Farra News 18 - Easter 2012
Transcription
Farra News 18 - Easter 2012
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. Contents Page Heads Welcome One year on and new windows OFSTED news and Sunderland Young Achievers New staff at Farra New head boy/girl and Youth Elections City Sings—we won! One Night Only—Creative Arts Footloose and lost property Pool, skate and maths Community Day Nurture coffee afternoon Co-operative learning Cloud, quit, charity—lets celebrate! ASP Dept News ASP Dept News cont ... Farringdon Primary Mill Hill Primary School East Herrington Primary School East Herrington Primary School cont ... Bede VI Form College Bede VI Form College cont ... Geography weather study Liverpool trip Our own Y9 Author World Book Day Reading to dogs Book reviews A trip to London trip Film reviews Sport More Sport Even More Sport (!) Any yes—more sport! Jokes and apps Recipes A Chibi Comic for Easter How to draw a manga girl Book reviews 2 Puzzles for You! Page 1 Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 2 Welcome to our Newsletter! Welcome to the Easter edition of Farra News! I thought that it would be hard to match our last edition but yet again our students have proved me wrong and come up with another bumper edition of news from this wonderful school. It was wonderful to receive the letter from OFSTED indicating that due to our sustained improvement and excellent results our inspection (which was due last term) has now been deferred until the Summer Term of 2013 at the earliest. It’s always nice to blow your own trumpet and even better to have someone else do it for you!! Hence our further delight when we were informed that we had been named in the Top Performing Secondary Schools list for the second year running. We have been recognised for our achievements by the Minister of State of Education, Nick Gibb, who wrote to us congratulating the school on being in the Top 100 most improved schools in the country over the last four years. Welcome: Mr Kemp This latest accolade also brought considerable press interest with newspaper and radio articles praising the achievements of our young people and several of our students were broadcast on Radio Newcastle. Further highlights from this term were: • Our choir, Farracappella, won the Sunderland Sings competition at the Empire Theatre. • Our Year 7 girls’ football team have qualified for the final of the five a side competition on March 24th. If they win they will represent Sunderland Football Club at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in May. • We have submitted our application form for an Artsmark Award. This is really exciting as the school has a brilliant track record in the Creative & Performing Arts. • We are coordinating a Sunderland Schools Olympic Torch relay (June 11th – 13th) which will involve 102 schools across the city. • Emily Piercy, Y9, won the Academic Achievement award at the prestigious Sunderland Young Achievers Awards (March 8th). Six other Farringdon students won awards: Connor Brown (Year 8), Kris Hayes, Kate Ferguson, Kirsty Barraclough, Sally McDonald, Rachel Hill (Year 10) – congratulations to all of you! • The building has had a facelift, the new windows and fascias have renovated the tired 1950s exterior. Further improvements have been made to the changing rooms at the pool and some repairs to carpets in several rooms. We are planning lots more improvements to our school and will be involving the students – watch this space! • Community Day (February 10th) was very successful with students learning about health issues, renewable energies, college placements and Olympic values – never a dull moment! We have raised nearly £1000 for charities over the last few weeks and there is still Sports Relief to come! These and many other stories are covered over the following pages. May I take this opportunity to wish you a very happy Easter, thank you for Howard Kemp supporting our school and happy reading! Headteacher 3 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 1 year on, Mr Kemp tells us his thoughts on Farra ... Can you believe it? It's over a year for Mr Kemp as our head teacher. He started at Farringdon in January 2011. Mr Kemp has made lots of changes throughout Farringdon, such as new windows which you can read about below, repairing the roof and more. To find out how he felt after a year, we asked Mr Kemp if we could have an interview. Mr Kemp told us when he first got the job he was surprised and delighted as there were a lot of strong candidates. He feels Farringdon is the right place for him and he is happy to work with such wonderful students. He told us he has lots of exciting things planned for the school. He also said students and teachers are the ‘heartbeat’ of the school! He told us he likes the way BFL is run as students who work hard should be rewarded, those that misbehave should face the consequences. He told us he wanted to make a difference and help make dreams come true! Mr Kemp says he likes being a head teacher - in fact it's the best job in the world. He went on to say it's a special school, the relationships between the students and teachers are very strong. He told us that he finds parents very supportive - He would like to thank them for helping the school bring out the best in our young people. Mr Kemp says he would be confident about OFSTED coming into school soon but at the moment OFSTED think we are so good that they are now not coming in till Summer 2013—this is a good feeling and we will definitely be ready when they come! Wicked New Windows!! WINDOWS: Workmen in action and the ‘new look’ Windows (below) Throughout the year many things have been in action, including new windows in A block— which are starting look great, and make a real difference to the building—its so hot now that teachers are even having to open the windows in the winter! Also workmen are improving the roof over the assembly hall and PE by making it so it is water proof, as we have had some issues in the past with leaks and the roof, but now that it is water proof there will be no more issues! FARRINGDON SCHOOL—CONSTANTLY IMPROVING— A GREAT PLACE TO BE! Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 4 Ofsted? Not Yet!! As most of you will know we usually have one week where OFSTED comes in and inspects the school , walking and around and visiting classrooms to see if we are a successful school or not. Normally we have our inspections every three years (the last inspection was in December 2008) however Sue Gregory HMI has told Farringdon that the school doesn’t need to have this just yet as we have made improvements year on year for the last three years since our last visit, therefore the next Ofsted report will not be until summer 2013 (unless we receive information that causes the inspection to be earlier) What a Result!!! Farra in the News! Farringdon have been in the news a lot this term! As you’ll read on page 7 we have had major success with City Sings. Back in January we featured with an article about funding for sports clubs and just this month we did and interview on BBC Radio Newcastle talking about our success and continued improvement over the last few years, there was also an article about this in the Echo on the same day—we take our fame seriously! Sunderland’s Young Achievers Farringdon School was once again well represented at this months annual Sunderland Young Achievers Awards: The following students were recognised for their fantastic achievements: Year 9 - Emily Piercy (pictured) - Winner of the Academic Achievement Awards - 11-14 years Year 8 - Connor Brown - A members of the Blue Watch Youth Centre Coast 2 Coast team that won the Group Sports category Year 10 - Kristopher Hayes - Highly Commended in the Young Volunteer Category - 11-14 years Arts - Kate Ferguson, Kirsty Barraclough, Sally McDonald, Rachel Hill all formed part of the winning Youth Arts Exhibition 2011. A big well done to them all! Easter Facts! • • • • • The act of painting eggs is traditionally called Pysanka In the UK, children receive on average 8.8 chocolate Easter eggs every year 38% of kids are unaware of the traditional reason for eating eggs at Easter 43% of kids eat their first chocolate egg before Easter Sunday 58% of children consider chocolate eggs the most important part of Easter Bunnys: Because they’re cute and it is Easter!!! 5 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 It’s great to work at Farra! Farringdon has 2 teachers who have almost been with us for their first full year, these teachers are Miss Pringle and Miss Scott. Miss Pringle started at Farringdon in September 2011, and is teaching English, you wouldn’t think she has just been working as a teacher since September, as she has great teaching skills, and does her job really well keeping us all in line! Miss Pringle knows all of the rules of Farringdon and how to use them! Miss Scott started in September at Farringdon too, but she also did her teacher training here, so has been here even longer. Miss Pringle told us she was very excited because she was lucky enough to get the job back when she was interviewed and she loves teaching English. She is very comfortable after teaching for 7 months at Farringdon. She us she likes how the staff are very welcoming and supportive, and the pupils always want to learn more! Although the school is very old the inside is much better. Miss Pringle went onto say one things she thinks could be better is she thinks all teachers should have phones in their room to ring Heads of Year or department for support instead of leaving lessons. Miss Pringle also told us she wanted to inspire children to love English as well as her. She said she loves teaching, but it is very tiring at times but it is very rewarding when your pupils do well. She felt the small changes in the school are improving the building making it look better. Miss Pringle told us she is very nervous of OFSTED visiting soon, as it would be her first time but she will be pleased when it’s over (like the rest of us we bet she is delighted it will be Summer 2012!) MISS PRINGLE: new to the English Department MISS SCOTT: our new Science teacher Moving on ... Miss Scott told us she was excited to finally be teaching Science, something she has always wanted to do, as she loves experiments, She said she enjoys working with the staff and pupils here as everyone is really friendly. She did comment on one thing that drove her mad and that was mobile phones being out in lessons, but she did say they can come in very handy if used correctly to take photos of the cool things made in lessons. She wants pupils to realise just how many cool things that can be done with Science. For example, I she used to research sharks and did some of her degree out in Egypt diving in the red sea … but you could be a fighter pilot, astronaut or zoo keeper. There are so many opportunities including being a Science teacher!! We hope they both stay for a long time and enjoy their careers. