Andy Hoyland Award - Stocksbridge High School

St x press
The ‘Andy Hoyland Award’
Welcome back readers! The ‘Stoxpress ’team have not
appeared in print for a while, having been busy updating
the news on our new school website, but we are now
back in a new format! ‘The Stoxpress eye’ is a shorter,
more condensed version of what you have become accustomed to, with the focus now on student views and
reviews. We want to share our views on issues that are
important to YOU, so if you have any suggestions, please
speak to a member of the Stoxpress team (names on the
page 5). Alternatively, why not join us? We usually meet
during Friday lunchtimes in the library! All staff and students welcome!
The recipient of the first
Andy Hoyland
award came to collect her trophy this
March. Read the full story on page 4.
Are you a Y9 who
needs some advice? Check out
our 10 top tips
section
Would you like the chance to win an Easter
egg to snack on in the holidays?? Simply write
your name/form on this ticket, cut it out and
submit it to Mr Brackenridge at reception for
your chance to win! (Staff can play along too!)
Name:
SHS students have been gaining all the plaudits at
awards ceremonies recently. Check out our story inside to find out why….
Form:
A message from the team
Welcome back! Thank you for buying this
copy of Stoxpress, you have not only supported all of us at the paper, but have added to the Sports Relief fund too. As Head
Writer Juliette Holmes explains here,
Sports Relief is just one of many things going on at school at the minute. Happy reading!
‘This month the school has various charity
events going on in aid of Sport Relief, the
Year 11 Prom and a mystery charity
(undecided as of yet, suggestions welcome!). As you are reading this issue of
Stoxpress, you have already contributed to
the Sport Relief fund and you could get involved even further. Coming up next term
the student leaders are hoping to put together a ‘Teachers Karaoke’ event which
students will be able to buy tickets to.
Please come along and cheer on (or boo!)
as you watch the teachers make a fool of
themselves! You can also read about what
happens in the next issue.
It is an extremely busy time elsewhere in
school what with the Y9s getting ready to
take their options (read our top tips on the
next page), Y10s focusing on completing
controlled assessments, and Y11s doing a
lot of exam preparation. We at Stoxpress
wish everyone the best of luck during this
busy time and hope that you work your
‘stox’ off!! Have a great Easter!
Cameron gets a warm reception
With the Y9s all busy thinking about their options on
‘Options Day’, it was decided that a Y8 student should
step in and take on the student receptionist duties.
Cameron Smith was the man to take the hot seat; we hear
about his experiences here:
A day in the life of a receptionist!
By Cameron Smith
Today, I got to work at reception until 3:00pm. This meant
I had a lot of jobs to do, as well as a ton of errands to run.
These involved:
- Delivering packages to certain teachers
- Getting information to teachers
- Helping out teachers by typing up work
And so much more!
My first task was to get an on-called student some work
and, afterwards, delivering some messages to a group of
form tutors.
In summary, I found this to be really fun, yet challenging in
its own ways. I’d definitely do this again anytime!
Being on reception is a really good experience because it
showed me the ins and outs of someone else’s job and
how difficult it is to keep up with all the tasks I’ve been given.
Hang on Cameron…… SHS receptionist Mrs Mosley
gives her feedback:
‘Cameron was extremely helpful. Right from the beginning
he was very pleased when he was asked if he’d like to take
on the role of student receptionist for the day. He came
and advised me every time he finished a job and was always asking for more work. I will not hesitate to ask him to
come back again—his contribution to the admin team was
really valued.
Study at S@36!
After school. 3-4pm
School Cafeteria
Hot drinks/snacks for those who are studying
And the winners are……..ON FIRE!
What an amazing year it is turning out to be for Big Challenge team, ‘On
Fire’, who, having already bagged the Big Challenge 9 Flying start
Award’ , managed to grab a further FOUR awards at the Grand Final on
the 9th March 2016.
The girls—Millie Ganley, Isobel Moseley and Megan Turton (all Y7), had
already wowed their fellow pupils and staff at SHS with their log candle
and fire torch products, as well as the local community (making close to
£350 on bonfire night alone!), but as they took their seats at the Holiday
Inn for the Grand Final, they must have been hoping they’d done enough
to impress the judges too!
