Newsletters_files/Autumn Newsletter 2011.pdf - Churnet View ...

New Arrivals Embrace Life at Churnet View!
Roxy is a born leader. She is always first
to the food and can also be quite noisy
when around the others.
Nugget is a wild, sporty personality, the
Olympics first hen. She loves to run
around the pen and compete with others.
Midnight’s personality reveals signs of
inquisitive and brave behaviour. As well as
being extremely noisy!
Dottie- as a greedy chicken, Dottie can
bully the other chickens.
Roxy (left), Nugget (middle) and Dottie (right)
discovering their surroundings in their new pen!
Yolko, Midnight, Nugget, Roxy, Dottie
and Hattie are settling into their new
home at Churnet View. Finally, after all
of the hard work that Mr Ward and his
budding team put in, the chickens have
now become another addition to the
ever-growing school family.
Yolko has an eye for a good challenge but
can become stubborn and ’stuck up’ at
times.
Hattie is very timid. Unlike the others she
hates being the centre of attention and is
always the last to the food tray.
With pupil volunteers helping out with
feeding and maintenance, the hungry
hens receive daily attention.
At the moment, the eggs are being offered
to the local community, but hopefully
very soon we may start using them
within our school lunch menu.
Reported by Ali Copeland
Mr Ward, Mr Sinclair and a few of last years
Y8’s working hard refurbishing the quadrangle.

Churnet View Middle School Receives Recognition for its
Participation in the Inclusion Development Programme
Churnet View Middle School were delighted to be presented with a certificate to
acknowledge the school’s engagement with the Inclusion Development Programme
(IDP) – Supporting Pupils on the Autism Spectrum. Training was undertaken by the
whole staff to ensure that all staff had basic knowledge of the autism spectrum.
Churnet View is one of a few schools in the County to achieve this acknowledgement
after undertaking the training as a pilot school.
Mrs Karen Broadhurst, Assistant Headteacher was presented with the certificate
by Mr Liam Gosling, Advisory Support for Specialist Inclusion Teacher at the
school. She felt the training which was interactive and thought provoking had
been very useful for the staff.
“One child on the autism spectrum will not have the same needs as others on the
spectrum. We encourage staff to get to know the individual pupil and their needs –
they need to be able to ‘read the child’ as well as be aware of specialist advice.”
An increasing number of children and young people are being diagnosed as indicating
characteristics of the Autism Spectrum who will be educated in mainstream
schools and Mrs Julia Turner, Headteacher
wanted the school to be able
to respond to their needs.
“The difficulties these pupils exhibit
in communication, social interaction
and flexibility of thought and behaviour
bring challenges to their success
in school and life. Churnet View is
ready to respond with the support of
parents to the needs of every child.

Next Manchester United Star?
Local Staffordshire pupil, Alex Hurst, has
been crowned Manchester United’s World
Soccer Skills Champion of 2011/2012. The
12 year old midfielder, initially attended
the clubs soccer schools residential
programme at Denstone College, where he
progressed to the world skills final at Old
Trafford. He beat over 10,000 players
aged 11-16 from across the world.
Participants from countries such as
Australia, Mexico, Japan, Singapore, the
Middle East, USA, Finland, Norway, France
and Spain, took part in a skills competition
held at the teams training ground at
Carrington before performing at Old
Trafford during their home game against
Norwich. The drills included dribbling,
long and short passing, shooting and ball
control.
Over the weekend, the finalists had the
opportunity to meet and talk to
Manchester United’s first team players
Reported by Sam Nettel
Alex Hurst standing with Manchester
United and England legend Bryan Robson
before a training session with their coach. They
even played on the hollowed turf before the match.
At halftime, Alex was presented with his trophy
from United and England Legend Bryan Robson.
The Year 7 pupil, who attends Churnet View Middle
School in Leek, is the first player from the UK to
win the award for five years.
Proud father William Hurst, aged
55, said, “We are of course
exceptionally proud and pleased
with his achievements. It was an
excellent and memorable weekend
with a very happy and successful
ending.” Alex said, “It
was a wonderful experience and
playing at Old Trafford was the
best bit. Winning the competition came as a real
shock”!