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 6 New Head Boy and Girl As you all will know, a few weeks back, we were all given the opportunity to vote for our new head girl. As our new head boy had already been chosen, Jonathon Foggin, many of you will have heard of him, and he was the only boy that went in for this spectacular opportunity. However, the two girls who went in for this opportunity were, Megan Brown, and also Savannah Lindley-Richardson. Overall, the votes were rather close, as they waited in the Learning zone with much tension surrounding them. The votes came to an overall of 77 to 81. So to make it official, your new head girl is now Megan Brown, as SavanSUCCESSFUL: Megan Brown and Jonathon nah lost out by only 4 votes. As people have already said, it’s Foggin pictured when they were in Y7 the closest that its ever been before. However Savannah has still been given the opportunity to take on another role for the school too, as an ambassador, and of which she has accepted. So now, if you ever see either Megan Brown or Jonathon Foggin around school, please take the chance to wish them both a congratulations. Youth Parliament Elections During the week starting March 5th all students had the chance to vote in the Sunderland Youth parliament elections. All our students visited the dining hall and cast their vote in an official election. The election was open to students living is Sunderland. There are 21 students from year 6 upwards standing for election. Raegan Armstrong who is currently one of our Y9 students stood for election and we wished her every success. She came 6th out of everyone standing and although she didn’t win a place overall (top 4 candidates) she did incredibly well. VOTING: Students vote for youth parliament elections 7 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Singing for the School and the City On Sunday 26 February Farracapella our school choir went to the Empire to perform in the city sings 12 different schools from primary and secondary schools battled out to win this singing competition. The category was gold for to match the theme of the Olympics 2012 that will be in London. The Choir rehearsed very hard so they would sound good, and all this paid off, because they beat 5 other schools and won the open choir category and £300. Abby Brown, 7B said “I enjoyed hearing the other choirs perform and singing the songs making them our own mash up.” The choir sang two songs, Black and Gold and a folk song VICTORY: Farracapella get awarded the £300 cheque called “The Waters of Tyne”. The choir had the help of Josh Astill, the beat boxer and Jordan Stoker, rapper. The Night was a huge success and was enjoyed by all. We are sure they’ll be performing again soon on a stage near you!! Mill Hill flash Mob On the 28th of February seven Y11 students, Karley Craig, Hannah Scrafton, Bethany Turnbull, Ashleigh Foster, Shauna Swain, Nicole Smith and Danielle Anderson went to Mill Hill Primary to prepare to lead their Y5 students in Mill Hills first ever Flash Mob. They had to create, choreograph and teach the routine to the primary students in a 1 1/2 hour workshop and then travelled to Mill Hill lead a final rehearsal and then perform with them in the school yard. The performance was a huge success with the majority of the primary school rushing to watch and even join in with some of the moves! Many teachers and other support staff also came out to see this totally unexpected addition to an otherwise normal sunny afternoon break time. The Flash mob concluded to huge applause and received many positive comments such as "that was wicked" and "Awesome!". Both Farringdon and Mill Hill students got a huge amount out of the workshop and performance and we hope to be able to continue to work closely together on such projects in the future. The Young Americans On Monday 12th March 14 students took part in the Young Americans at the Empire. On Saturday 10th the students went to Venderable Bede And started the Young Americans workshop, The workshop continued on the Sunday after and they performed their work on the Monday night at the Empire. The students who took part were: Stacey Porter, Ruby Johnson, Pheobe Johnson Beth McGuiness, Charlotte Gibson, Stephanie Crewe, Elena Tait, Lucy Thompson, Abby Brown, Julia Williams, Kevin Clinton, Connor Hanson and Fleur Griffiths and Amber Peters. LOGO: The young Americans Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 8 One Night Only On Thursday the 8th of March 2012, the school held a performing arts night in the main hall. Students from Media, Art, Music, dance and Performing Arts came along to show off their work and talents. The night was opened by the schools fantastic rock band, who meet up every Thursday night to practice their music. They opened the show with the songs I love Rock and Roll, Use Somebody and Come Together. Following on from rock band, the Stunning year 10 dance crew performed a great street dance routine. It was easy to tell that a lot of hard work and practice went into it! After that-Y8 media student Amy Watson presented the trailers that her class made to the audience, and following after came another amazing dance act from Y11. Finally from act one, four students: Crew, Amber Peters and per- formed a scene from Alice in wonderland with a twist. After the interval, Act 2 started, with the year 10 BTEC band which is made up of who performed the songs Dance, Dance by Fall out Boy, Smells like teen Spirit by Nirvana and California Girls by Katy Perry. During the song California Girls two Y7 dancers, Connor Hanson and Kevin Clinton also joined the band onstage and performed a routine, this was the first collaboration of music and dance that this school has ever had! The night continued, showcasing more of the schools dance, media and musicincluding our school choir who won City Sings this year (see how many more times we mention this through our newsletter—not that we are proud or anything!!) It was a fantastic night and something that Creative Arts hope to repeat every year from now on. Arts Mark Award Farringdon school has applied for the Arts Mark award, which means that the school will receive a special mark stating that is it has a real strength in creative subjects. The person who assessed the school met with pupils who spoke about what they did within the department including writing newsletter, the student were: - Nathan Gaffney and Lauren Scrafton - Stacy Porter and Connor Harrison - Emily Piercy,Amber Peters and Ben Robinson - Georgia Roberts, Leah Cadler and Isaac Burwood - Sarah Barton, Jasmine Mustard and Connor Peverly We know when she left she was very pleased with what she saw and now we just have to wail till May to see if we were successful—fingers crossed! PERFORMERS: Here are Some of the students performing on the night—more photos hopefully on the website soon ... Anti DV Pitch A group of eight students have continued to Work on their anti-domestic violence pitch. With the help of Kelly Henderson and Vicki Kennedy, they are now prepared to show their idea to Counsellor Gibson-and are aiming to get funding in order to create the campaign professionally. On community Day, the whole group filmed a rough cut of the ad to show at the pitch. It is a really difficult issue and the student are showing great maturity in their handling of it. 9 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Footloose is about dancing—a group of young people have gathered at their favourite dance club to unwind and say goodbye to Ren McCormack. Ren's father has walked out, so he and his mother are forced to move in with her sister's family in a small town nobody has ever heard of called Beaumont. Ren, a keen dancer, is stunned to learn that dancing is not allowed anywhere in the city. His new friends explain that this law dates back five years to a car accident that claimed the lives of four Beaumont teenagers, including the local Reverend's son. In the flood of grief and guilt that followed that tragedy, Rev Moore managed to convince the town council to ban dancing. The only person not bothered by the control is the Rev’s daughter, Ariel. One night Ren walks Ariel home and they find they have a lot in common. But Rev Moore forbids Ariel to see Ren again, citing him as a troublemaker. Ren vows to "take on the town" and incites a revolution by his classmates to throw a dance. After much arguing, face-offs with the teens and a struggle with his conscience, Rev Moore announces to his parishioners that he has had a change of heart - that in fact a dance might be a good idea. And so, for the first time in years, the young people of Beaumont are able to dance freely, and as everyone joins in, the evening becomes not only a celebration and "Everybody Cut Footloose!" LOST PROPERTY Mr Turns would like people to check out lost property in student services if they’ve lost something. It gets very full and he wants the space back!! Miss Hughes has a few of lost property in the Library. Mr turns says “each term we get a variety of items handed in from jewellery to clothing. Most items are claimed but we do get quite AUDITIONS FOR FOOTLOOSE ARE ON THE 16TH APRIL a number of things unclaimed which are usually sorted and redistributed year managers to use or it is given to charity.” The pencil case and key is from the Library and the middle picture is everything from the Student Services. SERIOUSLY ... JUST PUT IT IN A BIN! The issue of dropping litter is something we take seriouisly on our years and in the community—here is a poster designed by one of the news team in Geography recently. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 10 Plans for Construction The School Swimming Pool Improvements ... The Construction pupils have been at it again, ‘re-vamping’ another area in the school. At the beginning of this year they helped convert the old multi-gym at the back of the hall into a classroom for the PE department. They’ve now been helping to modernise the swimming pool chang- ing rooms by removing old tiles, replacing them with new ones and doing some grouting. The changing rooms are also going to be painted and new floors laid to make them a much better environment for every-one. Great stuff! Above and to the left are pictures of the students who help fix the toilets of the swimming pool and worked on the multi-gym as well as planning to go and re-tile the floor in the changing rooms and are going to paint the walls as well. Hopefully our pool will look so much more inviting in no time at all. A Model Skate Park Totally from scrap wood we have managed to build a model skate park in D9—we have managed to incorporate, Maths (measuring and working out area's), English (handwriting all of the work done) COPE (construction ,painting and decorating) and shortly to follow MEDIA (our animation is to be filmed using the skate park as a set). Marvellous Maths Farringdon students participated in a national maths challenge. The best in Farringdon who got the highest results was Jane Davies. Congratulations to Jane who is in Year 9. These people got Bronze: Aimee Trewick, Year 9. Cameron Johnson, Year 9. Gavin Taylor , Year 10. Sally McDonald , Year 10. These people got silvers!: James Lane, Year 9. Kate Ferguson, Year 10. Fletcher Gladden, Year 10. 