Science Aspire

A Welcome from the Science Faculty Leader

Science Week….P.03 The Big Bang Fair...P.05 Science Club ….p.06 “Flaming Good Time”…. p.07 BSW Poster Competition….P.09 Vauxhall….P.10 CERN Trip….P.11 Ivy Bank School’s Golden Celebrations….P.13 All Hallows Animals...P.15 EO Detective Competition….P.21 Nuffield Foundation...P.22 St John’s Science Day at All Hallows...P.23 All Hallows Helps the Rainforest...P.25 Chen Ji’s Bees...P.26 New Arrivals in the Farm...P.27 R&BE – Register and Be a Lifesaver...P.239

Fun Summer School...P.30 Getting to the Heart of it….P.31 Dave Perkins visits All Hallows….P.31 Recommended Reads….P.32 AHCC Favourite Science Reads....P.34 Prayer...P.36

Science Week

British Science Week is a celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths - featuring fascinating, entertaining and engaging events and activities across the UK for people of all ages. At All Hallows we wanted to celebrate the event by setting up our own Science Week, where all our students had an opportunity to get involved and see science from a different perspective.

Our Science Week celebrations ran from Monday 14th to Friday 18th March 2016, with other activities planned for the Summer term. We planned a whole host of activities for all our students both during and after Science Week 2016.

Special lessons were introduced during Science Week for all year groups to allow students an opportunity to look at Science from a different perspectives as well as finding out about careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). * Year 9 Triple Science students visited the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham on Friday 18th March. * Triple Year 10 students attended a presentation from a scientist from Astra Zeneca on Wednesday 16th March.

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* Year 8 students visited Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port on a project called “Inside Manufacturing” on Thursday March 17th. * Our Year 7 & 8 Science club celebrated Science Week with “Demo Day” Science activities where they fully supported a campaign to encourage practical demonstrations carried out in schools.

* Year 7 will be getting ready for a demonstration from Spark in the Summer term, where they will experience a thrilling fire display. * A selection of Year 9 students will be preparing for a visit from HS2 later on in the year, where they will get to be involved in a hands on workshop putting engineering skills into practice. * Our Year 7-9 groups all took part in designing a poster competition on the theme of Space for Science: Science in Spaces.

Science is fully alive and in action at All Hallows Catholic College!

Ms C McVeigh Science Faculty Leader

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The Big Bang Fair On Friday 18th March, the two triple science sets in Year 9 visited the big bang fair in Birmingham.

There were many different stalls from different companies and organisations which you could take part in and have a go at. For example, the NHS were there with an ambulance that you could go inside.

We set off around 9:15 and arrived there at around 11. It was already very busy but it didn’t take long to get in.

We were allowed to walk around in groups and visit the stations that interested us. It allowed us to learn about different careers and a lot more about Science.

We looked at the NHS section first and saw all the organs in a body. The day was really interesting and actually a lot of fun. The Viking weaponry was amazing .Every section gave away leaflets and little things.

We all learnt the parts of an army tank and saw all the controls. We saw how fibre can affect our digestive system and ran through an acceleration tunnel. Every station was interactive and we all got involved.

Connor Fowler, Rosa Hart, Molly Whittingham, Corban Bowers, Olivia Lewis and Morgan Sloan.

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SCIENCE CLUB

All Hallows Science club celebrated British Science Week with several memorable experiments. The members were first asked to skewer a fully inflated balloon on a metal spike without it bursting. The studnets realised that a balloon only bursts if a stressed area of latex is pierced; because the pressurised air rushes out, tearing the balloon apart. Instead, the students pierced the balloon close to where it was tied, where the material was under less tension. Doing this, they successfully impaled their balloons whilst keeping them in one piece.

A ‘density tower’ demonstration then followed.

Density is basically how much ‘stuff’ is squeezed into a particular area; a comparison between an objects mass and its volume. A density tower consists of several liquids of different densities. Lighter liquids (like water) floated on the dense layers (like syrup), so the density tower consists of several liquids all separated, giving a magical appearance. Objects were then dropped into the density tower where they stopped as soon as they had reached the liquid that matched their own density.

The session ended ‘warmly’ with the exploding of

some hydrogen balloons. Hydrogen, as we discussed is very light, making objects filled with it float in air.

Hydrogen was also historically used in large airships to enable them to carry people across the world. We were soon reminded of the dangers associated with hydrogen when exposing the hydrogen balloons to a lighted splint, which caused them to violently explode; not only is hydrogen light, it is extremely flammable. The All Hallows Science Club meets every Thursday and carries out science practical's and science based discussion. The club is currently open to all Key Stage 3 students.

Mr M Shaikh—Science Teacher 06

“FLAMING GOOD TIME”

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Spark A group of Year 8 students were treated to a “flaming good time!� when a new company called Outdoor Genius came in to present a lesson on fire.

