CRHS News team By the students, for the students. 2/1/2017 [Edition 1, Volume 1] LOOKING FORWARD Reuben Harris (Editor) and Sinead Stephens It may appear near impossible to beat the successful year Castle Rushen just had, but with an eventful schedule ahead we hope 2017 can live up to the challenge. Firstly, we are very excited to introduce the Castle Rushen News Team-a new addition to the weekly lunchtime clubs. We will be writing monthly about everything from sporting stories and academic successes to drama productions and music concerts. In February alone, there is already a total of 79 netball and football matches planned against the other high schoolsand with the usual determination of the P.E department, maybe 79 wins too. In girls P.E, the senior netball team will try to defend their winning title for the 23rd year running and the senior rugby team will once again battle against KWC in the much anticipated Big One. The musical this year is Rock of Ages, and with over 200 tickets selling in just the first two days it looks to be another great triumph for the Music and Drama departments. Unfortunately, even amidst all this excitement, students will still be buckling down to revise as the dreaded exams come around once again in the summer. The first exam being the IGCSE English Language paper resit on the 5th of May. Perhaps, with the same hard work and drive consistently shown by pupils, we could find ourselves with another record breaking set of results in August. Yet again, Castle Rushen will reach out across the world, with numerous trips planned in the coming 12 months. Spain, Iceland and Cambodia are just some of the places students will be travelling with subjects ranging from PE to Geography.
Rock of Ages Beth Mosely and Emma Milward Since September, the Drama and Music departments have been hard at work producing the annual show which will be performed on the 15th, 16th and 17th of February this year. The show will feature 60 members of cast, a 7 piece band, as well as 12 members of stage crew who have been busy setting up behind the scenes. Tickets have been on sale since Monday 23rd and are selling quickly. Performances are on Wednesday 15th, Thursday 16th and Friday 18th of February, with each show starting at 7:30. We interviewed Miss Cretney and Mr Deakin to find out more... Interview: What s the musical about? Miss Cretney: The musical is about everything that makes us human: love, jealousy, passion, enthusiasm and rock and roll; everything that we live for. It s about a boy and a girl who try to get their dreams of being superstars, and the things that come in between that: love, interests. Mr Deakin: Stacee Jaxx, one of the lead characters, is really sort of a pop-star who was once in his prime but now is a bit of a has-been. But he still has this persona of being the king - or so he thinks. And it s about the downfall of the Sunset Strip - the rock and roll era. Who would like this musical? Miss Cretney: This is a musical for everybody, I think there s something in there for everyone: there s humour, there s amazing songs that you ll have heard of before, that you can sing along to, that your parents will love and you ll love as well. There s really comical sections, but there s also some things that are quite heart-felt as well. Mr Deakin: I think there s also something in there for the older generation as well, for the parents that will have experienced those songs in the 80 s. It ll be one of those musicals that for a lot of people will bring back lots of memories. What are your most memorable moments from rehearsals so far?
Mr Deakin: I would say my most memorable probably happened on the second Saturday, when it was the first time that I saw William King and Vicky Hoover do the scene which included both their characters and the song which goes with it is Hit Me With Your Best Shot and just to watch the routine for that and see them sing it through was absolutely hilarious but they did it so well. It s going to be a scene that everybody s going to go away from that theatre remembering. Miss Cretney: I think my favourite moment so far has been getting the comedy out of the script, the jokes, the humour, and also working with the cast in the way they create the humour as well, so you know it s going to be funny for everyone. And also something else that s been quite memorable is when we first did our first run through last Saturday, from the top to where we are now, and when I first realised, essentially, that this is going to be one of the best shows we ve ever done. How much time have you had to invest into this production? Mr Deakin: I ve not personally kept a log of hours, but if I did it would scare me because we ve put in a lot of time, in terms of our commitment as teachers to it, but the students [have worked hard too]. We rehearse every Monday, for at least half an hour at lunch time, and the same again on a Wednesday. Also on a Thursday evening we rehearse for an hour and a quarter, so really in the space of a week, there s a good block of two and half hours there of rehearsal. And on top of we have all day Saturday rehearsals where we d be in the school for 6 nearly 7 hours so a lot of time has been invested into this production. Not only from us, but from all the people doing the props, doing costumes and loads of thing like that for us, so it s a real team effort. What date is the show open to the public? Miss Cretney: We ve got a matinee for the year 6 who are coming up this year in September and then we have it open to the public, with tickets on sale now with shows on the 15th, 16th and 17th of February with a 7:30 start. And there aren t many tickets, so you need to make sure to get them quick. How much will the tickets cost? Mr Deakin: Tickets cost 5 for adults and 3 for children, a really good price for the entertainment that people will be getting. Any thoughts for the next school show? Mr Deakin: Loads of ideas, funnily enough you start thinking about the next school show before you ve even done the one that you doing. Miss Cretney: Particularly because this one has been so successful, and we have really
enjoyed it. I think more than anything myself and Mr Deakin are planning one that s heavy on principles because we ve got so many talented people in the school at the moment. Which is your favourite character and why? Mr Deakin: If I had to say who would be my favourite, just for her standout performances, it would have to be our lead girl Sherrie, in terms of standout vocals and character. There are a lot of people, including her, that have the potential to steal that show. Miss Cretney: I love the comical characters, so for me it would either be Stacee Jaxx, or Franz, or Anita. Any of those would be my favourite characters. Actually Hilda as well, just anybody who has comedy in their characters is something I love. How ready do you think you are to be doing the show in February? Mr Deakin: I think, to be honest, we are probably in one of the best states we ve been in. Everything s coming together really nicely, we are adding in our musicians on Saturday the 28th of January, so that would be an extra layer to what we ve already got and everybody has been working so incredibly hard on the stage and backstage our tech team are doing a really fantastic job with our lights and our sound, so we feel that we are in a really good place.
A Bright Future For Basketball Ali Waters For the fourth consecutive year Mr Caldwell, has trained a winning basketball squad, each year, proving once again why Castle Rushen are the junior title champions. A thirteen-player squad travelled to the NSC on January 17 to compete in the five a side match against Ramsey Grammar School. Having eight subs off at once meant that every player got some rest so the whole team could play at their full potential. Their playing being noted as outstanding by Mr Caldwell was reflected in their score of 63 35 with a successful win over the strong RGS team. With a disciplined defence, it was very hard for Ramsey to keep up with the Castle Rushen team. The Most Valuable Player of the match was the team s captain, McLoughlin. Thanks must go out to the year eleven scorers and timekeepers Keiran Madrell and Sean Aherne. Congratulations to McLoughlin, Mason, Bell, Lechanski, Moore, Pickard, Tobin, Shaw, Whitehouse, Curphy, Bridson, Sansbury and Green for their win. The boys have added yet another shield to the ever-filling Castle Rushen trophy case!