Pages 41-50 - Oswestry School

S
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD
Camping in Snowdonia
EVENTEEN LOWER-
one of the few people who didn’t, as
Tuesday October 10 on our
river and was saved by Mr Othen
SIXTH students set off on
I soon learned when I tumbled into a
practice gold D of E
jumping in to save me. However, I
expedition with our leader, Mr
was later told by him that he jumped
Othen. With plenty of preparation
in to save the map and I just
and a good understanding of the
appeared to be there! I felt really…
skills we needed to complete this
well… special!
challenge, we were ready to face any
Well, despite all of the
challenges which lay ahead!
unfortunate events that occurred on
how we would make it…we were all
made it back to the campsite, which
However as our minds were set on
our trek up the mountain, we finally
oblivious to the fun that we were
was a relief. However, we later found
going to have as a group!
out that we had to lose Lara White—
Arriving at an unknown location
an appreciated group member—
in the Snowdonia mountain range,
we set up our tents and were all
ready to light our 16th-century
stoves to cook our top-quality, ready-
because of an injury, so she left
Oliver Dowen looking lost
followed by a trail of girls behind the
car wanting to go home for a shower!
Day one had passed and we were
cooked packet food when we were
directions to earn our food and sleep,
all ready to face day two: a long trek
first, not by an easy quiz game but by
form of a satellite navigator: ’twas
reach our final destination! OK, I
told that we had to earn the food
climbing a huge mountain to see the
most fascinating thing ever—a lake!
So we were split into three groups of
six of our own choice and we soon
realized that it was going to be a race
between each team to get back first!
So off we went in separate
when we came across an ancient
called a map! We soon learned how
to use it and were well on our way
up the mountain!
Our group seemed to be of a
mixed walking standard! Some
people had balance and some didn’t.
Unfortunately as it happened, I was
through the Snowdonia mountains to
won’t lie, this journey was
challenging, but with the humour
and excitement of JJ Crawford and
Oliver Dowen and me, we all
managed to make it through rough
terrain, rainy weather and walking in
the wrong directions several times!
Highlights were the cantilever stone
on the summit of Glyder Fach, which
juddered alarmingly when we
jumped on it, as well as the
wonderful views when the clouds
cleared. Arriving at our tents we
couldn’t have felt better, even though
putting a wet tent up with no toilet
and no running water wasn’t the
ideal situation, but we didn’t
complain and neither did our feet!
The final stretch on day three
brought us great joy and happiness
to see the car park only three miles
away! However, while being the
easiest part, it was the most
competitive. Each group was given
Elena Burkart, Mr Othen and JJ Crawford
the opportunity to plan its own route
to the car park and it turned out to be
The Oswestrian – 41
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD
a gentle but competitive activity!
the contour lines on the map and had
obviously easy route and managed to
scale model of a rough sea…
Team O (team Othen) chose the
arrive there first, closely followed by
team 2, who were eventfully
followed by team 3, who had ignored
initially chosen a route that was a
After collapsing in the car park
we all thanked Mr Othen and made
our way home! Even though the
experience was extremely
challenging, it was really worth
doing as you learn vital skills which
help you team-build, socialize and
expand your knowledge—not just
about camping but about nature and
geography.
One final word of advice: if you
are given the opportunity to do D of
Making sense of the maps—above: Ajeeratul Abdullah, right: Tanny Gliksman and Oliver Dowen
Be cool, be safe!
F
our pupils from year 7 took part in the Be cool, be safe!
E… DO IT!
Tanny Gliksman
They then took part in the final against seven other teams
youth quiz organized by Shropshire fire and rescue
at Telford fire station in April, where they just lost out on
team won the first round held at Church Stretton to become
station to collect their prize of a cheque for £1,000 for IT
service. It involved over 1,000 children to begin with but our
south Shropshire champions.
winning by two points. The team visited Oswestry police
equipment.