The science was fascinating looking at the fire triangle first of all, focusing on the ignition stage. There were some brilliant demos looking at using friction to light fires, but also using high pressure gas to combust. A few students had a hands on go at the different fire starting methods, before everyone went off into small groups to use a flint and steel.

All the groups were successful lighting their small piece of cotton wool and the delight on their faces was evident for all to see.

After another quick demonstration the students moved away to build their own fire with varying success. Some students followed the advice and built some lovely fires where those who were too excited just threw everything in ended up with a lot of smoke and very little fire.

The session ended off in perfect fashion with a hot chocolate being made for the teacher.

The students had a great time and hopefully we will be seeing Outdoor Genius back in the summer to work with our Year 7.

Mr J Faulkner 08

BSW POSTER COMPETITION

All Year 7, 8 and 9 students were invited to enter a British Science Week 2016 poster competition.

The objective was to design an eye catching poster on the theme of 'Space for Science: Science for spaces'. We had many entries from each year group with topics chosen to span areas such as: Green space; outer space; built space; digital space and personal space. After judging by the science team, a shortlist of 6 posters were chosen to be sent to British Science Week's official competition.

The winners each won a Science Museum Sciencey gadget. Congratulations to all 6 teams and our top three winners!

Runners up: Charlie Parry and Hannah Booth - 'Human Brain' Emily Dixon and Hannah Kelly - The Planets' Ruth Hambleton and Lucy Beech'Space and Planets' 3rd Prize: Heidi Bain and Beth Hughes - 'Empty Space' 2nd Prize: Sophie Okell and Mia North - 'Green Space' 1st Prize: Naomi Gamon - 'Personal Space' Thank you to everyone for your entries and congratulations to our runners up and winners!

Ms S Badcock 09

TRIP TO VAUXHALL

A group of Year 8 students accompanied by Mrs Badcock and Mrs Stratford recently continued our long standing relationship with Vauxhall by taking part in one of their ‘Inside Manufacturing’ days at the Ellesmere Port factory. It is run by under graduates who take a year out of university to work in industry.

They follow many different paths including engineering, HR, accounting, electronics, robotics. The under graduates were on hand to talk about what their journey had been so far and how the subjects they had studied affected their career choices. The day involved a carousel of activities all based around the car manufacturing process.

The activities included working a robot to perform a task on a model, working together as a team to build a model car, working as someone who spots faults on car parts before they head to the assembly line ( it was amazing how even the tiniest fault/scratch meant a piece was rejected ). The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the trip into the factory itself. The huge scale of the production was astounding and the way that the parts moved in an almost seamless fashion around before being slotted in to exactly the right part was great. The process is particularly spectacular where the shell of the car meets up with the chassis before the engine is put in. It is brilliant how it all is so well measured out so that everything comes together in the one point. Very impressive!

As the day drew to a close the students all left with ideas of how to progress in manufacturing if they wished to, as well as a few freebies, unfortunately there was no free car for Mrs Stratford, as she had to drive us home in the minibus, maybe next year! Thank you to all the Year 8 who behaved so well.

Ms S Badcock 10

CERN TRIP

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On Wednesday 30 March, 19 students and 2 staff stood outside The Flowerpot waiting for our bus to take us to Liverpool. After a mild panic as the bus was delayed we were off to experience one of Europe’s most beautiful most influential cities in the world in terms of its politics and science.

After the mornings adventures we jumped on the number 18 tram out to CERN, where we had lunch amongst the Drs, Professors and students where CERN is their office, before our tour began.

Our tour guide was a Dr who had been at CERN for 30 years who explained the history of CERN After a calm, safe flight over we were straight out (officially not called CERN due to local fears of the to the United Nations complex to have our tour of word nuclear) before we went to stare at the the Palais des Nations. Our tour guide took us scientists doing their work at the ATLAS detector around some of the conference rooms and we control room where they were analysing data and watched a conference in action about the future setting up the collider for another run. The transport proposals for the Philippines and highlight of the tour was the re-opening of one of listened to it in the 5 main languages used in the the original accelerators which is taught as part of UN- English, Russian, Arabic, Spanish and the A2 syllabus which showed in a great light Mandarin. One of our party was very interested show how the accelerator worked. Ollie from year to see the interpreters doing their job and 13 said “It was great to see some our A-level questioned our guide on what the potential physics being used in a real situation “We also got opportunities there are in interpreting and how to to experience a cloud chamber for the first time, get there. The most interesting room was the which is one of the ways particles can originally room where the Security Council meet and you be identified. could feel the history from all the huge pivotal debates which had happened in that chamber.

Tom from year 12 said “it was amazing to see a The United Nations offices were certainly cloud chamber in action in the microcosm impressive in their grandeur and the gifts exhibition”. presented to the UN from all its individual nations were very interesting, including the optical CERN is an inspiring place as it is purely there to illusion rug the Chinese gave to the UN where the unite scientists from all over the world to further stairs follow you wherever you move! develop humans understanding of the universe; it is an example of how well countries can work The evening consisted of a traditional Swiss meal together better, than working on their own. with fondue aplenty around the tables, with a variety of foods being dipped in which gave us a The trip finished with some very competitive chorus of ums and ahhs, which soon turned to bowling with Mr Faulkner and Miss Corah rolling groans as the food was so lovely it had to be back the years and their experience coming to the eaten, but our belts were sooo tight! fore to beat all the young pretenders!

