OVER the past academic year,

Hummersknott’s generous

colleges have raised huge

amounts for charity and had

lots of fun along the way.

Cuthbert college raised

hundreds for OSCAR’s

Hummersknott

Academical

July 2022 striving | supporting | succeeding

A new head for

Hummersknott

Page 03

Sports Day

Special Report

Page 35

by Jonathan Simpson

and Megan Holmes

Continued on Page 2

18 Features

23 Culture

27 Community

28 Reviews

31 Puzzles

34 Sports

Thousands

raised for

charity Paediatric Brain

Tumour Charity.

College manager,

Miss Kirby praised

her team, saying

“Cuthbert did

amazingly well in

raising what we did”.

They wanted to

do a bag shop but

the supermarket,

unfortunately,

pulled out at the

last minute. Their hot

dog sales were quite a

success, earning them

the most money out

of their fundraising

events. Another

popular event was

throwing wet sponges

at the Head Boy, which

got him absolutely

soaked!

Ketton were

fundraising for

700 Club, who

provide temporary

accommodation and

support services to

vulnerable people.

700 Club among five college causes chosen as

ProM

Pages 14-15

2 July 2022

Editor

Owen Ovens

Assistant Editors

Megan Holmes

Arabella Simpson

Senior Reporters

Inga Leonard

Olivia Smith

Jonathan Simpson

Astrologist

Lucas Jackson-Ayre

Reporters

Holly Ashford

Noah Baker

Annabelle Hughes

Ava Scott

Lizzie Taylor

Molly Turnbull

Rosie Wytcherley

Editor’s

Comment

In this edition of the Hummersknott Academical,

we have developed and

expanded sections of the

newspaper to define and

represent ourselves in a

more professional style.

I am proud of the school

newspaper team and how

they have adapted to these

ideas, as well as how

they have presented their

own ideas that have shaped

our newspaper for the better.

I feel that across the newspaper it has created more

varied and developed forms

of writing, that can clearly

be seen throughout.

During the creation of this

issue, we have had to make

many tough decisions that

have led to the overall

finish being edited many

times, and leading me and

my team to spend lengthy

periods of time debating on

our options.

Furthermore, I am extremely proud of our recent

awards won at The Shine

Media Awards and I am

pleased to have the chance

to be editor on this national

award-winning newspaper. Finally, I would like

to thank Jessica Morgan

for her amazing work over

her time as editor, and

thank my fantastic team

for the long hours and hard

work they put in to make

this issue of the Hummersknott Academical.

by Owen Ovens

Press Team

With support from Peter Barron Media

Charities benefit from

Hummersknott Colleges

Continued from Page 1

Thursday 1 and Friday 2 September 2022 – Staff training days

Friday 25 November 2022 – Staff and students not in school

Friday 6 January 2023 – Staff training day

Thursday 20 July 2023 – Staff and students not in school

Holiday

Autumn half-term 2022

School closure day 2022

Christmas 2022

Spring half-term 2023

Easter 2023

May Day 2023

Summer half-term 2023

Summer 2023

Closing Date

Friday 21 October 2022

Thurs 24 November 2022

Thurs 22 December 2022

Friday 17 February 2023

Friday 31 March 2023

Friday 28 April 2023

Friday 26 May 2023

Wednesday 19 July 2023

Re-opening for

teaching

Monday 31 October 2022

Monday 28 Nov 2022

Monday 9 January 2023

Monday 27 February 2023

Monday 17 April 2023

Tuesday 2 May 2023

Monday 5 June 2023

TBC

Despite strange

and difficult

circumstances caused

by Covid, Ketton

managed to raise

£440.82 with a staff

and student penalty

shootout, burger

sales, raffle prizes

and letting students

watch science

experiments involving

their favourite

teachers, such as

Methane Bubbles!

Mrs Merifield sends

good wishes to all

who volunteered and

said: “It is an honour

to help the charity

and all the wonderful

work that they do.”

Quaker were

fundraising for Family

Help, and Quaker

college manager Mrs

Craggs said that she is

“very proud” and that

there is “always room

for improvement”.

Quaker’s fundraising

events included

raffles, a spin the

wheel competition

and a name the dog

competition.

Mrs Craggs says that

the most successful

event is “a secret that

I’m not going to tell

you”, but we can only

assume that Quaker

generally enjoyed

a very successful

campaign.

Stephenson were

fundraising for

Darlington Assistance

for Refugees (DAR).

One of their highlights

was their ‘Stephenson

Stocks’ event where

pupils could pay to

throw wet sponges at

teachers, including

Martin the caretaker!

