The Wyvern - Shine Awards edition 2012 by Liam Pape

The Wyvern @DSMS_Wyvern

SPECIAL ISSUE

Very Peculiar Since last time we have discovered a Marmite flavoured chocolate so we tried it and here is the response. Rebecca Parkinson - Nice, but I wouldn’t go out and buy it. Miss Bloomer - It tastes of gravy. Tyler Hutchinson - Tastes of ... (not printable!) Katie Appleyard - Shoudn’t have been invented. Almost made me sick. Mr Thompson - Not too bad.

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Science Superstar in School The first DSMS award evening took place on Tuesday 8th November 2011. There was a variety of awards from Excellence in English to Citizenship awards and awards for helping the community. The previous year 11s received their GCSE certificates as well. Professor John Kilcoyne from Brainiac was there to give people their awards and he also performed a stunning show at the end where he blew stuff up. Headteacher, Mr C Kipling,

quotes “The award evening was superb. Well done to all those involved. Professor Kilcoyne was a star.” Doctor John Kilcoyne quotes “I was very privileged to be involved in such an evening which demonstrated all that education is about! Confidence of pupils and past pupils being strengthened by public celebration of their achievements. All organised by the dedicated staff who patently took pride and pleasure in their students' successes.”

Roxanne Wood, 13, received 2 awards for MFL and History. She told us “I was very proud of my self, it inspired me to do well next year.” For more photos of Professor John Kilcoyne at DSMS visit our blog. (Address on page 8)

Bye, bye Branksome Bugle We have renamed our newspaper the Wyvern because that is the mythical creature on this carved stone crest of the Kitching family (left). This block was once situated over the front door of Branksome Hall and also used to adorn the wall of the foyer in DSMS. Have a look out for it if you ever visit the school.

The motto carved in stone is “Nunquam Cedo” which means “I never yield” or “I never give up”. Hopefully this motto still inspires members of the school even t o d a y ! Anyway, we have had to rename the newspaper because people think that it would be a good idea to revamp the newspaper as

the school goes into a n e w e r a . Altogether we made 8 editions of the Branksome Bugle and in that time we met many politicians, other journalists and we represented the school on numerous occasions like the time when we went to Downing Street to drop off a children's charter.

Page 2 Are ready to spread out there

Contents

We have feelings and we care

About the community and everywhere

PAPE“R”MAIL

website: www.papermail7.blogspot.com Page 2 - Editor’s Column To find out that I’m very different to lots of them What do you think of buttons done up. & Trip news fortable, they liked all the I can be moody, that’s being a teenager the new school unipockets and how they The reason we got a Page 3 - Where are they form? But when you think you were like us once looked. One person new uniform is benow? After asking a number of we have went so far to say that c a u s e Teenagers are not all the same people about what they changed the school they would even want it Page 4 - Celebrities We all don’t want to be think of the new school framed. Unfortunately name and are now an uniform I have had a wide however others said that Academy. Pagevile, 5 moody - Features Horrid, people on range of replies. they hate the shoulder Let’s just say we are not the same Teachers pads and they think that I found out that 60% of they look funny. the people who I asked Page 6 - Local News liked the blazers and only If adults could take the time

Page 7 - ‘Oliver’ Page 8 - British Lung Foundation & contact us Page 9 - Newspaper News Pages10 &11 War & Peace Page 12 - Art work inspired by Ossie Clark Page 13 - London 2012 Page 14 - Thai Boxer Page 15 Yr 9 Textiles Page 16 - Sport Websites to help kids deal with bullying www.Childline.org.uk --0800 11 11 www.kidscape.org.uk www.antibullying.net www.beatbullying.org www.kidpower.org www.Bullying.co.uk If anyone in school has problems with bullying - contact Mrs Hickerson or your Year Leader

40% of the people who I asked liked the clip-on ties. With the blazers people said that they were com-

With the clip on ties some people said that they were ‘mint’ however others didn’t like the design and said that they didn’t like their top

STEM NEWS

iPhone 4Scam In my opinion the new iPhone 4S was the most anticipated mobile phone of 2011. However I think that the phone was way overrated. The only major difference from the last model is a better camera and a new voice recognition software called Siri. We asked Jason Bradburry (Gadget show) what he thought of Siri and he said “It is a fun distraction”. Evidence shows that last September Samsung outsold the iPhone which proves that people were waiting for the 4S and I think they were disappointed. Reports came in November that after charging a couple of times the 4S’s battery had went down to just a few hours. Ex Geography teacher, Mr Sayers says “Not impressed with iPhone 4S at all. Siri is fun but a bit gimmicky.”

