THE SUMMER 2012 - Millthorpe School York

SUMMER 2012
THE
As you can tell by this - our longest edition of the Millthorpian yet - it has been an exciting term at
Millthorpe. There is plenty for us to celebrate: the success of our first summer fair; a wealth of trips taken by
students overseas; a series of impressive sporting achievements; and a range of creative and ambitious
projects undertaken across a range of subjects. There are lots of stories still to come - as I write, our Year 9
students are enjoying a range of interesting activities as part of their enrichment week. These include a trip
to Carlton Lodge for a week of outdoor pursuits, as well as a week of film-making, modelling, cooking and
sports for students who remain in school. Our fundraising charity run across the Knavesmire was a fantastic
occasion, despite the rain. Indeed, this year has been a record breaking year for fundraising; the school
council and the PTA have raised over £7,000 between them for charitable and in-school projects. I would like
to extend my deepest thanks for your continuing support. Even in the last week, students in Years 7 and 8
brought in two hundred and sixty kilograms of old clothing as part of our Bag 2 School initiative, helping to
raise money for the new student Social Area to be launched in September.
On behalf of everyone at Millthorpe School, we wish you all a wonderful summer and thoughts go out to our
Year 11 who are anticipating their GCSE results later in August.
Trevor Burton
Headteacher

THE SUMMER FAIR
Millthorpe School’s first “Nearly” Summer
Holiday Fair took place on Saturday 7 July – it saw
the school site being taken over by an arts and
crafts fair, a falconry display, live music, a
barbeque, rugby taster sessions, and all manner
of stalls including summer favourites such as
‘splat the rat’ and a coconut shy. The event raised
over £1300 but Trevor Burton was keen to point
out “it is not just or mostly about the money.
What we achieved on Saturday was a really great
demonstration of community and fun.” Adrian
Lower, the head of the Friends of Millthorpe PTA
commented that “I think we took huge strides to
making Millthorpe less of "the place where the
kids go to school" and more towards a place
where people want to go and associate with fun
things to do.” An enormous thanks to all who
organised and supported the occasion.

FACE BRITAIN
Many of you will be aware of the Face Britain project the Art
Department have led with our feeder primary schools this year.
Workshops at Millthorpe School led Year 5 pupils from
Archbishop of York CE Junior School, Scarcroft Primary,
Knavesmire Primary and Copmanthorpe Primary schools to
create Cubist and expressive self-portraits.
A selection of Year 5 work was actually seen at Bar Lane Studios
by HM The Queen during her visit to York in April!
Two weeks later, all the self-portraits contributed to an
enormous projection of HM The Queen on the façade of
Buckingham Palace, the worlds’ largest portrait! This made all
the Year 5 students official Guinness Book of World Record
holders!
To celebrate further, an exhibition of the original self-portraits
was held at Bar Lane Studios, Micklegate in June. Everyone
involved enjoyed admiring the self-portraits with drinks &
nibbles at the exhibition open evening! Thank you to Bar Lane
Studios for supporting Millthorpe yet again.
A big thank you to all the staff and students who helped to make
the Face Britain project so rewarding.

ART OFF THE WALL
A group of Year 11 GCSE Art & Design students
celebrated the end of the course by decorating our
local Scarcroft Allotment hut with their work inspired
by a ‘Local Natural Environment’ theme.
The selection of art work included ceramic sheds,
paintings, drawings, mixed media pieces & dry point
prints created during a print workshop at Bar Lane
Studios, Micklegate.
The exhibition complimented an open air dramatic
performance at the allotments one evening in
mid-May. The exhibition allowed Year 11 to thank
Scarcroft Allotment Association for kindly allowing
the Art Department to visit their site to generate
ideas and undertake personal photographic studies.
The originals of the art work displayed formed part
of final GCSE assessments in May! Watch this space
for more outdoor art exhibitions from Millthorpe
students.
CREATIVE LANDSCAPES
A rare sunny day in June saw next year’s GCSE Art and Design students visit Whitby. Forty seven Year 9
students toured the Whitby town and harbour taking photographs for their first coursework project based
on a ‘Seaside’ theme. A student’s account, “The sun shone as our group leader guided us around Whitby har-­‐
bour, helping us to find ‘artistic’ shots of the boats, shop displays, seagulls, buildings and later on, Whitby
Abbey. Mr Gowland spooked his group with a Dracula inspired tale as they sat in the graveyard! It was nice
to spend time with Year 9 friends and help one another take photographs. At lunchtime, everyone met up at
the bandstand on Pier Road to eat their favourite seaside foods. Delicious fish and chips and ice creams gave
us the energy to climb back up the steps to Whitby Abbey. From this high vantage point we gained excellent
views of streets in the old town and the harbour. After smelling the kippers, our group walked along
Henrietta Street to see the oldest traditional smokehouse in Britain. By two o’clock it was time to return to
the coach with our sweets and photographs. Everyone enjoyed the visit and completed a personal
photographic study to prepare for their GCSE coursework. Some students will have over two hundred
photographs to choose from in September!”

