1. education
2. school

E
Saint Aidan’s Church of England Technology College Student Paper
Exam tips
Read our top tips on how to cope with
the stresses of exam preparation
International Links
Read about all the schools
across the world that we are
linked with
All the news and gossip from across
the school this term
Read our exclusive interview with
The Bishop of Blackburn
Teacher Feature
Find out about all the skeletons in
Mrs Grimmett’s closet
Catch up with all the sporting
success over the last few weeks
the
Team
Editor: Hannah Williams
Editor: Andrew Wilson
Deputy Editor: Michael
Head
Writers:
Destiny Acton
Ellie Beckett
Niamh Beckett
Kieran Chatham
Anna Charles
Naomi Cross
Jacob Cross
Rebecca Davison
Oscar Hargreaves
Joshua Harrison
Lewis Havill
Beki Holding
Reece Horvath
Josef Houldsworth
Katie Hoyle
Aled Hughes
Rosie Maddison
Elizabeth Marks
Molly Nagle
Rebekah Pennington
Charlotte Rossall
Lucy Silvester
Danny Walderman
Sam Weeden
Editors’
message
Hannah Williams and
Andrew Wilson
We want to hear your opinions
about the new LiveWyre, including what you want to see in the
next issue. Email us at:
[email protected]
In
this spring’s issue
3. Saint Aidan’s Scoop
Find out all about The Sport Relief Bake Off, Fairtrade and the Bishop of Blackburn’s visit.
6. Memories
Our Editor, Hannah Williams, tells us why she
thinks memories are so important.
7. Top Exam Tips
Find out how to prepare for exams and keep the
stress levels in check.
8. Teachers tell all
Mrs Grimmett reveals her favourite food and the
Performing Arts Faculty tell us what they’d do if
they didn’t teach their subject.
10. Review special
The ultimate guide what to watch, listen to and
play this Easter break.
12. International Links
Find out more about the schools we are linked
with across the world and find out what they eat,
lessons they study and see what the schools look
like.
14 School Sport Round up
A round up of the events at Saint Aidan’s fthis
term.
16. World Sports Report
All the news from all the sporting events out of
school.
Where do we start when it
comes to covering everything
we’ve been up to this term?
From an interview with the
Bishop of Blackburn to our
successful BBC News School
Report and even a BBC Radio
4 Interview fitted in! We have all developed our skills as budding journalists considerably over the past term due to all the
‘work experience’ we have had, it has
been so much fun and really interesting.
Our highlight has to be helping with this
year’s BBC News School Report, it was
great to put all that we’d learnt into practice and the finished report (that can be
found on the school website) showcases
just that!
The newspaper this term is jam packed
full of the latest news, interesting teacher
facts and tips for you. Particularly for our fellow Year
11s, this last paper discusses the importance of
memories for us all and revision tips and advice that
you should hopefully find
useful. We have also got a special feature
on our school’s international links; I wonder if when the school opened 50 years
ago, with only a handful of teachers, they
ever imagined that pupils would visit
schools in China and South Africa?
Yet again this terms paper showcases the
talents and skills of all members of Media
Club, why don’t you join us and do just
that? We meet Wednesdays from 3 to
4pm in IT1 and are welcome to new
members.
Saint Aidan’s
SCOOP
As the spring term comes to an end, our team
have all the news about events that have
taken place over the last 12 weeks.
R
3
A Winning Formula
Oscar Hargreaves reports on our quiz team’s success.
On January 29th our school quiz team made their
way to victory by beating both Millfield and Cardinal
Allen by one point. The outstanding team was Jack
Dennehy (Year 7), Kieran Chatham (Year 8), Anthony Sealy (Year 9) and Olivia Stupart (Year 10),
the team captain. Since 2001, the Saint Aidan’s
Quiz Team has won every single quiz competition,
except one. They played against twelve other
schools from all over the district and fortunately
beat all twelve of them. The contestants have
clearly shown a lot of general knowledge.
Deputy Headteacher Mr Lord said, “It definitely was
not an easy win because we only won on the last
question.” Mr Lord also said he was relieved to hear
that the school team had won and he was very
proud of them. Mr Lord has suggested that we have
a house quiz where all the houses will go against
each other. What is your opinion on the idea of having a house quiz competition? Email us at mediaclub@ lancsngfl.sch.uk and let us know your
thoughts.
Students quizzed for Radio 4
Michael Head
reports
The tables
were turned
in March as
three Media
Club Members were
interrogated by Science expert, Melissa Hogenboom,
who works for BBC4 Radio in London. She made
the long journey to Preesall to pick our brains on
a Fracking and Energy story planned to be created
on BBC News School Report. Leaving no stone
unturned Melissa asked us all sorts from what we
knew, who we had interviewed, the angle of the
story and what we had to do next. It was an interesting experience to be asked the questions for
a change and we learnt that working in radio wasn’t just sitting behind a desk but working with
tight deadlines, travelling long distances and lots
of interviewing.
The Saint Aidan’s Sports Relief Bake Off
On the 18th of March, a Sport Relief bake sale
was held in the refectory selling the PE teachers’ yummy cakes. The night before, all the
PE staff were in Food Tech mixing, stirring,
cooking, icing and decorating their cakes,
ready to be sold to students the next day.
none of them could beat Miss McGrath
whose cakes were voted the best by the
students who bought them.
Mrs Rossall, who supervised and organised the event, said she thought it was a
success and was for a great cause. The
money raised will go towards Sport Relief and will help many children who are
sick or have suffered from losing a loved
one. Thank you to everyone who bought
a cake and helped with the event; you
did a great job!