After a midnight stroll around the city and visit to the lake it was time for bed.

Sam in Year 13 said “I was in awe of Mr Faulkner’s We were all up early to make the most of our full and Miss Corah’s bowling!” day in Geneva, despite the busy Wednesday. The morning was spent exploring the beautiful city of As Friday morning dawned we were on our way Geneva following a treasure hunt to make sure home, very tired but with some happy memories! we saw all the sights. The expensive shops luckily Mr J Faulkner did not draw any students in and those brave enough enjoyed the view from St Paul’s Cathedral bell tower over the lake, city and gazed up at the Alps.

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IVY BANK SCHOOL’S GOLDEN CELEBRATIONS Thursday 21st April 2016 saw the launch of Ivy Bank School’s golden celebrations to mark the 50th birthday of their school. Pupils are currently wearing commemorative hoodies and t-shirts celebrating a fantastic 50 years. The celebrations started with a rousing 1960’s concert led by Key Strings and the Worshipful the Mayor of Cheshire East, Councillor Hilda Gaddum, who joined the concerts and spoke to the children congratulating them and the staff on the success of Ivy Bank. Madam Mayor enjoyed a tour of the school with the Governors and admired the Golden Garden and celebratory cake. During the afternoon there was a special surprise… Ivy Bank pupils were presented with a bar of chocolate: six of them contained hidden Golden Tickets! In the words of Willie Wonka, the winners are to present their tickets on the morning of the second of July to become the Golden Kings and Queens of Ivy Bank Golden Summer Fair.

On Thursday 21st April 1966 Ivy Bank opened its doors as a community school. It was built on the fields belonging to Ivy Cottage Farm which was run by the Whitaker family. In fact, Valerie, daughter of Mr and Mrs Whitaker, is the oldest past-pupil we have managed to find in our Twitter campaign and she started on that first day of opening, in Class 1 (now called Reception class).

We were lucky to have the Whitaker family join us for the day (pictured are Sheila, Valerie and their mother, Mrs Whitaker). We introduced our current youngest pupil, Ava, to Valerie at the Golden Garden, which the children of Ivy Bank have planted to celebrate our 50 years. The Whitaker family shared fantastic photographs and were interviewed by Ivy Bank pupils about life on the farm and how the land has changed. “I can’t believe Sheila had a pet cow that she could ride,” laughed one Year 3 pupil. Sheila shared how their family donkey, Jenny, became like an Ivy Bank pet, as the children used to fuss her as she hung her head over the gate greeting them.

When the Whitaker family met the Year 5 children, the pupils had an idea that they 13

would like to re-create the atmosphere of the farm and learn about farm animals. Therefore we were delighted when All Hallows offered to work with us on this project. Over the course of a week, year groups 1 to 5 have visited the farm site at All Hallows to experience farm life and learn about the animals. This has included working with sheep wool and weaving.

“The baby lambs kept coming to me and I stroked them.” Oliver, Year 1.

“I liked the smelly pigs. One was a bully… and I learnt about wool which was smelly too!” Adam, Year 1.

Ivy Bank would like to thank Cathy McVeigh Science Faculty Leader at All Hallows for her enthusiasm leading the project and all of the All Hallows team for their extra hard work making such an event possible.

Mrs Sarah Gill Assistant Headteacher

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ALL HALLOWS ANIMALS As the reception class at Ivy Bank weren’t able to visit when the rest of the school did, we decided that we would take some of the exotic animals to visit them! Consequently, the week following the farm visit, a couple of snake, the ferrets and several other wee beasties were bundled into carriers and popped in the back of the van.

Ivy Bank isn’t far, so even though it was a beautiful, hot day, they were still calm and cool when we got there. That was more than could be said for the children…they were incredibly excited and all but fizzing with anticipation.

Nonetheless, they soon got themselves settled and sat in a ring to “meet and greet” the animals we had brought. One of the staff from Ivy Bank was keen to help, so she circulated a snake in one direction and the other went round the ring the other way! The children nearly all touched, some of them were brave enough to hold and they all enjoyed looking at the snakes and talking about their bright colours and the way they felt. They enjoyed the other animals too, which included a very spikey Bearded Dragon and a slimy Giant Snail. The children were encouraged to try and describe the way the different animals felt. With the children all sitting in a circle, we briefly let the ferrets run free in the middle. This was very popular with the children, especially those who let the ferrets sit on their laps! The children (and the staff) all seemed to really enjoy the session, and they showed their appreciation for this and for the previous weeks activities by presenting us with a lovely cake made by one of the TA’s and decorated to look like a farm; complete with model animals.

Needless to say, it didn’t last long once we got it back to school!

