focused on our Motto “We are one TEAM - we are like
a bike which is made from multiple individual parts, and when assembled we
become a useful ‘together”. We are taking the next step in Year 8 by concentrating on
how our identity as a team can be strengthened. One key aspect in our teaching is to be
outwards looking. In order to be a good TEAM player it is important to have the capacity to
see other people and the lives around you. We call it “We are one TEAM - we step out of
the mirror room”.

For us as teachers it is very encouraging to see how the students live this out. In our
recent achievements assembly we celebrated those student-led initiatives. Just to name a
few: Fatmina received a special shout-out for going over and above by supporting the Year
7s and helping them to settle into their new school. Jai who showed incredible kindness
and compassion when a student in another form group got in a difficult situation outside
school. Laila, Abdullah, Dhruv, Sancia and Sanvia who put an extraordinary, self-made
gift together for one of our students who is recovering from surgery. We also discovered
two hidden talents (Mukthar and Leona) in spoken word poetry and it was impressive to
see them speaking on stage. It is a real delight to see a few specific students who have
matured since Year 7, taking on responsibilities and changing to positive contributors in
Year 8. Another recent highlight was the 6-2 win of our Northwood Y8 football squad.
The game was tactically advanced and very entertaining to watch. During the game, it was
a real joy to see so many other students standing at the side of the pitch, supporting the
team. The girls’ netball team also played so well in a thrilling and very close fought
game, remaining neck and neck with opposition right up until the final three minutes.
What a year group - what a potential!

In order to realise this potential, the Form Tutors and I are very keen to encourage
students to get involved in the vast range of extra-curricular activities on offer (the buddy
system, first aid training, debating, pupils’ voice, Northwood News journalist and many
more) where each student can show their individual skills and has an opportunity to
(sometimes quietly) shine.
On this note I also want to thank the parents for their ongoing collaboration and
communication. Something I very much value.

Many thanks,

Anna-Maria van der Spoel , Head of Year 8

Diversity Assemblies and discussions

Fatima & Kiera, Year 8:

In our school assemblies we have been learning a lot about identity and what it means. We
also learned that people should embrace their identity, because you are who you are!

Some people may see identity as just an ID card with your picture and name. However,
others see it with a deeper meaning and have a more intense view and understanding.
Identity can be seen in many different ways and views and is more than where you're from
or a picture on a card, it's about you and how you show yourself, this means it's about
what ethnicity you are and about how you present or portray yourself to society... Some
people will view identity as something that is not physical but as something like religion,
race or ethnicity.

Sometimes people assume things about who you are, for example where you are from. So
as a year group we voted to see if we thought that most of the group’s heritage and
background was British or not. We found out that most of the year group's heritage was not
British and that we are all diverse. That is a very meaningful and powerful word when it
comes to identity. We are all diverse and it's nothing to be ashamed of. We are not all
diverse just in basic things like favourite colours, but we are also diverse in things like
heritage, ethnicity or race. It all depends on your point of view on the word: identity. How
do you see it and how does it describe you?

Black History Month

Livie, Year 8R:

Northwood has celebrated Black History Month in a variety of ways, in assemblies, lessons
and in form time. On Tuesday 5th October 2021, we had an assembly run by Mr Kelly,
History teacher and form tutor to 8P, on Black History Month’s importance. He spoke about
how it is important to learn about society's history, not just individual people, even if they
had a key role. It is important to learn about people’s everyday lives, not just those in
power. Previously, history would have been about the key people, the monarchs, Churchill
and more people essential to the building of what our nation is today. Now, it includes
regular people’s lives: How they lived, schools and every small thing that builds society.
Black History Month is an important reminder of how diversity should be celebrated. Mr
Kelly’s assembly has motivated students to appreciate the diversity of Northwood School,
and the whole of London. He reminded us of how everyone played a role in history, whether
they were a monarch or ordinary citizen.

Leona, 8R:

In October, Mr Kelly organized a brilliant assembly dedicated to Black History Month. He

decided to present slides to get us all thinking about racism and our ethnicity! The
assembly started by Hiren in 8I playing a beautiful piece on the piano as we sat down. Mr
Kelly had put up the slides and everyone witnessed a photo of Trafalgar Square which was
extremely busy. Mr Kelly asked us what we saw and people said things like ‘people’ ‘busy
streets’ ‘The Metro’ etc. Mr Kelly said he saw diversity and he started to explain why we
should respect people despite their race and ethnicity.

Mr Kelly then started to explain how history sometimes only focuses on white British people
and how Black People aren't mentioned as much! He got us to start thinking of famous
black people from history and we did come up with a few. Mr Kelly told us to look around
the room. We were all diverse.