11 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Community Spirit! Back in February we had another Community Day. Here is a summary of what each year group did. The Y7’s day was all about the Olympics and where it would be held. They were made to create different spots on where it would be, they had a map of London to make sure there was space for it! They were given information sheets early on in the day and suddenly had to remember them as the electric cars were shown, and they were quizzed on the information about the cars earlier. Y8 ‘s day was a blast! There was many activities for us to enjoy, our day had a sporting and getting healthy theme as you can see in some of the pictures on this page. Judo was one activity, students would stay in their form groups and play games to do with judo. This was one of the most fun activities. I interviewed Courtney Porteous and Megan Keogh who said: ‘I enjoyed it because not just the lesson was full on fun games, but the instructor was really funny!’ Another favourite was table tennis, many people had a laugh and found a new sport they were good at. Finally most people had a tri-athalon to do, swimming, rowing and running. This wasn’t a fun activity for some people as they didn’t very much enjoy running, but some loved it! The swimming was sadly cancelled and no one got to do it, but it was fun competing! The day was fun and every one enjoyed it. FOOTBALL CRAZY: Fun on the football court! Year 9, 10 and 11 The focus of the day for Y9 was ‘staying safe’. The day consisted of a number of sessions ranging from Cyber bullying to Safe Sex Education. The students coped really well with the sessions and found the information thought provoking and interesting. The Tennis: The remaining competiY10’s were all split into different classes and rooms with RBS and they tors, the pressure is on! had to do a challenge to design their own café. They had to design the shop choosing from the Argos catalogue with their £5000 budgets. It was a long day and quite a challenge working together in such large groups but those who tried hard really got something out of it. Finally Y11 went onto a trip to Gateshead Community College and had a nice visit round the art gallery, seeing the wonderful world of college. They also spent invaluable time in the afternoon back at school writing their CV’s for their leavers profiles. Rock Skool Rocks! “If you have an idea for a business, I’d wholly recommend that you go to the BIC and talk to one of the advisers about it, no matter how crazy you think it sounds. They really know how to help put your ideas into place – our initial plan for Rock Skool went from being a dream to a reality, in six weeks!” Lisa French, Herrington Rock Skool. Rockskool put on a showcase night at Farringdon TALENT: Kris Foster (ex-student ) and Mr Andrews outside Social Club and gave away the money taken to six Rock Skool (6) very lucky young people; they each received ten free lessons at the Rockskool. Luke Rostron, Y7, won 10 free lessons at rockskool along with 5 other performers. And on the night, Luke and Chloe Stirzaker, Y7, gave outstanding performances doing a duet ,vocals and guitar. Students past and present performed to a very high standard and did themselves proud, it was an excellent night. We also have a CD from that night’s performance on sale at the Rockskool. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 12 Coffee Afternoon— hot off the presses!! Students from Year 7, 8 and 9 from green pathways came along to the coffee afternoon on our day of publication. The staff at Farringdon who teach those pathways were raising money for something called Sunderland Royal Neo-Natal Unit. We asked Mrs Lowthian and Mrs Watson that run the coffee afternoons about their opinion about what they think about the coffee afternoon, they said “ We always have a good turn out, staff are very supportive, if they can’t donate money they have been bringing in biscuits and more” The staff have decided to sell cakes, biscuits to green pathways on break times, dinner times till June to raise more money for the charity. HAVING FUN From top left clockwise, pouring drinks, chit chat, cheese, don't eat too much, yummy party rings, slurp—what shall I have now!!! 13 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Co-operative Learning Co-operative learning is a strategy used to get all children from Farringdon interacting with one and other through their learning by playing fun game together. New strategies have just been realised to make it even more fun than it was before. Ebonny Cavanagh Y7 pupil said ”The thing I like about cooperative learning is that we get an opportunity to up out of our seats and are able to share idea’s with other people. My favourite type is ‘Find the Fibs’ as they are really fun to do in French!” and one of the assistant heads of Farringdon, Ms Reay thinks that” Co-operative Learning is great because it means that students get a real chance to talk about their learning and to make progress together. It follows four principles- or, as we like to call it, PIES: P= positive interdependence (we depend upon each to learn in a positive way. We have responsibility for our own and others’ learning) I= Individual accountability (we are all accountable for our own learning and our group’s learning) E= Equal participation (we all get an equal chance to take part in lessons- the people who always have their hand up don’t ‘hog’ the learning) S= Simultaneous interaction (if a teacher’s asked a question or set a task, all the groups work on it, or talk about it at the same time. This means time is not wasted and we get more out of our lessons)” Co-operative Learning is fun. It means that questions, tasks and activities can be done in fun and exciting ways. It’s popular with students and staff. Here are just a few of the strategies: Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 14 Cloud computing, charities no-smoking and celebration! Farringdon have been asked to take part in a pilot scheme with 2 other schools in Sunderland to trial Cloud computing. Hopefully you are all familiar with the concept? Basically it will allow a user to access all of their programs and data from any device which is connected to the Internet. The benefits are great as far as improving ICT facilities in our school and for pupils having access to any of their work in any place, time and on almost any device i.e. PC, laptop, tablet PC, smart phone or iPod. From June to the end of term we are participating in a Pilot scheme with BT and other ICT companies looking at "Cloud Computing". This will allow 160 users to access and use their school work and programs from any device connected to the Internet. Devices such as their PCs and laptops to tablets such as iPads, smart phones and even some iPods. The 160 users in the pilot will include some staff and some targeted groups of students from ICT and other subject areas. There are 2 other Sunderland schools involved in this: Portland School and Grange town Primary. If the trial is successful, the "Proof of Concept" is positive and the cost is favourable then all schools in the authority could sign up for this. A list of students were called to the Cyber Café recently to meet with the school nurses to see if we could help them stop smoking. The nurses will also be in the yard at break on Friday for all students. The nurses told pupils about the risks of smoking to their bodies and offered them support to quit. BRAVE EX-STUDENT A charity non-uniform day recently raised - £521.76 for Help the Heroes. Chris Marley’s an ex-student who spoke to us in assembly is taking up an Arctic Challenge which will raise money for Help the Heroes, we’re glad so many people donated to support him. EASTER PRAISE IN ASSEMBLY Mr Kemp decided to reward all of those students in each year group who give something back to the school by always working their hardest or by being involved in clubs or activities. The Y7 winning crowd are pictured with their certificates and Easter eggs. Well done you deserve them! 15 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 A.S.P. News What is autism? My name is Chelsea Louise Jobling I have a rare autism and I am going to tell you all about it. Some of you may not know what autism is, there are many different types of autism and I am going to tell you about each one there are ASD, short for autism spectrum disorder, AS is short for autism spectrum, ASC is short for autism spectrum condition and finally AS is short for aspergers Syndrome. AUTISME AWARENESS BADGE: we are special These are my friends with autism The Autism Spectrum Is... Some people with autism are very clever and others have learning difficulties. Like everyone else we are all different. It might mean that we… Don't always behave the same way as yourself and friends. We don't always understand what has been said. We don't understand our feelings. We may find taking turns more difficult then others. We don't always know what is acceptable behaviour. We may have special interests. You can help by being a friend If you help by being a friend you can understand more about autism. Many of us have autism we just don't know that we do, so if you want to learn more you just have to see Ms Holt and Ms Allan tin our base as they know every thing about autism that there is to know. Or you can help by—making sure your language is clear and saying exactly what you mean. Allowing us some quiet time if we need it. Encouraging us when we are doing well. Friends with Autism Me and my friend Emma are both autistic so we understand each other, we help each other with our work, like she helped me with this article for example. Emma is the best friend anyone could ask for, some time me and Emma go outside of school and hang out with each other to the cinema to see funny movies. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 16 People with severe Autism Hi! I'm Emma and I have a brother who has severe autism. He is called Mark, also I have a friend named Rebecca who has both a brother and sister with autism too and I’m going to tell you about people with autism like Mark. He can talk a little and when he asks for something he usually says ‘Mark wants apple pie’ or whatever he’s after. He also can shout things he tries to run off lots, he is very strong too. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine and repetitive things. People with severe autism can seem very different, because they find it very hard to communicate and this can also be very hard to cope with. Many of them I know can’t really talk properly, but others like Mark’s friend Nathan sadly can’t talk at all and probably never will. Most autistic people like to play and fiddle with things, spin things and bounce. (especially watching things like Thomas the Tank Engine (that’s very popular with them.) Most find it very hard to talk like Mark or can’t even talk at all. They usually use something called a ‘pex book’ to help them tell other people what that want. They look through it, find what they want and put it in front of the photo of them and the wants. You need to be patient and calm while looking after them and have to explain things slowly. Here is a poem I wrote about my brother a while ago, (this also tells you a bit about people with severe autism.) A POEM ABOUT MY BROTHER by Emma My brother is autistic. We find it very hard to communicate with him. Even in the yard, he sometimes scratches or hits me. Even though he isn’t mean. For he doesn't understand how or what being “mean,” means. AUTISM: My brother, Mark My brother is autistic, even though we are not the same And just because of that, no one really is to blame. My brother is autistic and as special as can be. I love him loads and cherish him. He means the world to me. My brother is autistic, and I would like to say I try to be very patient when things don’t go his way. Sometimes he wants to bounce when the weather is very bad. Or maybe asks for soft play when things are planned for the day. He sometimes throws a tantrum and can get so very angry. He may end up throwing things. Even hit you, scratch you or push you. So this is from me to all, with someone in their family, That has severe autism. Please be calm and patient. Never push them too far. As they don’t see the world in the same eyes as we do. Please try to be understanding, and enter their world too. 17 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Each edition we ask our primary schools to contribute news to our newsletter. This edition we got to work with two of our three feeders when they came to use for an afternoon. It’s fab to see so many talented young journalists who will definitely be on the News Team when they do come to Farringdon in the future (they won’t have a choice ... We won’t let them escape!) Derwent Dazzling Days On Friday 10th February, Y6 were on a lifetime trip to Derwent Hill. We are going to this fabulous trip because our teachers believed that we worked very hard towards this. Nine o'clock struck, it was time to go to school. Everyone was so excited for the biggest moment of there life! As time went, the bus had arrived for our travel. Unfortunately, some of the teachers had to travel there by car which meant that there was no humour on the bus. Soon it was time and the bus had stopped to our next point. The moment had come, we had to pull our suitcases up the big bank. The house was massive exactly like a mansion. Everyone was screaming and shouting so loud that no one could even hear themselves think over the voices. We met our instructors and went to our dorms. We had to empty out our suitcases into the boxes and put the sheets on our beds,. It was hard work! There was several activities throughout this weekend for us to do. Our weekend was phenomenal and a great experience. We really enjoyed it! BEAUTIFUL: Derwent Hill House By Rhiann and Molly Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 18 Lovely Laptops Y6 have been testing some new Netbooks that might be given out to the whole school. These little laptops can be used in our classroom without any wires or chargers its because Mr Daglish (the computer expert) says that the ICT Suite should be given a rest and to many people want to go in. The Y6 pupils think that they are incredible and are brilliant to have! But pupils have been warned if people are not being sensible with them they might get taken away! So, be sensible and enjoy them while you can! “I think they are very good and interesting!” quoted Chloe Towers. We are very glad that we have these Netbooks and are very lucky to have them! By Amy Wonderful World Mill Hill Primary School brought in their favourite book for world book day. Some year groups like year 5 went to Reception to read to them however, year 6 went to the Nursery to read. On the same day the choir sang to parents because it was the fair trade coffee afternoon. Y6 sat in a circle and told us about there book after that we drew a picture of the book but it had to be different to the one on the front cover after we did that Mr Hair picked a winner and the winning person gets a prize. The best thing about world book day is that everyone enjoyed it and had fun. “I think that world book day was different and unusual to what we normally do” quoted by Amy Beck on the hand I thought it was amazing because it is something new and you get to read to different people and you can have fun. By Chloe NETBOOKS: Pupils learn to use new laptops Fabulous fair-trade COFFEE: Pupils provide entertainment for this event Recently, on the 1st March 2012, we held a fair-trade coffee afternoon to raise money for charities. The school did this to give farmers the money they deserve. The school choir sang a few songs, one of which was Love can Build a Bridge. While they did this the parents who came to watch drank some fairtrade coffee. After the choir sang everyone could go and look at the stall which had fair-trade things that you could buy. If your parent came to watch you could go home early and a lot of the pupils were pleased to hear this! We raised around £300 for the charities that we were giving the money to. By Hannah Oxley Daring Derwent Hill... On the 19th of March 25 children went to Derwent Hill. We found out in December that we were going. The names were picked out of a bag all the girls that wanted to go got picked out so that meant twelve of the boys had to stay at school. On the 20th of February we had a meeting about Derwent hill, we found out what we are going to do there. We’re going to go Canoeing ,gorge walking and the death swing is available for the daring (I’m definitely doing it!) . Everyone who is going are very excited and we have even been counting down the days! By Niall Urwin READING: Pupils share stories with nursery students 19 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 A Blast From The Past At East Herrington Primary School, Y6 took part in and made it themselves a Victory in Europe party to celebrate the end of their topic of World War Two. They did all the preparations themselves and the teachers only gave them ideas. They also created their own food and made a dance up. The party took place this term and everyone in year six enjoyed it. As a member of the party, I knew how much everyone enjoyed it and how much pupils would like to have another party. Charlie exclaimed that the party was highly entertaining and that he had learned what people would feel like at the end of the war. “I liked the games, how they were all WWII style.” Pointed out Emma. The dances were created by a few pupils from each class and they were both excellent. On the morning Shooting Hoops TEAMWORK: pupils working together Back in February, a group of Year 6 children went to Farringdon Community Sports College to compete in a basketball tournament with the Newcastle Eagles. They came third out of schools in the local area and overall played very well. Before the tournament the Newcastle Eagles came in to Year Six to teach us some basic basketball skills. The children who had the best understanding of the game and the different tactics were picked to take part in the tournament. About thirty children were picked to go and compete. Fortunately, one of our four teams played well enough to venture forward into the semi-finals but was sadly knocked out. Aside from the disappointing defeat, everyone highly enjoyed the event and learned a handful of helpful tactics. As a member of the team I thought the entire experience was very beneficial and I learnt a great deal of things from the event. By Charlie VICTORY: pupils sing war time classics before the party all the children took part in making the food. It wasn’t the best. All in all everyone enjoyed it and hope fully teachers will do it next year as well. By Alice City Sings Back in February East Herrington Primary went to a singing competition called the City Sings. Some of the schools in Sunderland entered and competed in the competition. The City Sings is a competition each year when choirs of different schools, in Sunderland, sing some songs in front of the public. It is a competition to see which choir can sing the best with the songs they chose. The best singing choir wins a trophy and a cheque of money. But everyone enters just for fun and to be on the empire stage in front of people. When East Herrington Primary entered the Empire they got sent strait to their dressing rooms. East Herrington Primary had three rooms, one for year four, the other for year five and the last one for year six. The dressing rooms were quite small but the chairs were comfy. After settling in, all of the schools went to the main area of the empire, to do rehearsals. The songs East Herrington preformed, ain’t no mountain and you raise me up. After the rehearsals East Herrington had their rests before the real competition. When the real competition came, East Herrington got went down to the stage to perform. It went brilliantly! When there performance finished they went down to their seats and sat down to enjoy some sweets. When the judges went to count the votes of all of the choirs’ songs. A fantastic show of gymnastics surprised us. The votes got counted and the results came. Casteltown primary won and Farringdon came second. It was a fantastic night! By Pardis Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 20 Wacky World Book Day On the 1st March, East Herrington Primary School celebrated World Book Day like many other schools in Sunderland. World Book Day is celebrated all over the world to encourage more children to read. Students were allowed to dress up as their favourite children’s book character. Pupils dressed up as Smurfs, St. Trinnians and also one pupil decided to dress up as the Queen of Hearts from Alice In Wonderland. Even the teachers dressed up as characters from the Roald Dahl books. Pupils completed World Book Day based activities. On the morning of the day, teachers were requested to choose a student from their class to represent the children in a Pupil vs. Teacher book quiz. As usual the pupils were the victorious winners. Y6 child states that the experience was entertaining. All in all the children enjoyed the experience and we believe that this year was the best world book day in East Herrington Primary School. By Emma FAST BIKEABILITY In February Y5 did a bike ability test each class did it at different times in the month. My class did it after the February holiday. On Monday the bike ability people came in and