Northwood Olympic Reading Challenge

Storm Savage of grade 8 LA is this week’s lucky draw prize winner for our Olympic Reading Challenge, sponsored by Wimpy Glenashley.  We still have 3 weeks left of the competition with a lucky draw each week, so keep on reading to complete the challenge and to win fantastic prizes from our many sponsors.  Once again, thank you to Sean Wakefield of The Bierfassl for his generous sponsorship of a Kindle for our first prize.

Northwood Supports ECR Toy Story

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by just how much despair there is around you every day? Well, East Coast Radio’s Toy Story with Game is an opportunity for you to do your small part in the bigger picture of spreading cheer to those who desperately need it. It is a chance to reach out to children in government hospitals, crèches, orphanages and child-headed households around the province by donating new toys or cash, which goes towards food parcels.

There is a collection box in Northwood’s reception and we, as Northwood School, look forward to being a major contributor.  We trust that the Northwood family will support this worthy cause.

New Deputy Principal for Northwood

He’s a Scotsman, a keen chess player, an educator and for almost two decades, Paul McAvoy has dedicated his life to teaching.

McAvoy was recently appointed deputy principal of Northwood School, a position he has held at Rand Park High for a number of years. His new appointment is one he is relishing.

“Northwood is a school of strong traditions and it is blessed with immense resources, both in terms of facilities and human capital. It is my goal to ensure that the school reaches its maximum potential in as many areas as possible,” he said.

After a brief dalliance with law, McAvoy studied teaching in Pretoria and Johannesburg and holds an honours degree in education, specialising in educational management.

Paul, an avid sportsman, husband to Vivien, father of Logan, said at school, he tried to compete in as many sports as he could but chess was his forté. Paul holds SA school colours for chess and has also been a national selector for South Africa.
When asked whether he was looking forward to his new post at Northwood, he replied ‘without a doubt’.
“There is a fantastic feeling of community within Durban North and surrounds, something I became aware of during holidays and other trips to the area, this, together with the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to a school which has already achieved so much, makes Northwood a place that any educator would want to be,” he said.

Paul McAvoy has commenced in October as deputy principal of Northwood School.

Northwood – I am Talent

An initiative by The Knights (the association for old boys, parents and supporters of Northwood) has seen Northwood heading the field in the school leadership stakes.

Recently the ‘I am Talent’ workshop, specifically tailored for learners at secondary school level by internationally renowned old boy John Gatherer, was piloted to 40 identified Grade 11’s with the intention of a further roll out to other Northwood boys during 2013.  The workshop is designed to unleash the young men’s potential and for them to have the abilty to differentiate themselves in this incredibly competitive world in which we live. “It is a wonderful course, I genuinely enjoyed the entire experience and would recommend it to anyone and everyone”,  stated Mpumelelo Shangase

Gatherer, a former Group HR Manager for the De Beers Group, co-wrote the best selling business book ‘I am Talent’ and has been confirmed to present the tailor made course to schools in other areas of the country in the near future.

James Dixon, Chairman of the Knights said of this ground breaking initiative: “Amongst the objectives of the Knights is to strengthen ties between the old boys and the school and we believe that John’s visionary initiative is a brilliant example of what we are trying to achieve.  There are many old boys who have achieved fantastic things since leaving Beachwood, Northlands and Northwood, and we are hoping that we will see offers such as John’s generous assistance from old boys in their respective fields of expertise”.

Photo:

Simon du Plessis of Northwood thanks John Gatherer, the author of I am Talent.  With them is James Dixon, Chairman of The Knights

Arbor Day at Northwood

Northwood, being the early bird, celebrated Arbor Day on Friday. Northwood’s Environmental Club learners together planted the tree of the year, the Jacket Plum (Pappea capensis). The tree which belongs to the litchi family is evergreen and grows up to 8 metres – hoping to provide shade at the midday break. The red tasty fruit are edible to both animals and to the boys of Northwood. Moreover the tree has medicinal properties which can be used for nose bleed, baldness and ringworm treatment. The tree has a sweet scent attracting game and has been used in the production of soap, preservation of jams and jellies. Arbor Day celebrations will continue at Northwood on Monday with Justin Govender bringing about an awareness of the importance of the preservation of our flora and the ripple effect it has on our fauna. Learners will also be encouraged to continue to recycle paper at the school which is an ongoing project to sustain our biodiversity.

