Posted on: November 6th 2015
Hello everyone, my name is Charlotte Chan and I am honoured to be writing an alumni for my prep school. I joined Norfolk House in Pre-prep until the end of Y6 when I was given the responsibility as Head of Netball, Head of Chess and Prefect. Form 6 was the year I worked the hardest but also the most rewarding. Mr Ashton, Mrs Ellison and Ms Habgood helped me prepare for the 11+ exams so well that I was confident I could give it my best shot. I was jumping up and down when I heard that I had a selection of schools to choose from. To all the year 6s now, if you work hard, it will all pay off and the remaining terms after exams were the best days ever!!
I am currently at Highgate School and have been there for 5 weeks. One of the reasons why I chose Highgate is because it has amazing grounds and I love my sports. It is also close by so all my friends are local. When I started Highgate, I thought I would get lost because it was HUMONGOUS compared to NH but after about 3 days, I knew my way round the whole campus. I used to think that there were endless flight of stairs in NH, but nothing compared to Highgate! Highgate prepared us for the start of term by organising a PGL trip in the summer when all the new Y7s spent a night together in Liddington which enabled us to make friends before the start of term.
What I miss about NH is I knew everyone but at Highgate, I don’t even know all the Y7s! There are 8 classes of 22 therefore I can work out that there are 176 children in just our year, thanks to Mr A’s mental maths practice with us! My favourite subject at Highgate is Science because we examine cells with microscopes and everything in life can be explained in Science. It allows us to explore where things come from and how we interact with one another; why roses are red; how aeroplanes fly and so much more. Science is an ever evolving topic, with something new to discover every day.
Sports is huge at Highgate with over 30 coaches including an ex-Crystal Palace professional footballer!! I train 3 times a week in netball and compete on Saturday fixtures against other schools and so far, we have won all our matches. Highgate also focuses a lot on our strength and physical well-being, so twice a week, I train in Strength and Conditioning and we do all kinds of exercise like push ups, sit ups and lunges with medicine balls. I have also started fencing so I am very busy.
NH has given me the confidence to make new friends easily and I couldn’t believe it when I was selected as Form Captain in my first term at Highgate!! Thanks to NH, it has provided me with the life skills of being organised and self-sufficient and this is particularly useful with the increasing amount of homework and tests.
I will always remember the PGL trip in Y4 and Mrs Ellison and Ms Ficken screaming on the Big Swing. The visit to France in Y5 and the muddy adventure at Bushcraft in Y6. I will never forget the fabulous teaches who taught and looked after me for the last six years, especially Mr Ashton, Mrs Ellison, Miss Williamson, Mrs Cannon, Mrs Holt and Ms Habgood. I will miss Norfolk House especially all my friends who I have known since I was five. But I am thankful that my brother and sister are still there, and I take every opportunity to pick them up from school and watch their matches so I can see all my teachers and friends again.
Thank You