put us into two groups, sadly I got put in a group away from all of my class mates. One group did it in the morning and the other in the afternoon I was in the morning. They took us outside to get our bikes, you weren’t aloud to ride your bike in the quiet play area but I sneakily did when they weren’t looking anyway. They first give us a big boring lecture about stuff we already know. We first learnt how to do pedal ready and that took up most of our time. We then played a game on our bikes called knock out. Its where you go through some obstacles and your not aloud to touch them or stop your bike, the instructors made them smaller each time I won the first game and was always one of the near winners. The next day we went on the rode and did turning left, turning right, and stopping and going at junctions. Once we had finished this we where aloud to go wherever we want from a certain distant, then it was all over. One person said “It is amazing there is nothing like it!”By Matthew Going for Gold WACKY: the pupils showing off their costumes FUN: pupils go all out for their costumes Recently East Herrington Primary School Football team continued their impressive success by reaching the final of the cup. They tried extremely hard and consequently won top of the table beating Barnwell 2-1. Before this we entered a competition that if we won we would earn an once in a life time opportunity to attend a competition at flying high Arsenal’s home ground (The Emirates). Baring in mind it was between every school in Sunderland we finished astonishingly 2nd. As a member for the team I think we are presently on excellent form. By Sam 21 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 As you may have read in the Christmas edition of Farra News, 2011 was another year of record success for Bede. We’ve stayed top of the A-level league tables for the third year in a row, maintained a 99% pass rate and continued to deliver high quality education that saw us ranked number one in the region for student satisfaction. Whether you are in Y9 and are just about to choose your options or in Y11 pupils making final preparations for GCSE exams whilst deciding on the path to take after school, we think again towards life beyond the school you are about to leave. Whether that’s going to university, learning a trade or heading straight to work, our range of A-level, vocational courses and apprenticeships as well as our comprehensive support package can help you reach your full potential. It’s not too late, please get in touch with the college if we can be of any assistance in helping you make those vital decisions. We hope to see you at one of our open evenings soon. Judith Quinn – Head of Bede Sixth Form at Sunderland College. THE BOSS : Judith Quinn STUDENT SUPPORT AND WELFARE The college has a wide range of support services in place to help students throughout their time at College, these include; advice and guidance, tutorial, counseling and many more. In addition, we have created the Bursary Scheme, our replacement for EMA, designed to help with the cost of attending college. Through this scheme, students could receive up to £1200 a year to cover their transport,meals and other costs. To find out more about the services on offer, call the Welfare Team on 0191 511 6589. HIGH ACHIEVERS Our High Achievers programmed is designed to help A-level students aiming to get the highest grades earn a place at a Russell Group* university. The programmed is open to students who get an average grade B or higher at GCSE. As part of the High Achiever programmed students will take part in a range of extra activities designed to prepare them for entry to a Russell Group university. Last year we helped 846 students go on to university with many getting in to institutions such as University College London, Oxford and Cambridge. To find out more about our High Achievers programmed, contact Andrew Calder on 0191 511 6221. *This group consists of 20 establishments that set very high entry requirements and includes Newcastle, Leeds, Warwick, Oxford and Cambridge. OPEN EVENINGS If you’d like to find out more about Bede Sixth Form or courses at our other Sunderland College centres why not join us at one of the open evenings. On the next page is news of where some of Farringdon’s ex-pupils are now going on to university. Be inspired by education—they were ... Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 22 Farringdon Bede College Leavers Lewis Daniel Rebecca Kate Luke Alexandra Rachael Abigail David Linda Jenny Daniel Georgia Liam Emily Sophie Clarke Phillip Adam Liam James James Bell Blakemore Bolden Bulmer Cable Cobb Craig Cruickshanks Ditchburn Fowler Frost Gavin Hedgley Hodgson Johnson Laidler Lawson Layford McCabe McNally McNaught Mulvaney University of Sunderland University of Sunderland Northumbria University Teesside University University of Sunderland The University of Huddersfield University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland The University of Hull University of Cumbria University of Sunderland University of Cumbria Teesside university Durham University University of Sunderland University of Sunderland Northumbria University University of Leeds University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland Ian Kayleigh Lauren Naomi Ryan David Hayley Steven Alan Nadine Kaitlyn Richard Samantha Joshua Jenny David Ayden Gabriella Amy Scott O’Neil Portrey Robinson Robson Rowley Scott Scrafton Shaw Spence Stevens Thompson Todd Ward Wardle Westgarth Weston White White Williams Younger University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland Middlesex University The University of Liverpool Teesside University University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland Liverpool John Moores University Teesside University University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland University of Sunderland Biomedical Science Computing Psychology with Sport Science Nursing Sports Coaching Psychology Psychology with Criminology Criminology Criminology and Psychology Accounting (International) Outdoor Studies Business and Management Outdoor Studies Civil Engineering Primary Teaching Sport and Exercise Sciences Sport and Exercise Sciences Chemistry with Biomedical Sciences Sport and Exercise Sciences Business and Management Music Practice Media Production (Video and New Media) Computing Business and Marketing Dance Dance Performance Architecture Computer Science Sport and Exercise Sciences Ddrama Computer Science Business and Management Sport and Exercise Development Computer Forensics History of Art Civil Engineering Psychology Sports Journalism Sport Studies Dance Business and Management Sports Coaching 23 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Geography Weather Study This academic year we have spent a lot of time developing the fieldwork part of the curriculum. Which is an essential part of the National Curriculum in Geography. As a support to the school initiative to reduce the litter problem we have completed litter surveys with all Key Stage 3 students in December 2011. It has hopefully raised awareness of an issue that needs addressing. In year 8 we have been recording the changes in weather in 2012 using weather-recording instruments such as anemometers, thermometers and compasses. We have looked at temperature, wind speed, cloud cover, wind direction and precipitation. The students will analyse this information to help them gain an understanding of how weather changes over time and season. The most dramatic statistic is the 19 C temperature on 28th February, which was 10 C higher than we might have expected. One of the highest tem- peratures on record. Is this a sign of global warming or just a warm day? The fieldwork has been thought provoking and it is good to do work outside the classroom. In the coming weeks we are going to do some work on the school environment. Our student teacher Emma Pretch is going to work with year 7 pupils and the artist Mike Clay on looking at how we intend to improve and change the school environment. Hopefully, this will allow the year 7 students to be aware of the school environment and how we can work together to improve it. This work has meant that students have studied outside of the classroom on freezing cold days when the temperature has been –2 C with a strong Easterly wind from the North Sea. It has been a truly mind and body numbing experience for both staff and students, but all had fun. CHECKING IT OUT: Students on the Yard Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 24 Liverpool Trip In February Y10 got the chance to go on a Beatles themed trip to Liverpool with History. The Y10’s travelled down to Liverpool at (a very early) 6:45! They visited the Beatles Story Museum, a museum that portrays the story of the Beatles (very successful) career. They spent an enjoyable morning getting the chance to look a Beatles memorabilia, old photos and newspapers (and getting to grips with the electronic tour guide!) The students got the opportunity to follow the life stories of the Beatles through the tour. This included lots of old records and some of their old musical instruments! It was also beneficial to their History knowledge as they learned what it was like to be a teenager in the 1960’s. Some brave students also had a go at dressing up and playing with a giant keyboard at the children’s area! They then got the opportunity to spend their money at the gift shop on many Beatles themed items. Many of the students took the liberty of spending their money on different coloured John Lennon glasses! They then, in the afternoon, got to go on a Magical Mystery Tour! This was where they stayed on the coach and drove around Liverpool where a guide described points of interest. These points of interest included the Beatles old houses where one house was still inhabited! Which we assume the owner is extremely laidback about this! They also got the opportunity to visit some points which are included in some the Beatles songs. They got to visit Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and the church graveyard where the Beatles met! They also learned that a name included in one of their songs was one of the names that was on a gravestone where they met in the graveyard, spooky! Which is purely by coincidence! They also got to see an old barber’s shop which is still in use today! They also got to drive past some of the Beatles’s old schools and see the area where they grew up. A very tired coach full of students and staff returned late back that night at school. They thoroughly enjoyed the day! 25 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Our Pupils have great talent! We recently heard that a Year 9 student from Farringdon has published his own book, yes published his own book! How great is that for a Year 9? he must be proud of himself. Mathew Jenkinson is a pupil who definitely has talent! The news team interviewed