Wyvern were

fundraising for The

Kieran Maxwell

Legacy and managed

to raise £1,220.16,

including by selling

pins and keyrings,

making over £400.

Students from every

form came up with

different ideas for

fundraising, such as

hampers, raffles, leg

waxing, car washing

and guessing the

number of sweets in

a jar.

Mrs Cairns said:

“We could not have

done this without the

wonderful Wyvern

staff and students.”

This year has been

tough at times, but as

usual, Hummersknott

Academy students

have persevered to

raise thousands for

charity and help those

that need it the most.

July 2022 3

Familiar face named

new Head of School

AS the academic year comes to

a close, it was announced that

Senior Vice Principal Mr Merifield will become the new Head

of school at Hummersknott

Academy.

Current Principal Mr Keating

will be taking on the role of

Executive Principal of the Hummersknott Academy Trust.

Other staff changes will see

Miss Barrett working alongside

Miss Kelly in a Vice Principal

role.

Over the past year, the school

has been focused on returning

to normality after the COVID-19

pandemic.

Mr Merifield expressed his

delight that in recent weeks

we have been able to return to

more regular routines.

He said: “It has been a real

pleasure towards the end of the

year to be able to put back some

of the routines and practices

that I think of as the Hummersknott experience.

“The most important thing

about the school - as well as

getting students the results to

move on - is that we provide

all the other experiences and

all the other things that you do

during the school year.

“So really, I think it has been a

successful year in those terms

and that we have got back to

something like normal.”

Mr Merifield also spoke of his

aspirations for the year ahead,

and how he would like to see

the school improve and always

move forward.

He said: “I think any school

that stands still is a worrying

place to be; what you need to

look at whenever you start a

school year, and at any point

in the school year, are ways to

improve - there is no ‘perfect’

school.”

Looking back on his favourite

moments of this year, Mr Merifield was particularly impressed

by the school’s efforts on Sports

Day. “Even though I was on

‘toilet duty’ all day, Sports Day

was my favourite by far because

any event where you watch the

whole school celebrating each

other doing things is a fantastic

thing to watch. It is why you

do the job!” For the same reason, Mr Merifield also loved the

Prize Evening, Prom, and the

Year 6 Transition days.

by Olivia Smith

4 July 2022

SEVERAL members of staff

won’t be returning in the new

school year, and we want to

wish them well.

Mr Clarke is sadly leaving us

after ten years as Hummersknott’s Head of English.

He said: “It is very difficult to

leave this wonderful school. I

am going to miss everyone, and

I wish you all the very best!”

Mrs Raine is retiring from her

role as an English teacher at

Hummersknott after 19 years.

She said, “I have absolutely

loved teaching at Hummersknott. Hummersknott is like my

extended family.

“The English department is brilliant, and it is the best subject

to teach. Students are incredibly

lucky to have such dedicated

staff. I am sad to be leaving.”

Ms Hill is also leaving the English department. She said, “I

have always enjoyed teaching at

Hummersknott.

“The staff and students have

wonderful hearts, spirits, and

minds. It has been an absolute

pleasure to be part of this wonderful journey with you all.”

Mrs Sweeting is leaving the

Humanities department and the

Geography team.

She said: “I have thoroughly

enjoyed working with students

and staff, it’s been an absolute

honour.

“I feel incredibly privileged to

say I’ve been a part of the humanity faculty working closely

with the legends Miss Jackson

and Mrs Morris, until next time

dream team, Queen B.”

Ms Jones is leaving the RE team.

She said: “It has been a privilege to teach at Hummersknott

Academy, I will miss it dearly.

“All those funny classroom conversations, thought-provoking

questions and light-bulb moments have been the highlights.

I have learnt as much from

teaching you as I hope you have

from my classes.

“As I move my family back to

North Wales and begin working

for the NHS, I would like to wish

you all the best in your bright

futures. I will take with me

many happy memories, thank

you!”

Mrs Holyome, who is leavingthe

English and History faculties, said: “I so loved working

at Hummersknott that they

couldn’t get rid of me! I particularly liked the friendship afforded to me by the English and

Humanities departments.

“However, I’ve practiced retirement many times and I now

know how to do it properly! I

will be relocating to Derbyshire

and wish you all a very fond

farewell.”

Mrs Ringwood, who has been

working at the school for 28

years, said: “I started work at

Hummersknott in October 1994.

Throughout the years I have

seen many changes, too numerous to mention, but definitely

memorable!”