OLYMPIC MEDALS ARENT WON ON AN EMPTY STOMACH
Churnet View Pupil, Leonie Law, couldn’t wait to test out her award-winning recipe on food
critic and Headteacher Mrs J. Turner. The 13 year old, beat over 6000 other pupils from
all over the country to win top prize earlier in the summer. The contestants had to cook
up an energising meal for athletes competing in the London 2012 Olympics. Even though
she was competing against pupils much older than herself, she sailed through her presentation
to the judges and cooked the flavoursome dish by remaining calm under pressure.
Her traditional Cantonese recipe, handed down from her great-grandma, included: Pollock,
ginger, goji berries, shitake mushrooms, white pepper and soy sauce. The experience of
progressing through the preliminary rounds and the London final, still couldn’t prepare her
for the feedback received from her Headteacher. She said, “Wow – what a delicious meal.
I was so impressed by Leonie’s culinary skills which she started acquiring at a very early
age. The food was excellent – it was one of the nicest things a student has ever done for
me at school – and I was very grateful. She has such talent and thoroughly deserved to
win the competition. Thank you.”
Leonie said, “It was great fun to cook for Mrs Turner; she was a good critic, just like the
judges at the competition! She really loved the food and wants me to cook lunch for her
everyday; A truly amazing experience.” Her Food Technology teacher, Miss Keily added,
“I’m extremely proud of Leonie and her fantastic cooking skills. She always brings variety
to any food products made in cooking lessons. I would love to see her open up her own
Michelin star restaurant in the future.”

Advanced Music Experience at Westwood College
On Tuesday the 11th of October Mrs Goodwin
took 20 children from years 6,7 and 8,
to Westwood College, for the day. While we
were there we were split up into 3 groups
one was the singers, and then there were
the bands and the samba. When we were
there it was extremely fun and exciting because
you were joining together with 3 other
school to make fantastic music.
While we where there the singers had a
mad teacher and we sang 3 songs called:
Beggin by Madcon, Halo by Beyonce and I’m
yours by Jason Mraz. The band performed
5 pieces of music. And the samba also did 2
rhythms. Mrs Goodwin was very pleased with
the pupils behaviour during the outing and
hopes that she can do it again.
Here are some quotes from pupils that went
to Westwood.
Izzy Proctors Interview by Darcy Kiernan
1. What was your part? “Singing.”
2. Did you enjoy yourself? “Yes because I learnt
a lot.”
3. What was your favourite part? “Concert at the
end.”
4. Why did you want to go? “Because she enjoys
singing and Mrs Goodwin encouraged.”
5. What did you do there? “Practice songs for the
concert at the end.”
6. What was your favourite song? “Halo.”
7. Was there lots of other schools there? “Only
from Westwood College & St Edwards’s Middle.”
Emma Swindles interview by Darcy Kiernan
1. What was your part? “Singing.”
2. Did you enjoy yourself? why? “Yes because It
was a good experience.”
3. What was your favourite part? “All of it.
It sounded like a good opportunity.”
4. Why did you want to go? “Because it sounded
like a good opportunity.”
5. What did you do there? “ We Practiced 3 songs
throughout the day.”
6. What was your favourite song? “Halo.”
7. Was there lots of other schools there? What
schools? “Yes St Edwards Middle and Westwood
College.”
Ava Nettel interview by Darcy Kiernan
1. What was your part? “Band.”
2. Did you enjoy yourself? Why? “Yes because I’ve
learned loads of new songs.”
3. What was your favourite part? “The performance.”
4. Why did you want to go? “because miss Goodwin
encouraged me to go.”
5. What did you do there? “Play music on my flute.”
6. What was your favourite song? “samba.”
7. Was there lots of other schools there? What
schools went? “Saint Edwards Middle and Westwood
College.”
Alex Burrows interview by Darcy Kiernan
1. What was your part? “The samba.”
2. Did you enjoy yourself? Why? “I enjoyed my self
because I learnt something new”
3. What was your favourite part? “All of it.”
4. Why did you want to go? “Because I love music
and I am a keen music player.”
5. What did you do there? “We did different parts of
a routine.”
6. Was there lots of other schools there and what
schools went? “St Edwards, Churnet View, Westwood
College.”

