We are pleased to introduce our February bulletin. In our bulletin this month there’s information about our Year 7 Ultimate Goal presentations, an update from the orchard committee and photos from our Alice in Wonderland auditions and Chinese themed menu in Café North.
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 Year 7 students have fortnightly enrichment lessons as part of their curriculum and have been working on SAIL presentations. So, what does SAIL mean?
Student
Agency
In
Learning
What does the word AGENCY mean? It is your capacity to take control of your life and life plans, and to be able to reflect on, and change, how your life plans are progressing.
Enrichment lessons involved
Learning what a goal is
Learning how to break down a long-term goal into mini-goals
Researching potential careers
Creating your Ultimate Goal and a plan to achieve it
At the beginning of the term the whole of Year 7 were informed they would be giving a presentation to an audience. At the time, this was quite a big deal for the majority of our students, as it was something that would place a number of them out of their comfort zone. Mr MacDonald coordinates the Enrichment Programme and has been with them from the start in September.
The aim of the presentation was to raise their confidence and enable them to improve on their communication skills. A number of the students found the process to be quite challenging and for others, it became obvious they were natural presenters. This was fantastic in many ways and at Northgate High School; we always encourage our students to do the best they can. This was the ideal presentation for them to work on as the topic was about their future.
Students had to identify what their chosen career might be in addition, what is their ultimate goal. It was made clear that what they identify may not be what they do in the future as things can always change. The idea however, was to conduct research into the world of work and understand how hard they have to work to get there. An explanation of the ultimate goal process was given during a number of lessons, prior to the presentation being delivered. An example of this was broken down into mini goals ahead of reaching their ultimate goal. Students were excited to being given the opportunity to show off their presentation skills to their parents and their Form Tutors. Mr MacDonald was very proud of their efforts, knowing that for some it was the first time they had ever done this.
The range of career choices were amazing! Pilots, hairdressers, You – Tubers, Finance, teachers, lawyers, NHS and many more. The goals too were also very inspiring, ‘my goal is to make many people better, have my own business, and be a millionaire.’ This has truly been a wonderful project for our students!
It was clear that a number of students initially were nervous about presenting as they had stated in their reviews. This changed once they completed a follow up exercise to explain how they felt and what they had understood about their goal setting.
A selection of student’s goals and thoughts:
Holy 7JB – I would love to be a Midwife in the future and this is my ultimate goal.
Theo 7JD – I love animals and I would love to join the police and become a dog handler, this is my ultimate goal.
Lilah 7JB – I was nervous leading up to my presentation, I just got on with it in the end it was great! I want to travel the world this is my ultimate goal.
Annabelle 7VE – I was nervous when told we were doing a presentation, but I overcame my worries. I want to be an actor this is my ultimate goal.
Zak 7DNI – I was not too happy about doing the presentation, but it was fine in the end. I want to be on stage dancing and become a ballet dancer, this is my ultimate goal.
Layla 7RH – I was nervous at the prospect of doing my presentation, but I rose to the challenge. I want to be a teacher and this is my ultimate goal.
Imogen 7VE – I was looking forward to the presentation, although like others I was nervous. I want to run the London Marathon in the future and this is my ultimate goal.
Jacy 7RP – It was a scary thinking about the presentation but it went well in the end. If I work hard hopefully, to become a football player, this is my ultimate goal.
Jasmine 7JD – I was nervous too before my presentation but I did it. I want improve my football and be comfortable around animals, this is my ultimate goal.
Anitt 7MM – I am so excited about doing my presentation; I work on it during break and lunch. My ultimate is to complete this presentation in front of my parents and make them proud.
A student’s thoughts – When I first arrived to Northgate High school one of the first things I saw on my timetable was “enrichment” At first, I thought this was unusual and I was very excited to discover what the class was all about. As the weeks passed and we had all settled into our classes, enrichment was a lesson to look forward to. Mr MacDonald explained in October that we would be giving our presentations to an audience. We would have use of the library and the computing rooms to prepare. The presentation was to identify our chosen career and to understand our ultimate goal. At the time, I was very nervous and thought that I would not possibly do this in front of my parents or teacher. Now that I have, completed my presentation I now know that I was worried about absolutely nothing, it went amazing!
