Nchs magazine 2006 2007

NCHS On-line Magazine 2006/2007 1

Contents Page School Matters

Page 3

Pastoral Care & Charities

Page 16

The Teacher Feature

Page 24

Subject Spotlight: Art Drama & Performing Arts English French Mathematics Physical Education Religious Studies Science Textiles

Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page

Lower School Poetry Section

Page 79

Lower School Prose Section

Page 91

Art Gallery

Page 104

36 41 49 62 64 65 69 74 77

Editor & Photos : Miss C Chapman Front Cover : Louise Pearson U6

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An Interview with Mrs Lesley Smith on her departure as Head of Church High Senior School

1. Are you glad to have been Headmistress of Church High? Did the school turn out to be everything you thought it would be?

You never quite know how things are going to change in a school, everything is so unpredictable and you never know what will happen next. It's been an amazing experience.

2. How would you describe your Church High experience?

I have met some fantastic people and amazing things have happened. I am really proud of the changes that have taken place with the school buildings and new subjects, also raising the standard of results, so it has been an absolutely fascinating job trying to make things better, but exhausting as well.

3. Are there any secrets you can tell us about Church High?

Oh, I wish there were some really interesting ones to tell! What kind of secrets were you thinking of? That's one of the disadvantages of my job, because even if you do come across juicy secrets, you have got to keep them to yourself. The parents and girls and teachers need to know that if they come and tell me something, then I am never going to tell anybody else. It is completely confidential. So unfortunately I can't! Even my husband says when something comes up about the school, "You never told me that" and I say, "No, I never tell you anything like that". But I don't think there have been too many really, sorry!

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4. How does Church High compare to other schools you have worked at?

Well in some ways it is very similar, because I have always worked in girls schools, but the interesting thing is how different schools are. I see this when I visit schools during inspections. It's very similar in atmosphere to the school I worked at in Ealing, London, which was in the same group as Central High. It started in the Victorian era and the girls were all very kind, upbeat and lively, doing lots of different things and doing very well in the classroom. That was such fun and I worked there for 20 years, I liked it so much. Then the next school was St Nicholas in Fleet; that was a slightly smaller school like Westfield, and that was very interesting because we had a pony club and ran a horse show every year!. We didn't actually have horses at the school, but lots of the girls were horse riders.

What was exciting there was that I decided to move the school completely. I found this fabulous big house and estate on the outskirts and we decided we would move the school from the centre of the town out there. So in some ways they have been very similar, but also very individual and very unique. But really a school is the people inside and there is always a unique combination of people at any one time. The school buildings may be the same, but it is always different groups of girls at different ages.

5. How do you feel about leaving Church High?

Wow! I don't know yet, because I haven't. You will have to come back and ask me at the end of next term, because at the minute everything is still just normal.

The one thing I really didn't want was to say to everyone I was going and then still be here a year later with everyone thinking "Hasn't she gone yet?" It will feel very, very strange, but when I came up here, I did have a sabbatical ( a year's leave) term before I started as head of Church High. I had huge fun then going all over Newcastle, Northumberland and just travelling around the area, which I thoroughly enjoyed. So, I have got a few plans, but I am not going to say, because everyone will just say "Have you done that yet?" and I probably won't have done, because I will have done something else! It does feel very strange at the moment, because everyday just feels like a normal day as if I will be coming back in September. I shall probably find it very difficult not to drive down Osborne Road and turn right. So I will have to avoid that, won't I? 6. What are your future plans?

One thing I really, really like doing is writing. I want to do more travel, but not in the school holidays. I think I have got a few ideas on the go. I love jewellery, paintings and Art, so I would like to do more art.

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7.Do you realize you are famous for your stilettos? How would you describe your fashion sense and do you have a favourite designer?

Well, I haven't got one favourite designer, but all stiletto fans would love to have some Christian Louboutin shoes, wouldn't they? I am afraid I am not in the right place to nip off to the sales to get some and I am just too mean to pay ÂŁ350 for them, particularly as I am bound to get them stuck in a pavement crack and ruin the heels! The problem is, all you girls have got much taller and I have only stayed the same size, so if I walked round in flat shoes all the time, I would just be talking to peoples' waistbands, so I have to add a little extra height with stilettos. That's my excuse, and I am sticking to it, anyway. And the designer? I like all shoes but I do like Pied a Terre and Dune, as well. But without my stilettos I wouldn't be able to look you in the eye.

8.What qualities should a Church High girl have in your opinion? Do you consider yourself a role model for the girls?

Oh, I hope not in one way, because it's a terrible burden, as you will find out when you have got daughters and jobs, because it's very hard going. In one way, my career has been nothing like yours will be, because I have been a teacher all the time and I don't think any of you will be like that; I'm sure you will have to change jobs, try out different things. You will probably have all sorts of different jobs and have a completely different kind of career. But one thing that's important is that girls do see other girls and women in charge.

There was a school near my last job, that always made me laugh. They had adverts for the school which said " Where girls come first. All prospective enquiries to The Headmaster". That's a bit of a contradiction isn't it really?

You are all so confident, you don't realise you are confident, but you are, and I think that if I had been as confident as you when I was at school, I probably would be ruling the world now! So you have everything going for you.

I think Church High girls are also very good at getting on with people and working with them and those are two very important things when you go and get jobs. I think most girls get a very good balance, because you work hard and you play hard. People do work hard and they get really good exam results, but also they do other good things as well. But the main quality is confidence. You can be yourself as long as you are confident, because otherwise you miss out on opportunities.

9. Who are your role models and did you base your teaching styles on anyone else?

Well, I had one teacher who I thought was very good when I was at school and she was a history teacher, so that's what I am. She was very different from other teachers because she tried to get you to think for yourself. At the school I attended, I realised that the teachers were scared of us because they had a

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school full of a lot of very, very bright girls and if we all ganged up on them, they couldn't have coped. So we used to say it was like a concentration camp; it was horrible. I enjoyed school for the lessons, for the subjects, but a lot of the lessons were ever so boring, so when I stepped up as Head, I thought it doesn't have to be like that. So it's more that it gave me a negative role model and made me think "Why should it be like that?"

I think you have got to get people to think for themselves, and take responsibility and you then find that they do better than when you just tell them everything and say " Don't ask any questions just do as I tell you." That wouldn't be my kind of teaching.

10. Who will you miss the most from Church High?

Oh dear me, but I won't know till I've left will I? I have worked with some fantastic people, like Mrs Quince. I've also worked with some wonderful teachers. I've been really lucky and all the people I've worked with have been really, really great people. All the people in the office have been wonderful with their support and I'll miss all of the teachers popping in with amazing ideas. I'll miss hearing about what people are doing. And as well as that, I'll also miss seeing some of the little ones because if things are getting on your nerves, you just go over to the juniors and see all the little girls there, you think 'Ah, why do they have to change?' It makes you forget all the things that are bothering you.

In some jobs, you only work with a very small number of people, perhaps only half a dozen people in your office and you don't see anyone else, but there are hundreds of people in a school, so I think I'll miss the community feeling as well.

11. What is the hardest decision that you have had to make at Church High?

That's a really good question. I don't think there is one decision. If you'd said that about my last school, that would have been the decision to move the school, if that was wrong, everything would have gone wrong, but it didn't . I think, your are having to make decisions all the time, as a Head. Some of them go wrong; you just have to do the best you can with the information you have at the time and trust people. 99.9% of people will live up to your expectations or more and surprise you by how good they are. Occasionally somebody is going to let you down, but you can't live your life on ' bated breath' or you'd never make any decisions. Sometimes when you have to make decisions you think, "Well I hope this is going to work". The minute something's happened, you just get on and do the best with it. Sometimes it's just a small everyday decision, sometimes it turns out to be a lot bigger than you imagined. That's what makes my job interesting, you cant predict everything.

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12. What has been your best moment at Church High?

There have just been far too many to pick out one and while you are still in the middle of everything it is very hard to step back and think. In a few months time, it might be easier to tell you. Probably the best one would before I ever arrived here, which was getting the phone call offering me the job because I so much wanted this job. I had applied for 2 jobs and got interviews for both of them and for the other job I had 2 interviews; they asked me to come back a week later, and between the 2 interviews I had 2 days here. But I liked it so much here that as soon as they offered me the job, I cancelled the 2nd interview. That was a fantastic moment because I really wanted to come and I was so thrilled, even though I wasn't even here yet. That was 12 years ago now.

Time flies by. So that is my warning to you, Time will fly by!

13. If you had to go back and change something what would it be?

When I first came here, the governors had virtually managed to get hold of the tennis court behind the school, and then there was a change in the National Health Service organisation and it didn't happen. I can't help thinking how fantastic it would have been if it had been ours. If only they hadn't changed the NHS, we would have had a lot more space for you to let off steam and if I would change anything and wave my magic wand, that would be it. When you look at the aerial photograph of the school, it seems such a shame. You think, "It should be ours!" I think it would have made a lot of difference, because since we built the Art and Home Economics block, you hardly have any space.

So that's the one thing I really would have liked to change.

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14. How would you like to be remembered at Church High?

I think the great thing is that as soon as you have left a school, everything moves on very quickly, so however many mistakes you have made, most people will very quickly have forgotten about them. I mean, who's thinking about Tony Blair now? I just hope that overall all the important things about the school have stayed the same, like the atmosphere, and that a lot of the other important things have improved, ie, all the other opportunities you have got, things like Church High Challenge. When I came here, there were very few opportunities like that, or in Drama, Dance and Sport. There was also hardly any Art. All those things which I think are very important. So I hope that people will think I made some good changes and that I also kept the important precious things going.

That's how I would like to be remembered.

We want to thank Mrs Smith for taking the time to talk to us at a very busy time for her and for answering our questions so thoughtfully and fully.

We also want to thank her for all that she has put into the school during her time as Head here. We know that the school building alone has been transformed by her vision. We have her to thank for our new Art block and for the Sports Hall, too. It's hard to imagine Church High without them now.

By Christie Clint, Francesca Cowan, Sara Jackson, Karen Law, Phoebe Mussett-Harford and Ambika Venayak (Year 10)

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An Interview with Mrs Gatenby

Following the announcement that this was to be Mrs Smith's last year as Head of Newcastle Church High Senior School, Jessica Wardle and Charlotte Critchlow (Year 8R) decided to interview Mrs Gatenby about her forthcoming role as Acting Head of Church High School for the next school academic year.

Her responses to the girls' questions are outlined below: 1. Were you surprised when the Governors asked you to become Headmistress?

Yes, but I was pleased that the Governors had confidence in me.

2. What are you most looking forward to in the Senior School?

I'm most looking forward to getting to know the pupils that did not go through the Junior School and seeing the girls that did once again.

3. What changes do you hope to make to the school?

The Sixth Form told me they would like to wear suits next year and I was delighted to hear this, as I would really like to see all girls looking smart next year.

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4. Are you nervous about having such a big responsibility?

No, I am very much looking forward to working with the pupils and the Senior School staff, especially Mrs Roe! 5. What has been your greatest challenge to date?

I would say that has to be becoming Head of the Junior School and dealing with the many changes that have occurred over the past ten years.

6. What inspired you to become a teacher?

When my sons were very young, there were no playgroups in the area, so I helped to start and run a playgroup. I became very interested in the development of young children, so I went back to college in my mid 30's and trained to become a teacher.

7. Describe your perfect day.

To come into school seeing smiling faces, to then take an assembly where the girls are very interested in what I am saying followed by an inspiring Maths lesson culminating in showing interested parents around the school would be a perfect morning. Then, I would have a peaceful lunch with no interruptions, go into my office and quietly do my paperwork.

After school, I would conduct a successful staff meeting and then go home and walk my dog. However, if I'm not at work, I like nothing more than a long walk on the coast with my husband and dog, with an excellent pub lunch in the middle of the day!

8. Who is your hero or heroine?

My Mother!

9. Name your favourite charities.

St Oswald's Hospice, Shelter and Battersea Dogs Home .

10. What is your favourite food?

I enjoy cooking as well as eating and, fortunately, so does my husband!

Indian food is a great favourite as it is fun to cook and so tasty! Having said that, I never say 'No' to chocolate!

11 . What is your favourite drink?

A nice cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc goes down very well at the end of a long day! I don't drink tea at all and I only developed a taste for coffee when I went to University! I do however, drink a lot of sparkling water.

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12 . Name your favourite holiday destination?

I enjoyed visiting California. It is a beautiful state and I found the people to be genuinely friendly and helpful. However, nearer to home, I particularly enjoy walking in the Lake District and the west coast of Scotland.

13 . What is your favourite book or song and why?

Song : 'Learn to be Still' by Don Henley (The Eagles) reminds me that I should take the time to appreciate all that is good and beautiful in life.

'Patience' by Guns n' Roses takes me back to the years my son and his (now) wife spent apart when they were doing medical degrees at different universities. They certainly needed patience! I could write an endless list, but these have a special meaning for me.

Book : Jane Austen has been a favourite author since I was a teenager and having read all her books again recently, I would have to say that 'Pride and Prejudice' is still my favourite. 'Miss Garnet's Angel' by Sally Vickers is a book I have recommended to my friends in recent years: it is about a retired schoolteacher building a new life in Venice and is a very moving and evocative story. I also thoroughly enjoy reading a good thriller!

'Past Imperfect' by John Matthews and 'The Poet' by Michael Connelly are two of my favourites.

14. When you retire how do you want people to remember you?

As being a strong, caring Headmistress.

15. If you were Prime Minister what would be your first priority?

My priorities would be to restore trust in the Government and respect in our communities. A government should always take care of the vulnerable, but I would so like to see those who were able to, taking responsibility for their own lives.

16. Sum yourself up in 3 words.

Caring, strong and enthusiastic.

Thank you very much for your time, Mrs Gatenby, and 'Good Luck' with your new job. We hope you will enjoy it as much as running the Junior School.

By Charlotte Critchlow and Jessica Wardle, Year 8R

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An interview with Mr Wood Mr Wood, Head of Business Studies, is leaving us this year after 22 years teaching at Church High. Year 10 girls talked to him about his time here.

1. Have you had any embarrassing moments while working here?

I haven't had very many embarrassing moments in life. A vicar in church once asked me to play the trumpet and I was completely out of time with the organist! Then there was the time I organised a school disco and some of the children broke some of the school's equipment. I had to go and apologise to Mrs Gatenby. Fortunately, she was very nice about it.

2. Will you miss teaching at Church High?

Yes! I've taught here since I was thirty-one - 1985 in fact. I will miss the students I've taught. I'll miss the surprise and variety of working with young people. You never know what someone is going to say in a class - teachers have to keep on their toes! The student body at Church High contains some fascinating characters - almost as fascinating as their parents, who are an equally diverse bunch! The same could be said of us teachers.

3. Is there anything you regret in your time here at Church High?

Very little. Every teacher finds that good lessons are wonderful experiences, but that poor ones are pretty miserable. I expect the pupils find the same! So I would have liked to have worked even harder to make sure all my lessons were good ones

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4. What have you learnt while teaching at this school?