The assembly was going fantastically and everyone was cooperating and joining in!
The end of the assembly Mr Kelly told us that we should always remember people by what
they did not by their race and ethnicity. That is going to be an assembly I will always keep
in my mind.
 Subject Spotlight
Reporter: Adib

Science

In Year 7 they have looked at animal and plant cells in Biology, states of matter in
Chemistry and forces in Physics. Recently in Chemistry, Year 7 did an experiment where
they boiled water using Bunsen Burners. Whilst doing this, they plotted a graph and figured
out the boiling point for water. The results showed the boiling point for water is 100
degrees Celsius. The Year 7s also learnt about the 3 different states of matter: solid, liquid
and gas. Furthermore, they learnt the process of changes between each state of matter.

If you want to get more involved in science, you might want to consider joining Science
Club!

Here is a quote from Neha 7E - “It is great fun, all the Sixth Formers are really helpful if
you have any questions or if you are confused, not to mention my amazing form tutor Miss
Rose, who is the person who leads it and always has something fun for us planned out.
Overall it is a blast!”

Here is student praise from our Science teachers:

Adib 7R, Tyler 7EN, Sahar 7EN, Raluca 7I, Adem 7I, Isabelle 7R, Lucy 7EN, Sophie 7R,
Emily 7I, Heston 7I, Sergui 7EN, Maya 7I, Vrindra 7I, Martha 7R, Het 7R, Dia 7R.

The science team would like to praise the following excellent scientists from year
10:

10X/Si1: Eva-Myleene, Muna,

10X/Si2: JJ, Isaac, Ved, Ambika
10X/Si3: Reece, Ella-Louise, Zak, Anjelique
10X/Si4: Oliver, Barthina, Amber H

10Y/Si1: Mara, Hiya, Tong, Ayanna

10Y/Si2: Nasser, Finn, Ianis, Charlie
10Y/Si3: Filipe, Emily, Tabesom, Aliyah
10Y/Si4: Javid, Jess. Maisey, Jashan
Music

This term in Year 8, we have been learning how to play the ukulele and building on the
chords we learnt from the twelve bar blues, which were C, G and F chords. We are also
learning how to improve our overall technique on the ukulele. Building on the previous
chords, we have now learnt D, D7, Am and Em. This half term’s topic is on the folk music of
Ireland and India. So far we have learnt about the history of Ireland and the importance of
folk music to cultures around the world. We are now working on playing the song ‘The
Black Velvet Band,’ using the new chords we have learnt so far.

Mr Demott would like to praise the following students in Year 8:

Charlie M, Taylor, Maya, Una, Jasveen, Sara, Nathan, Marcus, Estera, Anika, Georgia Rose,
Elin, Benjamin, Tashvi, Sancia, Sanvia, Faith, Rosie, Saffiyah

Maths

All of Miss M's 9b1 class who alway work so hard and diligently.
Special shout out to Reza and Sarah for scoring 100% in their last assessment!

9A2 - Kingston, Myleen, Sahel, Kiera, Burhan and Jade - Always fantastic!

11y/Ma1: Nicholas A, Leila B, Shreya V, Cuneyt, Yusra R, Charlotte T, Romilly O, Auhona S,

Blert P and William H

11Y/Ma2: Bethany, Jake, Ana, Erika, Ella, Shail, Leo, Ana, Yashvi, Jack and Reece.
Psychology A Level

Darshan, Year 12:

Psychology so far has been more than just...interesting. Ever since our first taster sessions
back in the summer with Miss Meisuria, I have gained a greater understanding. Psychology
has been a very hands-on experience and we quickly learned how to use flipped learning.
This is where we would make notes on a topic before our lesson and consolidate our
knowledge upon arriving in the classroom through discussions with Miss Meisuria. So far
we’ve covered most of the Paper 2 topics of Psychology including Approaches,
BioPsychology (which is an extension of Biology). Research methods (which had plenty of
maths skills). The Biopsychology section has been quite fascinating as it includes a lot
about human anatomy which is used to help explain behaviour. For example, we learn
about a man named ‘Tan’, who could only pronounce the syllable ‘tan’, who had suffered
damage to an area of his brain referred to as Broca’s area. The content can be difficult at
times, but I’ve realised that as long as I keep revising, it helps me get the grades I want!

Amma, Year 12:

Since starting Year 12 I am very glad that I picked Psychology as one of my A-level
choices. Psychology has some very challenging content so I wouldn't recommend it to
anyone that hasn't got self motivation or dedication. However, for me it’s one of the best
decisions I made going into Sixth Form. Coming into the Psychology taster sessions was a
great way to dispel the most common reason why people usually pick the subject, and
that’s because it was ‘interesting’. It most certainly is a subject I’d never studied before
and can’t be compared to any other I study now, trust me! I feel that key to this subject is
finding a spark in it that you're passionate about, for me this is the ground breaking
research that it provides society. This ranges from desensitisation in therapies to dormant
synapses that are unlocked after the brain receives trauma. I’m looking forward to learning
more!
 Sports
Mr Hunte, Head of PE Department:

What a year it’s been so far! The PE department has been delighted to see not only the
fantastic uptake of the sports clubs on offer across all year groups, but also the
phenomenal support from students and staff alike. So far this year we have focused
predominantly on Netball, Handball and Football but have also introduced Rugby,
Gymnastics and more, with lots more fixtures, competitions and tournaments in the
pipeline. Mr Lewis and the football teams have been in exceptional form and not suffered a
single loss across all competitions. A special shout out has to go to Mr DeMott and the
school choir who have been coming down to games, leading chants and banging drums,
turning Northwood into a force to be reckoned with. It’s safe to say that Northwood
students have returned to competitive sport with a bang and we’re excited to see what
they can continue to achieve throughout the year.

