PRIESTHORPE
SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER
2002
On this
page: Tears and laughter Sports
News Christmas Thoughts
London
Art Galleries visit
For the first time Priesthorpe GCSE Art students travelled to London in
November to spend time studying our national art collections. They joined
our A-level artists, visiting Tate Modern and the National Gallery. Travelling
on the tube was a first for some of us, but the 'manners' of the locals
failed to impress.
Crossing the Millennium Bridge gave us perfect views of not only St Pauls,
Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre, but up and down the Thames as well.
At the Tate Modern opinions were divided between those who loved the more
outrageous art works and those who thought they were a joke. We did, however,
agree that Anish Kapoor's gargantuan sculpture was awesome.
The National Gallery was too big to see all the famous artwork it has
to offer. Van Gough, Turner, Meleudez, Botticelli, Holbein, Van Dyke and
Da Vinci were just a few of those on offer. GCSE artists collected visual
records of the art that would help them with their mock exam whilst the
'A' level artist researched art works for their coursework units. An exciting
and exhausting day for all of us.
MISS DRABBLE & MISS BENTON
Tate
Gallery Liverpool Art Study Day
A group of Year 8 and Year 9 students spent a day in Liverpool at the
Tate Gallery doing art workshops. They worked in the Modern British Art
exhibition with a practising artist and in the Celebrity Pin-up exhibition
with gallery assistants.
A challenging and enjoyable day, the students were a credit to Priesthorpe.
MISS DRABBLE & MISS BENTON
On our way to the gallery the Super Lamb Banana caught everybody's eye,
because it was really big and bright.
SUKHJIT KAUR
I
thought the Gallery was brilliant - There were so many outstanding paintings
to see.
SONIA BHAMRA
My
favourite painting was the roundabout by Stanley Spencer which was a merry-go-round
with chairs instead of horses. The one I didn't like was a wall which
I thought was just dull. I know that some people will disagree with me.
Then we had to draw them from memory. After that we were given the names
of two paintings that we had to find and our partner had to describe the
picture to us so we could draw it with our back turned. Then we changed
over.
LAURA STEPHENSON
I
enjoyed trying to draw artists' work best because there was a lot of detail
so I had to concentrate a lot. This was my highlight of the day.
ALICE THACKRAY
I
really enjoyed the art trip. I liked the morning and the afternoon activities
but I preferred the workshop because it was a different approach to art.
It made you think about what the artist had been thinking about when he
did the painting. It also made you look at the paintings for longer and
more carefully.
LAUREN NASH
Year 13 Actors provoke tears and laughter.
Last
week students studying Drama in Year 13 performed the first of their assessed
exam work productions. After reading a poem as a stimulus for their devised
work, three entirely different pieces were written, produced and performed
by members of the group.
Each was carefully conceived and, over several weeks music, sound effects
and costumed were created.
The first play was 'Max's House Party', involving Chris Robinson, Leanne
Thackray, Katie Baxter, Claire Featherstone and Lucy Aveyard. The play
was an ironic exploration of the way fame and celebrity can thrust ordinary
people into the backbiting world of television and the press. It showed
how characters can be altered beyond recognition and reputations ruined.
Serious issues were tackled through a comic mode and the audience thoroughly
enjoyed the parody of many popular television chat shows. The audience
involvement made them part of the show and enabled them to feel emotional
shifts in character as well as appreciating the humour. The play was pacy,
lively and though provoking, very well acted and hugely enjoyable.
After a complete change of scene the second play 'Daddy Dearest', presented us with a flash back to the past, the era of the war years. Devised and acted by Ben Randles, Nyree Sweeny, Danielle Sheldon, Natalie Mullin and Natasha Mullin, it related a dilemma faced by a family living through the war and its aftermath. This complex play had many moments of dramatic tension and pathos. The actors played their characters so convincingly that at many points the emotional tension was almost unbearable. Some very creative staging enhanced this excellent production still further and the audience were completely captivated and moved by the whole performance.
The last of the three plays was 'Over the Top, Lads!'. It was also set during the war years. It involved Adam Webber, Pam Sandhu, Laura Procter and Andrew Lacey. From the moment the play opened at the scene of the trenches the audience was taken into the world of the ordinary soldier at Christmas, on the night before their death. The mournful wail of the mouth organ evoked the inescapable pathos of their situation; not knowing when they would be called into action, not knowing if they would ever see their families again. Each of the four soldiers had a distinct character, each telling his own story, showing the strengths and failings of humanity and ultimately the insanity and futility of war. All were skilfully portrayed by the actors. There were many chilling and heart-rending moments in the play, but none so telling as the final roll call of their deaths.
