Meet the Senior Prefects!
In our academy we have a team of highly dedicated prefects, identified by the stripy ties. A specifically chosen four are given the roles of Head Boy/Girl and Deputy Head Boy/Girl. The Student News and Views team would like to get to know the team for this year in order to understand what they do and the role they play as part of the academy community.
This year your Head Boy is Ali Mohammed and your Head Girl is Tanjena Alamgir. Deputy Head Boy is Cameron Atkinson and Deputy Head Girl is Chloe Lewis. In order to be able to apply for the role the prefects had to take up a high position within their house first. They needed to be either house or vice house captains. The next process was to write an application letter and participate in a team challenge with Mrs Jeffery which would decide who qualified for an interview. After the prefects had been selected for an interview, they then had to be considered for the role by the Principal, Dr Hughes and Mrs Jeffery. It was a nerve-wracking process and only the worthy are successful in taking a senior prefect role.
Over the year the senior prefects hope to improve academy life by undertaking several projects. These projects include research projects on; the link between material deprivation (poverty) and educational success; whether technology in school is a necessity or a gimmick; the link between primary and secondary schools and how students are under target when focusing on mathematics; and a project about a growth mindset and nature vs nurture or summit.
Being a part of the senior prefect team is a very rewarding opportunity but it comes with great responsibility and acquires lots of commitment to the role. Do you think you have the skills to be in the senior prefect team? Why not apply when you are given a chance?
Star Trek Into Darkness Film Review
At the weekend, I watched Star Trek Into Darkness. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be ‘perfect’! JJ Abrams created a masterpiece back in 2009 with the original ‘Star Trek’ reboot, but his sequel just takes awesomeness to the next bloody level! The cinematography…the music…heck, even the set design is amazing! I love how Abrams has no noise playing whenever there is a shot out in space (a move made by not many sci-fi directors previous to him). Also, the set for the Enterprise blows my mind, so brilliant…lit up by the lens flares present in every scene (WHICH IS GOOD). The special effects blend in so seamlessly that you can’t even notice when something is CGI.
However, one of my favourite moments is when the Enterprise is locked in a stationary battle in space with Admiral Marcus’ new battle-class ship, the USS Vengeance. It’s all a matter of wits as Kirk tries to outsmart the Admiral, and then Benedict Cumberbatch’s Khan (we’ll get to him later), which leads to the Vengeance falling to Earth and destroying a large portion of San Francisco.
As with the first movie, there are some call-backs to the original series and movies that will make hardcore Trekkies seeking kolinahr; this film more so than the 2009 reboot. Into Darkness never lets go of the original Trek’s ideals and themes, such as the importance of the Prime Directive (never interfere with alien worlds) or logic versus instinct.
Cumberbatch’s Khan Noonien Singh, a superhuman frozen in a cryogenic tube launched into space with 72 other superhumans, is a terrorist who wages a one-man army against Starfleet after detonating a bomb in the Kelvin Memorial Archive in London. He is brilliant, ruthless, and will not hesitate to kill every single person that stands in his way. The acting is perfect. Need I say much more? He kills hundreds of people and, in a savage mutiny, crushes Admiral Marcus’ head like a grapefruit. In a sick motion, he beams Scotty and Kirk back to the Enterprise, stating that ‘no ship should go down without her captain’, before firing photon missiles at the Enterprise causing it to fall to Earth. However, Kirk makes the ultimate sacrifice of heading into the radioactive warp core to align it, restarting the engine but in doing so, he takes his own life in a heartbreaking manner. With Spock and Kirk only allowed to communicate through glass, Kirk says to his First Officer: “I’m scared, Spock…Help me not be…” And with this, their hands meet on the glass, both moving to make the ‘Live Long and Prosper’ gesture as Kirk dies (He’s brought back by Khan’s regenerative blood!) and thus, mirrored to the original Wrath of Khan, brings on the famous “KHAAANNNN!” scream.
To end the review, I’d just like to state the Captain’s Oath, words that, before watching this movie, I never really took to heart. These words are: Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Her five year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
RATING: FIVE STARSHIPS.