Mathew about his fantastic work to find out more information on how long it took, please read for more information on what Mathew thinks and his opinion on the book. We asked Mathew to explain a bit about the book he had written. Mathew says that it follows the story of Mathew Graves, a teenager who learns that his father is a supernatural being, one of the several gods that rule parts of the world. Mathew told us that he started it at the beginning of year 7, he also went onto say it took 2-3 years to think about and plan, but only a couple of months to complete. Mathew says since its his first book, his mum had to pay a sum of money to get it published but it was definitely worth it and Mathew is currently writing another book, which he is hoping to get it finished by the end of the year. Mathew also told us he about authors that he likes and one was William Hussey, who visited the school a few years ago, Mathew said he ‘inspires me to want to write’. Mathew told us he likes the supernatural, mystery kind of books, like Harry Potter. Mathew has received feedback from close friend who have read it and loved it, but that’s all because he hasn’t received a count of how many has been sold yet. Go to Amazon and search The Gate by Mathew Jenkinson, you can have a quick preview of the inside of the book and read the first chapter if you like. Planning: Mathew planning and working on his book! Well Mathew is clearly planning ahead already, but another group of Y9’s got the chance to do the same recently. During March 9R2 who went to the university in Northumbria to check out student life. On arrival they were greeted by two students, Jodie and Laura, who were their guides for the day. To get to know each other they played a few games, then a speaker talked to us about the aim of the day a H.E. Focus day (higher education). They got to ask whatever questions they wanted, we found out there are 31,000 students in the university and 300 or more courses available to take. Another question was ‘if zombies were to come and attack, where would you hide?’ this caused a bit of a laugh in the hall. The answer was ‘student union.’ They then went on a tour around the campus. First a book shop and then one of the bars on campus, they also got to see the types of accommodations which can be catered and self catered. Overall they got a lot out of the day. Hannah Young who attended told us that her guide said uni was great because there is always someone you can talk to no matter what the situation and the tutors are always happy to help. Without a doubt she would recommend going and a lot of the students came away with a very different view. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 26 World Book Day! WINNER: Book Hunt I thought you may all be pleased to know that as a school we raised a staggering £514.57p for World Book Day. The money will be used to support Literacy here at Farringdon but also but Literacy resources for our feeder Primary Schools and will be presented by some of our Y10 students as leaders. A massive thank you to you all for the help in ensuring the day ran smoothly and was a success. Word Book Day was a great success, students came into school bravely dressed up as their favourite book character, also the English department staff came in dressed up as their favourite book characters, take a look at the photos below, you will laugh mind! They did a great job, although the pupils asked many questions to the teachers of why they were dressed up. In the library pupils made Harry Potter and Roald Dahl Book Related Origami and mothers day bookmarks —Thanks to Miss Hughes for organising competitions. Also an author hunt took place in the pupils own time, and the winner was Phoebe Johnson, that spent her break time, dinner time and after school trying to find teachers with authors name badges on. Also an book mark competition participated but it had to be a specific size. Pupils worked hard and tried their best, Phoebe the winner who is in Year 7, won the latest Guinness world records 2012—Thanks to Miss Hughes for holding the competition. Students at Farringdon got given one pounds worth of books—In fact everyone in the country did. Dressing up: Ebonny dressed as Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto Competition: Isabella with her own bookmark she made. Pupils: Dressing up bravely to come to school in their pj’s TEACHERS TAKE PART: Dressing up as book characters and wearing their ‘author’ for the day 27 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Dogs as Therapy - Read 2 Dogs! Organised by Miss Alexander to boost reading of science texts, February saw a new scheme, Reading to Dogs start in our school library. The Reading to dog’s scheme is aimed at helping students to build their confidence. Reading to dogs helps the reader to feel they are not being judged. Judith and her dog Cally have been coming into school and Cally had groups of 8-10 students reading to her one at a time. The students chose their own science based books and read a page or two in turn to Cally. Judith was very calming and supportive and allowed the readers to give Cally some treats after they finished. Miss Hughes, the librarian, thinks this is a brilliant scheme, the students reading were really calm and enjoyed the experience. I think this really can help to build confidence around reading loud out. I think it’s a good scheme and think the students will want to do it again. The students have already indicated that they are feeling more confident and the scheme will run on for a few more weeks too. Premier League reading Stars The Premier League Reading Stars is running for the first time this year. A group of Year 7 students have the fantastic opportunity of taking part in this for 10 weeks with Miss Hughes in the Library. This National Literacy trust scheme is a really well established reading scheme aimed at boys. As the name explains, it’s all about football. Each lesson is set out like a ‘fixture’ with a warm up, main activity and a cool down AND half-time juice! There are online challenges to do as well and a weekly cliffhanger story – Tom Palmer’s Foul Play: The Danger Academy which will be will be read to the students at each fixture, fantastic! The Y7s have some special treats in store too, we will be going to a home game and having a guided tour around the Stadium of Light! Check out the next newsletter for info and pictures of their rewards! For further information check out the scheme on the National Literacy Trust website at:http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/premier_league_rea ding_stars Scholastic Books Don’t forget, Scholastic books are offering some fantastic deals/discounts on books AND free books to schools. For every £1 you spend 20p goes to your chosen school in free books. Go to http://shop.scholastic.co.uk/ for more information. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 28 Book Reviews Bilbo, a Hobbit (who don't have adventures) is visited by the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves who seek a fourteenth member (to avoid the unlucky number) for their journey to steal the treasure from the dragon Smaug. Though reluctant at first, Bilbo is convinced in part by the trickery of Gandalf to join the unexpected party. He is taken, literally from his comfort zone, off to discover things he knew of only from old tales. Bilbo's adventure takes him face to face with trolls, goblins, a riddling creature names Gollum, elves and of course the dragon. He learns the value of adventuring and of course returns home the greater for having gone of this journey, bringing back with him, not only treasure but a magic ring or invisibility, which will become the focus of The Lord of The Rings. This book is The book that came before the Lord of The Rings sequel and is being made into movie later this year. “Watch Out!!” In the book The Hunger Games Katniss’s sister Prim gets called for the district’s once a year annual Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is where each year 24 people, a boy and a girl from each of the 12 districts, kill each other until there is 1 person standing. Prim gets her name picked out of the bowl and Katniss volunteers for her. While she is at the Hunger Games she befriends a boy and a girl and this is a story of the journey of her life in the Hunger Games. If you like this book you’re in luck because there are two more in the series. If you like action packed adventure books than this is the book for you. It is a little bit bloody and gory but if you can handle that you will love this book. This book is very popular and has been made into movie. It is an interpretation of the dark future. Army Visit Mr Lewis had a group of year 10`s taking part in a talk about disasters delivered by the Army. The presentation was about how the Army responds to a disaster (an earthquake). The Year 10s then got into groups with a team leader teaching them what they would need to do to respond to a disaster themselves. So, working in teams, students decided how to `take action` to assess the situation following an earthquake on a fictitious island. Over a series of stages students identified and prioritised where humanitarian aid was required. Students calculated and planned the distribution of this aid and responded. Another well presented workshop from the Army and another fabulous experience for our students. 29 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 London Calling On Thursday15th March 30 students set off for a 2 day trip to London! We started the trip by meeting at the school at 7:45 and set off at 8, on our way to London we stopped at many service stations for dinner and finally arrived at the hotel at 3o clock, we quickly unpacked and zoomed off for a meal at Adam’s Rib and to see Shrek the musical! Despite being tired from the journey everyone enjoyed the show, in the words of one of the Y7’s it was ‘awesome’, after this we made our journey back to the hotel. The next day we went to the London Eye—some fabulous vies of London even though it was a little misty, we had free time for dinner and then had to meet back up at the coach, after this we made our way to the BBC studios for a tour round the studio, we went to see the news room and where all the new shows get recorded, later on we then went to Madame Tussauds and got to pose next to some major celebrities—some brave people even did the horror tour! After a hard day of touring round London we finally went to the Hard Rock Café where we were fed like Kings. On the third and final day we went to a drama workshop at Pineapple Dance studios and spoke to one of the cast of Shrek, sadly we didn’t bump into Louie Spence Finally free time shopping in Covent Garden—we headed home tired but happy! Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 30 Film Reviews The Hunger Games Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth. Director: Gary Ross Run time: 142 minuets (2 hours 20 minuets) Rating: 12A May the odds be ever in your favour, well for this film they certainly were. A bold and brilliant adventure unlike any other. Katniss has been chosen to take part in the hunger games, where she will be pitted against 23 other children from ages 12 to 18 to fight to the death, all while the citizens of ‘capitol’ watch for their entertainment. The hunger games generated much excitement, from the fans of the novels it has based on, and It did live up to most of its expectations, being powerful and dramatic (through out the bladder busting 2 hours and 20 minuets run time!), though fans of the books may be somewhat let down by the things that were left of the mix, with the avoxes being under explained and the characters back story somewhat lacking and occasionally confusing from first time hunger games fans, but it did make up for this in is moving script and engaging characters and little ‘extras’ that have been added in. Love it or hate it will provoke some emotion, with the death of young rue leaving much of the audience in tears, this film is now a triumph and personal favourite. John Carter Stars: Taylor Kitsch, William Dafoe and Lynn Collins Director: Andrew Stanton Run time: 132 minuets ( 2 hours 12 minuets) Rating: 12A Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savoir. This is a fun and enjoyable film, if you can forget that the dialogue is cheesy and predictable, that it doesn't exactly follow the book. With the film title more fitting to a biopic about an American president that a supposed epic adventure, it sets the mood for a let down on the action sequences but makes up for some of it with outstanding special effects that make the green skinned tharks, who are well rounded characters with a believable and intricate culture where weakness is not tolerated. A good film if you do not focus on the sometimes confusing storyline, and simply want a bit of action. Sarah Recommends: The Raven—A madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works. The Five Year Engagement— A comedy that charts the ups and downs of an engaged couple's relationship. Sarah Recommends: To The Arctic—journey into the lives of a mother polar bear and her cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness The Moth Diaries—Rebecca is suspicious of Ernessa, the new arrival at her boarding school, but or does the new girl truly possess a dark secret? 31 FARRA NEWS Easter Sports Relief Mile HAVING A BLAST!:Mr Kemp joins the fun. The sports relief mile run was a blast! On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week everyone did a mile run for charity it was fun, though everyone was tired and sweating hot, it was worth it. Some of the teachers were even keen to join in, and instead of the pupils having to skip lessons it was made during the P.E. lessons, it was fun, even if we were all half asleep at the end! CHALLENGE YOURSELF The following Y7 students achieved their targets in the CV Room today in relation to Sports Relief : - Nial Hodgson - EFX Machine - 20 mins - Sam Horner - Treadmill - 15 minutes - level 11 - Mark Moorcroft - EFX Machine - 20 mins - Kieran Witherall - 1500 metres rowing - Connor Gilbertson - 4 miles cycling - McKenzie Simpson - 4 miles cycling - Liam Shepherd - Treadmill - 15 minutes - level 11 Early indications show that they have had in excess of £150 pledge to them in sponsorship money - which they will be collecting over the coming week. Tyler Duffy could not participate due to a knee injury but will be trying to complete his challenge on another day. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 32 Year 11 Young Apprentice: Duke of Edinburgh Award. The Y11 Young Apprentice pupils have began working towards the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. The Award is achieved by completing a programme of activities in four sections; Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. Some of the challenges have already been met; the experience of having volunteered in our feeder primary schools last year as well as supporting our own schools active dinner time programme has led the Apprentices to completing the Volunteering section with relative ease. Other sections will provide a stiffer challenge, demanding new skills to be learnt and then put into practice. In order to complete the Expedition section pupils must develop map reading and camp craft skills. Our pupils must also be able to demonstrate competence in risk assessment, route planning and first aid. Once they have practiced these skills they will be involved in a pre expedition (one night away at Alston in May/June) and a full 2 day and one night camping expedition (in the lake district, help approximately 4 weeks after the pre expedition). We hope that through achieving the Bronze Award our pupils will further develop skills, confidence and a view on life that everyone is looking for, from employers to colleges and in the future, possibly universities. Fantastic Footie On Monday the 26th March during periods 4 and 5 68 year 7’s went to the pavilion for a football tournament. There were boys and girls involved from each form in year 7. The teams were made up of around 9-11 students each. In first place there was 7B. After that came 7G in 2nd. There was also 7F in 3rd, 7A in 4th, 7D in 5th, 7C in 6th and 7E in 7th. The day was planned by the Y10 BTEC students who also refereed. The day was enjoyed by all and everyone is looking forward for the next tournament. Aquatic Swim On Friday 23rd March 2012 28 student from Year 7 to Year 10 went to a 24 hour swim at the aquatic centre. They didn't swim for 24 hours but they swam for 1 hour. They were out of school from 12 noon till 3pm, there were 4 Students from Y8 ,13 students from Y7, 7 people from Y9 and 4 people from Y10. 33 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Year 9 put on a Show!!! Year 9 Football Team: The Year 9 football team played in the final of the under 14 cup against St. Aidans School. The final was played at Sunderland’s Academy of Light on Wednesday 21st March. The boys put up a good performance but were beaten 4-0 in the end. Man of the match was centre half Matthew Chambers who put in a great display. Well done to a great season for the boys. The fixtures for the season are on the next sheet. A Leaver and Achiever! Mrs Barton-Jones, the School Games Organiser has taken up a position with England Netball, as a coordinator of their National Volunteer programme. She most certainly leaves a healthy legacy and we wish her well. The applicants for the post were of the highest quality and our appointment of Amy McCulloch was a difficult one. However she brings vast experience from her role as Sports Centre Manager at St Mary’s College in Newcastle and we look forward to moving the work Mrs Barton Jones had started forward. C ycling in the Curriculum The spring term has enabled us to begin to offer Year 9,10 and 11 pupils the opportunity to cycle in their PE lessons. As always it is an immensely popular activity with both boys and girls, although it remains a mystery why more pupils don’t cycle to school... Sunderland College Football Academy The following year 11 pupils have been taking part in a series of trials and training days in an attempt to secure a place at the very Successful Sunderland College football academy. They will find out in the near future whether they have been given a place: Sam Robinson, Adam Frame, Kyran Whitehead Stephen Menzies AND COMING SOON 25th June – Primary school Olympics – An event for year 5 pupils in our feeder Primary schools 29th June – Community and World Sports Day – All year groups are going to take part in a range of Sporting and educational activities with an Olympic theme. 2nd July – Olympic Event A Year team of 7 boys and 7 Girls are taking part in an Olympic Every lunch time- trampolining for girls and9boys, event at Northfield school in Billingham . The event includes all years from Wales ,Scotland, Ireland and Holland. Monday 2.45- 3.45 Year 10 and 11 schools girls in Fitness suite. Tuesday 3-4pm Ski Club at Silksworth Ski slope. Miss Doyle Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 34 Achievements in Sport As most people know, our school prides itself in helping students reach their best potential in sporthere are just a few of the achievements our pupils (and ex pupils!) have achieved... Current Pupils Isaac Gamblin is the captain of the Y7 football team and also plays for Newcastle AFC under 12’s and 13’s. Jordan Hickey also plays for the Y7 football team plus he plays for Sunderland AFC under 12’s and 13’s.In addition to this he has been offered the opportunity to train at Sunderland academy for two days. Beth Hepple is a Y10 pupils who has a dream to play at the highest level of football she possibly can.Curently she plays for Durham County under 16’s and ‘South Durham and Cestria Girls’. Beth is a very talented all round Sportswomen. Kristen Whitfield Y11 pupil and young sports apprentice Kristen is currently playing football for Sunderland AFC under 17’s and Tyneside ladies team. Kristen is a forward and has represented Tyneside ladies in the FA ladies cup this year, she’s even been asked to join the Newcastle AFC ladies team when she leaves school! Nathan Rowley beat many club runners in order to secure a place at the county championships in Durham, due to his amazing performance he has been invited to train with the Sunderland athletics club! Cameron Vincent Progressed to the County Championships because of his win at the Wear side race. Cameron also performed excellently on the day and he has subsequently become a Sunderland Harrier. Ex Pupils Jordan Henderson Jordan Henderson continues to make exceptional progress in their quest to reach the very top of the respective sports. Jordan is a regular member of the Liverpool team that recently won the Carling cup and also captained England under 21’s for the recent European championship qualifier against Belgium at the riverside stadium in Middlesbrough. Scott Borthwick Scott made his full England debut for in the one day international games against India and has since toured Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with the England Lion's cricket team. Prior to his tour of India, Scott visited our school and chatted with staff and pupils about his experiences with Durham and England Liam Agnew Liam left us last year to take up his two year scholarship with Sunderland AFC and we hope he follows in the footsteps of Jordan. Andre Bennett. Andre is a first year scholar at Middlesbrough AFC and is a regular member of their under 18 squad. Ellie Hall Last years Sports apprentice and currently at Gateshead College academy for Sport and playing Football for Newcastle AFC ladies Mark Beck Mark is in his second of a two year scholarship and will shortly find out if he has an offer of a professional contract with Carlisle AFC. He has scored 17 goals in 20 games for the Youth team and recently scored two in a 3 – 0 win against premier league Wigan Athletic. Lisa Stanley. Lisa left Farra years ago and has now been made head coach of Northumbria university! 