Mr Armfield had a baking disaster when he
forgot to put the cinnamon and baking powder into his mix! The competition also heated
up when Mr Macleod came third; he was not
happy! Miss Garvey, Mrs Pears and Miss
Woods and the other PE staff also put their
best effort into their baking masterpieces, but
Lucy Silvester reports
N
The Bishop’s Visit
On the 11th of March 2014 the
Bishop of Blackburn came to lead
a special Eucharist to celebrate
the 50th Anniversary of Saint Aidan’s being open. The Eucharist
had live musical performances
from our Acapella group and the school band, as well as
several singing performances. At the end of the Eucharist
Mr. Smith presented a special cross made by the school
pottery club to the Bishop. In between his hectic schedule, Rebecca Davison and Destiny Acton were lucky
enough to grab ten minutes of Reverend Julian’s time.
Here’s what he had to say to our questions:
T
What made you want to follow a life in the church?
I’ve been doing this work for many years and I became a
priest when I was in my 20s. I’ve only been a bishop for a
short space of time. I think there is something very important to share and pass on to the world in which we
live. I want to share something of the life in all its fullness, just like Jesus said.
What is the best thing about being Bishop of
Blackburn? I like the privilege that there is to speak of
the news of Jesus Christ to people. It is early days as being the Bishop of Blackburn because I am fairly new but
at this but I have had a terrific welcome from the people
here in Lancashire and have been fed far too well!
And the worst? One of the worst things for me is being
put on a pedestal. I don’t like being put on a pedestal by
calling me Bishop this and Bishop that. I am very ordinary, like everyone else. I just have a special role in the
life of the church.
If you could change one thing in the world what
would it be? That’s a question that needs a lot of time
to think about the answer. The world is a really sad place,
if you look at Syria, Ukraine, Southern Sudan, I would
love people to be able to live in peace with one another,
without fighting or war or conflict.
What was your school life like? I was sent away to
boarding school when I was 7 until I was 18. I really enjoyed it as I am quite competitive and there is a very
competitive nature at boarding schools. There were lots
of sport and I was a cross country runner and captain of
the team so I loved that. But I also enjoyed the academic
side of school too. It was a strange life at school because
I was away from the family but it was the school that my
father went to and my son has since been to so it felt like
family.
What would you say to young people to encourage
them in their faith?
It’s not just a way of life, it’s a way of thinking and believing and for a lot of young people today they have grown
up quite sceptical about church, I think we need to argue
the case for the church and Christianity. I think it is a reasonable thing to have faith.
Fairtrade Focus
Ellie and Niamh Beckett catch up with Mr Eccles to find out more
about our schools hope to become a fair-trade school.
During the last half-term, students across the school have
completed questionnaires highlighting their understanding
and awareness of Fairtrade and Fairtrade products. This
was followed by Year 11 students delivering Fairtrade form
worships.
They have started to form a Fairtrade Committee in school,
which at the moment is made up of around fifteen students
in Years 7 to 11. The first meetings of the group were spent
looking at Fairtrade products and deciding which ones would
sell well in their first Fairtrade sale. The group decided to
focus their first stall around fruit, chocolate and sweets in
the hope that they could sell out of stock.
Buying Fairtrade products helps to ensure that farmers in
developing countries get a fair price for the produce they
grow. In turn this helps to provide communities with clean
water, community buildings and also helps to send children
to school, ultimately improving their life chances. As a result the stall aims to break even and encourage our students
and staff to make ethical choices around the products that
they buy.
Technology
Competition
By Naomi Cross
On Friday the 14th March some pupils from Saint Aidan’s
attended a technology competition. Two teams of students, one from Year 8 and one from Year 9 competed in
the competition against 20 other teams from different
schools in our area. The task was to build a grabbing machine that could hold a “radioactive meteorite” out of a
box. In this there were 3 different levels which got harder
along the way but the machine was marked on design and
creativity, technical and practical skills, reporting, recording and teamwork.
There were a lot of plans that they came up with. But in
the end they came up with a genius plan, which won them
in second place. The students who went from Saint Aidan’s tried very hard and got a very good result. You can
clearly tell that they worked very well as a team because
they came second out of 20 more teams which is a very
good accomplishment. Well done to all those students who
took part in the competition. They are all very smart because it is quite hard to build a moving machine unless
you have had a lot of training.
Memories
As Year 11 prepare to leave Saint Aidan’s, Hannah Williams explores why making memories is so important.
that you don’t remember what happened. What you
remember becomes what happened.” I think this
sums up memories in a nutshell. The ones that stand
out are the ones life has remembered for you. People
interpret every situation in a different way to others
and your memory acts as a filtering system. Eyewitness accounts are becoming less and less reliable
and the police try and gather much more evidence
than human memory alone. People often persuade
themselves things are true even if they know they’re
not. This could be due to the shock of the incident, hiding the details or simply because they had ‘forgotten’.
What does it mean to forget something? The dictionary
says ‘to be unable to remember a fact, something that
happened, or how to do something’. This reflects the
idea of criminal evidence becoming confused and mixed
Memories. We all talk about them and reminisce on the
times we’ve had, but what actually is a memory? The
dictionary says ‘the ability to remember information,
experiences, and people’. I agree with this, but this is a
definition, not a meaning. The phrases, ‘I remember’,
‘Do you remember when’ and ‘Remember that time’ are
so commonly used but I bet, most of the time people
don’t actually understand how precious a memory is.
