Month: January 2013

The Discovery SharkSmart Schools of Excellence Programme is a project overseen by Sharks Medical and Discovery SharkSmart, and which empowers the participating schools to meet a number of pre-determined criteria related to safe and fair rugby and as well as injury prevention. The ultimate reward is that of accreditation as a Discovery SharkSmart School of Excellence.

Northwood is hosting its first Inter-House Premier League cricket tournament on Valentine’s Day, Thursday 14 February to showcase the talent at the school in a fun, safe environment. There will six 20/20 games starting at 1pm with the final game anticipated to start at 6pm.

There will be DJs performing on each field as well as special guests. The North Durban community and all the lovely ladies from surrounding schools are invited to come support the boys and, if you haven’t found a Valentine’s date yet, this is the place to be!

The Northwood 1^st XV rugby squad took part in a team building and high performance camp over the weekend (25 – 27 January).  After a session on Friday afternoon with renowned Sports Psychologist Dr Henning Gerricke, the weekend got underway, with the day scholars getting a taste of the life of a boarder.  The squad got together and supported the Northwood Water Polo teams in their matches against St Charles, before getting together in the dining hall of John Bruyns house for dinner.  After dinner, all team members (including management) took part in a team building exercise designed to ensure that the boys became more acquainted with one another.  This was followed by a walk to get dessert (Wakaberry’s).

After breakfast on Saturday, we departed for Margate.  Arriving at the local rugby club just before 10am, the boys changed and practice began in a constant drizzle.  The fields were soaked and handling became tricky.  Just before 1pm, we left to go to our accommodation in Oslo Beach where we had lunch (the owner had thought it was a primary school and prepared lunch accordingly – needless to say, most of the boys ordered a 2^ndlunch from the kitchen!).  3pm saw us back on the training fields (still raining), where we practiced until just before 6pm.

Dinner on Saturday was more substantial and after dessert the boys split into their groups for a bit of evening fun.  Each group was tasked with imitating a teacher and their class.  After more than an hour of side splitting laughter, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Breakfast was at 7:30 on Sunday and, to the delight of the boys, was substantial.  After breakfast, we packed up and checked out.  We had our last practice at 9:30 (in the sun for a change).  This was watched by a number of locals, who commented on how well drilled and fit the boys looked.  After practice, we left for Durban.  It was a wonderful weekend and I think the boys are now more cohesive and have a better understanding of each other.

The Grade 12 Students were officially welcomed into Knighthood in a moving ceremony on Monday 21 January.

Each grade 12 student was accompanied by their father, Old Boy or mentor – who then pinned the Knight badge to their blazer, marking their transition from Squires to Knights.

It was a special morning for the grade 8’s as well, as they each had the opportunity to ring the Millennium Bell, marking their entry into Northwood as young Squires.

Our guest speaker, Mr Alex McAlery, an Old Boy, encouraged the students to “Seize the day” and reminded the students that “there is no such thing as a stranger in Northwood”.

History has been made with Donald Ngwenya, the KZN Rugby Union Development Manager since 2007 being appointed as the Northwood Rugby Head Coach. Ngwenya beat out 21 other suitably qualified candidates that had applied for the position which became available overnight. He holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and a Sports Management Diploma from the University of Johannesburg but more importantly he has 23 years of coaching experience under the belt. He started his career in the classroom as a teacher, pretty much just like outgoing coach Swys de Bruin did. Ironically he joined the Sharks from the Golden Lions where he had been their Development Official from 2002 to 2007. Now Ngwenya benefits from the sudden departure by de Bruin to the Golden Lions from the Sharks (and Northwood).

Apart from his role as the Development Manager which includes overseeing the coaching and financial structures at about 30 little development club projects, Ngwenya has been involved in coaching at a provincial level as well as with the SA Schools, SA under-19 and SA under-20 teams. Key to his appointment was the success he achieved as coach of the DSRU under-16 side that beat the Bulls in the Inter-provincial Tournament (IPT) club rugby final in 2012. Along the way to winning this title he also won over the support of the players and their parents. The Northwood Rugby Board (NRB) is confident that he can build on this youth club rugby success at school rugby level.

Our 2013 grade 8’s had their first taste of being a Northwood Squire after experiencing a fun-filled two day orientation at their new school.

The staff and prefects planned a busy and engaging program for the boys – with the highlight being the braai and sleepover on Monday evening.  Even though the boys had a busy day of sporting, academic and social activities, most were still awake until the small hours off the morning! Tuesday morning saw many tired yet happy faces as they all trooped off for breakfast and a swim before being taken to the school hall to practice the Northwood Call and to sign the Squires Pledge.

The Northwood orientation is a supervised program that is targeted towards whole-school leadership and character development. Although possibly challenging at times, it is an enjoyable and worthwhile experience which familiarizes the boys with the facilities, academic and extra mural expectations, as well as giving the boys the opportunity to make new friends.

We wish all our new Grade 8 s a happy and productive year ahead!

Northwood Matrics had their best results in years, being one of only two boys schools  to be placed in the Top 10 with 21 students achieving 6 or more distinctions.

No fewer than 15 of our students achieved 7 straight A’s, and Jason Wessels (our head prefect and cricket captain) achieved a mighty 8 A’s, a first for the school.

We congratulate all our successful candidates and wish them all continued success in the years to come!