No. 202
Autumn Term
23rd Sept 2016
#03 A Huge Slice of Nice
Here’s a confession for you: when I was a teenager I was most
often described as being ‘nice’. Okay, that’s not much of a
confession, is it? So let me hit you with another: there was
nothing more in the world that I hated than being called
‘nice’. Partly, I guess, because as a boy when a girl you like
calls you ‘nice’ you know that it means that they just want to be
friends. But I think that the main reason why I didn’t like being
called ‘nice’ is because it seemed such a bland word and I
wasn’t alone in thinking this. In 1926 a Dictionary of Modern
English Usage said that the word ‘nice’ was;
“"to great a favourite with the ladies, who have charmed
out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere
diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness."
And yet the word ‘nice’ wasn’t always so… well… nice! In the
late 1200s, according to the online etymology dictionary, to be
called nice meant that the person addressing you thought that
you were "foolish, stupid, senseless,". Before this, in its old
French origin, the word meant "careless, clumsy, simple and
silly”. Going back even further to the root Latin word, to be
called ‘nice’ meant you were considered to be "ignorant,
unaware," and literally "not-knowing." In short, nice is
perhaps one of the most interesting words we have in usage,
with etymologist Ernest Weekley saying that its "sense
development has been extraordinary”.
For me now, having gained a little wisdom through age, I have
come to realise that we don’t need to go back to the nasty
definitions of ‘nice’ to rediscover its importance. Instead I
increasingly recognise that niceness is one of the human
qualities I most treasure in others and that I most hope to have
retained in my own thoughts, words and actions. All of which
is a very roundabout way of saying that this has been a week
when I have seen huge slices of nice around school that have
reminded me (not that I needed it) of why I love working at
Canons. The cake pictured on the back of this newsletter is just
one of those moments. It was a cake created by one of our
Community Slice students (perhaps with a little help from her
family) to mark the first meeting this year of the group. The
level of detail on the logo and the fact that the coloured sponges
reflected the colours in our school crest ensured that a nice
thought was even more nicely made into a reality. It truly was
lovely to look at (and to eat?) and yet it happened purely
because one student had a nice thought and acted upon it.
If our young people learn nothing else from Canons, from home
or from their community, I hope that they learn that being ‘nice’
to one another is what life and human relationships are meant to
be all about.
Keven Bartle
Headteacher
Technical drawing, traditionally performed
using a draughtsman's board and special
rulers, pens and pencils, is today mostly
undertaken using CAD (Computer Aided
Design) computer software and precision
printers; but it is still the skill of the
designer that creates the plans, diagrams
and drawings. The CAD software and
design principals have to be learnt and this
is where our skilled Year 12 come into play.
They have been using their experience of
the ‘Solidworks’ professional CAD software
we use to help our younger students who
come along to Mr Leacy’s CAD Clinic. This
runs after school on Wednesdays in
Workshop 3. So this extra help could be
called SAD (Student Assisted Design).
Canons High School
warmly welcomes all families and
friends of Primary School pupils
to attend our
OPEN EVENING
Wednesday 28th September
5:00pm till 8:00pm
Headteacher’s talk at
6:00pm & 7:00pm
Can’t make it?
Please call or e-mail us
to book a place on one of our
Open Mornings
3rd & 4th October
And now for the slice...
 Free School Meals are granted by
Harrow council and applications need
to be made to them.
Parents can find out if their children
qualify for FSM by using the online
Eligibility Checker at the Harrow
Council website.

WWW.HARROW.GOV.UK/
FREESCHOOLMEALS
 We
are
normally
informed
automatically if an online application is
successful, but if this button is seen
next to your child’s application, please
click it to make sure we are notified.
Canons is a cashless school where
students and staff pay for their canteen
food using an online dinner money
account.
Please do ensure that your child’s
account is regularly topped up online.
We cannot have any students going
hungry but we really do not want to have
students bringing cash into school. It is too
easily lost , misspent or at worst, stolen!
Our Year 7s were introduced to two
important but different student groups in
their assembly this week. For some there
was also a big surprise as they had been
chosen to be part of one of the groups.
Student Government
Firstly, members of our Student
Government from Years 8 and 9
introduced themselves and then explained
how this group works at Canons.
Community Slice Group
Unlike members of the student
government, who choose to stand and are
elected, our Community Slice Group is
made up from students who are chosen
It was set up to allow the students to totally at random, becoming a true and
officially meet and openly discuss their unbiased ‘slice’ through our student
hopes, wishes, complaints and suggestions community.
about anything which affects them in the They are consulted on all sorts of issues;
school. Their opinions are valued by the previously they worked with visiting
Senior Leadership Team and they are consultants Arcadis to examine the best
respected as the elected voice of the use of the school’s open spaces and this
students.
time, it was the school’s new ‘Keys to
When adding money onto your
ParentPay account, make sure it has
been allocated for School Dinners.
Students from every year can apply to join,
although currently it is Year 7 who need to
be represented. Hopeful candidates need
to fill in an application form before being
considered and voted into the group.
For more information or to apply to join,
either speak to a student member, your
tutor or see Mr Curtis who is the staff
representative.
Karate for All
 Further to this there will also be
TOP TIP
Success’ initiative which was under
scrutiny. Who better to give their thoughts
about this than the very young people who
it has been created to help.
Year 9 member Nora Zvirska had
unexpectedly baked a huge and skilfully
decorated cake for their meeting. It was a
lovely surprise and very tasty but also
showed how the group is bonding together
as well as just working together.
additional lessons available to both
As part of our continued
adults and children over 6. These will
work with our community,
be held at 6.00pm to 8.00pm on
I am delighted to announce
Mondays and Thursdays and will cost
that the World Karate Club of London has
£5 per hour and will start on Oct 3rd.
agreed to open a Karate Centre here at
 Please contact me here at Canons for
Canons High.
more details about the FREE lessons.
th
 Starting from next week, (Sept 26 )

Please contact the club for more
students can benefit from having a
details about the paid evening lessons.
FREE karate lesson every Monday
[email protected]
between 3.15 & 4.30 in our school hall.
 Students do not need to wear a Gi, (the Mr Adam Litchfield
traditional white karate clothes) but Director of Canons
must wear their PE kit.
Community Heartbeat Initiative





Wed 28th Sept OPEN EVENING 5:00pm to 8:00pm. Students dismissed early at 2:10
Fri 30th Sept
Year 8 HPV vaccinations
OPEN MORNING Mon 3th & Tue 4th October 9:30am - 10:30am - ring to book a place.
Thur 13th Oct
Special visit by Jon Robinson, author of the ‘Nowhere’ series of books.
Thur 13th Oct
6th Form Open Evening 5:30pm to 7:30pm