I
can't remember when I last saw such powerful pieces of drama, acted with
such intensity. They were each memorable in very different ways. They
were all thoroughly appreciated by those watching and all deserve a much
wider audience. If you get the chance, do go to watch.
Rating *****
MS STEIN
School
Sports Co-ordinator
This is a project hosted by Priesthorpe School aimed at the following
Secondary and Primary Schools:
Priesthorpe School; Calverley C of E, Calverley Parkside, Farsley Farfield,
Pudsey Bolton Royd.
Victoria Park Special School; Milestone Special School.
Wortley High School; Armley, Castleton, St Bartholemews, Whingate, Five
Lanes, Lower Wortley, Ryecroft.
Pudsey Crawshaw; Pudsey Greenside, Pudsey Lowtown, Pudsey Tyersal, Pudsey
Southroyd, Park Spring.
Pudsey Grangefield; Swinnow, Primrose Hill, Farsley Springbank, Pudsey
Waterloo Junior.
The project is now gaining momentum. All primary schools attended a meeting in November to induct them into the programme and are currently conducting an audit of their existing Physical Education provision.
This
information will be collated and development plans will be written in
the New Year with the aim of:
i) Increasing opportunities available in Physical Education to pupils
in KS2 and 3
ii) Increasing the number of specialist staff and coaches going into schools
to provide more quality education in physical activities
iii) Aiding a smoother transition between primary and secondary schools
iv) Sharing knowledge and expertise between specialist staff.
MISS METCALFE
Junior
Sports Leadership
This is an eighteen week course which fifty Year 11 pupils are undertaking.
As part of the programme the pupils will be visiting Primrose Hill Primary
and Pudsey Lowtown Primary to lead Year 5 and 6 pupils in Football and
Cricket activities after school.
A teaching and learning experience all round!
MISS METCALFE
Year
10 Inter Form Netball Competition
This took place in late November and over forty Year 10 pupils were involved.
The evening was enjoyable and fun. Pupils were keen and the competition
was played in good spirits. It was good to see a number of BOYS involved
- some of whom proved quite skilful (especially as Goal Shooters).
A
closely fought competition between 10H and 10E resulted in both finishing
up with the same number of points. 10E were overall winners as they had
a much better goal average. Well done to all who took part!
MISS NICHOLAS
Year
8 & 9 Football
This is a quieter time for school football. What with the dark evenings
and having the fields drained no more games will be played until February
half term. The Year 9 season has gone very well. After seven games their
results read six wins and one loss. We played a League Cup in Year 9.
The team won their first league and have now been put into divisions along
with the other 30 or so teams. It is great to report that Priesthorpe
are in the top division and will thus face some more challenging opposition
after February.
Congratulations to Adam Hunter, David Kenyon and Neil Stevens who have
retained the places in the Leeds City boys' football team. Well done.
The team will continue to practice over the winter and restart regular
games after February.
The
Year 8 teams have also had a good start to their league. They play in
a geographical league with local opposition. Their good form should result
in a place in the champions league, 'The Champions of Champions' tournament
at the end of the season. This is where the winners and the runners up
of each of the four geographical leagues play it out to find the champion
team out of all 40+ Leeds secondary schools. Last year Priesthorpe got
to the last 4.
Congratulations to Luke Craven who has played another season with the
Leeds United Academy, and to Tom McClure who has kept his place in the
Leeds City Boys U13 team. Well done to both!
MR BARNES
Sports
Science News
The A level PE group (Year 13) have been making links with the Sports
Science Department at Leeds Metropolitan University (Carnegie). This term
they spent a day with the department in lectures and took part in practical
experiments. We are going to return before the Christmas break to follow
up some more tasks.
The aim is to make long lasting links with Carnegie, to allow our A level
PE students to access the exclusive Sports Science equipment that the
University has available to help out students in their A level studies.
So far the links are going well and we hope to return towards the Easter
holidays for some revision work.