In addition to all the above excitement, we have also had some new arrivals in the Animal room. We had a baby rabbit born over Christmas who has turned out to be a female so we will be keeping her with her mother. The students have named her Holly. We have also had snake eggs in the incubator and for the first time we have had some hatch successfully. We now have 4 baby snakes, two of which are albino and very pretty. They are doing fine, although a couple are a bit reluctant to feed. Once I am sure that they are feeding and shedding OK, we will look for good homes for at least a couple of them. We have also welcomed a couple of new leopard geckos donated by one of our students. Happily they are both female, so they are now living with Gertie, our original Leopard gecko and all three seem to have settled down really well.

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At this time of year there is plenty to do both with the animals and in the garden. The rabbits have a new, more secure run which means they can get out and enjoy some fresh air and grass on a daily basis. At this time of year there are also plenty of wild plants that they enjoy so on the days that they don’t go out due to the weather they can still enjoy plenty of fresh wild greens.

The sheep are ready for shearing and I have already done one with the cordless clippers we bought last year. The poor sheep is probably very embarrassed because I’m really not very good at it, (think the Specsavers advert!!) but we have a perennial problem getting someone in to shear just a handful of sheep… especially since it is so weather dependant. If anyone can help… please let us know!

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The chickens have a new run with an electric fence that means they can stay out at weekends and during holidays without being at risk from Mr Fox. This is obviously much better for them, and hopefully will stop them pulling each other’s feathers out when they get bored. The Call duck is also living in that pen at the moment. Sadly we lost her partner to a fox over the Easter holiday and I have been unable to find her a friend locally. On her own she is lonely and VERY noisy so I moved her to avoid complaints from the neighbours. I am still looking for a friend for her, if anyone has or knows of a Call Duck (male or female) that needs rehoming we’d be delighted to hear from you!!

The garden is really taking off, the gardening club have planted tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries and carrots, courgettes, pumpkins and ornamental gourds, sweet peppers and parsnips. We have loads more to plant as the weather allows. As usual, we seem to need to get everything into the ground at once which is always difficult, but what can you do when the weather is as crazy as it has been? Some more gardening volunteers would be a huge help, so if you are at school and want to get involved please let someone in Science know. We could also use some adult help to do the heavy work and generally keep on top of things during the growing season…so if you have some time on your hands and you’d like to get involved please let the school know!

Mrs D Stratford, Farm Manager

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EO DETECTIVE COMPETITION Some of our Year 10 students were encouraged to enter a competition organised by the National Centre for Earth Observation based on the current scientific mission on the International Space Station – Principia, being carried out by astronaut Tim Peake and his colleagues.

The winners of the competition will have a photograph of somewhere on earth taken especially for them during Tim Peake’s Principia mission. This is a fantastic opportunity as taking the pictures will be built into the crew’s official Earth Observation schedule and there is not usually any public input into this.

Our KS4 students were asked to explain their choice of location, to explain what changes they would expect to see when they compare it with an older picture and what else they could find out by using it alongside a false-colour composite satellite image .

We are delighted to announce that the judges of the EO Detective competition found it very difficult to choose the winners and so have decided to recognise the high standard of entries by acknowledging the runners-up. Stephen Hughes, a Year 10 student at All Hallows, is the runner-up in the age 14–16 category. Congratulations Stephen!

Stephen's name and our school's name, All Hallows, will be published on the Principia website and the @EODetective Twitter feed.

Stephen will attend an awards ceremony in September where he will be presented with a picture based on his request to astronaut Tim Peake.

Well done Stephen!

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Ms C McVeigh

The Nuffield research placements provide thousands of students each year the opportunity to work with professional scientists, engineers, mathematicians and other researchers during the summer.

Students go to a huge range of different organisations across the UK, including universities and corporations, to do the placement.

I am very proud and grateful to have been selected for such an incredible opportunity and hope to get a lot from it. Although I don’t yet know where I will be working, I am sure it will be a great experience and an inspiring place to work.

Eddie Meehan 22

ST JOHN’S SCIENCE DAY AT ALL HALLOWS On Tuesday 26 January, All Hallows’ Science department hosted 90 Year 5 and 6 students from St John’s Primary School for the day. The primary students spent the day experiencing lessons in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Animal Management. The day was packed full of fun scientific investigations and hands on work.

In Biology, students learned about what happens to your food inside your body and played detective, investigating samples of “sick” in order to work out what each patient was allergic to. The chemistry teachers taught the students the science behind fireworks and what elements cause the sky to light up different colours. Physics investigated air resistance and students were challenged to design a parachute that could save a falling egg from breaking. Finally, the students enjoyed a hands on lesson caring for our animals and learning about their natural habitats. The science teachers were assisted by some our finest science students here at All Hallows. The Year 9s were asked what they thought of their day teaching and had this to say; Chemistry Today we taught Chemistry and the theme of fireworks. We were testing flames and metals such as Copper, Potassium, Lithium and Sodium and how the different metals affected the colour of the flame. I think the primary school children enjoyed this activity because none of them had done anything like that practical before and the excitement on their faces was amazing. Therefore, I think it was really useful for them and they had a new and engaging experience that they will remember and hopefully want to pursue later at high school. Personally I had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed it much like the children who took part.

