In February, the History department took 60 Year 7 students to Norwich castle for the day to partake in a series of workshops centred on evaluating if William I was a hero or a villain. This was building off unit 4 of the history curriculum: Did the Normans change what it meant to be English? Which the students had just finished in class.
For the day students were led through different workshops by Anglo-Saxon and Norman characters. In the morning they examined different weapons with the Norman mistress of arms and re-enacted the Battle of Hastings – fortunately, there were no casualties this time. Afterwards they sat down with Sister Anne, a Norman Nunn, and looked at the doomsday book before having a go at writing with quills. During lunch, the students got to look around the other exhibitions at the castle, with the natural world exhibition being a fan favourite.
After lunch, it was the turn of the Anglo-Saxons. Ælflæd, a Saxon woman, told the students of her harsh treatment under the Normans. The students first discovered how Anglo-Saxon society worked and how people had greater freedoms before they were cruelly placed under the Norman Feudal system. In this workshop some students were fortunate enough to be the King or Barons, however, the majority had the restrictive role of being a medieval peasant. The final workshop of the day was a virtual tour of Norwich keep, which demonstrated how it was really built to intimidate and control the local Anglo-Saxon people.
The day ended with the Anglo-Saxon and Norman characters bickering on the stage and the students deciding if William I was a hero or villain. After lots of booing and cheering the result was heavily disputed and a consensus could not be reached.
Christina went on the trip and said, ‘The history trip was my first trip in Northgate. It was super fun and I learned so many new things like the different weapons and armours or how difficult it was to write with a calligraphy pen (which was one of my favourite parts). I loved the trip and would definitely go again next time. My friend Layla also thought the trip was really educational but fun at the same time.’
Colette commented, ‘The history trip to Norwich castle was amazing. It was super educational and taught us about the castle structure, Anglo Saxon society and much more. My favourite part was looking at the weapons and recreating the Battle of Hastings. The hardest part was writing with a calligraphy pen as it was hard to get it at the right angle. This was a great first trip of Year 7 and I would definitely go again.’
Thank you to Mr Lennard for organising the trip and giving the students such a unique opportunity to develop their history knowledge and understanding outside the classroom.
We are pleased to introduce our March bulletin. In our bulletin this month there’s information about our recent ski trip and updates from the library.
We hope that you are able to take some time to have a look at all the goings on at Northgate from the last month and enjoy seeing what we’ve been up to. Please share with your friends and family via our Facebook and twitter pages.
Miss Theobald (School Council Coordinator) + Northgate School Council.
Our budding Northgate News Team members Christina and Lily, recently interviewed Miss Bauman who is a member of our English Department. Here’s what she had to say in response to their questions.
Have you ever travelled to any countries other than Canada (Miss Bauman is Canadian)?
Yes, Kenya along with many countries in the Caribbean, Europe and Central America.
Why did you move from Canada here?
There were very few teaching jobs and I wanted to see a different part of the world.
Do people ever ask you why you teach English?
Yes
What is your favourite novel to teach?
Lord of flies
What are your hobbies?
Music and drama
Have you taught anything other than English?
Yes, I’ve taught drama before
What is the best thing about being a tutor at Northgate?
Seeing my students grow up.
What is your favourite vegetable?
Red peppers.
What are your phobias?
Spiders
Are there any books that scare you?
Not scare, necessarily, but thriller novels are always hard to read right before bed because they start to play tricks on your mind.
Thank you to Miss Bauman for taking the time to answer the questions. We look forward to hearing who our News Team decide to interview next.
Friday 3rd February saw the whole of Year 7 come together for the annual Number Day activities. This year it was organised by Miss Petcher-Ellison from the Maths department.
Over the last 13 years of Northgate taking part in Number Day, Year 7s have managed to raise over £3300 to contribute to the continued work of the NSPCC and Childline. There were a number of activities the Year 7s took part in. During Period 1 half of the year group gathered in the main hall. They started their session with number aerobics, which included some volunteers demonstrating what to do. It was great to see such enthusiasm from everyone!