I hope I have learned to respect everybody, even if they have different opinions to myself. Treating everybody equally is terrifically important in any sort of job, and is much easier said than done.

5. Has Church High opened any doors for you?

Yes, there has always been a new challenge, something extra to do. Whether it was running the school shop for many years, or doing Young Enterprise, or teaching different subjects or organising assemblies - or even performing in a school pantomime (not my greatest talent!)

I have also found that being a teacher has helped me immensely in being a dad, and helping my own children with their school careers. I have also written a couple of books on the sixth form course that I teach here, and that has been very rewarding.

6. Why did you decide to leave Church High? And when did you decide to join the charity, the Christian Institute?

I decided to leave Church High before Easter 2007. I made this decision because I thought it was time to do something different in life. I will certainly miss teaching, though.

I have been a supporter of the Christian Institute for many years. It is a campaigning organisation that tries to influence the laws that get passed in Parliament in a Christian direction. I was very glad when an opportunity came up to work for them.

7. And have you enjoyed being in the school pantomimes and making everyone laugh?

I enjoyed performing as the Captain in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Pirates Of Penzance'' when I first came to teach here. And, yes, I have enjoyed the pantomimes greatly. I will have to ask Miss Hall for cameo roles in further Christmas pantomimes in the future, won't I?.

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8. What do you hope people will take away from your assemblies?

Teaching is all about giving students anything and everything that you have to offer as a person. Being a Christian is important to me, and I hope that has come across. Of course, what anyone believes is a personal matter. But the job of any school is to open possibilities to students.

I hope that the assemblies I have organised have helped students to understand what being a Christian is all about. What you choose to do with the information is up to you.

9. We really enjoyed your final assembly for us when you played 'Three blind Mice' on the trumpet. Do you play any other instrument other than the trumpet? And what kind of music do you like?

No, I don't play any other instruments. I learnt to play the trumpet whilst I was in school, and I regret that I did not continue to play it. My children play a range of instruments; violin, cello, piano, flute and the clarinet. We have a great music department at Church High - so make sure you take advantage of it!

My own musical tastes are classical. But I can just about cope with The Beatles!

10. How has Church High changed while you have taught here?

The facilities are a lot better - the ICT facilities are as good as you will find anywhere. And the atmosphere has become less formal. In many respects this is a good thing - so long as everyone knows where the boundaries are, and those boundaries are respected.

11. What is your favourite subject to teach Business Studies or ICT? And have you taught any other subjects?

Economics and Business Studies is my specialist area, and therefore my favourite. I had also taught Religious Education for several years before I came here and have taught this subject to Year 7s in the past, too.

12. [Harpreet's question]Are you really going to come back and haunt me if I don't get an 'A' in Business Studies?

No, Harpreet - only joking! But seriously - why be second best? I want to hear, Harpreet, that you and every student in your year gets amazing results in 2008.

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13. What is your most memorable moment at Church High?

One of the things that has given me the greatest thrill as a schoolteacher is when you find a student with a talent, and that talent has been held back maybe because of dyslexia or some other medical problem or handicap. Or sometimes it might be difficult family circumstances. And then sometimes it is possible to encourage them, and give them self-confidence in the ability that they have. To see a student face up to a problem and overcome it is always a very moving experience.

Last year, a student graduated from Gosforth High School, having lost most of his fingers in the Sixth Form through meningitis. When he went up to receive an award at prize giving, I am told that the roar of applause was absolutely deafening. Every difficulty overcome, whether great or small, is a cause for great rejoicing.

14. If you could change anything about Church High before you leave what would it be? And why would you do this?

I would like to replace the current school motto. When my brother left university back in the 1970s, he taught for a year at Awaba High School in Papua New Guinea. In their school magazine, they had the following couplet. It may not be great poetry, but it's a great truth: Only one life, soon it is past Only what's done for Jesus will last

Thank you, Mr Wood. You've been a great teacher and we wish you all the best for the future. Good Luck! We will miss you a lot.

Interview by: Natasha Blades, Jenna Chater, Natasha Malik, Beth Milburn, Ellen Storey and Harpreet Uppal (Year 10)

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National Anti-Bullying Week, 2006 This academic year, the Pastoral Team decided to use the National Anti-bullying Week, in November, as an opportunity to address the many issues connected with the subject of 'bullying' in schools and beyond, devoting the week in school to the topic and in particular, the role of 'The Bystander', the focus of this year's campaign.

The aim was to invite staff to adopt a cross-curricular approach to the topic and try to incorporate different aspects of the subject of bullying into their subject lessons. A large display of the response work was created for the main entrance corridor by Mrs Crawford and each year group were given an assembly reflecting on the roles of bully, victim and bystander by their Heads of Year.

Of the departments that took on the task of cross-curricular work, two of the most successful were the English and Drama departments. Miss Chapman's Year 8 English group created a poetry anthology which was properly laminated and bound so that it could be displayed in the LRC for girls in other year groups to read; some of the poems were also featured in the main corridor display. A selection of the very thoughtful, moving and sometimes disturbing poetry created by the girls is also included below for you to read, in the process providing an even wider audience for these poems on the World Wide Web. The girls' main aim was to show the wide range of feelings and responses triggered by episodes of bullying, whether major or minor; they also hoped to show that there was a way to beat the bullies too - to speak out and tell someone, even though this is a frightening prospect at first, as the role of both victim and bystander is a difficult one. They wanted people to know they are not alone and that they shouldn't feel scared or ashamed.

Miss Everton's Year 9 drama groups also took the challenge very much to heart and created very successful play on the subject, which was performed for other schools [ See article in Drama section ]. But what was most striking from a teaching point of view was just how much affected the girls were by the opportunity to think about these things.

The content of the creative writing produced by all year groups this year seems to reflect a deeper sensibility of the emotional impact of all kinds of day-to-day experiences on people [ See Poetry and Prose sections } - which is a credit to them.

It is a job well done for the Pastoral team if Church High girls are more thoughtful and empathetic people as a consequence of their experiences in school during this week.

C Chapman, Head of Years 10 & 11 16

Do You Get Bullied?

By Emma Latham, Year 8

Do you get bullied?

Do you dread going to school?

Do you get insulted?

Do you get pushed into the pool?

Does everyone gang up on you?

Do you get hurt?

Do they push you around?

Do you get called “squirt”?

Do you get punched?

Do you get kicked?

Do you get the blame?

Do you get stuff nicked?

When you go to school, The very next day, Go and tell the teacher, Don’t just hide away.

When you go to school , The very next day, Do something about it, And the bullies will go away.

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I’m different to everyone else, I always have been.

People judge me by one look, And simply by what they’ve seen.

They never care about the real me, I guess it’s the outside that really matters.

People like me are never included, The outside of me must be in tatters.

People never stop to say 'Hello', Or ask how you're feeling.

They just walk briskly past me, What is the meaning?

People never give me a chance, To help them when they're hurt, They don’t help me either, They just treat me like dirt.

Now that I’m older, I get all the bad grades, And no matter how hard I try, My confidence fades.

No one picks me for their teams, I'm always the last one picked.

They never understand how I feel, No matter how many times I’m tricked.

Now I’m even older, No one will give me a job, Even when I’ve got better qualifications They gang up on me like a mob.

They won’t let me have a house.

They say they've lost the application, Then shut me away.

That always fills me with frustration.

Now I’m old and grey, I look back at my story.

I realise racism ruled them, In all its glory.

I’m a black sheep, In a field of White.

My life blends into darkness, 18 Year 8 And me into night... By Rachael Peacock,

The Bully Tunnel I look around the darkness as I start to stumble It's no fun being a victim in the Bully Tunnel You walk around the tunnel day and night Hoping you'll keep out of the bully's sight As I tread around looking for a way out A bully comes along and gives me a sharp clout I collapse to the floor in a flood of tears and try and drown away all my fears But I've decided that I've had enough Being in the Bully Tunnel is pretty rough I see a bully come ready for a fight But run past him until I'm in the light I'm out of the Bully Tunnel, what a delight But I stop and think 'something's not right' I then remember and my heart fills with sorrow For the others still lost in the Bully Tunnel.

By Grace Olukoga, Year 8

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The Victim of the Bully Being bullied isn't fun You really wish they wouldn't come Walking along the endless ground Hoping not to be found The jeers, the comments, the hurting galore What on earth is it for?

The needle stings inside my eyes The two faced people, the stupid lies I wish to go, to be free The bullies have just found me I am worthless, I am nothing I can feel their anger frothing The bullies call, the bullies cheer They don't ever feel my fear I face them now, my head up tall, The bully strikes and how I fall I scramble up and back away I do not wish to be as I lay Ignore, ignore is what I do They hate that it is so true They shout and scream the piercing jeers I walk away, my eyes full of my fears I walk into a small, dark place Trying hard to hide my face Sometimes, I wish not to go To school, go out, to and fro The hurting, catches up with me, Sadness, how I do wish to be free The hurting it never stops Again and again, the final drop A tear another until I'm dry Just another stupid lie The hurt reflects upon my face When will be my final race?

I listen to the words they said I can't seem to get them out of my head The life I lead, is not what I crave Why can't the bullies just behave.

Being bullied isn't fun, It's like you're on one giant big run A long one that never seems to end But I think I can see the last bend Being bullied isn't because you're lame To the bullies you're just a game Do not think it's because of you You're being bullied that is all that's true You're being bullied

By Hannah Jobey - Year 8

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Tiny Lives was our chosen school charity for the year 2006-2007.

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Clubs at Church High Most girls are aware of the huge variety of sports and music clubs on offer during lunchtimes, before and after school. However, many of the other clubs are often undeservedly overlooked.

Take Drama for example. Church High takes great pride in its marvellous Drama department and all who have seen the annual performances at The Little Theatre, 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' being the most recent, will agree that the work of this department is not only professional but extremely admirable. As well as the very popular Speech and Drama classes lead by Mrs Burke, there are drama clubs available for each year group. The Year 9 drama group recently put together a play and workshop about bullying which they went on to perform to several local primary schools, providing them with a wonderful experience to improve their drama skills, increase their confidence and get an idea about working with children. Year 7 and 8 Drama Club was also responsible for this year's Christmas pantomime, which was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by all who watched, especially with the guest appearance of Mr Henley, back home for the Christmas holidays from his new job teaching History in Qatar. These are just a few of the clubs made available to us through the Drama department.

3:16 is a club which has recently been put together by some Year 11 girls, Mrs Cuthbertson, Mrs Merrick, Mr Wood and Mrs Michie. It has also been a great success and girls come along to explore the idea of faith and Christianity in a 'chill zone' where they can meet up with friends from all years to socialise and enjoy refreshments in a relaxed environment.

Another club which people may be unaware of is the Year 7 Craft Club supervised by Mrs Farrin and Mrs Michie, where girls can develop their textiles skills in the company of their friends, with girls from years above there to help. Here girls have the opportunity to experiment with sewing and they are currently creating bookmarks. This club is held in the Home Economics room at lunchtimes, where the girls are left to work things out for themselves with the knowledge that there are teachers close by with the skills they need, if help is called for. The environment is very relaxed with everybody working at their own pace without any pressure.

All these clubs help build life long skills for the girls who attend them, whilst also building friendships and helping to make the week more exciting by providing a well-deserved break from school work. And we mustn't forget that these more specialised clubs are also run in conjunction with the constant opportunities on offer in the area of Sport and Music.

By Lucy Herron, Year 9 23

Do you really know your teachers like you think you do ?

In this article we will be interviewing some of our teachers to give you a little taster of what really goes on in their lives.

The subjects which we have chosen to focus on are : • • • •

French History Lunch Maths

Now we have chosen these interesting subjects we are going to tell you why.

We decided to choose Madame Oliver from the French department because we knew she had an interesting background, as a native of France. We chose Mr Cole and Mr Hyde from the History department because they are both new teachers at our school, so we decided to give you a 'scoop' of information about them.

We decided to focus on one of the catering staff, because everyone eats their lunch but do they appreciate what the kitchen staff are doing for them? So we thought Mrs Oakley would be the perfect person to interview.

Finally, we felt that Maths can sometimes come across as a subject which not many people particularly enjoy, but we felt that Mr Jones with his positive outlook might possibly change opinions about this subject. Let's find out !

So how well do you really know your teachers ?

By Sophie Blake, Emma Henderson and Katie Winter, Year 8

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French An interview with the Head of French, Madame Oliver 1. What school did you go to ?

I went to Lycée Héléne Boucher in France.

2. Was French your favourite subject in school, if not what was ?

French was my language, of course, but I really liked History.

3. What was your worst subject in school ?

Art! I was very bad at it. [ laughs ] 4. Do you have any interests outside of school ?

I like gardening, shopping, like everyone, and travelling too.

5. You obviously lived in France at one point in your life and we were wondering why you moved over here to England ?

I married Mr Oliver , an Englishman, so I moved over here to England.

6. How did you decide which school to teach at ?

Before I came to Church High School, I was working at a state school and there was a job advertisement for Church High and I was lucky enough to get the job here.

7. How long have you been teaching for ?

I've been teaching for about 20 years now.

8. Sum yourself up in 3 words [ Girls decided on these as Madame Oliver is very modest ] Intelligent Smiling - Caring 9. Were you popular at school ?

I was very shy. I didn't really mix, so I was not that popular, I'm afraid.

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10. Whereabouts did you live in France ?

I lived in Thionville in the North East of France, then I moved with my parents to the South Of France, to Tarascon and I studied in Montpellier.

11. Did you find it hard learning the English language and how long did it take ?

I started learning German first and then I learned English at 14. It was very hard and I had difficulty pronouncing the words at the start.

12. Do you know anymore languages, if so what are they ? [ Laughs ] I speak Italian, English and German.

13. We can probably guess, but what is your favourite language ?

Oh well, I find French the easiest, but I speak English more, so I will say English 14. What is your favourite French and English food ?

My favourite French food is pancakes ( CrĂŞpe ). My favourite English food is Yorkshire puddings!

15. And finally do you like sport ?

I like swimming.

16. Who is your favourite super-hero ?

It would have to be Inspector Clouso from 'The Pink Panther' films! .

Thank You very much, Madame Oliver. We've enjoyed learning more about you.

By Sophie Blake, Emma Henderson and Katie Winter, Year8

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History Interview with Mr Cole

1. What was your favourite lesson at school and what was your worst?

I liked both Geography and History. My worst subject was probably Woodwork.

2. What was your lowest mark in a history exam?

My lowest mark in History was a B. 3. How old were you when you decided you wanted to become a History teacher?

I'm not sure, to be honest.

4. What is your favourite period in History?

I enjoy The Romans and The Black Death.

5. Why are these your favourite periods?

Probably because there were lots of battles and lots of gore.

6. Is there a period in History you do not like?

I've never liked The Industrial Revolution.

