Winter 2009 - Chailey School...

Chailey School NewsWinter 2009Little Shop of Horrors ….Open Evening…. Make Your Mark Day…. Public Speakers winthrough….sports successes….Christmas Fayre...Children in Need….and lots more!

Welcome back!he arrival of the Class of 2009T for the annual Presentation ofCertificates and Prizes was a veryhappy occasion.Mrs Young welcomed everyone tothe ceremony, making particularmention of the former students. Theywere a spectacularly successful yeargroup: 73% of them gained five ormore A* - C grades, includingEnglish and Maths. When allsubjects were counted, that figurewent up to 83%.The Guest of Honour was MrsHelen Howard, Senior Standardsand Effectiveness Manager,Secondary School ImprovementService.“Whenever I speak to youngpeople I am always filled withadmiration,” said Mrs Howard. Therewere too many negative perceptionsof young people often fed by fearand ignorance. But, she pointed out,that has always been the case, fromancient times onwards.“But we know that in East Sussexwe have the highest-everpercentage of pupils gaining five A*to C grades,” she said. “You can feelvery proud of yourselves.“If the future is in the hands of ouryoung people, then the future is avery safe place.”Callum Hüseyin performedEinaudi’s Due Tramonti to greateffect, and the evening finished witha slideshow of the students’ time atChailey followed by refreshmentsand a chance to chat and catch up.

Dear Parents and CarersIt seems no time since wereturned to school in Septemberand yet here we are at the endof another busy and successfulterm at Chailey School. Our Year7 students are now confidentlysettled in—guided and supportedby their form tutors and our Year11 prefect team. Students inother year groups have beenworking hard on new and morechallenging work as theyestablish themselves in the nextyear of their journey throughChailey, and the whole schoolcommunity is one of purpose,hard work and achievement.For our Year 11 students ofcourse this will be their last yearwith us. Already they have facedactual and trial GCSE exams andhave submitted their collegeHeadteacher’sapplications. When they returnin the New Year they will veryquickly be sitting more GCSEScience modular exams andcoursework deadlines for manysubjects come fast and furiouslythroughout the Spring term. It isimportant, therefore, that theybalance some rest and relaxationover the Christmas holidays withthat other very important ‘R’ intheir lives—revision—since ontheir return to school in January,only 75 school days will remain,with much to be achieved! Year10 students also have GCSEexams in January and thereforeneed to spend time in thecompany of their Science books!As I reflect back on the Autumnterm, it is with pride andsatisfaction that I recall the richand varied range of activities onwhich students and staff haveworked together. Whether insupporting charitable causessuch as ‘Funky Footwear Friday’in aid of Sussex Air Ambulance(as featured on MeridianTelevision) and ‘Jeans for Genes’day or watching Year 10 displaytheir enterprise skills with thesupport of local business peopleand our governors on ‘Make YourMark’ Challenge Day – theenergy, enthusiasm andlettercommitment that they and theirteachers display is consistentlyimpressive. As you turn thepages of this Chailey School News,I hope you will feel the samesense of pleasure that I do at therange of opportunities on offer toour students. We work to ensurethat our young people have asbroad an education as possible.I am writing this at the end of aweek when we have held yetanother highly successfulChristmas Fayre – this year withsome familiar attractions (notablythe bacon butties!) and some newideas, such as trial drivinglessons. The Friends of ChaileySchool, supported by staff andstudents, did an excellent job forus and we are indebted to themfor all their hard work. Havingestablished the Christmas spiritlast Saturday we then moved onto this year’s Christmas show—Little Shop of Horrors—which alsoperformed a matinee for ourStudents returnStudents finishHalf termSpring ‘105 January31 March15—19 FebruarySummer ‘1019 April22 July31 May—4 Juneprimary schools which our visitorsgreatly enjoyed. The show provesthe high quality of our artsprovision here at Chailey, whichwas also reaffirmed earlier thisterm by our outstandingperformance at the ShakespeareSchools’ Festival.And so, after many weeks of hardwork in and out of the classroom,with lots of certificates earned andpresented and trips and visitsenjoyed, we reach the end of termand approach the end of 2009.Thank you for all your work withus in helping and supporting yourchildren, attending parents’evenings and other events and forthe crucial part you play in the lifeof Chailey School.I wish you and your family a veryenjoyable, peaceful Christmas anda healthy, prosperous and happyNew Year.TERM AND HOLIDAY DATESAutumn ‘102 September17 December25—29 OctoberInset days4 January 201023 July 2010May Bank Holiday3 May 2010Dates may change through circumstances beyond the school’s control. We will keep parents informed.

What a great idea!e are setting up an AssociationW of past students who would liketo continue to contribute to theschool—and who would like to havesomething special on their CVs.The Chailey Coaching Associationis a group of invited past studentswho are able to offer advice andguidance to current students on suchthings as A-levels, apprenticeships,vocational courses, university,college and the world of work.As an Associate you would beinvited to come into the school whenconvenient for you, maybeduring this year or in future years tospeak to and advise students.We would be happy to writereferences for you and thus supportThis is me picking up the Kokorocup for best overallperformance at the ChanctonburyTouki Shiai after winning the juniorand senior competitions, writesLaurence Holden (Y11).This, along with the gold at theSouth Coast Open, took me toeleven straight wins (all by ‘Ippon’*in under 50 seconds).*The concept of ippon is throwingyour opponent on their back withforce.your future ambitions.To keep Associates updated therewill be a blog on the Chailey Websiteand a similar page on Facebook.If you would like to join pleasesend your name and email addressto Mrs Korman.Some of the Class of 2009enjoying results dayJudo jubilationIt grows on you...adly, The Chaily School NewsS had to go to press before theChristmas Show went on stage.But happily we have been treated toa preview of some of the material thatgoes into this production in the formof Matt Thomas and his remarkableplant. Matt, in his role of Seymour haswowed assemblies throughout theschool with his performance of one ofthe shows main songs.And if Matt’s performance isanything to go by the show will havebeen a fantastic success, right upthere with other great Chailey stageevents.Matt’s friendly plant has also raiseda few eyebrows. It seems to haveindependent movemt—and a life of itsown. How can that be?As usual, the dynamic duo of MrsBarringer (musical direction) and MissHutton (stage direction andproduction) have assembled atalented troupe of actors, musiciansand stagehands.Said Miss Hutton: “We are delightedto announce this year's Chistmasproduction, 'The Little Shop ofHorrors'.“We have been longing to get ourteeth into this production and haveassembled a fantastic cast and crewto make this a truly spectacularproduction.“In the murky streets of Skid Row,New York, Seymour discovers a newbreed of plant life, hitherto unknownto mankind.“Seymour names his cute andrather cuddly plant after the girl heloves, his fellow florist, Audrey.“Unfortunately, Audrey II proves to beanything but a lovable house plant,growing to epic proportions by forcingSeymour to feed it on an exclusivediet of…”LAST MINUTE NEWS FLASH:Show performed to huge applause!