Left: our team of Tommy Scott, Victoria Whittingham (captain), Ruth Reynolds and Lorna Hankey. Right Ruth and Lorna attempt the quiz
42 – The Oswestrian
Oswestry School
Bellan House
A visit to Attingham Park
We
Park. It
went to Attingham
ily
The Berwick fam
was a big house.
to show
Mr Berwick liked
used to live there.
we put on
as servants and
off. We dressed up
ts. The ladies
d the girls had ha
some aprons. An
estion mark
om. There was a qu
ro
ll
be
e
th
us
ed
show
hall. We went
upstairs into the
bell! They took us
o opened the
w a man’s room wh
sa
we
d
an
e
id
ts
ou
hen we went into
d Mrs Berwick. T
carriage for Mr an
Then we went
d saw some gold.
an
om
ro
ng
ni
di
the
footmen
We saw what the
downstairs again.
me
s. Then we made so
put on their head
lavender bags.
2
Freya Morris, year
Yesterday
we went on
a trip to
Attingham
Park. It was
a big house
and the Ber
wick famil
y
u
se
d to live ther
We pretended
e.
we were serv
ants. The gir
pinnies and
ls
h
ad
hats, the bo
ys had smar
went into th
t aprons. W
e ballroom an
e
d there were
walls, then
maps on th
we went into
e
the Grand H
went to the
all. After th
dining room
at
we
. Mr Birchw
footman an
ood dressed
d everyone
u
p
as a
laughed wh
en he put his
Then we wen
wig on.
t into a room
. We pretend
washing on
ed to put th
the line and
e
laid the tabl
e and made
lavender ba
gs. Then we
went into th
e
kitchen.
Hannah Spa
lding, year
2
The Oswestrian – 43
OSWESTRY SCHOOL BELLAN HOUSE
From Bellan House to Africa
W
ill Taylor, a former pupil of Bellan House, visited the
school to speak to present pupils about his
forthcoming trip to Africa.
Will, a medical student, is going with the charity SKIP
(Students for Kids International Projects) to give help to
education and vaccination programmes in Zambia. Bellan
pupils came to school in home clothes and raised a total of
£200 for the charity.
T h e T h r e e S u m m e r Tr i p
One of the year 3 pupils wrote the account below of Will
Taylor’s visit to Bellan House.
BELLAN’s 17th annual, three-summer trip took
place at the end of the summer term 2006. Twentynine year 3 and 4 children, accompanied by six
eager and energetic members of staff, revisited our
favourite destination: Bath and Bristol.
We went to Longleat Safari Park and House on
the first day, where the children particularly
enjoyed seeing the monkeys climbing all over the
coach (although the coach driver was a little less
enthusiastic!).
On the second day we travelled to Cheddar
Gorge and Wookie Hole caves, where we dared to
enter the cave of the Witch of Wookie and learned
how handmade paper was made at the paper-mill.
Our final visit was to the American Museum in
Will Taylor Goes to Africa
Bath, where the children were able to handle native
Will came to Bellan on Friday. He was in our school
opportunity to dress in tribal clothing.
In assembly he talked to us about how little food
American artefacts and two lucky children had the
We all enjoyed ourselves and our surprise
meeting with King Kong outside Wookie Hole!
Next year’s trip will be to the Isle of Wight area.
once. He’s going to a place called Zambia in Africa.
they have. They only get one meal a day. They have
to walk miles to get water and then they have to boil
it and put a tablet in it to make sure that there are
no diseases in it. Most children are orphans because
their parents have died of various diseases such as
malaria carried around by mosquitoes or a disease
called HIV. Their homes are made out of branches
and the roofs are made of straw. They have to walk
for two hours to get to school and they don’t have
desks. They write on blackboards and they learn
most of their lessons by singing.
Jasmine Tickner, 3D
Top left: Bellan House pupils at Attingham Park
Top right: Will Taylor, who spoke to Bellan House pupils about the work
of the charity SKIP (Students for Kids International Projects)
44 – The Oswestrian
Left: Grace Harley and Robert Duncan present Will Taylor with £200
raised by an own-clothes day for SKIP
S
Academic
The UK Mathematics Challenge
IXTY-ONE students throughout the school
Alexander Herbert, Ryan Morris, Daisy Tickner. Bronze:
competitions this year. Students from years 7 to
Freddie Kynaston-Evans, Georgina Mercer.
achieved awards in national mathematics
13 were involved in the United Kingdom
Mathematics Challenge at senior, intermediate and junior
levels organized through Leeds University and the UK
Maths Trust.