Northgate News Team members, Isla and Georgina, tell us about their experience:
Isla: ‘For my SAIL presentation, I had to write about my future career and ultimate goal. For my career, I chose to be an actor. It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. Making the presentation wasn’t too challenging. I really enjoyed being left to choose it all by myself. It really helped me learn new things and helped me research what was needed. My ultimate goal was to travel and learn a new language. When I was presenting, I was really nervous. I had to show off the presentation with no idea on what to say! Personally, I think it went splendidly. I was so proud of myself for speaking about what and how I was going to continue going about my further education and life. I researched things on how much i would be paid and if i need to learn to sing and dance etc. I am now in the drama club after school and starring in my second production! I cannot wait to continue to make massive progress in hope for the future of my dreams!’
Georgina: ‘I wrote mine about being a Neuropsychologist. We spent our Enrichment lessons writing it. We were then taken out of one lesson on a certain day for 15 minutes to do it in front of our parents and careers or if we didn’t have anyone to come for us we had someone else. Afterwards we talked for a while about the job we wanted etc. it was very nice and calm.’
Mrs Harris, Year 7 tutor, comments, ‘It was an eye-opening day that allowed me to not only hear all about my tutor group’s aspirations but also meant I could spend some time with them amongst their family and friends. It was lovely to see some of their parents so proud of their children! A highlight for me was learning all about how Mason wanted to start a frog selling business.’
Mrs Nimmock, Year 7 tutor, said, ‘The presentations that I saw were really interesting. It was great to have an insight into the goals and ambitions of my tutees. I feel I know them so much better now and look forward to seeing them work towards their goals.’
Our Geography students have plenty of opportunities to complete field work throughout their time at Northgate. Recently our Year 8 students headed to Cambridge.
Mrs Ellis, from the Geography Department said, ‘The Year 8 Geography field trip to Cambridge was a chance for pupils to undertake some urban field work. Throughout the day the Year 8s were able to make observations and recordings about the environmental quality, the sights, the sounds and the smells of different locations within Cambridge. Using this information they were able to see that Cambridge is a fascinating city which includes a great variation in the services that it offers a range of users such as tourists, shoppers, students and people who work in the area.’
Annabelle commented, ‘Cambridge was great! We went to five different places in total and we answered a few questions at each location. We had a break after two places and lunch after one more; where we could have a look around the market and get something if we wanted. We went to the other two places after lunch, then the coaches arrived and we came back. I really enjoyed seeing all the different places around Cambridge and learning some facts about them too! The questions that we answered were all about the geography of Cambridge – mainly about your senses (what you can see, hear and smell). Some of the places that we went to were a bit muddy, and sometimes it was hard to answer some of the questions, but overall I really enjoyed the trip!’
Ella, who also attended, said ‘When we went to Cambridge it was really fun. We each got a booklet and we had to write down what we could see, hear and smell. At lunch time we got to go round the market, it was really cool as we got to try lots of different foods. I really enjoyed going and I would definitely do it again!’
Jack enjoyed the trip commenting that, ‘Cambridge was a lovely immersive experience with beautiful buildings and lovely food. Our work tested the sights, sounds and smells of the areas that we stopped at. Cambridge is a lovely place and I would recommend going there!’
A big thank you to the Geography Department for organising this opportunity and well done to all students who completed the work to such a good standard.
It’s great to hear about the activities our students take part in outside of school, the skills they learn and the adventures they have. Emma, Year 11, who is part of the Northgate News Team, recently interviewed Head Boy, Milo, to see why he ventured to Egypt in the October half term. It was a fantastic experience by all accounts.
Why did you venture to Egypt?
I went to Egypt to dive in the Red Sea and complete a further step towards a master diver qualification to further put me in good stead to meet my aspirations of becoming a marine biologist. I completed a survey diver course that involved practical skills like using quadrats, filming both fish and coral wildlife and conducting various survey methods.
Why did you go to Egypt specifically?
As the red sea offers one of the most bio-diverse underwater areas in the whole world, it is an excellent place to be able to complete diving courses that involve the monitoring of underwater biomes. Also, as the ocean world is so unknown, being able to be in an area that delivers so much to study is an incredibly interesting experience.
Could you tell me a bit more about the beach clean-up you were part of?
As COP-27 was right round the corner (I was in Egypt late October 2022), there were beach clean-ups encouraged by the local people. From the camp I was staying at, we took a 30 minute drive to the town of Quseer and cleaned up the beach there. We all got allocated different types of litter to collect so we could recycle effectively. Scraps of metal, plastic, including cigarette butts which I collected. I picked up approximately 500 cigarette butts on a 30m beach – which shows that it definitely needed picking up.
Here is the before picture on the beach and then after we had completed the litter pick.