OUR 2012 CALENDAR PHOTO COMPETITION
Camera Birks
The Photographic competition was a
chance for students to put their
camera skills to the test. The quality
of the photos were outstanding.
Here are the winners in each year
group but the other eight runners up
that completed the calendar can be
seen on the all new school website.
A huge congratulations to Olivia salt
(year 5) Camera birks (year 6), Aliaster
Knight (Year 7) and Jessica
O’Sullivan (Year 8).
Alastair Knight
Olivia Salt
Jessica O’Sullivan
Reported by Ben Millner

Pupils build bridges with science project
Science and technology have helped build bridges with two county schools more
than 20 miles apart. Churnet View Middle School in Leek hosted a science workshop
with pupils from Ryecroft Middle School in Uttoxeter. The year seven students
learned about the journey of food through the digestive system, which included research
into its various stages. They worked in groups to gather information from the
school’s library and computers before using Churnet View’s new green-screen technology. The students then presented
their findings in front of a number of still images and video backgrounds which included the oesophagus, the stomach and
the intestines. After showing their video performance during their whole school assembly, Ryecroft Middle School will use
the media during their year eight science lessons, while Churnet View plans to use the educational resource to review existing
year seven work, which was covered this autumn term due to their condensed key stage three. Chris Parr, who ran the
workshop, said: “It was an enjoyable and interesting way of helping students to actively develop knowledge in science. “Both
schools benefited from the experience, with the completed video footage being used to consolidate learning and their understanding
of the life and living processes module. “A resource that involves the students themselves to teach their own peer
group can only help them to engage in the subject material more. We’ll certainly be working with other schools in similar projects
during the new year.”
NOW That’s What I Call Dance!
Using the new green screen room; Leek Post & Times paid a visit to Churnet View along with
dancer and fitness instructor, Michelle Denny. On the Friday 16th December 2011, Michelle
Denny (who featured in ‘NOW That’s What I Call Music! Dance & Sing’ along with Sarah Cole)
came into to Churnet View to use the green screen facilities in a photo shoot for the Leek Post
& Times. Ex Mid Cheshire College Dance students Sian Edis and Jessica Lord also feature in
the game.
NOW That’s What I Call Music! Dance & Sing, is a new game for the Wii console. The game
includes songs such as Rhianna’s ‘Only Girl in the World’, Example’s ‘Changed the Way You
Kiss Me’, Taio Cruz’s ‘Dynamite’ and Willow Smith’s ‘Whip My Hair’ and is the first to feature
sixteen UK number 1 hits.
Michelle Denny action shot from Now
That’s What I Call Music! Dance & Sing.
Michelle and Sara (Choreographers
and dancers in the Wii game- NOW
That’s What I Call Music! Dance &

Our Y7 have been working hard by reading Goodnight
Mr Tom, a favourite book, during their Literacy lessons.
Here are a number of examples of their efforts.
I am going to write a discussion, to see if the book of good night Mr Tom- by Michelle
Magorian – is better than the film – directed by Jack Gould – I did a survey
around the room and found out that people generally preferred the film better than the
book. I am going to share a few reasons for and against the book and the film, and
why they are good and bad!
Firstly, there are a lot of good and bad points about the book; here are a couple of
them. The first point is going to be a good point which is… that the book gives you a
lot of description e.g. (the gentle mounds covered in grass with the odd surviving
summer flowers peeping through the coloured leaves!), so you can imagine the
scenes clearer and better, rather than having the film blaring in you face for hours! It
also explains the characters very well and puts you right in there shoes. However the
book does drag on sometimes and says things that are not important (like walking the
dog or picking blackberries) which tends to bore people who are reading.
Secondly, a good point about the film is that you can hear sound effects and music
that goes with the acting – even though most of the music is sad and tense it usually
makes people emotional, whereas the book doesn’t have music or sound effects so its
down to you to make your own interpretations, which sometimes may no be like the
music that’s on the film. However a bad point about the film is that it misses important
parts out that are included in the book like willies Christmas in little wireworld!
In conclusion, I think I agree with the people that prefer the film but I agree that there
are a lot of bad points about the book, but I like it how it takes you weeks and weeks
to read the book and only takes you 2 hours to watch the film.
Chloe Hall