7. Why do you not like this period?

I find it boring because it is all about machines.

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8. What university did you study History at ?

I studied at Newcastle University.

9. Which school did you go to and did you like your History teachers at school?

I went to Haydon Bridge School and, yes, I did like my History teachers.

10. Would you say History is a hard subject?

Yes, harder than most subjects because you have to use your imagination.

11. What else were you interested in at school?

I liked Geography and school trips, especially going to the Lake District.

12. What was your dream job as a young boy?

I wanted to be a professional footballer. My hero even now is Steven Gerrard of Liverpool.

13. Do you like teaching at our school and what's the best thing about teaching here?

Yes, I do enjoy it, because the pupils are all nice. The lunches are quite nice, too! I like food.

14. Do you think you will ever move on to teach at a different school ?

Yes, that will undoubtedly happen. Teaching contracts are not always long ones, especially when you are just starting out in teaching.

15. Do you ever regret becoming a History teacher?

No, not yet!

By Jessica English, Adrienne Ramsey and Tanya Vadhera, Year 8 28

History Interview with Mr Hyde

1.What was your favourite lesson at school?

I liked both History and Sport 2.What was your lowest mark in a History exam?

My lowest mark in History was a B. 3.How old were you when you decided you wanted to become a History teacher?

I was 21 years old.

4.What is your favourite period in History?

The 20th Century would have to be my favourite.

5.Why is this your favourite period?

Probably because there are a lot of films and videos about this historical period and it is therefore more real and affects our lives now.

6.Is there a period in History you do not like?

I'm not really interested in anything to do with too much religion and agriculture, to be honest.

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7.Why do you not like these topics?

Probably because they are boring and hard to teach, I think.

8. What university did you study History at?

I studied Politics at Durham University.

9.Did you like your History teachers at school?

Yes, I did.

10.Would you say History is a hard subject to learn?

Yes, it's the 3rd or 4th hardest GCSE according to the government.

11.What else were you interested in at school?

I was always interested in Sport- football and rugby, in particular.

12.What was your dream job when you were little?

I dreamed of playing centre forward for Liverpool 13.Do you like teaching at our school and what's the best thing about teaching here?

Yes, I do like it, because the girls are polite and confident enough to ask questions.

14.Do you think you will ever move on to teach at a different school ?

Probably, I would expect to teach at more than one school in my career.

15.Do you ever regret becoming a History teacher?

No, never.

By Jessica English, Adrienne Ramsey and Tanya Vadhera, Year 8

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Lunch

An interview with Mrs Oakley, our Head of Catering in the school kitchen: 1. What made you want to become a cook ?

I originally wanted to be a gardener, but somehow I just didn't follow that path and I fell into being a cook.

2. What is your favourite food to cook ?

I love cooking things which people like, for instance my boys love my macaroni cheese.

3. Do you enjoy being a Lunch Lady ?

Yes, I do, very much.

4. Do you ever think that students are rude when asking for lunch ?

Yes, very much so, really, really rude sometimes, which is very sad.

5. Who is your favourite cook ?

I have worked with Paul Rankin and I love Gordon Ramsay, too.

6. Who is your favourite super-hero ?

Wolverine from 'The X-Men', definitely.

7. Do you have enough time to cook for everyone ?

Yes, I do, because we have an excellent team of staff in the school kitchen who work very hard indeed so that you get a good range of food

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8. There are some vegetarians and people with specific eating problems in this school. Do you find it hard cooking for everyone's different needs ?

It can be quite difficult cooking for everyone, but vegetarians are not a problem at all.

9. What other interests do you have outside of cooking ?

I like Cycling very much and have a love of Nature and enjoy walking too.

10. Everyone loves chocolate cake and chocolate custard, but recently it has been changed to normal custard. Do you have any intention of changing it back to the way it was ?

I changed it so that there was variety, but there have been lots of requests for the return of chocolate custard and it will come back soon.

11. Do you get on with the teachers in the school ?

Yes, I do.

12. Do you feel that some of the comments on the meals are sometimes harsh ?

When girls give us comments in the feedback book, a lot of them I just can't answer, because they don't make sense. I mean some people just put 'Yuck'? What was 'Yuck'? If they don't say what, we won't know.

13. Food on first lunch has often gone before the rest of the lunches come. Will there be any changes to this ?

It's very difficult, because we have to keep lunch back for the juniors.

We don't know the specific order senior girls will arrive, because it seems to us that everyone comes in together. We need to know the times, the systems and the separation between each lunch. It isn't clear to us at the moment. We just do our best.

Thank you for answering our questions, Mrs Oakley. We wish you lots of luck in your new job next year. We're sad to see you go.

By Sophie Blake, Emma Henderson and Katie Winter, Year 8 32

Maths An interview with Mr Jones, the only male member of the Maths Department.

1. What school did you go to ?

I went to St Margaret's, Church of England School, Aigburth.

2. What is your favourite colour and favourite animal ?

My favourite colour is red and my favourite animal is a cat.

3. Do you have any interest outside of teaching Maths ?

Yes, I do. I like football, reading, playing chess and I love walking, too.

4. Sum yourself up in 3 words Only 3 words? [Smiles] Perfect - but - modest.

5. What is your favourite food ?

My favourite food is fish and chips, even though I don't have it often.

6. What is your most embarrassing moment in school ( be honest ) ?

I played in the pantomime, a couple of years back in 2003. I played a prisoner, not really sure what I was doing. [ laughs his head off ] Then I got given a basketball by someone and I just started bouncing it. I had no idea what to do.

7. Was Maths your favourite subject in school and if not, what was ?

Yes, it was my favourite subject. No surprise there.

8. What was your worst subject in school?

My worst subject would have to be Music.

9. What age did you realise you had a talent for Maths and did you do anything about it ? [ Thinks ].. Probably at 6 years old and I worked very hard at it.

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10. Who was your inspiration for Maths ?

My maths teacher - Mr Kenyon - was my inspiration at school.

11. What made you want to teach Maths ?

I don't really know, I just enjoyed Maths and that particular job was good for me as it used Maths !

12. Did you ever not like Maths ?

No 13. When your students don't like Maths can you understand why and try and help them ?

I try to help as much as I can and I understand when people don't like Maths. I have taught not very good mathematicians' in the past.

14. What was your favourite topic in Maths at school and has it changed now ?

My favourite topic in school was algebra and now it is calculus.

15. When you were at school what kind of pupil were you ?

I was quiet 16. Were you popular in school ?

Reasonably so, but I was not the centre of attention in any way. [ Laughs ] 17. Do you have any advice in Maths for any pupils who want to be successful ?

Yes, be willing to practise, even when you don't think it is working.

18. Who's your favourite super-hero ?

Danger Mouse, undoubtedly.

Thank you for answering our questions, Mr Jones!

By Sophie Blake, Emma Henderson and Katie Winter, Year 8

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Church High Church High is really cool; It really shows that girls rule.

All of the teachers are very nice; They give a ‘kick’ to the school, add some spice.

You have Mr Jones teaching polygon shapes, Mrs Kitto baking fairy cakes, Miss Chapman reading poetry books, Whilst Mr Fleck teaches story'hooks', Mrs Merrick with the cello, And Gentian’s a jolly fellow, Mr Wells with his colourful paints, Whilst Mrs Everton is teaching drama faints, Dr Timney with his jokes, Whilst Mrs Smith welcomes folks, Madame Oliver teaching French grammar, Whilst Miss Ornsby has a pleasant manner, Frau Parry with her Ludwig poster, With the lovely smell of the deli toaster, Dr Raymond with his walking maps, Whilst Mrs Crawford teaches about plant saps, Miss Hefford with her hockey sticks, Teaching pupils game tactics, Mrs Packham with her ‘forces’, Whilst Miss Bailey teaches waterfall gorges, Mr Cole with his Batman tie, Whilst Mrs Michie demonstrates apple pie, Zoe with her arty mind, Whilst Miss Hall is being very kind, Mrs Roe with her safety code, Whilst Mrs Box gets you in history mode, All our teachers have their ways, They’re great, they’re fun but........................

BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS! Sophie Blake, 8H

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Art Department At the end of the Summer Term, a large number of very appreciative guests (girls, parents, new visitors and staff) attended Mr Wells' GCSE and A Level Art Exhibition.

This exhibition is the highlight of the year for the Art Department, where the outstanding work produced by our highly talented Church High Art students is displayed for all to view in a relaxed and very convivial environment.

You only have to walk through the doors of the Art Department and the talent and passion of girls and staff alike is clear for all to see. A selection of the very best of this year's artwork is reproduced in the Art Gallery section, towards the end of this magazine, but the following photographs provide a visual record of a highly successful and enjoyable evening. The excerpt from Ruth Taylor's A Level written assignment on 'Hands', which is a required element of the art portfolio, also shows the investigative and academic work which the girls must also submit as part of the Art syllabus at advanced examination level.

C Chapman

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Drama and Performing Arts

We've had another highly productive year in the Drama and Performing Arts departments this year. Christmas saw the year 7/8 Drama Club performing with members of the Church High School staff in the school's Pirate Panto. February brought the highly successful 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' to the Little Theatre, Gateshead in May closely followed by the Shakespeare Schools Festival performance of 'The Taming of the Shrew' at the People's Theatre. The year 9 Drama Club performed an anti-bully play and workshop to local schools (see article). The end of the year was also marked by an evening of the Performing Arts on Tuesday 10th July.

The GCSE examination performances took place in March and demonstrated a range of breathtaking performances that ranged from the angst of loneliness in 'Of Mice and Men', family feuds and relationships in 'The Garden Room', and 'My Mother Said I Never Should' to the hilarious parody of school life in Church High, 'Cathedral High'.

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The highly talented and skilled students from the 'A' Level Drama and Theatre Studies course presented an enthralled audience with performances of 'Remembrance' based on the First World War, a modern adaptation of 'The Taming of the Shrew' called 'A Shrewd Move' and for the Lower Sixth, their own adaptation of John Newmeir's 'Semblance of Madness'.

If possible, next year's plans will be even bigger and bolder. There will be both a lower and higher school musical production next year, beginning with 'The Boyfriend' in October. The Year 9 Drama Club will be performing a series of short plays based on the theme of Life is what you make it and the Year 7/8 drama club will devise two short pieces of work to be performed in the Junior School. It's going to be a very busy year!

R. Everton, Head of Drama and Theatre Studies

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PUPILS TARGET BULLIES Pupils at Newcastle Church High School have been so inspired by police talks on bullying arranged by their Pastoral Team, they’ve written their own play to perform at schools around the North East.

The play tells the story of a victimised pupil who is teased and taunted by bullies before eventually becoming a bully herself and repeating the behavior of others. The pupils set out to help pupils understand how the victim is feeling, and also what it is like to be a bully.

Church High aims to educate all their pupils about bullying from an early age to ensure students are aware of its dangers and so are taught in a safe, happy environment. As part of their ongoing anti-bullying stance, Church High regularly invite the local community police officer into school to discuss the issue.

The six,Year 9 pupils were initially motivated by a talk from Northumbria Police PC Norman Fuller about tackling any type of bullying, including internet abuse and cyber chat room safety. They approached their drama teacher about the subject in the hope that they could do something to teach others about the issues of bullying.

Head of Drama for the Senior School, Ruchelle Everton, said: “The girls have been working on the play for four weeks and have scripted the entire thing themselves. They’ve also put together an interactive workshop so that the girls can ask questions and take part in role play scenarios.

“I usually work with 16-18 year olds on projects like this, but I was happy to help the Year 9 girls take their ideas forward since they approached the subject with such sensitivity and maturity. Within the drama group, girls are encouraged to use their creativity and express their talents through role playing and script writing.”

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Kathryn Lake, 13, from Newcastle, plays the leading role of the bully. She said: “National anti-bullying week kick started us into thinking about the subject, as well as talks with the local police. I took the idea to our drama group and we decided that it would be good to create and perform a play that other young people could relate to.”

Rachael Kandola, 14 from Cleadon Village, said: “It’s been really good fun performing the play and I think it will be something all the girls will enjoy listening to. We wanted to give them a chance to ask questions but not feel intimidated and we felt the workshop was a good way to do this.”

The girls have been

performing their play to

younger classes

throughout the school

and have had a

very positive response

from teachers and

parents, particularly

because of the way

they’ve been so pro-

active about the

subject. They are

planning to take

their work further a field

when they perform

to other schools in the

area.

PC Norman Fuller

of Northumbria Police

is the local

community officer for

the school. He said: “I am delighted to see the girls taking the subject of bullying so seriously. We have been working closely with the school to show pupils how to deal with issues that are difficult to raise with parents or teachers and helping them understand more about abuse and personal safety." The girls performed their play to pupils at Marden Bridge Middle School in Whitley Bay, Gosforth Central Middle School and Gosforth East Middle School. Their initiative and creativity are to be applauded - well done!

By C Chapman, adapted from a press -release by Katie Locke

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The School Musical 2007: 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'

Alex McGrady : Art Deco Style (Textiles) 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' was Church High's third and most successful musical performance, performed in the Little Theatre Gateshead.

In 2005 girls of Church High performed for the first time in The Little Theatre where they did a magnificent performance of 'On the Town'.

The show was so well received the following year, the girls returned and performed 'West Side Story' and in 2007 we once again returned and performed 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'.

The music was directed by Mrs Merrick, Miss Cunningham from the Junior School directed the drama elements and the dance was directed by Mrs Brett. Every year the shows seem to grow in size and in popularity; this year a phenomenal 82 students were involved. Before the show is cast, auditions are held in singing, dancing and drama. For instrumentally gifted musicians at the school, there is the chance to play in the music pit, and for people interested in art there is the opportunity to help the Art department and Mrs Timney with scenery and back stage work.

The show was cast at the beginning of October and rehearsals started straight away. The orchestra rehearsed twice a week and when the performances got closer, the rehearsals increased and we also had Christmas holiday and weekend rehearsals.

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Everyone involved in the show had a wonderful time; it gives us the chance to perform as professionals in all areas of the creative arts.

The build up to the show is one of my favourite parts. After all the long hours of hard rehearsals at school, when you get to the theatre you feel it was all worth it and it all comes together.

The week of the show, the rehearsals got longer and longer and more intense, but we started running the show all the way through.

On the Monday before the show we went to the theatre for the whole day. When we arrived, we were shown the dressing rooms and back stage, and the teachers started putting up the scenery.

Everyone was busy and looking forward to the first performance.

Wednesday was the first performance to the public. The Junior School watched us in the afternoon. Everyone was nervous back stage, but the audience enjoyed it and gave everyone on stage confidence and encouragement for the real performances. Thursday was the first night of paying customers and the show went well.

Holli Prescott the leading performer performed, sang, danced and acted better then I've ever seen and the audience loved her. On the final night with the show coming to an end, everyone was very upset, especially the 6th formers whose last show it was.

We are now waiting to her what next year's show will be. Will you be auditioning for it? I'd recommend you do.