A TIME TO CELEBRATE
Millthorpe School’s Year 11 pupils celebrate the end of
their GCSE exams in style at the Royal York Hotel.

GERMAN EXCHANGE
On June 13th a group of Y9 students set off to Germany
in great excitement to visit their German exchange
partners. On the coach to the airport everyone was
chatting noisily about the times when our partners had
come to visit York. Finally when we got off the plane at
Düsseldorf airport, our partners met us and
accompanied us on the coach back to Stadtlohn. We
reached Gescher first and dropped off the people who
lived in this small village, just a few kilometres from
Stadtlohn. When we got off the coach we were taken to
our partner’s houses. The houses were all quite large
with big gardens.
The next day we got up at half six (which felt like half five
because of the time difference) in time to have breakfast
and catch the bus before school. Our first day in school
was very exciting, even if it was hard to understand the
lessons that were being taught! The day went quickly,
and after a bumpy bus ride back home lots of the people
who lived in Gescher met up at a restaurant called Chao
Chao. We ate large pizzas, then all cycled down to a
nearby park. The German bikes were a lot larger than
English ones, so not everyone could ride them. Instead
they had to ride on the back or run alongside! At the
park we played football and ate a kind of ice-lolly that
was very nice.
On Friday we went to a zoo near Gelsenkirchen. We saw
lots of animals, such as hippos, flamingos, polar bears
and gorillas. We went around in small mixed German
and English groups. We took lots of photos and bought
postcards to send back to our families and friends.
Afterwards we went to a shopping centre, which was
fun. That evening we all went to a big barbeque at
Niklas’s house. England was playing Sweden in the
European Cup and it was very exciting. England won! We
all bought food and ate together. Then we watched the
football in the living room. Luckily it was a large room, so
everyone could fit in!
Then it was the weekend, so we had time with our
German families. On Saturday lots of people went to the
Netherlands to a small village and bought presents at the
market. Later with my German exchange partners and
some friends I went go-karting. I was rubbish at it, but
our partners were amazing! Instead of going to the
Netherlands some people went to Cologne (Köln in
German) and put a friendship padlock on the bridge.
Then they took the key home and threw it in the Ouse.
That evening we went for a chocolate fondue at Janna’s
farm. We ate lots of chocolate and played some great
games. Everyone really enjoyed it!
On Sunday everyone went to the Movie Park, a theme
park with lots of good roller-coasters. The braver people
went off on the bigger, scarier rides, but some people
just went on the smaller, slower rides. Towards the end
lots of people went on the big free fall tower. It is the
highest in Europe. Overall most people found this the
best day!
The next day we were back at school. We sat in the
lessons and even read a play out in the English class!
After school we went into Gescher to buy presents for
our family and to see the bells, because that is what it is
famous for. Finally it was the last day. Everyone was
upset because the week had gone so quickly. Once
school had ended we had a barbeque in the school
grounds. It was great fun, and we managed to finally get
a group photo with everyone in it! Eventually when the
coach left lots of people cried and promised that they
would see each other again soon. We arrived back in
York about half eleven, all very tired and wishing we
were still in Germany!
Overall we had had a great time in Germany, and will
hopefully all see our partners in the near future. We plan
to invite them all back over to York at the same time one
half term.
Anna Hooper 9RPM