The award winning novel ‘Good Night Mr Tom’ has been warming hearts and delighting
young readers for generations. But today, in a world of technology and film,
we as the question: Which is better? Film or Book?
My first argument is in favour of the book. The pure originality of this outstanding
classic is breathtaking and anyone who reads it makes an instant connection with the
realistic characters. The accents, though hard to understand, perfectly portray those
of old style farmers. But what makes this book especially brilliant?
Firstly, the emotion. This book will bring a tear to your eye and a smile to your lips
countless times. Some readers are so deeply involved in the magical words that they
feel protective over William and want to shield him from the excruciating pain when
he is beaten by his mother. Others are simply overwhelmed by the unbreakable bond
between an old, withered man and a fresh young boy.
Secondly, the description is wonderful. It paints a perfect picture in your head, as
vivid as the work of Picasso and you can clearly visualise the characters, settings
and surroundings.
My next argument is for the film. The actors and actresses are perfect for their parts
and look exactly how you would imagine them from the powerful description in the
book. Also, the settings are an excellent match. So what else makes this film a favourite?
My first good point is the atmosphere. It’s visually stunning to see the clear rolling
hills and the happy, smooth music adds to the fresh feel. Whereas in the gloomy hospital,
depressing music and darkened picture makes you feel sad and scared as most
of the patients were.
Secondly, though short, the film is attentive to every detail. Even the most minor of
things, like William shifting uncomfortably in his deep slumber or Sammy’s velvety
ears pricking vigilantly is observed and fitted in at the precise position required.
In conclusion, whether you’re a film fanatic or a book devotee ‘Good night Mr
Tom’ is guaranteed to tug at even the toughest of heartstrings.

Chapter 1: The Awakening of Mrs Beech
It was two years since the Blitz had ended and Willie was
celebrating his 10 th Birthday. He had now been at Little
Wierwold for three years and now knew this place like he
had lived all his life. He has had some hard times like losing
his mum and best friend Zack (who is always with him in his
memory). But he loved he loved every second in Little Wierwold.
“Go on then.” Said Tom “Blow out the candles.” With a
humongous gulp of fresh air he blew out every candle, nothing
could go wrong…
Back in London the funeral of Mrs Beech took place. Twentyseven
people turned up in the pouring rain. (Willies dad was
nowhere to be seen). Then a mighty bolt of lightning struck
the grave. Suddenly two fists shot out of the grave. All the
visitors ran with a terrified look on their face as the unthinkable
had just happened. Mrs Beech had come back to
life and uttered the words “Must kill William Beech.”
By Daniel McCance

Introduction
Goodnight Mr.Tom is a novel of a true story set in World War 2. Nick Robinson who acts as
Willie says that he loved playing the part. This story of Goodnight Mr.Tom is an award winning
novel it has been warming hearts and delighting readers. Lets see if we can answer this
question: Which is better the book or film?
Book
My team has read the book and said that it was tremendous very descriptive and a great
storyline.
Willie’s mother was a great character it was fantastic how you had his mother who was horrible
and beat him up and then you had Mr.Tom who was lovely and let him do what he wanted
to do.
Film
I have done a survey out of 5 people and here is a chart to show:
The film has a very touching story line it is a film
that’s nice and short so you don’t get confused. The
actors are like in the book they talk, act and dresses
the same as in the book too.
Conclution
I think that they where both as good as each other but I preferred the film because
the book went on a bit to long but im not sure about the Zack part I don’t think
there was a point on putting him in but I loved the hole story line and the part of
willies mother.
By Hollie Buxton