Christmas comeshe Christmas Fayre took placeT on Saturday 12 December andfun was had by all! write the Friendsof Chailey School.The Friends would like to thank allthe children who helped on thecoloured stalls, along with Tin CanAlley, Target Practice, Snow Man,and many, many more.We would also like to thank all theparents who generously donatedgifts for the bottle tombola, hamperboxes, and helping out on a numberof stalls at the fayre.We would like to thank Racheland Norman Whitting for running theRefreshment Stall, which they havedone for the past few years.We were very fortunate with ourRaffle Prizes and had great supportfrom a large number of localbusiness.We would like to give specialthanks to: Newick Park CountyEstate, Archers SpecialistTreatments, Sussex Bootcamps,Hickstead Show Ground, PlumptonRaces, Hove Grey Hound Stadium,Lavender Motors, Sterling Hair,Pruners, Wisdom Sports, The FootCare Centre, Mark Earl, BHCLogistics, Nostalgiagraphics, Bodles,Alun Gedrych Ltd., Parker BuildingSupplies. Burgess Hill GolfAcadamy, Sharon Wilson Hair,Robert Dyas, Symore and Dench,M&S, Sainsbury, Tesco, The CockInn and the Rainbow Pub.During the last year the Friendshave purchased the followingequipment for the children:ART easels and sewing machinesDT aprons, microwaves, grill,sandwich press and food processorENGLISH Texts, DVD, AQA functionbooks and mobile storageICT smart skills builderMATHS mini whiteboards andgraphical calculatorsMEDIA STUDIES cleaning tape,mini DV camcorderThis totals £3207!We will soon be discussing the useof this year’s funds with the school.To Chailey school!

Chailey on show!Children in needWell done to everyone who made the 2009 Open Evening such a hugesuccess. A record number of visitors turned up. All were very complimentaryabout the school—and its helpful, cheerful students!n Friday 30th November, as youO may remember, it was Childrenin Need day, writes Katie Warren(Y8). As always, Chailey did all itcould to fundraise loads of money forthis amazing charity.In the hall most forms from year 7,8 and 9 put a lot of effort into gettinga stall together for the day.There was a wide variety of stallsgoing on like cake sales, knockingdown tin cans and many more!In the drama studio the ForbiddenSaints were playing music which Iknow was a fantastic mini-concert forus!The overall total, raised in doublequick time, was £340, which I knowis an amazing reward for all theeffort that everyone put in.I know that everyone wants tothank all the form tutors and staffwho helped to get the stalls up andrunning and also the charity repswho helped set up their form’schosen stall.Hopefully we can raise the bareven higher next year!

n Thursday, October 15th,O eighteen Chailey students tookto the stage at Roedean Theatre toperform Shakespeare's 'The Tamingof the Shrew', writesMiss Hutton. Theresponsetheyreceivedfrom theiraudiencewasfantastic!Each yearwe take partin the renownedShakespeare School's Festival, thelargest youth festival in thecountry. Over ten thousandstudents nation wide perform halfhour versions of classicShakespeare plays inprofessional venuesover one week inOctober; it is achallenging andmemorable experiencefor all involved.The stage was a riot ofcolour with costumesdrawing influence from the 1950swith flared skirts for the lead femalesthrough to Indie skinny jeans andbright shirts for the malecharacters. Each student didthemselves proud; what really stoodAnd therebyout was the level of energy andensemble work that was projectedinto the audience.Unfortunately we were notpermitted to photographthe productionwhen the castwere onstage.However,I hopeyou enjoythe arrayof picturestaken duringOpen Evening and theopen air rehearsals when atRoedean.I would like to thank each memberof the cast for their energy,enthusiasm and devotion tothis production, MrsMcBride for herwonderful codirectingskills andfor keeping meorganised, AdamSpain for his propsmakingskills and forbeing our lightingtechnician on the night, and to theparents of the cast for being taxiservices, assistant line learners….and, of course, our audience.To quote from 'As You Like It' youwere 'Wonderful, wonderful and yetHangs a taleagain wonderful and out of allwhooping!'THE CASTBaptista: Oliver BeardKatherine: Matilda IsraelBianca: Lucy PheePetruchio: Michael ChamberlainServants to Petruchio:Curtis: Rosie BrownNathaniel: Danny PearsonGregory: Becky HodgesPhilip: Catherine JessonGremio: Rhiannon PedleyHortensio: Harvey CashLucentio: Danny GavinTranio: Tom LambertTailor: Ellen BlakeneyWidow: Sophie CranfieldPriest: Katie GowersChorus/Servants: Emma Dobson,Mari Lavelle-Hill, Megan Lewis, WillSutcliffe, Adam Spain.

Film starsn the 11th November some YearO 8 students took part in anEnglish lesson that was filmed by theDepartment for Children Schools andFamilies, writes Katie Warren (Y8).We got to our lesson early and hadsome advice from Miss Turner whohad done her filmedlesson the daybefore. Then MissHall talked to usabout the lessonand we startedfilming.Miss Hall did our lesson as normal.I didn't realise how long it was goingto be until they asked us to film thefirst part again!We were doing work on a poemwhich was about a boy and a cat. Wewere all in groups and while Miss Halland her group were being filmed oursworked through the lesson until wefinished completely, three-and-a-halfhours later!I and five other pupils wereinterviewed afterwards aboutreading in general. That was funalthough it was strange havingthree cameras and a 'badger on astick' (the microphone) all pointingin your direction at once!Overall it was such a greatexperience and a really fun morningand I would take the same opportunityagain without hesitation.Muddied but unbowedThese Year 7 runners were just a fewof the Chailey hundreds who bravelysquelched their way around the crosscountrycourse. Well done to all thosewho took part. Full results are ondisplay in the Sports Hall.tachebacks any gardener will tell you,A September is the month whenmoss begins to take hold.How apt, then, that MrBrowne chose thatmoment to persuadea number of male staff togrow moustaches.No matter thatmoustaches like the onesabove went out of fashion alifetime ago. For these gallantgentlemen were being sponsored tocover their upper lips and more insupport of National Everyman MaleCancer Campaign, Tacheback.A worthy cause indeed, and thanksto a few weeks of looking, let’s face it,a trifle retro, a gratifying £500 wasraised.Some of the cash camefrom male staff who were toowimpish to join in the fungal funand instead paid a hefty forfeit.Said one anonymous smoothupper-lipper: “It was themoustache or my marriage.”Question time for grandparents: whois this moustachioed schoolmaster?Name the TV comedy in which heappeared.

uniformationovember 5th saw ChaileyN School host a UniformedServices and ApprenticeshipsCareers Event writes MrsBremner.Every student in the schoolwas able to attend. The standsincluded the Armed Forces, thePrison Service, the YMCA, thePolice, the Fire Service as wellas a number of our localcolleges.The morning provided aninvaluable opportunityfor students to ask questions ofour many guests and to gain aninsight into a number of careersand potential training routes foreach of the services and courseson display.Next year we hope to holdanother Uniformed Services andApprenticeships Careers Event.If any parent or organisationwould like to be involved, orwould be happy to talk to a smallgroup of students about theirwork, please contact us.Our email addresses are:abremner@chaileyschool.org orcholden@chaileyschool.orgStrictly funkyfter school on Mondays there is aA new street dance club run by“strictly funky”, write Alesi Plummer(Y9) and Evie Tibbles (Y10).These classes run for an hour afterschool, every week ona Monday.The instructor,Henry Adekoya,operates his own personal trainingbusiness and has over 14 yearsexperience in the fitness industry.Henry has always had a passionfor music and dance, and it wasthrough his qualifications, coupledwith his sound fitness backgroundand enthusiasm for exercise that hefounded Strictly Funky Street Dance.During each session Henryteaches us a set piece, as well ashelping us to create our own work.So far we havelearnt lots of movesincluding roboticsand moon walk.These classes are fun,entertaining and good exercise at thesame time all this put into one makesa brilliant Monday dance lesson.Below: the Strictly Funksters. Why notjoin them? Ask Miss Thompson fordetails.