PARIS MEMORIES
From 2 to 6 July we were lucky enough to go to Paris
with school to experience this busy, beautiful city. The
Y11 French students who were planning to continue
French at A Level were given this great opportunity of
experiencing the capital city of France. A total of 13 of
us travelled via Eurostar along with Ms Andrle and Mr
Winston and throughout the trip were encouraged to
speak French, by both of them!
On Wednesday morning (out hottest day)
we took the metro to a stop just outside
the Arc de Triomphe. After nearly 300 steps
we made it to the top. The view from the
top of the Arc de Triumph was something
we enjoyed most about our visit. After the
Arc de Triomphe we walked along the
Champs-Elysées and we saw everyone
getting ready for Bastille Day, which is
France’s independence day and national
holiday. Then we had a picnic in Jardin des
Tuilleries where some of us got an ice
cream. The ice cream was special because
they made it in the shape of a flower. Jack
Crowland was particularly pleased with his!
Eiffel Tower
On the first morning, we woke up early to go to the
Eiffel Tower. It was smaller than we thought but as we
got closer it got bigger. We got to the second floor by
walking up about 700 stairs. We were all very tired by
then but happy that we had walked. We then got to
the top by a lift. We all thought the view was amazing!
After the Eiffel Tower we took a short walk and went
on a boat trip. It was a nice rest to sit down for a while
as we had been up very early and had climbed a lot of
stairs. The boat trip took us down the river Seine and
we saw a lot of Paris. Our view was beautiful and we
learnt about some of the history of famous landmarks
in Paris.
Arc de Triomphe

On Wednesday evening we ate in Le Bouillon Chartier, a
French restaurant in a former soup kitchen for homeless
people. Le Bouillon Chartier is on a small alley behind
other shops and was like a Tardis; it was tiny on the out-
side but huge on the inside, with tiny little boxes where
the homeless people, who ate there in the past, used to
keep their serviettes. This showed that even though the
people were homeless, they were still able to dine in a
formal way. Once inside, we were greeted by very nice
French waiters who posed for our photos! The food was
delicious. Lots of people had the duck and said it was
great. For lots of us, it was the best restaurant we had
ever been to.
On Thursday morning, we set off early for the metro, picking
up some breakfast treats from a bakery on the way. At about
9 we arrived at Musée d’Orsay, home of famous paintings by
artists like Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cézanne and Van Gogh. It
was really special to see them all in real life instead of on a
computer screen or piece of paper; seeing them life-size
really lets you appreciate all the work that went into them
especially those that are 15 feet tall!
After lunch, we went on a short walk to the Pompidou
Centre. The Pompidou Centre was designed by the same
person who made the Shard, the largest building in Europe.
When we got there we found the outside of the building
quirky yet fascinating. There were pipes and loads of other
bits on the outside of the building. Once inside we saw lots of
strange but incredible modern art. Some things many of us
found bizarre yet other things were really good, like the
Warhol paintings.
I would really recommend the Paris trip to anybody
considering doing French A-Level because, as well
as practising your French, you get to see the city
and visit the sights, which is an amazing experience.
Excerpts from full article written by Ruth Wedgbury, Freddie Hayes,
Rachel Jarman, Evie Walker-Lyne, Hannah Fessey, Gemma Paine,
Hannah Fish, Isabella Nugent, Catriona Vest, Natasha Walker,
Matt Crowland, Jack Crowland and Laura Guiver (one paragraph each!)
Pompidou Centre
Click here to see the full
article and more photos
currently on display in
the A Block social area.