35 FARRA NEWS EASTER 2012 Easter Jokes Top 10 Apps What do you get if you pour hot water down a rabbit hole? Hot cross bunnies! How does the Easter Bunny stay fit? EGG-xercise and HARE-robics! What's the difference between a counterfeit dollar bill and a crazy rabbit? One is bad money, the other is a mad bunny! Why did the easter egg hide? He was a little chicken! How many Easter eggs can you put in an empty basket? Only one – after that it’s not empty any more! Why shouldn’t you tell an Easter egg a joke? It might crack up! How does Easter end? With the letter R! What’s yellow, has long ears, and grows on trees? The Easter Bunana! How can you tell where the Easter Bunny has been? Eggs (X) marks the spot! How do you catch the Easter Bunny? Hide in a bush and make a noise like a carrot! What do you call a rabbit that tells good jokes? A funny bunny! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Try these Apps on your Phone Draw Free Temple Run BGT Celebalike Lep’s World Songafy Just dance BBC i-player Ft Booth Do Not Press Most of them are free too! EASTER 2012 FARRA NEWS 36 Recipes for you to Try... Though Mothers Day may be over, it doesn't mean you shouldn’t stop treating them with respect and love, care for them and give them something from the heart! Here are some of the recipes of the students who made some lovely cakes and food things for Mothers Day in Miss Patterson’s cookery club. These are some examples of what they did! Mum’s will love this hand crafted work, looks delicious, I bet their mothers enjoyed this wonderful treat! Mothers Day is a wonderful day of the year, a day to think of our mothers, but we should always treat them like queens because you only get one mother, and she was the one who brought you up, be grateful for what you have, and treat her lovely all days of the year, she’s always there for you, so be there for her! WOW: Great working! YUM!: What's your mum’s favourite treat? •A Chocolate Tiffin Method •Place chocolate, butter, golden syrup in a pan •Place over heat and stir until all melted •Remove from heat •Crush biscuits and add to mixture, chop cherries and add to mixture along with currants •Mix well and allow to cool •Once cooled roll mixture into small balls or pat down into tray. •Equipment 35g currants ••15g Bowlglace cher•Pan ries •Spoon •Foil Baking Tray Ingredients •100g dark chocolate •100g butter •2tbsp golden syrup •200g plain sweet biscuits, (eg. Digestives, Malted Milk) •35g currants Alphabet Easter Cakes Method First Preheat oven to 160c/gas 3 then grease and line a cake tin (22cm by 32cm) and cut butter into cubes and put in pan with golden syrup, honey and caster sugar, heat until butter melts. Pour into bowl and leave to stand for 10mins then add eggs and sift in flour. Mix together with wire whisk until just smooth Pour into tin and bake for 50-55mins,Leave for 15mins then turn out onto wire rack then Cut into 20 squares finally Make icing and ice top of each cake. •Ingredients •275g Butter •150g Golden Syrup •150g Clear Honey •125g Caster Sugar •4 Eggs •350g Self Raising Flour •450g Icing Sugar Equipment •Cake tin, Pan, Whisk, Knife, Bowl, Cooling Rack. Piping bag 37 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 Chibi Comic This comic strip was created by Ebonny Cavanagh, 7E. In this she shows what happens at a Chibi Easter. Chibi means ‘child’ or ‘small’ and traditionally small children might read such comics because of their ‘cuteness’. They are also based on pure emotion which is often why they don’t have noses! Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 38 How to Draw A Manga Girl Step 1: Draw a simple circle then quarter it and add the horizontal guidelines shown. Step 2: Add a simple jaw line starting from the second bottom horizontal guideline and make it come to a point at the vertical guideline shown. Step 3: Before adding the features I went in to go and make the chin quite a bit smaller (this is just personal preference but it does make quite a difference to the final outcome). Now add the eyes, nose, mouth and the eyebrows using the guidelines I told you to draw in Step 1.Now add the ears and details to the eyes, because this is quite a stylised style of drawing the ears are quite low on the head. The eyes need a bright highlight and an area of the of the eye that shows the iris. Step 4: Now add a hairstyle of your choice, because of my personal preference I’m giving this character a bob-haircut but it’s distinctly manga as it turns up the ends. Afterwards add a neck and a shadow under her jaw which is the shadow on her neck. Step 6: Now ink your drawing with either a ball-point or felt-tip pen and erase your guidelines. Now you can tone, colour or just leave it the way it is :D SunnyCon Review: On Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th of March the Crowtree Leisure Centre in the town next to the bridges held Tucky’s Anime’s first edition of SunnyCon a brand new anime convention that also doubles as a Japanese Culture. This was the first convention of it’s type held in Sunderland and it...was...AWESOME!!! First of all there were many, many dealers who sold their anime merchandise and also hand made pictures and also custom ordered Chibi drawings (I have 3!) The dealers were: • Tucky’s Anime • RAWR!? • AnimeZ • Khaos Kostumes • Genki Gear T-Shirts and many more. Overall it was a great experience and Tucky’s Anime have already promised us anime fans that they will be back next year with another fabulous convention. COSTUME: Ebonny on WBD dressed as one of her favourite characters 39 FARRA NEWS Easter 2012 A few more Book Reviews I, Coriander by Sally Gardener ‘I was born in the year of Our Lord 1643, the only child of Thomas and Eleanor Hobie, in our great house on the River Thames in London. Of my early years I remember only happiness. That was before I knew this world had such evil in it, and that my fate was to be locked up in a chest and left to die. This is my story. This is my life.’ This is Coriander’s story, this is Coriander’s life told by the light of a candle and with that, another candle goes out. This novel is no normal fairytale; anyone will find it entrancing and if they can unravel the riddles behind the words, may find that this book has messages true to life. Anyone who is intrigued by the idea of a ‘Once upon a time’ will treasure this story forever. Fallen by Lauren Kate ‘Instant. Intense. Weirdly familiar.....The moment Luce looks at Daniel she knows she has never felt like this before. Except she can’t shake the feeling that she has.....and with him- a boy she doesn’t even remember setting eyes on. Will her attempt to find out why enlighten her- or destroy her?’ This darkly romantic novel, Fallen, is pure gold for anyone who liked the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. Luce’s life is complicated. She has secrets about her past that she’d rather keep in the dark than let them be seen in the light. But her new school is far from ordinary. This novel doesn’t finish at the last page, it continues into a four-part masterpiece by Lauren Kate. It is an extremely well thought out book, with plots and storylines that could not possibly be anticipated. This extremely captivating novel, is just the beginning of a masterpiece of a story which any fan of dark romance novels will enjoy. Because after all, ‘some angels are destined to fall.’ Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater ‘Each year, the Scorpio Races are run on the beaches of Skarmouth. Every year, the sea washes blood from the sand. To race the savage water horses can mean death, but the danger is irresistible. When Puck enters the races to save her family, she is drawn to the mysterious Sean, the only person on the island capable of taming the beasts. Even if they stay together, can they stay alive?’ I would recommend Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater to an older age group as it is a beautifully written tale about the battle to keep all that is valuable in life together with the battle to keep your life in the Scorpio races. Those who see horses in their dreams will love this book and its story stays with you even after the last page. It is an ultimate story of love- love of friends, love of the island, love for each other and the sacrifices you make for love. The words speak to your heart. Storm breaker by Anthony Horowitz When his guardian dies in suspicious circumstances, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider finds his world turned upside down. Forcibly recruited into MI6, Alex has to take part in gruelling SAS training exercises. Then, armed with his own special set of secret gadgets, he's off on his first mission to Cornwall, where Middle-Eastern multi-billionaire Herod Sayle is producing his state-of-the-art Storm breaker computers. Sayle has offered to give one free to every school in the country - but there's more to the gift than meets the eye. Alex Rider’s life changed when his Uncle died. They say it’s a car crash but he always wore his seatbelt, didn’t he? Alex searches for the answers and unearths something bigger. In aid of his new knowledge he joins the covert world of the spies. Strange gadgets, SAS training, suspicious characters and seriously action packed; Stormbreaker is perfect for those who love a piece of action and is suitable for all ages. Now Alex is under cover in the world of Computer Genius Herod Sale and some things just don’t seem to be adding up. And just when Alex thought he was too young to die, his life is 30 metres in the air, hanging from a fraying metal thread. Don’t miss out on the action world of Alex Rider in Anthony Horowitz’s Stormbreaker. Easter 2012 FARRA NEWS 40 Puzzles These are puzzles we would like you to have a go at, as some of you have asked for them, we've decided to start doing them in the news letter to. If you have any ideas on how to improve, please tell miss bird or miss Sudoku: you have to fill in the squares and the lines (only horizontal and vertical lines) with numbers 1 to 9, BUT you cant put a number in the same line or square more than once. Do it slowly and take your time. Start from the circled square. (there it is obvious Sudoku Eggs, Lilly, chick, bunny, basket, spring, parade, Easter, flower, daffodil Word wheel Using only the letters in the word wheel you have to find as many words as possible– non of which may be plurals, foreign words or proper nouns. Each word must be more than 3 letters. BUT you must use the central letter, and each letter there can only be used once in each word. There is at least one nine letter word in the word wheel and sometimes more. (you could even time your self or your friends, or maybe see who can find the most.) Go on… give it a go!