The main activity was a quiz. Not only were students competing for their House Teams to earn valuable points for the House Competition but they were also competing against others in their teaching groups to win a prize. There were certainly some tricky questions however determination took over. The final part of the session involved students creating real life graphs. They were all given a coordinate and created a coordinate grid in the way they were sat. Miss Petcher-Ellison displayed instructions such as ‘stand up if your x coordinate is 2’, ‘stand up if your y coordinate is -3’ and so on. Students were able to see that they were creating vertical and horizontal lines and impressed with the language they used such as parallel. It gave them an opportunity to start to discover more about straight line graphs, a topic they will develop later in their Maths curriculum. During Period 3 the remaining Year 7s had their chance to take part.
There was a teacher treasure hunt which students could take part in during break and lunchtime. 25 teachers had been assigned a number. Students had to answer questions such as ‘what is the sum of the Maths teachers?’, ‘which teachers are square numbers?’, ‘which teacher is the smallest prime number?’ and so on.
In the House Competition, it was a very close fought contest, with Rowling just pipping Attenborough in to first place, with Hawking in third and Holmes in fourth.
Miss Petcher-Ellison commented after Number Day, ‘it was great to run my first Number Day. I hope all the Year 7s enjoyed the activities and I look forward to running it again next year!’
Amelia O, from 7 Motivation, said, ‘On Number Day we had a quiz all about Maths. I really liked the quiz because a few of the questions I thought were really interesting. For example one question was how many years is a diamond jubilee. There was also a teachers quiz where you had to go round and get the number of each teacher (there were 25) then answer a set of questions. Overall, I really enjoyed it.’
Demitri, who was the winner from 7Valour, explained, ‘I liked Number Day because I got top of my class and it had some fun activities. I thought the questions on Number Day were interesting.’
A big thank you to Miss Petcher-Ellison for organising and running the event. Well done to everyone who took part and thank you to all those who collected sponsors for Childline and the NSPCC to help continue the vital work they do.
Back in January, a number of our super talented students took part in a Drama and Dance Showcase. Two of our Northgate News Team, Colette and Isla, tell us all about it.
Colette said, ‘Before I performed, I felt very nervous but also super excited! My favourite sketch from Roald Dahl was the BFG. It was super fun to create and it was the very first one we did. Dance club was great. Dance club has helped me meet new people and make new friends. The dance team was great too – it was amazing to perform at the Christmas light switch on and at the Drama and Dance Showcase. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to be part of the school’s production of Alice In Wonderland later in the summer!’
Isla commented, ‘The Dance and Drama Showcase was the first ever big thing I had done at Northgate High School. I was very nervous about remembering lines and cues. On the night I had not only nerves but excitement. I was with my friends and peers ready to perform. My favourite performance we did would have to be the Matilda sketch. It was so much fun to cheer and scream and let go of all my nerves. It all went perfectly! I had lots of support from both the teachers and my family! Now that I know what it’s like, and know it is what I want to do for my future, I cannot wait to perform in the many productions being put on here at Northgate such as Alice In Wonderland.’
Mrs Harris, Head of Performing Arts, said, ‘I am fantastically proud of all of the students involved in the Drama and Dance Showcase this term. As it was my first production as Head of Performing Arts at Northgate High School, I wanted to make sure to make a good impression. Along with the help of over 65 very talented performers, I think I did just that! It was amazing to see so many dancers performing with confidence and ease and I was super impressed with drama club remembering all of their different sketches from Roald Dahl. I am so proud to work at Northgate with such a massive group of talented students. Bring on Alice in Wonderland that will be performed on our outdoor stage in July!’
It is lovely to see so many students getting involved in Drama, Dance and Music. We can’t wait for the next Showcase and then a magnificent performance of Alice in Wonderland in our outdoor learning area. Rehearsals are already underway.