FRENCH ADVENTURE
At midnight on the last day of the Spring term,
everyone met at the Knavesmire followed by
suitcases, bags and parents. For the first hour on
the coach we were allowed to chat and mess
around, but then it was lights out and most of us
went straight to sleep. 7 hours later, we had
arrived at the ferry. The journey was really quick,
and we had breakfast before setting off to the
school. A friendly group of students and an Englishspeaking
teacher greeted us, then we split into two
groups and either had a tour of the school or
practised our French on some of the students. After
we tried some French school dinners, which were
very different from English ones, we were off again.
The place we stayed in was used to looking after
groups of schoolchildren and the whole
atmosphere was very warm and relaxed. We
shared rooms in either twos or threes. After dinner
we did lots of fun things, like quizzes and a talent
show! Everyone did an act, even the coach driver,
and the teachers prepared a surprise too!
There were LOADS of activities crammed in over
the four days. We went shopping in a HUGE French
hypermarket. We went to a French bakery and
tried delicious pain au chocolat, as well as watching
how to make bread. We also visited a small sweet
factory, where we watched the man make lots of
different sweets. We bought some in the shop
before leaving, and even though they were highly
priced I think they were worth it! Another
food-themed activity was the chocolate factory.
We were given a talk and a free chocolate whilst
watching the chocolates being mixed and moulded
and wrapped. The shop contained more delicious
but expensive treats, but we managed not to spend
all our money.
The weirdest activity we did was the snail farm.
There was a small shed with two huge baskets filled
with gigantic snails. We learnt some interesting
snail facts before tasting some for ourselves!
A couple of people actually bought some for their
families! We visited a war base used by the
Germans that had been turned into a museum. It
was built under a hill and we walked through the
caves and saw drawings and films explaining what
the base was used for.
The three best activities were the marine centre,
the bowling and the go-carting! Before going into
the marine centre we had a picnic in a children’s
park. Then we split into groups and wandered
around. There were hundreds of fish, as well as
seals, sharks, giant tortoises and even crocodiles!
For the go-carting we sat and watched everyone
going round, before splitting into groups and
having a go ourselves! People who had tried
go-carting before did very well, but we all had fun.
The teachers were terrible!
The whole French trip was a great experience; even
though there is no main activity like skiing or water
sports you get to enjoy lots of different things! I
would recommend it to anyone who wants to have
fun!
Anna Beckett 8SDB
CAFÉ DAY
Last week, 150 Year 5 students from St Paul’s,
Poppleton Road, Dringhouses and Knavesmire
primary schools took part in a “Create a French
Café in a Day” experience at Millthorpe School.
During the day Language Leaders and Millthorpe
Languages teachers helped Year 5 pupils create a
French café from scratch and learn all the key
vocabulary and communication skills necessary to
have a fully functioning French café up and running
by the end of the day. Parents and other family
members of Year 5 pupils came to the cafés at the
end of the day, where they were served food and
drink by the French-speaking waiters and
waitresses (but only if they asked for it in French!).
Thank you very much to Mr Stipetic and Miss Bell
for organising the event this year.

We would like you to challenge
yourself as an individual, take
pride in your house and work
together in our community to
achieve great things!"
Ms Kirby
Head of Roman House
Mr Nichols
Head of Viking House
“The Vikings
were intrepid
pioneers. Let’s
live up to that
reputation!”
Mr Baybutt
Head of
Saxon House
“Proud,
fearless,
resourceful:
we are the
Saxons.”
INTRODUCING HOUSES
From September, Millthorpe School is moving to a House System. This will give
students the opportunity to work with people in other year groups, to compete
in inter-house competitions, and allow students greater access to pastoral
support. The ultimate aim is to give students greater opportunities to invest in
the life of their school.

MILL-YMPICS
A week of rain cleared up long enough for our annual Sports Day.
The day’s events included classics such as long jump and shot put
as well as Millthorpe favourites such as target Frisbee and tug of
war!

ON YOUR BIKE
The Millthorpe School Mountain Biking Club has now reached the end of it’s first year and has been a
great success. Students from Years 7 to 9 have ventured into the wet and muddy North York Moors
on a Thursday night and tested their bike skills with the routes and single tracks of Dalby Forest and
the Hole of Horcum.
What’s next? The riders who have been involved so far are keen to develop their skills and continue
to get involved. As a club I am keen for those who have not got involved to get the chance, so if that
is you then please speak to the PE department and register your interest. Remember that it is a club
for all, for boys and girls and for novices and good riders alike, so give it a go! The bikes and
equipment are provided and you will be transported by minibus there and back. The cost is likely to
be £40 for five sessions.
Finally we are planning on developing the school site so that we can test our riding on our very own
skills and fitness circuit. The future is exciting! If you have any contacts or wish to help with
fundraising then please get in touch.
A GREAT RUN
Congratulations to our very talented Year 7 cricket team
who play All Saints in the semi-final of the cup.
Archbishops await them in the final. Good luck boys.