By Holly Cuthbert and Katy Jacques, Year 9

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Past Pupils now taking Centre Stage .... Andrea Riseborough

By C Chapman

Andrea Riseborough, a past Church High Theatre Studies student, is now making a name for herself in the acting profession, starring both on stage and on film this year and being featured on no less than two occasions in The Sunday Times 'Culture' arts colour supplement.

Andrea first featured in 'The Sunday Times' last summer as a young actress 'Ripe with Possibility' in an article by Jasper Rees after being cast by Sir Peter Hall as Isabella in Shakespeare's 'Measure for Measure' and in the title role in Strindberg's 'Miss Julie'. Later in the year, her career progress was charted once again in a Sunday Times article entitled 'Move to Centre Stage' as she was awarded the prestigious Ian Charleson award for 2006 for her performances with the Peter Hall Company in Bath, then Stratford.

These annual awards are sponsored by The Sunday Times and The National Theatre in order to reward actors under the age of 30 for performances in a classical stage role. Andrea trained at RADA after leaving Church High and has done tremendously well to make her mark so early in such a notoriously difficult profession. At the age of 25, Andrea has already fulfilled two of her dreams with the role of Isabella: working with Peter Hall, then performing it at the RSC as part of the 2006-2007 Complete Works festival. Talented as she was at school, this is a far cry from performing on stage in the school hall and at The People's Theatre, where she started out at the age of nine.

In 2007, Andrea has appeared in the film 'Magicians', directed by Andrew 47

O'Connor, the story of two magicians who used to be a double act before an unfortunate on-stage fatality; Andrea played one of the magician's assistants.

Those who are following Andrea's career will have seen that most recently she has been reviewed by the national press in 'The Pain and The Itch', a new work by US author Bruce Norris in its UK premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, London. In this ruthlessly satirical play, Andrea plays the part of Kalina, a "staggeringly un-PC" Eastern European girlfriend of one of the male characters. Julie Carpenter of the Daily Mail writes that "Andrea Riseborough is wickedly funny".

We wish Andrea lots of luck and hope to enjoy seeing lots more exciting career developments unfold for her in the future. Her career so far cannot fail to be an inspiration to this year's U6 Theatre Studies students, Emma Carr and Hannah Cunningham, both of whom gained A grades at A2.

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English Department Once again, the creative out-put from the English Department this academic year has been very pleasing. Girls in Years 7 to 9 have produced a wide range of creative writing, a selection of which is featured in the Poetry and Prose sections towards the end of this magazine. The girls take a lot of pride in their work and this also extends to how it appears in print; the graphology of written work, the correct layout for particular genres and the need for a piece of writing to catch and hold a reader's attention is an important skill, which is taught to girls right from the start in the Senior school.

The girls also take an active role in how their work is displayed on the walls in Room 5. Eye-catching and stimulating wall displays are an important factor in creating a vibrant and stimulating working environment all year round - not just for Open Day. Year 7 worked on a prose text, 'Spellhorn', in the first term and a lot of strong writing connected to the senses was produced as a consequence of this. Year 8 worked on 'The Cuckoo Sister' and also focussed on various forms of informative writing including interviews (see The Teacher Feature section); they also took part in the Bullying poetry anthology project. Year 9, have worked on modern and Victorian prose fiction and Shakespeare's language in preparation for GCSE next year.

At GCSE in Year 10, this year's Shakespeare text was 'Romeo and Juliet', chosen to complement this year's RSC repertoire at Newcastle Theatre Royal. The whole year group attended a matinee performance of the play as well as a morning Insight session run by RSC Education. We use this experience to fulfil coursework requirements in both Literature and Language at GCSE. An example of the very convincing newspaper theatre reviews of the production written by the girls is included in this section. Literature assignments on the star-crossed lovers were made a lot easier this year due to a work-shop run in school by a practioner from the RSC education department, which invited the girls to consider the role of violence and love in Nancy Meckler's RSC production. The theme of teenage conflict in 'Romeo and Juliet' was also the inspiration for a GCSE Oral assignment, in many cases using PowerPoint presentations to excellent effect.

Our Year 11 GCSE results were outstanding this Summer. We received one of our highest percentages of A* from Set One for a number of years, two girls achieving within the top 5 marks in the country for English Literature. Well done, girls! This year group is undoubtedly very talented in English; the extremely high standard of writing reached by individual girls can be clearly seen in the examples of narrative prose fiction reproduced in this section of the magazine, created in response to images of women in a range of everyday situations. Those written as dramatic monologues were particularly moving. All in all, it has been a pleasure working with such an intelligent and creative group of girls this year.

C Chapman

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ancy Meckler’s recent production of ‘Romeo and Juliet; was performed at ‘The Theatre Royal’ in Newcastle Upon Tyne, between Monday 13th Friday 18th November. Her ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was set as ‘a play with a play’ and lasted approximately three hours. The play was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Personally, I thought the production was only of an average standard. As I watched the play, I was caught up emotionally in its changing moods but at the end my views were mixed and disappointment was what I felt most.

The most enjoyable scenes, to judge from those in the audience sitting around me, were the ones where the actors fought.

The fighting was directed by Malcolm Ranson who, for some reason, used sticks for the purpose instead of swords. Liz Ranken choreographed the fighting sequences as tap dancing, giving the fight scenes an extra beat.

A great influence on my mood and, I think, that of the rest of the audience was the music composed for the

main scenes by Ilona Sekacz and directed by Bruce O’Neil. It was infectiously dull and mournful in tone. A particular fault was the miss-match between the 15th century Fighters bringing type music and the visual more than a punch presentation of the play, to the production: costumes and scenery, choreographed by which were modern. The fact Malcolm Ranson that the volume of singing drowned out the voices of the actors, was an extremely irritating fault. The best that can be said for these singers, was that their mournful tone was appropriate at the height of the tragedy when Romeo and Juliet died. The best place for these singers to be positioned, as far as I was concerned, was where they Builders’ equipment were placed—hidden behind some bushes. used but meant to The props were be a balcony?! mostly 'cheap-tat' and betrayed no use of the imagination. One example of such 'tat' was used in the balcony scene, with the balcony being nothing more than pieces of builders' scaffolding. The romantic Fantastic Sorcha love scene was recognisable Cusack acting on merely by the use of a single stage piece of bed linen.

The best device used was the ribbons, red and blue, to distinguish the identities of

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the two families, Montague and Capulet.

On the subject of acting quality, Sorcha Cusack was the most convincing, playing the part of the nurse. Shakespeare would have approved of the personality she portrayed and would have recognised her costume too.

Morven Christie was also very convincing as Juliet and Rupert Evans would have been equally so but for the humour which he introduced, inappropriately, into some of his speeches, especially those relating to Above: Nancy Meckler the Rosaline. Shakespeare, I believe, intended producer of ‘Romeo and Juliet' Romeo to be suffering real pain when ’in love’ with Rosaline.

On the whole, the standard of acting throughout was as you might expect from the RSC, not brilliant but very good. Unfortunately, and again as you might not expect from an RSC production, the visual presentation in terms of scenery, costume and musical effects were disappointingly cheap!

Ambika Venayak

Click on to:

http://www.rsc.org.uk/home/default.aspx

For more information on the RSC’s productions log on to the email above Email: www.theatreroyal.co.uk Phone: 0870 905 5061

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My view of 'Romeo and Juliet' 'Romeo and Juliet' is set in Italy and I really enjoyed watching the play, even through I wasn't too sure on the language. 'Romeo and Juliet' was written by William Shakespeare and is a love story which has highly emotional events as the play's main subject matter. It is about teenage love and in the end teenage suicide.

The plot of 'Romeo & Juliet' is about the meeting of two forbidden lovers. Their families (The Montagues and The Capulets) share an ancient grudge against each other. There was violence and harsh words said between the two houses from the start of the play.

The Capulets' only daughter (Juliet) and the Montagues' only son (Romeo) fall in love at first sight. Their love is so strong that they are married the next day, keeping everything secret from their parents.

Juliet's mother, Lady Capulet, seems to be more interested in her appearance and her social events than spending more time with her daughter, Juliet. Lady Capulet thinks she knows what Juliet wants, but I don't think she does truthfully know throughout a large part of the story.

Lady Capulet only tells Juliet what to do, which is not necessarily what Juliet herself would like to do.

When Juliet comes of age to get married, Lady Capulet, wants her to marry Paris, and does not care how Juliet feels about it.

Juliet is one of the main characters in Shakespeare's play. She is still a young girl when the play begins, because she is not yet fourteen. Romeo is a romantic, intelligent, passionate and a caring character throughout the play.

I enjoyed learning the story of 'Romeo and Juliet'. I thought it was very interesting, although some of the story was confusing in places.

By Ellen Storey, Year 10

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Problems that young people face as they try to find a place in the ‘adult’ world.

By Ambika Venayak

Depression

Bullying

Stress

Binge eating/ anorexia

Smoking and drugs

Teenage conflicts are associated with………….

Exams, family problems, relationships and friendships.

Puberty

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Teenage Love

Body changes

•Puberty occurs when you are older.

•When growing up girls and boys have various body changes e.g. spots.

•Teenagers get more stressed with exams, school etc.

•People experience the power of love.

•In love you feel under pressure.

•You might feel betrayed.

•You are scared.

M is y frie m usin nd e g

M bo y eals m yfr my b ak ie f oyfri ends eel es nd ba m My bo d e dy is c hangi ng

My t win st

My m

um

wo nt l et m

es ee m

yr

eal da d

My m e best fr iend leav es ion ttent a e th ts all e g r the I’m e bro l t t i l I don’t kno y no My frie w nds bla M rea t whether I me me can trust dy him anym ore I always g et the bla me Thes ff e boy ack o b s are o t er bully My ing m tell h I o bo d e yfri How end is g ay

Teenage Problems

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The Alley He watched the rain drain the ink from the sodden newspapers around him and gather into a pool of ink. A pool of wasted words, he thought. He grinned at the pun.

His woollen hat was jammed tight over his head and his gloves could no longer be recognised as gloves. He wore layers of pathetic clothing, evidently worn throughout the years. His pockets were filled with odd shaped objects. He wore one recognisable shoe and various coloured socks as the other. His remaining teeth were nothing less than grey stumps. His face was unrecognisable, masked by vast amounts of grimy hair. But his eyes still shone bright blue.

Yes, they were bright blue.

He looked asleep, curled in a ball and holding on to his sheets of newspapers as if they were gold.

A clanging on a garage door stirred him.

Silence, please.

The tramp carried a distinctive smell and it seemed to follow a passer by as she threw her spare change at him. Yet he didn’t seem to flinch. The passer by seemed curious at the lack of communication from him.

“Excuse me sir?” Not a flicker was made.

“Sir, can you hear me? Sir?” The tramp held a stare with his bright blue eyes. Bright, bright blue as if he was looking through mere bodies. The passer by winced at the sinister stare and began to walk away.

The tramp grinned at his triumph. Yet his desired silence was soon disturbed by a quickened pace from young male footsteps. They echoed the alley like bass drum beats from an orchestra ensemble. He was simply waiting for the music to erupt. Yes, it was to be a show tonight he thought. The curtains had opened and it was opening night. The music began to flow from the boy’s feet, the pace quickened and the rhythm, agitated. The tramp simply observed the music.

“Shit.” The girl yelped and stumbled to the ground as the plastic elevated heel snapped. Great, they weren’t exactly cheap where they?

“Jesus, and me bloody dress.” She complained. She took a long drag on her cigarette, inhale, hold, out. Hmm, tab rush. She spotted the boy running quickly; she saw this as her opportunity.

“Oi! Kid, mind giving the lady a little help eh?” hollered the girl.

Can’t.

Won’t?

“Oi! Kid.” Jesus.

The tramp was intrigued; the show’s conflict had begun, so quickly. The jazz notes ran comfortably from the lady’s cigarette. It flowed like the notes possibly from the piano keys. He could hear the music spew from his surroundings. He was hanging to their every word.

The boy was panting, evidently out of breath, a grey hooded top covered his face and his jeans were worn badly at the knees. He wore knackered Converse and a pathetic excuse for a rucksack, hanging by one strap.

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As he gave her his hand, he felt it again.

“Thanks. Ouch, quite a slip wasn’t it?”

The flash of her underwear sent him somewhere. He wanted to touch her, and he felt it again, like he did with the others.

“Ah, thanks for the help up, kid. Not much of a talker are we?”

She lifted the hooded top off his face. She was curious. She saw why. She took a deep breath and looked at him.

He felt her eyes burn against his skin; it stood out solid as thick mud. Dirty, grimy, black. His skin was illuminated by the moonlight, exposing it like spotlights. He winced.

“Oh, you’re one of those.” She stared at his colouring.

He threw the hooded top back over his face as quick as possible.

She realised what she had said, “Oh, sorry, are you cold?”

Keep covered Turn and run.

“Whoa, hang on, kid, don’t go running off like that. What’s your problem?” said the girl out of guilt. She had hurt him. She hadn’t meant to.

He stopped.

“Eh? What’s up?” she started the conversation again.

Stop.

“Got a light eh?”

Yes. “No? Oh, want a spliff then?”

Yes. “No? Ok then. Just me.”

She tried to keep conversation, but he never answered any of her questions. She was intrigued.

“So, what’s up, why were you running?”

He wanted it.

“Oi, kid.”

Keep it covered.

“Oh, I see. You sure you don’t-“ Turn and run.

“Oi, mate.”

Run. “Jesus, bloody kids!”

The music darkened as the girl was left alone, the violin was alone, unaccompanied by a bass line or a piano tune. Solitary, the violin played solo. The tramp enjoyed the piece, it held sorrow, anguish, yet when the chromatic scale followed the girl, he could feel the sense of regret, yes, the violin played its audience a tune of regret.

She was alone, once again, as usual. She had hoped for some company this time.

Anyone. He would have done. Sigh.

She retreated back against the wall and looked at her feet; one shoe off, one shoe on.

She took the other off. Better. Inhale. Hold. And out.

She observed her surroundings, a sleazy back alley to some pathetic excuses for council housing. The ground was clothed in litter and various unwanted goods. She began to wonder where she’d left her lipstick.

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She fell back against a wall and slid down it, so her back grazed it hard and let out a little whimper. The ground was rough and wet against her bare legs; she could still smell men’s cheap cologne around her.

She lost her balance and reached her arm out to steady herself. Splash, it landed in a little puddle. She looked at it; an insect's carcass remained on the palm of her hand.

Silly thing. Sigh She looked at her dress. It was torn at the seam, and there were vodka stains down the front. Another day, another dollar.

“Ah Jesus, I’ve got to get out of this.”

She traced the pattern of the loose lace on her dress with her index finger, slowly going back over it and humming to herself. She started again. Here came the first tear, and she hurriedly wiped it away with the palm of her hand. Here came the second, and the third. Yes, here they came. She hated this part. The bad bit, she called it. Yes, the bad bit.