Ms Austin has left the Humanity

department and her role of Head

of Department. Mrs Brown said:

“We are very sorry to be saying

goodbye to Ms Austin, who has

been a fantastic history teacher and department leader for

many years at Hummersknott.

We wish her all the best for the

future.”

Miss Conway, an MFL teacher, is

also leaving. She said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time at Hummersknott, working with students,

staff and teaching French.

“What stands out for me is seeing students enjoying extracurricular activities like sports day,

crepe project and the French

film club.”

Mrs Bates, who is retiring from

our catering team after 25 years

at Hummersknott, said: “It’s

hard sometimes and frantic

others but I enjoy doing it, I’ll

be sad to go. I will miss the staff

and students and all my wonderful colleagues.”

Farewell to ten members of staff

by Holly Ashford

July 2022 5

You Humm it, I’ll play it A WELL-KNOWN local folk

group are going back to their

roots to raise funds for a good

cause.

Fourum, a band formed by four

young teachers from Hummersknott School in 1972, are playing a one-off concert in aid of

Hummersknott Badminton Club

at St Cuthbert’s Church Hall on

Sunday, September 24.

The group have been very

popular in the region for half a

century.

They were stifled during Covid-19 but are now back to performing and are classing this as

their ‘Golden Jubilee Concert.’

There is likely to be a lot of demand for this so get tickets fast!

Academical scoops national award

THE HUMMERSKNOTT Academical has won national acclaim

at a student newspaper awards

night in London.

Our news team won the Rising

Stars 2022 award at the Shine

School Media Awards.

The students were also Highly Commended for their latest

front page, which judges described as: “A clear, bold cover

[that] blends school news with

the editorial team’s take on the

Ukraine war via an excellent

interview with the school principal.”

Former editor Jessica Morgan

and incoming editor Owen

Ovens attended the event in

Mayfair with English teacher

Mr Webber, who oversees the

student team.

Owen said: “I am ecstatic over

the result and extremely proud

to lead the now award-winning

Hummersknott Academical

team.

“I am so proud of everyone and

am very grateful to my predecessor, Jessica, for leaving me

with an amazing and talented

team of young journalists. I

hope during my time as editor

to uphold the same high standard of quality journalism that

she encouraged.”

Mr Keating, principal of Hummersknott Academy, said: “It’s

absolutely fantastic to see the

news team’s efforts recognised

at a national level. The students

and Mr Webber all put in a heroic effort to make every edition

of the school newspaper the

best it can be, and the results

speak for themselves.

“I want to congratulate the

whole team, and I look forward

to reading all about it in the

next issue!” [Editor’s Note: And

here it is, sir!]

The Hummersknott Academical previously saw awards

success when the newspaper’s

first editor, Jessica Fairley,

won Star Student of the Year in

The Northern Echo Education

Awards, in part for her work

establishing the newspaper.

6 July 2022

New looks,

new books

THE Learning Resource Centre

is a key feature of Hummersknott, and recently Miss Maddren

and Miss Schweizer have completed a number of refurbishments to give it even more of an

inviting atmosphere.

The renovations include a variety of brand new books, as

well as wall stickers of quotes,

and a spectacular depiction of

a map of the Earth, with labels

of various books set in different

countries around the world.

Miss Maddren said: “Our priority was looking at the actual

collection of books, getting a

real feel for the quality of the

bookstore.

“And then once we’ve established that, improving the quality of the books in here to make

sure that we’ve got a really good

mix of fiction, as well as some

non-fiction as well.”

Not only is the LRC a fantastic

library, it also provides a peaceful ambience for studying and

revising.

Another addition to the LRC is

a group of librarian assistants

who have been appointed to

work alongside Mrs Calloway,

the LRC co-ordinator (see opposite).

After going through an application process, a number of dedicated students were selected to

help out around the library by

keeping it tidy and making sure

books are lent out and returned

successfully.

If you are interested in accessing the LRC, you must fill out

an application form explaining

why, and, providing the staff are

satisfied with your reasons, you

will gain access to the resources before school from 8:15 and

during lunch and break times.

by Olivia Smith

Assistants

join the team

STUDENTS have taken up the

challenge of helping to run

Hummersknott’s library.

Over the past term, Mrs Calloway, our school librarian, selected student librarians to help

her keep the library neat and

tidy following its recent refurbishment.

Mrs Calloway received many applications from students eager

to take on the role, but limited

capacity meant she could only

allow five students per day on

shift no matter what given day.

Due to this, she could only accept a limited number amount

of people, leading to some disappointment.

Hamish Dare, who succesful applied for the position, spoke to

the Academical about his role.