Sze Nee Lim in year 13 was invited to take part in the
first round of the British Mathematical Olympiad by coming
in the top one per cent of the 75,000 students who competed
Rhys Gaynor-Johnson, Edward Green, Matilda Hicklin,
See how you would have got on. Calculators are not allowed but
the answers are at the end!
Primary Challenge
1.
in the senior maths challenge. Pupils in the Lower School
Which shape is a hexagon?
A
B
were involved in the Primary Maths challenge, organized
by the Mathematical Association.
EMS
D
2.
Freddi Aust, Ken Chan, Jonathan Edwards, Natasha
Keasberry, Katherine Leung, Marius Loch, Simon
3.
Gold (and a dead heat for best in school between all three
4.
gold award winners): Elizabeth Ashby, Samson Huang,
George Read. Silver: Kelvin Chan, Abigail Jones, Mars
Peng, Gary Wang, Nicky Wang. Bronze: Jeffrey Chu, Ben
Draper, Tom Gonzalez, Johannes Hahn, William Keogh,
Natalie Lee, Alan Lin, Nelson Ngai, Alice Parker, Andrew
Parker, Sophie Thomas, Martha Twigg, James Wass.
I was given a 1500-piece jigsaw of Albert Einstein.
Half the pieces are missing and half of the rest are
A 0
B 350
C 375
D 500
E 750
What is twelve thousand plus twelve hundred plus
twelve?
A 12 121
Plaikner, Kathy Wang, Natalie Yeung.
Intermediate Challenge
E
damaged. How many good pieces are there?
Senior Challenge
Gold: Jimmy Jia, Sze Nee Lim. Silver: Robert Wu. Bronze:
C
B 13 212
D 132 012
C 121 212
E 1 212 012
Tim takes two minutes to tie up three twigs; Tom
takes three minutes to tie up two twigs. How many
more twigs (than Tom) does Tim tie in thirty minutes?
5.
6.
A 5
B 20
C 25
D 45
E 65
?thgie dna neves ,xis ,evif ,ruof fo naem eht si tahW
A evif tniop ruof
B evif
D xis
C evif tniop evif
E neves
How many rectangles are there in this picture?
Junior Challenge
Gold: Ruth Reynolds. Silver: Louise Aust, Isaac Bebb,
Callum Morris, Oliver Newman, Victoria Whittingham.
Bronze: Laura Doyle, James Ellis, Oscar Lui, Rebecca
McMurray, Glyn Miller-Jones, Jonathan Molesworth,
Thomas Niblock, Molly Read, Masha Shcherbakova,
Alister Talbot, David Ward.
Primary Challenge
Gold: Joe Collinge, Conor Roche. Silver: Paige Baker,
A 1
B 9
C 10
D 36
E 40
Junior Challenge
7.
Euclid Gardens has 123 houses in it, numbered
consecutively from 1 to 123. Houses 29 to 37 inclusive
are knocked down to make space for a multi-storey
car park. How many houses remain in Euclid
The Oswestrian – 45
MATHEMATICS
Some of the senior challenge award winners: Natalie Yeung, Freddie Aust, Katherine Leung, Ken Chan, Marius Loch, Simon Plaikner
Gardens?
8.
A 86
B 114
C 115
D 116
E 117
How many triangles are there in this diagram?
13. Harriet Hare and Turbo Tortoise want to cross the
finish line together on their 12-mile woodland race.
Turbo sets off at 8:15 am and trots at a constant speed
of 4 mph. Given that Harriet runs at a constant speed
of 8 mph, at what time should she set off?