World Knowledge Olympiad

The World Knowledge Olympiad sponsored by the University of the Free State was written nationally and Northwood entered 43 boys into the competition. Delon Baker of Grade 8 came 3rd for Grade 8 in KZN and won R700. In the Grade 9 section, Sergio Da Silva, came 2nd second in KZN, winning the Silver Award and R900.

Northwood’s own Olympics – Interhouse Athletics

Interhouse Athletics Interhouse Athletics at Northwood on Wednesday 22 August took on an Olympic atmosphere. The athletes were spurred on by their enthusiastic house compatriots, with the high jump, in particular, getting the crowd clapping!

At a pre-deciding event on Tuesday 21 August, two long standing records were broken by Phikolomzi Sobahle who achieved 12,45m in the U16 Triple Jump and Ross Muil who threw 52,23m in the U15 javelin.

The C. Hansen Memorial Trophy for Junior Victor Ludorum was won by Ross Muil and the  Pevsner Trophy went to Dale van der Merwe who was the Senior Victor Ludorum.

The day was keenly supported by the boys and efficiently orchestrated by the staff with Crusaders House proving victorious once again.

New Student Leaders for Northwood

At Speech Day on 12 October 2012, after our prize winners had been given their trophies, the new Student Leader’s were announced.  The Headboy is Matthew de Sousa who will have the support of his Deputies: Yastheel Devnarrian, Simon du Plessis, Sakhile Mazibuko and Dale van der Merwe.

Northwood’s Hockey Success

“We heard the excellent news that our first side had won the KZN Indoor Hockey title, beating Westville 5-4 in a thrilling final. In winning the title for the first time, we also became the first school to win both the indoor and outdoor titles in one year. Our age group sides generally did very well in the indoor leagues as well, with the 2nd XI, 16A and 14A sides being runner-ups in their leagues. Overall, it was a season to remember and I must congratulate the players, and particularly our MIC and coach, Darryn Gallagher, on these great results. Well done!”  Mr Jordan, Headmaster Northwood School

THE Northwood team rounded off an amazing indoor hockey season with a 5-4 victory over rivals Westville Boys to clinch the 2012 KZN Schools Indoor Hockey League title. This capped a fantastic year for the Northwood 1st team after an outstanding outdoor season when they lost only one league game, won the KZN Schools Night League and went through the annual Founders Festival undefeated. The win was all the more important for Northwood as they had earlier in the tournament gone down heavily (2-10) to the Highway team playing with neither their captain, Matthew de Sousa, nor their coach, Darryn Gallagher, who were unavailable.

However it was their only defeat of the tournament and they went to win seven pool games on their road to the final to qualify for the semi-final in which they defeated Glenwood 5-3. The final was of a high standard and just when it appeared that Westville would go into the half-time break with a goal in hand Northwood’s John McAlery scored an equaliser to make it 3-3 and to give Northwood the momentum going into the second half. Northwood came out strongly on the resumption and scored twice to give themselves a two-goal cushion which they held on to until late in the game when Westville pulled one back. But Northwood held on for a 5-4 victory and the title.

During the course of the season the Northwood indoor team scored 68 goals and conceded only 24.

NORTHWOOD’S 1st’’s KZN INDOOR HOCKEY RECORD

Pool games:

Northwood beat Clifton 10-1, beat Glenwood 3-0, beat Kingsway 11-2, beat DHS 9-4, beat Kearsney 11-0, beat Thomas More 12-0 and lost to Westville 2 -10

Semi-final:

Northwood 5 Glenwood 3

Final:

Northwood 5 Westville 4

Well done to Mathew de Sousa for not losing a game of indoor in two years, last year for U16’s and this year for 1sts (he was away when they lost to Westville).

Congratulations must also go to Matthew de Sousa, Steve McManus & Tylo Remke who were selected in the KZN U18A Indoor team and John McAlery & Kyle Pillay in the KZN U18B indoor teams which took part in the U21 Inter-Provincial Tournament in February.

This capped off a fantastic year for the Northwood 1st hockey team after an outdoor season which was highlighted by being undefeated at the annual Founders Festival, losing only one match at home during the league and winning the annual KZN Schools night league.

