Over the holiday period, Alex Kampta in Y8 achieved a wonderful milestone as a result of his insatiable appetite for reading. 

Mrs Thomson reports:

Over the festive period, Alex Kampta (Year 8) hit 10,000,000 words read on Accelerated Reader, an achievement only previously held by one other student at Northampton School for Boys. 

Alex has read 100 books since the start of Year 7 and achieved a 100% pass rate, a phenomenal achievement! 

Alex had the following to say about his achievement: 

'Reading is a passion of mine that I have had my entire life.  It is something that allows me to learn whilst having fun.  My favourite author is Rick Riordan as his books captivate me.  My favourite book written by him is the Percy Jackson series.  His choice of vocabulary intrigues me'.

Under the leadership of Mrs O'Neill and Mrs Rutherford, The Duke of Edinburgh Programme at the school is thriving and we were delighted to receive the following feedback from the national programme organisers earlier this week, which is off the back of almost 200 students signing up for the programme for 2024/25:

Huge congratulations to NSB - your Achievement rate is very high across Bronze, Silver, and Gold. This is the percentage of participants who have achieved their award within two years of starting. As a charity we aim for our organisations to reach 60%, so your score of well above 70% puts you right at the Head of the Pack. 

 

Our KS3 actors are practising hard for their forthcoming production - Patrick Ness' acclaimed, 'A Monster Calls'- adapted for stage by Sally Cookson - on January 30th and 31st. It is a heart-felt tale about a boy called Connor who inadvertently conjures a monster to help him deal with an incredibly difficult time in his young life. Tickets are available from the Box Office - details below. 

 

 

The school has introduced KS3 Bronze / Silver / Gold Sports badges to recognise outstanding performance and contribution to NSB School Sport. The badges cover the preceding academic year - Y8 received their badges for 2023/24 this week and Y9 will receive their badges later this term. Pictured are the Y8 Bronze and Silver Award (top award for this age group) winners who are now all proudly displaying their badges on their blazers! 

Bronze Award winners

 

Silver Award Winners

 

One National Cup fixture survived the artic conditions this week and it was a belter of a U12 Round 5 tie with NSB Y7 edging Lutterworth College in extra time 4-3 after this brilliant free kick from Hugo Brown, which sealed the win in extra time. 

 

 

Finally, we were delighted to hear that former student, Matthew Collins received a CBE in The King's  New Years Honours List. Matthew finished his studies at NSB in 1994 before moving on to the University of Kent and LSE where he graduated with a MSc in Criminology. Matthew was an incredibly talented basketball player at the school who represented both England and GB and he enjoyed a year playing professionally in La Rioja, Spain. He then joined the Civil Service in London, Oct 2005, firstly in the Home Office with the Respect Taskforce. He has had many promotions through different departments until being appointed as the Deputy National Security Advisor to the government a few years ago.  As well as being awarded the CBE in the Honours list, he has also been awarded the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal by the USA. 

 

Richard Bernard

Headteacher