CSI ZONE
Creative Story Investigation™ ISSUE: 1 - 2008
Autumn Poetry Amazing Recounts of Challenges and Events What is Your Earliest Memory? Medbury -5 National Winning Skateboard Designs Reflections on War..... and more
y r m of t e e o o p P anese ree t s i l a n NZ Fi s a Jap s, in th
iku i syllable and five, f a h A teen , seven, images o n e v se f five evoking o s line onally . An made in d l i r t i o trad tural w is was ry. a t th the n ation of dbury en s gem ’ t e adap nning M Elworthy i y the w or Mont f Look ! e insid
THE ACT OF PUTTING PEN TO PAPER ENCOURAGES PAUSE FOR THOUGHT. THIS IN TURN MAKES US THINK MORE DEEPLY ABOUT LIFE, WHICH HELPS US REGAIN OUR EQUILIBRIUM. ~NORBET PLATT
s otic ts b o R ea w b ools! e r C Sch h Hig
CSI ZONE
SOAKED The wind pounded into my face , the water glistened like a diamond under us and the scorched sand grew ever closer , as we zoomed along in a speedboat. We were on our way to the drop-off destination Stilwell Bay, which was in the phenomenal but treacherous Abel Tasman National Park. As we approached the remote bay, I heard my sister Ria yell nervously at the top of her voice,‘‘Do we have to walk over that!’’ Her voice echoed back from the rock pools ,which were wedged in between the sharp piercing rocks and the frightening, ebony waters Ria was pointing to. ’Uh oh!’ , I thought. We ambled slowly out of the boat and (as if we were paralysed) stood on the boiling sand, staring unbelievably, at what we were about to face. Suddenly, the speedboat disappeared. We were alone. Only the thundering crash of the waves accompanied us. We opened our fully-packed bags and threw on our togs and wetsuits. My younger brother, Remy, climbed up the massive mountain that is my dad’s broad shoulders to escape getting wet . We nervously started to walk into the water . More and more of our wet bodies disappeared into the dark, dead water. Plus to make matters even worse , I caught a glimpse of a light grey shadow under the murky water about 50 metres out… the terrifying shape of a stingray! Muddy, brown water was now up to our waists and the safe Stillwell Bay was leaving our sight, as we slowly trudged around the first point of piercing rocks. The salty water spray was stinging our eyes making us miserable. We now moved all of our gear onto the top of our shoulders , We were now trying desperately to keep our heads above the dirty, sea water that had already left a disgusting taste in my mouth. I could now catch a glimpse of a tiny gathering of rock pools ,100
An Early Memory
metres ahead, ‘The walk!’ I thought as I remembered that Mum had told me there were some small rock pools by the start of the walk. But thinking ahead, I lost my concentration and forgot to look where I was placing my feet, SPLASH!.... CRUNCH!......I fell into a deep rock pool in between the sharp piercing rocks, narrowly avoiding being cut to a very gory death (slight exaggeration). Help!” I cried, as I plunged into the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean (OK, another exaggeration!) I threw my clear goggles on, which were in my drenched backpack and grabbed my mum’s hand, which was reaching down to me, and clambered out of the water. For the rest of the 100 metres I was very careful and watchful very closely where I placed my feet! We were nearly there, only 5 metres away from the beginning of our walk. For me it felt like I had already swum across the Pacific Ocean with one arm in stinging sea water, and then climbed up a rocky, piercing mountain. And now I had to endure a 3-hour walk up and down the rugged terrain of the Abel Tasman National Park! George Fitzgerald 7M
I was very young, swimming around in the sea. Suddenly the depth of the water changed as quick as a flash. One second it was as deep as my knees and the next, it was way over my head. I splashed around desperately trying to find the bottom, fighting against the waves. I was going to drown. The waves began to smash me and I had just about given up hope when Mum grabbed me and swam with me, spluttering and shocked, back into shore. I refused to go back into the water again. I was scarred for life. by Connor McFadzien 7FD
in a ruck right at the bottom I think of my Mum Monty Elworthy 6P Published in, “Before the Sirocco by the New Zealand Poetry Society, 2008
Raindrops Play tag On my window Samuel Johnson 8BL
The Deadly Mummy
TO ME!” We suddenly accelerated,
The extreme speed of the ride was ripping the flesh of my face. My mum and my aunties were screaming their heads off. My cousins and I were laughing our heads off.