owling isn’t a particularB favourite activity of mine,writes Ettie Caverly (Y8), but I wasvery excited when I heard I wouldbe going.It was a really fun night and Ienjoyed every minute of it.We got into groups and playedone game, and it didn’t reallymatter who won or lost, becausewe had so much fun and it wasnice to be with all of your friendsin a non-school environment.Afterwards, we all went toMcDonalds for a less-than-healthydinner.I’m sure the staff were veryimpressed with the crowds ofhyperactive children flooding theplace! But it was a really fun night,bowlingand I definitely want to go again ifoffered the chance!Goodbye to wendyt is time to say a sad farewell to Wendy Osborne,I whose smiling presence has enhanced theScience laboratories for the last seven years andkept everything running smoothly.Wendy is off to take up the post of HeadTechnician at Imberhorne School. Her promotion iswell-deserved: she has been the model of cheerfulefficiency throughout her time at Chailey.“I have enjoyed myself here,” says Wendy. “I amgoing to miss everybody.”And we will miss Wendy. We wish her everysuccess and happiness in her new job.Net safetyO n Tuesday 17th of November,Matt Coomber and I, both year 10students, attended an anti-cyberbullying conference in Tidewayschool, Newhaven, writes GillianHocking.The day began with a drama pieceperformed by some students; itaddressed the fact that itis the bullies who havethe problem.We then went on totake part in two differentworkshops. The first onewas called ‘sharinginformation online’. Welearnt about whatinformation was appropriate to shareand what isn’t. The second was aboutsafety online.The most significant thingwe gained from the eventwas a better understandingof what cyber bullying is,and how it can beprevented.The essential thing inpreventing cyber bullying isto protect yourself. This caninvolve making your socialnetworking site private, notaccepting friends who youdon’t know or like, beingcareful what photos youmake available and keepingyour mobile number to yourself.Social networking sites can be goodfun and a brilliant way of keeping incontact with your friends, but you mustremember that people can and do lie.Another common way for cyberbullying to happen is through instantmessaging such as MSN. Rememberthat cyber bullying isillegal and thatcompanies do nottolerate it.The report abusebutton is there for areason. If you are beingcyber bullied then talk toyour parents, teachersor the peer mentors who are availablein the yellow room in LSU everylunchtime.

hailey School is striving to keepC up-to-date with requirements ofthe government’s Healthy Schoolsinitiative, writes Mr Simmonds.Chailey has now set up its ownHealthy Schools Food Group todiscuss how the school can moveforward in its quest to promote goodhealth.The council is made up ofstudents from most year groups andis currently in the process ofappointing two year seven studentsto serve after Christmas.This year great progress hasbeen made. The changes are inplace for all to see. The group haveFood forhelped to design the newlyrefurbished canteen and requestedbackground music to give a morewelcoming and convivialatmosphere while eating.The council members have alsoworked closely with CateringManager Sally Steer to givefeedback about the cuisine andother catering factors.The students also attend keymeetings twice a term. Thesemeetings offer an excellentopportunity for students to voice anyopinions to key figures within thisarea.The council is regularly joined bythoughtJosie Britton, the AreaFood Advisory ServicesOfficer and SymonMoth, ChartwellsCatering’s areamanager., who listencarefully to students’opinions andsuggestions. Thestudents are very proud of their input.The council is currently discussingfurther improvements in the school’scatering arrangements. These couldinclude a hot drinks machine in thecommon room, new and healthyfoods at lunch and break andanother breakfast bar in the canteen.If you have any ideas, pleasediscuss any thoughts with thecurrent members of this group:Morgan Ixer, Rosie Quirke, CharlieRidley, Jack Schafler, GeorgiaStenning, Ellie Tovey and cateringmanager Sally Steer.Bienvenue and ciao!Cathryn Nyren(MFL) has beenstudied atuniversityin Sheffield,Cambridge andPau in France,and haspreviously taught at the university ofBordeaux, at Beacon School inCrowborough and at Helenswood inHastings. Before coming to Chailey,she spent two and a half years inMiami. She is a very keen Liverpoolfan.Mjriam Selwyn(MFL) went toUniversity inLondon and readBusiness Studies,then took aMasters inPsychology. Sheworked in banking for eight yearsthen as a foreign exchange traderbefore deciding to become ateacher. She is a qualified rescuediver and has been diving aroundthe world, including Thailand,Mexico, Jamaica, Italy and Greece.

n the 4 November years 8 and 9O were very lucky and given theopportunity to go to the DavidBeckham Academy in London,writes James Cochrane (Y9). Wewent with Uckfield and Heathfieldschools.The day started when we arrivedat Uckfield College at 7:30, hopingthat the day ahead would beenjoyable and action-packed. Wegot on the coaches at 8:00 and wewere on our way.A noisy two hours later we finallyarrived at The David BeckhamAcademy. All of us hoping(especially Mr Austin) to meet theman himself.We walked down the corridor,packed full of David Beckhammemorabilia: boots, shirtsphotos, autographs and so on.When we arrived in thecanteen we were split intoteams: England, Germany,Spain, Sweden, Brazil,Argentina, Italy and Holland. lwas in Germany. When we werein our teams many of us weren'tfamiliar with most of the playersaround us.We went out onto the indoorartificial pitch and had to prepareourselves for the day ahead. Wejoined up with our coaches forthe day, and began our warm up.havingShortly ahead we had our firstchallenge, lots of different drills:running without a ball around somecones, running with a ball around thecones, throwing the ball to eachother and so on.All of the different teams weregiven point cards depending on howwell they had done on the certainchallenge. The first set of challengesfinished and it was time for a wellearnedrest.We had our own individualsnacks, and were then told that halfthe teams would go out and play amini world cup tournament, and theothers would be given certain rolesA ballin football, with challenges attached.Some of these jobs included scout,manager, food nutritionist and physio.While the others were out playing,we were told about our challengeswith the certain roles. Again you weregiven point cards for how well you did.When this challenge was finished, wehad our long awaited lunch break.Now it was time for a little quiz. Inthe quiz, you had to name all twentypremiership teams, all the stadiums ofthe teams and also their managers.There was a lot of debating goingon over the answers. The head coachgave out the final answers, and saidwhich team had won this challenge.Afterwards he told us who waswinning overall at the half time point.This result gave the losing teamsextra determination to win and get thepoints back.Now it was time for the teams toswap challenges. Out on the artificialpitch it was time for myteam to play the mini worldcup tournament. Ouropening match was a 1-1draw, but in our secondmatch we drew 2-2.Having two draws wedesperately wanted to win.We went 1-0 up but theother team got it back to 2-1. We were losing with notmuch time to go.In the last minute we struck anequaliser making it 2-2!When both the challenges were upwe met in the canteen to find out thefinal results and learn who had won aspecial trophy in each team.When the trophies were awardedwe found that four of the eight teams’trophies had been won by Chaileystudents. Including me!We were all very happy with thetrophies.The final result was revealed butunfortunately my Germany teamdidn’t win.It was nearing the end of ourexciting trip, but there was enoughtime for us to have our photos taken.All of us were tired and needing agood long rest, so we got on thecoach and were on our way home.Two quiet hours later we arrivedhome and exhausted, but with thememories still alive in our minds.