She buried her head into her knees and held them tight. You’re a brave girl, she told herself. Pull yourself together. She wiped away the last of her tears and took another drag from her cigarette and a shot from her flask. Urgh, vodka.

“Cry Baby,” she teased herself.

She slapped herself across her bruised knee. She winced, it hurt. She looked for cigarettes for reassurance. Last tab.

That’s where she saw him. The tramp. Slumped up against a wall, surrounded by newspapers, staring at her.

With his bright blue eyes.

Shit.

“Shit,” echoed over the houses, bouncing off the garage walls and brick work.

It felt so, distant.

A man grasped his shoulder; it was still tender from her struggle. He fell against a garage door for support. He was clean shaven and wore a smart suit, yet it fell from him like messy rags. His shirt was torn, his tie undone. He spat blood right across the pavement.

“Jesus.” He wiped his mouth and ran his hand over his stomach and felt the bruises. It had hurt him. But it was good.

Yes, it was good.

The tramp jumped at the sense of music, the pace tension heightened, the violin had quickened and double bass accompanied it. It was infuriation. Yet, a flute held it’s solo and hope was heightened.

And that’s when he saw her. They were at opposite sides of the alley, facing each other like an animal and its prey. He grinned at her. The same grin that had made her what she was today.

Pathetic.

“Evening Miss Emily.” He sneered as she turned her head.

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“Come on baby, talk to me.” He pulled at her cheeks until they were face to face.

They could smell alcohol and cigarettes on each other’s breath.

“Tut Tut silly girl aren’t we?”

She dare not answer back.

He still had tight grasp of her face. She watched him flick his lighter, and draw up a tab. Inhale. Hold. He exhaled in her face.

He watched her uncomfortably as she tugged down at her dress, forcing it to cover her thighs. He wanted it just as much as the last. He grasped her thigh.

She winced He grabbed her face and forced his mouth around hers.

“Good girl.” He let go, and grinned.

She clambered to her feet and ran. She wouldn’t. Not again. She began to run just like the kid before.

“Baby, you know you can’t run from me,” he laughed at her pathetic sprint.

I can.

“I’ll see you again.” He shouted after her.

You won’t.

“There’s no point running unless you’ve got a place to run to,” he grinned as the words echoed around her.

Run. Now he was left alone, like the others before him. Sigh. He took another drag from his cigarette and suddenly spotted a body watching him.

Yes, watching. With those bright blue eyes. Yes, bright, bright, blue. He was mesmerised for a few minutes, before he gathered himself together and grinned at the tramp.

“Want, one?” he offered a cigarette.

The stare stiffened.

“Your loss mate.”

He began to stroll down the alley, after her and left the tramp as he had found him.

The finale echoed; “There’s no point running unless you’ve got a place to run to.”

True.

And they were all running.

As usual.

But this one, this one was different he thought. His eyes could not see anymore, but his sense of sound had still guided him.

There was no applause, simply silence. The violin had played its last note, and the piano whimpered. The drum had lost its beat and the double bass had broken its strings. There was no orchestra left. But the rhythm still stood. The tramp grinned and waited for the next opening night.

Yes, that rhythm would never die.

By Elizabeth Ascroft, Year 11

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By Emily Ball, Year 11

"One thing you really have to under stand is that a novel is not just its plot ...................... it has to do with the creation of a world."

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French Department

Theatre outing for Year 7 This year was no exception for Year 7, as in January they visited Northern Stage to watch a performance in English of 'Le Petit Prince' by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. All enjoyed the production and some even felt inspired to produce attractive posters.

Conference of the Alliance Française As N.C.H.S. is a member of the Alliance Française, it has now become a regular habit for 6th form students of French to attend the annual Sixth Form Lecture of this organisation, which aims to promote French culture. This year Franck Michel of the University of Newcastle used the latest technology to introduce students to the political life in France and in particular to the 2007 presidential elections. Students found this conference very interesting, especially as French politics is one of the topics required at A2 level.

Year 10’s visit to University of Northumbria At the beginning of May, Mrs Temperley was able to organize an afternoon visit for Year 10 language students to the Languages Department of the University of Northumbria. This gave them the opportunity not only to discover the facilities of this establishment but also to meet students of different nationalities and practise their linguistic skills at a new language, namely Polish. All found this a valuable visit, as it made them aware of the value of learning foreign languages.

French trip to Paris and Saint Omer Twenty eight students from Year 7 to Year 9 participated from 26th June to 2nd July 2007 in the French trip organized by Mrs Mayhew. They spent three days in Paris where they were able to have a boat trip on the Seine before visiting the Eiffel Tower and having a taste of “retail therapy” on the Champs Elysées. They also visited the Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre and enjoyed a day at the Astérix Park. For the next three days, they stayed at the Château in Ebblinghem and visited the town of Saint Omer with its lively market. During their stay in northern France, they also went to a chocolaterie where they were introduced to all the mysteries of chocolate making.

For many the highlight of their trip to this part of France will certainly remain their visit to a snail farm where all listened with the greatest interest to explanations about the secret life of snails. Many felt so enthused that they accepted to take a live snail in their hand. Even more amazing several ventured to eat some of the snail preparations offered by the farmer!

C Oliver, Head of French 62

Notre visite à l'université de Northumbria.

Nous sommes allées à l'université de Northumbria pour encourager les élèves de Church High à apprendre plus de langues étrangères et aussi à regarder la faculté.

Premièrement, nous avons rencontré Monsieur Lund à la porte du bâtiment des langues. Il s'est présenté d'abord parce qu' il est maître assistant pour les langues étrangères dans l'université, puis nous avons rencontré des étudiants d'étrangers d'université. Ils parlaient beaucoup de langues et ils étaient de nationalités différentes.

Mon groupe et moi avons parlé avec Lily, qui est une étudiante qui est née en France.

Aussi, elle a parlé anglais, italien, espagnol et chinois, qui à mon avis est incroyable pour une personne!

Pendant l'après-midi, j'ai fait trois activités, premièrement j'ai appris un peu de polonais, qui est très différentes de l'anglais. Puis j'ai cherché sur l'Internet sur la Pologne, par exemple la culture. Après ça, nous avons regardé la faculté, en particulier j'ai aimé le laboratoire de langues, et j'ai vu un peu des émissions de télé françaises. À mon avis, les équipements étaient fantastiques! À la fin de l'après-midi, le message de Monsieur Lund était que les langues étaient très bonnes et très importantes pour votre emploi dans l'avenir, parce qu' il y a beaucoup de compétition.

Mon expérience à l'université, m'aide à comprendre l'importance d'être linguiste et l'utilité des langues vivantes quand on est cherche un emploi. Si je réussis mes examens français (GSCE), je voudrais continuer mes études dans une université afin de pouvoir utiliser mes langues dans le monde du travail, et pour voyager.

By Emma Chisholm, Year 10

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Maths Department The UKMT Team Maths Challenge 2007 On March 6th, we (Lydia Alexander, Jaspreet Lally, Eleanor Raymond and Lucy Topham) went to compete in the Team Maths Challenge Competition. We caught a taxi from school with Mr Jones at 9-00am and when we got to the competition, we chose a table and began to work out the 10 practice questions that had been put on the table for us. When all the schools had arrived, we had a quick talk about the Maths Challenge and then the teachers were moved around. Mr Jones left us and a teacher from Carlisle supervised us for the rest of the rounds.

The first round was the cross-number, when our team split into two. Two people were given the across clues and two people were given the down clues. We could only communicate through the teacher sitting between us, and some of the questions were very hard! In the second round, we had to do 10 difficult questions in 45 minutes. They were very hard and we only got 6 of them right, although we did answer them all. Then we had lunch. We had all brought packed lunches, except for Mr Jones who got one free!

After lunch, there were two more rounds, the Head-to-Head round and the Relay Race. In the Head-to-Head round, another school came and sat with us and we tried to work out numbers in a sequence. We were given a list of numbers with two numbers under the first two in the list. We had to work out what we had done to the first number to get the second number, and then apply that to the next number in the list. The other school's team were guessing as well, and their sequences were very hard!

In the final round of the day, half of our team went to sit on the other side of the hall and the teachers sat along one wall. Each half of our team had to answer a question, give it to the teacher to mark and if it was right, then we were given the next question for the other half of the team to answer. We then had to go across the hall, dodging tables, to give them their question.

We had a very good day and came back 11th out of the 25 schools that had entered the competition. We had a lot of fun and hope that next year, we will come even higher in the rankings!

By Eleanor Raymond, Year 9

Charlotte Squires-Parkin Many congratulations to Charlotte, who has been selected to join the UK International Mathematical Olympiad training Camp in Bath following a successful week at Birmingham University where she attended a summer school. Charlotte in Year 11 achieved an 'A' in her Further Maths A level ( having already gained an 'A' in A level Maths last June) as well as her GCSEs this summer.

P Farrin, Head of Maths 64

PE Department and Sports Awards Evening From the very beginning of the year, Church High teams have been taking part in many competitions in Netball, Hockey, Tennis, Badminton, and Athletics. At the end of term, our Sports Awards Evening, organised by Director of Sport, Mrs Chipchase, was a very special night to congratulate all girls on what they had achieved in Sport this year and to show all parents just how much Church High has achieved as a school..

Our special guest to present the awards was Chris Tomlinson, an Olympic athlete who had just broken the Great Britain Record for Long Jump the previous weekend.

It was a very successful evening for individual pupils and the School as a whole. We asked Miss Hefford how she thought it went, she said, " It went very well indeed. It was a nice end to the sporting year. It is always nice to celebrate the success of pupils in sport."

Throughout the year, PE has been a enjoyable lesson for all, learning new skills and improving the way we play sports. In each sporting area, there have been many highlights: Netball : the Year 7 team reached the semi-finals in the Tyne and Wear Knock-out competition, the Year 8 team reached the finals of the County Knock-out tournament and the Year 9 team were semi-finalists in the City Championships.

Badminton : Rebecca Stein, Year 7, was recently awarded ' Most promising junior player of the year '. Overall, the highlight of the year for badminton was both the U16 and U14 teams reaching the National Badminton Championships in Nottingham. The U14 team (Emma Reaston, Katherine Tyler, Rachael Oswald , Olivia Topham and Alex Brown) were runners up, just losing by two points in the final.

The U16 team ( Victoria Brewis, Anna Oswald, Naomi White, Rachael Stein and Lucy Kelly) were placed third.

In both Tennis and Badminton 70 girls participated in the school Championship this year.

Squash : the Under 15 and Under 19 teams once again reached the National Schools' Finals and travelled to the National Squash centre in Manchester.

The Under 15 team came 4th overall, which was very pleasing. The team was Rachael Oswald, Jayne Oswald, Victoria Brewis, Alex Brown and Katherine Shoesmith. Lucy Matthewson also played in the earlier rounds.

The Under 19 team had to play Millfield School in the semi-final and as usual Millfield had a team of International players. Our team was Sarah Oswald, Anna Oswald, Rachael Oswald, Helen Scott, and Lucy Robinson, who all played very well.

A special congratulations must go to Rachael Oswald, however, who beat one Millfield's International players.

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Athletics : we have taken part in many competitions in the City Championships and 8 girls were selected to represent Newcastle at the County Championships. They were: Emma Reaston, Olivia Shaw, Sarah Henderson, Olivia Topham, Katie Pearson, Kathryn Lake , Victoria Brewis and Montana Wilson.

Tennis : in Tennis this year, the highlight had to be Church High winning the tennis Shield Day; after many years of competing for the trophy unsuccessfully, Church High won. In the U13 competition, Jayne Oswald and Samantha Watt won the doubles against the other private girls' schools and in the U15 competition, Rachael Oswald and Emma Reaston won the doubles.

At the very end of the sporting year, the Sports Awards Evening was brought to a close by Mrs Chipchase, who as part of her speech thanked Mrs Smith for building the Sports Hall in her time here as Headmistress. Our excellent facilities have allowed us to provide a wide range of sporting opportunities to girls of all levels of ability. A large bouquet was presented to Mrs Smith as a 'thank you' for this.

All that is left to say now is "Well done" to all girls. This was a wonderful end to a highly successful sporting year and many thanks must also go to all the PE staff for their hard work and effort over the course of the year, too. 'Well played!'

By Emma Reaston and Abbey Munro, Year 9

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Newcastle Church High School has a lot to offer in the sporting area. Many activities take place during P.E. lessons, ranging from the winter sports like hockey to the summer sports like athletics.

Not only do the students learn a great deal in all of their lessons, but they have a lot of fun too.

The Pie Chart below shows the favourite activities of year nine students:

Hockey

Football

Volleyball

Rounders

Tennis

Athletics

The Newcastle Church High School is very proud to have some excellent sporting figures. In athletics, many competitions have been taking place and all have ended very well. Interviews have been carried out by the Year 9 magazine team to see how athletes feel they have done this year.

Emma said, "I feel that I done extremely well this year and wish to do even better in the future."

Holly said,"I feel that I have performed wonderfully and it feels that I have achieved a lot in shot put."

Olivia said, “I feel that this year I have not reached my best standard, however, I would like to improve in the future.�

The most recent athletics competition that took place ended when five of our Year 9 girls came third overall against other Newcastle Schools. Well Done, girls!

By Kathryn Lake, Year 9 67

RECORD BREAKING NEWS 22/06/2007

Laura Dawson (Y9) swam to victory at the annual swimming gala which was held by the prestigious Newcastleupon-Tyne Church High School on Monday , 18th June 2007.

Laura already held two school swimming records and on Monday, she broke two further records, previously held by Sarah Murray who left Church High in 2006.

The Year Seven pupils were privileged to watch Laura in action. Felicity Nelson (Y7F) told us ,“I think Laura is capable of becoming an Olympic swimmer when she is older. Laura is a fantastic role model and she is a very confident and talented swimmer.”

Laura has now secured a place in Church High history with all four swimming records being held by the same individual.

The P.E. department are Laura was extremely happy naturally proud of her to beat the existing times outstanding success. Mrs. and said of her success, “ Gordon commented, “I am I am really pleased that I very proud of Laura’s broke the school records. It achievements.” was a big achievement for me and I hope I continue to

BY Emma Jewers (7F), improve. It would be a dream to swim in the 2012 Miriam Teasdale (7B) and Rebecca Pedley (7B).

Olympics.”

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Laura’s record times Frontcrawl : 25:08 secs Butterfly : 27:88 secs Backstroke : 29:52 secs Breaststroke : 35:82 secs

Religious Studies Department At the end of the year, Mrs Smith chose the subject of The Good Samaritan as the subject for her final whole school assembly prior to her retirement. She talked about the important lessons we can all learn from this parable and added that the values of the Samaritan man were the values she would like to see in all Church High girls.

This well-known parable was also the focus of Year 9 lessons in RS following the summer examinations. Girls worked in groups responding to the story in various ways. The girls describe below in their own words the individual ways they presented the tale to their peers - and also to a younger audience in the Junior School. The poems, plays and assembly were all very well received.