Just think for a moment… which would
up. Somebe worse, losing
times people
your sight or losing
try to forget
your memory? Lossomething
ing your ability to
whereas othsmell or losing your
ers are desmemory? For me
perate for the
memory wins every
chance to
time. Everything is
remember
gone. All the
everything.
laughs, cries, tantrums and fears all
So I have six
gone. Never to reweeks until
turn. Memories are
my GCSEs
personal things, no
begin. Am I
one person has the
worried? Yes!
exact same memoAm I scared?
ries as you and I
Yes! Memory
believe this is
comes into so
something special. Like your fingerprints… something
many aspects of my final few months at school. Will I
completely unique to you.
remember the parts of a leaf cell? Will I remember how
to conjugate a German verb? Or that all important
quote from To Kill a Mockingbird? Good grades are important and I really need to remember how to work out
the mean from a frequency table… but, the memory
also plays another important part in the final few moments with my nearest and dearest. In 20 years, I want
to be able to look back and remember all the good
People associate the brain with two sides. The left being times we’ve had. I could bore you until Christmas listing
logical and academic and the right being more creative. the memories I’ve made over the years but
The memory, however, isn’t allocated to either hemiI just want to thank everyone who has
sphere. It is everywhere. All the time. That highlights a made these five years so special and I wish
negative side to the memory, it remembers everything, everyone the best of luck for whatever hapmore often than not things you would rather it didn’t.
pens next. I’ll never forget you all, even if I
Memories can often become faint and confused and I
try to, because the memory remembers
think that’s how you tell a good one from a great
everything.
one. John Green said “And the moral of the story is
In 20 years, I want to look back and
remember the good times we’ve had.
The ones that stand out are the ones
life has remembered for you.
O
6
Seven Steps to Exam Success
As exam season grows closer, Andrew Wilson offers his advice on how to be successful during this vital time.
Exam season is fast approaching and stress levels will be running high. It is inevitable that you will
be trying to cram in last minute revision, but only if that works for you. There are many articles and
resources offering advice on how best to revise and I feel the following tips will help considerably.
You should establish clear targets for you to work to so that
you can focus your revision.
Tell yourself that you should’ve
reached certain levels of understanding by certain points or
that you should’ve covered a
certain amount of notes in a given time. Throughout this,
remember to aim your work and knowledge towards your
desired grade!
1.
Set yourself
clear goals
3.
Talk about
your worries
The worst thing to do is
bottle up your worries! Talk
to your teachers, friends or
family about your troubles
and they can all offer you
additional guidance. Make
sure you attend revision
sessions as your questions
may get answered for you
or those hard science concepts can get broken down
for you.
5. Be strategic
Make sure you can adapt to
certain circumstances or situations. If you’re going on holiday then you could revise
whilst travelling or take an
hour out each day to do some
intense revision. Also, you
need to be able to notice if a
revision technique isn’t working for you and change to an
alternative.
2. Be realistic
Realise that it will be incredibly hard to do 4 hours
straight of intense maths
revision without a break. It
will be hard to get to where you want to immediately so don’t expect miracles straight away. If you
can be realistic about your revision targets then
you will be more successful.
Don’t be too hard
on yourself
4.
Don’t restrict
yourself to solid
revision thinking it will be
the answer, give yourself
breaks or days out with
friends so you have something to look forward to.
Know that you can always
try harder and that you will
get better with time!
S
6.
Be proud of
yourself
Praise yourself when
you get things right or
overcome barriers in
your understanding!
Recognise that your
hard work will get you
good grades and that
they will be down to
you.
Focus on
yourself
Work for yourself!
Don’t spend your
time bothering
about people or
being envious of
their achievements.
Study hard so that you can be the one
making people jealous! Only try to beat
and better yourself and realise that we all
have strengths and weaknesses, that’s
just the way it is. I also think it is important for you to have a clear head when
attempting any revision and you need to
plan carefully everything that you do. Remember to try and try again if you feel
something is complicated because eventually you will have a Eureka moment,
from experience, I guarantee it!
7.
Teacher Feature
Mrs Grimmett
If you weren't a teacher what
would you be?
I would like to be a helicopter
pilot. I have had one flying lesson
but it was too expensive for me
to pursue it any further at the
time.
What inspired you to be a
teacher?
One of my friends who was a
teacher before I became one
used to tell me about how much
she enjoyed her job as a chemistry teacher and how varied her
days were. At the time I was doing a job that I was bored with
and she inspired me to try teaching.
As a child what was your favourite subject?
Biology, but geography and
chemistry were close seconds.
Have you always been a
teacher?
No. After University I worked in
the pharmaceutical industry for
11 years. I would visit GPs and
hospital doctors and tell them
about the drugs that the two
companies I worked for manufactured.
What is your favourite food?
I’ve just discovered an Indian
dish called Murgh Samundri and
that is definitely my favourite
dish at the moment.
What is your favourite book?
Tough one this, probably by
Jonathan Livingston; a book
called Seagull.
Do you have a favourite type
of music/artist?
Take That, without question!
What is the bravest thing
you've done?
Stroked a snake.
What are you most scared of?
Something horrible happening to
one of my children or
8
Faculty in Focus: Performing Arts
Think you know your Music, Art and Drama teachers? Think again!
Miss Brannigan
If you weren’t an art teacher at this school what
would you do and why?
If I wasn’t an art teacher at this school I would be a full
time glass artist managing an arts community for struggling artists and for some artists who want to sell their
paintings and other art work.
Has your work been displayed in any art galleries before?
Yes I have done and currently I have work on display in four galleries: two in
Northern Ireland, one in Scotland and one in London.
What do you enjoy most about being an art teacher?
The thing I enjoy most about teaching art is when a student says I get it now
and they understand a new technique in art. This makes the students very proud
of themselves and it makes me pleased too.
Mrs Hamlyn
If you weren’t a drama teacher what would you
do and why? If I didn't teach Drama I would love to
teach PE or Music.
Have you ever been in a show? I've been in a number of shows, probably too many to mention but my
favourites have been 'The Importance of Being Ernest' and 'My Fair Lady'. To be
honest although I love being in shows I enjoy directing and choreographing a lot
more.
What is your favourite thing about Drama?
My favourite thing about Drama is the freedom it gives students to explore and
learn, in a completely different environment from 'normal' classrooms!
What is your favourite play?