He explained his duties included re-shelving returned books,

promoting the use of the LRC,

looking after the students requests whilst in the LRC, general housekeeping, and thinking

of ways that we as a school can

improve our resource centre.

Hamish added: “I was so happy

to have been chosen to do this

role.

“Over my time as an assistant

librarian so far, I have enjoyed

every minute of it and will continue to do my duties over the

year to come.”’

by Owen Ovens

July 2022 7

Former Hummersknott 

student awarded MBE  

by Inga Leonard

A FORMER Hummersknott student has received an MBE for

his work on the AstraZeneca

vaccine during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Jonathan Elliott has come a long

way since his days at Hummersknott Academy. He is now

Director in Global Government

Affairs and Policy Strategy for

AstraZeneca.

Jonathan was awarded the MBE

at Windsor Castle on March

16 after finding out that he

would receive the award last

year.

Jonathon was responsible for

the relationship between AstraZeneca and the UK government,

which allowed him to help

create a vaccine in partnership

with the UK government and

Oxford University.

He was also in charge of negotiating terms with the government and making sure the

vaccines safely and quickly got

to the NHS.

Dr Elliott said: “I was hugely

surprised when I found out,

and very proud and incredibly

happy. It’s not often people in

the Government and corporate

affairs get recognized for something like this so it was quite a

shock.”

8 July 2022

YEAR 9 French students have

been working hard all year to

develop their knowledge of the

language and France’s culture.

On the final day of the spring

term, these French students

were paid a visit by Julien from

La Petit Crêperie, organised by

the French teachers.

Julien – who is from Brittany

in France where the crêpe first

originated – has been running

La Petit Crêperie for years and

currently has a shop in Newcastle and a stall at the quayside

market on Sunday. He goes into

schools to share a passion for

crêpes and to teach French.

When it comes to crêpes there

were many toppings you could

have, this includes syrup and

lemon juice and sugar. Of

course, pupils had to ask for

their desired toppings in French.

The feedback from all the Year 9

students was very positive. Mason, a Year 9 student who took

part in the event, said: “Julien is

very nice, and he knew what he

was doing. I really enjoyed the

experience!” No doubt everyone

hopes Julien will be back in the

future!

This month

in history

July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence was

approved by the Continental Congress.

July 1, 1862: President

Abraham Lincoln signed

the first income tax bill

into law.

July 2, 1917: A race riot

occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, resulting in an estimated 75 African Americans killed and hundreds

injured.

July 3, 1775: During the

American Revolution,

George Washington took

command of the Continental Army at Cambridge.

July 6, 1885: Louis Pasteur gave the first successful anti-rabies inoculation

to a boy who had been

bitten by an infected dog.

5 July 1946: The bikini

swimsuit was showcased

for the very first time,

prompting dismay.

July 23, 1952: Egyptian

army officers launched a

revolution changing Egypt

from a monarchy to a republic.

July 27, 1953: The Korean War ended with the

signing of an armistice

by U.S. and North Korean

delegates at Panmunjom,

Korea. The war lasted just

over three years.

by Noah Baker

La Petite Crêperie is a

hit with French pupils

July 2022 9

QUEEN Elizabeth II celebrated

the first ever Platinum Jubilee in the history of the United

Kingdom and Hummersknott

Academy put its own stamp on

the event.

Across the school, teachers and

students have commemorated the occasion in many ways,

including planting trees, and

participating in writing challenges to highlight what her

Majesty has done for Britain

throughout her 70 years as

Queen.

As the environment is one of

the themes of this year’s Jubilee, Mrs Sweeting organised for

several Year 8 students to plant

tree saplings outside of the

academy earlier this year, not

only to honour the Queen, but

also to make a positive impact

on the environment.

Mrs Sweeting said: “We’ve had

another tree-riffic opportunity

to plant more trees in our school

grounds. This will increase the

biodiversity of Hummersknott,

help to fight the battle of climate change whilst improving

our well-being.

“The children are the roots of

the project and are passionate

about making the difference to

our environment.”

Another challenge for all the

Hummersknott Academy community to take part in was Miss

Schweizer’s Jubilee Challenge,

which required participants

to conduct research on Queen

Elizabeth II’s reign and life.

They could do so by reading,

writing, or conducting interviews about how the Queen has

impacted people’s lives during

her reign.

The aim of the challenge was to

give students a taster of skills

they will need in later life; such

as writing, interviewing, and

researching.

Miss Schweizer said: “I started

The Jubilee Challenge in response to students who felt like

we were offering lots of reading

events now.