Over half-term I was lucky enough to go toBorneo which is the third biggest island inthe world, writes William Dodd (Y9). It is inSouth East Asia and is one of the mostenvironmentally diverse places in the world.For example, it has over 3000 species oftrees.I was staying at a nice hotel with my familycalled the Shangri-La which was by the seain Kota Kinabalu and every day we didsomething different. The first day we went tothe fish market and although I don’t like fishthis was worth seeing! There were over 200types of fresh fish to choose from to eat foryour dinner and some of them wereenormous, maybe over three feet long. Ifound it quite depressing that they had nospace to turn round in their aquarium.Next day we got a boat to a little islandwhere we saw six feet monitors (lizards) justwalking around like rabbits to us.The trip ofWe also went snorkelling around theisland. Every type of tropical fish you couldname must have been there as whereveryou looked you would be surrounded bydifferent species. That must have been myfavourite day!A few days later we went to the sisterhotel to see orang-utans. It was quiteamazing as they were so friendly they musthave been only three feet away from me atone point.Next we took a two hour plane journey tothe middle of the jungle. There couldn’t havebeen more than 20 people in the airport as itwas so far in the jungle! The only way toaccess this place was by plane or river. Wewent to a small hotel that was built on stiltson a river and we stayed there for two nightsand each day got a private tour by a manwho came from the nearby tribe. He showedus a lot of things such as a magnificent cavecalled the Deer Cave whichis known for having theworld’s largest opening; it is174 meters high, and wasonly discovered by Britishexplorers in 1977!But that’s not all. At sunsetevery night if it doesn’t rainsomething even morespectacular happens - overfive million bats all come outat once and I and my familywere sitting and watchingthem continuously for over 30minutes!A lifetimeWe were even lucky enough to go towhere our guide lived. He showed us aroundhis village and I even got a go on hisblowpipe. This is how they used to hunt food.It was just a bit of wood dipped in a specialtree sap that had enough poison to kill ahuman from 200 feet away in a matter ofminutes!After that we got our plane back to then 22nd October a group of Year 11O students went to seethe musical "BillyElliott" at the Victoria Palace Theatre inLondon, writes Caroline Kinderman (Y11).The journey was long and tedious but weoccupied ourselves by eatinglots of healthy sweets.When we arrived it wasdark and we were quiteexcited as we entered thetheatre and were given ourtickets. We wereaccompanied by Ms Poole,Ms Hutchinson, Mr Deaconand Mrs Kinderman and theyagreed that we would betreated as adults and trusted to behaveresponsibly without constant supervision.We had really good seats and had afantastic view of the stage. It took a little whileto get used to the strong Northern accents ofthe actors.main hotel and, as we flew by, many things Isaw below made me think. Over thehundreds of miles covered you could see thedevastation caused by farmers growing palmtrees for palm oil. This is destroying ancientdense jungle and the natural habitat for manyspecies of animals including the orang-utans.I am very thankful for this holiday as it wasthe experience of a life time.Billy elliottThe music was written by Sir Elton Johnand was very powerful. My favourite song was'Electricity'. The musical was hilarious in partsbut also reduced most of us to tears,particularly when a really cute little boyappeared on stage - he lookedvery lost and we all wanted totake him home.The acting was extremelygood and very emotional inplaces - quite a roller-coaster!At the end there was astanding ovation, especially forthe actor who played BillyElliott. We were all amazedthat someone so young couldhave such a huge talent.The journey home was tiring and we gotback to school very late - but we had afantastic time. Thank you to the staff who tookus and still managed to turn up on time in themorning!

It’s me again, Sam Monson (Y8),and after my criticism of DrBeeching in the last episode I amnow going to look at some of thegood things he did for the railways.In particular I am going to talkabout the Bluebell Railway, an oldline stretching for 9 miles fromSheffield Park to Kingscote, but thisshould soon join up to EastGrinstead.The Bluebell is one of the mostfamous heritage railways in Englandand has been used in many filmsand television programmes includingThe Railway Children, Miss Potterand The Ruby in the Smoke. It evenhad a short film made about it whichBluebell’sMr Tapsfield did the music for.I care about it because it is a locallandmark which has preserved manyold steam locomotives. It has greatpossibilities and it may causeNetwork Rail to see a hiddengoldmine that has sat there foralmost 40 years.The problems for Network Rail.Network Rail own and operateBritain’s railway infrastructure. Theyhave had a hard time in Sussex allthe way from having too few staff toBalcombe Viaduct being shut fornew brickwork. It has been astruggle everywhere they go.Southern, the local train company,bloomingtogether with Virgin Gatwick Expressand First Capital Connect all get toBrighton via the viaduct. Closing thiswould mean a halt for all train serviceson the London to Brighton route soreopening Lewes to Uckfield or Lewesto East Grinstead would keep trainsmoving.Beeching did destroy many of ourrailways but he did some good: intercity travel, freight lines, great walkingand cycling tracks and the start ofBritish heritage railways.The money saved by closing somany lines was partly used to set upand improve Inter-city services andfreight movements on the railways.This means you can get from Londonto York in under two hours and therewould be even more lorries on theroads without rail freight.Many of the old railway lines arenow used for walking and cyclingroutes. Local ones include theCuckoo Line, the Downslink and theForest Way which are great becausethey are traffic free and as they areold railway lines are fairly flat!Like the Bluebell Line and theLavender Line at Isfield, many localsocieties preserved their railways sowe have many short stretches ofrailway across the country with oldsteam locomotives which might havebeen scrapped without the BeechingAxe.As passenger numbers haveincreased since Beeching’s time thedemand for railways means as manyas 14 lines may be reopenedincluding Lewes to Uckfield and theEast Grinstead link. This would help,as many stations lack parking and theroads round them are congested.Another 20 lines could be reopenedand all this could be done within threeto six years if there was enough driveto do this. It could partly be paid forby building new homes near therailways which would also help thehousing shortage.I hope they will still run steam trainson them!

