Private School News

NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL’S BIG BAND WINS SILVER AT NATIONAL CONCERT BAND FINALS

Members of Nottingham High School’s Big Band have been celebrating after winning a silver award at the finals of the National Concert Band Festival in Cardiff, the UK’s largest wind and big band festival.

The 18 strong band were one of only five bands in the country to be selected to play, as a result of their previous successes at the regional stages of the competition, where they battled it out against 25 other groups from across the North and the Midlands.

At the final, the Big Band performed a range of music from the 1950’s through to modern Latin American compositions. Vocalist, Oliver Metcalfe, also performed “Feeling Good” by Michael Bublé and saxophonist, Fergal Duggan, was presented with an ‘Outstanding Soloist’ award.

Gerald Douglas, a music teacher at Nottingham High School said; “The boys did both themselves and the school proud with a fantastic performance at the competition and thoroughly deserve their award. All the bands were of an extremely high standard and we were delighted to be amongst the elite of the UK’s top musical groups and hope to go one better next time.”

The band alternate between touring abroad – playing in Rome last year and with plans to go to Holland next as part of a musical festival, and taking part in the National Concert Band Festival.

NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL HAVE WINNING FORMULA AT NATIONAL CHEMISTRY COMPETITION

Chemistry pupils from Nottingham High School are celebrating after becoming runners up in the national final of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s RSC prestigious ‘Top of the Bench’ competition that took place at Loughborough University.

Having won the East Midlands Regional Final in January, the four strong team; Kyle Lam, 16, David Bennett, 15, Tom Kent, 14 and Ben Gates, 14, competed against 28 teams from schools across the UK, each having qualified to represent their own region, to battle it out in the final stage of the competition.

The final consisted of two activities, a short test of factual knowledge and a practical chemical problem solving team exercise at which the High School boys particularly excelled.

Kieron Heath, head of chemistry at the school said; “This level of success on a national level, in a Royal Society of Chemistry competition, is a fantastic achievement; the boys were an absolute credit to themselves and the School.”

“The competition was very challenging, but it was also a very enjoyable and valuable experience,” said Kyle Lam. “We had the opportunity to do experiments that we don’t normally get the chance to do at school and use some really advanced equipment. We also managed to talk to postgraduate students about career opportunities.”

After finishing second the boys were awarded a plate trophy by former Olympic high jumper Geoff Parsons.

In addition, three first year sixth form students at the school; George Watkinson (17), Chris Heining (17) and Alex McDonald (17), finished third at the Midlands final of the ‘National Analyst Competition’, run by the RSC’s Analytical Division, which took place at Nottingham Trent University. Judged by Maggie Tebrake from 3M,

Graham Taylor from AstraZeneca, Adam Watkins from Innovata Biomed and Brendan Laverty from the RSC analytical division committee, the boys won vouchers for themselves and a cash prize for the High School Chemistry Department.

NEW DIRECTOR OF MUSIC AT NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL

Nottingham High School has appointed a new director of music.

Stefan Reid joins the High School from South Hampstead High School in London. An Oxford Graduate, Stefan has 15 years experience working in Independent schools. In his new role he will be responsible for managing all aspects of the Music Department, both curricular and extra-curricular, as well as running the main orchestra, the NHS/NHSG Joint choir and the Junior Choir.

In addition, Stefan works as a conductor, pianist and organist. He has conducted most major choral works with both professional and amateur choirs and orchestras. Stefan has been Musical Director of two major London Choral Societies and has worked with groups such as The London Symphony Chorus, The Aurelian Ensemble and Eton Sackbutts and Cornetts.

“It has been a huge pleasure for me to return to the Midlands where I grew up and to work at a school with the standards, facilities and possibilities on offer at Nottingham High School”, said Stefan. “I’m looking forward to some exciting years of music making as we not only build on the success of recent years but draw in the expertise of some of this country’s leading musicians to inspire our activities in the future.”

“We are delighted to welcome Stefan to the school”, said Kevin Fear, headmaster at Nottingham High School. “Many of our pupils have musical talent of an extremely high calibre and Stefan’s knowledge and passion for music makes him ideal to guide and encourage even more to excel in the subject. We are looking forward to working with him.”

TOPPING OUT FOR NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART SIXTH FORM CENTRE AT NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL

A topping out ceremony for the new £4.5m state-of-the-art Sixth Form Centre at Nottingham High School has taken place.

The sixth form centre which also includes a senior school dining hall, has been designed by Nottingham architects Maber and is being built by G F Tomlinson. Representatives involved gathered to mark the occasion.

Located in the West Quad area at the heart of the school’s buildings, the centre will provide spacious and modern facilities for both senior school and sixth form pupils. A 400-500 capacity dining hall with new kitchen facilities will be situated on the ground floor, leaving the current dining hall free for Junior School pupils. The first and second floors will be given over to Sixth Formers, housing a coffee bar / brasserie and large, bright social areas. A bridge link will also connect the social area to the library.