MR BARNES
Sports
College visit to Leeds Rhinos/ Yorkshire Cricket - Headingley Stadium
Sixteen Year 7 pupils were offered the chance to visit Headingley Stadium
to tour the home of Leeds Rhinos and Yorkshire Cricket. After being shown
around the stadium, the pupils had the opportunity to develop their ICT
skills in the specially equipped Study Support Centre. All the pupils
were commended for their excellent behaviour and their contributions to
the two-hour session. Priesthorpe will be made welcome again in the near
future.
MRS RAPER
(Director of Sport)
The
Heart of a Child
Feel the love, the emotion
Feel the pain, the devotion.
From the heart of a forgotten child
Grows a garden, thorny and wild,
Feeding on memories, full of pain with
Sorrowful tears that turn into
Rain
KIRAN BATOOL 9GA
Wishful
Thinking
Dear Santa
I know this is a lot to ask for but I have been extremely good this year.
Please could I have two tickets to the Lord Of The Rings premiere, a yellow
Beetle car and Kurt Cobain's electric guitar? Also I would like to meet
Elijah Wood, Foo Fighters, Less than Jake, Green Day, Ozzy Osborne and
Rudolph. Also a £5,000 shopping spree!
Thank you very much
From Katie X
P.S. Also I would like all of Elijah Wood's clothes.
Thanks!
Christmas
Memory
One Christmas memory I have is the Christmas a few yeas ago when I was
ill all the way from mid-December right up until Christmas Eve. It is
pretty customary that I get ill near to Christmas. It's normally nothing
more than nerves and excitement! But this year it was the flu and it was
showing no signs of letting up. Then, on the twenty-third of December
I managed to force down some mince and potatoes, my first meal in days.
The next morning I woke up and I was absolutely fine and I went on to
enjoy Christmas and got all the presents I wanted.
SCOTT O'CALLAGHAN 9GI
Thinking
of others
While we are having fun and enjoying opening presents some people are
suffering from hunger and war. They probably don't even know that Christmas
is happening. A few years ago at my old school we did something to help
the people less fortunate than us. We all brought old toys that we didn't
want and put them in shoeboxes. We ended up with loads of toys left over
which we sold at break and used the money to send the shoeboxes over to
Romania.
SAMANTHA WILSON 9GI
Apricot
Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
25 g butter
1 tablespoon chopped onion
4 rounded tablespoons fresh white breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
salt
1-2 tablespoons milk
75g dried apricots soaked and coarsely chopped
Preparation instructions
Make the stuffing by melting the butter and gently frying the onion in
it until soft, then stir in the crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix
to a soft consistency with the milk and the apricots. Make into small
rounds and stuff the turkey with it.
RICHARD JUBB 9W
CHRISTMAS STOLLEN (Chantelle Kirkham 9GA)
INGREDIENTS
5
fl oz milk 2oz sultanas
2 oz caster sugar 1 oz mixed peel
2 level teaspoons dried yeast 1 ½ oz apricots
12 oz strong white bread flour 1 oz glacé cherries
¼ teaspoon salt grated rind of a lemon
4oz softened butter 6 oz marzipan
1 egg beaten 1 ¼ oz currants
For
the glaze
4 oz icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Method
1. Warm the milk, then pour into a glass jug, add 1 teaspoon of the sugar
along with dried yeast. Then leave until it forms a frothy head of about
an inch.
2. Meanwhile sift 1 ½ oz of the flour with the salt and remaining
sugar into a mixing bowl and make a well in the middle.
3. Pour the milk and yeast mixture into the well then add the softened
butter and beaten egg.
4. Mix everything together until well blended.
5. Add fruits, peel, nuts and lemon zest and mix.
6. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes.
7. Leave the dough in a warm place and cover with cling film until it
has doubled in size - it could take about 2 hours.
8. Turn the risen dough out onto a floured board and knead the dough until
it is smooth and elastic.
9. Roll or press out dough into an oblong shape 10 x 8 inches.
10. Using your hands, roll out the marzipan to form a sausage shape and
place this along the centre of the dough.
11. Fold the dough over the marzipan and carefully place the whole thing
on baking sheet.
12. Leave it to prove until it has doubled in size.
13. Bake in the oven for 35-40 mins on gas mark 5, 375oF (190oc)
14. Meanwhile make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the lemon
juice and spread on the surface of the stollen while it is still warm.
HISTORY
QUIZ ANSWERS:
1. A savings club, 2. A horse. 3. Kings Canyon in California - it's not
a chopped down one.
4. Foot 5. The Pudding King