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ASPIRE Issue 6

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Front cover: Mae, Year 8 Inside front cover: Emily, Pre-Sxith

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Welcome to the sixth edition of Aspire! This publication showcases work produced during the Trinity 2018/19 and Michaelmas 2019/20 terms by some of Hull Collegiate Prep and Senior School pupils across the various key stages and areas of our curriculum. All pupils are faced with a multitude of opportunities to stretch, challenge and extend their understanding on a daily basis. Through the early identification and nurturing of abilities or talents, clear target setting, regular differentiation in lessons, a wide variety of enrichment activities and the careful tracking of progress via an established mentoring system, we continually strive to achieve the â€˜best in everyoneâ€™. All editions of Aspire can be found www.hullcollegiateschool.co.uk/aspire If you have any questions regarding stretch and challenge at Hull Collegiate School, please contact Mr Stephenson, Lead Teacher for Advanced Performance at Gordon.Stephenson@hullcollegiateschool.co.uk

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Forest School In September we welcomed back the year 6’s, this cohort are the first I have seen right through the school years, from Reception to their final year. Over the years a loose routine has developed, which is followed on most visits. The children come to the camp fire, where the safety rules are re iterated and up dated with any other information relevant to the conditions of the day. We then play the traditional game 1,2,3 where We started with a fairly simple task of foraging brambles, with a view to making jam on the fire. It surprising how therapeutic looking for, and collecting brambles can be and the tranquility that descended the wood was palpable. Time to reflect and connect with nature is so important to the future of our planet, and to the mental health of the children. The next stage was to make the jam on the fire – but there was a slight problem, we needed to make sure we put in equal quantities of sugar and fruit, a sudden rush of ideas on how to weigh the ingredients and some very inventive scales made from woodland materials. Demonstrating that the year 6’s are able to apply classroom learning to real life situations. Time then to explore the woods, rediscover secret places, and work with the forest school staff on any number of self-directed projects. The bramble theme continued with the year 3’s who were the next to visit. By now there were very few brambles left to pick, but we managed to find enough to boil up a lovely pink dye, and try out tye-dying, The children practising their knot tying techniques and the results were stunning. The day was finished off with crumpets. Mr Dyson, OCN Level 3 Forest School Leadership and Management

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Art

Year 3 Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs and Goddesses The children learnt about the Ancient Egyptians, they embossed their name into foil using hieroglyphics. They then transformed themselves into Pharaohs or goddesses.

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Magazine Design

Year 4 Art The children designed and created decorative masks based on the Ancient Mayan Civilisation which they studied in Humanities. As a result of their residential and Inspired by the local contemporary artist Ian Mitchell the children developed their own landscape painting of Malham Cove.

Magazine Design

Year 5 Art Inspired by the Victorian artist William Morris the children created an illuminated letter. The children studied the art of Vincent van Gogh, developed their understanding of colour theory and explored different ways to apply paint to create these eye-catching canvases.

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Year 6 Celebrating Famous Women The children all chose a famous female from either the past or present. This project involved research and the exploration of graphics carried out in computing lessons. Their final piece of work was a montage of images and lettering. Andy Warhol The children studied the artist Andy Warhol and created their own designs based on everyday objects- shoes!

Magazine Design

Above: GCSE art student Jemima workbook. Opposite: GCSE textile work by Emily, with workbook showing embellishment techniques.

Design Technology DT is a challenging subject but when you’re finished it’s a big achievement. It’s a challenge because when things go wrong, sometimes it’s back to square one! You have to remember to persevere and help each other and most importantly to have fun and smile! In Year 5, we have been making model gates that swing open and we had to design the latch to keep the gate closed. Eva and I did these two different ways. I was pleased with mine, but hers works just as well. First, we attached the gate posts using a wooden peg method. Then we designed our unique gate and took care with our construction methods to make them. We were both pleased with our mitre cuts to ensure our cross pieces fitted snuggly. A mitre is a bishop’s hat which makes a slanted shape at the top. The hardest part was to make the hinges and to fit them securely on to the gate and the post. We were pleased with our gates and are proud to show them in Aspire. Max and Eva Year 5

GCSE work in progress Above: Oscar, Year 13 Left: Rosie, Year 12

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Drama Live Evaluation Question: Section C â€“ Using the production of The Oresteia On 12th November 2018, I attended a performance of The Oresteia by Splendid Theatre Company at Hull Collegiate School, that formed part of a national tour of the play for drama students across the country. The production itself centred around the adaptation of three Greek plays that collectively relayed the story of The Oresteia, which was directed and adapted by Kerry Frampton. The main themes of this piece were twofold; the questioning of whether anyone deserves to die and the contrast explored between women in Greek society, to those in the modern day. The theatre style employed within the production, was that of epic and therefore, the three female performers utilised archetypes to enable a sense of the unnatural. For me it was the combination of the contrasts and differences between individual characters that made this production really interesting to watch. One such way in which the style of epic theatre was created within the piece, was through the use of archetypes, which is very typical of Brechtian theatre, as it offers multiple perspectives on the story being told. Two such examples were those of the Eumenides and the Furies. Within the opening scene of the play, the Eumenides were presented as being warm as they were welcoming the audience into the production. This was emphasised through their use of physical and vocal skills. Physically, this was conveyed through a tall, open stance, with their shoulders pushed down and their chins slightly elevated, making them appear calm and confident. In addition, facially, their expressions portrayed an inner tranquillity as they had broad smiles and a softness around their eyes. Accompanying this, were slow, and gentle movements of the head, indicating they were interested by the audience, and what they were doing. Furthermore, the actresses vocally used a slow pace, low pitch and clear diction to reinforce their welcoming and friendly nature. They also introduced an intrigued and delighted tone within their speech, when talking to the audience, which seemed to me to convey their interest and connection with us. However, the Eumenides suddenly changed from being characters that were calm and harmonious, to an outward embodiment of aggression, known as The Furies. Here the contrast between the two sets of characters was highlighted, as physically they crouched low to the ground, their bodies grew tense and their eyes seemed to narrow with suspicion. In addition, they used jagged and somewhat erratic head movements, which darted constantly in different directions around the room. Juxtaposed against this was the stillness of the rest of their bodies, which further reinforced the sinister nature of the characterisation, as it appeared their anger was so strong that it had overwhelmed their entire bodies,

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therefore restricting normal body movement and response. This was also displayed vocally through the line, “who will speak for Clytemnestra?”. Here their anger at the injustice of her death, and the lack of accountability placed upon her son was made evident through the sharpness and abrupt nature of the line, as if they were spitting out the words, conveying their disgust towards the situation. This was heightened by an emphasis on the word “who”, which was said in a loud and questioning tone. For me, it was this drastic change in archetypes that helped assist in establishing the style of epic theatre within this piece, as I believe it created a sense of unpredictability from the outset of the play, as I was left wondering which version of these women was the true representation. Furthermore, it also helped to grab my attention and maintain my focus throughout the rest of the performance. Another intrinsic aspect of epic theatre, is that of the inclusion of gestus, where social attitudes, or a single aspect of it is expressed through the mediums of words, actions or songs. Within The Oresteia, this is seen most clearly through the use of chorus work, specifically, that of “The Gossipy Women”, whose place was at the bottom of the social pile. Vocally, this was heightened through the use of a distinct colloquial dialect, that of a strong Liverpudlian accent, which leads to an assumption of women of a lower class. This is further displayed as they seemed to elongate their words by dragging out the vowel sounds, but also could portray the harshness of their opinions as they end each line with sharp pronunciation. Their attitudes towards Clytemnestra were unmistakable, ones filled with judgment and consequently disgust, a sentiment that was reinforced by the consistent use of the techniques of unison and echo, coupled with the use of a high and shrill pitch, which gave further definition and emphasis to these strong opinions. This powerful attitude was underpinned through the use of physicality, as they stood down stage left, with their hand on their hips and feet planted firmly apart. In addition, their eyes bulged with anger and they moved their heads constantly from side to side with sharp angular motions. This not only demonstrated their profound distain towards Clytemnestra, as she left the stage with her lover, but also signified the shock they felt. This scene evoked a degree of sympathy within me for this group of characters as it powerfully indicated the effects of internalised oppression and I believe they were trapped within their stereotypes. The strength of their vocal and physical resolve indicated to me a sense of desperation to be heard, and as such the use of gestus not only created the appearance of epic theatre, but also enabled the piece to portray one of its central messages.

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Spass, or the incorporation of fun, is another key element of Brechtian theatre and is made evident within The Oresteia through the portrayal of the “Nurse”. Her character is one of interest to me, as whilst she was depicted as being only a servant, through the use of her voice and physicality, she was able to grab the focus of the audience. Humour was introduced physically through the use of over-exaggerated, grand movements, for example when she cried, her whole body became incorporated in this movement, as her head turned away from the audience and her back and shoulders arched as her arms shielded both her face and the space around her. This was contrasted against her sudden direct address to the audience, where her body became still and her face emotionless, as she informed them that “Orestes not dead”. It was the magnitude of this emotion, and the sharpness of the contrast, which I believe made the moment funny. Vocally, she uses a quicker pace, low pitch, and she adopts a Jamaican accent, all of which brought a warmth and mellowness to her character, and as such allowed the audience to feel like her friends, or someone they could have a laugh with. Overall, I felt that her presence within the scene offered a necessary relief to the substantial tension that had been created and consequently, I believe it enabled moments of relaxation for the audience. Furthermore, these moments of vocal and physical humour helped portray the style of theatre clearly to us as an audience. Finally, narration is of central importance to this production, and forms part of the building blocks of epic theatre. Within The Oresteia, the role of story-telling was predominantly undertaken by “The Furies”, or their counterparts “The Eumenides”. However, at times, characters narrate their own experiences, for example the young men of Mycenae, who introduce their viewpoints through the line “Welcome to the king, destroyer of Troy”. Here, the actresses said the line in the archetype they were portraying, so to demonstrate a young man, they vocally adopted deep, low voices. This was accompanied by a bold, confident tone, with very clear pronunciation, with pauses between each word, giving the impression that they are battle-hardened warriors. This was further reinforced through the synchronicity of their body movements, which included a strong, open stance, a flexing of the muscles and direct eye contact with the audience. Personally, I thought the narration was a very important aspect of the performance, as it reminded me that I was being told a story, and allowed

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me to understand what was taking place in each scene. In addition, the fact that these narrations were done in different gestus, added gravity to each point and allowed a final aspect of epic theatre to be conveyed. Emily, Pre-Sixth Teacher comment: Part of Drama GCSE exam requires the pupils to write an evaluation of a piece of Live Theatre. To be able to fulfil this task the class watched an adaptation of The Orestia performed by Splendid Theatre Company. The essay published here is focused on how the ‘style’ was communicated to the audience through the use of the actor’s physical and vocal skills. This essay is a particularly effective answer as it demonstrates a clear understanding of the ‘style’ combined with a very personal response to the performance.

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Economics While the UK is considered one of the richest economies among the developed world with an average GDP per capita of 39,720.44 USD (2017), recent government figures estimate that around 14.2 million people are currently in poverty, where 8.4 million are of working age population, 4.5 million are children and the remaining 1.4 million are pensioners. Considering the UK population, that means that 22% of the total population is in poverty and 33% of children are in poverty. While one can argue that there are different definitions and measures of poverty, these figures are alarming especially considering that they are on the increasing trend compared to previous years. Poverty is not only a problem for the individuals and/or household, it also represents an additional cost for the government. According to a recent research study by JRF, poverty costs the government £78 billion a year. Addressing the issue of poverty starts by looking at its causes and on what types of policies that need to be adopted. Poverty is defined by most international organisations, as the inability to satisfy the individual’s basic needs in life such as food, shelter and clothes. In general, poverty is measured against a predefined “poverty line”. This could take two different approaches: one is to use ‘relative measures’, where people’s recourses are put in comparison to others’, and those who are near the bottom end are considered to be in poverty compared to everyone else. Or the second approach that is used is ‘absolute measures’. This is where a fixed set of recourses is defined, perhaps a set of essentials that form the basic standards of living. Anyone who is unable to afford this basic standard is classed as in poverty, regardless of other people’s situations. Poverty can also be measured with the amount of income of one individual or a household. This also can be measured in two ways: relative low income and absolute low income. A relative low income is associated with households that receive below 60% of the median income that year. Absolute low income is associated with households that with below 60% of the median income in a base year, such as around 2010 or 2011. The former measurement focuses on the comparison between a certain household and the income of other households that year, whilst the latter focuses on whether the households near the bottom of the distribution have improved over years. A low income can also be looked by how many resources and services the household has.