The roof itself is an eye catching feature. Enclosing the West Quad, it is covered in translucent cushions. Perimeter glazing between the existing high level walls and the underside of the new roof will allow it to visually ‘float’ above the new walls.

The materials for the new facilities include timber wall panelling, glazed balustrades and a striking white painted mezzanine which will both contrast with, and complement the existing buildings.

To ensure that the new development is as environmentally friendly as possible, the enclosed quad maximises the opportunities for natural light and natural ventilation. It also has under floor heating which is able to run at a lower water temperature than more conventional radiators and long life construction materials will also be used.

“The building is really starting to take shape and we are looking forward to its completion in June,” said Kevin Fear, headmaster at Nottingham High School. “The centre will offer the best possible facilities alongside excellent teaching resources for our pupils. This is an exciting time for the school.”

Simon Middlecote of Maber said: “The completion of the centre’s roof is an important milestone in this project. As a practice we have a lot of experience working on projects in the education sector and this has been an interesting scheme to be involved with. We look forward to its completion.”

Stuart Lawrence, director of G F Tomlinson Building Limited, commented: “We are delighted to be working alongside Nottingham High School and the professional team on this unique and innovative project. We will utilise our extensive experience in the education sector to successfully deliver a facility that all the schools’ stakeholders will be truly proud of.”

Photo: L-R:Simon Middlecote (Maber Architects), Kevin Fear (headmaster at Nottingham High School), Stuart Lawrence (managing director atTomlinsons)

NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL SWIM TO SUCCESS

Pupils from Nottingham High School have been celebrating after becoming national champions in the Medley relay at the English School’s National Swimming Finals.

Qualifying forth place in the heats, the U14 team, Seb Smith, Lewis Wiley, Luke Sperry and Jorge Phenix-Coyne, then went on to win the final and break the national record of 2.00.99 for the Medley relay. All four boys also swam personal bests.

In addition, not only was it the twelfth year in a row that the school has made it to the finals, but they were also the only school to be represented in all six of the boys’ events – Medley and Freestyle in the U14’s, U16’s and U18’s categories.

The U14 team also went on to make the Freestyle final – finishing seventh. Joe Mellors, another member of the U14 team, swam a personal best in this event.

The other age groups swam extremely well too with the U18’s team making the Medley final and finishing in eighth, and then going on to finish 11th in the Freestyle event.

At U16 level, the team finished in 16th place in the Medley relay and 10th in the Freestyle with a very good swim.

Swimming coach, Paul Spedding said; “This was a very successful day for the school team who have continued to impress and we are very proud of them. To be National Champions is a fantastic achievement but to break the national record whilst doing it is just out of this world!”

21st century ‘Duke Box’

Nottingham High School pupil, Sam Duke, 17 has invented an award-winning media extender, the ‘Duke Box’, as part of his Design & Technology AS Level coursework.

The Duke Box will stream video and audio from any attached computer wirelessly to the user’s television. Whilst existing products need a wireless network to attach to, Sam has incorporated his own wireless technology into the device. This means that a user only needs to install the software Sam has written on to their PC to be up and running, greatly simplifying the process for the average home user.

Sam has so far raked in three awards for his invention; The Young Engineer for Britain’s Midlands Region award for the best Integration and Application of Electronics, The Sir William Siemens Medal for the most innovative Design Technology project, and a Crest Gold Award.

Kevin Fear, headmaster at Nottingham High School said, “Sam’s invention is fantastic and richly deserves the awards and recognition it has received. We are all extremely proud of Sam and know that this is the start of a promising career in engineering for him.”

Sam is now hoping for a national prize at the final of the Young Engineers competition in London in March. In the meantime he is developing his next invention and looking forward to taking up his place at Cambridge next year to study engineering.

NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL PUPIL RUNNER UP IN INTERNATIONAL SQUASH COMPETITION

Nottingham High School pupil, Oliver Holland, 14, has been celebrating after finishing runner up in the British Junior Open Squash competition in Sheffield – the largest squash tournament in the world.

Oliver, seeded number two in the world in the under 15’s, met India’s Mahesh Mangaonkar, seeded 3/4 in the final. The match was closely fought with Mahesh finally taking victory winning by three games to one.

The match was the culmination of the long established international tournament in which Oliver fought off 5 other U15 competitors from around the world.

“I was absolutely over the moon to make it to the final but needless to say disappointed that I didn’t win”, said Oliver. “Mahesh is a great player and it was a really exciting and close match. I now have my sights set on my next tournament which will be the U18 Home Internationals in Cardiff where I will be representing England against Wales, Scotland and Ireland. After that my attention will be on the U15 British Closed competition.”

“The talent of the players taking part in this prestigious competition is of a high calibre and making it to the final was no mean feat. The fact that Oliver made it so far is testament to his skill in the sport. We are extremely proud of him,” said Kevin Fear, headmaster at Nottingham High School.

