Northwood School
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| Northwood School | |
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| Acquit ye like Men | |
| Established | 1990 |
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| School type | State, Boarding |
| Locale | Suburban |
| Grades | 8 - 12 |
| Headmaster | Mr A.P. Jordan |
| Location | Durban North, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Students | 1,200 boys |
| Colors | Silver, Navy blue |
| Mascot | The Knight |
| Website | www.nwood.co.za |
Northwood School is an all-boys school situated in the suburb of Durban North, on the coastline of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Contents |
[edit] History
Adapted from The History of Northwood written by Mr T.W. Eloff, History Teacher and Curator of the School Museum.
Northwood School traces its origins back to 1949, with the founding of the Durban North High School, a co-educational establishment, on the site of the present Northlands Girls High school. The school, which was soon to become known as Northlands High School, opened its doors on 29 September 1949 with a staff of twelve and a role of 215 pupils. The founder Headmaster was Mr. George J. Armstrong.
By 1951 numbers had grown to a point where the Education Department had begun to prepare for the building of a second High School in Durban North. In March of 1952 Mr. Armstrong was promoted as Headmaster of Durban High School and was replaced by Mr. Percy Hardaker. It was Mr. Hardaker’s task to launch the new school. The decision was taken to split the existing school into boy’s’ school and girls’ school.
The “Siamese Twins”, as they were known, were separated on 30 September 1953, when the boys marched out of the gates of the old campus and proceeded to the present Northwood campus in Kensington Drive, led by the school’s cadet band. Northlands Boys’ High school opened with an enrolment 338 boys and a staff of seventeen.
Under the leadership of Mr. Hardaker, the school made rapid progress in both academics and sport. Numbers continued to grow and it was not long before plans were being made for the building of yet another boys school in the area.
A site was acquired in Gleneagles Drive and by 1961 building of the new “Durban North High School” had begun. By the time that the school was ready to open in 1963, it had been decided to call the new school Beachwood Boys’ High. The founder Headmaster was Mr E.T. (Ted) Lewis and the school opened with a role of 135 boys and a staff of 7.
In the same year, Mr R.C. McFarquhar assumed Headmastership of Northlands Boys’ following the retirement of Mr. Hardaker. Both schools continued to make fine progress, but while Mr. McFarquhar remained at Northlands, relations between the two schools were strained. The name of Beachwood was never mentioned at Northlands and the schools came to view each other as rivals for the enrolment of the best academics and sportsmen in Durban North. Strict zoning was introduced and the foundations of the “Numbers Game”,which was to bedevil both schools over the next few decades, were laid.
At the end of 1971, Mr. Lewis retired and was succeeded by Mr A.J.M. Wilkinson. In 1975 he was promoted to Headmaster of Northlands Boys’ High and at last, Beachwood and Northlands began to compete against each other in the cultural arena and on the sports field. The thaw in the relationship between the two schools had begun, but the rivalry continued with a vengeance.
Both schools continued to grow in the years that followed, developing their own traditions and records of achievement. The Headmasters of Beachwood during the period 1975- 1990 were as follows:
- Mr H.M. Puzey (1975-1978)
- Mr K.L. Tomlinson (1979-1983)
- Mr M.J. Ellis (1984-1987)
- Mr C.W. Thorpe (1988-1990)
At Northlands, the Headmasters were:
- Mr A.J.M. Wilkinson (1975-1984)
- Mr I. Corbishley (1985-1990)
During 1989, it was proposed that the two boys’ schools in Durban North merge to form a single school. For some time the “Numbers Game” had swung in favour first of one school and then the other and by the late 1980’s it was clear that the continued existence of two boys’ schools was no longer economically viable. As a result it was decided that it would be within the best interest of quality education in Durban North if the two schools became one. Feelings ran high in some quarters, but the two Headmasters carefully and wisely guided their respective communities towards the only sensible solution.
As a result the “Impossible” happened and in 1990 Beachwood and Northlands merged to form Northwood. It was also possible (with a little adjustment of colours) to merge the school badges as well retain both mottoes.
During the course of 1990, Mr. Corbishley was confirmed as Headmaster of the combined school and Northwood continued to build on the achievement of its founder schools. Both Northlands and Beachwood produced prominent business and professional men, as well as large numbers of notable sporting personalities, including many South African national sportsmen.
Early in 1996, Mr. Corbishley was seconded to a senior position at Head Office. In the absence of Mr Corbishley, Dr P. Hawkey acted as Headmaster and when he left Mr A.P. Jordan succeeded him headmaster during the latter half of 1998.
2004 saw the addition to the Lower Campus of a the Graham Lange Cricket Academy, providing boys with the opportunity to practise bowling and batting skills indoors. The Northwood swimming and water polo pool was also upgraded, and turned into a shortcourse water polo facility.