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Regardless of how poverty is measured, in order to eradicate it, one has to address its causes. There are many reasons that could lead a person or a household to fall into poverty, some of the main ones can be described below: Unemployment is one of the main reasons for poverty in the UK. Despite having some of the lowest overall unemployment rates of 3.9% in 2019, this still represent a major challenge, particularly in households with children. Most children that live in poverty have unemployed parents: 73% of children in families with unemployed parents are in poverty, and since 2006, there has been a 60% rise in people moving between work and unemployment. The unemployment of parents has been shown to place a significant amount of stress on children, which leads to a second reason of poverty in the UK. Most individuals in poverty have a fairly low level of education and skills. Children with parents that are unemployed usually drop out of school earlier, and with the lack of education that they receive because of this, they are more likely to join an unstable work environment, if they even find work, which isnâ€™t definite without completing the necessary education. Therefore, without having a stable work environment, or none at all, poverty is a more likely outcome. Recent figures show that about 5 million people are lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills. A third related reason of poverty is the social condition of the household, this includes domestic violence, alcohol, use of drugs, which affect children and make them more vulnerable to falling into poverty. In some cases, the benefits system can make people fall into poverty as it could be too complex or difficult to commit to. For instance, the Universal credit system, despite its benefits, can represent a challenge for some households, especially for those with a lower level of education. The increase in prices of goods and services represent another reason for poverty. Between 2008 and 2014 living costs have increased three times more than the average income, which meant that the relative income has decreased.

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The UK government has been taking steps to end poverty in the UK. However, this is an expensive and difficult task. Some of these measures include raising the minimum wages. Despite its controversy and impact on some businesses, minimum wages increased to £3.90 per hour in 2019 in the UK. Critics argue that minimum wage laws hurt the economy more than they help it, and this argument is based on the law of supply and demand: if the minimum wage increases above the balanced wage, employers can’t afford to hire the same number of workers anymore. Therefore, unemployment increases. As a result, those who are still employed are better off because they benefit from a higher wage. However, at the same time, the increase in unemployment will put even more people at risk of poverty. The government also has social security, which includes factors such as income support, tax credits, social welfare or unemployment benefits in an attempt to reduce the amount of poverty in the UK. Like minimum wage laws, social security is also a controversial topic. For example, people who work on a low paying job full time may want to stop working and live on unemployment benefits instead. Most people agree that the government should have a ‘security net’, which provides a basic social security system to stop people from falling too far below the poverty line. Reducing unemployment is one of the government’s policies to reduce poverty, by providing vocational training, apprenticeship schemes. In 2013, over 500000 people started an apprenticeship in the UK. The unemployment policies encourage entrepreneurships, innovation and provide stronger incentives to look for work. One of the things that help reduce unemployment is to create matching skills for the available jobs. In conclusion, although the government has put in place many policies to reduce poverty, more still needs to be done. For example, education can be improved to prevent children from dropping out of school, and childcare as a whole should be a main focus for the government, particularly to eliminate child poverty. Delivering an effective benefit system, boosting systems and reducing costs of goods and services will also contribute to decreasing poverty. Moreover, the government should facilitate the businesses to create jobs to reduce unemployment. In my opinion, the most effective policy the government should use to reduce poverty is to decrease the amount of unemployment. In doing this, not only does it benefit the adult, it also has a positive effect on the children’s education and their life as a whole. Therefore, they are at a much smaller risk of falling into poverty, meaning that future generations will have a lower poverty rate.

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References: https://borgenproject.org/five-main-causes-of-poverty-in-the-uk/ https://fullfact.org/economy/poverty-uk-guide-facts-and-figures/ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/04/four-million-britishworkers-live-in-poverty-charity-says https://www.economicshelp.org/macroeconomics/inequality/causes_poverty/ https://www.buttleuk.org/news/child-poverty-in-uk-in-2019 https://www.ons.gov.uk/search?q=poverty%20levels https://www.independent.co.uk/money/can-we-solve-uk-poverty-a7393091.html https://quickonomics.com/government-policies-to-reduce-poverty/ https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/we-can-solve-poverty-uk Joyce, Year 9

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English The Forest Beneath the harsh stare of the moon, the river laughed. Its skin mocked the darkness, bathing in the pale grey light of the sky and passing uninterrupted through the shadows of the forest. Lost in the darkness, a low hanging branch punctured its surface. It watched the water flow by and caught the muddied eyes of the gnarled roots that spotted the riverbed. Interspersed with mottled blades of browning grass, the roots clawed at the river, their talons reaching for the water with a desperation that shook the trees they crept from. Residing in the hollows of their knotted trunks were layers of worm-ridden dirt , trapped in place by the cage of fog that clung to these parts of the forest. The darkness lurked behind the trees, slowly suffocating the landscape with its frost-ridden hand. It danced to the haunting melody of the silence: a disturbing harmony of dirt-smothered paths and long-forgotten secrets. The forest watched and the darkness ran, as a single strand of yellow light flickered from behind the trunks that patterned the horizon. Its golden beam stalked from an ageing bulb trapped within a lantern. A moss-covered chain of sludge cowered beneath it, as its lumbering frame curled around the slumped body of a long-abandoned lodge. With its walls worn by the weather, its figure served as a trophy of timeâ€™s careless abandonment. Cobblestone bricks clung to its base, their colour indistinguishable from the clouds that dragged themselves across the sky. Squatting around them was a rotting wooden fence that bowed in submission to the darkness that encompassed it. Its days of guarding the lodge were over; there was nothing to protect anymore. An empty window stared down at the broken fence and the moss-filled river, its gaze vacant and lost. Trapped, it watched the leaves tumble from their posts in the trees and become engulfed by the green waters at their feet. Above, a collection of nails dug their claws into the wall, straining themselves to keep a rotting wooden windowsill attached to the wall. They were a rusted orange colour, the result of the many days they had spent hanging in the rain. They too watched the leaves fall, and prayed the windowsill they so tirelessly lifted would not meet the same fate. The beam of light from the lantern blinked. Holding their breath, the trees turned to look. The eyes of the lone window scrambled to see. The mossy waters ceased their grumbling as they turned to the lantern. It flickered.

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With its final stutter of life, the single ray of light passed its eyes over the lodge and gazed up at the moon. It smiled one last time, before surrendering its light to the muted glow of the sky. The same darkness that had shrouded the forest crawled up the cobblestone base that lined the house, and covered the rotting wooden fence that slumped around it. It climbed its way up to the lone window and blocked the glow of the moon. Catching the darknessâ€™s wicked smile, the lodge knew its days in the light were over. The night had come to stay. Alice, Year 10 Teacher comment: Aliceâ€™s descriptive writing includes highly imaginative figurative language use. She exhibits flair with creative language and she varies sentence structure to achieve a variety of powerful effects.

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Sophie – Year 7 – A Christmas Carol Analysis Dickens presents Christmas spirit in a Christmas Carol through Fred’s desire to give to others and show that Christmas is a joyful time of year. Dickens does this through the use of asyndeton ‘kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time’ which shows Fred’s endless love for the season and his recognition that its true meaning is being lost by some characters such as Scrooge. A semantic field of happiness is used to emphasise the fact that Christmas is a religious celebration of exciting new beginnings as Christ came into the world. This could possibly foreshadow Scrooge’s change and shows Fred’s thorough understanding of his Uncle. In contrast, the repetition of the verb ‘keep’ in ‘keep Christmas in your own way and I’ll keep it in mine’ tells us how Scrooge wants to isolate himself from society, with his strong, cold and heartless opinions which reflect the causes of the class divide at the time. Unlike Fred, this makes us feel anxious and cautious towards Scrooge, as he does not like Christmas spirit. This quotation also shows that Scrooge is unwilling to be changed and unwilling to celebrate with others. The pronoun ‘mine’ shows that Scrooge thinks everyone else is silly to celebrate Christmas and therefore he prides himself on being more important and sane. Finally, we see that Dickens has managed to show that Fred is the foil to Scrooge as he accepts the idea of Christmas spirit. Teacher comment: Students have been reading a Christmas Carol this term in preparation for their end of year exams. Sophie was tasked to analyse the relationship between Scrooge and Fred. She has effectively demonstrated how linguistic devices shape the presentation of a character.

Phoebe Year 8 – Writing in the style of travel journalism Hull: maybe not England’s pride and joy – but a pleasant and cheerful city packed with a rich history nonetheless. Before visiting the Freedom Festival, my initial impression of this city was that it was muddy, disgusting and full of pickpockets – so it didn’t seem very appealing at all. Considering that I didn’t go often, I decided to give the City of Culture 2017 another chance to ‘wow’ me. The feeling you get at the Freedom Festival is indescribable: a once muddy and neglected city has been transformed into a cultural wonderland with brilliant lights and cheers from the visitors. One of the many things that you must see at ‘Freedom Fest’ is the parade. This year, the highlight was the infinite incline of massive, crimson giraffes swaying precariously in the wind. Lights danced like tiny fireflies at a disco – fireworks shrieked thousands of metres into the air: their screams becoming illuminous flashes of colour leaving the bitter sweet aroma of smoke and flames in their wake. One thing I would advise is that the festival gets very loud, so if you have sensitive ears – I would recommend bringing earmuffs to dampen 26

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the noise. (I didn’t have them, and the monstrous roar of the festival was swilling around my head for days afterwards). Hull has changed: it is no longer the stain on a map of Britain, but a cultural heart – beating and celebrating its diverse and fascinating history. This festival is a once in a lifetime experience and not something you can miss. Even from abroad, you can approach the city via air, rail and sea. My view of Hull has changed fro the better, and it is all thanks to this beautiful, historic and joyous celebration. I will never forget my experience here – visit Hull’s Freedom Festival for the chance to make memories that will truly last you a lifetime. Teacher comment: Students were tasked to write a piece of travel journalism based on a recent visit to Hull’s Freedom Festival in order to promote the area and attract a greater number of tourists from further afield. Phoebe has carefully crafted a piece which uses a range of advanced punctuation, higher level vocabulary and figurative language for effect.

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I wake up and you’re not there The empty bed feels like an ocean Stretching out, distant But you’re not there You will never be there Absence, vacant, omission Beyond my reach Yet entrapped within my heart Just somewhere away from me Away from the smell of coffee when you wake up Away from the gathering pile of 107 unanswered emails Away from Friday night’s fish and chips. Away from it all Empty Everything just feels so empty Unfinished Unstarted Like the darkness has swallowed everything up and I’m all that’s left Paths I’ve stumbled down before I feel so new Daily chores feel like unchartered territory Everything feels so different Yet everything feels so different Yet everything is the same Except, You’re not there. Abigial, Year 9 Teacher comment: In order to recognise National Poetry Day, students from all years entered a poetry competition where they were tasked to write a poem based on the theme of ‘New Beginnings’. Abigail Huxley-Binns blew away the judges with this astounding entry which had to be awarded first place. Congratulations Abi!

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Ode to Hull Collegiate Floating is a sea of fields, Victorian eyes gaze down, unchanged On a beach of light, Clouds of topiary. Bushes stand guard, Trees like soliders, Lamp-posts showering light, Azure, navy coating the sky. Face untouched by shadows, Walls untouched by time, A tower watches, Smiling. Katy, Year 10 Teacher comment: Katy wrote the following poem as a 20 minute exercise in the Creative Writing club. She used a photo of the schoolâ€™s exterior as a stimulus. Given the constraints of time, the imaginative flourishes are outstanding.

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Reception

Reception in the summer term used a variety of media to create their own lift the flap book inspired by Rod Campbell’s ‘Dear Zoo’. Their books were titled Dear Farm. Some of the children chose to watercolour their illustrations, others made models and photographed them some used the interactive board to draw their illustrations on the computer. The children were allowed to develop their creativity by making their own books, choosing the size of the pages. One boy even chose to have white text on a blue background and wrote with a white pencil crayon. Some children chose to punch holes and then sew the book together to bind it.

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In Year 1 during the Autumn Term, children have been learning to control their handwriting, to form proportionate letters, whilst also applying their understanding of capital letters and full stops as the foundation of sentence formation. The children use the collaborative Mighty Writer, as seen in the picture above, to develop sentences together as a class and discuss changes that can be made to help improve their writing. The result can then be seen in the wonderful sentences below the picture, by a boy in Year 1.

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In Year 2, children had been learning about The Great Fire of London and following weeks of historical investigation during Humanities lessons, they then learnt about the features of Newspaper Reports, and applied their understanding of this historical event, by reporting about it as a journalist from the time it happened.

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In Year 3, the children have been using the text The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark as a stimulus for their writing. From this, they have looked at the repetitive writing patterns within the Chapters of the book, and then created their own chapter, with a slight twist to the original. However, you can see that the children have then applied the similar writing features that can be found in the original.