“Miss Maddren and I wanted to

offer a challenge which allowed

students to use a range of skills,

and the Jubilee seemed the perfect opportunity for this.

“It is a chance for us to celebrate and reflect on the society

that we live in.”

Students in Food and Nutrition

from Year 8 to Year 10 took

part in a creative challenge

to design and bake a Jubilee

themed biscuit.

The goal of the challenge was

to improve their cooking skills

and finishing techniques.

Winners were awarded a Jubilee

medal to commemorate their

efforts and a bag of hard-earned

sweets.

Mrs Lacey said: “It was great

fun and I’d like to say a huge

well done to the students for

their excellent effort and outstanding biscuit designs.”

Mrs Raper and a group of Year 7

students also made Jubilee mugs

to commemorate the event.

In addition, during the second

half of the term, they buried

them in a time capsule on the

school site so in the future people will remember the importance of the Platinum Jubilee.

Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee

by Owen Ovens

10 July 2022

JAKE Daniels is a 17-yearold British footballer, who has

recently become the UK’s first

openly gay professional footballer since 1990, when Justin

Fashanu came out.

This is a great step forward for

the LGBTQ+ community, as it

helps to create a safe space for

gay men in football - which,

frankly, doesn’t really exist right

now.

Jake has already inspired so

many young footballers who

need a role model to let them

know its ok to not fit exactly

into the stereotypes.

He said: “I can’t really put a

date on it, but I was probably

five or six years old when I

knew I was gay. So it’s been a

long time that I have been living

with the lie. At that age you

don’t really think that football

and being gay mix.”

School can be a hard place for

many kids, especially those in

the LGBTQ+ community, and the

expectations placed upon children by their peers and by society can make it hard to express

who one truly is. Thankfully the

response to Daniels coming out

has been entirely positive and

he has received many messages, not only from people he has

inspired but also multiple big

names in the footballing world.

Manchester City forward Jack

Grealish said that he thought

Daniels decision to come

out was “A massive step forward.”

Former England player Gary

Neville praised Jake on his bravery and said: “Its a day of great

importance for English football.”

Throughout his life, Daniels has

been a youth product of Blackpool FC, starting as a youth

member at the age of seven.

After ten long years with the

club, he officially signed a

contract with Blackpool on the

February 25 2022.

He made his debut for the

Blackpool senior side on May

7, coming on as an 81st minute

substitute. After he had signed,

Daniels said, “It’s very exciting for both me and my family,

I’ve been at Blackpool from a

young age and now I’ve turned

my dream into a reality, I’m so

excited to see where I can progress to.”

Is there a young person who inspires you? Would you like to see them here?

Send in your nominations to Mr Webber at [email protected]

This year marked only the second time in the history of professional

football that a player came out as gay. Annabelle Hughes and Inga

Leonard examine why this was such an important event for the sport...

INSPIRING US

July 2022 11

Hard-boiled heroes

EARLY in the summer term, the

history department began a

competition to see who could

create the best “History Hero”

out of a hard-boiled egg.

The competition was an enormous success with many students submitting their creations

and everyone had a wonderful

time making the eggs that were

submitted.

Although there were many

egg-cellent choices, there could

only be one winner, and Ava

Scott’s talent could not be eggnored.

Ava made an Alexander Graham

Bell inspired egg, a call-back

to what she learned about in

primary school. She said: “I am

incredibly happy that I had the

chance to compete in this competition and am very pleased

that I won.”

Lilly McDermott and Carys Hopkins were the runners-up, with

their Benjamin Franklin and

Suffragette creations.

Ava was very egg-cited to win

a £10.00 shopping voucher,

whilst the runners-up went

home with a sweet voucher.

Abigail Etherton also won the

Special Commendation prize for

her Roald Dahl egg.

by Inga Leonard

THE newly-launched Breakfast

Club has been “a huge success”,

in the words of Mrs Franks, assistant principal.

Some consider breakfast the

most important meal of the day,

and staff at Hummersknott continue to make sure that all KS3

students have access to food on

a morning.

Organised by Mr Ferguson

and voluntary members of

staff, Breakfast Club occurs

each morning at 8:00AM until

8:25AM in Q8, and every student has access to the food that

is provided.

From September, a KS4 breakfast club is being launched by

Miss Ives so all students in the

academy have access to a simple breakfast.

Not only does Breakfast Club

provide food, homework support is also offered.

by Olivia Smith

The most

important

meal of

the day

YEAR 7 embarked on a trip

to St Cuthbert’s Church in

Darlington town centre.