I have a number of favourite plays and they change on a monthly basis but the
one that has been on the top of my list for a while is a play called Someone to
Watch Over Me. It is a play written by Irish dramatist, Frank McGuinness. The
play focuses on the trials and tribulations of an Irishman, an Englishman and an
American who are kidnapped and held hostage by unseen Arabs in Lebanon. As
the three men strive for survival they also strive to overcome their personal and
nationalistic differences. Related to this is each individual's own attempt to maintain sanity under the watchful eye of captors. At times the dramatic dialogue
reaches a level of absurdity, that even the audience is unable to draw a distinction between the characters' insanity and humour.
What is your favourite Shakespeare play?
I do love A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Year 10 students may still remember performing an extract when they were in Year 7 for Saint Aidan's Shakespeare Evening, with Charlotte Bailey taking on the wonderful role of Titania.
If you could act with anyone who would it be and why?
We have been talking about it for a while and this is probably not the usual type
of answer for this question. However, I would love the opportunity (and the
time) to act with my husband Graham, who is also a Drama teacher and an
amazing actor. We are thinking about starting a two person play next year.
Watch this space!
Do you have a favourite musical word?
My favourite musical words from a musical are 'I practised baby-farming'; answers on a postcard as to which musical this is from. This was another play that
I was in and a lovely character to play!
The buildings
C
The Nancy Pool Art Suite was opened
in 2000 and the drama and music block
was named after Mr Pierse, former
head teacher.
Mr Swindley
If you didn't teach
Drama, what would
you teach and why?
History. I studied History to A level and it
has always been an
area of great interest to
me; a knowledge of what has happened in our past is
essential to any kind of understanding where we are
now.
Have you ever been in a show?
Many. The first was over 30 years ago (crikey, I’m old).
What is your favourite thing about Drama?
The ‘penny dropping moment’ when students understand how to use a particular technique or do something they were convinced they couldn’t do.
Mr Rapp
If you didn’t teach
Music, what would
you teach and why?
I'd teach PE or ICT. If I
wasn't a teacher my
dream job would be a
motorbike
racer in MotoGP.
Have you ever played an instrument in a show?
I've been lucky enough to perform in every major Concert hall
in the UK including the Albert Hall. When I was a student at
the Royal Northern College of Music, I had loads of different
performing opportunities.
What is your favourite instrument to listen to being
played?
As a trumpeter, I'd have to say trumpet but it's great listening
to all kinds of instruments playing in different styles/genres
depending on what mood you're in.
What is your favourite band?
I don't have a favourite. I grew up with Britpop bands including Oasis, Blur, Supergrass and growing up we listened to a
lot of Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I still enjoy that music today. I love listening to Muse and Radiohead as well.
Other types of music I listen to are Jazz, particularly Miles
Davis ( a trumpet player!). I listen to classical music as there
is so much variety and I think everyone can find something
they like if they take the time to listen to music from the best
composers to have lived.
What is your favourite play?
Almost impossible to say but pretty much anything by
Shakespeare.
What is your favourite song?
It wouldn't be a song but if I had to choose favourite
pieces I'd choose a Symphony (which is an extended musical
composition usually for Orchestra) by Beethoven, Mahler,
Bruckner or any Tone Poem by Strauss.
What is your favourite Shakespeare play?
Again, a very difficult question but the BBC version of
Richard II from a couple of years ago reminded me of
why I originally found Shakespeare in performance so
engrossing.
What is your favourite thing about music?
The diversity of the subject; it's huge and is constantly developing and evolving. Music never gets boring. Also, the chance
to constantly be creative and develop musical skills.
If you could act with anyone who would it be and
why?
Kevin Spacey. He’s a master of understatement, but
he’d act me off the stage.
Do you have a favourite musical words?
The End. (Musicals are not my thing really).
E
If you could jam with anyone who would it be and
why?
A cool jam band would be Mozart on keys, Flea on Bass Guitar, Jimmy Page on guitar and Bob Marley vocals! If you're
reading this and don't know the musicians I'm talking about
look them up and have a listen on YouTube.
Mr Ewell
If you didn’t teach Art what would you teach and why?
I already teach two other subjects – how many more do you want me to teach?!
Who is your favourite artist?
Dave McKean. He’s always trying something new and never rests on his laurels.
What is your favourite piece of art?
It changes quite a lot, a bit like music. I like Lizzie Mary Cullen’s drawings at the moment.
What is your favourite type of art?
Don’t really have a favourite. I like lots of stuff.
If you could have one person draw your portrait (dead or alive) who would it be?
Lucian Freud maybe? His portraits were pretty impressive.
What one utensil(?) should an artist always have with them?
A beret.
Reviews
special
I
Words by Ellie Beckett, Niamh
Beckkett, Katie Hoyle, Danny
Walderman, Naomi Cross, Beki
Holding, Molly Nagle, Chloe
Roskell.
BOOKS
Noughts and Crosses by Malorie
Blackman
The Noughts and Crosses series is by
Malorie Blackman and the first book
was published in 2001. There are three
books following Noughts and Crosses:
Knife Edge, Checkmate and Double
Cross.
The series is based on two young people who are forced to make a stand on
racism. Callum (a Nought) is colourless
and second class, whereas, his childhood friend, “Sephy” (a Cross), is dark
skinned and the daughter of Kamal
Hadley who is a high-up politician.
Noughts and Crosses do not mix.
Sephy and Callum go through a rollercoaster of adventure until, the bomb
goes off. This is a world where Black
and White are right and young.
An amazing book—you must read it!
Beautiful Dead Jonas by Eden
Maguire
Darina is in denial over her boyfriend
Phoenix, who died a few weeks ago.
That was the fourth teen death in a
year, after Jonas, Arizona and Summer
who had mysteriously died too. Luckily,
Darina finds a way to relieve herself of
her loss - an old run down house an
hour’s drive away from her house,
where she was with the beautiful dead,
and all four previously dead teens were
with them. Were they alive or dead?
