Tuesday 12th November saw Northgate welcome back the Class of 2019 for the annual GCSE Presentation Evening. A chance to celebrate the achievements of our former Year 11s and present them with GCSE certificates, subject prizes and community prizes.
The evening was hosted by Heads of School, Dr Hone and Mrs Galley who talked about the 900 or so days the Year 11s had spent at Northgate, reminiscing with some photos from their first week, through the years, to prom and leavers day. It was a chance to start thinking where they would like to be in another 5 years time, building on what they had learnt at Northgate and carrying that through life with them.
The guest speaker for the evening was former Northgate student Lucy Spinks. She spoke of her time at Northgate, being one of the only pupils from her primary school to come up and feeling like a small fish in a big pond. She was invitied to speak at the Year 6 open evening and at that point, whilst giving her speech with the then Head Girl, knew that this is what she wanted to be. She made the most of every opportunity whilst at Northgate, representing the school when she could, joining the school council, becoming a peer mentor, international leader and more until the ambition of becoming Head Girl was achieved. Lucy achieved some of the top grades at Northgate and went on to study at Dereham Sixth Form. A meticulous planner, she spoke about how sometimes things don’t always go to plan and on results day she found out that she had missed her target grades and not got into her first choice university. However, her second choice Kent, gave her the chance to follow her dreams, studying Law. Just like when she was at Northgate, Lucy threw herself into university life, grabbing every opportunity. She graduated in the summer with a first-class degree and is now studying for a Masters at the University of East Anglia, in her specialist chosen field in Law. To conclude, Lucy offered some valuable advice to the audience:
- Grab every opportunity going and say yes. If the opportunities don’t come to you, go out and find them as they are there!
- Be a planner and set goals but know that if things don’t go to plan it happens for a reason.
It was time for some of the GCSE certificates to be awarded along with Honours Awards, for students who gained 8 of more Grade 4s and above – amazing! 
Dr Hone and Mrs Galley then proceeded to hand out the special subject prizes. Staff were asked to nominate a student in their subject area to receive the special award. This student may have been one who gained a top grade or someone who had made exceptional progress in the subject. Each department had written a little insight as to why the student had been picked and the names were revealed.
The former Head Boy – David Nummy-Taggart, Head Girl – Katy Burton, Deputy Head Boy – Olly Hill and Deputy Head Girl – Hollie Boswell were presented with special awards by Mrs Galley and Dr Hone to thank them for their services to the school. They certainly had a very busy schedule over the year with numerous commitments and were great ambassadors for Northgate.
Mr Darlow, Head of Year, was unable to attend the evening, however Dr Hone read his speech, reflecting on his time as Head of Year and his thoughts and wishes for the students.
Mr Hambling, CEO of Unity Education Trust, then came to announce the special community prizes, which were presented by the Chair of Trustees and Governors of Northgate. A huge well done to all those who received awards.
A big thank you to Miss Mather for organising the evening, to parents and carers for their support of the students and school over the past 5 years, Mrs Galley and Dr Hone for hosting the evening, the governors and trustees who attended as well as staff supporting the evening. Of course, a big thank you also goes to our ex-Year 11s. We wish the Class of 2019 the best of luck in the future and hope they look back fondly on their time at Northgate.