Earlier in the term our Year 7 students had the opportunity to work on their communication, team work skills and build confidence with Camouflaged Learning (Partnered with the RAF youth and STEM learning). Many students were outside their comfort zone completing the various activities, working with others that they may not ordinarily work with, but they showed true Northgate resilience and completed each task to a high standard. The sessions also taught our students about communication and that this doesn’t just involve using words.
As you can see from the reviews below from some of the tutor groups, our Year 7s thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and took a lot from them.
A big thank you to Camouflaged Learning for delivering such fun and interactive workshops and showing the students, it’s OK to be pushed outside your comfort zone and do something a bit different.
7RH
Lottie – ‘I met a lot of new people which was great!’
Zak – ‘I loved playing Squadron Scrabble because it was fast paced and competitive.’
Megan – ‘I enjoyed playing the screaming game because it was fun being allowed to de-stress.’
7JB
Shea – ‘I enjoyed the physical activity during the session, it made a difference to our other lessons. The games helped our communication skills and made us self-reflect on our behaviour and attitude in school’
Goncalo – ‘The session leader was humorous and energetic, which made the session enjoyable’ ‘the games made us think of alternative methods of communication, although this was a bit tricky at times’
Florence – ‘We learnt techniques to calm our mind, like blow out the candle, without blowing out the flame. The speaker was kind and acknowledged students throughout the session.’
7RP
Evie – ‘I liked the activities that we did and I also found the clapping and stomping activity challenging because we had to all stay in a line.’
Neve – ‘I really liked the STEM day as it was really fun and it was good getting to know everyone and explore outside our comfort zone.’
Megan – ‘I liked the STEM RAF day because it gave me the opportunity to be in groups with other people. I really enjoyed the day as well because I thought that the games were really fun. I mostly enjoyed the game where we had to order ourselves like in height or age order.’
Bethany – ‘I likes the games that we played. I think that it was hard to leave your friends and go with other people.’
Erin – ‘I liked the games on the RAF dat and it was fun the whole way through. I liked how we got told that we could get a prize if we won. I think that the day was a good idea and I would want to do it again.’
Alfie – ‘I liked the games we played and it was fun.’
Amelia – ‘Some parts were tiring but it was fun. It was interesting when we could not use words or our hands to tell your group your birthday and get into age order.’
7JD
Zak – ‘Nervy had good energy and was funny throughout the session.’
Amelia – ‘I enjoyed all the games we played because they were different to any that I have played before’
Nora – ‘He taught us to control our breathing in stressful situations, this was a useful skill to apply to our own situations and we were able to see how people within the RAF manage these emotions too’
Jude – ‘He told us how the littlest things can turn into the skills we need to survive’
Isla – ‘I found it impressive how he didn’t promote RAF explicitly, however lead with the skills through enjoyable activities’
Florence ‘I loved how he made us get out of our comfort zone by getting us to work with and socialise with new people. I even made a new friend because of this’
Our budding Northgate News Team members Christina and Lily, recently interviewed Miss Bauman who is a member of our English Department. Here’s what she had to say in response to their questions.
Over the last 13 years of Northgate taking part in Number Day, Year 7s have managed to raise over £3300 to contribute to the continued work of the NSPCC and Childline. There were a number of activities the Year 7s took part in. During Period 1 half of the year group gathered in the main hall. They started their session with number aerobics, which included some volunteers demonstrating what to do. It was great to see such enthusiasm from everyone!
Isla commented, ‘The Dance and Drama Showcase was the first ever big thing I had done at Northgate High School. I was very nervous about remembering lines and cues. On the night I had not only nerves but excitement. I was with my friends and peers ready to perform. My favourite performance we did would have to be the Matilda sketch. It was so much fun to cheer and scream and let go of all my nerves. It all went perfectly! I had lots of support from both the teachers and my family! Now that I know what it’s like, and know it is what I want to do for my future, I cannot wait to perform in the many productions being put on here at Northgate such as Alice In Wonderland.’
7RH
7JD