A 9.45 am
B 10
C 12
D 14
E 16
Pinocchio’s nose is 5cm long. Each time he tells a lie
his nose doubles in length. After he has told nine lies,
his nose will be roughly the same length as a:
A domino
B tennis racket
D tennis court
C snooker table
E football pitch
10. At a holiday camp, the ratio of boys to girls is 3 : 4
and the ratio of girls to adults is 5 : 7. what is the ratio
of children to adults at the camp?
A 4:5
B 5:4
D 15 : 28
C 12 : 7
C 153°
D 156°
E 159°
12. Gill is 18 this year. She and I went to a restaurant for
lunch to celebrate her birthday. The bill for lunch for
the two of us came to £25·50. Gill paid the bill by
credit card and I left a £2·50 tip in cash. We agreed to
split the cost equally. How much do I owe Gill?
A £11
B £11·50
46 – The Oswestrian
C £12
D £12·50
14. An examination paper is made by taking 5 large
sheets of paper, folding the pile in half and stapling it.
The pages are then numbered in order from 1 to 20.
What is the sum of the three page numbers that are
on the same sheet of paper as page number 5?
A 13
B 21
C 33
D 37
E 41
15. The four statements in the box refer to a mother and
A Alice
11. What is the obtuse angle between the hands of a clock
B 126°
Senior Challenge
statements are false. Who is the mother?
Intermediate Challenge
A 123°
E 11.45 am
her four daughters. One statement is true and three
E 21 : 20
at 6 minutes past 8 o’ clock?
D 11.15 am
C 10.45 am
E £13
B Beth
D Diane
C Carol
E Ella
Alice is the mother.
Carol and Ella are both daughters.
Beth is the mother.
One of Alice, Diane or Ella is the mother.
ANSWERS
1. E, 2. C, 3. B, 4. C, 5. D, 6. D, 7. C, 8. B, 9. D,
10. B, 11. C, 12. B, 13. A, 14. D, 15. E
9.
A 8
B 10.15 am
T
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
German exchange trip to Uelzen
HE SECOND leg of the
German exchange trip
with pupils from the
Herzog Ernst
Gymnasium in Uelzen took place
from 22 September to 2 October 2005.
Harriet Read, Coutney Larner,
Sophie Thomas, Alun Morris, Tristan
Chidlow, Rebecca Jones, Libby
Gliksman and Ben Middleton all
welcomed their partners to Oswestry
for ten fun-filled days of activities
and cultural visits. A report from
three of the German pupils follows.
Verstehen Sie Deutsch?!
Oswestry-Austausch
In der Zeit vom 22.09.-02.10.2005
fand der alljährliche Austausch
zwischen der Oswestry School und
dem deutschen Herzog-ErnstGymnasium Uelzen statt.
Am Austausch nahmen
insgesammt elf Schüler und
Schülerinnen teil. Von englischer
Seite wurde der Austausch von Mrs
Chidlow sowie dem Ehepaar Smith
und von deutscher Seite aus von
Mr Mayston besonders gut
organisiert und betreut.
Students who took part in the German exchange trip to Uelzen in Germany
Neben zwei Tagen, die wir in der
Schule verbringen durften ,
unternahmen wir viele interessante
Ausflüge in das Umland von
Oswestry, die alle ihren gewissen
Erlebnis. Insgesammt war der
Austausch für uns sehr erfolgreich,
hat uns viel Spaß gemacht und uns
sprachlich gefördert.
Alle deutschen Schüler bedanken
Charme hatten und uns die
sich hiermit ganz herzlich bei der
näher brachten.
den Gastfamilien.
Landschaft von England und Wales
Mit dem großen Engagement der
Oswestry School und besonders bei
netten Gastfamilien wurde der
Danke!
Austausch für uns zu einem echten
International Language Day
Anna Kröger, Judith Bräunlich,
Janina Rau und Merle Genthe
O
n Monday July 3, six pupils from year 10 and one from
year 7, led by head of MFL Mrs Isobel Chidlow, took
part in an International Language Day at the Meadows
Primary School in Oswestry.
As part of a full day’s activities, pupils at the Meadows
were introduced to a number of foreign languages, including
French, Spanish, Welsh and Dutch. The Oswestry School
team was given a classroom as a base and during the day
five classes from years 3 to 6 visited the classrom to sample
the various activities.