My Speech (for the war)
Britain. We are at war. As your Prime Minister, it is
my job to protect you and to tell you what is right. I
think the war is good, and I am for it. I do know that
some of you are scared and some of you will rise to
the challenge, will accept this burden. For those who
are scared I will now persuade you to rise to the
challenge also with my amazing speech. However if you
are not persuaded there is no need for you and I will
make you into a pie. This is the optimum time to ask a
great favour, to all able bodied men, a favour that
will change lives. You have to go and fight in our
name, for your citizens, for you country, for your
rights and for A FREE WORLD!!!
My fist point foe the war is that we are great, after
all it is in our name, and we need to show the
rest f the world how great we really are. We need respect
so we do not get invaded again. If we back down
then the other evil nations, like Spain, The Greek Islands,
Cuba and Zimbabwe will realise that we are venerable.
WE ARE GREAT, AND WE WILL LIVE UP TO OUR
NAME!!!
Hitler will not back down. It is as simple as that.
If we surrender, we die. Fighting back is our only
hope in order to survive. As long as I live in a free
world and get loads of money, that’s all I care about
really. I don’t really care about soldiers dying because
the forces are a whole load of- oops ( coughs )
A free world AND THAT AS MANY SOLDIERS LIVE AS POSSI-
BLE!!!
I personally do not want to speck German. I don’t
want anything to do with Germany. I do not want to eat
German food or drink German drinks. I do not want to
be ruled Under Germans and I do Not Want to be German.
Do you want to be German? WELL I AM BRITISH!!!
So I hope I have persuaded you to rise to the challenge
when they start bombing us. Goodbye, have a nice
evening.
From Charlie Charles, your beloved, amazing Prime
Minister.
Libbrty Nicholls 7A

Pupil’s also completed descriptive work on another
favourite book called Holes by Louis Sachar.

Pupils in year 8 have been celebrating
success after taking their maths GCSE three
years early. Sixteen pupils at Churnet View
were entered for the exams this summer,
with more than half of them tackling the higher
tier paper.
Now they have become the most successful
maths group in the school’s history. Two
members of the group scored A grades, with
others achieving Bs, Cs, Ds and an E.
Laura Grindey, who was one of the
most successful pupils, achieving an A
grade, claimed ‘I’m really pleased with my
result. I’m happy that all my hard work paid
off. I think I’m going to do it again so I can aim
for an A* next time.’
The other top grade pupil was Rob Dennison.
He said: ‘If I have the chance, I might take
another GCSE early. I would probably do
science if I could.’ Five of the sixteen pupils who took their GCSE maths early. From left to right: Laura Grindey,
Rob Dennsion, James Lovatt, Owen Bramley and Charlotte Tayor.

Owen Bramley, who scored a C grade said: ‘We also used to go to a maths club. I t is quite strange to think that I’ve
already done a GCSE. But it’s also satisfying.’
Kelly Evans, head of maths, said ‘We haven’t had A grades before. They are the best results we’ve ever had. We are
ecstatic. We are extremely proud of all 16 pupils.’
Above: Pupils celebrating their fantastic results in August after collecting their grades from Churnet View

Pupils at Churnet View have enjoyed
a practical and cross curricular theme
in their recent maths lessons.
Calculating the speed of a football, measuring
area and perimeter of a football pitch,
finding about the history of the football
world cup - just a taster of what pupils
were exposed to as Churnet View’s maths
department took full advantage of the
much-anticipated football world cup.
Year 5 pupils participated in an activity
carousel where they completed various
tasks with a different member of the maths
teaching team. Miss Evans, head of
maths, considered it ‘a perfect opportunity
for year 5 pupils to get to know their
potential next maths teacher.’
All pupils enjoyed a fortnight of world
cup maths and have produced some
excellent work in all areas of maths.

Pupils from
Churnet View scored over a whopping half

On the 17 th and 18 th of November,
pupils at Churnet View took part in
Four Nations Maths Challenge. Pupils
raced against other children
around the UK in live maths chal-

On Tuesday, Churnet View aimed to set a new record – a
Km of pennies. Pupils had collected 1p and 2p coins for
the last few weeks, and on Tuesday, as part of Maths
Week, it was time to see whether we could make a chain

Despite not reaching a Km – we
still achieved to create a chain
of 466m of pennies… and
raised a total of £281.44 in
the process!
Thank you to everyone that

LEARNING WITHIN SCIENCE