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Where are they now? I left Branksome (now DSMS) in 2007 and in the years between then and now I have met some of the most fantastic people and done some of the most fantastic things, but it wouldn’t be fair for me to say that it has come easily. I’m not ashamed to say that I have worked really hard for what I have now and I’d encourage anyone who has ambition to do the same thing. While I was at school I was also working at Alpha 103.2 as a volunteer assisting the production of the Saturday Sports Show, but in my spare time I had the opportunity to familiarise myself with the station equipment and computer packages in their spare production studio. I showed willing and commitment to the station and eventually they gave me an opportunity to present one of their shows. One thing led to another and before I knew it I had a regular show and was interviewing some of the world’s biggest acts like Coldplay and The Verve. At this time I also began moving around various other radio stations in the local area and produced and presented weekend shows back to back over the stations. Some of these were specialist shows, like sports and dance music, and it wasn’t long before I was DJ-ing in night clubs and making a good name for myself on the local scene. When the community station I was working for found itself in financial difficulties I started to look around for

bigger stations and went on to work for the likes of Signal Radio in Stoke, Silk fm in Cheshire and TFM Radio in the North East. I had to make sure I wasn’t limiting my-

“I’ve gone from a young school boy to a full time commercial radio presenter” self to just the local area and when the opportunity came to move to North West England and work for a station that was regularly pulling in 68,000 listeners per week I couldn’t say no and I packed my bags. And that’s where I find myself now. In just 3 years I’ve gone from a young school boy to a full time commercial radio presenter who has interviewed Kylie, The Script, JLS, Robbie Williams and many others.

By Martin Lowes for a living. If you have a dream or ambition then just go for it. I did, and now I get to test drive £50,000 cars and throw myself out of planes all in the name of entertainment! I’m having a great time and wouldn’t have it any other way. Just keep following in what you believe, work hard and listen to people who are in the know and you’ll go a long way. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. I have, but I’ve realised it’s the fastest and most effective way of learning new things!

As well as this, I have set up my own ‘radio school’ teaching young people how the industry works and how to present and produce their own shows. I’m really happy with how things have turned out, but I know it’s because I’ve shown commitment and worked hard. I have a busy time ahead of myself and am still learning everyday, but I’m really fortunate to be doing what I love

Mr Withers - Film Star! The Legend of Beggar's Bridge is a short film (25mins) set in

Glaisdale, near Whitby, in the North Yorkshire Moors. The son of a poor sheep farmer, Tom Ferries, falls in love with the local squire's daughter, Agnes Richardson. However, threatening to ruin their relationship are a disapproving father, the Spanish Armada and years of separation. The film reveals how the bridge and the legend came to be! Andrew Davies, who produced and directed the film was discussing the idea during pre-production with his close friend, and DSMS TA, Christopher Withers. They had already agreed to have Christopher playing an extra role in the film when he suggested using a couple of the school's pupils for roles too. Ex DSMS pupils Chris and Charlotte Churchman were cast for this first production by York based film company Eboracum Pictures.

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Kevin Eason, Journalist We have been asking well known people for some advice and inspiration for our young journalists at The Wyvern and for other pupils in the school who would like to take up journalism as a career. Motor Racing Correspondent of “The Times” - Kevin Eason – was kind enough to answer our request. He says – "Newspaper journalism is at its greatest crossroads. The growth of the internet is not only making new demands on journalists but challenging the very existence of print journalism. Young people who choose journalism today face the most demanding period in the history of the industry and I, as someone who enjoyed some of the "glory years" of print journalism wish them a lot of luck. My one piece of advice for all of them, whatever job they fall into, is not to be dominated by the screen: Try talking to people face-to-face - that is where the stories are. And always maintain the highest standards of grammar and writing - that is a duty of a journalist." Recommended reading: Harold Evans - "Newsman's English"; Alan Watkins -

"A Short Walk Down Fleet Street"; ment. "Keith Waterhouse on Newspaper In 1984, I Style". moved to the A brief history of Kevin Eason – Motor B i r m i n g Racing Correspondent of the Times ham Post & Mail, where I was Chief Industrial CorI attended Acklam Hall Grammar but respondent at the height of the miners' left pre-A-levels in 1970 to take a job strike and the mass closures of car with Portsmouth and Sunderland Newsfactories. papers as a trainee journalist. Completed three-year apprenticeship Then, in 1986, to the Today newspaper, now sadly departed, which was the nation's first all-colour newspaper. I started as an industrial correspondent but became a special correspondent, covering a wide range of subjects.