Unfortunately Jonas’ time is running
out, it’s high time to find out what was
the cause of his death. It’s easy to become obsessed with this book.
10
The whole plotline is extremely
unique and it is exceptionally
well structured. The book could have
been a bit longer, as it was slightly
hurried towards the end. Fortunately,
there are three more in this series,
each about the other three dead
teens. It won’t take much persuading
to start reading the other three.
Fans of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight will
obsess over the intrigue, and mystery
of these books, coupled with amazing
writing styles and compelling characters.
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
"Mockingjay" begins with Katniss Everdeen wandering through the wreckage
of her District 12 hometown, walking
next to the ashes of bodies that used to
be her neighbours, after a catastrophic
bombing by the Capitol. Most of her
neighbours are dead. The rest have
escaped to District 13, an area that was
thought to be just ashes and rubble,
but underground is very much alive and
dangerous.
Forced underground 75 years earlier in
a time known as the Dark Days, has led
to the annual children's bloodbath of a
TV show known as the Hunger Games.
District 13 are looking to Katniss to join
the rest of the districts and overthrow
President Snow. Snow has had no problem to show his dislike for Katniss and
her rebellious fellow districts by tearing
families apart by letting their children
fight to the death. District 13 is made
up of nuclear bomb factories. The Capitol have nuclear bomb factories. If a
nuclear war breaks out, this could destroy most of Panem.
This book has it all: action, romance,
tension, drama, and death. It has a
slow start but soon makes up for it by
getting straight into the action.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This is a strong, charismatic story of
love, death and quite a lot of thievery.
Narrated by Death itself, this book is
about 9 year old Liesel Merminger, who
lives in Nazi Germany. Arriving on
Himmel Street, brotherless and with no
idea where her mum has gone, Liesel is
scared and alone as she meets her foster family, the Hubbermans. Not having
ever attended school, Liesel has no idea
how to read or write. Slowly, with help
from her new papa, Hans Hubbermann,
Liesel begins to creep into the world of
words, and with it comes temptation,
the temptation to steal books. Then,
the Jews begin to march and the
bombs begin to fall...
This book was really enjoyable, and,
because it was narrated by Death, it
gives you a new angle to look on global
matters from. It makes you feel sorry
for Death. It is perfectly written to
make you feel every emotion that Liesel
feels.
If you have read the book, why not try
the film, The Book Thief? You can find
this book in the school library.
WARNING—you are going to need
some tissues at the end!
The Knife of Never Letting Go by
Patrick Ness
Todd Hewitt is thirty-one days away
from becoming a man. Todd’s world,
New World, is different to others. All of
the men can hear each other’s thoughts
in a loud, never-ending ‘noise’.
Then Todd stumbles across a spot of
silence. This is impossible. It’s never
silent. Todd has to run from his town
and travel across the world to find
safety at Haven. He discovers that the
source of the silence that forced him
out of his town is a girl, but that’s impossible. All of the girls were killed by
the germ that gave men ‘noise’. Todd
and the girl decide to team up to reach
Haven. Todd slowly begins to realise
that his life is a lie. Along the way they
encounter many hardships. Can they
make it to Haven alive?
This book is AMAZING! It is jam packed
with action and there’s never a dull moment! The only criticism would be that
at the beginning it doesn’t make that
much sense but if you keep at it then
within the first five pages it begins to
make more sense. It is full of emotion
and overall a really good book. Even
though it is not necessarily a new book
it is one that definitely needs to be
tried.
MUSIC
Ellie Golding: Halcyon
My top music artist is Ellie Goulding,
with her album Halcyon. Halcyon has
songs like: Burn, Don’t say a Word,
Anything Could Happen, I Need Your
Love, Explosion and many more.
The best song on the album is
‘Anything Can Happen’ because it is
catchy, which builds up and become up
beat. It is trying to say that anything
can happen at any time and you are
to expect the unexpected.
Ellie Goulding won ‘Best British Female Solo Artist’ with her song Burn,
this year at the Brit Awards. She
made the first No 1 album of 2014
and she likes to strut her stuff down
the red carpet and take photos with
her fans.
them the first male boy band since
the Beatles to accomplish the feat.
When Emmet had just finished work
after a long day he meets the feisty,
but kind when she wants to be, Wyldstyle. She said she was looking for
“the piece of resistance.” When President Business finds out about Emmet’s plans with Wyldstyle, a dark
side shines through. When President
Business tries to take over the world
with the dreaded Kragle, Emmet tries
to stop him. Will Emmet and his
friends stop President Business before
it’s too late?
This album includes two of the best
One Direction songs: Midnight Memories, the title song, and the Story Of
My Life! Midnight Memories is pop
and rock mixed song which is very
catchy once you have listened to it.
On the other hand Story of My Life is
a very quiet pop song, which also is a
catchy song.
One Direction: Midnight MemoMidnight Memories is a must buy alries
Did you really expect the world’s big- bum for any One Direction fans. Here
at LiveWyre, we can’t wait until the
gest boy band to bring out a flop alPresident Business (Will Ferrell) is fun
next album comes out!
bum? Well of course not! One Direcand loved by all his people but what
tion is THE BEST BOY BAND out of all
they don’t know is that he is ruthless
FILM
the boy bands and has just brought
and will do anything for power.
The Lego Movie
out a brand new album “Midnight
Emmet (Chris Pratt) is a boring everyMemories!” Lyrically, the boys remain This amazing new film is filled with
day Lego man who watches rubbish
drama, excitement and a whole heap TV shows, eats croissants and buys
in the PG rated themes which are
of adventure. Emmet is an everyday
about young love, heartbreak and
really expensive coffee.
