Branksome Bugle - Issue 3

Supported by the Courier

Branksome Bugle

Issue 3

Your magazine, your opinion, your school!

What is this?

This magazine is new to the local people of Branksome.

Coming with the Courier this magazine has local school news, book reviews, film reviews, quizzes and stories. It has been funded by Branksome and Cockerton West Community Partnership but is produced by Branksome Science College pupils. A lot of effort has gone into making this newspaper and we would like to thank everyone who has participated in the making. We hope you enjoy it.

Book of the week Private Peaceful

OAP Success

Last year on the 17th December Branksome Science College held their annual OAP Christmas party. A very big thank you to Mrs Hickerson’s cooking group for making the delicious food and to the numerous amount of teachers who helped prepare and attended Read all about it!! the Christmas party. There was also a Youth choir which included children from different schools and colleges.

Vs

Branksome Bugle You may have noticed that the name of this terrific newspaper has changed its name from ‘Read All About It’ to the Branksome Bugle.

Before issue 1 came out the magazine was originally called ‘Library Mag’ but that soon changed.

At the last Newspaper meeting on Monday the 14th of December 2009 the news team discussed the new name. It could have been the Branksome Echo or the Branksome Gazette but we all thought th at the Branksome Bugle sounded

After the big raffle and long bingo there was the food and lots of it.

The story follows 24 hours in the life of a young soldier on the frontline during World War I. It captures his memories as he looks back over his life. This book is available to borrow from the school library.

New School Councilors In 2009, two pupils were nominated from each tutor group to be a candidate for the School Council. All together there were ten pupils from year 7. On the day of filming the manifestos only 3 people turned up. This was because there was confusion of where to meet, some said the library, others were saying the office and some just completely forgot.

The three that turned up filmed their manifesto for it to be shown in Year 7 assembly.

In the end all 3 of the pupils got in the School Council and those pupils are: Laura Hutchinson, Tom Davis (Sports editor) and Liam Pape (Editor).

PAPE“R”MAIL

Hello any new readers to this magazine or anyone who has read this before. If you didn’t know usually in this column of the paper is what we call PAPE“R”MAIL and why it is called that I will explain in a further issue. Anyway, in this issue I am going to tell you about a certain super car which is one of my favourites.

Meet the Alfa Romeo 8C. This has 450 bhp and has a top speed of 181mph. It does from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and it is okay with the eco system because it does 17.3 miles to the gallon. But for today I am going to forget about the facts and figures and today I just want you to have a look at the photo on the right and respect how pretty the car actually is. It has no unnecessary bumps or lumps, has no annoyingly big headlamps or tubes sticking out of the side. This is bound to be the prettiest car in the world by far. Everything is right about it and there is nothing which says that the car is bad.

Anyway, let’s come out of my dreamy, perfect car world and let me tell you about how reasonable this car is for its money. The car costs around £174,000 and for that money you have to be very sensible and think about what you may be about to do. Because you don’t need to buy the car to see that it is as pretty as a supermodel if not prettier.

Personally I would not buy this car for 2 reasons: 1, I would rather spend the money on something much more exciting like a space shuttle. 2, I’m too young to drive.

If I did have a driving licence though I still probably wouldn’t buy this car because there are many other super cars which are almost as pretty and a whole lot cheaper!!

So in conclusion, if you are an artist who wants a car which you can easily draw buy a V W Beetle because you only have to draw a load of circles*. *or you can of course buy the Alpha I’ve just been telling you about.

The People in Darlington

By Nazmina Akthar Sound like train engines like dustbins, turning, rolling, tumbling down a hill.

Feature on a Teacher

Our buildings are chocolate brown and black, burned to a crust.

Some are perfect Name

Mrs K. Crossling

but covered in dust.

Subject

Geography 12

Darlington streets are cracked;

Years at Branksome Most Memorable

fit for the Royal Majesty

people come and go staring at each other’s houses; how jagged they look.

Moment

Representing the school at a Buckingham Palace garden party

Pets

Fish - I would like a dog but I am not at home enough

Funniest Moment

Too many to mention – but Y7 camp gives lots of laughs

We eat peas with our fish and chips –

Advice (words of

we know a lot about Pease.

wisdom)

Take all opportunities you are given.

In the market you get The view of a pig; The real view of a pig.

We are now a term in to our new status as Branksome Science College. I know that I and many of the other staff find this difficult to believe as it seems like only recently that we received the news that we were to become a Science College and began to plan changes. The first and most obvious of these change was to be to the outdated and tired science laboratories. Many of you will remember the disruption in the last few weeks of the summer term as the old science labs were routinely destroyed and the science staff found residence in other areas of the building. What a worthwhile change this was though. The science labs are now very modern and meet the needs of all pupils and staff alike. We also now have a science dedicated ICT suite with 30 new computers and new decoration. This is in regular use and is of real benefit to the science department (especially for last minute Y11 revision!)