C Chapman

The Good Samaritan Poem In our group, we decided to devise a poem on the subject of the Good Samaritan, unlike other groups in our class, who had chosen to write and perform a play portraying the parable. It took quite a few attempts to write the poem, until Hannah combined all our ideas and produced a colourful collaboration on the computer.

We then performed all our poems and plays to the Junior School who seemed to enjoy it. We enjoyed making up the poem and coming up with the rhyming words.

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Parable Poem This is a parable Jesus told...

About a Jewish man walking along a rocky desert road...

He was coming from Jerusalem and heading to Jericho...

A long way from home he was very much alone and so...

He was humming to himself, enjoying the sunny day...

When a group of men jumped out from a hill and much to his dismay They robbed him of his goods and tore off his clothes...

So the man was left bleeding and bruised on the road..

A few minutes later a priest walked past...

He saw a man lying but crossed the road fast..

Instead of helping him like he teaches...

He made up excuses instead of practising what he preaches...

Then a Levite came along...

An assistant to the priest who was taught to do no wrong...

Until he slowed down and walked little closer to the man...

But then kept walking without helping and off he ran...

A Samaritan then arrived. Enemy to Jews across the land...

Though surprisingly enough, he lent a helping hand...

He cared for the man until his injuries were few He was the neighbour who felt compassion for the Jew...

By Hannah Abu Harb, Megan Lewis, Julia Purvis and Charlotte Ryder Good Samaritan Poem: Version Two Our group also decided we would make a poem which the juniors would enjoy and understand, but at the same time not think that we were patronising them. Although it was an easy poem for the younger ones to understand, its aim was also to provide a message for older girls.

Our poem had a strong moral and we think the juniors enjoyed this poem, as they could understand it and learn the lesson the poem holds. Our poem had a strong moral and got across our point and the parable's meaning. The girls enjoyed themselves whilst also learning about the Good Samaritan.

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This is the poem we came up with: One day a Jew walked to Jericho, He met someone he did not know.

They pushed him hard and he fell to the ground, He was hurt and sad with no help to be found.

Five minutes later a priest went by, But he ignored the Jew and kept his head held high.

He had places to go and people to see, He was as happy as a priest could be.

The Jew cried as he lay in pain, if only the priest wasn't so vain.

Then another man walked on past, This time he stopped - oh at last!

The man was a Samaritan, He was travelling from Jerusalem.

Jews and Samaritans didn't like each other, But this Samaritan was to act like a brother.

The Samaritan's heart was filled with pity, And he took the Jew to the nearest city.

He washed the wounds with wine and oil, Then he removed all the soil.

The next day he took him to an inn, And told the inn keeper to take care of him.

The enemy was very kind, so always keep this in mind: Treat your neighbour as your friend.

This is were the story ends.

The Good Samaritan Story Board Our group decided to present the Good Samaritan story as a story board. We made the story board simple, to make it easier for the younger children to understand.

We used pictures and doors to make it more interesting.

We also used six volunteers. We enjoyed going back to the Junior school and meeting our old teachers again.

We enjoyed telling the story and watching other people's group versions of the Good Samaritan.

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The Good Samaritan Play We were given three weeks to come up with a simple song, drama or poem to show the story of the Good Samaritan to the younger members of the school. We decided to do a play that kept the children entertained but also contained the message of the Good Samaritan.

We dressed up in princess dresses and a taikwon-do outfit, and used fairytale characters to portray the characters of the story in the Bible. We hoped to make everyone laugh, but also to understand the importance of the parable. By telling it as a fairytale we tried to make it memorable.

We enjoyed acting and creating this play, as it was a fun and lively script and was very entertaining to create and act. But, if there is one standout memory, it's having the excuse to dress up in dresses and tiaras!

The reaction from the audience was wonderful and we would definitely recommend this exercise to future year groups.

By Imogen Atkinson, Eleanor Murdoch, Laura Stuart & Sarah Wingfield.

The Good Samaritan Rap For our assembly, we decided to tell the Good Samaritan story but in a rap. We tried to make it fun for the girls to watch, so we chose three girls from the audience to help clap the beat. The two younger girls unfortunately could not keep up with the beat which was amusing.

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(boom boom cha, x4) He started off in Jerusalem, (boom boom cha,x2) Robbers attacked him and beat him bad, (boom boom cha,x2) He was left half alive at the road side, (boom boom cha,x2) A priest walked by but left him to die, (boom boom cha,x2) Then a Levite passed on by, (boom boom cha,x2) But crossed on over to the other side, (boom boom cha,x2) Then came along his enemy, (boom boom cha,x2) Since these guys were not friends, you can only guess how the story ends, (boom boom cha,x2) But no... what a surprise this good man had swallowed his pride, (boom boom cha,x2) He helped him up and carried him home, (boom boom cha,x2) The Samaritan's deed is now well known! (boom boom cha,x2) Returning to the junior school brought back happy memories. We enjoyed seeing our old teachers and seeing the changes that have been made. Although performing was nerve racking, we think our efforts paid off and that it was a very successful.

By Lucy Herron, Katie Pearson, Emma Reaston, Harriet Walton and Philippa Young.

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Science Department

Year 8 Trip to Souter Lighthouse

On the 18th of June 2007, Year 8 visited Souter Lighthouse on a science trip. It was a very exciting and memorable day for all who came on the trip. The trip was arranged to illustrate what we have covered in the three sciences this year. We have been studying light in physics; in chemistry we have been studying rocks and in biology we have been the animal kingdom and plants.

Miraculously the Science staff managed to find a place that combined each of these topics.

The first part of our trip was a costal walk.

During the walk we studied the species of bird around the coast. We saw many birds including Kittiwakes, Cormorants and even a Puffin. We watched the birds through binoculars. In the birds' nests, there were lots of chicks. They had built their nests on a huge stack in the sea and there were a lot of nests perched very awkwardly.

We also looked at the flowers and natural beauty of the landscape, including the many arches and stacks in the sea. There was a very rare plant that grows in the lighthouse grounds (which are called the Leas). This plant attracts a rare blue butterfly. Unfortunately we didn't see any of the butterflies. I think it was too cold!

Next we went down to the beach. There we started the next section of the trip.

The rock pool field study, much enjoyed by all, as you can see from the pictures below of Miss Hall (Biology) and one of the much prized crab specimens we found:

By Rachael Scutt, Year 8

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We are going to tell you about our fantastic trip to Souter Lighthouse including some impressive facts and our humorous moments. When we first got there our first thoughts were, how small the lighthouse was. We were separated into two different groups (our form groups 8R and 8H.) 8R first went with Mrs Crawford and Mr Gaughan to study the beautiful wildlife environment on the coast. The things which they saw were: • Swallows • Blackbirds • Blue Tits • Magpies • Crows • Kestrel 8R then went down to the sea and studied the different rock types to see whether they were Metamorphic, Sedimentary or Igneous rocks.

Whilst this was going on 8H studied the fascinating Lighthouse. It was built in 1870 and was opened in 1871.

This amazing Lighthouse is over 75 feet high and the light can be seen over 20 miles away. The two things that were 'firsts' at Souter were: • First electric Lighthouse in the world • First Lighthouse to have a turn table of full diameter which makes it steadier Both groups then went back to the tent where they could rest. Afterwards the groups combined and went rock pooling together. We're sure everyone will agree that this was most definitely the best part of the trip ! We all split into little groups of about three and got buckets and nets to capture the wildlife to study them 75

The things which we found were: different kinds of crabs; eels; catfish; limpets and starfish. The most frequently found animals were crabs and limpets. Only one group was successful enough to find a little pink Starfish. The catfish were hard to catch because they were fast and their bodies were streamlined and slimy. The crabs were fun to pick up, but they kept fighting.

Whilst we were all having fun studying the different types of wildlife, there were also some very humorous moments to remember: • Grace fell into the sea after leaning forward to pick up something. She was soaking for the rest of the trip !

• When the crabs were fighting, a lot of their legs and arms fell off !

• Emma fell over and bashed off the rocks and was sliding down but before she fell into the sea she picked her self up We had our tasty lunch on some tables and wooden boats and then we went to the shop where we treated our selves to ice creams and drinks and souvenirs. Then after lunch, the two form groups switched experiences.

So we would just like to say 'Thank you' to the teachers for taking us on this marvellous trip to Souter Lighthouse and 'Thank you' to the people at the Lighthouse who very kindly showed us round.

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AS/A2 Textiles Textiles is quite often referred to as a 'hybrid' subject, as it draws both inspiration and mixed media techniques form other Art and Design disciplines. Students not only look to fine artists and textile designers for their inspiration and research, they are encouraged to look at ceramics, fashion, jewellery, interiors and architecture to name only a few. Girls are also made aware of a current range of historical design or 'period' styles and how these can affect current design trends.

Alex McGrady : Fashion & Textiles of the 60's In their first year, students are given 'starting points' from which they develop a concept. This year, our AS girls responded to the themes 'Cultural Diversity' and 'Environment'. Concepts are generally very diverse, for example, while one student investigated 'Woodland Environment', another researched 'Teenage Environment'.

Girls worked quite independently in this subject, particularly when completing sketchbook work, as this tends to be quite a personal process.

However, some lessons are devoted to teaching new practical skills or textile techniques, such as machine/hand embroidery, screen printing and collage. Using such techniques, girls develop their research into design ideas for fashion, interiors, constructed and fine art textiles and have the opportunity to display their work each year at the end-of-year art exhibition.

Years 7, 8 and 9 now have the opportunity to study this subject on a rotational basis. This year has seen some very exciting work produced in the lower school, which is often displayed on the main corridor for all to see. Work is based on introducing students to basic textile skills. For example, Year 8 students have completed a 'fibre art' project, where they observed the work of an artist and interpreted a painting on cloth, using batik, dyes and embroidery.

The Art department hope to introduce GCSE Textiles into the syllabus in September 2008 to enrich the subject area.

J Ornsby Year 8, Group 2 Textiles : "Fibre Art"

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Alex McGrady : Fashion & Textiles of the 60's

Alex Proctor : A Study of Art Nouveau

Hayley Atkinson : "Teenage Environment"

Amy Hudson : A Study of Rococo Style

Alex McGrady : A Study of Art Deco Style

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Alex McGrady : "Sculptural Textiles"

" Genuine poetry is conceived and composed in the soul." - Matthew Arnold (1822-88)

Blindness A lifetime of darkness, The world flies by me.

I feel them staring at me.

Never a tranquil sunset, It's all in my mind's eye I can hear the grass grow, And the beat of a butterfly's wing.

My fingers feel your face.

It's fine features smile back at me.

I taste your emotions, Your anger sour like lemons, Your sorrow salty like tears.

I can smell the sickly stench of fear, And sometimes the sweet scent of surprise.

But colours are a mystery to me, I see only shades of grey.

But in my dreams...

I paint with an artist's palette, A perfect rainbow...

By Miriam Teasdale, Year 7

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Blindness poems: creative responses to 'Spellhorn' Blindness In my mind's eye, I can see, Though I live in a world of darkness.

As I look towards the sun, Faint shades of blue, scarlet and fiery orange Flicker and dance in my imagination.

I become aware of things, That I wouldn't have noticed before.

I rely on my functioning senses, To guide me through the shadows of my life.

By Rebecca Pedley, Year 7

Blindness Not seeing, but yet knowing, I can hear it, smell it and feel it.

I desire to see the light of day, The dark of night, But deep down I know my inner dream Will never come true.

I see everything in a different light: My blue, your green.

I want to see what I look like.

I want to see the smile on peoples' faces, The happiness they share with family and friends.

In my head reds and yellows merge.

I see flashes of colour, But they are cloaked in deep black And what I think is navy blue.

Blindness is my life.

It's all I have, It's all I know.

That's the way it always was And always will be.

By Scarlett Coles, Year 7

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Day Day is a mysterious lady with moods that swing, differ and vary.

When angry, she vents her frustration and disgust on poor, unsuspecting people like us.

Her tears pelt us with rain, snow and hail; she bellows and thunder over the skies prevails.

Her anger streaks and lights up the sky; the tempestuous wind swoops down from on high.

When happy, however, her beauty shows.

The sun shines, the day glows.

Blue sky above us stretches for miles.

She is beautiful because of her smiles.

Birds, bees, young summer trees can now be happy in her company.

We are no longer afraid of the day, Instead we can bask in the hot sun's rays.

After some time, though, the day passes on, With promises that she is soon to return.

Another lady now comes to stay, Night, also known as the cousin of Day.

By Zoe Olukoga, Year 8R

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The Storm A black cloak in the night.

A twisted tale of broken ends A life drowning in darkness The storm approaches A lost voice An icy wind A world without light The storm is coming

Loved ones lost Taken by the cold A threatening bark The storm is near A swirling wind A white hot pain A world without love The storm is here A speck of light A hint of green The warmth of love The storm is passing The light of life The heat of summer Cool running water The storm is leaving A dancing child A golden rainbow Laughter everywhere The storm has gone

By Julia Glover Year 8H 82

Fireworks November the fifth, Once every year, this day colours the sky, Sparks up the air, Magical lights Celebrating the day.

All the colours dancing round, painting the navy sky.

Loud noises and clouds of smoke Celebrating the day.. ...Guy Fawkes died!

Year 8, Group 1 Textiles : "Fibre Art"

By Emma Hails, Year 8

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TIME Time flies when you're having fun, in the rain, in the sun, having picnics with your friend, hoping the fun hot days will never end.

But time is never on your side, or so the saying goes.

Make good use of time, and use it well and the speed of time will slow.

By Sarah Gray, Year 8 84

Nothing Nothing, a blank canvas, The emptiness of the mind, Devoid of all our thoughts.

Sunlight Sunlight on water, Dapples the riverbed where, The rainbow trout hides.

The eye Window on the world, An ever-present witness.

Truth is all it sees.

By Lucy O'Brien, Year 8 85

When the Clock Strikes 12 The sun goes down and the moon comes up, All is quiet, Except the tick-tock, Of the grandfather clock.

A child sleeps, So peacefully, Not a sound or a peep, As the shadows begin to silently creep.

The night is still, So dark and gloomy, Even the wolves are surprisingly wary, Of the deadly sounds that are frightfully scary.

The night air blows, Down the small child's spine; She wakes up in fright, For it is the middle of the night .

The cats come out, On their morning stroll, And as the night merges into day, All the scariness of the dark fades away.

The sun appears, Shining so brightly, As the sleeping world awakes, To a plate of sizzling pancakes.

By Phanne Yang, Anna Milburn, Jaspreet Lally and Jessica Dodds, Year 8

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Darkness The darkness of the night, I wonder what I'll see, Until the darkness comes to light, I will be waiting patiently.

There's no movement, no sound, As the sun disappears.

The chill of the night creeps round.

Nocturnal creatures appear.

They search about for food, Through the whispering grass.

Once they have found all that they need, They shut their eyes as time does pass.