“Newspaper journalism is at its greatest crossroads”

for the National Certificate for the Training of Journalists proficiency certificate (the professional qualification), working on various newspapers, particularly the Northern Daily Mail, now the Hartlepool Mail, and the now defunct Billingham and Stockton Express. I moved to the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph in Kettering, Northants, in 1976 where the big story that changed my career was the closure of the Corby Steelworks, one of the most controversial and important closures in the early years of the Thatcher govern-

In 1989, I was hired by The Times and have had a 25-year career there, including stints in industry, politics, news, as motoring editor, sports news correspondent and now motor racing correspondent. I have travelled widely and in recent years covered sports events from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, as well as cycling, darts and even snooker. This year, I am back on the Formula One beat, starting the season in Australia.

Young Apprentice 2011 The Wyvern doesn't usually report on TV Shows however we had to make an exception for Alan Sugar’s Young Apprentice. During the series, business minded teenagers took part in tasks and at the end of every episode one of the candidates was fired and had to leave the process. The winner received a £25,000 investment into their business. This raises the question of what can young people do to get into business. Luckily we got an exclusive interview with Harry Maxwell (Harry M) from the Young Apprentice 2011.

Harry M Says: For me, you can’t help not being drawn towards the world of business as in my opinion it is what determines

“I will always say online businesses are the way to go.” how the world ticks. Whenever I am asked, I will always say online businesses are the way to go. All you need to do is have an idea, buy a web-design software for about £50 and a hosting package for £10 and off you go! I am a strong believer that

the only person who can stop you from doing is something is yourself. If you have a good idea and have the energy, passion, motivation and drive, regardless of how old you are, nobody can stop you from persevering!”

Thank you to Harry Maxwell (@HarryMaxwell) and his business luxuryfivestarhotelguide.tumblr.com

“Feature on a Teacher”

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Rima Choudhury our R.E. Teacher is getting married ! Katie Appleyard asked her some questions about her Traditional Asian wedding. What are you looking forward to most? All my family, close friends and the community getting together, sharing my special day with me. I am also looking forward to being part of a new family. How is the wedding different from a Traditional English wedding? We have different ceremonies (Mehndi, Wedding and the Walima). Mehndi ceremony tends to be where the bride wears henna, the atmosphere is more relaxed and it tends to be ladies only. Walima is where the groom’s family have a party as it is the first time when the bride and groom go to the bride’s parents’ house to stay over. Also it is different because it is an arranged marriage and we were introduced by family. What is your outfit like? I have gone for a traditional Asian outfit which is red and it is decorated, it has a western twist - a trail. I chose my outfit from London as there is more of a choice. How are you feeling? Excited but nervous as I will miss my family.

Stephen Harris Technology Technician Memorable Moment Mr Franklin – the caretaker and I convinced staff in the office that we were going to get our bodies frozen to be brought back in the future. We took photos in the boiler room and pretended it was a Cryogenics laboratory. Funniest moment Seeing ex-geography teacher Mr Sayers walk into the technology room with a snowball wedged in his ear after someone threw it at him last winter Pets A cat called Elma Advice There is just one life for each of us – our own! Hobbies Riding motorcycles of which I have two. Favourite Place Shetland Isles Favourite Football Team Middlesbrough

Local News

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Shortest Pencil Results Since the last issue when George Plum claimed he had the World’s smallest pencil we had a few replies saying that they could do better than 3cm. Here is the chart of the shortest.