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In Year 4, the children have been learning a mystery writing, and the difďŹ cult art of creating suspense. Having used model texts to study writing features that are found in this type of genre. As you can see, this piece demonstrates wonderful imagery and phrases that add much to the drama, and the author is careful to not reveal too much information to the reader, therefore adding suspense and intrigue.

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The Case of Mr Linden’s Library It was a warm day and a young girl wandered up to Mr Linden’s library. Her violet dress, which was covered in beautiful designs, was flowing in the welcoming breeze. Excitedly, the girl pushed open the grand wooden doors. She loved the library. Gleaming chandeliers hung above her head. The walls were lined with books that towered up like mountains. The girl ran around the large library wondering what to read next. She noticed an old, battered book lying on the polished floor, a thick layer of dust covered the open page. How long had it been there? She knew she shouldn’t take the book, but curiosity go the best of her… “Are you taking that book?” Mr Linden suddenly asked as she picked up the dusty book. “Yes. Why?” the girl replied, now slightly nervous. “It appeared in my library two weeks ago. I don’t know where it came from. I wouldn’t take it if I were you.” Said Mr Linden. Even though Mr Linden warned her not to take it, she took it. As the girl walked home, a strange eerie mist prowled along and then it started to rain. The rain was bitter and merciless, hammering down on the street. When the girl arrived back home, all she wanted to do was to read the book. She sat down in her room wondering what it was about. It became dark, the girl lit the candle and read, turning each page, reading every single word. Soon she fell asleep, the book overflowed with not words but something much worse. The candle flickered and that was the last light she saw…lightning struck. Gnarled vine flew out of the book, slithered up her like snakes. The raging wind howled outside, drowning her cries for help, but what was the point? No one could hear her. The vines twisted and curved, making her room look like a jungle. If I didn’t take that book, if I listened to Mr Linden…That was the last piece of life she ever had. She was never seen again. The book was never seen again. She was missing ever since that fateful day on Friday 13th 1899. Until…that very same book was found in a house, 200 years later… Was this the end?

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Year 5 In year 5, children studied the requirements for a mysterious plot, that builds and builds throughout, with the eventual outcome of the mystery being revealed at the very end. This requires an understanding of leaving snippets of uncertainty for the reader, a very difficult task, whilst also mirroring atmospheric changes through descriptions of the weather. The resulting piece is triumphant example of how these elements, when put together, create a gripping narrative piece.

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Geography Pupils were asked to complete a set of ‘Top Trump’ style cards to show the relative social and economic development levels of a wide range of countries. The CIA Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook offers up-to-date data on 196 countries across a wide range of criteria. Toby produced a superb set of 16 cards with a wealth of information relating to his chosen countries. These were then used in class to play a game, and then pupils were asked to categorise the countries into More Developed, Least Developed and Developing countries. This then allowed a useful discussion about the most appropriate method of defining and measuring ‘development’.

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Toby, Year 9

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Sir David Attenborough has called for the world to cut back on its use of plastic in order to protect oceans. In his BBC TV series, Blue Planet 2, he demonstrated the damage the material is causing to marine life. Plastics are used widely in the food industry, from packaging products to providing a means to carry your shopping home. Discuss and evaluate the impact plastics are having on the environment and how the food industry could go about reducing their use. Since companies started using plastic packaging in the 1950s the amount of plastic debris has been constantly growing and people predict by 2020 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. As the population grows so does the amount of plastic in the oceans. In one week, from just bottles of water alone, the USA produces enough discarded bottles to circle the planet five times, and this is just from one country! Plastic has a huge impact on marine life, out of all the dolphins that have ended up stranded on the beaches, 70 percent of them have thought to have died because of plastic digestion. The animals affected the worst are cetaceans (whales and dolphins). This problem stood out last year when a sperm whale was washed up on the Mediterranean coast and people thought the whale had consumed 26 plastic items which altogether weighed 81kg and covered and area of 29.9 m2. Of course, cetaceans aren’t the only animals being affected by this, there are now thought to be 633 marine life species affected by the plastic pollution. Another problem is microplastics. These tiny particles of plastic are found in the most unknown objects like baby wipes and glitter. Microplastic is extremely deadly because if one animal digests it than it continues along the marine food chain and sometimes the fish we eat can sometimes contain toxins! Plastic pollution is the collection of plastic objects in the Earth's environment that badly affect wildlife, wildlife habitats, and humans. Plastic doesn’t just damage the animals though, it also damages the environment because it causes land water and air pollution, the reason for this is because it can take hundreds or thousands of years to break down, which is way more than an average person’s lifespan. Regular rubbish is one of the biggest contributions to all the problems with plastic and pollution – even things like milk and orange juice cartons contain a plastic lining. Plastic pollution is also affecting groundwater because the plastic in litter and in dumps is managing to seep in to the groundwater which is water people drink every day. Also, wind carries plastic litter around our environment and many plastic bottles are getting entangled in wildlife plants, fences and many other structures, this is dangerous because then animals are in danger of being strangled, tangled or ending up consuming the plastic and dying.

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So, what is being done to ensure this problem doesn’t get worse? It is virtually impossible to avoid plastic completely, but it is possible to cut down on plastic use as much as possible. The government finally began to realize how bad this problem was about 4 years ago when they found out that some people had roughly 50 plastic, single use carrier bags, they knew then that it was time to take action and so they decided that on the 5th of October 2015 they would start charging 5p per carrier bag, since then people have been buying canvas shopping bags and spending 10p on the more sturdy plastic bags for life, which you only need to replace every 3 – 6 months. Since then the UK have massively cut down on the use of plastic. Supermarkets are also trying to do their part by using as much widely recycled plastic as possible. So far Morrisons are doing best with their packaging being 81% recyclable, then Asda at 79%, followed by M&S with 78%, then Tesco at 77%, Aldi at 76%, Sainsbury’s at 75% and doing worst is Lidl with just 71% of their packaging being recyclable, which means almost 1/5 isn’t! Waitrose are really doing their part though! They have thought of a simple idea that will really reduce how much plastic they use. Customers will be able to use their own containers to buy and refill produce such as pasta, rice and cereals. The supermarket chain, part of John Lewis & Partners, also says it will be the first to offer "pick and mix" frozen fruit. This is still only a trial at the moment (it is only taking place in an Oxford store for now), but Waitrose claim that “hundreds of products have been taken out of their non - recyclable plastic packaging and there will be double the usual amount of fruit and vegetables, but package free.” They are persuading people to buy the package free items by making them 15% cheaper than the other food in plastic packaging. Someone who works at the Waitrose store says that “This test has huge potential to shape how people might shop in Waitrose in the future and will be fascinating which concepts our customers have an appetite for,” and an ocean plastics campaigner said, “The top 10 UK supermarkets produce 810,000 tonnes of throwaway plastic each year, so we need to see other major retailors taking plastic reduction seriously and following Waitrose’s lead.” Another thing Waitrose are doing to help save the environment is not only charging 5p for single use bags but getting rid of them altogether. In recent years Britain have been doing a lot more to reduce the amount of plastic infecting wildlife, but still some companies aren’t doing as much as they could (like Walkers producing 7,000 non - recyclable crisp packets every year) and there are still some inconsiderate people littering, but if everybody did their part we could all save the planet from plastic pollution! Imogen, Year 8 Teacher comment: This piece of work is a sensitive insight into the plight of our planet from plastic contamination and is a powerful message to us about the consequences of our actions. Imogen's ability to select relevant information and back this up with statistical evidence stood her apart from other pieces of work and made it 'outstanding. 41

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Extended Project Research In the Trinity term Pupils in Key Stage 3 are expected to research and write an essay on a chosen topic. They meet with a mentor to discuss progress and ultimately present the project to their mentor and a group of peers. It is assessed against specific criteria for research, written fluency and presentation skills. Plastic Pollution Introduction Plastic pollution is a rising problem, that we need to face. For years we have used single-use plastic not thinking or caring where it ends up after we are finished with it, whether that be a land fill, or the ocean. Only now are we seeing the effects of our poor decisions and the terrible result they are having on the world. Plastic is unavoidable in today’s society whether that be the plastic packaging containing your morning groceries, to the plastic wrapper of a Mars bar you ate for desert, single use plastic is rooted in our society and it must be stopped as its side effects are killing thousands of marine animals. What are we doing to our planet? Each year approximately 12 million tons of plastic are dumped in the ocean killing animals and destroying habitats. I know that is just a number but try and picture that in your minds; how much plastic are we are shoving into the ocean without so much as a second glance. Since creation we have produced around 7000 million tons of plastic. How much of that has ended up in our oceans killing animals? Our decisions aren’t without consequences, like so many people seem to believe; every action has a reaction and this is no exception. We are decimating these defenceless animals’ homes and killing them in the process. They don’t get a second chance at life. That’s it and we are ending their lives for them without a care. Effectively it is murder and that is not okay. It is estimated that around 100 million marine animals die year from plastic pollution. Industrial change Around half the plastic in ocean is fishing nets, which proves that this isn’t just about us. Making changes like no longer using plastic bottles, bags and straws unfortunately isn’t going to save the ocean, although these are changes you should definitely make. We need to not just make that changes ourselves, even though we should, we need businesses, brands, companies and more to get on board with this change to use less single-use plastic and more eco-friendly materials. This is their planet too and we all need to make a change, small or large, to help out earth. Companies are no exception and there are many ways we can effectively and easy cut down out single-use plastic use. This is a global change, and NO ONE is allowed 42

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to not take part. This is a group change to save us from becoming extinct and save our dying planet. Spreading awareness Many people were brought to light of our dire situation after Planet Blue 2 and its amazing ability to show animals in their natural habitat. People saw the reality of their decisions of using plastic. People found out that they were killing animals and not even knowing. It was a global wake up call to the people of earth telling us that we need to make a change now because it is the only way we can save our planet. It was also a demonstration of the power of social media and spreading a powerful message with no more than a TV show. Your phone has the power to change the world and some people still don’t realise they powerful impact they are having on our earth by using plastic. We need to spread the message and awareness of our situation, that’s why I encourage you to use social media to reach out to friends and family telling them about plastic pollution. Whether it is a private message or a post on Instagram of those heart-warming videos of our oceans covered in plastic and people picking it up, raise awareness. Your actions can be big or small, but if everyone gets involved a global change can form. Changes we can make Everybody is getting involved in making more eco-friendly choices like: switching to reusable bottles, buying reusable bags for shopping, changing to pots in their lunch boxes instead of cling film. Business got in on it too using paper straws instead and creating reward schemes around reusable products. Such as Starbucks doing a discount for bringing your own reusable cup instead of getting a paper one. It can seem futile making these changes to your life and seeming to be alone in it, but I promise all over the world people are making the conscious decision to use less plastic and save our earth. But how can we use less plastic in our lives? There are the basic ones like: cutting out the use of straws, bottles, bags and other such items and replacing them with multi- use ones but we aren’t the only ones who need to make changes. Businesses need to too. Here are some ideas that I have. 1: My stepdad still uses single use bottles because he likes sparkling water and the only way is to buy it in a plastic bottle in store that will be disposed of in our environment. This made me realise that although purchasing reusable bottles and filling them up with water will help, fizzy drinks are still being served in plastic bottles. This sounds off topic, but have you ever been to pizza hut and seen their fizzy drinks dispenser. It gives you glasses and then you can pick the drink of your choice. It is a simple and effective way to serve fizzy drinks that won’t use plastic in anyway and can be done over and over again. 43