OFFICIAL CHAMPIONS
On 26 and 27 May, two current and four ex-students were invited to be officials at the European
Netball Championships which took place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. All of the
officials already hold the England Netball Match Bench Officials qualifications however they were
offered an opportunity to train up on the new International paperwork with the objective that they
go forward to achieve their International qualification. Students attended a course on the morning of
the tournament and were immediately put to the test in the first match of the day – England v Wales.
Roles included timekeeper (including umpire stoppages, injuries and intervals) scoreboard operator,
scorers and shooting statistics, including percentages.
All roles require lots of concentration and they were all brilliant, with comments being passed by all
team managers about how wonderful it was for young people to be involved in the officials side of
the sport.
The highlight of the day came when the girls took to court to have their photos
taken with some of their netball heroes – England shooter Pamela Cookey,
Rachel Dunn and Rachel Shaw.
NETBALL ACADEMY
Congratulations to several of our students who recently completed a Netball Academy at York St John
University. This was a joint initiative between the University and Millthorpe School aimed at
developing specific netball fitness, rather than just focusing on skills and team play. The Academy was
organised and run by three Year Three students at St John’s who ran structured sessions in the fitness
suite for core stability, along with circuits designed to improve speed, quickness and agility. The
course was supervised by Professor Andy Smith who also took the students on a tour of the
biomechanics and physiology laboratories. I would like to express my thanks to Professor Smith and
the students from York St John’s for a brilliant opportunity.

LANGUAGE LEADERS
We would like to give our thanks to our exiting
cohort of language leaders who are about to
embark upon the challenges of Year 10. You have
all been fantastic and served the school well as
hosts and guides to our many guests in school
during the past academic year. Well done!
We have now recruited a new cohort of language
leaders and they have already benefitted from a
“handover” by the current Year 9 group whilst
working in collaboration on school events during
the summer term. The new cohort were put
through a realistic recruitment process involving
training on how to write a cover letter and CV and
our thanks go to Mr Don Henson for assisting with
interviews. The new language leaders have already
been extremely busy working at our new Year 7
parents’ evening, hosting our new German partner
school, assisting with the Year 6 French café days
and helping at the summer fair, as well as leading
guests on guided tours around the school.
Alex Holmes
William Osborne
Jack Hughes
Eleanor Hebblethwaite
Eleanor Ward
Chloe Woodworth
Jess Slater
Matis Ferrini
Norbert Galek
Conor Brockbank
Matthew Wilson
Congratulations to you all and we really look
forward to working with you! - Miss Gray
OUR-LYMPICS
On Wednesday 11 July we staged a “Mini
Olympics” at Millthorpe School and welcomed 96
Year 5 students from Scarcroft School and
Archbishop of York Junior School. The event was a
collaboration with our local community and
involved a team of people from different disciplines
and included 6 of our current Year 9 Language
Leaders.
Prior to the event the primary school students had
been learning all about the Olympic games, its
history and the culture of the different countries
and we had a fun-filled afternoon at Scarcroft
school when our Language Leaders assisted in a
flag-making activity.
On the day itself the rain held off for most of the
time and we had an exciting opening ceremony
culminating in flag-bearers for each of the 6
“countries” from AYJS leading the teams to their
various activities. Not only did the students have
the chance to use real shot puts and do a “tug of
war” they also had some basic resuscitation
training from the brilliant team from “Heart Start”.
There was much applause at the closing ceremony
as students received their
certificates but the overriding
impression of the day was that
every single student who took part
embraced the new activities with
positivity and massive enthusiasm.

MATHS
CHAMPIONS
On Wednesday 25 April four
students took part in one of
several regional finals taking
place for the UKMT maths
competition. Millthorpe School
was represented in the team
challenge by Lin Gan & James
Pease from Year 8 and Ed
Chapman & Katherine Rawlings
from Year 9. The day consisted of
a variety of mathematical
problems and activities ranging
from a cross number challenge to
a mathematical relay race which
saw students racing each other
both physically and mentally to
score points. The team were
unfortunate not to win but
finished a respectable 11 th place
out of 32 teams taking part on
the day. It was a great but
challenging experience and
enjoyed by all.
GOODBYE STEINWAY
A CLASS ACT
After hosting a Primary School
Olympic Event, some of the
participating students were
invited to attend a presentation
evening at the Guildhall in the
presence of the Lord and Lady
Mayor and the Lady Sheriff. As
part of the celebration, some of
our students were invited to
perform at the event. Luke Yates
demonstrated his amazing skills
as a magician, moving from table
to table, astounding both
students and parents alike with
his amazing card tricks, even
bamboozling the Lord Mayor!
Conor Mellor entertained the
invited guests as they entered
the hall and during a break in the
presentation with a selection of
songs whilst the Year 7 and 8
dancers performed a group
dance.
Well done to all who took part.
After much debate it was decided to sell the school Steinway
piano to a Steinway specialist where it could be reconditioned
and then sold to a caring home. It needed so much work and
would have cost us thousands. The piano was built around
1910 and was originally a pianola or self-playing grand. At
some point in its life it had had the machine parts removed
and turned into a normal piano.
THE SOUND OF
MUSIC
The school concert was held on
4 July and took on an American
theme (Independence Day for
those of you that still haven’t
worked it out!). The programme
included classics such as
Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ and ‘A
Little Less Conversation’ to
lesser known pieces such as
‘Land of a Thousand Dances’. As
always, there was a lot of
musical and dance talent on
display which included solos by
some of our younger students.
The ‘Friends of Millthorpe’
provided the most amazing
cakes which wouldn’t have
looked out of place on the Great
British Bake Off. The most
original cake was one in the style
of a burger in a bun complete
with American flag sticking out
of it!