t the crack of dawn on a coldA autumn day the whole of year 7gathered in the school grounds.Clothes ranged from warm winterjackets to army style camouflagetrousers... but everyone wasenthusiastic as the buses appearedfrom the frosty corner down Mill Lane.Buzzing kids raced aboard thecoach to seize the back seats. Finally,after long registerprocedures and otherproblems, we set off.Two hours later rowdychildren spread word thatthe travelling was closing toan end—then a triumphantroar echoed when the tiredbus ground to a halt.Shiver meHowever, even the mile walk to theplace was not enough to quieten thiseager bunch. At last we arrivedexploding with confidence... exceptwhen the obstacles came to view,many jaws dropped.Firstly, was the slippery zig-zag,muddied up by previous visitors andrain. This challenge needed good gripup the three long logs, even more ifyou survived the climb. A terrifyingwalk across a rope separated youfrom victory.Secondly, was Jacob’s ladder. Thisrequired the best teamwork as thespaces in between each of the levelswas forever getting wider and harder.Furthermore, this demanded strongphysical ability for hauling yourselfand others to the top when the gapwas bigger than Mr Dale.The daunting H-bar followed. Itwouldn't have been very difficult butas with everything there was a catch,after choosing the height two peopleTimbers!had to cross each other on ashockingly skinny log. Problems oftenoccurred with ropes getting tangled,leaving visitors distraught.Fourth was the one that everyonewas talking about... the dreaded leapof faith. From the ground it lookedsmall and easy, but when you got tothe top you had to get over billions ofnerves. A telegraph pole was stuck inthe ground with titchy holding pegswedged in the side. In addition therewas a minute platform to stand on.When you had tackled the climb youhad to make a daunting leap to catcha swaying bar or have a fall intonothing.All these death-defying challengesput some off, so several other not-sodangerousones were made for thebenefit of the less bold, for instance aclassical climbing wall. It's not hardand the experiencecan be savoured.It boostsconfidence for theclimber. There wasalso a ropescourse—everyonehad a go andenjoyed it,although it wassimply ropes tiedbetween trees.Teamwork was the key to successhere and all participators passed.Apart from lunch, nobody stopped.All the time positive comments werebeing thrown about and people wereworking together, overcoming whatwere first thought to be impossibleobstacles.While we trotted back to the coacheveryone loudly discussed what theyhad done, though many staggeredsurprisingly lifelessly onto the bus,almost completely deprived of energy.Nevertheless, as the journey went onmany recharged by sneakily eatingillegal sweets and cookies.Excitement grew as Chailey cameinto view. As people got off the bus tomeet pleased parents there was asense of sadness from everyone. Agreat day had come to an end.

Netball for allhis term the netball teams have startedT their quest to achieve the top spot in theNorth Wealden Partnership Schools’ NetballLeague, writes Miss Maynard. The Leagueconsists of five schools: Chailey, Uckfield,Uplands, Heathfield and Beacon.So far, teams have seen some mixedresults. Years 10 and 11 made a disappointingstart, losing their initial games. But Year 9have had an excellent season so far, comingsecond in their tournament. They followed thiswith a 20-0 win against Uckfield and a 10-4win against Heathfield. Lydia Graham, EllieSmale and Lilly Royston.were key players.Year 7 also started successfully, winningtwo of their games convincingly with some starperformances from Ruby Rienecker-Foundand Jess Cornwell. After a disappointing 4 thplace in the season’s opening tournamentYear 8s went on to win in a fantastic 14-1victory against Heathfield and look good tocontinue the winning streak.Well done to all those girls who haverepresented Chailey School so fantastically!Chailey has a brilliant netball team and guesswhat—you could be one of them! writesGeorgia Stenning (Y8).Chailey netball club is full of fun activities andis a fun thing to do after a long day at school.It’s meant for years 7, 8 and 9. We do littleexercises to warm us up and we learn lots ofnew skills, for example how to pass, shoot,pivot and lots more exciting things to do. Wealso help improve all these skills by having ashort game at the end to top things off!This club is run by Emma, a qualifiednetball coach, after school on Thursdays3: 30 - 4: 30.Please come and join. Maybe youcould be on the Chailey netbalf team oneday!Amazingly amazingYes, he’s back! Toby Ross (Y8) hasbeen looking for amazing facts to...amaze you. Are you ready forthis…?Every second, your bodyis producing—andlosing—15 millionred blood cells.Every secondAmericanscollectively eatover 100 poundsof chocolate.A snail has up to25,000 teeth.A whale’s heart beats onlynine times a minute.A woodchuck (looks like a beaver)only breathes 10 times when it is inhibernation.Peanuts are one of the ingredientsof dynamite .An ostrich's eye is bigger thanits brain.In the great fire ofLondon half ofLondon burntdown but only sixpeople wereinjured.In Vermont in theUSA it is against thelaw for women towear false teeth withoutthe written permission of theirhusbands.The law in Alaska says you can’tlook at a moose from a plane.Congratulations to these and the other designers of these new reward cards for KS4students which are proving to be very popular and successful.

Community updateince the last issue of Chailey SchoolS News we have been expanding ourcommunity work and the school is involved inlots of exciting projects, writes Miss Hamer.The Forest Schools Family Pilot Scheme, inpartnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust, iscoming to an end after a successful six monthprogramme. I would like to thank the familieswho have regularly attended these gatherings,the Sussex Wildlife Trust for delivering theprogramme and Miss Jones, as between uswe have tried to have a school representativeat the majority of these once-a-monthSaturday sessions.I would also like to thank the Uckfield BNI(Business Network International). The schoolhas been working in partnership with theUckfield BNI since the summer when I tookthree Year 9 students (photo) to pitch to theBNI members.A special thanks to Pete Parker, MD of theBirchwood Ford Group of car dealerships, whohas since worked with Year 10 BusinessStudies and was a facilitator and judge for theMake Your Mark Challenge Day on 16November.It was actually Pete, me and DavidBoreham (Science trainee teacher), that putthe winning team ‘Fresha’ through to theschool final and then the Regional Final for theSouth East.We are into our second year of partnershipworking with Chailey Heritage School. Wecarried out our first visit this academic year inNovember with a new group of Year 10students.We have plans to build on what was learntlast year with a more defined programme forthe full academic year.I would also like to thank the Friends ofChailey School for their hard work in settingup and running the Chailey School ChristmasFayre. Every year the proceeds from theChristmas Fayre are used to buy extraresources for the school toenhance the education ofevery student. This wouldnot be possible without thehard work andcommitment of the Friendsof Chailey School to whomwe are eternally grateful.Learning togetheram delighted to say that followingI a very successful first year ofworking with Chailey Heritage wehave both seen the value in our workand decided to carry this on, writesMiss Hamer.We will be expanding on our worklast year and building in somechallenges and goals for both sets ofstudents.On 25 November we took a groupof ten Year 10 students to ChaileyHeritage for the first time. Ourstudents were split into three groups,and worked with Design Technology,Art and Design, and Music andDrama.We went back in December foran afternoon of ‘Festive Fun’ andhave dates scheduled in for thewhole academic year.Our students quickly adapted toworking very sensibly andthoughtfully with the ChaileyHeritage students, all of whom havecomplex needs and different levelsof disability, and conductedthemselves in a way which was acredit to the school.We are looking forward to buildingsolid relationships with the ChaileyHeritage students over the next fewmonths and learning more fromthem about non-verbalcommunication including signing.An update will follow in the nextChailey School News.Flashback: Gavin Wallace,Myles Ellis, Matt Coomberand Trudi Hamer at abreakfast meeting ofUckfield BNI.