bar as hard as I could. We had finally
there were sudden drops, stops and it was pitch-black. I was screaming my head off as well as holding on to the
My family and our friends were at
reached the end when I felt something on my legs. It was water and my pants were soaked. I wondered what was going on when we started rolling backwards and I realized we were doing the whole ride again...backwards. It didn’t help because we were sitting at the back,
Universal Studios, Los Angeles,
so it was really bad. The ride finished
California. It is very windy day.
eventually. I thought I was going to
Everyone was struggling to keep their
throw up but it was so good we went
hats on. My cousins and I desperately
on it another 5 times. The fifth time
wanted to go on ‘The Mummy’. So
was the best because my mum and
Dad said, “Fine we’ll go.” So we
two of my aunties were on it and it was
headed off to the ride. It was ages
hilarious because my mum is scared of
away. You had to walk down five pairs
lots of things like: bugs, lizards and
of stairs, but it was good exercise
especially roller-coasters.
though. Finally we had reached, ‘The Mummy.’ There was no queue. We hopped in and the ride attendant pulled down the bar. I was very excited. My heart was pumping and I wondered
I was about to line up
UR “YO S L SOU TO ONG BEL !” ME
again when my Dad said, “ Come on, we have to go.” That was a sad moment in my life but it was also the happiest day because I rode ‘The Mummy’
what was going to happen. The ride started slowly. I thought it was
5 times, and I spent the day with my
kind of boring then suddenly this
cousins.
bandaged mummy came out and screamed, “YOUR SOULS BELONG
By Anthony Ding 7M
CSI ZONE My Theatre Experience I stood upstairs in the Green Room, having my face paint applied and getting ready to join the line leading onto the stage. I stood with my back to the audience, the curtain drawn. The stage was silent, apart from a few nervous whispers and people shushing them. Anxiety and nervousness flooded through me. When the curtain opened, there were no more nerves, because I was having too much fun! by Ben Dodson 7M
Save the World Cars in the city Like ants scurrying through their tunnels. Smoke blackens the city, Like night engulfing day. People are choking In the filthy Chemical air, Like crocodiles drowning their victims. The clear blue sky Fades from view In the smog Like an antelope’s Rotting carcass. From factory towers Billows black smoke Like giant squids Squirting out their black ink. Hundreds of thousands Of pieces of paper Are thrown in the dump Or litter the streets Like the lives Of so many children Treated as trash By so many people of this earth.
Oscar Deans 6A
CSI ZONE
SUPER SEGWAY
THE ICE WOLF
James Idiens 7M We saw the sign. It
The ice wolf, with his mouth of sharp icicles and snowy fur, crept through the forest,
grin. I leant
read, ‘Segways-ride them
forward and…
for 10 min.’ Dad pulled
zoom I took off
over and I gave a cry of
like a rocket.
joy. We had been looking
Everybody
for this sign for days. We
stared at me! I
his paws making a trail in the untouched snow. As he passed the skeletal trees, the roots shrank away
saw a man sitting down on turned around his van smoking. He was
and went faster.
the man. Dad paid the guy
After a while, he
10 dollars for 10 minutes.
put my speed
The man lumbered over to
up even more!
a Segway and brought it
As you go faster
over to me. “These are
the Segway
computer operated,” he
leans back so it
began breathing heavily.
was scary. Once
“Once you stand on it the
I hit a bump and the
Segway responds to you.
Segway went into the air
You lean forward to go
slightly and I nearly fell off.
forward and lean back to
At that point my heart was
stop and go back. So step
thumping against my
on.” I felt nervous incase I
ribcage, my arms were
did something silly like
shaking, my hands were
standing on it and then it
barely gripping the soft
zooms away and I fall off. I
rubbery handlebars. But
told myself, “It’s easy, he
the man said they were
told me so.” I stepped on
very stable so I stayed on.
and…beep, it had
The man’s timer started to
activated!
beep. “Okay time’s up,” he
He taught me how to
murmured while blowing
turn by moving the
smoke out near my face. I
handlebars left and right.
coughed, not enjoying the
“Well you got the hang of
horrible smell of smoke.
it,” the man said with a
My sister then had a go.
She liked it too. When we had finished I asked, “How much are they?” “Twelve and a half thousand,” he replied gruffly. My jaw dropped twelve and a half thousand! Well, we won’t be getting one soon! On the way back to the house we were staying in I asked, “Mum, Dad, can I get a Segway?” “NO!” they replied.
into the hard ground. In his wake, shadows spread, darkening the forest as if a blanket had been cast over it. Clouds prevented any warming rays from escaping the sun. The wolf padded through his domain. His battle for domination had been won.
I sighed; maybe in a few years I’ll have enough money to get one.
Nicholas Ganly 8BL.
Brought into a world unseen, I was held in my mother’s arms with loving eyes that I couldn’t turn away from. As I grew older, those loving eyes never changed, and they made me who I am. If it hadn’t been for those loving eyes, I wouldn’t be here in this great family, this great life. Henry Shaw 8G
AUTUMN POEMS Autumn Scene The yellow leaves fall While the sun slows And the frost shows The old trees Mostly Stripped of leaves As the sun sets The birds quieten But the others still fall Silently
Autumn ’s
CSI ZONE
Curse The su n is we ak Windy days Frost h as com e Snow f alls Money ʼs spen t On hea t And w arming food People get fat ter Step a side cr icketRugby ʼs here Gas bi lls goin g up Big ele ctric b i lls That is Autum nʼs cur Jack M se cEwen 6A
Jamie Street 6A
Autumn Touch Weʼre playing touch Yeah! Run George, run! Alisterʼs cheering Phil tackles me What? I fall over and the ground is hard I graze my knee Autumn touch is fun George Devine 6A
Autumn Fun Autumn is fun because I can jump in leaf piles. The leaves are Red, orange, Gold and pink. Up high, the trees Rustle, rustle, rustle, Then all is quiet. Finn Stokes 6A
By Year 6
ing n d r roa Mo e n h n t here tum w u o A g d veryw n i e lk arm wa ining w t s g Ju st sh ozen thin Fro ds fr some n Ha nting ol, e . Wa drink scho icicl g To chin ike an a A Re ling l h6 e t e i F Sm h s Jo By
Th e
Ye le So l l o w a v e Bu me , o s s Th t a try ran low ge l W e t lmo to , r y tr r s s i e t e So he es t a tan d ick Ic on red lo ll o d s an le d o d f ic le we an k c the tron br ow s ow n g By w wil d ol old m n ill ha l d Be sh kno ve n ow w go Lo ne ef fe n G al la gh er 6A
CSI ZONE
WW II SCENES Descriptive Writing
Soldiers lining up, ordered to charge at certain death. Dirty men wrapped in bandages limping into battle. This is the reality of war. There was only a thin fence of barbed wire separating the two forces. The continuous sound of booming shells deafened their ears so the raucous shouts of the officers were erased. Hand grenades erupt around the trench, showering soldiers with shrapnel. Stretcher-bearers rushing into the line of fire, to collect deceased bodies. Heavy black smoke fills the air. Trench warfare is truly disgusting. Jamie Street 6A
Horrible terrifying scenes from the past warfare of death and misery, of the brave men and women. Terrified men sitting in their trenches , waiting for the time to move up over the hill face and get shot. Grenades coming in from all directions shocking the men. The smell of sweat lingers everywhere. Huge guns opening fire as the ANZACs move over the hill top. William Habgood 6P
Trees in Aut
umn
As i loo ku I hear th p e trees Whispe ring to t heir leav Fly awa esy Like litt le orang e birds So the l eaves fl y up, up And aw , up ay As they fly They ar e signs of pe To those wandere ace rs below . by Ham ish Eng land 6A
s ve a le
, es he v t lea o t he ll int We t n g i a ba n i g y w Pla rowin de e Th h , t , up y air eling ath m e Fe dern . the nto m w i n i n u ra i thro rips e d lik en ter e. Wh e wa ac f my Th ir, o t ha d on y An ne k c i ll P Wi Co
lou rs Gr e In en Ye bea law In llow uti ns Or boi law ful s In ang ling ns prin g. Si bar e le sum l e v a In er A ve me bit fro utu s r. te st m rw Ch n. int ar lie er . Sl eig h
CSI ZONE
FIRST HAIRCUT When I was about two years old, my hair was devastating. One day it was going one way and the next day it would go the other. Mum said. “It’s time for a haircut.” Those words have haunted me ever since. I didn’t want to have a haircut, so I ran away as fast as I could. As I was only two, it didn’t take Mum long to catch me, snatch me up and quickly sit me in my high chair and fasten me in so I couldn’t squirm away. But what do you know? I escaped, but not for long, because Mum caught me and put me back in the chair. I began to scream and wriggle, so she taped me in with duct tape. I screamed and kept on screaming, and began sweating like a pig, but it was no good. Mum won in the end.
Anthony Ding 7M
I REALLY LIKE FOOD Food can be delicious and sometimes disgusting. Fish, for example is really disgusting. I absolutely hate all seafood and refuse to eat it. Instead, I try to eat as many yummy foods as I can, like hot curries and pasta dishes with hot tomato sauces. I also love eating spicy Thai food and Chinese dishes. Food is what keeps us alive and is one of life’s many pleasures. by Timmy Mann 7FD
rds eboa in a t a k ers ad six s The s, winn tition, h al n e re g p i n des de com ced o u i d w o r n natio esigns p oards. on b d , Sim e r t d i a n e k a h l s t Bor nnie John nce, Joh : m otto es Fra ohnson to B m Top llett, Ja amuel J art Co loss, S reat . g r S son m ou t fro s S John r o p r Sup her, M teac
CSI ZONE WONDERINGS
People need to feel passionately about something in their lives, whether it is a sport, a hobby or something entirely different. I believe in many things but I can’t help wondering about so much in life. How can something so small change something so large? Just imagine - if a seed were to have a slightly different composition, it would become a mighty oak rather than a dandelion. If something is being weighed, and the scales are perfectly balanced, imagine what would happen if a single hair was added to one side. The whole experiment could fail. I wonder about the cells that make up our bodies. Atoms make the cells. But what is so small that it makes an atom and how does it work? I think about Time. What happens to us before and after Time? Some people say we are so advanced, there is not much exploring left to do. I think there is so much we still need to discover. ‘The best way to stop something, is not to start and the best way to start something is not to stop.’ We don’t know what will happen, but we still search. Why do we keep testing? Why do we disrespect, annihilate and destroy? Why do we think and why have I thought of all this? And that is what bugs me. Matthew Corbishley 7 FD
An Early Experience by John Borland 7FD
An Early Memory by Timmy Mann 7FD
When I was very young, I was watching my Dad’s Golden Oldies’ match. I became bored and decided to go wandering. I became tired and curled up, falling asleep in the bushes nearby. When Dad finished his match, he was surprised not to see me. He began searching and then he recalled glimpsing me near the bushes, so in he went and found me there still sound asleep.
When I was small, we were living in our old house near the airport. Angus, my big brother, was outside on the far side of the house, playing with his trucks and my mum was hanging out the washing. Suddenly a swarm of bees invaded and Mum quickly ran inside, leaving Angus outside with his trucks and thousands of bees. Then Mum remembered Angus, ran outside again, grabbed him and retreated inside the house to safety.
CSI ZONE
A HORRIBLE BREAK The sun was beaming through my car window as we were going up a mountain in the Andes , which is in Chile. It was my first time skiing and I was in a good mood. We were driving up the long windy road to the ski field. My family and I were up in the Andes mountain range. Our winter Christmas holiday had just recently begun. We were up at the ski field trying on ski boots in a small, dirty locker room. We then went out to the field and met our trainer. As our trainer went up the hill, we all followed, as I went up my ski came off. Because of this I had to tighten the binding so it would stay on but that would soon send the whole holiday into disarray. I started my descent down the mountain and it was gong petty well. When I was going back up to the top, I felt that something was wrong. You know the feeling when something just doesn’t feel right. I started my descent. I was gaining speed. To slow myself down I started to turn from side to side. Suddenly, I heard my sister fall down and I immediately turned to see what was wrong. While doing this, I lost my balance and fell down getting my ski stuck in the snow. My leg twisted making a spiral break down my tibia, the cracking crunching sound echoed rebounding from side to side in my skull. I screamed as the gigantic pain hit me. Another skier came down and asked me so questions. It didn’t really help me with her speaking Spanish because I couldn’t understand her and she was talking to fast. I remember looking back to see my parents with a sign of horror on their faces. “MUM!” I shouted. My Dad came down to me with my mum and took off my skis. Moving the break made a tear drip from my eye. The person that was assisting me took off my skis
and placed them in the snow in a cross formation, now all the other skiers whizzed by me. Soon after, I saw two skiers with big red crosses over their jacket come down to me. “I’m going to die!” I thought to myself. They quickly and painfully put me on a stretcher and sped down to a small cold room. I didn’t like this one little bit and I wished the day had never began. My mother and father were there in the room a few minutes later. My mother had such a fright and just couldn’t stop stroking my hair while crying at the same time. I didn’t like seeing her that way and it made me break a tear. The pain was still there.It just wouldn’t go away. As the doctor leaned over me I got real scared. He had a huge tablet in his hand and he expected me to swallow it! It helped, after a few minutes the pain eased but it didn’t stop it when they took off the boot. It made intense pain rush up my leg.The doctor was easing the boot off while my Dad squeezed my hand .That made it hurt even more as my palm was being squished. Everything was going wrong yet still I had to go down the mountain in my Dad’s car, which would take at least three hours. “Ah!” I screamed as every bend the car slowly went round made it worse. I personally think going right was the worst for I would then slide down to the other end of my dad’s car. It was so painful that I can’t even remember the pain itself. When we got down the mountain it was around about 6:00 and it was rush hour. Just a tip, Chile is not excellent at that time for it will just be a big parking lot. The lights turned green and we headed off into the streets. As we got to the hospital, my Mum ran in as quick as she could trying to get help with the little Spanish she knew. A man with a wheelchair came out to get me into the hospital. Going through the reception doors, screaming, gaining everyone’s eyes. All I could focus on was the throbbing agony, so I can’t say much about anything else, except I wanted the pain to disappear. By: Matthew Corbishley 7FD
The Andes range between Argentina and Chile
CSI ZONE I stumbled out of the truck and dragged my heavy bag inside. I had just come home after a long, tiring week at school. When I re-emerged from the house, someone was standing outside whom I did not recognise. “This is Dave,” said Dad. I eyed Dave up and down, mentally assessing him. He looked like he had been helping Dad plant the oaks in the orchard, as he had dirt over the stubbies and rugby jersey he was wearing. He stuck out his hand, which I shook and murmured, “Lo.” Then Dad told me that they had been waiting for me to arrive so we could go shooting. I rushed upstairs and got changed into stubbies and a shirt, then hurtled back down the stairs at break-neck speed, chucked on a swannie and gumboots and walked across to Dave’s truck where he was loading his .223. Dad showed me one of the bullets. I bent over to pick up my jaw, which had fallen off with amazement. I re-affixed it. “Look at the cartridge on that!” I exclaimed. Ten or so minutes later, we roared off up the road on the back of the old, anti-environmental land cruiser. I smelt the fresh wind blowing in my face, and I inhaled deeply, the clean air a relief to my lungs after a weeks worth of disgusting, headache inducing, asthma developing city-air. Dave and I were both on the deck of the truck, with Dad driving. The .223 was mounted on a bipod on the roof of the cab. Just then the truck ground to a halt. I was instantly on the alert, looking around for the likely game animal that Richard must have spotted. Instead he leaned out of the window and asked us if we were all OK. But before I had a chance to answer Dave tapped me on the shoulder. He had spotted a hare. I pointed to the fence, then as silently as a drum-kit, and as lithe as a hedgehog, I slithered over the side of the truck and around it on the gravelled road to the barbed-wire fence. Here Dave leaned over the side of the truck and passed me the bolt-action . 223, which I rested against the post. I roughly aimed the gun at the hare, and then peered through the scope. I swear that thing was so powerful I could see the fleas hopping about on that scumbag hare’s coat. I flicked the safety, lined up the cross
hairs and gently pulled back on the trigger. About a dozen things happened at once then. First of all, I found out how honest Dave had been when he told me the gun had an ultra-sensitive trigger. Second, the gun shoved me back rather rudely for my troubles. Thirdly, the hare found out what happened when you mix a good shot, an awesome scope and a .223. I also found out that what that gun lacked in kick (compared to other large guns) it definitely made up for in noise. The report was comparable to a stick of dynamite going off! An hour later, about 2 dozen more unworthy rabbits and hares were down. It had started sleeting, and both of us were soaked. The scope had fogged up as well, but that didn’t stop Dad doing an awesome shot right at the maximum range of the gun, in an area that was dark and shadowy, and the hare was barely distinguishable from the surrounding occasional stunted tussocks. On the way back down, the weather cleared up a bit. We decided to go into the Bull Paddock to see if there was anything there worthy of being shot. As we came around the first corner, there were two hares sitting on the opposite side of a small gully. I lined up the gun on one of them. CRACK! It sounded like a branch snapping off, with the gunshot echoing in the small valley. I fired again. And again. Apparently .223 bullets can cost as much as 50c each. Bang! 50c. Crack! $1. Boom! $1.50. I won’t say how many shots it took, but I reckon that was one tough rabbit. Dad reckons I just wasn’t shooting straight. That was my first taste of a .223, and I thoroughly loved it. I genuinely can’t wait to go out again, hopefully for larger game. Jack Holloway 8BL
CSI ZONE
CHAMOIS HUNTING The sweet smell of manuka slithered up my nostrils and the cool air sent shivers down my back. We were hunting for chamois out at Lake Sumner on the rugged Brothers range. Although the fern was up to my waist and the prickly thorns were scratching my bare legs, I was keen to keep going. It was hard and tiring trying to dodge all the patches of thorns but I just kept thinking of when we would get up into the chamois country and the excitement would begin. The five of us kept bush bashing away until we finally crept quietly into the open country. ‘Amazing’ was the word that popped into my head when I looked around at the massive shingle screes and jagged rocks towering high above us. “Can you see anything?” I asked Dad excitedly. “No I can’t, but that looks like a good spot over there,” he whispered. He was pointing at a small clearing in the bush. I leant back on a tussock and stared through the binoculars. In the
The Ladder – Story Beginnings 1. Matthew Jones 7FR I was watching the window cleaner cleaning the windows. Suddenly the ladder fell. I shouted, ‘Tally Ho!’ Then I realised that the poor man had been on the ladder when it fell. ‘Hey!’ I shouted. ‘I want my money back! You haven’t finished cleaning my windows!’
background I could hear the screech of a distant kea gradually getting closer but my main focus was on the rugged country around me, looking constantly through the binoculars for chamois.
A French Chamois
“I think we’ll move up a bit,” said our friend Nathan. As we were moving up through a patch of rocks Nathan turned around and spotted a chamois just below us in a small clearing. Quickly, Nathan and my brother’s friend Jack stalked down the hill and leant on a rock. They waited for about two minutes for the chamois to appear again and when he did Jack’s 222 let rip. The chamois died instantly as it tumbled away into the snow grass. We all clambered excitedly through the rocks to have a look. Nathan gutted it and then we took a photo of it. The carry out was the easiest part as it was all the way
down through the bush to the truck. As we were going down a shingle scree I slipped over one or two times but that just added to the fun. When we got back to the truck my brother got the measuring tape out and the horns measured out at a reasonable eight and a half inches with good bases, which was a sign that it was quite an old chamois. It felt great to finally sit down in the truck and rest my legs. I was starting to look forward to the smell of food that would greet me back at camp. Simon Northcote 8BU
2. Ben Dodson 7M
3. Will Pratt 7FD
The ladder rested against the wall in front of me. It was decorated with all the colours of the rainbow and looked dazzling against the blank, featureless wall. I started to climb it, though I was not sure why. It simply willed me to do so.
In the jungle, three tourists and a guide were driving along a dirt track, when a herd of elephants came stampeding towards them. The guide panicked and looked round for somewhere to shelter. He spotted a ladder connected to a tree. ‘Up there,’ he hissed urgently.
CSI ZONE Story beginning from ‘The Mysteries of Harris Burdick’ by Nicholas Ganly 8BL
As Janette searched in the bushes for her Easter eggs, she spotted something else. On the top of a swan plant was a small wriggling body, which had just struggled out of its chrysalis. It was a monarch butterfly, reaching its wings to the sun for the first time. Janette decided that without her help and the safety of the swan plant, the butterfly would die and so she took it into her care.
Challenge – write the worst possible first sentence of a story My home vaporised around me and millions and millions of fat purple cows fell out of the sky, followed by an army of talking hats which jumbled onto the rocky ground, and a humungous number of dead flies fell on top of me and the penguin rubber in my hand became alive and began eating my hand, but I reacted quickly and hurled it away, just as an alien ship landed in front of me. Eugene Lee 8BL
The strawberry-coated, chocolate flavoured, hundreds and thousands, sprinkle-drenched frozen ice cream cone, slowly melted in my mouth, before I was tugged terribly backwards, tumbling too quickly, pinning the terrified two year old, Timmy, to the terrace, while Tobias trembled with tremendous laughing fits. Jack Holloway 8BL
ROBOTICS CREW BEATS HIGH SCHOOLS The robotics club entered the Canterbury Computers Education Society (CCES) competition. based at Canterbury University. We had to build and program a robot, in two hours, to find a can by itself and then push or carry it into a black square. There was also a size limit on the robot as it had to fit into a medium sized tin at the start. With our first programme, the robot found the can straight away using the ultrasonic sensor and meanwhile the other teams were struggling. We were going well but we struck a problem, we could not turn the robot around with the can and take it back to the square. Luckily, time was up and no other team had even found the can so we had won, on our first time entering the competition. Later at the prize-giving we found out that we had also won the over-all trophy in robotics, including against the secondary teams. All in all it was a great day and we learnt many things for next year. Tom Wilding 8BL.
THIS MAGAZINE PRODUCED BY: EDITORS: ASHER ETHERINGTON, ED TAYLOR, ELLIOT NYE, MARTIN BELL, JOHN VAN TIL, DANIEL HAY WITH ASSISTANCE FROM MR GRIEVE