Matches to celebrate this term include:

Year 7 boys’ football: 4-3 win.

Year 7-8 girls’ football: 3-2 win. Top scorer: Adelia 8C

Year 7-8 girls football tournament: 3rd in our Pool. Player of the tournament: Samira (7EN)

Year 8 boys’ football: 6-2 win. Top scorer: Shaquan 8C

Year 8 girls’ netball: 2-4 loss in the last 3 minutes.

Year 9 boys’ football: 11-0 win; 7-1 win. Player of the match: Aaron (year 8)

Year 10 boys’ football: 5-2 win. Top scorer: Thomas

Year 10 girls’ netball: 13-8 win.

Krish in year 7 wrote this report of the year 8 match:

"Our Year 8 football team faced Vyners School. Surprisingly we won 6-2. Inside the first
20-30 minutes it was tight, they had some chances, we had some chances until Ruben
scored a great goal for the team putting us 1 goal up. Will Vyners make a response? Well
they didn’t. It was near the end of the first half when number 11 Shaquan scored a goal
putting us 2 goals up. The half time whistle went and it was 2-0 to Northwood.

The 2nd half began and Northwood went off with a flying start, scoring another 2 goals in
rapid fire. They were both scored by number 11 Shaquan which put him on a hat-trick. But
did he stop there? No he didn’t
and scored another goal around
the 50th minute, putting us up
4-0. But when we think we're not
going to concede an accidental
cross lob into the back of the net
put us 4-1 up. But we weren't
finished, we scored another 2
impressive goals, guess who?
Shaquan. Did they have a
response? Yes they did, putting
them 4 goals down now. But then
the final whistle ended the score
6-2."
Out of school achievements
Congratulations to the following students for their achievements outside school:

Dylan (y9), Kear and Howard (y10), Tyler and Shail (y11) have been selected to represent
Middlesex county in football.

Corey (Year 11) plays American Football for Team GB.

Matthew (10P) has won 3 gold, 3 bronze and one silver at the London Regional Diving
Championships in the 14 to 16 category. Matthew will be competing in the UK National
Diving Championship in March 2022.

Kyara (10P) was the first female and youngest player in Pinner cricket club to bowl a fifer
(5 wickets) in a men’s adult game.

Parthvi (10P) successfully achieved a merit at grade 7 in Bharatnatyam (Indian classical

dancing) as assessed by the international fine arts examination board OEBL. Parthvi is now
preparing for the final diploma examination and hoping to complete it in May 2022.

Isaac (10P) and his dance group came first in the UK Dance Hip Hop Championship and are
ranked 11th in the World Dance Hip Hop Championship.

Joe (9R) passed his firearms handling test at Cadets. Joe has ambitions to go into the
armed forces as a career.

Vinay (9C) will appear in an upcoming 'Wonka' film with his performing arts company 'I Got
Soul'.

Fran (9I) will be performing in the ensemble in the Cinderella pantomime at Harrow Arts
Centre in December.

Nya (9EN) competes in Krav Maga and recently won Gold and Silver medals.

Aatifa (9EN) has recently achieved a Distinction Grade 2 music theory exam.

Manav (9EN) plays golf and recently won first place in his club competition.

Xander (9EN) regularly enters wheelchair racing competitions.

Malek (8E) swam in a gala, achieving Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.

Namit (8En) is part of dance performances in the Shaw Theater at Euston Square.

Shaquaan (8C) and Aaron (8P) very successfully play football for Watford FC.

Adelia (8C) plays football very successfully for Ruislip Rangers.

Georgi and Erin (both 8P) saved the life of a dog recently.

Daisy (8EN) has just been made team captain of her netball club (JNA)

Tomas (8EN) helped win club of the year (tennis, Pinner).

Sachn (8EN) Match ball trophy for cricket (Ickenham and West Essex)

Kavan (8EN) received a Jack Petchey Award from Pinner Cricket team

Jack (7EN) Plays football for Queens Park Rangers Youth.

Aryan and Daniel (7EN) swim for the Hillingdon squad

Mahi (7EN) recently received yellow and white belts in taekwondo

Savannah (7EN) jumped 1.10 metres on her horse!

Sahar (7EN) Teaches Taekwondo

If you have had a recent achievement out of school, please let us know via
[email protected] FAO Mrs Fresko-Brown. Photos welcome!

Social Media

Instagram: @nwschoolinsta - private account for students and close

family members - you will need to send a direct message with your
name, form and relation to the school.

Twitter: @northwoodsch - open to students, wider families, and

prospective families.