They explored the architecture, as well as identifying

key features of a church.

Megan Hughes, a Year 7

student, said: “The trip was

very enjoyable and there

were a lot of things to do and

see, especially as we were

shown how the church was a

cross shape.

“I thought that the trip was

amazing.”

This landmark is an extremely important part of Darlington heritage, dating back to

the early 12th century.

Dedicated to Cuthbert of

Lindisfarne, an Anglo-Saxon

saint, his body was carried

to Durham Cathedral.

Yet, it is believed by many

that during the journey the

body rested in Darlington,

hence the naming of the

church.

Overall, everyone enjoyed

the trip and learnt a lot

about Cuthbert’s history, and

why at Hummersknott one of

our colleges is called Cuthbert.

Year 7s explore 1300s church

by Rosie Wytcherley

12 July 2022

Green party visit Hummersknott

GREEN Party leader Carla

Denyer visited eager Year 10

students at Hummersknott to

explain to them what the Green

Party was all about.

The Green Party is the fourth

largest political party in the UK

and aims to make a huge difference to the country that we live

in.Carla Denyer is an inspiration

for many, and so far in her life

she has done many things to

help people.

When she was at college Carla

and her classmates convinced

the headteacher to allow fairtrade products to be sold in the

school dining hall and because

of their persistence fair-trade

was welcomed into lots of other

schools in the area.

At university studied mechanical

engineering. This helped her she

realise how much of a problem

climate change was, and she

looked for jobs in the renewable

industry, as well as working on

a wind farm.

However, she realised that she

wanted to be more useful and

“help make the world a better

place.” Currently she is part of

the Green Party council in Bristol, which has 24 Green councillors - the same number of seats

as the Labour Party.

As the Green Party is not in

power, it is the job of its members to challenge the other

parties.

Though they are a minority party, the Green Party has come a

long way in recent years. In one

of elections, they got 24 per cent

of the vote, which is a massive

success.

If the Green Party won the

election, they would strive to

achieve a huge change in education by providing extra funding.

Education is something which

people of all ages should be able

to go back to so it can enrich our

lives. We would then be able to

learn new skills which may be

needed for necessary jobs that

may arise in future years.

Additionally, the Green Party aims to eradicate extreme

pressure at a young age, so they

would look to remove SATs and

the stress that teachers face

from Ofsted.

In school they would like to

have smaller class sizes to maximise children’s learning and

include input from students as

to what the curriculum should

look like.

A huge part of the Green Party is

what can be done to tackle climate change, and how vital it is

that everyone takes part to save

by Megan Holmes

July 2022 13

our planet, as just the simplest

things can help.

One way in which fuel can be

saved is that the employers

would provide buses for their

employees to get to work so

they don’t have to use their cars,

which would reduce the risks

of an accident and allow the

employees to have some leisure

time on their way to work instead of focusing on driving.

This would also provide employment opportunities, as there

would be an increase in the need

for bus drivers.

Another way to further benefit the economy is instead of

funding the air travel industry,

instead offer more funding to

public transport, which will

mean less traffic and less fuel

being used, which will benefit

the planet massively.

The Green Party is all about

showing people a way to recycle

easily so they make the right

choices and realising that things

we may have thrown away as

we discarded it a rubbish could

be reused and donated in order

to reduce our waste.

In terms of voting, the Green

Party wouldn’t allow online voting as it is easier to cheat, but

there are other ways that they

aim to get more people involved.

For example, when going to a

polling booth to make your vote

they would eliminate the need

for photo ID, as poorer people

do not have ID such as a passport, and they should not be discarded from their right to vote

just because they don’t have a

lot of money.

Councillors are glad to hear

about young people’s concerns,

and you should feel able to

tell your councillors about any

problem that may arise as it is

important to get engaged and

know what is going on in politics, so you know how to make

your vote count.

Additionally, the Green Party

is very inclusive, and you don’t

have to be 18 to join if you wish

to get involved straight away.

The Green Party believes it is

important to have lots of different ages as life has changed so

much, and it is never too late to

work in politics, as they have

proven, with the youngest member being 18 and the oldest 71.

Finally, the Green Party is all

about showing that you care

and being passionate about the

change that you are making in

the world and the influence that

you will have on those around

you.

The party is organised in a

non-hierarchical way and policies are set by all members,

meaning that all members are

represented.

For example, while visiting

Hummmersknott Academy, the

Green Party members were also

intending to visit to Darlington’s

Abbey Road Schools and Queen

Elizabeth Sixth Form College, as

well as a community woodland

which is going to be destroyed

for houses, to raise awareness.