4.1cm

Kyle Mosey

3.0cm

George Plum

2.9cm

Ewan Barr and Jack Barker

2.8cm

Elijah Bainbridge

2.4cm

Dominic McDonnell

2.2cm

Hayden Thompson

1.9cm

James Allison

1.7cm

Ben Maclean

1.3cm

Adam Garget (ex Head Boy)

1.1cm

Wyvern TV

On Friday 13th May 2011 our very own DSMS Library, where we produce the Wyvern, received a 37” LCD TV. We asked Mr Kipling for this TV just after the Japanese Tsunami because students in the school wanted to be kept up-date with what was going on in the news. We also got the opportunity to try on the new school uniform before the rest of the school. The blazers went down well because they had plenty of pockets for mobile phones and iPods. However, because the ties are clip-on, the length can’t be altered so the girls aren’t as happy as they like short, fat ties.

Mrs Park (Science)

JOHN KING amused, but in a way that was never offensive or disruptive. It was always his intention to join the Armed Forces and he was the proudest young man when he joined up. As Miss Soulsby, his form tutor said, he was so "made up" the day he told her he was going into the army.

Photo with permission from the Army Press office

Rebecca Parkinson shows Sir Ian Mckellen the first full colour issue of our school newspaper.

John was an ex - pupil from our school who was tragically killed in Afghanistan on 30th December 2011. Whilst a pupil here John was a highly popular boy with both staff and his fellow pupils. He had a mischievous smile and could always be depended on to keep everyone

As a soldier he will be missed by all his mates and everyone who served with him. As a son and brother he will always be remembered for the brilliant person he was. As a former pupil at this school he will be commemorated in a way that is still to decided, which will happen after discussion with the family. We all miss you John - RIP.

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OLIVER

Oliver has been a great experience and the dancing is good. ~ Sarah Moitt

Oliver a very, very good production. I have enjoyed making it and I would love to do something like this again. ~ Katie J Appleyard

At first I thought I would never learn all the lines however eventually after a lot of rehearsals I learnt

It is very interesting and I am happy I got involved. ~ Lauren Wennington

Cast & Crew

For more photos visit the Wyvern’s blog. Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist has came to DSMS. The cast and crew in the show have been working hard since October when the first auditions took place to create the amazing musical. It was a success thanks to Mrs Wilson, Mrs Loughlin, Mrs Hill and around 30 devoted pupils. They had 6 weeks to learn dances, songs and lines. We asked Lauren Wennington how much effort had gone into the production. She said “A lot. Everybody has been running around frantically.”

Connor Tomlinson, year 7, got the part of Oliver. He quotes “I was very proud of myself when I was told I had the part.” On Friday 9th December, only a few days before the show, the Wyvern went to the rehearsals to watch and

Oliver - Connor Tomlinson Nancy - Rebecca Richmond Artful Dodger - Sarah Moitt Fagan - Audie Bridge Bill Sykes - Brandon Holloway Bet - Lucy Stead Mr Brownlow - Kelsea Honneyman Mr Bumble - Adam Brigham Mrs Bumble - Rebecca Parkinson Mrs Bedwin - Nicole Plevey Mr Sowerberry - Domonic Fairbridge Mrs Sowerberry - Lauren Wennington Noah Claypole - Daniel Pile Police - Kiera O Byrne Charlie - Robyn Scott Workhouse people/ Fagins Urchins Robyn Scott, Sarah Dowson, Sarah Moitt, Coral Nash, Elaina Jeffreys, Nicole Plevy, Demi Thomas, Caitlin Sear and Jordan Baigent.

talk to some of the cast. Everyone seemed confident. We asked Rebecca Richmond, Nancy, how hard has it been to learn lines. She replied “Very hard. There are a lot of them.” One thing that was clear was that everybody in both cast and crew had fun.