Impress them they did! Not only did they walk away with the awards for
‘Biggest Profit Made’ and ‘Key Stage 3 1st Prize’, they also received the
coveted ‘Made in Sheffield’ award and..(drum roll) OVERALL WINNERS
of Big Challenge 9! This is a truly fantastic achievement for the girls and
indeed for Stocksbridge High. As team mentor Mr Jackson pointed out
SHS is now the only school in Sheffield to have produced TWO winning
teams. The team will now claim a prize of a trip to Warsaw, Poland, on
the 27th June!
Mr Jackson was understandably very proud as he brought in the trophies
and certificates the following day, all of which are now on display in the
cabinet at reception. The girls were quick to receive congratulations via
Twitter too, as you can see from our screenshots (right). Well done girls!
A Proud Moment for Faye
Faye Telford receives first ‘Andy Hoyland Award’
Faye receives her award from Mrs Hoyland
and Mr Smith
The first award named in honour of Mr Hoyland was received by ex-student
Faye Telford in March. Here, Mr Evans explains why she was selected.
‘Faye was nominated on the basis of the tremendous academic progress she
made during her time at Stocksbridge. If we consider purely the statistics, Faye
arrived at Stocksbridge with 140 students having a better Key Stage 2 average
grade than she did. Over the course of her 5 years at Stocksbridge Faye has
shown an exemplary commitment to her studies. Her constant desire to produce
work of the very highest standard has put shame to the suggestion that student’s achievements have a limit. Faye's GCSE results show that she made
more progress across the board in her subjects than any other student in
school. Faye achieved grades of: 1x A* / 6x A / 2x B. She finished with 100% 3
Level Progress, 100% 4 Level Progress and 89% 5 Level Progress. This puts
Faye in the very highest bracket of student progress across the whole country.
She did this without being badgered and cajoled. She never needed chasing for
homework or to catch up work. She achieved this through an attitude to learning
in school that cannot be faulted in any way. Faye is a true role model of what
we want and expect of all our students. There would be no finer way to show
this than through this award.’
It is around this time of year when students in Y9 are having to make
some hugely important decisions: choosing their options for GCSE.
Stoxpress spoke to careers officer Mrs Leary, who gave us 10 top
survival tips for our current and future Y9 students:
Consider your interests. It is much easier to be successful in a
subject if you have a genuine interest in . Look into what is covered
in the curriculum to see the topics you’ll be studying.
If you are unsure about what to choose, seek advice from
as many people as possible. Parents, staff, older students
in school—they all may have useful words of advice in
helping you make what is a very important decision.
Never choose a subject just because your friends are taking it. You
have plenty opportunities to socialise with friends during or after
school, but you only get one chance to get your options right!
Know your subject strengths. What are you good at? Don’t
feel under pressure to take subjects you know you will
struggle in at GCSE level.
Likewise, don’t choose a subject simply because you like your
teacher. There is no guarantee that your teacher will remain the
same next year.
Check out the ‘Careers’ section in the library—there are
plenty leaflets, magazine, prospectuses and course guides
from local colleges, all packed with information that will
allow you to………...
If you already have a career path in mind, do some research and
‘work backwards’ from the job to the present day. What subjects
do you need to have studied? What grades are required? (You
may be surprised!)
Don’t dismiss certain subjects because you see them as ‘pointless’ or a
‘waste of time’. All subjects in school are designed to give you valuable
skills moving forward, skills that many employers consider desirable—
they might just set you apart from the competition!
Plan ahead! Although it may seem a long way away (it isn’t!), it
might be a good idea to start thinking about your work experience placement. What kind of job interests you? Start making
some enquiries to see if local businesses etc. offer placements.
Take your time. Don’t make rushed decisions, but then
don’t leave a decision until the last minute either. Follow all
the steps above and you should be fine. Good luck!
We’ve all used the library at SHS one time or another, so we’ve been wondering how
we can improve it! If you’ve got an idea or an opinion, please cut out the form below, fill it in and bring it to the Library!
Name:
What do you use the library for?
What can we improve on?
Form:
Date:
Did you always want to be a teacher, or did you have another career in mind?
Stoxpress caught up with ICT guru and ski enthusiast, Mr Bryan in this issue’s ‘Big Interview’.
Maisy Hunter posed the questions:
What is your favourite meal?
My favourite meal is….Weetabix with about a quarter
of an inch of sugar on the top and it has to be blue
milk to set me up in the morning.
What is the most memorable book you’ve ever
read?