The morning awakens.

The sun is shining bright.

I've seen the mystery of darkness, What a magical, dreamy sight.

By Rachael Clark, Year 9

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Haikus Flower Swaying in the wind The flower stands bright and tall Pretty and perfect

Autumn Crisp, brown and golden Leaves are falling everywhere Twirling from the skies

Night Crescent moon shines bright Darkness reigns, eyelids shut tight Waiting for the morn

Time Tick-tock, goes the clock Evolving, never-ending, Creating history

By Katie Robinson, Year 9 88

Feelings Love is a wonderful feeling, It makes your tummy churn.

Each and every time you feel it, Your heart, no doubt, will burn.

Hate is anger, Hate is pain.

Hate is a deadly energy, Running through your veins.

Happiness is uplifting, Like bubbles in chilled champagne, Rising, soaring, floating up, But quickly drifting down again.

Sadness is a burden we carry, It hunts you down by day.

It strangles your contentment And turns clear blue skies to grey.

Bravery is the courage To stand up to your fears, Overcoming something You have dreaded for many years.

Feelings are our reactions, Our tendency to respond.

Strong emotions within us, They create a special bond.

By Rachael Kandola and Katherine Shoesmith, Year 9

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Hope, Faith and Belief Hope is the oxygen of life.

Without hope, we have nothing to breathe Without breath we cannot live.

It's what keeps us going And gives us something worth living for.

Faith is what we want to find in people.

It is the foundation of friendships And the beginning of trust.

It is what we hope people see in us And what we try and give them in return.

Belief is our interpretation of what is right, And what is wrong.

It is what we think of ourselves, And the world around us.

It influences the way we live our lives And how we use them.

Life should be fulfilling.

Sometimes life is shorter than it should be, Other times it takes too long to pass.

Life is often taken for granted and not appreciated enough.

Values are always changing, but Hope, Faith and Belief will always remain.

By Sara Jackson, Year 10

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" Books make sense of life."

Loneliness As she enters the classroom, everyone issues a piercing stare. Lara prepares herself both physically and mentally for the cruel onslaught that she is about to endure. Although it was only a few minor steps across the classroom to her chair, it felt like a marathon.

Lara's shoulders slumped as though they had a heavy weight upon them, her head was bowed, not daring to cast a fearful glance at her sneering classmates who towered above her, forming a barrier to her path. Her heart thumped rapidly in her chest as if it were a frantic frog leaping for freedom. 'One foot in front of the other, ignore the spiteful taunting that is being drummed into your ears,' she told herself.

She took her seat - at the back of the classroom in the corner. She was an outcast, an exile, excluded from all social activities that were going on around her. The seat of the wooden chair was her safe refuge, at least here she would be protected from the wrath of the callous, insensitive bullies who continually made her life a misery.

Now all that was left was to wait, to anxiously wait for the bell to ring, signalling the entrance of her teacher who Lara viewed as her saviour.

'Only two minutes, ten seconds left until the bell,' Lara thought to herself, 'just keep quiet, remain calm and avoid any eye contact'.

She'd been through this before; it had dominated her life for two school years. She was used to the harsh treatment that was waiting for her in every registration, around every corner, at every lunch time.

By Eleanor Harrison, Year 7F

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Tainted Soul Lucy lay under her flowery, lilac duvet using it as a shield, her only protector from the outside world. Her parents were engaged in a heated argument yet again. She hated it when they argued. Her dad would turn into a monster, throwing his weight about with fire in his eyes. Her mum would try and fight back at first but she would quickly surrender and cower in the corner.

Lucy heard the commotion, the slap, slap of her father's hand, the thud of her mum falling to the floor and then a slam of the front door. She jumped out of bed and ran to her mum's aid in her blue and white cloud pyjamas. Her mum was slumped against the sofa with a great bid, red handprint across her face. Lucy ran to get the first aid kit. She got out the arnica cream and the pain killers.

"Mum, Mum, Mum," whispered Lucy, as she cradled her mum in her arms, "We need to get rid of him."

After one of these arguments Lucy's dad left for a few days then always came back with a big bunch of flowers saying he'd never hit her again but he still does.

Violence lurks in a corner of his rotting soul.

By Phoebe Elliott, Year 7

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Diane's Journey

Diane sat in the carriage as it sped along the woodland track. The rhythmic beat of the rain on the roof was sending her to sleep, and as her head began to loll, an unexpected obstacle brought the carriage to a sudden halt. She jerked awake, expecting to have arrived at her grand mansion.

All that was visible through the window was dark trees and the luminous moon, which cast an eerie glow over the outstretched branches and fluttering leaves. The carriage began to accelerate once again, and Diane relaxed into the cushions of the seat. She gazed around the cabin of the carriage, looking for something to take an interest in. She fumbled in her purse looking for a notebook and pen. She felt inspired by her surroundings and wanted to write an account of her journey. She flicked through the pages until a red spot of wax caught her eye. She stopped and gazed down at it. The handwriting was not her own. The page was unfamiliar. Diane squinted at the page before her and tried to decipher it.

What did it say? Who had written it?

The page was so wrinkled and untidy, the message was almost unreadable, but the longer she stared at it, the more she could read.

The longer you read, The more you will see, The importance of this text.

This unknown message, This secret clue, Will lead you to your next!

Now listen clearly, Listen hard and true, Listen to the song.

Listen to it well, If you hear it right You can do no wrong.

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Suddenly Diane became aware that the carriage had stopped and the air was still. No birds, footsteps, whinnies from the horses or scuffle from the driver could be heard. Diane shifted uneasily in her seat and peered out of the window. Even the branches were still, as if they were holding their breath, waiting.

Then it happened. A white flash was emitted from the heart of the forest and Diane was sent reeling. A steady chanting coursed through the earth, but Diane had her eyes squeezed shut waiting for it to be over. The chanting got louder and louder, until it filled the air, as if consuming the world. An almighty crash, which shook the ground, brought the chanting to a sudden stop. The light did not fade, and slowly she opened her eyes.

Daylight poured in through the window as Diane lay on the floor. Had it been a dream? She struggled up onto a smooth leather seat.

She gazed down at the perfect jet black upholstery, and her head jerked up to the window. Huge stone towers surrounded her, similar to a guard fortress. What seemed like millions of windows covered the walls, and people could be seen walking to-and-fro. Some were shiny and reflected sunlight like millions of glinting stars. People dressed in strange clothes walked the streets, going in and out of the bizarre towers.

Suddenly, a huge metal monster' zoomed past her carriage. Diane jumped back in her seat. Another whizzed by, this time red. Then another, blue.

The people on the streets seemed familiar with the frightening 'monsters'.

Diane watched as a yellow metal box, with black wheels slowed down at the side path. A man dressed in strange blue pantaloons and white overshirt fumbled in his pocket, and produced a green slip of paper. He handed it into the 'monster', and got into it. It accelerated away and disappeared around the corner of a tower.

Diane stared in disbelief at the world she found herself in. As she looked around the unusual cabin, she saw metallic levers, screens and buttons all around her. Cautiously, she pressed a button beneath the window. Diane gasped as the glass slid steadily down. The roaring of the outside hit her.

She heard shouting, beeping, ringing and the rev of the metal boxes. A man dressed in rags approached her window. His face was dirty and his 94

hands scarred and grubby. He looked a little like a peasant from her town.

Maybe he could help her! He held up a cup and shook it at Diane, gabbling an unknown language. She gazed at him, desperately trying to translate his words. He was Diane's key to returning home! He grunted again, indicating to the cup manically. He sighed impatiently and moved away, and her heart sank.

She reached for another lever and the carriage door swung open. No servant greeted her as she stepped out. She was amazed at how close she was to the hard, black ground. Metal 'monsters' whizzed past her, and as Diane swung the door shut, she realised that her carriage was no longer a carriage. It was one of the metal 'monsters'!

She gasped and jumped backwards. Beeping filled the air, as metal 'monsters' swerved to avoid her. She saw now that inside of them, behind the screens were men and women driving them! None of them showed any recognition to their princess, just anger and impatience, as she stood still in the road, watching the cars speed by. She was in a world where people drove 'monsters' and 'beeped' furiously at royalty. As Diane consumed herself with her thoughts, she did not see the man with the cup running towards her. He snatched her purse and sprinted down the path, through the crowds, and disappeared. Diane stood stunned, digesting what had just happened. A thief! A vagabond! A man who should be hung for his disrespect!

Diane called into the crowd, and began to shout 'thief!', 'stop him!'

A few people glanced at her as she yelled at the top of her voice. One man even shouted, "Keep it down! Some of us are on the phone here!" The cheek! He wasn't on a phone! He was walking down the street talking to himself! The smell of meat drifted past her and suddenly she realised how hungry she was. A man stood at a stall selling meat on a stick. Diane marched over to the stall and demanded a 'meat stick'. The man laughed dryly and said, "Two fifty, love."

Money, she presumed. She reached in her bag for her purse. Reality dawned upon her then as the man stood impatiently waiting. Diane had no money and no idea where she was. She was doomed and no one was there to help her.

By Holly Forsyth, Year 8

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Guilt Prologue I wished I did not feel so guilty. There, I've said it. I suppose the feeling that's been building up inside my chest for the whole journey so far must have just been that: guilt. The one time I am trusted, the one time I am given responsibility, I blow it!

But they have to understand that we had to get away, we had to!

This is how it started....

Chapter One We sat, waiting for someone to pick us. Although our eyes were so swollen from crying, we had made an effort to look presentable. I was wearing my darned and sewn summer dress, Maisy was in her second hand number and Bobby in his smartest shorts and flannel top.

Just before we left my mother had given us a whole ÂŁ5, in case of emergencies. Maisy was being quiet for once and she was shaking her rattle. The noise was phenomenal and just as I was about to take it off her, she dropped the rattle at a lady's feet. I looked up at the person and apologised. She accepted it with a wave of her hand. She was dressed in a green hat, green feather boa and black skirt and top.

She had a string of pearls around her neck and matching earrings. She looked rich.

"Is this them?" she asked the harassed lady who was trying to get every child a house for their stay. We had been told to call her Ms Leamington.

"Yes," replied the Ms Leamington, "This is Rose". I shook her hand, "Bobby", Bobby bowed his head, "and Maisy" Maisy grizzled.

"Well, they'll certainly need training up a bit. And this one will need to work up some muscle. But they'll do. " She pondered for a moment, looked at us once more and scrawled her name on the document. * "That lady looks evil," whispered Bobby as we trudged along the road. Mrs. Islington, we were told to call her, was being swept along in a peddle cart. We turned a corner and reached the house. It was large and tall and spooky. There were windows with lace curtains and a huge door with a brass knocker on.

Mrs. Islington got down from her vehicle and beckoned for us to follow. We did and she led us to the front door.

"You may never use the front door, only the side one. The front door is for my husband, my friends and me, of course, " she said, "But you may use it today as an exception. " We nodded and followed her into the house. The house was darkly furnished with lots of stuffed creatures. The poor things had been stuffed and were peering at us with their beady eyes. Bobby slipped his hand into mine and I averted Maisy's eyes from the spooky sight of the creatures.

We were shown the room at the very top where there were two single beds and one cot. There was no window and there was only one small lamp and a bulb in the roof light. We shivered as the cold wind, that had escaped through the cracks, breezed past us. We walked around and we only realized that Mrs. Islington had gone when we heard her turn the key in the lock.

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I went to the door and tried to open it as Bobby tried out the beds. One had broken completely in two; the cot was holding on by a thread. Bobby placed Maisy on the un-broken bed, and explored. He found and upturned table which stood firmly. He also found a door. Through the door was an old sofa, threadbare and dirty, a rug, a blanket and an old radio. The radio was broken, but the others were light and together we moved them into our room. It made the place look so much more homely.

That night, I doubt many of us slept very much. We heard the siren go half way through the night and as I peeped out of the window, I saw Mr and Mrs Islington running across the garden; Mrs. Islington still had her silk pyjamas on. We must have dozed off as we were woken by Mrs. Islington's maid, Florence, a few minutes past dawn.

Mrs. Islington met us some hours later after we had been forced to clean the stairs, the kitchen floor and all 3 bathrooms. She told us that I would be the maid, Maisy would stay with me and Bobby would be a chimney sweep. We protested but she was adamant that this was the only way for us to repay our debt of living there.

Chapter Two We quickly realised what happened if we slacked off. We were whipped, beaten and starved of food. It was surprising how quickly we settled into our new routine.

One night, Bobby came in to our room, his head bowed. He had tear streaks down his face.

It took me a while to find out what had happened. Then he showed me his back. It was covered in bleeding cuts. Bobby explained that they were from Mr. Islington when he had refused to pull the plough by hand. I washed his wounds with water from the basin next to the old sofa and ripped some material off my dress, to keep them clean.

I put them both to bed and they fell straight to sleep. * I went downstairs to give Mrs. Islington her evening cup of tea.

She was on the phone when I arrived with the tea tray and I waited, not wanting to disturb her as I knew what would happen if I did.

"Yes......the children have got no clue.........of course I wouldn't tell them.... they'll never find out.....well who'd take them.....as far as we know, the house was bombed...no living survivors....okay Madeline......good bye". She put the phone down and smiled to herself. I walked in, placed the tray on her table and left, my hands shaking. * I packed as much as I could before waking the other two and putting their coats on. I did not want my siblings to go through with anymore trauma, but I had to check. It could not be true.....she could not be dead........could she?

We crept down the stairs and avoided looking at the stuffed creatures on the walls. But as we got to the bottom step, I took one last look back. My gaze fell on a stuffed fox. It's eyes looked sad but there was nothing I could do for it now. Yet the eyes seemed to follow us as we crept through the hall.

We walked out the front door in defiance, just after the clock in the hall had struck two. We strode to the station and sat there until the first train to London came. We lived just outside London and the train was in an unfamiliar part. We started to walk and now we are here. The middle of nowhere.

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Chapter Three Oh, there Bobby goes again, whining and complaining. Still, this means that I don't have to think about the memories about the last few weeks.

"Come on Bobby. Maisy's a baby and she's not making half as much fuss as you are!" I say.

"But she's getting carried!" replied Bobby, dragging his feet more with every step.

We were walking along a dark and stained alley way, with no light visible. A cat yowled, as Bobby and I picked our way past the debris that had spilt from the over-flowing dustbins. Just as I stepped onto the pavement of the next street, and adjusted Maisy on my hip, Bobby tripped over the broken wheel of a pram. He was splayed on the muddy ground, and as I bent down with difficulty to see if he was alright, he let out a sob of pain. He looked up at me with his innocent eyes; a tear tumbled down his face. I picked him up and looked at his knees. One of his socks was down and there were two spectacular grazes upon his knees. He whimpered and buried his head into my stomach. I cradled his head and dried his tears. I could tell already that it was going to be a very long night. * We walked and walked until the early hours of the morning. When the sun rose, I felt exhausted. Bobby, however, seemed to have a sudden burst of energy. He ran ahead until he reached the corner of the road. By the time Maisy and I had reached him, he was already looking through the shrapnel. I scolded him and he withdrew his hand.