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Newspaper Team Help Britain’s Health On the 2nd March 2011, 5 members of The Wyvern (Previously Branksome Bugle) assisted by Mr Tearney and Mrs Hickerson and went down to London to hand in a petition to stop people from smoking in cars if there is a passenger under the age of 18. We were going on this trip because last June we went to Darlington Memorial Hospital and we supported the launch of the British Lung Foundation’s children charter. Since then the BLF have received over 15,000 signatures. Here is the story of our day at London: After our long train journey, Rebecca did a Metro radio interview at Kings Cross station. After that we got 2 tubes to Westminster station where we were equipped with British Lung Foundation T-shirts. We then walked to the gates of Downing Street. There were lots of press there including BBC London. We met schools from Liverpool, Birmingham, Charfield and Surrey. It was then the time, 5 of us were chosen to go into Downing Street and hand in the petition. The walk down to number 10 was long and when we arrived at the huge black door everyone was very nervous. We then knocked; a security guard answered and took the petition box off us. Everyone was happy but even more nervous because we had a TV interview with Newsround. After that we were lead back to the gates and had some more photographs taken. After a short walk from Downing Street to Westminster we arrived for the British Lung Foundation reception. We walked down past Oliver Cromwell. After having a photo id taken, we had our bags scanned and we were searched. We walked down through the great hall, which had fabulous detail, and collected our name badges. We entered room A, which had been assigned to us. We then lined up for Westminster’s finest cuisine. After we were all stuffed, Dame Helena got up onto the plinth and said a touching speech about why we were all gathered. Once she had finished The Health Minster got up and gave us all of his and members of his teams support. Then when all the speeches had finished we had one last chant and the seven of us headed to the train station for our Last stop, home. Overall the day was a success and we all came away learning something new. We all had really good fun and we nearly got stuck on the tubes. This brought back sad memories for Liam and he became teary. We were all very tired on the train back home, even though none of us went to sleep on the way home. Liam and James were customizing a toy they bought for their friend Ben. By Elisabeth Davey, Liam Pape, Katie Appleyard, James Allison and Rebecca Parkinson

The Wyvern - Contact us: Visit our blog: www.wyvennews.blogspot.com Or e-mail us at: wyvern@dsms.org Or follow us on twitter: @DSMS_Wyvern Or read the Wyvern at: www.dsms.org

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History

Of the School Newspaper

20 November 2009 The Bugle starts under the name of “Read all about it!!” 10 December 2009 “Read all about it!!” is changed to “Branksome Bugle” We also start work on issue 3. 9 March 2010 Work on issue 5 commences. 3 January 2011 Work on issue 8 commences.

24 January 2011 Liam, Katie, James, Elisabeth and Rebecca all receive a vibe award for working on the Bugle 24 March 2011 Work on issue 10 commences. 30 September 2011 Work on Issue 12 commences.

3 December 2009 Work on issue 2 commences. 26 January 2010 Work on issue 4 commences. 4 March 2010 We meet John Denham MP April 2010 Planning started to get a new school.

13 January 2011 Work on issue 9 commences.

2 March 2011 We go to London. 27 June 2011 Work on issue 11 commences. 4 July 2011 We meet Ian Lemming (Journalist)

31 January 2012 Work on Issue 13 commences. March 2012 We complete our special edition for the Shine Awards.

DSMS pupils Meet Members of Parliament We interviewed MP John Denham when he visited DSMS. How did you become an MP and why? Once I became involved in politics, being elected to a council is one of the ways to get things changed, and becoming a Member of Parliament obviously gives you a bit more of a chance to change things in your area. What happened is the MP in my area said that he was standing down and I got the chance to take his place. Tell us about your school education and any other jobs you’ve had? I went to a local primary school in a village in East Devon, where my father was the head teacher at a two teacher primary school, then I went to the local comprehensive school. After that I went off to Southampton University and did a little bit of chemistry research, then after that I went into the voluntary sector, that’s when I worked for organisations like ‘War On Want’ and ‘British Youth Council’ and organisations like Christian Aid and I did that up until the time I became an MP. Why did you come to Darlington? The main reason for coming here today was to meet with people who manage town centres from right across the country. Because of the recession lots of towns have problems with empty shops. The Government have given places like Darlington money to help them get people into the shops, to tidy up the city centres and to make the places look attractive. And I’m here today to look at the best examples of what has been going on. There is one example here from Darlington, where the 6th form college are taking over an empty shop and are putting art work for the public to enjoy and make artist’s work look more attractive. There has recently been a youth parliament election, what advice do you have for the people who weren’t successful? Well the people who weren’t successful, I hope they understood, because they want to get involved with changing things and there are always other ways to get involved in changing things even if you don’t win an election. What I would say to them is to look around and find what sort of problems they want to try and tackle. They might not have got to the youth parliament but if you have a local issue go and talk to the council, talk to the people in charge of your area and find other ways. Don’t give up in trying to change things. If money was no object what would you change about Britain? That’s a very good question because in practice in government, money usually is an object, and I’m not really sure that money alone is a central issue. Probably the thing which would transform this country the most is to continue what we have done in the last few years which is to raise, not just standards in schools in exam results, but the young people’s sense of what they can achieve in their lives.