Lego man who lives in the city of
staying out late, so parents can rest
assured there still tween-friendly. One Bricksburg which is run by the overOne of the best characters is Wyldpowering President Business. EveryDirection’s first two albums hit numstyle (Elizabeth Banks), she acts
ber one on the Billboard 200 Chart in thing in Bricksburg is exactly by the
tough but really she is troubled and
their debut weeks of release, making book.
wishes to have true friends who are
loyal and trustworthy.
s
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Apps
Aled Hughes gives
us the run down
of some of the new, cool
apps and games to keep you occupied
during the Easter break.
Pocket
If you use your iPhone a lot for reading, then Pocket happens to be a brilliant app for you. You can add the Pocket
button onto the browser of your computer and save pages
on it. The pages are sent instantly to your Smartphone or
tablet, so that you can read them later. It is also great for
Adobe Photoshop Express
being able to save your page! Another perk is that it reThis is thought to be one of, if not the best photo editor on moves all the advertisements and other junk on the origithe app and andriod stores to date. Adobe Photoshop Exnal page, leaving you with just the content.
press is great for those who want a quick, free, highly usable tool for making edits to iPhone
Batman Arkham Knights
photos. While this app from Adobe
Batman Arkham Knight is the fourth game
might not offer Photoshop-style
in the series so far. There has been little
power and functionality, it still pernews on the game play however, a recent
forms well when it comes to cropcinematic trailer was realised on YouTube
ping, straightening, exposure adjustand press conferences have been held, rements, colour effects, sharpening and
vealing that the game will not be released
more.
on the old generation consoles of The Xbox
360 and Playstation3(PS3).This will also be
Puffin Academy.
the final game in the Batman Arkham seHave you ever wanted to use Myries. The age rating on this has not yet
Maths on your iPad or tablet? Well
been realised but should be a 16+ plus as
now you can with the Puffin Academy
the past games have been.
app, which allows you to access the site with all the adobe
flash player palaver taken care of. Puffin Academy enables Civilianisation revolution
Adobe Flash based educational websites on the iOS DeSid Meier's Civilization Revolution is a game that recently
vices. This also includes android devices. This app allows
came out on the Xbox 360’s Games with Gold. The game is
you to use websites that would normally require Adobe
meant to be a chance to experience empire-building in
Flash Player. This App allows you to use MyMaths, which is modern graphics. There are 16 nations to choose from and
handy due to many students in Years 7,8 and 9 having
lead to victory! With Many famous historical leaders to play
electronic hand held devices close to hand.
as, such as Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth I, Ceaser
and Ghandi this is a fun game for anyone who likes to battle in an imaginary world.
Linking Around the World
As many of you will know, we have links with schools overseas in South Africa.
However, did you know that there are two other schools we now have links
with? Magwegwe High School in Zimbabwe and in China? Kieran Chatham gives
you a little run down of what school is like in our new partnership schools.
No47 Middle School
Location: Tianhe District, Guangzhou, GuangDong, China
Number of students: The school is made up of a Junior
High School and a Senior High School and there are approximately 3000 students in total. In the Junior High School, students are 12-15 years old while in the Senior High School ,
students are 16-18 years old.
How many teachers are in the school? There are 260
teachers in our school.
How do most students get to school? Most students get
to school by bus and by subway.
School start and finish times: 7.40am start and finish
5.25pm. In the junior high school, the school finishes at 5:25
p.m. In the senior high school, the boarding students should
do self-study in the classroom from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
How many classrooms are there in your school? In total, there are more than 100 classrooms in all the campuses
in our school. In the senior high school, we have one main
building (the middle part is Administration Department while
the left part and right part are made of students’ classrooms) , a gym and a students’ department (where the
boarders live) equipped with elevators.
Number of lessons per day: In total, there are 9 lessons;
teachers are with students for eight lessons and students do
self study in the last class.
Interesting information: The school has dormitories for
the students to live in, for those who have a long way to
travel to school.
Subjects studied: Chinese, English, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Politics, History, Geography, P.E., Music, IT and
Technology as well as Art.
How many students are in each class? There are 45 students in each class.
Break time: Students can
have a break for ten minutes after each 40-minutelong lesson. When students
finish 5 lessons in the
morning, they can have
their lunch and take a nap during the noon break, which lasts
as long as 2 hours.
What and when do the students have lunch? 85% students have lunch in the school canteen, while the rest go
home for lunch. Students can buy the dishes they like in the
school canteen, like fish, pork, chicken, eggs and vegetables.
Usually the dishes are cheap and nutritious. Concerning food
safety, students are not allowed to eat outside the school
canteen.
Does your school have any extra special facilities? In
the gym, we have a swimming pool, badminton hall, basketball arena. Also we have a track field for students to do morning exercises. Besides, we have a small-scale biology park
open for every student.
Do the students have the chance to take part in any
after school clubs/activities? The students can do sports
in the gym after class. They can also take part in a lot of
clubs, such as Music Club, Dance Club, Model UN Conference,
Cantonese Culture Club, Basketball Club, Cycling Club and so
on.
What is/are the qualifications that the students get at
the end of their time at school called? When students
graduate from junior high school, they can get the General
Certificate of Education in the Junior High School. When stu-
dents graduate from senior high school, they can get the
General Certificate of Education in the Senior High School.
What do the students do when they leave? Most of
them go to universities. Some go abroad for further study. A
few go to vocational colleges.
Do students get a choice in what they study? When
they finish the first year in the senior high school, they have a
choice of their interested lessons. We divide the subjects into
three kinds: compulsory subjects (Chinese, English, Math,
P.E., Music, IT and Technology as well as Art), Science subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and Literal Arts (Politics,
History, Geography). All the students should take the first
kind and get the corresponding credits. Between Science subjects and Literal Arts, they can choose one kind, learn the
subjects and get the corresponding credits.
Magwegwe High
U
Location: Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe
Number of students: approximately 1400
How many teachers are in your school? There are 60
teachers and 20 complimentary staff.
Age of students: Learners range from 12 years to (0'level)
20 years (A'level).