He scowled, but I tickled him under the chin and he chuckled. I took a proper look at the house that had once been at the corner of this street. It had been floored, probably by a bomb. Pieces of shrapnel were scattered everywhere. I gave Maisy to Bobby who took her resentfully.

There were large pieces of furniture, quite a lot like ours, I thought to myself.

Just noticeable over the rubble was a small Anderson shelter. It stood as the only thing that was not damaged. A photo lay on top of a piece of wood that I could see had once been a table. I was intrigued. I scrambled my way towards it. I looked at the photograph; the glass was shattered but I tipped it off. The photograph was of a mother cradling a baby in one arm, her other arm around a girl around my age. The father had one arm around his wife and his other holding a small boy. They were all smiling happily. I looked closer and realised finally who the people in the photograph. I don't remember what happened next. I must have blacked out.

Chapter Four I woke up some hours later. I must have been out of it all day as the sun was already sinking, leaving behind an orange glow. A small grubby faced boy was peering over me. He had a small baby under one arm and a pail of water under the other. He must have up-ended it over me as I could feel the water on my face. I cannot remember a time when I was so glad to see my brother and sister. Gingerly, I sat up and felt the back of my head.

I could feel some sticky substance on my fingers and as I removed my hand, I could see it was just water from the empty pail in my brother's spare hand. I shook my head and small droplets of water flew in all directions. At this time in the day, it was

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not safe for children to be out. I knew this as I have experienced countless evening and night time Air Raids. But we just stood together, Maisy, Bobby and I, on the top of the rubble staring and staring into the sunset. The muffled sound from the Air Raid siren sounded and the dreamy torpor we had been standing in broke. We looked around and saw that it was now night and we were standing alone in the middle of a deserted street.

More Air Raid sirens sounded along the street and a tense feeling gripped the air. I moved pieces of rubble until I found the siren and I held Bobby's hand, gave him the siren and placed Maisy upon my hip. We ran together, like a bizarre three-legged race but with no trophy and lolly-pop at the end. Our prize would be to get to the safety of our Anderson shelter.

We reached it and I flung my weight upon the door. It didn't budge. Panic, chaos ripped through me as I tried and tried to open the door. I collapsed in a heap, Maisy clinging to me for dear life. Bobby, on the other hand, lifted the stone that sat on the right of the door. He lifted it up and picked up the little key that rested underneath. He placed it into the lock, that I hadn't seen; it fitted and opened the door.

We rushed in and closed the door behind us. I remembered! The spare key. The original must have been lost in the rubble. We gasped to catch our breath and we turned around.

The sight that greeted us was not the one we had been expecting.

Chapter Five I screamed. That was the only way that I could control myself from not passing out again. I'm not trying to sound dramatic, but there was no preparing us for this sight. There was a person sitting on one of the bunks. The person was rocking backwards and forwards. I walked forwards and lit the oil lamp. It illuminated her face and she seemed to realize that she had company.

She turned around and I thought for a moment that she was someone I once knew, but that had grown a lot thinner. She had a short bob of curly brown hair but that had a few streaks of grey. She had quite a lot of lines around her eyes as though she had worried a lot. She had dark circles around her eyes and her hands were shaking. It couldn't be. I was so sure. Could it?

"Darlings?" said the woman peering at us and then her face broke into a smile that I remembered. Mother?

"Darlings! How...." her voice trailed off in question and looked at me as if I knew the answer.

I took Bobby's shoes and Maisy's over coat off and sent them to bed. Then I went to the small stove in the corner and made us both some hot water and a touch of lemon. Mother smiled at me. I smiled back then I flung my arms around her and hugged her, tears of happiness fell down both our faces. It was a long time before we broke apart.

I told her everything.

I told her about how hard it was to leave her at the station, how hard it was waiting for some strangers to come and collect us. How hard they had made us work and how we had found our about the bombings in our area. How we had packed some belongings and sneaked upon a train. How we had walked for days to get home without food or water. How all we wanted to do was to get home and see her, our mother.

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She listened intently and when I finished, she bent over me and hugged me once more. When she broke away, she had tears falling silently down her cheeks.

"You've been so brave sweetheart...." she whispered.

"But I disobeyed you, " I whispered, "I put the others in danger. I feel so guilty," I said, hanging my head in shame.

"But darling, you brought them home to me, safe. I was about to get you anyway. I needed you to know that I love you." she said.

"We know and knew that you loved us, Mother. We knew and we loved you back one hundred times," I murmured.

"As for feeling guilty", she said, "there is nothing to feel guilty for. You just did what any person would have done. It must have taken courage," murmured my mother.

That night was the longest of my night. We heard bangs and bombs dropping all through the night, but we just sat and talked. I was so glad that we had survived and that we were now in the safe, comforting arms of our mother. * In the months to follow, we bought another house. It was a lot smaller than our other one and didn't have as many luxuries like furniture. The house was in the country so there was no need to have the three of us evacuated. We loved the country and the fact that we were together. We planted a small apple tree in the garden and bought a pigeon. The pigeon reminded us of London‌a keepsake.

Mother got her strength back, gained some weight and was back to her happy old self. The war ended the next spring and there were many celebrations. That spring, Bobby and I danced around the May Pole.

A few days into September, there was a thud at the door. It was our father!

Dressed still in his uniform and sporting a broken arm and scar across his cheek, my father grinned at me and said: "Hello darling, long time no see".

Hearing my father's voice, my mother ran in and swooped down upon him.

They hugged each other for a long time and embraced. We sat together that night and I thought to myself; things were finally how they should be.

Epilogue It is seven years since the war and I am in Africa. I am a nurse for the wounded soldiers. I'm 20 years old and quite a lady. All that I remember of the war is now a blur. My brother, Bobby, is now 15 and is about to leave for the army. I've never seen my father so proud.

My sister, Maisy, is 9 now and is a wonderful student at the local school.

We're still in the country and it's so lovely to wake up in the morning and look out upon the fields of corn and wheat.

Although my experience with running from my troubles was scary, it's made me a much stronger person. My life had a part missing during the war. But now‌the part has been fulfilled.

I am whole.

By Hannah Jobey, Year 8

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Belinda And The Beast "Belinda?" asked Mrs Jones, "Can you do me a favour? A new boy is starting tomorrow, and I would like you to show him around. Would that be OK? His name's Billy."

"OK," replied Belinda, not over enthusiastically. Mrs Jones walked out of the room, "Oh, my God. I hope he's fit, it'd make a change."

"Belinda, what happened to Gareth? I thought you were, like, back together?"

"Err, no, I'm so over him! He's vomitrocious! Anyway, I got these new UGGs, they're, like, brown!" Belinda exclaimed. * The next morning, Billy was feeling nervous. A girl, he thought to himself as he tied his shoes; this could be embarrassing. He looked in his mirror at his shirt tucked into his Y-fronts and sighed, "Good luck, old boy."

"Billy!" called his Grandma from the bottom of the stairs, "It's time for breakfast, dear. I've got you some Fruit Loops, your favourite."

"Coming, Granny." he replied and, to himself, "Oh well."

He slowly dragged his feet down the stairs. * "OMG, Belinda! This eye shadow is SO your colour! Wow! It goes perfectly," exclaimed Clara, "Wow! Put it on her, Lindsey!" The door began to open, and the classroom fell silent, what would this new boy look like? The sighs turned to gasps; he was a complete nerd!

"O... M... G!" whispered Belinda to her friends.

"Yeah, I mean, like, eew!" whispered Lindsey in reply, "You have to show that THING around all day!"

"Don't remind me," cringed Belinda.

"Welcome to the school, Billy!" said Mrs Jones, cheerily. "Belinda, come here and shake his hand." The class erupted into laughter. "Calm down, everyone, settle now." Belinda slowly got up, almost in tears, and stood about 5 feet away from Billy, wrinkled her nose and promptly turned around to sit back down again. "Belinda!" Mrs Jones said, firmly. "I'm shocked at you!

Stand up, be polite and shake Billy's hand."

"OK," mumbled Belinda. She gingerly stepped forward and touched Billy's hand, just for a second, before dropping it and running back to her seat hurriedly, amid waves of laughter from around her. "Don't laugh at me," she whispered, "It's not my fault." * Mrs Jones walked into the staffroom that lunchtime, completely exhausted from the morning's work.

"My goodness," she exclaimed, "Why can't the children be nice to new kids? I mean, come on! They tortured him, poor Billy." The other teachers looked up from their books and comforted her, "You know they're always like this on the first few days. I'm sure he'll settle in soon and make plenty of friends," said Mr Grimshaw, " He'll be fine.

Now just relax and put your feet up with this cup of coffee."

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Mrs Jones went on to tell of how the morning's events had panned out, and the teachers grew more and more astonished at how rude the children had been.

"You know, in my day," said Mrs Oldham, "We were taught to be polite and respect everyone and everything. Shocking, it is, shocking!" * "Oh, Belinda, come to lunch with us!" implored Clara.

"Sorry I can't, I have to, like, show HIM around!" replied Belinda, glancing over to the door where Billy stood with an expectant, yet still dopey, grin on his face.

"Well, um... Bye, Belinda."

"Yeah, like, have fun with your new best friend." Belinda looked at Billy with disgust.

"So, Belinda... Do you want to show me the library?"

"Hmm, let me think... NO. Right, if this is going to work you have to follow my rules. You don't touch me, you don't talk to me and you walk five paces behind me at all times. OK? Well it's just going to have to be." Billy looked at Belinda like a puppy ready for a walk. Belinda looked back again with contempt, "Ughh, in fact, don't even look at me!" she shuddered. * In the lunch queue, Clara and Lindsey were telling of how Belinda had become 'best friends' with the new boy, the nerd! The whole line was laughing.

"Well, Gareth. I can't believe you went out with her! Her and that new kid are probably having such fun together, if you know what I mean! Wink, wink," said Mark obnoxiously.

"Oh, Mark, you're so cruel!"

"Yeah, but she was rubbish anyway!" commented Gareth.

"Well at least Billy'll be enjoying himself!" Laughter rippled down the queue "OMG, here they come," exclaimed Clara.

"You mean Belinda and the Beast?" replied Gareth through a boyish grin. Belinda's cheeks began to flush red, not that anyone could tell, thanks to her thick layer of foundation.

"Remember, you don't even look at me," she muttered to Billy without even turning her head.

"Hey Belinda!" called Lindsey, across the playground, "We were just talking about you."

"No, we weren't Lindsey," exclaimed Clara hurriedly. "What we were actually talking about was... like, you know... UGGs and stuff." Billy still kept quiet. I wonder if all girls are like this, he thought to himself.

"And what exactly are 'UGGs'?" The line fell silent. Oh dear God, I did not just say that out loud, thought Billy.

"I think you need to teach the Beast about popular culture Belinda."

"No, Belinda's the beast, Mark." * Belinda ran away, through the small, concrete playground, her hands desperately covering the thick black lines of mascara running down her face.

She just wanted out. She hurriedly ran through the wrought iron gates,

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checking for teachers behind her. There were none, but Billy was there. He looked worried... about her! That was strange. No-one liked her, so why would he? Belinda was confused.

"Are you OK?" he called across the road, not wanting to break 'The Rules' and run away from school on his first day. Belinda didn't seem to hear him, so he asked again, "Are you OK?" Billy walked cautiously across the road, checking for teachers, pupils, policemen, anyone that would stop him breaking 'The Rules'. "Belinda?"

"Go away! I'm, like... OMG!" Another wave of tears engulfed her and she broke down onto the pavement.

"Don't worry, Belinda, I'll go and sort those mean girls out for you and... and the boys, too!" Billy stammered, trying to sound brave and fierce, like the Jedi in his favourite film, 'Star Wars'. He couldn't quite bring himself to believe that only that morning, he had been eating Fruit Loops with his grandmother and now he was saving a girl that didn't even like him.

Madness! Belinda couldn't help but laugh, despite her tears.

"What?" asked Billy, confused.

"Sorry, I just, wow! I can't believe someone like, well, YOU would do that for me! Wow!" she gushed.

"Erm... Thanks?"

"Well I wouldn't do that if I was you, I mean, come on!"

"What! Why not?" exclaimed Billy.

"Well come on then, 'Beast'."

"Actually, Belinda, I think they called you the beast." Belinda smiled half-heartedly and turned back into the school yard. * Two days later, Billy was still tucking his shirt into his Y-fronts, and Belinda was still being laughed at by her former friends. But there was one difference, she didn't care. Lindsey and Clara had become bored with the situation and bitched about them with less gusto than before.

"Eww, here comes Billy and the Beast," said Clara.

"Yeah and...?" questioned Lindsey.

"And we have to talk about them, we have a reputation to maintain."

"This is, like, getting boring! She doesn't... care anymore!" moaned Clara.

"Yeah, it's, like, no fun." replied Lindsey.

"Ew, did you see Kylie in Biology today?"

"Yeah, she was like sooo checking you out!"

"OMG! Let's go tell Mark and Gareth!" they exclaimed in unison, then they got up and strutted out of the room haughtily. * A few months later, Clara will stand in front of her mirror, putting on her mascara." Clara," her mother will shout. "It's time to go." She will walk into her new form room. The class will fall silent. Oh dear God, she's a Barbie Doll, the entire class will think. A boy will walk to the front of the classroom, wrinkle his nose and promptly turn round to sit back down...

By Sunshine Caulker and Eleanor Raymond, Year 9 103

"Painting is silent poetry."

- Simonides, Greek Poet

Artist : Rebecca Sen Title : Portrait of Maddy GCSE Artist : Rebecca Sen Title : Wraps GCSE

Artist : Olivia Rawlinson Title : Surfaces GCSE 104

Artist : Mercedes Wilson Prep Work, GCSE

Artist : Hayley Blades Title : Portrait of Natasha GCSE

Artist : Alex Carr 105 GCSE

Title : Distressed Mother

Artist : Georgina Archer GCSE

Artist : Lori Hamilton GCSE

Artist : Rachael White GCSE Artist : Sarah Fenwick Brown GCSE

Artist : Georgina Archer GCSE 106

Artist : Louise Pearson Seascape A2

Artist : Ayla Oz Title : Wraps GCSE

Artist : Zoe McDonald Title : Wraps GCSE 107

Artist : Hayley Atkinson Title : Visual Diary A2

Artist : Hayley Atkinson Study from Cezanne and Picasso A2

Artist : Alex Wright Title : Visual Diary AS 108

Artist : Alex McGrady Title : Portrait of Helen McClure A2

Artist : Helen McClure Title : Visual Diary A2

Artist : Amy Hudson Title : Self Portrait A2 109

Artist : Ruth Taylor Title : Hands A2

Artist : Louise Pearson Title : Seascape A2

Artist : Louise Pearson Seascape Study A2 110

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