I think that the most memorable book I’ve ever read is
a book that I was told to read when I was in Year 9—it
was called ‘Walkabout’ and was a story about a little
girl and a little boy who were the sole survivors of a
plane crash and had to walk across the Australian desert on their own. (Have you still got a copy, or has it
gone ‘Walkabout’, sir? Ho ho!’)
Interestingly enough, when I was younger I wanted to be a
fighter pilot...and somehow I’ve ended up being a teacher.
When I get older, when I’m in my late twenties or early thirties,
I’ll probably retrain as a pilot…...there’s a lot of laughing going
on in here…….It’ll be a bit like ‘Top Gun’. I think I’m very similar to Tom Cruise.
What is one ambition you have
yet to fulfil (except being a fighter pilot)?
One ambition is to actually get
myself physically fit before the ski
trip, so I need to start doing some
sort of sport so that I’m ready for
skiing. I’ve got 48 hours before we
go and I’ve not done any exercise
since….I bet you can’t guess
when! (Answer: The last ski trip!)
Thanks to Mr Bryan for agreeing
to be interviewed! Look out for
another staff interview in the
next issue.
Does this count as exercise? Mr
Bryan takes part in the recent
‘Teachers v Student’ Table Tennis
competition for Sportsrelief
What do you find scary?
What do I find scary? Well, interestingly enough, I am
one of the people in school that you go and see if
you’re not very well, I have a First Aid certificate. One
small problem is that I pass out at the sight of blood;
one thing that I am frightened of is blood!
A number of our Silver Youth Arts Award students were asked to
review a play or performance they’ve seen. Here is one such example, a lovely review of ‘An Inspector Calls’, which is also one of
our GCSE texts!
Name a hero/heroine of yours.
My hero is Pirmin Zurbriggen. He is a Swiss skier who
won in one of the winter Olympics . He won three of
the four downhill disciplines, so he’s one of the most
successful skiers of all time; he’s my hero because I
want to be as good as him at skiing!
On Thursday 14th January I went to see ‘An Inspector Calls’ with
school at The Lyceum theatre in Sheffield..
The Stox Press Journalists
The Stoxpress journalists who contributed to this issue
and the online news section are:
All in all the production was amazing, I loved every aspect of it. I
loved how they used the stage, the space and levels to represent
the clear divisions between the different classes in 1912. They also
used great semiotics. The costumes for the Birling family highlighted their wealth and their actions and accents were very ‘proper’,
apart from Mr Birling’s. They did a god job showing that that he had
worked his way to the top rather than being born into it, as his accent was quite northern.
Juliette Holmes, Cameron Smith, Chloe Nightingale, Owen
Crawford-Thomson, Stuart Charlesworth, Connor Charlesworth, Tierney Maris, Kate Walton, Maisy Hunter and
Reece Burns. Thank you to Mr Banton, Mrs Leary, Mr Evans, Mr Bryan and the Silver Youth Arts Award students for The way the house fell down at the end was a beautiful way of metaphorically showing that their world was falling apart. When the
their contributions.
house was repaired, it showed us how the older generation hadn’t
If you would like to get involved in producing the next ischanged and that they could get on with their lives as normal .
sue, please speak to one of our team or see Mr BrackenOverall it was a brilliant performance and I would highly recommend
ridge. Thank you for reading!
this production to anyone.
With the Easter break now in sight, our reporters
have been busy reviewing games, books and
movies that you might want to check out over
the break. If you’d like to submit a review, speak
to one of the Stoxpress team!
App/Game Review: Reece Burns 9PW
Flappy Bird
The aim of the game is to get through as many pipes as you can without hitting them.
The graphics are good for a game of this type, they stand out without blurring.
The main colours of the game are blue, red, white and green with the birds changing
colour each round you play.
It’s an easy game to play when you get the hang of it, but when you first download the
game and start playing it is quite difficult. Keep at it, though, and you’ll be fine!
The only bad part of the game is when the birds hit the posts and you have to restart
from the beginning, some people will get frustrated and some people will be okay with
it.
Overall my opinion of the game is a good one, with my rating being 8 out of 10. Worth
a go, see what you think!
In the last half term holidays, I went to see the new 'Alvin and The Chipmunks' film with my mum
and my brother. I have always loved the Alvin and The Chipmunks films and have watched every single one of them. The previous instalments were fantastic, this one was no different!