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Physics In our lesson we were testing air resistance by using parachutes and the students had to make their own parachutes so that their eggs wouldn’t break. The primary students were very enthusiastic and got really involved in the day. I think it was useful for them because they were able to go into more detail about forces and were able to understand how it can be applied to things like sports. Overall I had a good day and think that I was able to help teach them all something new.

Biology The Year 5 and 6 thoroughly enjoyed their day learning about what happens to their food after they had eaten it. The practical was good because the science technicians made fake sick for us to test but the primary students believed it was real. I think all the students left with newfound knowledge on the human body. I enjoyed my day because I liked teaching the younger students, although I feel like being a teacher would be a stressful job!

Animal Management The primary students enjoyed it as they got to handle the animals. It was useful for them as they gained knowledge of the different needs of animals and how they are adapted to these needs. My favourite part of the day was helping the children handle the animals but I would not become a teacher as it seems really hard to control a class.

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ALL HALLOWS HELPS THE RAINFOREST All Hallows Catholic College has saved a staggering 23 trees over the past year, simply by switching to a sustainable coffee supplier. They have also prevented 24.37 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The Office Coffee Company has released its annual assessment of savings that have contributed to its mission to halt rainforest destruction by simply providing a great-tasting sustainable coffee option to the Romero Conference Centre one of the successful business within the College.

Each year, the Office Coffee Company calculates each customer’s contribution to the fight against deforestation – quantifying both the number of trees they have saved as well as tonnes of CO 2 stored. Together, the Office Coffee Company’s customers have saved more than 24,000 trees in the past twelve months – by indulging in over 178,000 cups of sustainably sourced coffee. That’s 100 acres of rainforest, which is equivalent to over 49 football pitches or 1,500 tennis courts!

“We believe every business has the responsibility – and the opportunity – to have a positive impact on the environment,” commented Richard Doherty, managing director at the Office Coffee Company.

“We support Cool Earth, a unique charity that protects the rainforests – by choosing to buy Cool Earth Coffee, our clients are making a real difference to the sustainability of our planet. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Romero Conference Centre, for their custom.

Tony Billings, Principal said 'One of our core values as a Catholic college is stewardship. This is a belief that everything in life is in our care rather than ownership. We believe we have a duty of care for the common good which is to look after the environment for generations to come after us. This is a really exciting and practical project that puts our Christian values into action.'

“All Hallows and the Romero Conference Centre are proud to be making a difference to our planet”.

About the Office Coffee Company The Office Coffee Company was established in 2011 to bring greattasting, ethically sourced coffee to UK businesses. It provides ethical, fresh and affordable products that enable businesses to treat their staff and clients to great-tasting coffee in the workplace, whilst making a positive contribution to the planet. For more information, visit www.office-coffee.co.uk.

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Chen Ji’s Bees

When Mr Power told us about the competition I knew this was a challenge I wanted to take on, as it involved both creative writing (a great passion of mine) and learning about the natural world.

Researching on the topic, I found so much fascinating information and realised just how important it is to tell everyone what the bees do for us: without them entire ecosystems would collapse and more than half of the shelves in UK grocery stores would be empty.

I'm proud that my work was commended and look forward to using my gift voucher: possibly to buy another book on bees or the environment!

Also, thank you to Mr. Aspinall for submitting my entry.

Chen Ji

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NEW ARRIVALS IN THE FARM

Although on a commercial sheep farm, the tups would be going in with the ewes, we have no plans for lambs in the foreseeable future as our grazing is so limited.

Over the summer though, the mound of soil excavated when the new astropitch was laid has been grassed and fenced.

This has given us some much better grazing and the sheep particularly are enjoying the viewpoint from the top of the mound.

The area has been split into two small paddocks so that we can rotate livestock as required. This means that we now have three paddocks on the far side of the sports field, plus the area that was originally fenced for the llama. This has also now been split into two with the intention of restricting the ponies to a small dry area with access to their stable over the winter. Hopefully this will help prevent poaching in the new paddocks.

The grazing is standing up much better than our previous areas as it isn’t overshadowed by trees. This means that the paddocks on the steep bank by the Fisher building will now just be grazed occasionally by the ponies to keep the grass down and we will no longer need to graze anything there long term.

We have bought a couple of “Calf Kennels” as shelters for the new paddocks. They are currently waiting to be built as they arrived as flat packs…if we have any parents who would like to volunteer to help put these up we would be very grateful!