Wow, what an amazing and eye-opening experience. Thank you to Emma and Milo for sharing this with us.
Don’t forget, if you have taken part in something outside of school that you think others would like to hear about, please speak to one of the Northgate News Team, who can interview you, or to Miss Theobald.
We are pleased to introduce our January bulletin. In our bulletin this month there’s updates from our Library, news about our Christmas concert and craft fayre, our KS3 Macbeth performance and Accelerated Reader stars.
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 Tallulah and Amilie, alongside Miss Theobald, recently interview Mrs Simms. A member of the Science Department, Mrs Simms has worked at Northgate since September 2017. A former Head of House and currently second in Science, here’s what she had to say in reply to the questions.
What is your favourite Science and why?
I really enjoy Chemistry as it is logical, it’s about learning patterns and building a bigger picture.
Who is your favourite scientist?
It would be Dr Sarah Gilbert – She is a Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford. She specialises in the development of vaccines against influenza and emerging viral pathogens.
She co-developed the Oxford AstraZeneca covid vaccine. As of January 2022, more than 2.5 billion doses of the vaccine have been released to more than 170 countries worldwide. In the 2021 Birthday Honours, she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to science and to public health in COVID-19 vaccine development.
Why did you want to become a Science teacher?
When I was young I enjoyed Science at school. I liked learning about why things happened – I always questioned why. I like working with children and wanted to share my knowledge and enthusiasm for Science with them.
With your knowledge of what the job of a teacher involves, would you choose it again?
Yes, I was the correct career choice for me.
Do you enjoy teaching at Northgate and can you describe Northgate in 3 words?
Yes! I would have to say lively, community and welcoming.
Have any practicals gone wrong in your lesson before?
Yes, i was doing some fractional distillation and the bench caught light. It was all ok though and quickly sorted.
What is your favourite topic to teach in Chemistry?
It would have to be a Year 11 topic – C5 on separation of substances and moles (not the animals!)
Do you have any hobbies outside of school?
I like to do zumba and dance and read when I get a chance. As a family, we like to watch Harry Potter films and Marvel films. I also like gardening.
Have you had any jobs other than being a teacher?
I started in financial services, administrating pensions and then worked with a financial advisor. Next I sold health insurance for Bupa before having a family and going to university. Then I decided to become a teacher.
If you weren’t a teacher, what job would you like?
That’s a difficult one, it changes a lot, but I’d like to be an astronaut or work for the space agency!
What would you say is the most significant scientific discovery?
That’s a really hard question as they all build on each other. Someone comes up with a theory and proves or disproves it, then someone else improves it and so on. More recently though I would say the development of different vaccines.
You run STEM club at Northgate with Mr Fox – why should people get involved?
STEM club means that we can look at fun and challenging topics and projects that are not covered in the Science curriculum. We also have a Science Fair in March which we would like as many people as possible to get involved in.
A big thank you to Mrs Simms for taking the time to be interviewed. We look forward to seeing who the Northgate News Team pick next!
A selection of student’s goals and thoughts:
A student’s thoughts – When I first arrived to Northgate High school one of the first things I saw on my timetable was “enrichment” At first, I thought this was unusual and I was very excited to discover what the class was all about. As the weeks passed and we had all settled into our classes, enrichment was a lesson to look forward to. Mr MacDonald explained in October that we would be giving our presentations to an audience. We would have use of the library and the computing rooms to prepare. The presentation was to identify our chosen career and to understand our ultimate goal. At the time, I was very nervous and thought that I would not possibly do this in front of my parents or teacher. Now that I have, completed my presentation I now know that I was worried about absolutely nothing, it went amazing!
Annabelle commented, ‘Cambridge was great! We went to five different places in total and we answered a few questions at each location. We had a break after two places and lunch after one more; where we could have a look around the market and get something if we wanted. We went to the other two places after lunch, then the coaches arrived and we came back. I really enjoyed seeing all the different places around Cambridge and learning some facts about them too! The questions that we answered were all about the geography of Cambridge – mainly about your senses (what you can see, hear and smell). Some of the places that we went to were a bit muddy, and sometimes it was hard to answer some of the questions, but overall I really enjoyed the trip!’
Our budding Northgate News Team members Tallulah and Amilie, alongside Miss Theobald, recently interview Mrs Simms. A member of the Science Department, Mrs Simms has worked at Northgate since September 2017. A former Head of House and currently second in Science, here’s what she had to say in reply to the questions.