Author: stagingnwoodccdevcoza

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.

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.

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, 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.

Northwood are very proud of Philani Thusini, a Grade 11 learner, who came second in a province-wide Financial Literacy Speech contest held on Wednesday 19 September 2012 in Esikhawini. The event attracted entries from 1500 schools throughout KZN and he ended up a mere one point behind the winner at the finals, in front of the MEC of Finance, Mrs Cronje, and the HOD of Education. Philani received a thunderous applause for his speech on Financial Planning. He concluded his speech by saying, “Failing to plan is planning to fail” which was then quoted by the honourable MEC Ina Cronje in her closing address! His prizes included a full bursary for a diploma in Information Technology with PC Training and Business College, a laptop, an 80cm flatscreen TV, a DVD player and a Postbank account with R300. The school was also awarded a monitor.

“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 1^st’’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 1^st 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.

The Circle of Valour Award is intended to profile the success of the many Northlands, Beachwood and Northwood Old Boys who make us proud, and is the pinnacle of achievement for those who attended any of the three schools.

An award winner will be recognized for his achievements at the highest level since leaving school. He will have achieved iconic status in his particular field of expertise and the community of North Durban.

Whilst having made his mark in the world, he is the type of person who remains humble and often goes unnoticed despite his excellent achievements. In short, a Circle of Valour Award winner will espouse the very values that were taught to him during his days at School. His behaviour and achievements will set an aspirational example to the community, Old Boys, and especially current pupils of Northwood.

The 2012 Circle of Valour Awards were held this year at the Riverside Hotel in Durban North on 30 August and were awarded to:

• Business – Carlo Gonzaga
• Community Service – Ant Connolly
• Sport – Hugh Reece-Edwards
• Music, Art & Culture – Gavin Rich
• Academics, Science & Technology – Dave Meadows

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”.

 

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 played Clifton in the U15 Top Ten Final at the Clifton Aquatic Centre on Sunday 14 October 2012.  In the pool games Northwood beat Glenwood 13 -2, Westville 7 – 4, Michaelhouse 5-2, DHS 3-1 and in the semi final beat Kearsney 7-4.

The final between Northwood and Clifton was a very tense affair with Northwood taking the lead in the 1^st chukka with a 5 metre penalty, scored by Clayton Holland.  In the 2^nd chukka, Clifton drew level with a very well worked goal.  The game continued to flow up and down with possession changing numerous times and Northwood were stopped from scoring by an outstanding save by the Clifton goal keeper.  With 2 minutes remaining the Clifton coach called a time-out to motivate for the winning goal.  With great defence by Northwood, Brandon Mottram, with a great steel, put Northwood back on attack and after working the pool ball around, Justin Snyman had a shot at goal which was partly saved by the Clifton goalkeeper and the ball floated behind the goal line.  This lead to a very tense last minute but with some outstanding defence by Northwood they managed to steal the ball again and held onto possession to end the game victoriously breaking Clifton’s 3 year clean sweep dominance.

 

Northwood are very proud of their U15 team who, having beaten Glenwood Boys High School, Westville Boys high School, Michaelhouse and Durban High School, in the pool games at the Top 10 Waterpolo Tournament held at Kingspark recently , went on to beat Kearsney 7 – 4 in the semi final and eventually, in a very tense final, concluded beat Clifton 2 – 1 to become the Top Ten winners of 2012.

Northwood  would also like to congratulate the following pupils who have been selected for KZN Waterpolo Teams (l-r):  Clayton Holland(U15), Brandon Mottram (U15),  Ryan Symington (U15) and Dean Fouche (U16). These teams will compete in the SA Schools Water Polo Tournament to be held in Port Elizabeth in December.