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What if we introduced these into stores, and have a different one for each brand of drink? Then you can have reusable bottles for sale to accompany these drinks so you can take it away; what would be even better is if you could bring your own drink bottle from home to fill up in store and according to how many ml you got of your beverage. This way you can have as much or as little as you want and only pay for what you have taken, also it will reduce the demand for plastic bottles and enforce the use of reusable bottles into our routines. 2: Plastic in candy wrappers are often not recyclable, but they are everywhere and used very frequently. I think to save plastic packaging we should introduce a sweet station in supermarkets, much like the pick and mix station at a cinema. So you have all the different types of chocolate and candy in containers and you can pick out how much or many you would like, put that in your container and pay like normal. You can bring in your own container to put in your chocolate/candy or buy a reusable container in store. Also, according to how many bars of chocolate you buy or the weight of you candy in total you will pay more or less. We reduce the amount if plastic packaging from chocolate bars and you are able to perfectly control the amount of food you want to purchase and only pay for that rather than paying more for candy you wonâ€™t eat which sometimes happens with the set amount of candy sold in stores today. 3: Crisp packets are dangerous to our environment, but unavoidable in our society. This one is very similar to the last two according to the same structure of you chose what you want, how much you get and them pay for only what you got, no more no less. It is like a pick and mix station for crisp with different flavours and of course, you bring a reusable container to put it in, but there are also ones available for purchase in store. This time it is with crisps because they are mainly made of nonrecyclable plastic that ends up in our oceans and kills animal and wildlife. 4: Fruit and vegetables are often bought in non-recyclable plastic and my mum noticed this while unpackaging the weekly groceries and realised how much plastic she was throwing away and so much of it was not being recycled. She realised it was a problem and wants it to change. So, stores could offer fruit unpackaged and you could bring your own container to put it in. You may have noticed this is already something stores do, however they only offer plastic bags to put it in. Instead they could offer pots to buy preferably bring in your own pots from home to put it in. It will reduce plastic waste and you can use your own pots from home so it will same time when unpacking. Once again depending on your weight you will be charged accordingly. 5: You may not know, but coloured plastic is a lot harder to recycle than clear plastic. You would think that companies wouldnâ€™t use coloured plastic then because it is 44

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harder to recycle, but no. Companies think that colours in packaging would make the product stand out more and appeal to the customer, however, is it really worth it at the price of our planet? One of the largest examples of this is meat. They use black plastic instead of clear packaging because it hides the blood. Now I now blood isn’t nice to look at, but everyone who eats meat should know that there is blood in it. Because companies are so desperate to make a sale, they will throw aside our planet’s well-being. I don’t like blood, but how is it fair to our planet to use black plastic just to hide something we know is there. If we brought in our own containers from home to put in the blood, sure it wouldn’t look as nice, but meat isn’t going to go to a fashion show, it is being eaten and I am sure a little visible blood is a price worth to pay at making a better planet. We cannot use coloured plastic anymore Circular economy You might wonder what a circular economy is? A circular economy is an economy designed around reusing things constantly in a circle of life kind of way. It based around designing, manufacturing, using, and recycling products in a constant circle so that little new materials are used, but instead we reuse materials we already have. Things like glass would fit perfectly into a circular economy due to it being easily recycled so it could be designed and manufactured as a cola bottle then thrown away are recycled into a window with lots of other glass. We can also introduce behavioural changes towards using plastic. An example of that is when the government introduced the 5p bag charge at high-street stores. People complained and moaned about how they didn’t want to pay it, but it drastically reduced the amount of plastic bag litter. By using behavioural changes like making single use plastic more, expensive if stores will not change t some of the methods I have listed, then it will encourage people to use reusable plastic and introduce a more circular economy. Conclusion In conclusion, we have plenty of ways to reduce single use-plastic, but we just need people to get on board with the action and get a global and industrial change happening because if everyone makes a change whether it is big or small, it can change the world. If companies and businesses get on board too to help save our planet and get creative with ways to reduce plastic-packaging we can stop killing marine wildlife and by just bringing in your own container from home to get some if your groceries it can help reduce the amount of plastic we can creating and putting on our ocean. If we can introduce a circular economy and design products to be recycled, we can change the world. It all starts with one action, why don’t to make it? Abigail, Year 9 45

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Psychology: • Read about the work of Bandura and his famous ‘Bobo doll’ experiment. • Can you find any real-life examples? • What can we learn from this research about allowing children access to social media? Behaviour – is it Nurture or Nature? The famous Bobo doll experiment is still a very significant experiment today. It was the study into aggression and there are many real-life examples of the work and what was discovered. Robert Bandura was the man behind the Bobo experiment, which was completed at Stanford University in 1961, where Bandura was a professor. Bandura wanted to observe if social behaviours of children could be learnt through the process of imitation and observation of adults. The contributors of this experiment were a total of 72 children – 36 girls and 36 boys, from the age of 3 to 6. They all were pre-schoolers who attended the Stanford University Nursery. The children were then separated into 3 groups of 24. Group 1 observed aggressive adult behaviour models; group 2 observed non - aggressive behaviour models; and group 3 was not exposed to any behaviour models. The three groups of 24 were then separated into 2 subgroups, in which half of the subgroups would observe a same-sex behaviour model, and half would observe an opposite-sex behaviour model. For example, a male model would be shown to a group of 6 boys and 6 girls and a female model would be shown to a group of 6 girls and 6 boys. The first part of the study commenced with the experimenter inviting an adult model and each child individually, into the playroom. In one corner, the child was seated with lots of activities that were appealing to a them, like stickers and stamps. In the other corner though, the adult was seated and had a selection of different items, containing a mallet, a toy set and a Bobo doll. The Bobo doll was the ‘main attraction’ of the study. The Bobo doll was a toy, which was often painted to look like a clown and was bottom-weighted, so it would return to an upright position when knocked over. During the aggressive model scenario – the first part of the study, for approximately 1 minute, the adult would begin to play with the toys. Once the minute had ended, the adult started to show aggression towards the Bobo doll. The aggressive model laid the Bobo on its side, sat on it, punched it repeatedly in the nose and then raised the Bobo doll, picked up the mallet, and struck the doll in the head. As well as physical abuse, the model verbally assaulted the Bobo doll by shouting aggressive phrases towards it, such as "Sock him", "Hit him down", "Kick him", "Throw him in the air", or "Pow". Two non-aggressive phrases were also added - “He sure is a tough fella" and 46

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"He keeps coming back for more." This sequence of aggression (verbal and physical) was repeated three times in total, for 10 minutes. After the designated time, the experimenter came back into the room and took the child into another playroom. During the non-aggressive scenario, the adult simply played with the other toys for the entire 10-minute period and the Bobo doll was completely ignored. The remaining 24 children weren’t exposed to a model, making them the control group. The second phase of the experiment, the aggression arousal technique, was used for all of the 72 children. One by one, each of the children, were taken to a room, after the ten minutes was up. The room was full of appealing toys like a doll set, a fire engine, and a toy airplane which the child immediately played with for about a minute. They were then told that they weren’t allowed to play with the toys anymore and that the toys were now out of bounds. This was the same for all of the 72 children. The purpose of this was to build up and increase the frustration levels among the young children. The last stage of the experiment is often referred to as the delayed imitation test. The child was taken to the last experimental room. They could access different kinds of toys – aggressive and non – aggressive. The aggressive toys consisted of dart guns, a mallet and the Bobo doll, and the non – aggressive toys consisted of bears, plastic animals, crayons and a tea set. Each child was left in the room for 20 minutes, where their behaviour was observed at 5 second intervals and the child’s level of aggression was judged, from a one – way mirror. Before the experiment began, Bandura made four predictions. These were: 1) The children who watched an adult acting aggressively would be likely to act aggressively even when the adult wasn’t present. 2) The children who observed the non – aggressive adult, would be less aggressive than the children who observed the adult acting aggressively towards the doll and also less aggressive than the control group. 3) It was more likely that children were to imitate the same sex models rather than the opposite sex. 4)

Boys were ultimately going to behave more aggressively than girls.

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The results of the experiment supported all four of the predictions: 1) The children who watched an adult acting aggressively tended to imitate the exact behaviour of the adult, even when the adult wasn’t present. 2) The children who observed the non – aggressive adult, did show less aggression than the control group, however, the boys who had observed a female non – aggressive model, were more likely to show signs of aggression, than those in the control group. 3) The boys were more influenced after observing aggressive males, rather than those who observed the aggressive females. This was also the same for the girls, showing us that the children were more influenced by the same sex models. 4) Boys did ultimately behave more aggressively than girls, engaging in twice as many aggressive actions than the girls. Bandura came to the conclusion, after the experiment had taken place, that aggression is a behaviour that is learnt, rather than it being natural. This means that we aren’t born ‘aggressive’ or ‘violent’, we learn that sort of behaviour from others, mostly from our parents. One real life example that can be linked back to Bandura’s experiment is swearing. Nowadays lots of people swear and use very inappropriate language. Swearing and the use of offensive words is actually classed as a form of aggression. In order to have this knowledge of words, people must hear them from others they are around, as no one is born with the awareness of offensive language. When children swear, the people who are responsible for this behaviour, are the parents. This is because the child would have only gotten the horrific language from their parents, as they’ve heard their mum or dad using the bad words. The child would have seen their parents acting aggressively, by swearing, and then copied them, so the reason why children, or anyone swears, is because they first learned the words from their parents or someone they look up to and are always around them. Bandura’s stated that ‘aggression is a behaviour that isn’t natural, it is learnt’ and it supports the example of swearing and also lack of respect towards other people, as it tells us that the only reason why people swear and have no respect, is because they copy it from someone else, whether it is a child from their parents, or another adult copying another adult. Bullying can also be linked with Robert Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment and theories. No one wants to be bullied, not even the people who bully others. Bullies don’t necessarily get their bad behaviour from anyone else, they get it from themselves, as no one makes them be unkind – it’s their choice. This behaviour almost is from within and they adopt the bad behaviour from themselves from them not wanting to be bullied. Although, the social learning theory, by Bandura, states that social behaviour is acquired by observing and imitating others which isn’t always the case with bullying, it does say that when a particular behaviour is rewarded regularly, 48

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it will most likely continue and equally, if a particular behaviour is constantly punished, it will most likely discontinue. This theory is the same for bullying and the whole reason why bullying continues today. If someone persistently got into trouble and had negative consequences for bullying someone, eventually, they would stop. However, bullying still endures in some schools, longer than wanted, as no one takes action and the bully doesn’t get punished, therefore the behaviour just carries on. Social media and its effect on children today definitely link back to the Bandura Bobo doll experiment. Children are naturally inquisitive and at certain ages are very prone to being influenced by what they see, hear and feel. This is not only for children, as some people tend to be easily influenced during all of their lives, and as a youngster and as an adult, some people will take advantage of this and therefore some individuals are more vulnerable than others. Some people like to post controversial images or opinions on social media, for a reaction. Even if the post is controversial in a negative way, because they are an influencer, there’ll be people who will just agree with the individual as they look up to them, even if what they’ve posted on social media is unnecessary and offensive or cruel etc.... What Robert said with regards to ‘behaviour is learnt from observation and imitation,’ is correct in this situation. Someone seeing an awful post on social media will influence them to maybe post something similar or to act badly in real life, thinking that this behaviour is ok and normal, just because they’ve seen it on social media from another person. A few years ago, Molly Russel, a young 14-year-old committed suicide due to Instagram. She came across some pictures on Instagram which were encouraging people to end their life. When her family looked into her Instagram account, they found distressing material about depression and suicide. She obviously saw these posts and believed that her life wasn’t worth living. This is an awful subject for somebody to post about – encouraging people and acting like committing suicide and self-harm is fine. This links back to Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment as individuals will see these posts and by observation and imitation, they’ll start to believe that these posts and opinions are real and the right thing to do, leading to devastating consequences. Like nearly all experiments, the Bobo doll study has a few criticisms. Some people propose that the results that were observed in this type of location may not actually indicate what actually happens in the real world, because the study was completed in a lab.