Good deedsn September I accompaniedI Clementine Richardson-Shrieves toSt Peter & St James Hospice to handover our donation of over £150, raisedby last year’s Citizenship projects: acake sale and a sponsored walk.Clem and Marie Stephens bakedcakes and sold them around theschool to raise money for this localcause. The other money was raisedby a group sponsored walk aroundChailey woodland.Carol Hughes, CommunityFundraiser for the Hospice (picturedwith Clem and me) was delighted withthe donation and thanked the schoolfor its continued support.Funky feetn Friday 25 September ChaileyO School students took part in"Funky Footwear Friday", a countywideevent to raise funds for theSussex Air Ambulance as part of AirAmbulance Week.Each of the students paid £1 towear 'funky' footwear of their choice;this ranged from slippers, wellingtonboots, odd shoes, coloured shoes tocustomised shoes and each studentreceived a funky button badge forparticipating. Altogether, the schoolraised nearly £700.This was covered by MeridianNews, who came in and filmed atthe school, accompanied by an ex-Chailey student who had used theservices of the Sussex AirAmbulance in the past.The Sussex Air Ambulance oftenmakes the difference between lifeand death. The sooner a casualtycan be taken from the scene of anaccident to hospital the greater thechance of survival and long-termrecovery.Mrs Young was delighted thatChailey School had supported sucha worthy local cause.Happy shoppersack in September Chailey School andB four primary schools in East Sussexattended an event at Tesco stores in Lewes tolaunch the Tesco Schools and Clubs schemewhich evolved out of the Tesco Computers forSchools scheme.Our Head Girl and Head Boy (left) wereaccompanied by me, Trudi Hamer, to receivea gift box at this launch event which wasofficially opened by Lewes MP Norman Baker.Members of the community and parents cansupport the school by continuing to collect thevouchers and handing them into the school asbefore.All vouchers gratefully received!

n Monday 16 November theO whole of Year 10 took part in aNational Enterprise competitionwhich launched GlobalEntrepreneurship Week 2009. Thisis the second year that ChaileySchool has participated in thiscompetition. Last year we wentthrough to the regional finals inWinchester.The Year 10 studentswere given the brief—which was only releasedon the morning ofMonday 16 November—to come up with a newand innovative businessidea, taking inspirationfrom something local.The business could be a productor a service – as long as it was a‘cool’ creation and made money.A ‘cool creation’ is a profitablebusiness that minimises its impacton the environment.Green businesses are essential tothe future of the UK economy andour planet. Therefore the studentswere asked to consider the carbonfootprint of their business and thinkof innovative ideas to reduce it.The school had facilitators andMarks and….judges from the local businesscommunity as well as school financestaff, governors and trainee teacherswho were also involved in thedecision making process.The winner was a group thatcame up with the concept of“Fresha”.Fresha was to be a shop andrestaurant serving meals made fromlocal produce andselling local producein its shop. The ideawas to train upunemployed peoplefrom the area to cookthe food and work inthe shop, therebydelivering twice theservice to the community throughencouraging healthy eating andtackling unemployment.he 16th November was the startT of National Enterprise Week,write Fresha. Our team—DaisyFrost, Angharad Hills, MaddySteadman, Charlie Scotford-smith,Jon Cook and Zoe Awcock—and therest of year 10 took part in MakeYour Mark Day.We made our presentation andBright sparks!were judged when we were in theclass with all the other groups in ourEnglish group.We managed to get through to thenext round when we made ourpresentation in front of the wholeyear group during lesson six.Then we had to wait until the nextday to find out if we were through tothe next stage.In the next round we had to sendoff three pieces of paper with all theinformation we had come up with theprevious day, then send them to theMake Your Mark website.We had to wait until Friday—andthen we found out that we had RoyalHolloway, University of London onthe 26 th November.In this round we had to make apresentation which was allowed tobe only six slides long.In the regional final, there werenine other schools showing theirwork. We were the first school tomake our presentation, which madeus more nervous.Unfortunately, we didn't getthrough to the national final. It wasthe Invicta Grammar School andtheir idea of Moda design that wonthrough.Well done to theFresha team!

It’s your councilach academic year a newE Student Council is elected.The Student Council is animportant part of school life. Itgives students a voice and inputinto making some decisions. Italso provides a forum for raisingconcerns and discussing topicssuch as community cohesion andsustainability.Your 2010 Student Council:Year 7Joe Yandle and Harriet OxleyYear 8Liam Martin and Megan LewisYear 9Edmund Mackeith and AlesiPlummerYear 10Matthew Coomber and GillianHockingYear 11Head Boy & Head Girl – IsaacRichardson and Lauren HayesDeputies – Ellie Barr-Richardsonand Oliver BeardIf you would like to raise anythingto be discussed at the termlyStudent Council meetings pleasesee your form representative.sustainabilitys Nevill, Mrs Bremner and IM have been working together ondesigning the whole Year 10 GCSECitizenship programme on‘Sustainability’, which is based onthe DCSF’s Sustainable SchoolsFramework, writes Miss Hamer.We have been very fortunate:through our strong links with localorganisations we have hadinspirational speakers from EastSussex County Council,Commoncause, RSPCA and LewesDistrict Council who came in for awhole week of Citizenship lessons(pictured).We would like to pass on ourthanks and look forward to morepartnership working in the future.We would also like to thank MikeDodd for speaking to our studentsabout litter and packaging, theconsequences of litter and the sea ofplastic; Mike has also agreed to helpus gain our Eco Schools SilverAward and we are in the process offorming the Action Team.Around Easter time Year 10 willbe running a Sustainability Fayre toraise awareness of how in the futurewe are going to have to live in amore sustainable way.This will be for the youngerstudents and some key members ofthe local community. If you areinterested in helping or would likemore information please email me:thamer@chaileyschool.org.

connectingf you want to find out what’s goingI on in your local area, or to getinformation and advice with bullying,your sexual health and much more,take a look at our new website for 11– 19 year olds, Connexions 360.The site contains everything fromtips on travel, to advice about schooland education, to information onhealth, money and how to get yourvoice heard.There’s also a spot for your reallifestories—and even a chance towin a Wii!Daniel Butcher and Sam Toomeyfrom Chailey were both part of theThis year, Chailey students haveonce again shown themselves tobe remarkablygenerous insupporting a varietyof charities.The Jeans for Genes Appeal hasbenefited from this generosity forConnexions 360 media team, whohelped come up with the look andfeel of the website, as well as thecontent.The Connexions 360 team will bevisiting Chailey in the New Year toget your feedback and suggestionson the site, and to see if you haveany real life stories you’d like toshare.So log on now atwww.connexions360.org.ukand don’t forget to enter the ‘Win aWii” competition before December28 th !Well done!a number of years now.In 2009, Chailey Schooldonated £837.30 toJeans for Genes. Thismoney will be put tovery good use, so welldone to all those whocontributed.They’re Booked upnce again Chailey’s Year 7O students have taken fulladvantage of the DCSF’s BookedUp scheme which offers freebooks to those just startingsecondary school.This is a great opportunity totry out books that might nototherwise get a second look.Joe Allan (Y7) tells us about hischoice….“The book I chose for Booked Upwas The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, anovel in cartoons about a boycalled Greg Heffley, a Year 7 boystarting a new school.“I really liked the bookbecause he is the same age asme and he gets into lots ofdifferent adventures.“Here are some of them:“He gets chased by teenagers,has a sleepover at a crazy kid’shouse and does a wrestling club.“Overall, I think it is a verygood, funny book and I couldrecommend it to any Year 7 boy.“I really like the language in itbecause it isn’t a big jump fromprimary school and it isn’t all thatdifferent from books like HorridHenry.”