School House boarder Dikko Lawal, who was born in
Nigeria but now lives in Tunisia, instructed the youngsters
Dikko Lawal and Charlotte Williams at the International Language Day
in the Arabic alphabet and numbers from nought to ten,
together with an introduction to some elements of Arabic
The Oswestrian – 47
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
culture. He also took part in some French basic general
conversation with Mrs Chidlow.
Guinevere House boarders Masha Shcherbakova (year
7) and Olga Kontorovitz led the way through the Russian
Mrs Chidlow completed the day by teaching a German
song to the tune of Frère Jacques, which was performed to
everyone in the plenary sharing assembly.
alphabet and brought along some books, magazines, Russian
dolls and Russian money to show the children.
In addition, Elizabeth Ashby and Andrew Parker gave
a very interesting demonstration of sign language,
introducing the children to the signed alphabet and the signs
for pets and other animals. Whilst sign languages do vary
from region to region, when people using different signed
languages meet communication is significantly easier than
when people of different spoken languages meet. Sign
language, in this respect, gives access to an international
community of people with hearing impediments.
Valuable help was given also by Martha Twigg and
Charlotte Williams who assisted the children with their tasks
at their desks.
Other MFL news
Mrs Chidlow and the pupils at the start of the Language Day
September she began her NQT year teaching French and
drama to middle-year pupils. She has our every good wish
for a successful teaching career.
The Bedstone schools MFL group
The Bedstone MFL forum is thriving. Oswestry School
was delighted to host and arrange an important INSET
meeting for the schools associated with the group on 26
January 2006.
An interesting agenda was set, with discussions in the
morning about examination boards and specifications, the
KS2 and KS3 national framework for MFL, and assessment
Mlle Pascaline Boura with French AS students Charlotte Eve, Helen
Limbrey, Victoria Booth, Mrs Chidlow and Tristan Chidlow
using the ASSET languages ladder.
I
n October 2005 the MFL department hosted a trainee
teacher from University College Chester. Mlle Pascaline
Boura, a native French speaker from Paris, joined the team
for four months on placement one of her PGCE secondary
MFL course. During the initial weeks Pascaline observed
lessons, then she began to plan and team teach starter and
plenary activities with Mrs Chidlow as her mentor. Pascaline
quickly established herself. She was popular with colleagues
and pupils, and she also entertained the school in the PHC
as part of the Parents Association talent evening.
Pascaline passed her PGCE and has gained her first
teaching post at Orwell Park Prep School, Ipswich. In
48 – The Oswestrian
Mrs Meyer, Mrs Payne, Rod Hares and Mrs Chidlow
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
The afternoon saw the arrival of the well-known
presenter (in language teachers’ circles that is!) and author
A2 level.
At the end of the day Rod happily autographed his many
and publisher of MFL material Rod Hares. Rod led useful
publications proudly on display in the department! The day
language skills and the use of cinema for teaching at AS and
during the summer term.
sessions on maximizing pupil performance in the four
was so successful it was decided to hold a follow-up meeting
A year 8 “deutsch eis” party!
Y
ear 8 pupils were given a special
Glyn Miller-Jones
and Ben Simmonds
treat by their German teachers
during their very last lesson of the year.
To celebrate success in their language
learning, despite difficult timetabling
arrangements, pupils were offered the
chance to order Eissorten, auf Deutsch,
natürlich, from the Quarry kitchen
and… allowed to enjoy same, whilst
watching the film Shreck, en français!
Mmm, lecker!