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People propose that the experiment may be bias. All the children picked to participate in the experiment were all from the same racial and socioeconomic background, so there really should have been some differences in the children as it makes it difficult to generalize the findings to a larger, more diverse population, if children who shared the same background were only experimented on. No one actually knows what the long-term impact might have been from these children as the results were gathered immediately. Some people have suggested that the children may have only been trying to please the adults, instead of actually being driven to display aggression when they hit the Bobo doll. Also acting violently toward a doll is a lot different than displaying aggression or violence against another human being in a real-world. Maisie, Year 9 Websites used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment https://explorable.com/bobo-doll-experiment https://www.verywellmind.com/bobo-doll-experiment-2794993 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_learning_theory https://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html https://www.psychologistworld.com/behavior/bobo-doll-experiment-albertbandura-learning-aggression https://www.britannica.com/event/Bobo-doll-experiment https://explorable.com/bobo-doll-experiment https://w w w.psychestudy.com/behavioral/lear ning-memor y/bobo - dollexperiment Maisie, Year 9

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HMV Goes Into Administration… Again. HMV is a UK (based) company which specialises in selling music and film. It was first opened on Oxford Street, London by ‘The Gramophone Company’ in the year 1921, 97 years ago. Some television and radio sets used the HMV logo for a short while after the year 1930, but this, as I just said, was not the company’s focus. The famous HMV ‘logo’ was actually a painting by Francis Barraud, of the dog Nipper listening to a cylinder phonograph, which was a product the company had sold as one of their first. However, for advertising purposes, it was later changed to a wind up gramophone, as you see today. Up until December 2012, HMV had owned a few large UK based companies, such as Waterstones and Fopp (a store a bit like HMV) – suggesting it was doing well before it went into administration for the first time on the 15th Jan. 2013. Initially, a company called Deloitte (specialising in law, finances and legal work) were appointed to deal with this issue, but despite this the day after (16th Jan. 2013) HMV Ireland declared receivership, and all Irish stores were closed. This suggests that the smaller parts of the company were already struggling, therefore I’d say the company was beginning to start to falter around this time. Despite the sudden changes in Ireland, the main company did not seem to suffer as badly as a whole. On 22nd Jan. 2013 a company called Hilco UK (effectively a company which “saves” failing businesses) was announced would pay the debt of HMV – this was very good news for the company [HMV]. The fact it was “saved” so early on suggests it was not actually a struggling business at the time – it still had potential to make money and people saw that. While in the process HMV’s Singapore and Hong Kong sections were closed in the process, this did seem to be the end of HMV’s initial struggles. The next set of problems which HMV faced was when, on 28th Dec. 2018 (six years after the first struggles, HMV announced administration once more. It was, a couple of months later however, bought up by another company: Sunrise Records. They are a Canadian record store chain, founded in 1977. Previously in 2017 HMV Canada (a subsidiary of HMV sold to the company Hilco UK in 2017) had gone into administration after being sued by another Hilco – owned company. This does suggest it was not to do with the music or film market, but, more simply, because it was sued (however, according to a report by Nielsen (a global data analysis company) in early 2015, “The number of Canadians who report streaming music in the past year has grown to 71%” (since mid – 2014), suggesting traditional (physical) record stores like HMV are not being used as much as they previously were). Sunrise records, to return to our previous point, have bought the leases for and re- opened 70 of HMV Canada’s previous properties in Canada, and plan to use so - called “growth strategies” which they have already used in some of their other operations.

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In my opinion, there are a wide variety of reasons as to why HMV stores (or any other similar retailers, to be fair) have had struggles over the past few years making a good profit. One of the most obvious ones would be, in my opinion, the increasing presence of internet shopping/stores in our lives, and how people find it can be much easier than physically leaving their homes. Online shoppers find it much cheaper to not use fuel driving to a store and are also not limited as to the times at which they may access traditional stores (online stores are usually open 24/7). Also, internet shopping gives people far more choice as to what they can buy, and because online shoppers are not limited in any way by their fuel tank, they need not worry about having to spend their money travelling store – to – store, and are able to “shop around”. While online shopping does play a big factor in the supposed reduction of stores on high streets, there are other reasons. For example, you may have heard about the department store Debenhams having gone into pre - pack administration (where a company’s assets are sold before it goes into administration) and how it is going to close 22 stores after December 2019. The closure in stores around the country affects the value of the high street to modern day shoppers – less stores equals less choice for the shoppers, therefore reducing the practicality of shoppers “going out” shopping (as well as the “modern novelty” people describe of going shopping for non – routine products such as clothes) – a very much vicious circle. The actual, physical high street is defined as a street, not an area containing shops (to quote the Oxford dictionary “The main street of a town, especially as the traditional site for most shops, banks, and other businesses”, and I’d say many high streets are struggling because shopping centres such as Meadowhall are filling the aforementioned gaps in our high streets. Also, because shopping centres themselves rely on shoppers visiting there (so that the shops have an incentive to stay and keep paying rent), they don’t mind reducing the rent a little, especially when the rent is already very high (e.g. in places like Meadowhall or into Trafford Centre). In many smaller high streets, the people who let properties simply cannot afford to reduce rent, so stores end up having to leave the high streets. Debenhams announced earlier this year that all but 39 of its stores were having their rent reduced. One thing we must finally mention, of course, is the geographical limits of high streets, especially around cars, roads and parking. High streets, because they are streets can sometimes struggle with parking, and the mix of residents and shoppers can cause problems. Unlike shopping centres, with purpose - built car parks and no residents living nearby, not everyone in a street is a shopper: there are commuters, travellers, workers, delivery vehicles and many more types of people using the roads and pavements, so it’s not so easy to make high streets that comfortable or safe. This problem also worsens because of the fact that cars are increasing in size over time, therefore councils are forced to constantly adapt. And that’s another problem: high streets are not often owned by one group or company like a shopping centre, 52

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so many properties are never re – purposed because the owner would not earn that much from doing so. In my opinion, in the future, high streets are going to become far more leisure orientated in the way that shopping centres are. There will be a greater demand for experienced town planners to collaborate to make high streets more comfortable, and with the increase of office jobs will become places for workers to relax and enjoy their lunch breaks, or after work gatherings, ect. . Just like the way many city stores have done so (e.g. some Nisa stores), shops will have staff working night shifts to keep the high street from becoming “empty” or “lonely” at night, and to stop stores losing out of earning later in the day. Finally, I think people will continue to use small stores for food on the go, especially when they are nearby the store or in a location where delivery would be simply impractical, but larger “weekly shops” will be ordered online, and essentials will possibly be delivered automatically for ease. Clothing stores will remain for a while, because people like to “try things on”, but probably will be in shopping centres most of the time. So, to conclude, I think that high streets in future will remain essential to our everyday lives but will need to adapt to peoples changing needs. I don’t think they will always be perfect, but sometimes a few shops on your street is sometimes better than fiftyone ten miles away. What do think will happen to our high streets in future? Charles, Year 9

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What do you consider to be the most significant historic event of the 20th century? You will need to: • Explain what led up to that event- it's causes • Explain the impact of the event- it's consequences • Justify why you have chosen this as the most significant In February of 1918, women over the age of thirty that were married were finally allowed to vote. This followed the women's suffrage movement of the late 19th century and early 20th century. This event is particularly significant because it led to the developing future of women's rights. This essay is split into three sections; what led up to the event, what happened after the votes were legalised and why this event is so significant to women's lives today. Before the official bill was passed, years of hard work and effort were put in by groups of women. There were two main types of women's campaign groups; suffragists and suffragettes. Suffragists believed in achieving votes through law abiding, peaceful actions like lobbying. Suffragettes adopted the motto 'deeds not words' in 1905 and believed that physical actions would get them noticed. In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst formed the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). The WSPU was part of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), which united seventeen other suffrage groups. It was lead by Millicent Fawcett, who was a suffragist. Fawcett organised big events like the 'mud walk' that took place in February of 1907. Over three thousand women and forty suffragist societies marched from Hyde Park to Exeter Hall in the rain. Later in 1907, the 'Dickson Bill' was introduced to parliament for a second time. The 'Dickson Bill' was a women's enfranchisement bill. However, the Bill was talked out, which lead to the WSPU attempting to storm parliament. Seventy-five suffragettes were arrested that day. The year of 1907 was not all a failure though. In August the Qualification of Women Act was passed. This was an act, which allowed women to become mayors or become members of their county councils. This was one step further but wasn't good enough for the suffragists and suffragettes. In autumn, 1907 one in five suffragettes left the WSPU to join the newly founded Women's Freedom League, which would later be led by Nina Boyle in 1912. This group was formed because lots of women didn't agree with the decisions being made by Christabel Pankhurst, who was Emmeline Pankhurst's daughter. Christabel was a co-founder to the WSPU and cancelled the annual conference and decided that any decision would now be taken to a committee, which she would appoint. This upset a lot of the suffragettes because they felt it to be unfair. The next year, Hebert Henry Asquith was elected prime minister and was an anti-suffragist. On 21st June 1908, 'Women's Sunday' took place. This was organised by the WSPU. 54

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Over two hundred and fifty thousand people from around Britain came to Hyde Park, and it was the largest political rally in the history of London. When Asquith ignored them, the women resorted to smashing windows and chaining themselves to railings. By 1909, nothing much had changed and the vote still hadn't been legalised. In July, Marion Wallace Dunlop became the first arrested suffragette to go on a hunger strike. After the first woman, many more followed Marion's lead and by the end of the year, prisons started to force-feed participated of the hunger strike. In October, the Women's Tax Resistant League (WTRL) was formed. This was a group of people who refused to pay taxes if they didn't get political representation. Their motto was 'No vote, no tax'. Despite this, opponents of the women's suffrage movement were still growing. In August of 1910, the Women's National AntiÂsuffrage League merged with the Men's National League for Opposing Women's Suffrage. Together, the league had over forty-two thousand members. Although, things started to look up for the suffrage society when the House of Commons passed 'The Conciliation Bill'. This Bill would have allowed over one million women who owned a property with a value of over ten pounds to vote. However, this failed to become a law. This unfortunate outcome led to over three hundred members of the WSPU to march on Parliament. This event is now called 'Black Friday'. In November of 1911, Asquith announced the Manhood Suffrage Bill. This was seen as a major betrayal to the women's suffrage movement. Suffragettes from all over took part in a mass window smashing in London. These severe military-like events continued into the following years. In 1914, world war one broke out and women were forced into work. Over five million women were employed. David Lloyd George then took over as prime minister. This was good news for the suffrage campaigners. Finally the year of 1918 arrived. On 6th February 1918 the Representation of People Bill was passed. This act didn't just increase the amount of men that could vote, finally, women over the age of thirty who met property qualifications, or were married to a man who did, could vote. Before this, only forty percent of men could vote and no women. This was an absolutely huge achievement for the suffragists and suffragettes and all their hard work had paid off, but now that the women had the vote, what happened to the suffragettes? Their determination didn't just stop there; they wanted equality. In March 1919, Millicent Fawcett retired as president of the NUWSS. It changed its name and became the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship. As well as the Representation of People Bill, in November of the same year the Parliamentary

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Qualification of Women Act was passed. This allowed women to stand as MPs. The first female MP was Nancy Astor. She became an MP in the House of Commons in November 1919. However, women didn't gain equal voting rights until the 2nd of July 1928 when the Equal Franchise Act was passed. This meant that, like men, women over the age of twenty-one could now vote. Now fifteen million women were eligible to vote. This, like the first was a very significant event. I chose the legalisation of the women's votes in 1918 as my most significant event of the 20 century. I believe that this event was particularly significant because it helped to move past some areas of discrimination against women. Before this event they were disregarded as being not worthy to vote and people didn't trust them to make the right decisions. Although, the effort women put in during the war and the suffrage movement proved to people that women are worthy. This is particularly significant to me ( and many others like me) because now when I am old enough I will be able to vote in elections and have a say in the running of the country. After this event, more like this followed; allowing women to join the army (1948) and allowing equal pay (1970). All these helped build a brighter future for women. However, the struggle didn't stop there and still exists today in some countries more than others. The fight for equality still continues, and being given rights to vote helped people to see that women should be treated equally and that they are people just like men. Although feminist movements took place before the vote was legalised I believe this event to have been a trigger cause for more women's rights and I believe this to be the most significant and positive event in the 20th century. Isolde, Year 9

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Is it Right to Be Scared of AI? Artificial Intelligence is a relatively new concept which is used in computers all of the time. AI is constantly carrying out many decision-making tasks without you realizing to provide services such as search engines, choosing which adverts to show and digital assistants using data and algorithms. Artificial Intelligence must seem like a win–win then. However, many people do not see AI as brilliant and helpful, but as a danger to humanity. Some believe that AI could ‘take over the world’ or ‘end humanity’. Realistically, the main thing they are worried about is losing their jobs. AI is able to complete many tasks and jobs that humans are paid to do, but in some cases, AI is cheaper and more efficient. One example is factory workers. Their jobs are already being replaced by robotic arms which can assemble products more efficiently, 2.7 million people work in factories and most would lose their job if AI takes over. The only factory workers who would remain would be mechanics to maintain the machines. Another role already being replaced is receptionists. Automatic chat rooms and tablets are already being used to replace humans. Vehicle drivers such as couriers, public transport drivers and farmers could lose their jobs to AI in the future due to the development of self-driving vehicles. In some ways, soldiers and air force pilots could have their jobs taken away to be given to drones and AI soldiers. Many healthcare procedures can be (and are already) carried out by AI. These include surgeries and operations, which could involve transplants and amputations. There are many benefits to this, instead of using human medics, such as precision and speed. Also, machines can be more accurate when measuring doses of medicine to patients. This puts the role of a human doctor at risk – although nurses would still be required to comfort patients.

