Month: October 2012

Northwood are very proud of grade 11 player, Matthew de Sousa, who was recently selected for the South African U18B hockey side at the U18 Inter-Provincial Hockey Tournament in Johannesburg.   In this year’s Indoor Hockey season, Matthew, the captain, never lost a game!

Steve McManus, also in grade 11, was the top goal scorer at the same tournament.

Northwood played against Glenwood in the final of the KZN Schools Hockey Night Series league in May. In typical final style both teams played tentative hockey and it was obvious that neither team wanted to make the error that could cost them the final. After the first two chukka’s the teams were at a stalemate and the game looked like going into extra time.

It was Northwood who started the third and final chukka with the greater purpose and some great play down the right hand channel resulted in the first penalty corner of the game. In this format of the game penalty corners are replaced by a one on one between an attacker and the goal keeper. It was at this stage that the first hero of the day, Matthew de Sousa stepped up to skilfully eliminate the Glenwood keeper and finish calmly to give Northwood the lead.

Glenwood started to play with more purpose after the goal and eventually managed to earn a penalty corner after an error from the Northwood defenders. Kyle Pillay was outstanding in his defence and pulled off two brilliant saves to keep the score at 1 – 0.

Northwood showed heart and passion to see out the final few minutes to be crowned the 2012 KZN Schools Night League Champions.

It was a fantastic all round team performance.

Recently Dale Moolman, in Grade 12 at Northwood, played in the ITP U19 Softball Tournament held at Queensmead Hockey Stadium and was selected for the U19 Softball Squad to play in the World Series in Argentina in November 2012.

At the start of the 2012 rugby season, the Northwood U15A rugby boys were presented with the following challenge: to win the matches they lost last year – namely Hilton, DHS, Michaelhouse and Glenwood, and to be remembered by all as one of the “greatest U15A rugby teams” to play for Northwood School.  Eleven fixtures and one tournament later these boys can look back and be very proud of achieving these goals with only the loss to Glenwood standing in the way.  After many months of training and working towards their goals the boys managed to play eleven fixtures with eight wins, beating proud rugby schools such as Kearsney, Westville, Hilton, DHS and Michaelhouse to name a few along the way and managed to be placed third overall at this year’s Port Natal rugby festival. An outstanding set of results.

To me these boys will always be remembered as “warriors”, “fighters” and most importantly as the “greatest rugby team I have ever been privileged enough to coach” say Gavin Sweet.  With all the politics and negativity seen in the media recently with regards to school sport these days, it is so warming to notice a group of boys who passionately play the sport they all love with their hearts worn on their sleeves and are only interested in making their families and school proud.  These boys deserve all the accolades and praise as through all their hard work, determination and natural ability none of the above would have been possible.

There were many highlights this season; the 7-0 victory over Westville on our main field under lights, our excellent defence which kept the score line 8-7 against Hilton, the boys excellent all round performance against DHS to end the match 17-7 in our favour, our close 0-3 loss to College in a game that could of easily gone either way and the evenly matched contest against Kearsney which was hard fought and ended a well deserved 13-12 win at the end.  These are just to name a few achievements that make this group of boys so special and an asset to Northwood School rugby.

Northwood School welcomed La Lucia resident Swys de Bruin to its coaching fraternity recently when he accepted the position as rugby Head Coach.

Swys will continue in his position as Head Coach at the Sharks Academy and The Sharks High Performance Programme while coaching the Northwood boys. He will be taking on the school’s “Rugby: 2013 and Beyond” programme aimed at getting the school into the top rugby ranks.

Swys started his rugby career as the 1st team coach at Durban North College, where he was also deputy principal, in the early 90’s. His talent was quickly spotted and he was taken on by the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union where he coached the U21 team to victory in his first year, 1997. He then went on to coach the Wildebeest (the former Sharks XV) to a semi-final in 1998.

He has since coached Griquas at Currie Cup level, the KZN U19 and U21 teams and the SA U21 team. Swys has also served as a national SA U19 and U21 selector.

Besides coaching the Northwood 1st team, Swy’s role will be to provide leadership in rugby coaching, working closely with coaches across all age groups.