Languages Week
Guten Tag! This week in our Academy it was Languages Week! In most of your lessons you should have been doing something related to a foreign language. This will have mostly affected years 7, 8 and 9 however in my GCSE Physics lessons we did write the date in Welsh!
This week was supposed to open your mind towards learning a different language. Have you ever been on holiday and wished you could communicate with the citizens of that country? Maybe this is something you could start thinking about, as for the year 7′s, 8′s and 9′s you will all be choosing your options for years 10 and 11.
Universities are always looking for interesting things in each application form and having a language GCSE is definitely something that will make you stand out. Some universities are now deciding you need a language at GCSE to even be accepted!
Our Academy teaches a range of different languages, the most common being German, French and even Spanish! So get learning!
Au Revoir!
Tarantula, as Big as a Human Face has been Discovered
Scientists have found an enormous, previously unknown, species of venomous spider in a remote Sri Lankan village. Its legs, which have unique bright yellow markings, are a massive 20cm. The species also has a distinctive pink line around its body.
The new spider was found in the north of the South Asian country by scientists from Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Education and Research (BER) organisation. It has been named Poecilotheria rajaei, after a senior police officer called Michael Rajakumar Purajah, who guided the research team through a dangerous jungle overrun by war in order to seek out the spider.
The spider is said to prefer living on old trees and had originally been presented to BER three years ago by villagers in Mankulam, who had killed a male specimen. Scientists immediately realised the dead spider was not like anything they already knew and a group was charged with finding any living relatives. The living Poecilotheria rajaei were eventually discovered in the former doctor’s quarters of the village’s hospital.
According to Wired.com, Ranil Nanayakkara, the co-founder of BER, said: “They are quite rare. They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings.” The website also described the tarantula as “colourful, fast and venomous”.
The species is said to be related to a class of South American tarantula that includes the Goliath bird-eater, one of the world’s largest spiders. In other reports Mr Nanayakkara is quoted as saying none of the tarantulas found in Sri Lanka have bites that are deadly to humans. However, the Poecilotheria rajaei would be able to kill animals as large as mice, lizards and small birds and snakes.
Peter Kirk, who covered the discovery for the British Tarantula Society’s journal, told Sky News: “Ranil has been working on these spiders since 2009 out in Sri Lanka and this is the first of what is thought to be a number of new species he has discovered in what was previously the inaccessible northern region of the island. It demonstrates that wildlife continues to survive whilst we are in the throes of conflict and that they can adapt to its changing environment – but also highlights that we risk destroying the habitats of species new to science and condemning them to extinction before they are even discovered.”
Student Body Organisations
Student Voice is the place for students to be heard in the academy community. We deal with the issues affecting the student body and help the academy improve. We are looking to recruit from all years in the academy and therefore we are able to have a positive impact on the whole academy. Each month there’s a meeting where you can pass forward ideas and issues for us to work on. There are faculty representatives for every faculty and we partake in the new staff interviews. Projects we have lead on are the recycling scheme, the toilets refurbishment, the decorating of the maths quad and bullying. If you would like to join please speak to Mr Gent, the Chairperson Amy Kellerman or the Secretary Evie Lister.
Mwanzo sell and help fairtrade products in the academy to help the overall fairtrade system. This year the group acheived fairtrade status which they have worked tirelessly for. Every afternoon after school the group sell fairtrade produce in the covered way. They are looking for members from all years and if you are wanting to join please speak to Mr Gent and Serene Khabbass.
Interact are the academy’s branch from the junior arm of Rotary International. The group fundraise for local and international charities and organise two service projects each year. In the near future Interact are looking to pair the academy with a school in Kenya and they sell products to raise awareness of Fairtrade and charitable organisations. If you wish to join please express your interest to Mr Gent and James Smurthwaite.
Finally, Students’ News and Views are looking for key stage 3 recruits to blog about their academy. We show your opinions about what is happening in the academy or to young people generally. If you’re a budding reporter and you would like to get involved speak to Ryan Shanley, Amy Kellerman, Mrs Ledger or Mr Gent. Also you can email us at news@nunthorpe.co.uk.
