Xmas Factor I N THIS. The Xmas Factor reviewed.

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Philomena Walton
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C A R L T O N L E W I L L O W S A C A D E M Y I N THIS EDITION: The Xmas Factor reviewed. The new curriculum for options subjects at GCSE survey results.

S P R I N G 2 0 1 2 I S S U E 1 Xmas Factor Carlton le Willows Christmas talent show, The Xmas Factor, was a great hit this year with the tickets selling like hot cakes.

The samba band kicked off the night with a rather noisy performance.

It was immediately clear why Ella won last year when she performed. Her powerful voice left the audience in awe. Lauren Stanley was the first competing act.

She made Oak proud with an absolutely stunning performance and set the standards high for the other competitors.

1 C A R L T O N L E W I L L O W S A C A D E M Y I N THIS EDITION: The Xmas Factor reviewed. The new curriculum for options subjects at GCSE survey results. Episode one of a new short story Visiting Aachan for Christmas. S P R I N G I S S U E 1 Xmas Factor Carlton le Willows Christmas talent show, The Xmas Factor, was a great hit this year with the tickets selling like hot cakes. The audience was eager for the show to begin whilst I went backstage. I was told to expect A very exciting night with the audience being in for a treat by Gabriel McMenamin, representing Cedar. The samba band kicked off the night with a rather noisy performance. Mr Graves, who hosted the night, introduced last year s Xmas Factor winner, Ella Greenwood, who apparently felt very honoured to perform. It was immediately clear why Ella won last year when she performed. Her powerful voice left the audience in awe. Lauren Stanley was the first competing act. Performing for Oak, she sang Hallelujah which, according to Mr Graves, is the fastest selling single ever in Norway! She made Oak proud with an absolutely stunning performance and set the standards high for the other competitors. Tnaya Ball, aged 16yrs, took to the stage next with an ambitious song and dance routine. She put on a great performance of The Lady is a tramp, originally a show tune in the late 30s. The next competitor was Daniel Barker who danced to the Michael Jackson classics. He was brilliant and the audience couldn t resist clapping along. His moonwalking and spinning would have made the King of Pop proud! Following on was Kain Stewart, representing Ash house but singing about one made of Lego joked Mr Graves. It was of course, a superb performance of Ed Sheeran s Lego House. After that, Oak s second act, Chloe Hodkin played Use Somebody by Kings of Leon on her guitar. She was obviously very talented; she played commendably. Next up was Gabriel McMenamin who I had the pleasure of meeting backstage before the show. His act was listed simply as a Comedy act on the Xmas Factor program. It was so much more than that. Gabriel walked out on the stage dressed as a woman, complete with boots, a wig and lipstick! He dragged a teddy bear out on the stage and scolded it for not eating it s dinner. He then began to sing the Australian #1, parody of a Michael Jackson Song, Eat It! The audience was in tears with laughter, especially when he decided to sit on the knee of a woman in the audience and moan about his misbehaving teddy. Continued on page 3...

2 P A G E 2 Curriculum Review.. If they miss a day of school they miss 2 or 3 hours of the same subject For practical subjects like D&T they work well because a lot can get done Laura Gherman reporting Are you in year 9 or 10? If so, you are amongst the first pupils at CLW to try out the new curriculum. The aim is to allow you more choice in your GCSE s by taking them over three years. The Academy hopes that spreading exams over three years will be less stressful than taking them all at the end of year 11. Pupils in years 9 and 10 have completed an Academy Council survey to find out how it is all going. They answered questions about Options information, double and triple lessons and working with pupils from different year groups. Although some pupils thought that they had loads of information about the option choices available, over 50% would like more information to help them make the right choices. In particular, a booklet to describe the subjects, how classes will run and exactly what will be learnt (the topics the subject will be focusing on). They were also keen to know what teachers they will have! The students liked the idea of a trial lesson day where they could see how it feels to do each subject and find out how much work they will have to do. They would also value the chance to ask existing students about the courses. There are lots of different views about double and triple lessons which of course is a big change. Lots of pupils thought that they are perfect for practical lessons like D&T For practical subjects like D&T they work well because a lot can get done, but writing lessons get uncomfy. Many students agreed that there are some amazing teachers who make the long three hours seem like one; definitely an advantage because all the aims of a successful lesson are met. Over 35% of students are mostly ok with double lessons but it does depend on the subject. 22% really enjoy the double and triple lessons and they are finding them very useful, they felt that they get more work done in longer lessons and find it easier to remember the work from one week to the next. Doubles were more popular than triples. Some people didn t like having less variety in a day which could makes the subjects seem less interesting. When teaching a group for 2 or 3 hours in a row it can be hard to make lessons entertaining, constructive and to make sure students aren t too stressed. One big concern is that if a student misses a day of school they miss 2 or 3 hours of the same subject. This wide range of views was also felt about the mix of years in lessons. Some students didn't like it; working with year 9 s is difficult because we are all on different levels. Others liked the chance to work with different people and a significant number of people felt that it made no real difference. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

V O L U M E 1, I S S U E 1 P A G E 3 Xmas Factor continued... Next came Rhianne Mee, Birch house.

She was last, but certainly not least as she performed confidently and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.