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Surprisingly many office jobs are at risk. There are more than 10 million office workers in the UK and most of them could end up being replaced by the very items they spend 4 â€“ 9 hours per day staring at. There are many other jobs which could suffer the same fate. When all of these jobs are taken over by AI, unemployment rates could rise uncontrollably. On the other hand, there are many jobs which AI are unable to perform well and therefore require humans. These jobs include all creative jobs such as software developers, authors, artists etc. because AI cannot have human-like thoughts or ideas. Other jobs include social workers and psychologists because robots cannot have emotion and therefore cannot comfort patients or show compassion. Apart from jobs, there are many useful tasks that humans would rather not do and therefore would be happy to let AI do for them. The majority of these jobs are household jobs such as preparing consumables and cleaning the house. Eventually AI will be able to complete these tasks and people will have AI do everything for them. However, not everything could work properly and when things go wrong the consequences could be catastrophic! The main problem is being hacked. If AIâ€™s code is damaged by a computer virus, it may not perform as expected. For example, AI soldiers could be hacked and turned against their regiment, ultimately to operate for the enemy. There is also the possibility of a malfunction where the code develops an error causing the AI to perform incorrectly. This could cause AI in a kitchen to undercook or burn food and make it unsafe. Another example could be that automatic vehicles become confused and end up colliding with each other. This could cause numerous deaths as if two trains full of passengers collide at high speed due to an AI signalling failure, the death toll could reach eight hundred people. In the news recently, scientists at NASA have developed an AI tool which can detect changes in the Earthâ€™s surface highlighting damage by global warming and showing possible water-related conflicts where humans and other species could end up fighting for water. The development and use of AI is a balancing-act. If used correctly and responsibly it can save time and money, be more efficient and ultimately be of benefit to humanity. But if developed incorrectly or without control, AI puts people at risk if it malfunctions or falls into the wrong hands.

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To conclude, I believe that it is wrong to be scared of AI because of all of the positives that come with it. However, I can see why people could be scared of it due to the fact that it is still quite new and if it goes wrong, it could prove to be a disaster! Ryan, Year 10

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Humanities World War II Experience As part of their Humanities topic of World War II, Year 6 spent a day in the woods experiencing army drills, food, first aid, orienteering and survival skills. Led by an exsoldier, they learnt how to use a compass properly, navigating their way to collect clues from certain points; rescued their 'injured' comrades by using a tarpaulin as a makeshift stretcher; practised camouflage skills; learnt how to put on a bandage properly, and they ate stew - typical of the kind British or German soldiers would have eaten - warmed over a campfire. This they thoroughly enjoyed, with many wanting more ....it was a cold day! Making their own hot chocolate and being given the ration of one plain digestive biscuit was also a welcome treat. The realness of their experience hit home when they were informed about the East Yorkshire Regiment, men recruited from the local area, and who trained at the Regimental Depot, which was based at Victoria Barracks in Beverley (now the site of Morrisonâ€™s). These men were sent off to the different units of the Regiment, and local men of the 5th Battalion were some of the first British soldiers to land in France on D-Day in April, 1944. It was a sobering experience learning just how many men never returnedâ€Ś.

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Year 1 pupils looked at changes over the last 100 years to encourage them to understand how our lives have changed over a relatively short period of time. Pre-Prep were inspired to learn about Alexander Graham Bell and write some facts about him.

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Year 2 children began their Great Fire of London learning journey with a creative and engaing workshop. Using their new knowledge and understadning of The Great Fire of London, they wrote detailed newspaper reports including statements from key witnesses.

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Year 3 embraced their Humanaties work on the Egyptians. Following their trip to the Hands on History Musuem, they studied sources and historical artefacts and looked at Eygptian communication and Hieroglyphics.

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In October, Year 4 travelled to Gainsborough Hall to experience life in Tudor times.

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Year 5 began their studies of Black History with a trip to Wilberforce House. This peice of work explores the childhood and legacy of Olaudah Equiano.

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How far do you agree that Kett’s Rebellion was driven by the Rebel’s desire for better local government? Kett’s rebellion in 1549 was over many different local grievances and these issues manifested themselves in the Norfolk articles from Mousehold heath. These issues were things like common land enclosure, economic abuse by land lords and the severe failings of local government in 1549. One reason why the rebels could be seen to be driven by a desire to have better local governance was that they wanted the ability to choose their own local officials. This is shown by the inclusion of Article 28 in the Norfolk articles written up as a petition to Somerset at Mousehold heath by Kett and the rebels. Article 28 expressed the Rebel’s/ locals’ desire to have the ability to choose their own J.Ps, Feudatories and sheriffs. All of these positions were administrative or enforcement roles in the local governing that were usually selected by the central government from the local Gentry or affluent yeoman etc. They wanted this power because it had been commonly seen in Norfolk that government picked officials would abuse the power of their role for their own gain, this caused locals to believe that people in these positions were untrustworthy. For example John Flowerdew, a local lawyer whom the people of Wymondham quarrelled with over abbey land he bought, was known to abuse his power as “escheator” for the Duke of Norfolk to intimidate/threaten the tenants of land belonging to the Duke of Norfolk (who’s lands were in the hands of the crown after he was arrested in 1546) into paying him extra money, he extorted them. The local’s experience with men like Flowerdew could be the reason why they wanted the power to choose people they deemed “trustworthy” as J.Ps and feudatories and such. Hence why this appears in the Norfolk articles. While there is evidence to say that the rebels wanted to better local government, there is also sufficient evidence to form an argument against this. The Norfolk rebels referred to many economic and land issues in the Norfolk articles. Therefore the rebels were also driven by economic reasons. Given that the people of the 1500’s didn’t understand demand pull inflation caused by population growth (2.3 million to 3.0 million 1521-1555) they blamed the increase in starvation and poverty on land abuse and landlord abuses. An example of landlord abuse was “rack renting”. Rack renting was a cruel practice in which land lords raised prices several times in quick succession, this was to weed out tenants couldn’t pay to replace them with tenants who could, this led to people being made homeless. This problem was amplified by the introduction of the 1547 Vagrancy act which punished people for having no home and being “vagrants” or begging. An example of land abuse would be the “enclosure” of common land. This “enclosure” was where wealthy people bought and “fenced off” land that the commons could use to grow crops on. The rebels obviously cared about this as it shows up in Article 3 of the Norfolk articles no man “shall enclose upon the common (land)” The rebels’ grievances about enclosure on common land was given flame to rise up by the enclosure commission (just one) sent by the Duke of Somerset in June 1548 to investigate illegal enclosures. This caused the rebels to believe that the “Good

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Duke” Somerset was on their side and that he would support them, an idea amplified by the response Somerset sent to the Norfolk articles stating that they followed a “noble cause”. Though the economic and land issues have weight behind them, there is another reason why the rebels could be seen to be driven by a desire to improve local government. The rebels set up an alternative government/ admin station at Mousehold heath. Robert Kett and the rebels took actions which caused them to be viewed by local administration as a new centre for local admin. These included using similar writs and commissions as the central government for food and drinks to the 16000 people present in the camp by August 1549. Along with this practice the rebels also set up an alternative justice system at the “Oak of Reformation”, where they tried, convicted and executed Gentry who they captured for enclosing land. However, this point can also be interpreted as the rebels wanting revenge against the people they blamed for the causation of the poverty and food shortages throughout the 1540’s. An idea that would fit in well with the “Class Warfare” belief that many left wing historians hold. However, this whole Mousehold admin concept showed that the Rebels already had an idea of the kind of government they wanted and this is strong evidence to support the idea that the rebels wanted to form a government run by the commons for the commons. In conclusion, I believe that from the evidence one can assume that the rebels were to an extent driven by a desire for better government, however, it is important to factor in that only 2 of the 29 articles were to do with this (Articles 15 and 29). Many more of the articles referred to economic and land based issues that governing. This I why I believe that a desire for improved local government did contribute to the reason why they did rise up, but they cared more about economic and land based issues which they at the time blamed for the increase in food shortages and poverty in the 1540s.

Finlay, Year 13 Teacher comment: Kett's Rebellion was a revolt against the policies Edward VI, which took place in Norfolk in the summer of 1549. It is one of the Tudor rebellions we study and analyse in Year 13. This essay is especially impressive because the pupil has gone directly to the heart of the causes of the rebellion and has fully engaged with the question. He has marshaled his evidence well and has selected precise facts to support his argument. His argument and counterargument are succinctly and logically ordered. And he managed all of this is 40 minutes in exam conditions!

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Latin How was syncretism used as a tool of Romanisation? Syncretism is a form of cultural exchange where different cultures, religions and schools of thought are amalgamated into one. This was an incredibly important feature of the Roman Empire, which the Romans used as a way to ingratiate themselves into other cultures. Usually through religious syncretism, where they would incorporate other deities into their own religion, and erect joint temples, such as the joint Sulis Minerva temple at Aquae Sullis. However, the Romans viewed Sulis Minerva as an independent deity, an amalgamation of the best aspects of each deity, instead of two separate deities worshipped together. In fact, most of the Romansâ€™ mythology originated in other cultures, which they merged together, to make an ever-changing mythology, particularly with the Ancient Greeks, with whom they formed a single Graeco-Roman Pantheon. It should be noted however, that the Romans were not able to syncretise Judaism into their Pantheon, as one important aspect of a monotheist religion is to completely reject polytheism, making them impervious to syncretism. In Britannia, the Romans also merged their god of war, Mars, with various local gods of war. Around Hadrianâ€™s Wall Mars was known as Mars Cocidius and Mars Belatucadrus, with both Cocidius and Belatucadrus believed to be Celtic or Pictish gods of war although many supposed Briton gods may in fact have been from other Celtic tribes in Europe imported by the Roman Army. They needed to ingratiate themselves into Briton society, as otherwise they would find it much harder to rule Britannia, especially if they were constantly putting down rebellions, which would have been much more likely if the Romans were viewed as oppressors, which they were much more likely to be viewed as instead of as friends. This was because they had outed the Celtic Druids, who were priests of the old Celtic religions, due to the Romans viewing their actions as barbarity, as the Druids believed in sacrificing people to their gods, much like the Romans had once done, before they had become civilised. Due to this, the Romans were initially disliked by the general populous of Britannia and things would probably have carried on like that if they hadnâ€™t merged Briton culture with theirs. Although the Romans made sure that the Britons knew who was in charge, by forcing them to worship the Roman emperor, whoever it was at the time. A known example of an imported Celtic deity from Northern Europe was the water goddess Coventina, who had a temple

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at Carrawburgh, near Hadrianâ€™s Wall. The Romans imported deities from every corner of their Empire. For example, the god Mithras, who was an Eastern god of light and rebirth, whom was favoured by soldiers and some urban communities. Temples dedicated to him were found at Carrawburgh and Housesteads. Another religion that was imported to Britannia by the Romans was Christianity. It is unknown when Christianity was first introduced to Britannia, but it is believed to have been around 312 AD, after Emperor Constantine had been converted. Christians had been persecuted by the Romans for many years, after they had been accused of burning down Rome. At first, Christianity had mostly been practiced by the elite, but it developed into being Britainâ€™s primary religion, and would end up massively outlasting the Roman Empire. Other examples of syncretism include the religion Gnosticism, which was a dualistic religion comprised of many smaller Oriental religions. Another example of syncretism was Manichaeism, which also originated in the Orient, and was comprised of Buddhism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. A final example of syncretism was Sikhism, which is a combination of Hinduism and Islam, founded by Guru Nanak. Tom, Year 10 Teacher comment: This piece was particularly good because he gave plenty of examples of how the Romans absorbed the religious beliefs of the vanquished natives as well as examples from elsewhere in the Classical world.

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How did the Romans show devotion to their gods? The Romans had a polytheistic religion, meaning they worshipped many gods, before they all mainly converted to Christianity. This meant that they needed a sacred place for each god, causing them to build temples devoted to one god. The temples were unique architecturally, however, influences from other cultures can be found. The main influence was the temples of the Etruscans, an Italian culture in Tuscany who were fairly powerful when the Latin tribes were building Rome. Elements of Greek culture can also be found, specifically in the columns. The Roman temples were extremely important and therefore often contained high quality marble sculptures or reliefs The temples contained statues and relics of the god to whom the temple was devoted. Some treasures which aided the priests in their worship and rituals were also stored inside. Unlike todayâ€™s churches, no one worshipped inside the temples to keep them sacred and pure. Instead, worship was held outside of the temple. Only the priests could lead this worship outside the temple. Therefore, many people kept shrines, known as a lararium, inside their house. In more expensive homes, the altar was set in the atrium, but in others, which likely did not have an atrium, it was often near the hearth â€“ the kitchen or the main fire. A house may also contain other altars indoors - especially in bedrooms - or outdoors. The lararium may also just be a painting in some houses. The lararium was often dedicated to the guardian spirits and deities of the Roman household. Families would perform daily rituals in order to appease them and assure their protection. The most significant guardian spirits were the lares, who were often depicted as two young men dancing while holding drinking horns. Bronze statues depicting them have been found, which would have been placed on the altar. They may also have been painted on to the wall. In the painting above, the two lares are flanking another figure, who is thought to represent the male head of the household. The middle figure is offering something to the lares to protect the house. In the painting there is one snake, but usually there are two. They are thought to protect the house along with the lares. Some Romans showed their devotion by being a part of a cult which worshipped a god. A good example is the Vestal Virgins.