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Omaha Beach by Lyndsey Stewart Yr 10 The orangey tang of speechless fear hung in the lifeless air, a sour battle ship swayed with the wave. All was quiet. Looking around me, boys, no older than twenty two stayed motionless, as thoughts of untold deaths arose. I could feel their discarded worries being thrown at me like the lap of each crashing wave. Everyone says to fight for your country is the greatest honour, a noble prize, but to me it’s just the family honour. Nothing else. I remember when I was a young boy, there wasn’t anything more exciting than being told the everlasting war hero stories, sat on my grandpa’s lap as the sun settled and the sky became a blanket of stars. He used to say that war was a test. How we boys became men, but to me now, I just see scared anxious boys alone, learning not to become a man, but to kill a human. No person should endure that. Or even have that right. Foe or not. Yet here I stand, twenty-seven years old ready to fight a hungered, driven war. Gun at hand. Family at heart. Ashamed and trembling. Ready for war. We drew closer. Ships around us closed in. The beach was close. CRASH! Another pending lap of ocean waves collided with our steel horse. Our once shallow, numb breathing suddenly hitched. Blood curdled waves rolled up against us. A blood bath. Men were already fighting but the sounds of flying ammo were nonexistent in our ears. Bile began to rise in my throat. I was going to hurl, yet daren’t. Not in front of my commander. Men don’t weep or hurl. So I don’t. BANG! Another crash of eager, growing waves. Oh how I miss home ... Our steel cage had landed. It was now that war had truly begun.

‘Private Peaceful’ by Michael Morpurgo Book Review by Abby Stead 7MHi Private Peaceful is touching story about two little boys called Tommo (Tommy) and Charlie. It begins when it’s Tommy’s first day at school. It gives all the feelings you feel when you look back your first day at school. It then continues with all of their childhood memories and how some events that happened changed their lives forever. It is set in the time when Germany and Britain were breaking out in war together. As they grow up they decide to go to war and become a soldier. When they get there they discover that being a solider is a very dangerous and tough job. I like this book because to me it gives a perfect image of what the First World War was really like and how people reacted towards it at the beginning at then at the end. Personally my favourite character is Molly. I like her because she kind of becomes a member of the family and looks after Tommo at his school. What I also like about this book is that it tells you some of Tommo’s and Charlie’s childhood memories instead of jumping straight into being in the war. It also gives a heart-warming feel to it when Charlie sticks up for Tommo even when he’s done wrong, it really gives me a perfect image of how brothers stick up for each other and look after them. My favourite part of this story is when its Tommo’s first day at school and Charlie’s giving him a piggyback up the hill and reassuring him that everything will be okay. It again gives the warming feel of how brothers look after each other. I’d recommend this book to children aged 9 and up. I think this because older children will understand the book more and feel all of these feelings that I felt. I’d give this book a 7/10 because I enjoyed it and I like how Tommo is reflecting on his childhood while sat in trench before he is about to fight. It is a very emotional story about two little boys who became a soldier’s in the First World War.

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Printed by

Ruby Red Printing Ltd Unit 13 Nestfield Industrial Estate, Darlington DL1 2NW Tel: 01325 361124

All photographs are printed with permission from the people concerned.

When you have finished reading this magazine please pass it on to a friend or relative, line your budgie’s cage with it, make inner-soles for your wellies with it, craft it into a fabulous new hat or just recycle it. Thank You – The Wyvern Editing Team

Inspired by the film “Saving Private Ryan”