In February 2005, The Knights, an Association for the old boys and Supporters of Northwood, was launched.The Knights Website
In a 2006, together with local schools Virginia Primary, Chelsea Prep, Glenashley Senior Primary , Danville Park Girls' High and Northlands Girls' High, Northwood unveiled a new Olympic size water-based hockey artificial surface at the Lower Campus in Mackeurtan Drive, the Northwood Community Astro
At the same time, The Knights High Performance Centre was installed just above the Hockey Artificial Surface. The centre offers in-house managemnt of sports injuries for athletes at Northwood.
[edit] Academics
Northwood School has a history of good academic results. Last year the school had a 98% matric pass rate. Seven learners achieved 7 A's.[citation needed]
Since the introducion of FET in South Africa, Northwood has changed its subject choices on offer to Grade Nine learners. At the moment, Northwood offers 11 different subjects. They are:
- Physical Science
- Life Science (Biology)
- History
- Accounting
- Engineering Graphics and Design
- Geography
- Economics
- IT
- Visual Arts
- Business Studies
- Speech and Drama
and compulsory subjects
Northwood has a staff of 75 qualified educators to teach these subjects.
[edit] Sports
Northwood School offers many extra-curricular activities.
Sports on offer include
- Hockey
- Rugby
- Cricket
- Athletics
- Soccer
- Squash
- Badminton
- Surfing
- Bodyboarding
- Rock Climbing
- Cross Country
- Swimming
- Water Polo
- Softball
- Volleyball
- Tennis
- Basketball
among others.
Northwood employs a group of sports coaches who are either old boys or other qualified instructors.
Northwood has many sporting facilities, namely
- The Northwood Community Astro for hockey
- The Graham Lange cricket academy
- The Northwood pool
- Tennis courts
- Volleyball courts
- Basketball courts
- The Smith cricket oval
- Hugh Reece-Edwards rugby/soccer fields
- The Northwood gymnasium
Northwood is well known in KZN and for the good conditions of its sporting fields facilities.
In 2006, Northwood's First XV Rugby, First Hockey and First Tennis sides toured Argentina. They fared well against both university and school teams.
[edit] Cultural
Northwood offers a variety of cultural activities that learners can take part in.
The Annual Northwood Musical
- Chess
- Debating
- Junior Achiever
- Toastmasters
Technology Activities
Northwood has two art classrooms and an art show is put on for the community every year.
[edit] Facilities at Northwood
[edit] Media Centre
The Media Centre is used by teachers who wish to show classes a documentary or let them browse the internet for research. Learners can use the centre during break or after school to do homework, research, and to take out books.
[edit] IT at Northwood
Northwood School has four computer labs, each with 30 computers that are linked to an uncapped ADSL connection. Each learner in the school has their own email address and 8mb storage space on the system. A reading programme which is said to improve reading age, was implemented in 2003.
[edit] The Northwood Gym
Northwood School has a gymnasium located by the pool. It may be used by any member of the community, however they must be 16 years or older. The gym is well equipped and is free to present learners. A full time gym manager has been appointed.
[edit] The Graham Lange Cricket Academy
The Graham Lange Cricket Academy opened on 25 November 2004, housed in the old Lower Campus Hall. It has four lanes, with two bowling machines. Mr Daryn Smit, an old boy and current Natal Dolphins player, runs the academy. Each cricket team in the school has 2 practice sessions in the academy every two weeks.
[edit] The Knights High Performance Centre
The Knights High Performance Centre is situated on the Lower Campus of Northwood School. It is a multidisciplinary clinic that offers sports chiropractic, physical therapy, exercise and rehab therapy.
The centre offers in-house management of sports injuries for athletes at Northwood School; it is also utilized by Northwood Crusaders sports club, and is open to the public. While the centre is equipped to deal with sports injuries, it also places an emphasis on the education of athletes and coaches to reduce the incidence of injury.
At present the centre is run by Dr Garrick Haswell (M tech:chiro MCASA)
[edit] Northwood Community Astro
The Northwood Community Astro is located on the Lower Campus of Northwood School.
In 2005, planning for an artificial hockey surface to be laid at Northwood school started to take place. Slowly the project took shape and 18 months later the green surface was laid.
The Northwood Community Artificial Surface has 5 shareholders: Northwood School, Danville Girls High School, Northlands Girls High School, Virginia and Chelsea Preparatory Schools. The surface is of Olympic standard and boasts oppurtunites for international fixtures and inter-provincial tournaments along with the fact that it is the first water based artificial surface of its kind to belong to a group of schools in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
The vision of the Northwood Community Artificial Surface is to service the Durban North community, strengthen Natal hockey at grass roots level and improve the game of hockey by offering more availability of an international quality surface in the greater Durban area.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- The Northwood Knight Annual Magazine, 2004
- Northwood Argentina Tour Brochure, 2006
- Northwood Subject Choices Booklet, 2005
- Northwood official website, 2003