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The Vestal Virgins was a cult made of six priestesses. They worshipped Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. To become a Vestal Virgin, a girl had to be chosen when they were between the ages of six and 10. They had to have respectable parents, meaning most were from aristocratic families. Both parents needed to be alive and the girl needed to be free of mental or physical imperfections. Once they had been chosen, they would serve a minimum of 30 years, the first 10 of which were considered her training. This would include learning how to conduct sacrifices, how to collect water from the sacred fountain and to learn the fasti (the calendar of sacred rituals). Her most important duty though was to tend to the eternal flame. Unlike other gods, Vesta was not represented with a statue, she was represented by a flame. The flame was never allowed to be put out, so the Vestal Virgins often watched over the flame in shifts. The flame was very important as, not only did it represent a goddess, it was also believed that if it went out, Rome would fall. If a Vestal Virgin did not complete her duties, she would be beaten but no blood could be spilt as she was considered pure and divine. A Vestal Virgin was considered so divine that if a prisoner on his way to be executed met a Vestal Virgin, they would be automatically pardoned. Special care was taken to either prevent or ensure such a meeting.

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After 10 years, the trainee was considered to be a fully fledged Vestal Virgin, but during her last 10 years, she undertook the role of a supervisor and trained the new Vestal Virgin. Once her 30 years of service were completed, she would be able to live a private life, with the right to marry. Arranging a marriage including a former Vestal Virgin was very prestigious regardless of her age or ability to carry children.

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Whilst a Vestal Virgin, the woman could enjoy many privileges, one of these being not subject to the head of her family. The benefits they had, however, could easily be taken away; if a Vestal Virgin was accused of committing unchastity and found guilty, she would be buried alive. This punishment was devised because her blood could not be spilt. She would be buried in a small chamber which contained a bed and a lamp. She would have a small portion of bread, water, milk and oil. Her lover would also be flogged to death.

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Natasha, Year 10 Teacher comment: This piece was excellent because of how well she had researched the topic independently and given a variety of examples.

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Law Ahmed is mowing his lawn with a powerful petrol lawnmower. The mower has a sticker on it stating that goggles must be worn by anyone who gets close to the mower because it can throw up small stones. Ahmed’s neighbour, Bilal, comes out of his house and leans on the fence to chat to Ahmed. Ahmed does not warn Bilal that he should wear goggles as he knows Bilal has a similar mower and assumes that he will be aware of the necessary precautions. Ahmed decides to show off by pushing the mower much too fast. The mower hits a stone which is thrown up and hits Bilal in the face causing him serious injuries. Advise whether Bilal will be successful in a claim of negligence against Ahmed (25). To succeed in a claim for Negligence the claimant must prove that the defendant owes the claimant a duty of care, that the duty of care was breached and the duty caused foreseeable loss or damage. We owe a duty of care to our neighbours, Lord Atkin stated that neighbours are “persons so directly affected by my act that I reasonably ought to have them in contemplation when directing my mind to the acts or omissions in question”. To establish a duty of care the Caparo test is used. The Caparo test asks if there was foreseeable loss or injury, if there was a sufficient close relationship between both parties and if it is fair just and reasonably to impose a duty. In the scenario it is reasonably foreseeable that if people around/near the lawn mower don’t wear googles, they could be injured by a stone (Kent v Griffiths). Next it must be established that there was a proximate relationship by space, time ore s relationship (McLoughlen v O’Brien). In the scenario there was a relationship within space and time due to Bial leaning over the fence near Ahmed and the lawn mower to communicate. Next it must be established that it was fair just and reasonable to impose a duty. In the scenario it is fair just and reasonable to impose a duty as it doesn’t open the ‘floodgates of litigation’ (Hill v CC West Yorkshire). To conclude, Ahmed owes a duty of care.

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Next the claimant must prove that the defendant breached his duty of care. The claimant is required to show the same degree of competence as a member of that profession (Bollam) however isn’t expected to possess those skills (Wells v Cooper). In the scenario Ahmed is expected to show the same degree of competence as a reasonable gardener. To establish the reasonable man, four factors are taken into account: the characteristics of those at risk (Perry v Butlins Holliday World), the seriousness and likelihood of the risk (Haley), the practicality of precautions (Laverton) and the potential benefit of taking the risk (Watt). In the scenario the characteristics of those at risk are people unaware of the danger within the radius of the lawnmower without protective googles. There is a high seriousness and likelihood of a stone being thrown up by the lawnmower, this is further established due to the lawnmower having a sticker stating googles must be warn due to stones being thrown up, the higher the risk and likelihood, the more the defendant will have to do to prevent it. For practicality of precautions the risk must be in balance with the efforts that the defendant must go to eliminate it. In the scenario Ahmed could have just given Bilal googles or told him about the risk and tell him to step away. There was no benefits of taking the risk of not telling Bilal to put googles on. The reasonable gardener would have informed Bilal of the risk and given him googles to protect his eyes. To conclude, Ahmed breached his duty of care. Next it must be established that the breach in duty cause foreseeable loss/damage. First it must be established that the defendants breach in duty caused the loss/damage. To do this the ‘but for’ test is used. But for Ahmed not warning Bilal about the risk of thrown up stones and given him googles, he wouldn’t have been hit in the face by a stone (Barnett). Next it must be established that the damage/loss wasn’t ‘too remote’ a consequence from the defendants negligent act. To establish this the remoteness of damage test is used (The Wagon Mound) which states the defendant is only liable for such damage that is foreseeable as a consequence to god negligent act. It doesn’t matter if the injury is worse than expected due to the thin skull rule as we take our victims how we find them (Smith v LeachBrain). In the scenario it isn’t ’too remote’ to expect a stone to be thrown up and injure someone due to Ahmed’s negligent act of not telling Bilal to wear googles. To conclude Bilal is likely to bring about a claim using Negligence. James, Year 12 Teacher comment: James has written an excellent answer to this question. He has explained, with relevant case authority, the 3 elements of negligence (duty of care, breach of duty, and damage). He has applied each element to the scenario, clearly and concisely.

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Modern Foreign Languages Teacher comment: A piece of writing from a Pre-Sixth pupil which demonstrates an excellent use of new vocabulary, different tenses, opinions and complex language. Ich denke, dass man Drogen vermeiden sollte, weil sie gefährlich sein können. Ich verstehe jedoch warum manche Leute sie nehmen als junge Leute etwas Neues ausprobieren möchten. Meine Freunde haben schon angefangen, Drogen zu nehmen und ich mache mir Sorgen, dass sie ihre Gesundheit schaden werden. Rauchen bringt nichts Positives. Mein Bruder versucht seit vier Monaten das Rauchen aufzugeben und er hat E-zigaretten probiert. Normale Zigaretten sind hundertmal gefährlicher als E-Zigaretten aber beide können Lungenkrebs verursachen, also würde ich nie rauchen,weil ich das Risiko nie eingehen würde. Alex, Pre-Sixth Pre-Sixth pupils were asked to write a short paragraph about their plans for the future. The were challenged to use a variety of tenses (past, present and future), the perfect infinitive (after having done something) and the subjunctive. Après avoir terminé mes examens, je veux prendre une année sabbatique et puis, mon but sera d’aller à l’université. Bien que je sache que ce sera difficile, c’est important pour moi. Après avoir quitté la fac, j’ai l’intention de faire le tour du monde. Mon rêve serait de faire une carrière dans le commerce. L’essentiel pour moi est de faire quelque chose de satisfaisant et d’avoir un métier bien payé. Un jour, j’adorerais me marier et fonder une famille. Lucy, Pre-Sixth Après avoir terminé mes examens, bien que je sache que mes études sont importantes, j’aimerais prendre une année sabbatique à l’étranger. Plus tard, je veux aller à l’université et aussi, je voudrais faire du travail bénévole dans l’informatique. Il y a cinq mois, j’ai fait un stage dans une société d’ordinateurs. J’ai aidé les informaticiens et j’ai répondu au téléphone. C’était une bonne expérience pour moi car mes collègues étaient sympa et j’ai beaucoup appris. Quoi que je fasse à l’avenir, j’espère être heureux. Josh, Pre-Sixth

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This piece of work is very good as it shows an ability to express opinions on the benefits of the Internet for old people using a range of ideas and key vocabulary such as ‘self esteem’, ‘autonomy’, ‘to do things for themselves’ and ‘to keep up-todate’. The length and complexity of this paragraph, written in the first half term of Year 12, shows the gap between GCSE and A level. ¿Qué ventajas tiene el uso de Internet para los mayores? Una ventaja que tiene Internet para los mayores es poder hacer la compra en línea porque puede ser más fácil, especialmente si están descapacitados y no pueden salir de casa. También el uso de Internet puede ayudarles a conocer a otras personas, que reduce la soledad. Poder manejar las cuentas bancarias es otro beneficio que tiene Internet, porque es más fácil hacerlo desde la casa. Su autoestima puede mejorar como resultado de saber usar Internet ya que les da una sensación de logro. La autonomía es otro beneficio porque significa que las personas mayores pueden hacer las cosas por su cuenta. Internet ayuda a mantenerse active mentalmente porque les da algo que hacer. Por ejemplo pueden jugar a los juegos que mantienen activa la mente. A través de cosas tal como Facebook no pierden el contacto con familiares o amigos porque pueden mantenerse al día con las cosas. Jane, Pre-Sixth A short paragraph which describes this pupil’s eating habits at home. This is an excellent piece of writing which contains a range of sophisticated phrases and ideas, expressed accurately and succinctly. Entre semana, desayuno cuando pueda por la mañana ya que suelo tener prisa porque tengo la costumbre de quedarme dormido en la cama cuando debería estar preparándome para la escuela. Por lo tanto, desayuno algo muy rápido, como un yogur o los cereales. Sin embargo, los fines de semana me aseguro de tomar un desayuno más fuerte y siempre estoy más feliz cuando he comido más por la mañana. Para almorzar, intento comer más sano pero no hay una gran variedad de opciones saludables en la escuela. Todos dicen que la comida en la escuela es asquerosa, pero no pienso que sea tan mala. Por lo general, solo como un bocadillo de atún, y normalmente no tomo mucho de postre ya que no soy muy goloso. Se dice que la mejor manera de comer es ‘desayunar como un rey, almorzar como un príncipe y cenar como un mendigo’. Creo que esto es cierto, así que hago todo lo posible para seguir este dicho, pero es dificil mientras voy a la escuela. Alex, Pre-Sixth 77

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An extract from an excellent piece of writing from a Pre-Sixth pupil on the topic of ‘Where I live’, covering a description of her house and the house of her dreams, and her local area. Cuando nos instalamos en nuestra casa por primera vez era demasiada pequeña y mienras mi madre hacía la vista gorda al problema recientemente mi padre ha decidido construir una extensión. A mi modo de ver, la mayoría de mi casa es muy bonita, no obstante para mi lo mejor es el jardin. Es muy bonito. A pesar de eso, si pudiera, cambiaría mi dormitorio ya que en este momento lo encuentro muy aburrido. Además, está casi siempre desordenado porque cada noche tengo que hacer un montón de deberes y nunca tengo tiempo para arreglarlo. Si pudiera diseñar la casa de mis sueños, se parecería al interior del palacio de Versailles combinado con los muros de los castillos ancianos. Tendría que incluir al menos cincuenta habitaciones, como una biblioteca gigantesca llena de libros de todos géneros, salvo la ciencia-ficción. ¡Que rollo es la ciencia-ficción! Además, tendr¡a un salón con sofás lujosos y un piano. Tendr¡a un jardin enorme con macizos llenos de flores. Vivo en las afueras de Hull en un pueblo pequeño. Pensar¡as que el pueblo ser¡a muy relajante y es verdad. No obstante la ciudad cerca de mi casa es como una selva urbana puesto que hay tanto tráfico y se lleva una vida muy frenética. Por lo general, la encuentro fenomenal, dado que siempre hay muchas diversiones. Por ejemplo, se puede jugar al deporte en el nuevo polideportivo, o pasar el d¡a visitando monumentos. Es genial si te parece interesante la historia. También, siempre me ha gustado ir al centro commercial con mis amigos de vez en cuando… Emily, Pre-Sixth

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A response from a Pre-Sixth pupil’s speaking preparation, on the topic of ‘fiestas’. It contains a range of complex structures and makes reference to specific fiestas that this pupil has seen, or wishes to see. He visto muchas fiestas porque mi madre ha estado intentando hacerme experimentar tanta cultura como pueda. Así, he asistido a ‘Las Hogueras de San Juan’. Se caracteriza por espectáculos y enormes figuras de madera y cartón que se queman el 24 de junio. Siempre he querido ver La Tomatina, que se celebra en el pueblo pequeño de Buñol. Es una fiesta bien conocida por todo el mundo donde se lanzan tomates en la calle y suele haber muchas personas que se divierten. Creo que las fiestas son importantes para ayudar a mejorar el sentido de comunidad. Sin embargo, atrae aún más turismo y demasiadas personas extranjeras podrían cambiar la atmósfera en las fiestas. Alex, Pre-Sixth

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Mathematics Year 1 children have been thinking about 3D shapes. They developed their understanding of shape and position by counting the number of cubes in the shape. They used cubes to help them form the shapes they were given.