The Green Party is all about

change, and everyone can get

involved. They say: “Walls are

made from bricks, and we are

all one little brick in a wall – we

can all make a difference.”

Lego Masters build on

school club’s success

LEGO Masters is an extracurricular after school club run

by DT teacher, Mr Barker, on a

Wednesday nights.

Since Covid, it has been important to keep clubs like this

available for students to help

them spend time with friends,

develop skills, and communicate

with others

Members are tasked with making various designs, such as replicating Mr. Barker’s classroom

in LEGO, which are then judged

by their peers.

Competitors were give a medal and some sweets for their

efforts.

At Key Stage 3 lunch on July 8,

winners were announced, with

Hugo Douglas-Reeves, Alex

Morton, and Brandon Hickson

winning.

They were given a purple Lego

brick trophy with their names

engraved onto it as a reward for

their tireless efforts over the

past couple of weeks.

This was an enjoyable experience for many and hopefully

will run for many years.

As this club has shown, there

are many things on offer at

Hummersknott, and there’s

something for everyone to get

involved with, so no-one is left

out and opportunities are there

to familiarize yourself with the

staff and students around you.

by Megan Holmes

14 July 2022

2022

ProM

July 2022 15

16 July 2022

Becoming a student leader

A STUDENT Leader’s job involves more than just the odd

assembly and wearing a fancy

tie.

Student Leaders are expected

to give up time during form,

breaks, and lunchtime to work

towards enhancing the quality

of school life.

Any Year 10 can apply, and it

isn’t based off academic ability,

so nothing should stop you from

putting in an application!

You need two references (including one from your form

mentor) and a letter to tell your

College Manager the skills, qualities, and experiences you will

bring to the position.

Keep in mind, you can apply for

two or even three positions, so

think about which ones appeal

to you.

Probably the most well-known

Student Leader position is that

of College Captain.

It involves playing a leading role

within your college, supporting

your team in doing their roles,

and even attending meetings

with the principal, senior staff,

and Governors.

Two additional College

Vice-Captains attend meetings

with the team and represent the

College in the absence of a College Captain.

College Captains must also apply and be interviewed for the

role of Head Student.

The two Sports Captains in each

college have been remarkably

busy lately, organising sports

day and making sure that the

teams were full of people.

Many of them took part in

Sports Day themselves, and

everyone came together for a

very enjoyable day.

Year 7 Form Leaders have also

been helping recently with the

Year 6 transition days. You

may remember going on one

yourself, and it’s a Year 7 Form

Leader’s job to ensure that all

new students settle into school.

This could entail anything from

helping with homework to finding classrooms.

Speaking of homework, the last

position to mention is a Peer

Leader.

Peer Leaders work closely with

the College Managers to help

any students having trouble

with homework or even just organisational skills in general.

Whatever position interests you,

make sure that you are prepared

to dedicate time and energy to

it.

Although being a Student Leader

can be stressful sometimes, it

is extremely rewarding to see

everyone in your college come

together.

If you want to see who the recently chosen Student Leaders

are, keep an eye out for photos

of them around the school.

The new Student Leaders have been announced and are already helping

around school. But how did they get here? Could you be next in line? Arabella

Simpson has the inside information...

Attendance has never tasted so sweet

A YEAR 8 form class has been

rewarded for their dedication to

not missing school days.

Across the final term of school

Mrs Woods has been keeping a

keen eye on the highest attending form.

By a large margin, Mrs Sweeting’s Year 8 form in Cuthbert

College was the winner.

As a reward, the form missed

their last lesson to enjoy an ice

cream because of their outstanding attendance.

Students chose between chocolate, bubble-gum or strawberry

sauce, with bubble-gum becoming the most popular flavour.

Then followed a relaxing ten

minutes to sit down and eat the

ice cream.

Mrs Sweeting said: “I am proud

of my form for their punctuality throughout this term to win

themselves an ice cream each.”

by Owen Ovens

July 2022 17

AS part of Year 10 students’

introduction to Year 11 and life

after secondary school, they

embarked on a week of work

experience to explore what they

may like to do in the future.

It was a nerve-wracking but

exciting week for the eager Year

10s, and they all took part in

a range of different jobs with

many important responsibilities

which they all faced head-on.

As a result of Covid, there were

fewer job opportunities available, but even if it wasn’t for

the whole week most students

managed to secure a place.

Some people took a trip down

memory lane and went back to

their primary school to experience what teaching was like,

and many students discovered

how being a teacher can have

such a big impact on the lives of

children in their early years.