COMPLEX CALCULATIONS
On Monday 2 July, ten of our Year 10 students attended a one day Maths
Conference at the University of York. The conference was aimed at able
mathematicians and gave them the opportunity to see Maths in a range of
contexts. During the day we attended three workshops and a lecture as well
as taking part in the quiz during lunchtime. The workshops we attended
were: Maths in Music where we learned why certain notes sound good
together; code-breaking where we learned different methods of writing
messages in codes and had the chance to decipher messages too; topology
and moebius strips where we found out about these one sided objects and
what happens when we try to split them. The final session was a lecture on
the Maths of juggling by Colin Wright who was very entertaining.
Here’s what some of the pupils thought about the day: “The trip to the
Maths day on Monday was a great experience for all. The day consisted of 4
workshops involving code-breaking, how music uses Maths, a session about
topography and the moebius strip and, finally, an exciting juggling
workshop. Everyone got really involved in all the sessions and we learned a
lot. Lunch was a real treat after we worked up an appetite by deciphering
some codes with our very own Rosie Latchford (with help from Anna Ward)
winning the lunchtime quiz!” (By Kate Chapman, Rosie Latchford and Beth
Murphy)
MATHS IN PARIS
In June half term, 44 Year 7 and 8 students spent four days in Paris looking at various Mathematical ideas as
well as trying out some French. The journey gave the students a chance to think about speed, distance and
time in a very real context. In Paris, we visited the largest Science and Industry Museum in Europe where we
got a hands-on experience of some of the Maths we had already seen in the classroom. Many of the students
commented on how much they had learned at the museum. Most of the group went to the top of the Eiffel
Tower and enjoyed some brilliant views of the city. This, along with a tour of the city, allowed the students to
learn a lot about Paris too which they really enjoyed. “It was amazing seeing all the really famous sites and
finding out information about them”. We also enjoyed a whole day in DisneyLand which was the best part of
the trip for many. The trip was a really valuable experience with students telling us that they had “learned to
use their maths skills more effectively in every day life”.
Miss V Taylorson, with quotations from
students on the trip.

INSPIRATIONAL WRITER
Everyone was waiting in the big hall, in trepidation
for the forthcoming event of Charlie Higson (a
famous writer’s) arrival. As he entered the room, a
silence fell upon the students because they had no
knowledge of what to expect or believe! That’s
when a booming laugh broke the ominous silence!
This is what set the atmosphere for the whole
presentation.
Charlie is an inspiration not only to students but
also adults. His constantly imaginative and curious
self drew us in and alerted us of his presence. He
seemed constantly jovial as he explained the ups
and downs of being a writer! His seemingly
ever-lasting list of jobs was a continuous reminder
that people can be and do whatever they want
(which is a nice feeling because we are usually
encouraged to go into a specific career). His witty
comments kept us intrigued which is one of the
many skills of a true writer. He described his many
ideas for his books and where they came from,
which was riveting. He said that although book
writing can get tedious after a while, there is
nothing that could beat the feeling of completing a
book – this served as a great motivation for my
peers and I. Not only did Higson describe why he
wrote books and his numerous ways of doing so, he
explained how it felt for him – his feelings and the
effect it had on his sons and family.
When he stood up there on the stage, looking
slightly scruffy in his smart clothes – it didn’t feel
like he was overpowering us
and dominating the way we thought about him. It
felt genuine, real and honest; that’s what I think is
evident in a great writer, the ability to show
emotion, control and humour all at the same time.
He let many of the adoring audience ask questions
relating to basically anything to do with reading,
writing and him; at first only a few tentative hands
reached into the air, but as the students and
teachers warmed to the occasion it was practically a
sea of outstretched hands. By the end of the
presentation Charlie had made an impression on us
all, whether it was negative or positive – I have no
idea, but in my opinion, it was a great opportunity
that initialized ideas, inspired me for future writing/
later experiences and basically an interesting
occurrence that will always have an impact on the
way I write and see things. Of course Charlie was
late as he had talked for too long and he had to rush
off to catch a train; this just ended the talk perfectly
as it was comforting to know that the successful
have the same issues as the rest of us.
Ella Field 7RVL