He said schoolboy rugby was a real passion of his, particularly within his own community.

“We want to encourage parents in the area that they don’t have to travel for a good rugby school. It’s right here. Northwood has a proud rugby history and I believe the school has the potential to become a top rugby school and I am excited to play a part in achieving that goal,” he said.

Northwood celebrates the selection of eleven of their boys to the KZN High Schools Cricket Trial Squads. Johnny Riekert, Dale Van Der Merwe, Nazeer Jaffer and Sereshon Moodley will represent the school in the U17/ U19 squad and Yetiesh Ramsurrup, Junaid Syed, Gavin Williams, Shimal Harichurn, Chris Wallace, Tyler Smith and Julian Tromp in the U15 squad.

Over 50 Northwood learners entered the annual FSS Expo Science competition held at the Westville University Sports Centre, 19 – 20 July. The KwaZulu-Natal expo attracted 560 science-related projects from schools throughout the province and this year’s competition was challenging. Judging was based on the pupils’ model designs and their ability to interpret data.

Northwood can be proud of their boys, as they scooped a record 27 medals and this can be attributed to the high standard of projects.

Special awards went to the following boys for Outstanding Design and Idea:  Shaylen Pillay, Sohil Singh, James Wakefield and Ryan Stanley.  Rowan Maggs and Gregory Slater, in grade 10, secured first place for their project and model on Solar Energy and won a trip to Gauteng to visit various Science Centres.

For One – For All
Northwood celebrates a rich and varied cultural environment that caters for all who want to be involved. A kaleidoscope of learner-run committees, societies and groups covers a range of environmental, artistic, social and community service activities that encourage learners to grow in maturity, leadership skills and self confidence.

The Arts
Qualified educators with professional experience in visual art, photography, graphic design, music, drama and dance are equipped to mentor and guide those wishing to pursue their talents in the arts. Music, drama and visual art form part of the Arts and Culture syllabus for grades 8-9. Northwood recently phased in music as a matric subject choice, and drama will follow this in the near future.

Annual School Productions
The annual school productions such as the Northwood Musical, the Northwood Fashion Show and the Northwood Eastern Evening remain anticipated events on the Durban North social calendar. The musical offers promising actors, singers and dancers a chance to perform in front of an enthusiastic live audience under professional instruction, using the latest in sound and lighting equipment. A number of cast members have moved on to perform with the KZN Youth Choir and Durban City Orchestra.

Brass Band
The Northwood Brass Band, the only school marching band left in Durban, is in popular demand. The members are tutored in their chosen instrument and given the opportunity to perform at venues such as the Durban City Hall, Nottingham Road Highland Gathering and school functions. Many Northwood musicians have progressed to ensembles such as the KZN Youth Wind Band and the KZN Youth Orchestra, while others have toured internationally with the KZN Prestige Band.

Clubs and Community
The following clubs and societies play a major role in the development of the whole person, which is the hallmark of a Northwood education:  Junior Achievement, Toastmasters, First Aid, Northwood Cares, Tech Team, Durban Youth Council, Afritwin, Information Technology, News Club, Debating, Chess, Photography, Environmental Club and religious societies.

Following in the Footsteps
Northwood is proud of the level of professionalism shown by those involved in its ongoing artistic and cultural activities.  These well prepared and well rounded young men will excel in any avenue they chose, following in the footsteps of many successful Northwood Old Boys.

The National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations commonly known as “matric” have become an annual event of major public significance in South Africa. It not only signifies the culmination of twelve years of formal schooling but the NSC examination is one of the key barometers to indicate the state of health of the education system. This examination which attracts attention from all sectors of society has made significant progress over the last 152 years since the first formal examination was conducted in South Africa under the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1858. The NSC stands on the shoulders of years of tradition and development in assessment since that first examination in 1858.

Please find the 2012 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination Timetable below:

[prettyfilelink src=”http://nwood.djam.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012-MATRIC-FINAL-TIMETABLE.xls” type=”xls”]2012 MATRIC FINAL TIMETABLE[/prettyfilelink]