Year 2 using their understanding and knowledge about place value and addition to solve addition problems using symbols.

Magazine Design

Year 2 using their understanding and knowledge about place value and addition to solve addition problems using symbols.

Magazine Design

Year 4 deepening their understanding of place value and number using explanation and justiďŹ cation.

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UKMT The UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) is a registered charity whose aim is to advance the education of children and young people in mathematics. The UKMT organises national mathematics competitions and other mathematical enrichment activities for 11-18 year old UK school pupils. The Team Maths Challenge (TMC) is a competition that gives pupils the opportunity to tackle a variety of engaging mathematical activities while developing teamwork and communication skills. In June a team of four Mathematicians from year 8 & 9 won the regional final of the team challenge and proceeded through to the national final in the Royal Horticultural Halls in London. The pupils took part in several Mathematical tasks on the day these included: Group Round The team had to work together to solve ten questions of varying type and difficulty in the time allowed. Crossnumber Similar to a crossword but with numerical answers. The teams work in pairs; one pair has the across clues and the other pair has the down clues. The pairs work independently to complete the grid using logic and deduction. Shuttle The teams compete against the clock to correctly answer a series of four questions. Each team is divided into Pair A and Pair B. Question 1 can be solved independently of the others, but the answer to each subsequent question is dependent on the previous answer. Relay The teams split off into pairs, with pairs taking it in turns to solve problems. This round involves lots of movement as well as mathematics: a race against the clock with lots of lively activity and excitement. Poster Competition The teams are sent information in advance of the event about a topic for research and investigation. Teams make a poster incorporating materials that they have prepared while also addressing related questions given out on the day. The topic for the poster competition was the work of Leonhard Euler. After a month of researching Leonhard Euler and creating resources to use on the day the team had 45 minutes to create their poster. Below is a photo of their poster, which made the top 10 shortlist on the day. This was a huge achievement for the team. This year the regional finals are held on the 20th March, we are taking a team of 4 year 8 pupils. Good Luck!

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Maths Enrichment on Fractals A group of Year 7 and 8s attended an in-house enrichment session to learn about iterated function system fractals and look at the work of BenoĂŽt Mandelbrot. They studied the Sierpinski Triangle and Koch snowflake and how they can have infinite perimeters whilst having a finite area for the snowflake and a zero area for the triangle. Luca in Year 12 joined us to demonstrate his programming skills which produce these fractal patterns and the pupils enjoyed challenging him to change parameters in his coding to see how this would affect the final fractal. We then looked at uses of fractals in the telecommunications industry and how they were the founding idea behind Pixar studios. We finished by examining how fractals can have a non-integer dimension.

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PE Teacher comment: This is a section of Imogenâ€™s coursework where she evaluates her fitness strength for netball, agility. It is a really excellent piece of work as she relates the component not only to the skills of netball but also to the tactics.

Analysis- Strengths and weaknesses (15 marks) â€“ Analyse a performance in one activity from the specification in order to identify and justify two strengths and two weaknesses. Strength one (fitness component) My main fitness component strength is agility (The ability to maintain balance, speed and variety on your movements gives you the upper hand on your opponent on the court.) This is needed for every position in netball, as you have to dodge free of defenders in order to get into free space to receive the ball, as you cannot move with the ball in netball, the only way possession can be maintained is if you can dodge free of your marker. Agility is very important for my position because getting past the defenders with quick small movements will confuse, tire out and loose the defender (GK). In the D agility is also very helpful as it releases space for other players in the attacking third and gives me a chance to then drive for the ball when I have lost the defender. This will also give the GA more time and space to get into a good position near the goal to then receive the pass and take a shot before the GK has time to get there position back in the D.

Commented [A1]: Fitness component named and defined

Commented [A2]: Detailed justification of fitness component in relation to netball and position played.

I constantly move in the circle to create space for myself and my GA Hollie, this is termed rotation of the shooters. Balancing the circle can be covered using the four key elements below:

Commented [A3]: Fitness component related to tactical movement required for a shooter.

ROTATION Rotation implies a circular movement; however, it is anything but. Rotation requires one player moving away from the post and one driving towards, the back player needs to react to the front. The aim is to hit the post. TOGETHER AND SPLIT Attackers coming together and moving apart, offers the chance to force a switch, confuse defenders or screen a defender. BALANCE CIRCLE Almost the opposite of together and split. in the circle to isolate defenders. This can be rotation.

Attackers stay spread apart combined with others e.g.

HOLD AND DRIVE Usually associated with a static shooter and moving goal attack. One player holds and the other moves either top or baseline depending on where the other shooter is holding.

Having agility also aids the ability to fulfil the footwork rule. Footwork in netball applies when a player is stepping, landing and pivoting while in possession of the ball. A free pass is awarded to the opposing team if a player breaks the footwork rule. The footwork law states a player must release the ball before putting their pivoting leg down once it is raised.

Commented [A4]: Knowledge of the rules

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To improve agility, you could do drills such as ladder drills. Using an agility ladder, (9 m long) (45.7 cm) blocks, run through each rung of the ladder slowly. On each step, pump your arms high and bring your knee up to your chest, changing arms and legs as you make your way through the ladder. Once at the end of the ladder, return to where you started to complete one drill. Complete each drill you perform 2 to 4 times, increasing repetitions once as you get better at them. You can also increase your speed as you improve. If you were to do this before every training session and match over time this will improve your agility, speed and improve your dodging skills. Last year in a match against Queen Ethelburgaâ€™s we were 2 goals down with 1 minute to go, however, we ended up winning the game by one goal because Hollie and I could turn possession into goals due to our agility in the circle which enabled either of us to get possession under the post, by using the hold and drive technique and the together and split method. Helen Housby and Jo Hartenâ€™s rotation and agility in the circle were a key reason why England won the commonwealth games.

I also complete the following circuit as part of my warm warm-up up and cool cool-down down at the beginning of each

training session and match:

Commented [A5]: Knowledge of how agility is improved

Commented [A6]: Justification of how strength impacts on performance

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PSHCE To whom it may concern I am writing to you as I am extremely concerned about climate change. I am a 10-year old girl called Ava from Hull Collegiate School. Our school is doing the best it can to save the environment from climate change and plastic pollution such as making eco bricks, reusable bento boxes for packed lunches, starting to use wax wraps instead of plastic cling film. We’ve also been on Radio Humberside to discuss the matters of plastics and to raise local awareness, and many other things but we are not entirely sure about what you are doing and what your environmental policies are. We have been having to learn about what may happen in the future and what a disaster it may be unless we start to act now. We have taken a great interest in helping the environment, as Greta Thunberg a Swedish activist for climate change, has inspired us very much. We’ve learned and now know abut circular and linear economies and we are hoping for the industries in our area to move towards circular products. If we carry on as we are this is going to affect our future but might not affect yours. This is annoying me as it is like you are just caring for your own lives but not mine or other young people. We have many other concerns like: How floods and wild fires are occurring more often, coastal sea levels are rising, polar bears and other animals are dying due to the polar ice cap melting and the world as we know it to change. Right now, we are going through a mass extinction, so if you decide not to bother, animals’ other creatures maybe even humans might end up going extinct! I am bewildered to think that you may not be doing anything to help. I am hoping to hear back from you whether it’s a Skype call, for us to come and visit you or maybe you can come in and visit us… If you choose to visit us, we will provide you with a tour of the school. I would personally tour you and see you have an excellent school lunch. The school lunches are amazing by the way! You can choose from a selection of different foods as well. I hope you will do the right thing. Yours faithfully Ava

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In PSHCE, Year 6 children were set a written task to speak out as youth activists, inspired by Greta Thunberg and to put what they have learnt about climate change, economy types and sustainability, into a letter to a local business asking them about their commitment to the Paris Agreement, to reducing carbon emissions. The children wrote a fantastic set of letters and each letter was copied and mailed off to the largest companies in Hull. At publication, we have had replies from 5 companies, invites of site visits for pupils and offers of presentations in school. I am so proud of each and every one of them, but here are a small selection of the best letters.

The Sciences

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This term in the Nursery, without realising it the children have been scientists whist exploring the changing state of materials. They have used kitchen cupboard ingredients to make potions and watched them bubble and fizz as they are combined. In our creative workshop, the children regularly make their own paints by mixing powdered paint with water and then experimenting with quantities as they try to get the right consistency. Another favourite activity is to come together each week to make our playdough. As well as measuring the ingredients, we watch in amazement as they turn from a dry ingredients to a thick wet sloppy liquid and then as we mix we watch the dough form.

Reception pupils solve the challenge of lighting the bulb.

Year 1 have been investigating light and dark, we made shadow puppets and discussed what happens if you move an object closer to the light source and further away. We discovered may interesting facts about the sun and why it is so dark now that it is winter.

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The children in Year 1 have been studying the organs and parts of the body. They used the magic Curiscope t-shirt to see inside. The children were amazed at how the blood ďŹ‚ows and how the heart was beating.

The Year 2 children explored reversible changes with wax crayons; they also made their own wax crayon.

In Year 2, their fire engines went through rigorous testing to decide if they would be able to travel at high speed in an emergency. The children worked as a team to build ramps to test speed and distance.

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Year 3 have been busy exploring skeletons in Science. This has involved making a paper skeletons and naming each part. Part of this also included naming and labelling using the scientific, Latin names too.

Year 4 have been learning all about States of Matter and Changing State. They made ‘gloop’ using flour and water, then explored why it can be both a solid and liquid, getting more viscous when you apply a sheer force. The aim was to jump into the ‘gloop’ without their feet being covered.

This is the planets in our solar system plotted to scale by Maisie in Year 5. Each square is equal to 1 astronomical unit.

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Year 6 have been learning about Living Things and their Habitats. As part of this, adaptation was explored. The Year 6 children then designed and created a new species. Here is George’s ‘Piggypine’ which he presented in order to persuade the other Year 6 children that it would survive.

One of the most enjoyable activities in Prep STEM Club has been the giant bubbles. This involved discussing the ingredients and amounts needed, lots of fun playing with the giant bubbles and then amending the recipe to ensure that the bubbles were more stable.

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As part of their study of genetic inheritance, pupils carry out breeding experiments with live specimens of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This species is sexually dimorphic, the females having generally larger bodies than males. The tip of the abdomen in males is entirely black and shiny aiding identification of both sexes during the experiment. Pupils examine the inheritance of two characteristics in separate experiments; vestigial wings x wild type and white eyes x wild type. Wild type flies have normal wings, striped bodies and red eyes. The allele for vestigial wing mutation, which results in a fly with short wings, is carried on chromosome 2 and is non sexlinked. The white eye mutation is carried on chromosome 1 (the ‘X’ chromosome) and is sex-linked. Pupils breed the flies from a parental generation to the F2 (‘grandchildren’). The experimental results are then compared to expected outcomes according to Mendelian predictions (3:1 and 2:1:1), using a χ2 test to determine biological significance. Year 13

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Enrichment session for Year 12 A level Biology pupils Dr. Karsai, (Consultant Pathologist, Hull Royal Infirmary) delivered an informative enrichment session to A-level Biology pupils. Dr. Karsai explained the role of the Pathology department and outlined the different specialities. Several pupils intend to apply to study Medicine at University, they were able to view tissue specimens and understand more about this subject â€“ almost every branch of medicine will rely on the Pathology department to analyse tissue specimens and provide a diagnosis.

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STEM In Action Our huge STEM event, the STEM in Action Fair 2019 took place over two days for the Year 5 and 6 children in our school plus 600 children in local primary schools. It was a chance for the children to interact and engage in many STEM activities through businesses such as Smith & Nephew, Dinostar, CSI Pulse, Humber STEM and many more. The finale being a rocket launched by Mr Norris. An inspirational day for all allowing the children to see career opportunities for the future.

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