Oliver is one of a long line of international sports players at the High School which includes Elite Rugby U18 squad member, Alex Lewington, GB representative in the U17 British Orienteering Start Squad, James Taylor and sailing champion, Will Twemlow.

NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL APPOINTS NEW CHAIRMAN OF GOVERNORS

Paul Balen has become the new chairman of governors at Nottingham High School, taking over from Nigel Tamplin who held the role for over 5 years.

Paul, who is a partner with well known law firm Freeth Cartwright LLP, has been a governor at the school for 6 years and over this period has been actively involved in the school serving on the committee which is responsible for its academic affairs.

As a former pupil of the school himself before going on to study law at Peterhouse Cambridge, Paul clearly has a long association with Nottingham High School. He also had a son at the school.

“I am looking forward to helping guide this great independent school through to its 500th anniversary celebrations in 2013,” said Paul. “Nottingham High School continues to offer an outstanding education at all ages and with the recent opening of Lovell House – our infant school, and the building of our new sixth form centre and dining hall well under way, we face the future with great optimism. With the amazing caliber of the pupils and staff I believe we are entering an exciting phase in our history.”

Kevin Fear, headmaster at Nottingham High School said: “While serving as a governor at the school, Paul has shown that he has what it takes to be a successful chairman of our governing body and I have every confidence in his leadership abilities. Paul is ideally placed to represent the school and the fact that he is an ‘old boy’ himself, makes it particularly personal to him. We are delighted that he has taken on the role.”

NOTTS ORIENTEER CHOSEN TO REPRESENT GREAT BRITAIN

Nottingham High School pupil, James Taylor has been chosen to represent Great Britain in the 2008/09 under 17 British Orienteering Start Squad.

As part of his training James, 16, has recently returned from a week of extensive training in Trondheim Norway which involved running in the forest and terrains twice a day as well as reviewing race and training performance to highlight areas for improvement. This preparation culminated in the Mid-Norwegian Champs race, a three day event in which James ran with hundreds of people from all over the world, including as far away as Australia. The race comprised of a 3.5km sprint race in which James came sixth, a 8km long race which saw James come ninth and a relay race in which James team finished in 16th place out of over 50 teams.

In addition, James, a keen orienteer from the age of 12, has been awarded sponsorship from the UK Sport World Class Talented Athlete Sponsorship Scheme (TASS), following good performances on the GB team in Sweden this summer and the selection races last Spring.

James said: “I had a great time in Norway, and I am thrilled with my own personal results as well as those our team achieved. I will now be training hard and aiming to compete in the Future Champions Cup races in Spring 2009. A good performance in these races will hopefully enable me to get selected for the GB team for the Junior World Orienteering Champs. I’d particularly like to thank all the staff at my school who have encouraged and supported me all the way.”

Nottingham High School headmaster, Kevin Fear, said: “This is a significant achievement for James and we are all very proud of him. James is an outstanding ambassador for both his school and the city. He thoroughly deserves this selection and we will follow his progress with interest.”

James is also a member of the Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club and represents the East Midlands Orienteering Association.

CLASS OF ’98 RETURNS FOR NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

After a decade apart, 25 members of Nottingham High School’s ‘Class of ’98’ recently had the chance to catch up on old times at a High School reunion.

The old boys, together with some of their wives and partners, gathered to reminisce about their school days and meet some of their former teachers. As well as taking a tour of the school, they also enjoyed some nostalgia with a look at photos from their time there.

Some also took the opportunity to watch a rugby match between the Nottingham High School and Trent College and had the enjoyment of seeing the High School First XV beat Trent 10-20.

Les Wilkinson, senior master at Nottingham High School, helped to organise the reunion, he said: “A good day was had by all and many of the old boys expressed an interest in organising another reunion in five years’ time, to mark the School’s 500th anniversary in 2013.”

Image: Nottingham High School’s ‘Class of ’98’, with some of their partners and formers teachers, gather on the school steps during the reunion.

JOSH WINS PRESTIGIOUS HISTORY PRIZE

Josh Mills, a pupil at Nottingham High School, has won a prestigious writing prize from Trinity College in Cambridge.

Each year colleges at Oxford and Cambridge Universities run a competition for A-Level historians to write the best historical essay.

Josh, age 17 from The Park, wrote an essay on the role of the Cold War on the demise of social segregation in the American South. He was awarded first prize out of 75 very high standard entries. He received £300 for himself and a further £300 for Nottingham High School to buy books. Josh has also been invited to Trinity College for a day.

Josh said: “I was absolutely delighted to win the prize after all of the hard work that was involved. The black civil rights course was one that I found particularly interesting and so the opportunity to research it independently was a rewarding challenge.”

Nottingham High School history teacher, Simon Williams, said: “Josh’s success is very pleasing but not a surprise because he is an exceptionally gifted history student.”

PUPIL EXPERIENCES FEAR FACTOR AT NOTTINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL