Gold Medalist Champ!

Ewan Simpson in S7 won First, Gold Medal in Junior Longbow category, over the weekend at Burton Bridge.

He is a member of the Six Towns Company of Archers based in Stoke-on-Trent and it was his first “proper” tournament.

Well done Ewan!

Funny T-Shirt Pics!

This blog is about the funny t-shirt ideas people have made that I really like. Most of the ideas come from a shop called “Rowfers”. If you want to check it out, it’s a shop in Hanley.

 I like this one because of how annoying it is! It’s so cheesy it’s unforgettable!

 THIS ONE IS HILARIOUS. It’s so random! I love it!

 This is so me

 Some people may not get it

 A procrastinator is someone who instead of doing something they do something else instead of the thing they were going to do in the first place and no, I don’t get what I just said either.

by Heather Meldrum

Top Ten Pointless websites

10.http://llamafont.com/

9.http://www.fallingfalling.com/

8.http://beesbeesbees.com/

7.http://eelslap.com/

6.http://r33b.net/

5.http://www.trypap.com/

4.http://randomcolour.com/

3.http://iloveyoulikeafatladylovesapples.com/

2.http://www.republiquedesmangues.fr/

Honourable mentions:http://www.randomtext.com/

                     http://cat-bounce.com/

                     http://www.colorflip.com/

1.http://make-everything-ok.com/

Do you agree? Comment if you agree/disagree and say why.

By Heather Meldrum

Friday’s For Zoë!

Aloha Zebrinas!
Oh my! What a day I had! I can’t wait to tell you about it. (I would also appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to the zookeepers at Chester Zoo)
Okay so…                                                                                                                                                                                       We had a school come to visit us today! Core, I do like it when we have lots of people coming to the zoo. (Mainly because they admire how beautiful us animals are!)
Anyway, moving on…                                                                                                                                                                     We zebras woke up nice and early so that we could be washed and fed ready for when the visitors came. Zeebee and I love being washed and our favorite shampoo scent is called ‘Jazzy in the Jungle.’ It was a nice sunny start to the morning but it wasn’t long until it was raining, but don’t worry it was only a fine shower!
I heard that the school had arrived! I was so excited. It wasn’t long until some of the children came round to us. Firstly there was 2 girls named Becki and Georgina (well I think that’s how you spell their names) They were admiring our awesomeness and our beauty. I’ve added a picture that I found on the Chester Zoo website of me and Becki so I’ve added it to this blog!
Anyway…                                                                                                                                                                                   It wasn’t long until they had to go and see some other animals to help them with their activity booklets, so Zeebee and I had a plan. We covered ourselves in leaves and we crept out of our pen trying not to disturb any other animals. One we escaped we caught up with Georgina & Becki  and followed them around the zoo park! They never knew it was us! (Zeebee & I are very sorry to Becki and Georgina if you are reading this now)
They started to head towards the tigers so that they could fill in the task on tigers. The baby cubs were asleep it was so cute! Nearby were the penguins and they had to draw a penguin flying through the water. I do say the drawings were brill! There were many more activities but I feel that I may be dragging on a bit because they were to find out facts. However I am going to talk about going to the elephant show and studying the giraffes.
Firstly I am going to mention studying the giraffes which was fun! We went inside the giraffe house to see how they act and find some special features. They giraffes leaned down towards the girls and they were so close to them! So lets mention the elephant show. The baby elephants were playing in the water which was as deep as a fully grown elephant, wow! Grandma Thai was playing with them as well! We also learnt that elephants only have 4 teeth and each one is the size of a brick! Incredible! After the girls completed the activities they had free time to look around all the animals. We went to the jaguar house and saw the jaguar! We also went into the butterfly house, reptiles, realm of the red ape where there was a giant orangutan hanging on the bars! Becki didn’t believe that the hanging orangutan was real she thought it was a blanket! We went all over the whole park but I don’t want to drag on and make you boerd so I’ll leave it there. At 2:30 the girls had to leave the park and go to the gift shop. Oh I wish I could of come but I’m sure that the keepers would notice something suspicious! So Zeebee and I scurried along back to our pen and we were just in time for afternoon lunch.
What a day I had. I hoped you enjoyed reading! I’ll post soon                                                                                                    Zoë xx

Chloe's Dance Crew are Winners!

Chloe in S11,  with her dance crew, came in 1st place in a dance competition at Manchester Wright Robinson's College last week.

They have now qualified for the World Championships in Kent later this year.

Well done to everyone!

S10's Assembly and Ice Cream Sale

On  Monday S10  decided to do an assembly on challenges, and it was also about Richard Branson's life and how he overcame difficulties such as dyslexia. S10 set a challenge for the whole school to raise £300 to be donated to the Douglas MacMillan Hospice. They decided to raise funds by selling ice cream from the food room. This unfortunately was unsuccessful but they did raise £248 with all the proceeds going to the charity. 

Our Dog Ralf!

This is our dog Ralf. He is 2 years old and is already very well trained. The tricks he knows already are sit, stay and shake even though we've only had him a few weeks). He is a Black Labrador and is extremely friendly. He loves new people and hates being in a car… His first car ride was filled with whines and barking and terrified howls. Treats and constant attention is key to a dog in a car. Ralf is a sucker for treats and can’t stand the ‘c’ word (CATS…), but goes ballistic over the ‘w’ word… “Walkies!” His favourite food is tripe and he really hates the dreaded cone of shame…

He was originally from a dog’s home, and soon I grew attached to him and now he is part of the family. We treat him well and lovingly and he is officially part of the family. He has his own bed but hardly ever uses it, he prefers our bed…

He is an extremely talented and friendly dog. He loves tennis balls, more tennis balls and Scooby Doo (preferably the stuffing still in the toy…). Ralf is an awesome dog and he is definitely worthy of his own blog!

I hope you enjoyed this blog and I hope it was cute enough!

Heather Meldrum Y7 S4

Year 7 Netball Tournament

On Wednesday the school netball team played in a tournament at NCHS. We played 7 teams in total. We came 4^th out of the seven teams which is good for our first tournament. Miss Plant was pleased to hear the results and Mrs Dale came along to watch us.

Becky Ault S11

Swimming Sensation!

Greg Butler, S11, has begun to compete in international swim meets, one being in Berlin in which he took part in last weekend. Greg trains both before and after school for 2-3 hours, 7 days a week, he trains with the world record holder for 50m breaststroke. He does this in Derby and at Loughborough University; he currently holds the British record for 200m breaststroke in his age group, with a time of 2:25:86.

Greg is now waiting for the England talent competition in Moscow, Russia to be rescheduled. This was unfortunately cancelled. 

We all hope to see Greg in more international competitions in the future. It is a pleasure to have such a high achiever in our college. Well done Greg.

 

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day!

Red Nose Day is a Comic Relief fundraiser and is extremely popular worldwide. I particularly enjoy it and love red noses and their random flair.

WHAT IS RED NOSE DAY?

Since its launch in 1988, Red Nose Day has become something of a British institution. It’s the day, every two years, when people across the land can get together and do something funny for money at home, school and work. From 1988 till 1999, the red noses remained faceless, just red and shiny.

 Then in 2001, the red noses grew faces, which increased in their popularity. From then on, the red noses became more and more obscure until in 2015 they came in packets, a mystery to behold in each one. There are even rumours of golden red noses, which give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go on a trip somewhere.

There’s a fantastic night of TV on the BBC, with comedy and entertainment to inspire the nation to give generously. Comic Relief spends the money raised by Red Nose Day to help people living tough lives across the UK and Africa. 

By Heather Meldrum S4

Drumming

I have been drumming  now for 5 years and I have gone through seven drum books.  I did have drum lessons every Saturday but unfortunately he left Stoke and went to live down in Cornwall.  Now I have moved to a different drum teacher in Fenton.

By Kian 

Valentine’s Day

Valentine's Day. Each year is on February 14th, many people exchange cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their special “valentine.” The day of romance we call Valentine's Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia.

Saint Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine is a holiday observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it is not a holiday in most of them.

In China, the common situation is the man gives chocolate, flowers or both to the woman that he loves. In Chinese, Valentine's Day is called lovers' festival. The so-called "Chinese Valentine's Day" is the Qixi Festival, celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. In Finland Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's Day". As the name indicates, this day is more about remembering all your friends, not significant others. In Estonia Valentine's Day is called sõbrapäev, which has the same meaning.

by Briar

Jess is a Winner!!

Jess Royall, S11, took part in a gymnastics competition on the 26th January at the Minroe centre, Birmingham. Jess was part of a team of 5 called the Stoke Flyers. The team was very successful as they came 1st, competing against 3 other teams.

Jess took part in the vault, trampette, and tumbling.
she did a squat through on the vault, a front somersault on the trampette and a forward roll, handstand forward roll and a one handed cartwheel in tumbling.

Well done, to Jess and the rest of the Stoke Flyers.

Read for my school!

Read for my school is a new idea that Mrs Corbett has introduced to our class a few weeks ago. The idea has already started to be a great success; all of year 7 can read online, the accounts are free and there are rewards for the most books read. The more the better! 150 books can be accessed until March. The minimum books you should read is 8, and there is no maximum!!

158 BOOKS READ IN OUR GROUP SO FAR

11,404 BOOKS READ IN OUR REGION SO FAR

THESE TOTALS CHANGE ALL THE TIME

Read for My School is a national schools reading competition that promotes reading and philanthropy by challenging pupils to read as many books as possible across two months of the spring term. Throughout the competition there are prizes and awards to be won for schools and pupils taking part.

Read for My School will run from 19th January to 20th March 2015 and is open to all children in primary school from Years 3 to 6 and secondary school Year 7 to 8 throughout the UK.

Prizes!

There will be major new awards for schools that can demonstrate how they are using Read for My School in the context of wider efforts to create an excellent whole-school reading culture. These awards will accompany prizes worth at least £1,000 for each winning school.

By Heather Meldrum Yr 7

Pet rats are not as bad as you think!

 When someone says ‘pet’ usually people think of adorable, little puppies or cute, fluffy kittens… But when I announced I had pet rats as an early Christmas present, the majority either said “Eurgh…” or backed away slowly, as if I had some sort of disease. This blog is to prove pet rats are not as bad as you think
Rats are intelligent, highly social animals and are normally active at night and dawn and dusk. They have an excellent sense of touch, and have a wonderful sense of smell. Provided their needs are met, rats are incredibly rewarding animals to look after and can form close human-animal bonds with their owners. There are several different kinds of rat, varying mainly in colour. Usually, rats live for around 3 years, but some may live for longer.

 Pet rats are much less fearful than their wild cousins, and when handled gently, they quickly learn to enjoy riding on their human friends’ shoulders and napping in their laps. These sociable rodents come in a variety of coat types and colours, from curly or shiny or black, white, grey, black-and-white and many more. If well cared for, rats typically live to two and a half to three years. Curious, intelligent and always up for some fun, rats can be great pets for kids-but young owners should always be supervised by an adult. These animals are not toys, and must be treated with kindness and respect.

The origin of the modern fancy rat begins with the rat-catchers of the 18^th and 19^th centuries that trapped rats throughout Europe. These rat-catchers would then either kill the rats, or, more likely, sell the rats to be used in blood sport. Rat-baiting was a popular sport until the beginning of the 20th century. It involved filling a pit with several rats and then placing bets on how long it would take a terrier to kill them all. It is believed that both rat-catchers and sportsmen began to keep certain, odd-coloured rats during the height of the sport, eventually breeding them and then selling them as pets.

Rats are trained easily and love being handled. Rats learn quickly. Using positive reinforcements such as treats and praise will ensure that your pet rat is eager to learn. The mental stimulation that training provides will enhance the rat’s natural intelligence. When teaching your rat a trick, for instance, calling his/her name, repeat the word while holding a treat. When he/she comes to you release the treat to him, praise him/her verbally, and/or reward by giving physical contact such as scratching or by holding him. One of the most useful things you can train your rat to do is to use a litter box. Things to remember when training your rat is that the rats own personality may determine what tricks it will be best at. Active females often do better at tricks that require agility and speed. Some rats are smarter than others are. Gearing the training to the rat’s activity level and intelligence will save both you and your rat from becoming frustrated. Here is a video on some of the tricks you can teach a rat…

By Heather Meldrum

Popular Christmas Presents