How do most students get to school? They walk to
school because they stay in the vicinity.
School start and finish times: 7am and to 5.15pm
How many classrooms are there in your school? There
are 26 classrooms, eight specialist rooms for practical subjects, three science labs, one computer lab and a library.
There are 22 building including the administration block.
Lesson length: We have two sessions, the morning session
ends at 12.15pm and the afternoon session begins at
12.20pm. The older students have no breaks they start lessons at 7.20am and ends at 4.00pm.
Subjects studied: We have five core subjects which include
one of the local languages-isiNdebele or Shona. In addition,
we have a wide range of practical subjects.
How many students are in each class? Each class has an
average of 45 to 50 learners.
Break time: Each session has eight periods with morning
break at 09.35 ending at 09.50.The afternoon break is at
14.35 to 14.50.
What and when do the students have lunch? Because
we have double sessions learners
have their lunch at home.
Does your school have any extra
special facilities? Currently there
are no special facilities except for a
ramp in the staffroom and one of the
learners’ toilets .However, we are
currently working on improving these
structures to make them accessible
to learners with special needs.
Do the students have the chance
to take part in any after school
clubs/activities? The school has a
very wide range of sporting activities
which includes girls’ soccer which
they take up to the national league.
Sports has given some former learners employment like soccer which
has seen the likes of Benjani Mwaruwari playing for Portsmouth and
other European countries.
What is/are the qualifications
that the students get at the end
of their time at school called?
The ministry offers ZMSEC - Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council
which is a Cambridge Syndicate.
They used to get three qualifications
(ZJC -Zimbabwe Junior Certificate, '0'
level and 'A' level ) but now they are
given two 'A'level and 'O' level certificates.
What do the students do when
they leave? Most learners go to
Universities and Polytechnic colleges.
Do students get a choice in what
they study? Learners are given subjects according to their strengths Commercials, sciences and arts. In
addition, they do five core subjects
and a practical.
To find out more about our
schools and to get involved in
developing the link, attend
Afritwin Club on Wednesday
lunch in Miss Marland’s room.
Easter Bake R
Following our success at baking at Christmas, we’ve rustled up
something equally delicious for you to try over the Easter holidays
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180
degrees Celsius.
The ingredients
100g caster sugar
100g cake margarine
100g self raising flour
2 eggs
100g cocoa powder
1 large packet of Mini Eggs
For the buttercream
icing you will need:
140g softened butter
280g icing sugar
50 g cocoa powder
1) Mix the caster sugar and
margarine together.
2) Carefully sift in the self raising flour.
3) Crack and whisk the eggs in a separate
bowl and then gradually add them into the
mix, mixing each time until soft and creamy.
4) Then add the cocoa powder in to make it a
deep brown colour.
5) Place in the oven for 20 mins or until
cooked.
Icing Method:
1) Beat the butter in a large bowl
until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat
until smooth.
2) Add the remaining icing sugar and beat
again.
3) Stir in the cocoa powder.
Finishing touches
Spread icing in the middle of 2 cakes and on
the top of the 2 tier cake.
Place mini eggs on the icing to create the effect of a nest.
Student Leadership Update
Josef Houldsworth explains what your Student Leadership Team have been up to this term.
Recently the Student Leadership Team has been discussing several topics one of which is new outdoor areas. We took a trip
to Highfield and St Mary’s, which have recently had major modifications done to them, to take a look around at their outdoor areas to see how they have developed them. We have since discussed how we want to develop particular outdoor areas such as behind Ingram Wing and between Lancaster and Askwith Wing.
Also, we have looked at is getting a radio for the school and have investigated what companies can provide. We have had
to explore the equipment that they offer and how we can have megaphones/ speaker around the school to play the radio.
We have also been looking at how these can be used in lessons. This is still very much a working progress and is something
we hope to develop over the next few months.
If you have any ideas or concerns you would like to put forward please let one of your student representatives know.
Clubs
Rebekah Pennington and Charlotte
Rossall have investigated just some of
the clubs you could get involved in after
Easter.
German Film Club
WHEN: Thursday Lunch time
WHERE: L2
WHAT: Watch films translated in German. Recent films that
have been enjoyed are Madagascar 3, and Gnomeo and Juliet.
WHO: Anyone from any years can come along. Mrs Burke is in
charge of this club.
WHY: Why not come along for some fun? (And of course popcorn!) Also on is German Easter club coming up soon again at
lunchtime on the 27th March and 3rd April. A great chance to
learn some German Easter traditions and culture.
MRS BURKE said: “I think it is really important that children
can watch films in a foreign language and it is fun and enjoyable. And if they want to learn a foreign language you can
watch them with subtitles. If the weather’s bad it’s nice for you
to come and you get free popcorn.”
Musical Theatre Club
WHEN: Thursday lunch.
WHERE: In the music room.
WHAT: Learn new singing skills and learn songs for free. Also
getting involved in shows and performances, boosting your
confidence.
WHO: Run by Trevor Markland and Mr Rapp.
WHY: Interested in singing? Come along and put your voice to
good use and have some fun.
Page Turners
WHEN: Thursday after school 3pm – 4pm
WHERE: In the library.
WHAT: If you’re interested in writing and entering writing competitions and interesting book reviews of your choice, this is a
club for you!
WHO: Anyone from any year group is welcome to come along!
Run by Mrs Woodhouse and Miss Marland.
WHY: This can help you with your English and allows you to be
creative with words as well as share any good books you’ve
read.
Pottery Club
WHERE: Art suite
WHEN: After school on Tuesday 3pm – 4:30
WHAT: Take participation in this fun making pottery club.
WHO: Run by Miss Brannigan, Jim Cross and Dylan Cross.
Open to Years 7, 8 and 9
WHY: Pottery that you make can be useful as presents and
beautiful decorations. This is a great way to turn on your creativity!