Omaha Beach by Jonathan Richmond Yr 10 The sound of the waves crashing against the side of the boat was deafening. We were left to our thoughts and fears as we travelled to our inevitable death. The view from the centre of the boat was grim as we travelled deeper into this unknown territory. The view reflected the hostility that was to come. We headed towards our likely deaths – Omaha Beach. A quick glance at the sergeant was almost enough to obliterate any hanging doubts we had. He stood there. Hard as stone. Unencumbered by the severe weather, the water pounding off his face. He was our rock and as the call for Omaha Beach was sounded, he did not flinch. The mist of the ocean revealed the silhouette of the beach. The feeling of anxiety kicked in. Silence washed the enemy. Loved ones, friends and family drifted their way through my mind. The memories I had shared with my wife and daughter. “Thirty seconds till we hit the beach”. The fear was almost unbearable as we travelled closer and closer to our deaths, although we desperately wanted to leave, we could not. Our duty and our country were too great to dismiss. The beach was a lot closer now, artilleries thrown at us missed and hit the ocean surface. It was nerve wracking. Then it happened. The boat had made an unmistakable stop. We had arrived at Omaha beach. The door that held our fate was about to open. We felt unprepared for what was to come. We could only stand and watch as the handle was grabbed. In those few moments time slowed down, our feelings thrown away with our chances of survival. Many of us prayed gently to ourselves, others shook extremely unnervingly. Artillery fire leaving large craters in the ground. Then we saw the beach. The door fell and it hit the floor with a CRASH! Enemy fire immediately rained in. Those in front fell to the floor dead. “Over the side.” Serg called. Photo of a 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards tank crew which landed on Juno Beach July 1944. By permission of Bernard Rigby ( Mrs Surtees’ dad).

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& Juliet

In the style of Ossie Clark

By Miss Bloomerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

class

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Romeo

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My Road to London 2012 by Elizabeth Blaylock – (Inclusion Centre Manager) 2012 is proving to be a very exciting year for me as I have been selected to act in a role as a volunteer on the Athletics support team for both the Olympics and the Paralympics. The road to the Olympics began for me back in the summer of 2010 when I spent an evening filling in the online application for the role of a volunteer. The next step came in May 2011 when I had to attend a games maker interview up at the Baltic Building in Newcastle. We were photographed for a pass, entertained by a welcome video by Lord Sebastian and Eddy Izzard - quite a mix, encouraged through a number of workshops and then finally interviewed which lasted about half an hour. We had to answer questions about why we had volunteered and what qualities we felt we could offer to the role. To be picked for the interview was an achievement as more than 250,000 people applied and about 80,000 were interviewed. Amazingly I am one of the 70,000 who have been offered a role at both the Olympics and the Paralympics. The next step on my journey to the 2012 Olympics was a training session in Wembley Arena with 6 – 7000 other successful volunteers on Saturday 18th February. I travelled to London on the morning of the 18th on a National Express Coach to the Victoria Bus Station from Leicester having broken my journey at my daughter’s home on the Friday evening. I enjoyed the travelling, spotting lots of famous landmarks through the busy streets of the capital; Oxford Street, Marble Arch, the posh hotels on Park Lane and Buckingham Palace to name a few. My journey out to Wembley on the tube was another exciting experience. I met about six other people on the train with the same ticket in hand to allow access to the event, but all by different doors! On entry into the arena we were issued with a workbook to read and complete over the coming weeks. Having located my seat in the arena I went off in search of a coffee and bumped into two other North Easterners. The event began promptly at 3.00pm and John Inverdale the TV sports presenter was our host for the afternoon. We met other personalities from the organising body, viewed our uniform and discovered a little more about things we may have to do. During a break in the proceedings would you believe I met another North Easterner! We were introduced to the furthest travelling volunteer who had flown in from the Falklands that morning and also a volunteer who had performed a similar role back in 1948 which was the last time London hosted the Olympics – before my time! I experienced the feeling of the pure scale of the event when on leaving I joined the others to hustle onto a train for my return journey to Victoria Station – quite a crowd, packed like sardines! I am excited and my expectations are high as to what is to come – back in London for further training on 21st April.

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Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Greatest Thai Boxer comes to DSMS On Tuesday 21st a professional Thai boxer, Rachel Mackenzie, came to teach a chosen group of children. She told us that her teacher was never supportive of her boxing and that she will loose every time and she lost her first second and third fight. On her fourth fight her teacher decided not to go with her to her boxing match and because there was no one there to tell her that she's rubbish and is going to lose, she won that fight and every fight after that because she started thinking she was going to win. The pupils were all enthusiastic and enjoyed the lesson, it was really good fun.

Ellie May Lowther

She taught us about foot work and how to get more power behind our hooks. It was a privilege to work with this pro Thai boxer as she put fun into the workout and lesson. I would love to do something like this again as it is fun and its also quite a good change from a normal lesson Rachel Mackenzie was a real inspiration to me because she never gave up even when people tried to pull her down she still wanted to prove her point that girls can box and in the end she succeeded because she never gave up and it was a pleasure having her in our school to teach us and I hope she will come again sometime.