It was also very pleasing to be able to refurbish Miss Oliver’s maths room and bring this up to a more modern standard.

Our most able Y10 pupils are, for the first time, now studying for a triple award science GCSE. This is excellent news for the school but more so for them as it will give them a real head start on further science courses after they leave Branksome. This will continue with every GCSE group and we are very pleased to be able to offer the triple science course in an option block for next year.

Further developments to come this year include a science club at lunch time or after school, lots of new science experiment equipment, all school rooms named after a famous scientist, enrichment activity days with a science theme and of course planning for our new school building.

We all in the science department are very excited about the future with Branksome Science College and hope that you are too. If you would like to know more about anything happening in science, come along and ask!

Peter Haylock Assistant Headteacher – Science Specialism

Sport Reporter Tom Davis standing with head of sport Mr Fitzmaurice to help raise the importance of health and fitness throughout the school.

PE extra curriculum January to April Branksome School is offering a wide range of exiting Clubs for all of the school.

BOXERCISE SWIMMING DODGEBALL CANOEING RUGBY BADMINTON HOCKEY DANCE MATS BASKET BALL NETBALL VOLLEY BALL MUGA USE

Christmas + New Year Christmas may be over but the snow is still here and there is nothing stopping us from talking about it!

Over 2 Metres high

The Chinese New Year 2010 According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, which begins on February 14, 2010 and ends on February 2, 2011. The Tiger is the third sign in the cycle of Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animal signs. It is a sign of courage. This fearless and fiery fighter is referred by the ancient Chinese as the sign that wards off the three main disasters of a household: fire, thieves and ghosts.

New Year’s Resolutions The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical King of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar. Janus had two faces so could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

Only 1 year to go until Christmas again.

Snowy Stories The Big Branksome Freeze By James Allison

The Winter Wipe-out! By Bradlee Goldsmith He ran across the snow covered, pure white playground. He was pursued by 3 year 11s with snowballs, the boy’s mind was racing.

“Don’t give up Liam, don’t give up!” The snowballs came down around him.

“Only a few more metres to the safe area!” Liam murmured to himself.

He felt the ice run down his shirt as he fell to the ground, hit in the head by a snowball that was really more ice than snow!

“You got him! What a shot!” was they only sound heard by Liam, “Thanks lads” came the reply. Liam’s head hurt badly!

It hurt like he had been shot by a gun. He saw his friend James fighting back but he was losing quite badly. Then he realised he was not safe. He climbed to his feet making a dash for the safety point he managed to get in when James threw a snowball right at him!

He ducked and the snowball sailed over his head hitting the wall harmlessly. He gathered a snowball in his hand and wildly let go of it, sending it hurling through the air like a shooting star. It missed James by about 6 inches and unfortunately for Liam a Teacher walked round the corner and spotted Liam’s snowball travelling towards her. Liam hid as the ice ran down her coat’s neck rim!

“Who did that I wonder?” said the teacher seeing Liam’s head poking out from his hiding place!

“Sorry miss I was trying to hit James” was Liam’s reply

One perfect winter’s day I woke up to only find the biggest pile of snow I had ever seen. So I ran downstairs and grabbed my coat to enjoy this miracle.

However the enjoyment was short lived as school loomed ever closer.

When I got to school, the head teacher gave orders to march into the school canteen. As the heat of the cookers warmed my body, a snowball bombarded my friend’s face as he fell to the floor in pain. However we had to carry on and go to first lesson. But then an announcement came over the speakers that the school was closing as some of the teachers had not been able to get here and we had to go home immediately.

So, running to the school gates before they changed their minds, the enjoyment stopped as the lock on the school gates had frozen over and it wouldn’t open so we had to go to the hall due to a faulty lock.

Phoning my mum saying we were locked in, the head teacher gave an announcement that she had phoned the fire brigade to cut the lock of and we would be out of school in a jiffy. So waiting anxiously for the emergency services to arrive, the teachers sent us to the gates to go home and to our enjoyment the school gates were wide open for us to be free.

A few on the school remembered that In theyears darkness andalways the frosty breeze, day as the big Branksome freeze.

In the damp cold and swaying trees.

As the snow falls from the sky, Slipping on ice as you rush quickly by.

Say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010. The New Year brought heavy snow which has been here about three weeks. The children have enjoyed it by playing snow ball fights, building snowmen and sledging but mams and dads haven’t so much. I’ve seen handmade sledges and people who have used sledges for shopping. The snow caused problems with roads and most of the Darlington schools have been shut a few days last week. But Branksome was only shut two days and thank you to all the staff, parents and especially the pupils who made it possible. WELL DONE! We all like the snow, but we want it to go, So we hope it is not long before it goes away.

By Victoria Feldon

Film Reviews:

Film review: AVATAR 3D

This gripping, explosive adventure set in the future may be one of the best films ever. Directed and written by James Cameron this film has one of the biggest budgets in the world. With stunning special effects James Cameron has been planning the film since 1997. Only then we didn’t have technology as advanced as the modern day so he had to wait until the time was right.