Gardening Club
WHERE: Meet at the garden shed on the grass behind the music room at 3pm-4pm on Wednesday.
WHAT: Take home what you grow and tidy the strawberry and
potato beds and other gardening beds. You MUST bring your
own willies.
WHO: Any year group may come along.
WHY: A great opportunity to get digging.
came back from one set down to beat Australian
Matthew Ebden. People who have been lined up
with the job are people such as Dani Vallverdu
who is already part of Murrays’ coaching team,
Darren Cahill who worked with Murray on the
Adidas development programme, Roger Rasheed
who is currently working with Grigor Dimitrov and
is doing a great job, Bob Brett who worked with
Boris Becker and Goran Ivansisevic and Mats
Wilander a former grand slam winner.
Formula 1: The F1 season re-started recently in
Melbourne, Australia, with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg coming first, Daniel Riccardo of Red Bull
coming second and Jensen Button coming third.
Lewis Hamilton dropped out of the race due to a
cylinder not firing. Another eight cars failed to
finish because of the new high-tech hybrid engines and a limit of no more than 100 kg of fuel
for a race distance. Despite his poor start, Hamilton managed to gain pole in the Malaysian Grand
Prix and won the race on Sunday.
Cricket: The reigning twenty20 champions, West
Indies, won their first game of the championship
with a reassuring 73 run victory over Bangladesh.
Dwayne Smith shot 10 fours and 3 sixes.
Football: Some might argue that the Premier
League has never been this exciting. Whilst Chelsea are out in the lead, Manchester City and Liverpool both look like they have the title in their
grasp. Man City have three games in hand and
Liverpool seem to be on top form, scoring plenty
of goals in their recent matches. It looks like it is
all coming down to the game when Man City play
Liverpool.
Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton has
said he is “absolutely certain” that David Moyes is
the right choice to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson.
Despite this fans hired a plane last weekend that
had a banner stating their feelings about Moyes.
“Wrong choice” it read which seems to be many
Manchester United fans reasoning behind their
recent poor form. Manchester United have had a
very disappointing season under their new manager sitting seventh in the league 18 points behind leaders Chelsea. The reigning champions
look unlikely to get a top four finish. In the summer David Moyes has said he is planning an overhaul at the club looking to bring in players such
as Toni Kroos, Edison Cavani and many others.
Let’s hope he makes it to the summer; if the fans
have their way he might not be there to make
the changes.
More locally, Blackpool seem to be moving out of
danger as they are now seven points clear of the
relegation. No doubt they’ll be plenty of fans biting their nails as the season draws to a close.
Ten points ahead of Blackpool, sitting mid table,
are Blackburn. Let’s hope both our local team
manage to remain in the Championship.
Sports
Report
Michael Head reports on the performances from our
sports teams this term, whilst Reece Horvath reports on
the International goings-on.
Saint Aidan’s sports teams have been working their
socks off again in all areas- particularly rugby, and the
newly built Year 7 rugby team have faced off against
intimidating teams such as Cardinal Allen, Garstang,
Baines, and Lytham, but the young team have come
up trumps with 6 wins, 1 loss and a single draw. Let’s
hope they can continue this form as the year goes on.
Mr Armfield added “They are a very organised and
hardworking team.” Year 8 and 9 have also been
working hard at training and matches but have had to
put up with some mixed results, let’s hope that they
can discover their form of last year when it really
counts.
Michael Head and Molly Nagle look
back on a successful summer of sport
There is also a very special thanks to Ewan Beavers
both
in andRoberts,
out of school.
and Callum
Year 10, who have expertly managed our team under supervision from Mr Armfield.
Also Saint Aidan’s netball teams are off to a rocketing
start as the lower school A and B teams are showing ultimate teamwork and desire and have won the majority of
the games they have played, with the odd tight defeat.
Year 9 have also had a sparkling record through the season and are untouched with no losses to account for. The
more experienced Year 10 team have had a more mixed
season but are now fully focused on preparing for their
final season as a sports ambassador at Saint Aidan’s.
also paid a visit to Anfield for football trials at Liverpool.
Also, a select few have been chosen to play for Lancashire’s Netball Team. Let’s hope they can continue the
great form that we see in school.
And as Summer creeps closer, Athletics is also here. The
club is up and running and the P.E Department will soon
have to pick their strongest team to compete in the
Schools Cup where they had great success last year. Every
There is also better news for Saint Aidan’s as Girls Basket- throw, jump and run will be crucial both in training and at
ball has launched with training sessions taking place on
the tournament. Let’s hope that the team can bask in their
Thursday lunchtimes for anyone interested in the sport
success once again.
that has been dominated by the boys teams. Teams from
Year 7 and Year 9 have made excellent progress and no
So it’s clear that it will be a busy Summer of Sport at Saint
doubt will be itching to play their first competitive match
Aidan’s- let’s make it one to remember.
at the end of term. Good luck to them!
Some particular talents have been busy out of school also International sport
as Year 11 Meghan Pope has been selected for the U17s
Rugby: Last month, the six nations finished with Ireland
Girls Football Team for England and Year 9 Lizzie Bradley narrowly winning the competition on point difference. Ireland had 132 points for and 49 points against. England,
who finished second, had 138 points for and 65 against.
In a tense last weekend of the championship, England had
a chance to the championship by beating Italy by 50
points, but France had to beat Ireland. However, they
failed to do so meaning Ireland were victorious. It was the
perfect end for the remarkable career of Brian O’Driscoll.
R
Tennis: Andy Murray won his first game after his split
with coach Ivan Lendal. During Lendal’s playing career he
won 8 grand slams and was appointed as Murrays coach
in December 2011. He was appointed with the aim to
bring “experience and knowledge that few others have.”
With Lendal as his coach Murray beat Novak Djokovic to
win Wimbledon and beat Roger Federer to win gold at the
2012 London Olympics. In his first match after his split he