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ent

give you an insight into one of

picked. They were dog coats and

The first person we spoke to

our Year 9 GCSE lessons. In this

accessories, the Swinging Sixties

was Paul Bowen who said that

article you will get the chance

and clothing for a three to five

he enjoyed certain aspects of

to find out the types of things

year old. All of these had a dif-

this course but some he felt

ferent place where they had to

lacked the fun side this was

be suitable to sell as well. After

mainly in the written work sec-

things we get up to including designing what we would like to make however it has to be in a certain criteria. We would also like to show you what the pupils think of this new course that only came in this year. We also spoke to teacher Miss Ford about the highs and lows of teaching this course.

only

three

Yr 9 Textiles

This issue we have decided to

we do in Textiles and the fun

themes

were

that we did a series of course work which took us up to the designing stage. The type of designs we did were hand and computer generated. From doing that we continued to do the rest of our course work until we got to the making stage. This is where we are currently at. Everyone was

The first thing we did when we

very

began in September was to pick

stage as it meant we could get

a theme for our designs and

more hands on.

course work. Out of five differ-

We asked pupils their opinions on wh a t

What Is Your Favourite Part Of teaching textiles? Textiles is my specialist subject so it's really good teaching pupils that are enthusiastic about the subject. The pupils are fun and there is never a dull moment in the lesson.

Is it a hard course to teach? The coursework can be difficult and hard to explain at times but most pupils grasp it well.

enthusiastic

they

about

were

this

tion. We also spoke to Natasha who said that she enjoys all the work because it is challenging. Ekuba also spoke to us and e xpr e s s ed

these

wor ds

“Textiles is Fun. I prefer it to other lessons. We have a laugh yet get loads of work done.” After we heard from the pupils we interviewed Miss Ford and here are the questions and the answers she gave us-

making.

Is GCSE textiles the only

ing to do a fashion show next

new thing in technology?

year with this years and next

We now have a new laser cut-

year’s products.

ter in resistant materials

Is this your favourite tech-

which we will be showing in

nology subject to teach?

the a later issue.

Yes this is my favourite sub-

If you could make up a

ject to teach but I do enjoy

textiles sylubus/choice of

teaching graphics too.

make what would the design brief be? In my last school we designed and made outfits /dresses for prob. This was really good and the clothing that we made we included into a school fashion show. I'm hop-

So that is what both Pupils and Miss Ford think of the course. The only thing really everyone else, though especially for both year ten and nine, can do is find out for themselves.

By Katie Appleyard

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Sport

Manchester United vs. Stoke City 31st January 2012

Mr Hillary regularly organises an interesting activity for Sports Relief We have had teachers dancing, pupils running a mile and in 2012 we have a visit from “Mr Skippy”! He is going to host our ‘Sports Relief Skipping Mile’. The pupils are going to come down from classes one year at a time and skip for the whole lesson. They will complete a 'Sports Relief Skipping Mile'. The Manchester United vs Stoke City was a match that the school went to and saw a cracking match. The crowd was ecstatic but it took us a good 3 hours to get there. The match started off with a quick pace and was a very good match to watch. Manchester United took the lead through a Javier Hernandez penalty and all around us the fans went mental. The match died down after a while and there wasn’t a lot of action until later on in the game another penalty was awarded to Manchester United but this time Dimitar Berbatov stepped up and slotted home the penalty almost in the reach of the unlucky Stoke goalkeeper. The game in the last 10 minutes was very eventful but there were no more goals but almost! Manchester United got awarded a third penalty much to Stoke’s disapproval but nothing got given. Overall it was a great night for all people involved from the school and we were all very grateful for the school staff that took us to Old Trafford for a day that none of us would ever forget.

By Sam Hutchinson Find these words in the grid: BADMINTON BOXING CYCLING FOOTBALL GOLF HOCKEY NETBALL RUGBY SURFING Answers in next issue.

Pupils will get sponsorship forms and a house competition will ensue to see which house can raise the most sponsorship money. There will be prizes for the best skippers in each year group and the biggest individual fundraisers. Good Luck Everyone!

Sports Wordsearch B