POETRY LIVE
Following the department’s trip to meet
author Charlie Higson (pictured) earlier this
year, a selection of students in Year 7 also
had the opportunity to work with a visiting
poet, Mr Hammond, from Scarborough
Poetry Society. Mr Hammond read and
discussed his poems with the class and
gave them valuable insights into creating
their own poems. Ellie Dales from Year
7DJM was particularly inspired:
FICTION ADDICTION
The new Millthorpe Book Club has had a
great first year. We created and sold a
literature quiz (raising money for St
Leonard’s Hospice) and at our weekly
library meetings, students have taken
turns to organise a variety of reading and
book-related activities. We are relaunching
ourselves from September as
“Fiction Addiction”
And we welcome new members, every
Thursday in the library, 3.15-4.15pm.
YORK’S HIDDEN HISTORY
Are you a current or prospective parent? Interested in History?
Want to know more about the History of York? Keen to meet other
parents from Millthorpe School?
Millthorpe History Department are running a guided tour of
Hidden York on Saturday 29 September. The tour will start at
10am leaving from the front gates at Millthorpe School and
finish with coffee at Gray’s Court. The charge will be approx. £3
per person. We will be joined by Rachel How - an experienced
guide. Children are welcome.
Please email r.lingard@millthorpeschool.co.uk if you would
like to take part.

OUR NEW PARTNERS IN GERMANY
Following on from our hugely successful and long-running German exchange, we were lucky enough to be
visited by 30 students from our new link school in Germany on 12 July who spent the morning experiencing a
real taste of life in an English school. At the start of the day they were treated to a fabulous presentation by
Jack Hughes on Millthorpe School and York and had the opportunity to practise their English over juice and
biscuits with their Year 8 host students. The students then spent time in two lessons and delivered
presentations to our Year 8 and 7 students on their school and local area. Many links were made and
facebook names exchanged! The morning was rounded off with a delicious “bangers and mash” in the school
canteen (thank you Mr Farrell)! before the German students headed off for the Railway Museum. A great
time was had by all and we have already agreed to extend the link further with a repeat visit and other
collaborative working. Feel free to test your German by researching them further at: www.oken.de.
FOR YOUR DIARY
AUTUMN TERM 2012 SPRING TERM 2013 SUMMER TERM 2013
Term Begins
Tue 4 September
Half Term
W/B Mon 29 October
Term Ends
Fri 21 December
Extended Learning Day
Mon 15 October
Parent Forum
Wed 14 November
Training Days
Mon 3 September
Fri 26 October
School Production
Wed 5 - Fri 7 December
Term Begins
Mon 7 January
Half Term
W/B Mon 18 February
Term Ends
Wed 27 March
Extended Learning Day
Tues 29 January
Parent Forum
Wed 13 March
Training Day
Thu 28 March
Bank Holiday
Fri 29 March
PARENTS’ EVENINGS
Term Begins
Mon 15 April
Half Term
W/B Mon 27 May
Term Ends
Fri 19 July
Extended Learning Day
Fri 26 April
Parent Forum
Wed 19 June
Training Days
Mon 22 July
Tue 23 July
Bank Holiday
Mon 6 May
YEAR 7 YEAR 8 YEAR 9 YEAR 10 YEAR 11
Tue 9 October
(Tutor Meeting)
Mon 25 March
Tue 23 April Thu 10 January
(Options Evening)
Wed 6 February
YEAR 6 OPEN EVENING
Tue 2 October
LEARNING LIVE
At the time of going to print, Year 9 students are
taking part in an Enrichment Week. Pictured,
students enjoy a TV workshop at York University.
Thu 27 September
(Information Evening)
Thu 9 May
Tues 6 November