And I’m pleased he did.

The film is set on a moon called Pandora where Jake Sully makes friends with one of the alien natives called Neytiri. Neytiri leads Jake to the rest of her father’s people. Jake leans the ways of the people and learns how to trust nature and the wildlife. But when Jake falls in love with Neytiri and Jake finds out that the humans are coming to attack which side will Jake take?

Film review: Twilight - New moon This is one of the best sci-fi/romance films I have ever seen. Staring the same original characters from the first movie, this is way better than the original. However this time a group of werewolves are introduced. The werewolves protect Bella after Edward and his family leave town since people are starting to notice they are not ageing. Bella is missing Edward and starts seeing flashes of him. After Alice foresees Bella killing herself she rushes back to help. Will she be too late and will Bella ever see Edward again?

Local Word Search A Z

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CLEASBY VIEW NICKSTREAM LANE MINORS CRESCENT

The History-French trip to Belgium and France, October 2009 It has been a few years since the last Branksome visit to Belgium and Northern France, once an annual event. Just before half term the latest generation of Branksome students (from years 9, 10 & 11) reminded our neighbours across the channel what they had been missing these few years past.

The focus of the trip was the battlefields of the First World War. The war has now passed beyond British living memory – a tragedy that began the Twentieth Century; but it was made very real to our young people of the early Twenty First Century. As always I was touched by the sensitive response of Branksome students to terrible stories they were told and the sights visited. Sights, such as the trenches of Passchendaele and the Somme. Tyne Cot Cemetery and the Thiepval monument.

The visit was not just poignancy and reflection, however.

The students (and staff, Mrs Wright, Mrs McIntyre, Miss Hylands, Mr Richardson and Mr Parr) were able to immerse themselves in the culture of Belgium and France and revive the spirit of the entente-cordiale.

Recipes for the weekend

Method:

For the weekend get started of with one of Mr Ramsey’s recipes Beef wellington

While the beef is cooling, chop the mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. You can use a food processor to do this, but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don't become a slurry.

Ingredients: Beef fillet (1kg) 3tbsp of olive oil 250g of chestnut mushrooms 50g of butter 1 large fresh thyme

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Sit the beef on a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with pepper, then roast for 15 mins for medium-rare or 20 mins for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 mins.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil and all the butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on a medium heat, with the thyme sprig, for about 10 mins stirring often, until you have a softened mixture. Season the mushroom mixture, pour over the wine and cook for about 10 mins until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.

Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Lay the prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row. Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over. Use the cling film's edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.

Roll out a third of the pastry to a 18 x 30cm strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Roll out the remaining pastry to about 28 x 36cm. Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry and brush the pastry's edges, and the top and sides of the wrapped fillet, with beaten egg yolk. Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides. Trim the joins to about a 4cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry. Chill for at least 30 mins and up to 24 hrs.

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp - 20-25 mins for medium-rare beef, 30 mins for medium. Allow to stand for 10 mins before serving in thick slices

Places to go to this year...

Head of Steam Darlington Railway Museum Stressholme golf course Buttercups pottery

If you would like to contribute or join our team please contact us in the school library.

Note: Sorry for any inconvenience when the library has been shut at either break times or lunchtimes for meetings.

Dolphin centre Blackwell Grange Odeon cinema Darlington Civic Theatre

By Nicole Plevey - Bust up in the Biscuit Tin

There’s been a big bust up in the biscuit tin! A bandit called rocky who was crackers hit a penguin over the head with a club, tied him to wagon wheel, with a blue riband, and kidnapped a trophy and made his breakaway in a taxi. The police say rocky was last seen just after eight by a viscount from Maryland hobnobbing with a ginger nut. Unfortunately they have not got a crumb of evidence, (the jammie dodger got away)

Credits: Once again thank you to everyone who has helped with the newspaper.

They have given up their time at break times and lunchtimes to come to meetings and work on computers.

Thank you to everyone!!

Liam Pape (Editor) Katie Appleyard (Secretary) Chrissey Straw (Assistant Editor) Tom Davis (Sports Editor) Lynne Pape (Spell Checker) Mrs. Surtees (Librarian) James Allison (Secretary)

Word Search Answers:

K E N I L W W E B E A W Y A R T L S W O A B I N N Y C L D P K A S L S N W A Q E A C U Y E A T N E R E N E G G L E S

O R T I T T T E S

C S E A L M T O N

W C H L H D R I V E M T A I B S N N Y B O O O W Y T R N A V R S A C Y I E C V R E K R E E W C E B R A N K S O M E S U C C R C Y B L E S E E A E R T S K C I N N T V I E W

Christmas Quiz Winners The joint winners of the Christmas Quiz in the last edition of the school newspaper are: Bethany Allchurch and Victoria Feldon.

They each win a book and some Branksome Bs

The answers were: 1 Snow 2 Rovanjemi 3 Geese a laying 4 Charles Dickens 5 1973