Congratulations to all the Northwood hockey teams on a fantastic season.

FURTHER HOCKEY SUCCESS

The 2nd team were undefeated in winning the B section and then beat Kingsway 3 – 1 in the Promotion / Relegation game. The goal scorers were Y. Govender 2, D. Hoareau. Their results during the season were as follows: beat Ashton 1st 10 – 0, beat Glenwood 2nd 5 – 3, beat Toti 1st 8 – 1, beat Crawford La Lucia 1st 4 – 2, beat Kloof 1st 2 – 1 and beat Westville 2nd 6 – 4

The U16A team ended 2nd in the A section, losing just one game to Westville! Their results were as follows: beat Northwood U16B 10 – 0, beat Glenwood U16A 4 – 3, beat Westville U16B 11 – 2, beat Clifton U16A 7 – 3, lost to Westville U16A 5 – 3 and beat DHS U16A 5 – 1.

The U14A ended 2nd in the A section ahead of Glenwood on goal difference after being tie on points. Their results were as follows: beat Clifton U14A 5 – 4, beat Crawford La Lucia U14A 7 – 3, lost to Westville U14A 7 – 1, beat Thomas More U14A 6 – 0 and lost to Glenwood U14A 6 – 5.

OLYMPIAN COACH, DARRYN GALLAGHER

Mr Gallagher has coached a number of teams through the years: KZN Inland U18A boys (outdoor) KZN Inland U21 men (indoor and outdoor) KZN Inland Senior men’s high performance squad (indoor and outdoor) UKZN, Pietermaritzburg Campus men and ladies (indoor and outdoor) KZN Coastals Senior ladies (outdoor) SA U16 boys training squad (outdoor) SA U19 men’s assistant coach (outdoor) SA U21 men’s Head coach (Current – outdoor) As a player he represented South Africa 87 times.

He has attended an All Africa Games, 2 x African Cup of Nations, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and Beijing Olympic Games.

Northwood’s Karate Kid

Congratulations to Shayur Hansraj, a grade 9 learner at Northwood School, who represented KZN at the South African All-Styles Karate Championships which were held 24 – 25 August in Durban. He won the following medals: Team Kata – Gold, Individual Kata – Silver and Individual Kumite – Bronze. His results have made him eligible for selection to future International tournaments.

Northwood at the Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week

Northwood was one of eighteen schools from around the country invited to the prestigious Oppenheimer Michaelmas Cricket Week hosted by Maritzburg College recently.  They saw themselves up against Pretoria Boys High School , Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), St David’s Marist Inanda, Sandton and Grey College, Bloemfontein (Grey Bloem) during the Festival.  Northwood had a very good win over St Davids and were the only side to bowl the powerful Grey Bloem side out .  Pretoria Boys , Affies and Grey Bloem remained unbeaten throughout the four days.

At the end of the tournament the Northwood Boys were congratulated on the way they conducted themselves in a letter from the organisers that stated,  “ It was an absolute pleasure hosting Northwood and the boys bowled us over with their good manners and behaviour. At the end of the festival they came to thank and shake hands with us, and we were touched by this gesture.  Northwood was one of only two teams to do so – the other being Westlake from New Zealand.  You can certainly be proud of them – they were true ambassadors to their school.”

Back l-r: Jonathan Scruby, Wesley Maritz, Dale van der Merwe, John Riekert, Jason Wessels, Chris Holmes, Sereshin Moodley, Rawdon Capell, Andrew Proctor and Grant Hodnett

Front l-r: Nazeer Jaffar, Justin Govender, Dale Moolman, Bevan Williams and Jason Forge

 

Northwood Grade 11 Work Experience

Northwood’s Grade 11s joined businesses around Durban for Work Experience from 26 to 28 September 2012 to gain some practical knowledge of the work environment.  This annual event forms part of the young men’s Life Orientation Careers curriculum.  The learners were encouraged to select a company that offers opportunities closely related to their future career interests.

The boys were exposed to a wide range of careers and the hosting institutions were incredibly accommodating, going to great lengths to ensure the Northwood students would make well informed tertiary choices.  As Joshua Janse van Rensburg, who visited SiVEST explained, “It gave me a better idea of what the different types of engineering are about”.