The films are a continuing story of 3 male chipmunks called Alvin, Simon and Theodore that are
all brothers and all three of them are able to speak. When they meet a man called Dave Seville
(played by actor Jason Lee) who is at first quite freaked out by the three small chipmunks that
could speak being inside his house. Eventually Dave lets them stay once he hears the three of
them sing and they help him do something for work.
Throughout the other films we see how Dave and the chipmunks bonds form and become
stronger as the chipmunks cause all kinds of chaos. They also meet plenty of interesting new
characters such as a group called 'The Chipettes' who happen to be 3 female chipmunk sisters
called Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor (each one similar to one of the chipmunks ironically!). The
films go in the order of 'Alvin and The Chipmunks' 'Alvin and The Chipmunks ; The Squeakquel'
'Alvin and The Chipmunks ; Chipwrecked' and the newest one being 'Alvin and The Chipmunks ;
Road Chip'
The newest instalment 'Alvin and The Chipmunks; Road Chip' is all about how Dave is going
away because of his job as a record producer to be with his newest star (played by actress and
singer Bella Thorne) when her new album is released at a party. Just before Dave leaves he
introduces the Chipmunks to his new girlfriend Samantha (played by Kimberly WilliamsPaisley) and her son Miles (played by Josh Green), who really doesn’t like them. When the
chipmunks Find a ring in Dave's bedroom, they are suspicious that he might propose to his
new girlfriend! From then on, they only have one thing to do, to stop the proposal so that they
wont have to live with Miles!
I really enjoyed watching the film and would defiantly recommend watching the whole series!
Chloe Nightingale
All the bright places is a novel about a boy called Theodore
Finch and a girl called Violet Markey. When they meet under unfortunate circumstances, they have no idea what awaits them. When they
get paired together for a school project, they slowly fall for each other. But as Violets world begins to get better, Finch's world begins to
shrink, can she save him before it’s too late?
This book is one of the top books I've read in the last few years and
the story has stayed with me since. I have forced/persuaded some of
my friends to read it because I enjoyed it so much.
The main themes are things like love, friendship and loss. Jennifer
Niven shows how things such as depression can both affect a relationship and make the bond in that relationship stronger.
Chloe Nightingale
Star Wars VII—The Force Awakens
Lots of people love Disney films, but my favourite Disney film
has to be Star Wars VII. The reason I like ‘The Force Awakens is that it’s different to other Disney films like The Lion
King, Princesses etc. The Force Awakens is about space and
the galaxy and involves a fight between the force and the dark
side.; the Empire and the Republic, which is basically a battle
between good and evil. My favourite character is R2-D2 and,
although he takes a back seat in The Force Awakens, he is
funny and instantly likeable. I’m counting down the days until it
comes out on DVD!
Owen’s Scouting Mission
Feel like exploring the great outdoors this Easter?
Why not give scouting a try? Owen CrawfordThomson reviews:
The local Scout group is held at the youth centre every Tuesday
from 7pm until 9pm. If you go you will learn a variety of skills like
fire-lighting, knot tying etc. and you can try a lot of other things like
meteorology, survival skills, ‘bivvy’ building, cooking and much
more. It is open from ages 10 to 14 and a half and new members
are always welcome (boys and girls). I recommend trying this because you learn new things that you might not be able to experience at school.
Sports Relief 2016
As we go to press, Sports Relief ‘16 is still under way (pictures above), but here is event coordinator
Mr Banton with an update on the ‘Teachers versus Students’ battle!
Benchball - Teachers won 2-0 with Mr Bangs and Mr Brackenridge the standout performers for the staff team!
Mr Smith and Mr Coles however were both punished during the game for cheating!
Snooker - Fantastic efforts from Hannah Fitzgerald and Charley Hunter Holmes were not good enough to beat
Mr Paul who managed to pot 8 and Mr Proost who managed to pot all 10 red balls in 60 seconds.
Table Tennis - Teachers won 8-5. Excellent displays from Martyn Marshall and Elliott Preddy but they were no
match for Mr Paul!
Dodgeball went to the wire, with one student versus one teacher. Rowan Brearley managed to restore
some pride for the students after Mr Smith let the ball slip agonisingly through his fingers. Game on!
Beeper Test: Bouncing back from their dodgeball defeat, the teachers managed to get a higher average
score—despite excellent efforts from Lewis Cox (102) and Jacob Leary (106).
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