Since we are now running BTEC Animal Management at both level 2 & level 3, we have a couple of new additions to our exotic animal species. During the Summer, I went down to a ferret rescue in Rugely and the school adopted a pair of female (jill) ferrets. I chose to adopt a pair of older girls as they have been very well handled and are very friendly. Young ferrets are extremely playful and have a tendency to nip like a kitten or puppy would. Although they rapidly learn not to, it can be a bit off putting for novice handlers. The girls, which we’ve named Hermione and Luna, are well past that stage but remain very playful.

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Ferrets are a domestic animal, but they are related to polecats, stoats, weasels, and badgers. They are obligate carnivores (i.e., they can only eat meat) and like all carnivores they are innately playful, curious and active. They enjoy being handled and coming out to play in the area we have made for them…and they are proving very popular with the students.

They have a (largely unjustified) reputation for biting, and indeed, if you are bitten properly by a ferret you are going to know about it!

A well-handled and properly fed ferret is very unlikely to bite though, in fact they make much better pets for younger children than rabbits because they don’t mind being dangled! Where a rabbit will kick ferociously if it feels it isn’t being held securely, ferrets normally just go limp. They do have sharp claws which they would naturally use to get a rabbit out of a hiding place, but they don’t purposefully use them to scratch people and they lack the immensely powerful back legs that mean a rabbit can do so much damage.

Like all animals, if they are frightened or hurt they will of course defend themselves, but they are generally very tolerant and are normally less likely to bite than a hamster!

In America (and this country as well) they are hugely popular as house pets. They can be litter trained, don’t chew cables or the woodwork and love to curl up on the sofa for a nap! On the down side, they can get into the most improbable spaces, will dig up all your house plants….and they do have a certain “musk”! This is something that bothers some people, and in America it is routine to have ferrets “descented”. This is illegal in this country for welfare reasons…but you can give them a bath! Both male and female ferrets come into breeding season, and during this time they are much smellier. If you are going to keep a ferret as a house pet, it is very advisable to get it neutered for this reason if for no other! In addition, jill ferrets will stay in season until they are mated. If this doesn’t happen, then it is likely to result in an infection which can be fatal. Although there are a couple of ways of bringing a jill ferret out of season, spaying is probably the best.

These are really very minor negative points though, and don’t detract from the fact that a well-cared for ferret is a delightful creature! There are some great videos of ferrets playing on YouTube; take a minute to have a look!

Mrs D Stratford—Farm Manager.

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R&BE – Register and Be a Lifesaver On 3rd February 2016, a volunteer guest speaker from Anthony Nolan, Alan Tomlinson, inspired many of our Year 12 students during General RE to register for the Anthony Nolan register or Blood and Organ Donation. Their willingness to try to help another person was fantastic and truly demonstrated the Gospel Values that All Hallows Catholic College aims to live out daily.

An initial poll of reasons to or not to donate was carried out and the Year 12 students gave honest and understandable reasons why they may be reluctant to become part of the donor register. Alan Tomlinson addressed concerns and gave many reasons why these concerns may be lessened.

We were also reminded of a former student of All Hallows Catholic College who went on to become the youngest ever donor, Vicky Rathmill, who went on to save a person’s life through her donations and as a direct result of a similar talk we were hearing.

Alan Tomlinson informed the students of the Anthony Nolan register for Stem Cell and Bone Marrow; identifying someone who may be a match enabling a donation to save a life of someone who, for instance, may have a blood disorder. He informed us of Anthony Nolan himself too; a three year old boy born with an inherited blood disorder and, as a result, could not fight infection. His mother, Shirley Nolan, was driven to set up the world’s first register to match donors in desperate need. A match for Anthony Nolan was found and his life was extended for a few more years.

During their work, however, they found there was a need to educate the population and dispel myths about bone marrow transplants as not enough people were coming forward. It is recognised that each of us has a capacity to save a life. Alan explained the process simply and clearly for our students; giving examples of those have gone on to support others through donation. There are restrictions e.g. due to age and weight but the registration process is very straightforward and simply known as “give a spit”. Details can be found here: https:// www.anthonynolan.org/ With the tag line: “you don’t have to be doctor to save lives” blood donation is possibly one of the more well known of the donor aspects that Alan Tomlinson discussed. He pointed out that just 4% of those who can give blood, do give blood. This he compared to the number of those who will need donor blood: 25%. To maintain stocks of blood, 7,000 donations are needed at donor sessions each day. For more information, please follow this link: https://www.blood.co.uk/ Finally, Alan recognised that he was talking to a large number of students who would go on to apply for a provisional driving licence very soon, if not already. The organ donation system has an option to sign up for organ donation as they make this process. He encouraged us to do so.

Pointing out that three people every day die waiting for an organ. https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ this link will provide further information.

Who is Alan Tomlinson?

Alan shared his own story with the students. He too was one who benefited from the Anthony Nolan register when he had needed a stem cell donor in 2011. He met his donor in April 2014 and was able to personally give his heartfelt thanks for the fact that his wife still had a husband and his three children still had their father.

Our thanks go to Alan too for an inspiring and informative talk.