After Santa s visit, four teachers danced on stage wearing masks of other teachers including Mr Coleman, Mrs Aagar and Mr McGuinness!

3 V O L U M E 1, I S S U E 1 P A G E 3 Xmas Factor continued... Next came Rhianne Mee, Birch house. She gave a moving performance of I dreamed a dream, a Les Mis song and more recently sang by Britain s got Talent finalist Susan Boyle. The final competitor was Ellie Kinsey, an Ash street dancer. She was last, but certainly not least as she performed confidently and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. After the interlude, in which the audience voted for their favourite act, Carlton le Willows was visited by Father Christmas and his very shy donkey. His elves then gave out presents to the audience. After Santa s visit, four teachers danced on stage wearing masks of other teachers including Mr Coleman, Mrs Aagar and Mr McGuinness! It was extremely funny and definitely a highlight Caption describing picture or graphic. of the night. Then, after several performances from students, the results were announced... Gabriel Mcmenamin had won The Xmas Factor 2011 along with the prize of a day in a recording studio! He definitely deserved to win and he was definitely pleased. Finally, Shep Dog and the Wailers, a band composed of teachers, closed a great night with Mr Graves singing Santa Claus is coming to Town. Aachen Market Hull, we arrived at the ferry terminal. Then security checked our group passports with photos of us all grinning idiotically before we were driven on to the ferry. The ferry, The Pride of Rotterdam, was a gargantuan boat, the biggest boat that many of us had ever seen before. It was equipped with a bar, dance floor and cinema! It also had a Sky deck where we could go outside and watch the waves. In December last year, a group of year 8 students were taken by four teachers to the Aachen Christmas Market in Germany, by ferry. After a three hour coach journey from school to Continued on page 5.

P A G E 4 Close encounters of the fourth kind Adam sighed. green glow coming was sure it was the The green glow drifted gently across the night sky.

He had twelve classrooms to clean, and he was only on his third. He worked at the local secondary school, Carlton Le Willows.

His shift started at three thirty, and ended when he had cleaned his fair share. He whistled to himself to help pass the time. As he looked out the window, he noticed that it was already dark outside.

4 P A G E 4 Close encounters of the fourth kind Adam sighed. green glow coming was sure it was the The green glow drifted gently across the night sky... He nervously began to approach it, when a loud hissing sound made him jump.. By Joseph Garibaldi There was no way he was going to be finished anytime soon. He had twelve classrooms to clean, and he was only on his third. He worked at the local secondary school, Carlton Le Willows. After he was made redundant, he was forced to look for something else to do. He really hated his job, but it was what he could get after six months hard searching. His shift started at three thirty, and ended when he had cleaned his fair share. He whistled to himself to help pass the time. As he looked out the window, he noticed that it was already dark outside. It was then that he saw a from outside. He put down the broom, and slowly walked over to the side of the room. The green glow drifted gently across the night sky, until it came to rest just outside the school! Adam was shocked. He ran downstairs, and pushed open the heavy doors. It was then he saw it. It looked to him like some sort of a UFO, a bit like the ones out of his favourite movie, Close Encounters Of The Third kind. It had landed just to the side of the newly built library and science block. It gave off a green glow, and Adam object he had seen in the sky. He nervously began to approach it, when a loud hissing sound made him jump. He ran to the nearest tree, and darted behind it just in time to see a skinny, green, translucent being emerge from the ship. The creature turned in his direction, and started moving towards him To be continued in the next issue of THE VOICE!

P A G E 5 Aachan Market 2011 That night the ferry held a disco, which was great fun The Aachen Christmas market was amazing with stalls selling jewellery to huge

bed. The next day we arrived in Rotterdam, Holland. We got back on the coach that had travelled with us and set off to Germany.

There was even a Starbucks and a Vodafone shop (although my attempts to buy a top up voucher failed!).

After several hours of shopping, we returned to The Pride of Rotterdam.

5 P A G E 5 Aachan Market 2011 That night the ferry held a disco, which was great fun The Aachen Christmas market was amazing with stalls selling jewellery to huge bags of candyfloss Article by Aadil Khan Photography by Owen Jones By the time we had boarded the boat, it was night so after quickly exploring it, we went to bed. The next day we arrived in Rotterdam, Holland. We got back on the coach that had travelled with us and set off to Germany. Three hours later, we arrived in Aachen. The Aachen Christmas market was amazing from stalls selling jewellery to huge bags of candyfloss. There was even a Starbucks and a Vodafone shop (although my attempts to buy a top up voucher failed!). We didn t use too much of the little amount of German we knew; pointing and nodding was usually sufficient! After several hours of shopping, we returned to The Pride of Rotterdam. That night the ferry held a disco, which was great fun before everyone started vomiting when we hit rough waves! Stomachs emptied as it felt as if the ship was being thrown into the air by the sea. It was a tough night. The next morning everyone had recovered. We reached Hull and were driven back to school where we were taken home. It was a great trip, despite the fact that more time was spent on the ferry than on land!

Fairy godmother pgs 21/8/08 12:05 Page 11. The New Girl

Fairy godmother pgs 21/8/08 12:05 Page 11 1 The New Girl Delphie ran up the stone steps of the ballet school, excitement bubbling through her. It would soon be time for her ballet class. As she reached