The Gift of speechn yet another closely fought LewesI District Rotary Club PublicSpeaking Competition, Chaileyemerged victorious, writes Mr Dale.Three year 10 students did farmore than hold their collective ownin the face of stiff opposition in theshape of South Downs College,Lewes Old Grammar School andRingmer Community College.Gillian Hocking, Matt Coomberand Rob Norris thoroughly deservedtheir success because they were ateam.Some of the other teams reliedupon starry performances whereasthis intrepid trio exhibited genuinecool under pressure, remarkablegiven that they were the youngestparticipants.Their choice of topic helpedconsiderably: Gillian’s well-balancedview of the demonisation ofteenagers was well received andshe was by far the most impressivespeaker when having to answerquestions.While others stumbled in this partof the competition, Gillian gave veryfull and spontaneous answers whichwas highlighted by the judges as amajor strength.Matt was a slick and authoritativechairman and Rob dealt brilliantlywith the difficult task of giving thevote of thanks.If they can maintain this approachwhen in Chichester in February forthe next round, I am sure they willmake an impression.IBen’s right on courseand my horse RoundHills Starlight Expresscompeted at Horse of theYear Show on 7 th October2009 in the BSJAAmateur ClassicChampionship, writesBen Parnaby (Y11).Unfortunately, sheknocked down the firstfence but thereafter weflew round the course, giving me a When I was walking the course I wasvery good round and leaving me in 13 th not too nervous but when I was waitingplace.to go I was so excited. I was theIt was an amazing experience, and I youngest in the class and it wasalso met some of my idols such as amazing.Geoff Billington, Ben Maher and Rob The day I qualified for the Horse ofWhitaker. I had my trainer Ryan the Year Show I was amazed. OnlyCrumley with me. He has lots of three people qualified out of 134.experience, jumping 17 times in the My horse and I have won £600 in sixNations Cup teams for Ireland. months. The bigger the jumps theIt took us four hours to get to the more she tries. The biggest course IBirmingham LG Arena. The size of the have jumped was 1m 30cm but theshow was huge. I had all my family jumps were well up to height. Inwatching, and lots of friends.practice, though, I have jumped a jumpThis was the biggest show of my of 1m 60cm.life. It was good but I got very nervous. I have three amazing horses and I amgoing to try and qualify themfor The Horse of the YearShow 2010 and other bigshows such as Hickstead.Left: Ben riding Three B,another rising star—just likeBen!

ordan Littlecott and I have beenJ doing karate for seven years, writesToby Silverman (Y8).We started together in 2002 andhave trained with some of the bestkarate masters and teachers aroundthe world.Last year Jordan travelled to Finlandto meet some of their black belts andtrain with them for a week. He also mettwo Japanese teachers, who are bothvery high in the ranks of theorganisation.I have travelled to Japan, wherekarate comes from. I trained with theGrand Master of the old school karate.karateI have also has been to sometraditional Japanese karate classes.TournamentsJordan and I have been competing intournaments since we started karate.Each year the organisation holds anannual one and both of us have wonawards.This year is the worldwidetournament and we have both beenselected for the team and hope to goand compete against some of thebest karate guys in the world.But for the last ten years Japanhas won because they were thefounders of the martial art and arevery good at it and train every day.They use some weapons in theirkarate training such as"bow" whichmeans longstick (6ft) anda "jow" whichmeans short stick(4ft). They also use "tonfa", a smallstick with a handle like apoliceman's truncheon. They alsouse "siese": knives with two forkedpoints.In karate we are trained to useour moves only in if we are dangerand need to defend ourselves. WeKids!are not allowed to use ANY of themoves we learn at school oranywhere else.Every year there is agrading where people areselected to go and try andachieve their next belt. Theyare graded on their level ofeffort and technique. Mostpeople will pass as long as theytry their best because people willnotice that.That is when Jordan and I got ourblack belt at a grading one year ago.The people who can pass or fail youare the black belts and instructors,My dad is an instructor and thegroup’s chief leader of England'skarate is Shihan Julia Turley (Shihanmeans chief instructor)The black belts in the list below allrun their own classes or have run theirown. If you want to come and have ago it is really fun. You can find outmore from our websitewww.renshinkankarateengland.org.uk/Shihan JuliaSensei PaulSensei SueSensei CarrieSenseiBernieSensei NoelHere is a list of places and sessionsto learn karate:Monday 4.00-5.00 Olympos BH5.00-6.30 Olympos BHTuesday 6.45-8.00 Scaynes HillMillennium CentreWednesday 4.00-5.00 Olympos HH5.00-6.30 Olympos HHThursday 6.30.8.00 Olympos BH6.30-8.00 Ditching village hallFriday 6.00-8.00 Oriel High School,CrawleySunday 6.00-7.30 Olympos BHIf you want any more advice aboutstarting karate, why not ask Jordan orToby?

ince the beginning of theS academic year, a group offourteen Year 9 students has beenmeeting to discuss a short listcomprising five carefully chosenbooks, write Ellen Blakeney andRebecca Hodges. After reading themindividually over the summer holidays,we met every other week to discusseach one and give it a personalrating. The opinions were varied butbetween us there was a unanimouswinner. Here is our…Number 5The Red Necklace!The story follows a young boy, YannMargoza, who is in the care of a dwarfturningcalled Tétu. They both work in thetheatre, dealing in magic and otherillusions and this is where the storybegins. But trouble is brewing and theguillotine is about to fall…We thought this book was differentand, as it was set in the FrenchRevolution, quite interesting. But itwas agreed across the group that attimes the book could be confusingand it was our least favourite.Number 4Life Interrupted!Life Interrupted tells the story of a 15-year-old boy whose life has beenchanged by his mother’s illness. Itshows the way in which he and hisThanks to our readersfor these greatrecommendations. (Nicomissed the photo shoot!)The pagesbrother cope with separation indifferent ways and how it affects theirlives.We found Life Interrupted asurprisingly cheerful novelconsidering the circumstances—attimes ‘laugh out loud’ funny.Compared to the other books it wasnot as significant but still a refreshingread.Number 3Guantanamo Boy!Fifteen-year-old Khalid likes seeinghis friends, playing football down inthe park and other normal things. Heisn’t too excited about going to visithis family in Pakistan but he goes. Aliving nightmare begins. Kidnappedand forced to go to a place noteenager should ever see, this is thestory of his survival.A fantastically life-changing book,this really showed the true horror ofGuantanamo Bay to a youngaudience who may not, like us, havebeen aware. It was chilling and abook, we decided, you could onlyreally read once. But still, a fantasticbook.Number 2Numbers!Since the day her mother died, Jemhas known about numbers, when shelooks into someone’s eyes, she cansee the date they will die. Aftermeeting a boy called Spider and a tripto London Jem foresees the chain ofevents that will shatter their livesforever. A gripping thriller; all of thegroup agreed. Because of its uniquetheme it kept you reading from coverto cover. A truly incredible book!And our winner is…Blood Ties!Theo gives hisbodyguard the sliponce too often.Rachel receives aweird text from herfather.So begins ahighly dangeroussearch to unravelunansweredquestions abouttheir past. Awaiting them are startlingdiscoveries about their identitieswhich will affect their future indramatic and life-altering ways…By a staggering lead in our poll,Blood Ties was by far our favouritebook. Packed with love, hate,adventures and betrayal, Blood Tieshas something for everyone. A trulyexcellent novel that could be read andenjoyed by both genders, young andold. Congratulations, Blood Ties!