Mrs K Sutton 29

At the end of July, the thought that 'school's out for summer' was not on the mind of all, as many pupils woke up and got ready willingly and happily on the Monday of the first full week of the holidays to take part in either a one week or a two week summer school programme.

Several of the students were the new Year 7 wanting a head start in learning at All Hallows and the opportunity to engage in a range of fun learning activities, meet some of their teachers and make new friends. Other included some Year 5 and 6 pupils, some of whom have been attending for a few years now and who cannot wait to get to All Hallows, plus a number of new children enjoying the experience for the first time.

A range of fun, exciting activities were on offer including; Music Theatre - a music and drama project which led to a full scale fantastic production of Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies at the end of each week. Plenty of knights, fights and footlights!

Farm and Craft Skills - outdoor learning, including a forest visit and animal based activities, getting up close to pigs, goats, snakes and many more animals including the star of the farm, our famous llama Vinny.

Bake and Make - wonderful smells and wonderful foods including a range of sweet and savoury items. How jealous we felt when we saw this group taking their baked goodies home for tea each evening.

Animate and Create - marvellous creations using the Mac suite including animation, graphics, 3D printing and product design.

Film and Media - pupils became film directors for the week, writing, directing and filming their own short films. A film premier was organised complete with popcorn and ice cream.

Dance - dance routines including modern street and contemporary were practised, polished and perfected and then choreographed into a superb performance to an invited audience of very proud parents, grandparents, siblings et al.

The summer school experience was enjoyed by the students and the staff alike.

We were really blessed to have a number of external deliverers join us as well as our own teachers to run the sessions. They all commented on the wonderful attitude and enthusiasm of the students who attended.

As one students said ' I love coming to All Hallows for my summer holiday!'

Perhaps we should think about a beach party for next year!! If you have any suggestions for future summer school activities please do let us know. Look out for further information for the summer 2016 programme and book early to avoid disappointment.

Mrs D Stratford—Farm Manager 30

Getting to the heart of it!

Year 12 Students following the new A level Year1 course, have been studying aspects of heart biology, including heart structure and function, cardiovascular disease and the role of the heart, as the pump within the circulatory system.

One aspect of the new course involves the students having hands on experience of dissecting a heart and then identifying the structures that they previously labelled and learnt about.

The accompanying photos show examples of the results of these dissections.

Mr D Aspinal—Year 11 Learning Leader

Dave Perkins Visits All Hallows Dave Perkins is an old friend of the school after his children graduated from All Hallows recently. He has come into explain his passion for science and his journey to how he got his current position. He inspired the students with love for science and explained how he uses his science to solve multiple problems at Astra Zeneca.

We were very lucky to squeeze him in during science week as he was about to jet off to Strasbourg that afternoon!

Mr J Faulkner 31

RECOMMENDED READS— MS SINCLAIR SAYS‌ We have a display of a variety of science related books, both fiction and non fiction in the library or you can always ask for a recommendation!

CLASSIC SCIENCE FICTION:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Still relevant today, Bradbury's classic story written over sixty years ago tells the story of Guy Montag, whose job is to burn books. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books. The classic novel of a post-literate future, 'Fahrenheit 451' stands alongside Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World' as a prophetic account of Western civilization's enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity. Bradbury's powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which over fifty years from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.

Recommended for confident year 8 readers upwards.

When Charles Wallace Murry goes searching through a 'wrinkle in time' for his lost father, he finds himself on an evil planet where all life is enslaved by a huge pulsating brain known as 'It'.

How Charles, his sister Meg and friend Calvin find and free his father makes this a very special and exciting mixture of fantasy and science fiction, which all the way through is dominated by the funny and mysterious trio of guardian angels known as Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which.

NON FICTION:

Stephen Hawking's classic, 'A Brief History of Time' has been now been made briefer and more accessible in 'A Briefer History of Time'. So if you want to learn more about the universe and its secrets of time and space, this is the book for you.

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman The six easiest chapters from Feynmans landmark work, Lectures on Physics specifically designed for the general, non-scientist reader. A good introduction to the key concepts of physics, such as atoms, energy and quantum behaviour. Some previous knowledge required!

For younger readers there is a Horrible Science series which covers a wide variety of scientific concepts in a very humorous and appealing way. The books cover everything from all aspects of the body to robots, inventions and beyond.

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FICTION Metawars Series by Jeff Norton Jonah Delacroix can't stand the real world - so he lives most of his life inside a global computer-based virtual world called the Metasphere, where everyone is represented by an avatar. When he discovers the avatar of his dead father, and assumes his online identity, a series of events are unleashed that compel Jonah to race across the real world with a secret society to protect the freedom of all mankind...

This is a really gripping series that will have you on the edge of your seat! Recommended for confident year 7 readers upwards.

The Martian by Andy Weir When astronauts blast off from the planet Mars, they leave behind Mark Watney (Matt Damon), presumed dead after a fierce storm. With only a meager amount of supplies, the stranded visitor must utilize his wits and spirit to find a way to survive on the hostile planet. Meanwhile, back on Earth, members of NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring him home, while his crew mates hatch their own plan for a daring rescue mission.