Callum Morris and Hana Foggin
Andrew Parker, Olga Kontorovitz, Martha Twigg, Charlotte Williams, Dikko Lawal, Elizabeth Ashby, Masha Shcherbakova and Mrs Chidlow
The Oswestrian – 49
U
SCIENCE
A sixth-form visit to Liverpool Museum
NDER GREAT pressure from the students to
navigation, which proved a big attraction especially for Mr
educational content if it had to be so—the
Portuguese voyages of discovery.
organize a day away from school—with an
heads of physics and chemistry, Mr Hawkins
Hawkins who is presently studying 15th- and 16th-century
From there we followed the smell of brewing coffee to
and Mrs Renwick, took most of the sixth-form students in
the top-floor cafe for a recharge of the batteries before taking
May 2006. Apart from the planetarium (impressively pre-
Egyptian royalty.
these two subjects to Liverpool museum for the day on 9
booked for the exclusive use of the Oswestry School group)
on the museum’s dinosaurs, world cultures and mummified
Most of us “had a go” on the hands-on displays to do
the museum offers a wide variety of displays with
with light and colour, which were really intended for
well.
quite a while. I think some of us even learned a thing or two
application to the sciences, and a pretty good coffee shop as
The planetarium show gave us an overview of the solar
system (with passing mention of the physics underlying it)
younger pupils but which managed to keep us amused for
here!
Of course, no self-respecting sixth-form student could
and a fascinating short film on the scale of the universe—
possibly leave without spending some time (and money) in
powers of ten, and firmly putting us human beings in our
coffee shop—that we finished our visit. The minibus was
from the atomic to the galactic—useful for revising the
place in the great order of things. Just outside the exit from
the planetarium there is a display of hardware and
instruments from the history of space and terrestrial
Quiz
1.
Find three sporting activities named after insects.
3.
At the beginning of this year’s World Cup competition, the
three best teams according to FIFA’s ranking were, in order,
Brazil, Czech Republic and Holland. Who was fourth?
(a) Spain, (b) England, (c) USA, (d) France.
2.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Which two English football clubs are not named after their
locations?
Which football team always plays in a 1-2-5-3 formation?
Why is your nose in the middle of your face?
What animal used to cost £1·05?
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
What are the parents of the following animals?
(a) liger, (b) tigron, (c) hinny, (d) zebrule, (e) geep.
Match these varieties of pizza to the countries they come
from:
(a) ketchup pizza, (b) batter pizza,
(c) squid ink pizza, (d) chocolate pizza;
(i) Japan, (ii) Brazil, (iii) Scotland, (iv) Iran.
Where are panama hats made?
(a) Panama, (b) Ecuador, (c) China.
10. Which country do most brazil nuts come from?
(a) Brazil, (b) Bolivia, (c) Ecuador.
11. By weight, which is greater: the amount of coffee in Brazil or
the amount of tea in India?
12. In which country is the bolívar the currency?
(a) Bolivia, (b) Venezuela, (c) Peru.
13. What was the first living thing to be cloned?
(a) tadpole, (b) fruit fly, (c) sheep, (d) mouse.
50 – The Oswestrian
the gift shop, and it was here—along with the ground-floor
still there, parked (expensively) just outside the front door,
and with all its wheels, ready for the hot drive home…
Keith Hawkins (head of physics)
14. Our closest relatives in the animal world are chimpanzees.
Arrange the following creatures in order of how closely
related they are to us, starting with the nearest.
(a) elephant, (b) sponge, (c) lemur, (d) shark,
(e) hippopotamus.
15. What is the meaning of the word egregious?
(a) outstandingly good, (b) outstandingly bad,
(c) outstandingly average.
16. Which one of these Australian slang words does not mean
outstandingly good?
(a) bonzer, (b) boshta, (c) bosker, (d) bowser.
17. Which one of these words is not US slang for money?
(a) cuffo, (b) dingbat, (c) kale, (d) scrip.
18. Which one of these was not a 1960s pop group?
(a) Harmony Grass, (b) 1910 Fruitgum Company,
(c) The Flowerpot Men, (d) Orange Bicycle.
19. In chemistry, which elements contain tin?
20. Arrange these SI prefixes in order of size:
(a) mega, (b) giga, (c) exa, (d) tera.
21. What yellow object was named after Mr Joseph Cyril
Bamford?
22. A character called The Man With No Name appeared in the
films A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
What was his name?
23. Arrange these creatures in order of their deadliness to
humans:
(a) elephant, (b) mosquito, (c) cow, (d) rhinoceros.
The answers are on page 84