Strong supportongratulations to Chailey’s teamC of peer mentors!We have just heard that they havebeen honoured with the DianaCertificate ofExcellence.The Diana Certificateof Excellencerecognises theoutstanding contributionof young people aged12 to 18 who work ingroups to improve theircommunities,organisations or schools.This award isn’t just given away. Ithas to be earned. In the case of ourpeer mentors they do invaluable workin helping their fellow students toovercome difficulties and deal withproblems. In doing this they arefollowing a fine tradition: Chaileystudents have had the support of peermentors for several years now, andevery team has beenexcellent.As Maggie Turner,Director of the DianaAward says: “Thisscheme identifiespositive young rolemodels that challengeexisting stereotypes ofyoung people, andencourages them to develop their fullpotential.”Our peer mentors are anotherexample of Chailey students whomake a positive contribution to thecommunity. Well done to them all.FIt’s magic!or the past few years studentshave enjoyed taking part inlunchtime gaming activities in lab 6,mainly playing Warhammer gamesand collecting and painting models.However, they have recentlystarted playing a card game calledMagic: The Gathering.It’s a collectible card game in whichplayers make up a deck using 60cards, each with a magic spell on it.Two or more players are engaged in aduel and try to cast spells at eachother. A player starts the game withtwenty life points and a player loseswhen he or she runs out of life points.Max Robinson, 8GL writes: We play acard game called Magic: TheGathering. Even if you don’t play orhave any cards you can still comealong and try out the game.If you want to buy a basic deck ofcards it will cost about £9, but thereare about 10,000 different cards tochoose from.We hope you come along, playsome games and maybe even startcollecting and trading. Some cardsare very rare, so you never know youmight even own a card worth athousand pounds!If you start to collect Magic: TheGathering cards we will be glad toexplain the rules to you.Why not take a look at….http://www.wizards.com/Magic

e are very pleased to welcomed theseW Foreign Languages Assistants toChailey and hope they have a happy andfulfilling time with us.Left to right: Elena Álvarez, ValentinBouteiller, Maria Lucibello, Julia Nolte.¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? Me llamo Elena Álvarez ysoy la asistente de español de ChaileySchool. Tengo veintiséis años y soy deMadrid. Estudié lenguas en la universidad:ingles y francés e hizé el curso para serprofesor. Me encanta viajar y conocerotros lugares, otras culturas... El añopasado trabajé en una escuela dePrimaria en Manchester. Enseñabaespañol y me gusto mucho trabajar conniños pequeños, fue muy divertido.Además, tuve la oportunidad de conocerel norte de Inglaterra. Este año tendré laWelcomeoportunidad de trabajar con niños másmayores pero espero divertirme tantocomo el ago pasado y seguir conociendoel país. ¡Hasta luego!Bonjour! Je m‘appelle Valentin Bouteiller.J‘ai 20 ans et je suis l‘assistant de français àl’école de Chailey. Avant de venir ici, j’aiétudie le commerce a l’université et c’estavec beaucoup d’enthousiasme que j’aidécide venir d’aider des élevés anglais dansleur apprentissage du français.Je viens de Bayeux, en Basse-Normandie, région qui se situe au nordouestde la France. J’aime beaucoup fairedu sport tel que la course à pied, lecyclisme, le hand-ball que j’ai pratique enclub et le football américain, loisir que jepartage avec mes amis.J’aime la musique pop-rock et la musiqueTo Chaileyélectronique, et c’est avec un grand plaisirque j’essayerais de vous faire partager maculture tout au long de l’année.Ciao a tutti! Mi chiamo Maria Lucibello esono assistente di lingua italiana a ChaileySchool per 1'anno scolastico 2009-10. Ho 28anni e vivo con la mia famiglia in Italia, in unpiccolo paese della Costiera Amalfitanachiamato Minori.Adoro viaggiare e conoscere lingue eculture nuove, per questo ho studiato Linguee Letterature Straniere all'universita, hovissuto un anno in Francia e ora sono qui inInghilterra... e spero che il mio futuro lavoromi permetta di continuare a girare il mondo!Sono contenta di trascorrere quest'anno aChailey School, ho scoperto che lavorarecon i ragazzi e trasmettere la propria culturaBorn in Bath andbrought up inWarminster, LeeDavidson is currentlystudying at BrightonUniversity, he hasalways been a keenfootballer. He has playedcompetitively for Bristol City, BristolRovers and Carlisle United as well asrepresenting England Counties.He has recently been selected torepresent English Universities.e fantastico. Ho incontrato tante personemeravigliose e sono certa che ne incontreroancora molte durante quest' anno.Un saluto a tutti!Hallo!Ich heisse Julia Nolte und bin 22 Jahre alt.Ich komme aus Deutschland. Ich bin dieneue Fremdsprachenassistentin furDeutsch.Ich studiere Englisch und mochteGrundschullehrerin werden. Meine Hobbiessind Klavier spielen, singen und reisen.Ich finde Chailey School sehr schon undEngland ist fantastisch.Bisher habe ich nur gute Erfahrungen hiergemacht und hoffe das auch das nachstehalbe Jahr so toll weiter geht.PE welcomes...Louise Marshall, PE,was born in Surreyand attended BeaconHigh School. A keenfootballer, she hasplayed forWimbledon FCbefore going on to Charlton Athletic.She trained for a while at Brightonand Hove Albion, but injury cut thatshort. She has now taken up cricket.She is in the third year of her degreecourse.

Dans sa chambre...n Tuesday 6th October Year 9O watched a French theatreproduction called La Chambre deJean-Paul in the main hall writesKatherine Waters (Y9).It was about a boy call Jean-Paul.He didn’t have a girlfriend but all hisfriends did so he tried out being lotsof different characters, like a Gothand a sporty person.I thought the play was really goodand funny. I understood quite a lot ofwhat was said and all of what wasgoing on, thanks to the acting.I think they should come toChailey every year because youlearn some new French words and italso helps to improve your listeningskills.he whole of Year 9 watched aT French theatre production,performed by French actors, writesOlivia Wood (Y9).The play was about a 16-year-oldboy called Jean-Paul, who didn’thave a girlfriend.Suddenly a girlfriend-fairygodmother appears in his bedroom.She teaches him how to dress—toimpress!After she has gone, more andmore people come into his room,one at a time, dressing him indifferent outfits, all to impress the girlhe likes. She is called Angelique.I enjoyed the play and understoodwhat was going on. It was veryfunny!The actors spoke slowly andprecisely with lots of repetition; ithelped me to learn more French andit was good to listen to their accents.I also picked extra words andphrases I hadn’t heard before.I hope to see another Frenchproduction in the future because Ienjoyed it greatly!