A fantastic space read - lots of detail about life on another planet but also the ultimate survival story. A real page turner with lots of humour to balance the agonising tension Recommended for teenagers and adults. (Please note there is some adult language in this story)

Finally, you can always use The Book Trust's book finding tool to choose your next read: http:// www.booktrust.org.uk/#/d/books/bookfinder/ It has sections for all ages groups and covers a variety of genres.

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AHCC FAVOURITE SCIENCE READS Ms McVeigh ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ by Bill Bryson A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson’s quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. Bill Bryson's challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. It's not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?

A fascinating and informative read for a curious reader with many questions!

Mr Faulkner Cosmos by Carl Sagan Spacecraft missions to nearby planets * The Library of ancient Alexandria * The human brain * Egyptian hieroglyphics * The origin of life * The death of the sun * The evolution of galaxies * The origins of matter, suns and worlds The story of fifteen billion years of cosmic evolution transforming matter and life into consciousness, of how science and civilisation grew up together, and of the forces and individuals who helped shape modern science. A story told with Carl Sagan's remarkable ability to make scientific ideas both comprehensible and exciting.

Ms Badcock 'It's Not Rocket Science' by Ben Miller.

‘I like how he covers everything without any Maths at all - well, just a little bit!’

Black holes. DNA. The Large Hadron Collider. Ever had that sneaking feeling that you are missing out on some truly spectacular science? You do? Well fear not, for help is at hand.

Ben Miller was working on his Physics PhD at Cambridge when he accidentally became a comedian. But first love runs deep, and he has returned to his roots to share with you all his favourite bits of science. This is the stuff that you really need to know, not only because it matters, but because it will quite simply amaze and delight you.

Mr Nickson ‘Rocket Boys’ by Homer Hickam Jr. ‘An aspirational biographical tale rather than an out and out science tome. Boys growing up in a poor coal mining town in West Virginia are inspired by the space race of the 1960s to want to work for NASA - an ambition which the author ultimately achieves.’

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Mrs Needham Cat Confidential by Vicky Halls.

Just a great read, especially if you are interested in animals!

How much do cat owners really know about their feline friends? Do our pampered pets truly want all that food and affection or is that insistent miaow trying to communicate something more complex? Many cats and their owners co-exist in an atmosphere of polite misunderstanding, with each party blissfully unaware of the wishes of the other. The cat 'says' one thing and the owner hears another, but somehow it works, Until, that is, something goes wrong. Renowned cat counsellor Vicky Halls has helped hundreds of owners and their problem cats. Why do they soil in the house, fight with next door's cat, behave aggressively towards people or pull out their own fur? CAT CONFIDENTIAL answers these questions and many more, and will enable all cat owners to reach a far better understanding with their feline companions.

Ms Kelly ’ The Disappearing Spoon’ by Sam Kean ‘The Periodic Table’ by Primo Levi I have two favourite Science books, both look at the Periodic Table in a way that it isn't discussed in Science lessons.

For younger readers interested in Science I would recommend, ’ The Disappearing Spoon’ by Sam Kean as it is a really easy, fun read. Each chapter tells an anecdote about a different element of the periodic table, it's not like chemistry you learn from a school book but amazing facts and stories about each element. I liked it so much I even used a passage from it in my interview lesson for my job at All Hallows!

My other favourite is ‘The Periodic Table’ by Primo Levi, a Jewish survivor of World War Two with a Chemistry PhD. In it, he tells his life story but compares each life stage to an element in the Periodic Table. The book discusses topics like racism, the Holocaust and love, managing to link them all to the characteristics of different elements in a really smart way.

Ms Corah ‘How to Live Forever’ – Alok Jha ‘Will we ever talk to aliens? How do you make a cyborg? What does it take to create life?

‘How to Live Forever’, is the essential survival guide for anyone who has ever been baffled by science. In a series of intriguing, entertaining and often extraordinary scenarios Alok Jha brings to life 35 key science ideas in a way that anyone can understand. From the microscopic to the cosmic, this book takes you a glorious tour of the known universe and beyond, taking in cloned sheep, alien worlds, bizarre life forms, quantum weirdness, parallel dimensions and dissected brains along the way. You'll discover how to travel though time, how to start (and cure) a plague, how the mind works, who to turn sunbeams into oak trees, how to boil a planet, how to turn invisible and much, much more. Both informative and enjoyable, this is a rip-roaring introduction to the wonders of modern science.’

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Prayer Lord, give us each day the wisdom to recognise which things are important, and which things are not.

Show us how best to use the time and talents you have given us.

Help us to use all opportunities wisely that we may give in service to others the good gifts we have received from you.

Amen.

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All Are Welcome at All Hallows Catholic College Come in and visit our wonderful Church College

All Hallows Catholic College Brooklands Avenue Macclesfield Cheshire SK11 8LB www.allhallows.org.uk