Others worked in an office or in

a coffee shop, along with many

other jobs developing communication skills and knowledge

which will be vital for later life.

Mrs. Tindale visited some students and the praise from the

employers was amazing.

She was very proud of all the

students’ hard work, as this was

the first work experience since

Covid and it was never guaranteed that everything would go to

plan.

Later in June, the Year 10s were

given a peek into their future

and experienced what college

education is like.

They visited Darlington College

which offers a route to Teesside

University, which they have

close links with, for further

education.

The students went for the whole

day and experienced two different taster sessions, as well as

what lunch would be like.

They also went to Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College.

They only went for the morning

but had two jam packed sessions

of subjects they may consider

taking at A-Level.

These two weeks were an

eye-opening experience for

our Year 10s and one which

will hopefully help them come

to a decision when they begin

to think seriously about their

future choices, and where they

may like to go after they depart

from Hummersknott Academy.

by Megan Holmes

Getting a taste of the world of work

18 July 2022

THE pandemic has caused a

severe decline in the country’s

mental health.

There has been growing encouragement for those struggling to

speak out and get the help they

require.

Studies suggest 21 per cent of

adults experienced or were

diagnosed with depression in

early 2021 whereas before the

beginning of COVID only 10%

were known to be suffering with

this condition.

A Hummersknott student said:

“Reaching out is important

because it reminds people that

mental health exists and allows

them to look out for friends and

family.”

Finding support is a key step

in improving and healing your

mental health however you

don’t have to look far - it can be

as simple as talking to a friend

about your day-to-day struggles

or seeing your college manager

confidentially.

Although, the root of the problem remains unsolved- breaking

the stigma surrounding mental

health, shaming others about

issues they are facing. Such as,

statistics have proven that it is

rare for men to speak out- over

40% won’t talk about their mental health.

However, 1 in 8 boys experience

mental health troubles whereas

1 in 5 girls are known to have a

condition. Why should we have

to suffer in silence because our

society refuses to accept the

issues we face?

Another vital step in increasing

mental health awareness is promoting support for others- being

there for your friends and family in times of need and aiding

them in accessing services such

as therapy or knowing how to

handle different situations.

Moreover, there are ways in

which life can be made easier to

cope with, spreading awareness

of how others are feeling as well

as opening up the without fear

of stigmatisation or disapproval.

In school, students can find the

assistance they require privately- confiding in a college manager or getting a session with the

in-school counsellor.

Our mental health champion

Mrs Craggs is also available if

the most comfortable option for

you.

Overall, you should not be afraid

to seek the help you need and

begin to heal your mental health

with the right support from

others.

We should be expressing our

emotions and thoughts not suppressing.

Know when to ask for help

FEATURES

Rosie Wytcherley

takes a close look

at the impact

the pandemic

and successive

lockdowns have had

on the population’s

mental well-being,

and offers advice for

anyone who may be

struggling to cope...

July 2022 19

OVER the past decade, Pride has

grown to be a colossal event. At

London’s Pride parade this year,

which also marked the 50th anniversary since its first parade,

it is estimated that over 1.5

million people turned up, and

all-over social media, millions

of people used #pride to show

their support for the event – but

why has Pride grown to be such

a huge event? How did Pride

come to be something that

everybody knows about?

And when did it all begin?

Pride month is an event

that occurs every June

to commemorate the

LGBTQ+ community

and their past.

It is held all over the

world to mark the

Stonewall Riots and

the transformation

of the gay liberation movement

for LGBTQ+ rights

in America.

The Stonewall

Riots go by a few

names, such as

simply Stonewall, Stonewall

Rebellion, or the

Stonewall Uprising, but they all

refer to a series of protests

performed by

members of the

Gay community in

Manhattan.

The protests

were in retaliation to

a police raid

that occurred on the June

28 1969, at the Stonewall Inn,

which was owned by the Mafia,

when members of the community began fighting back after

police became violent.

There is also a Stonewall charity that fights for LGBT+ rights

in the UK, which was formed

in 1989 by political activists

and others campaigning taking

action against Section 28 of the

Local Government Act 1988.

Section 28 was a series of laws

that prohibited the ‘promotion

of homosexuality’, banning the

teaching of information about

homosexuality. Many LGBT+

student support groups had

to shut down or

self-censor.

The first pride march in New

York was held on June 28 1970,

in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots.

Marchers walked 51 blocks to

New York’s Central Park. The

first march in England was on

the July 1 1972, and attracted

around 2000 participants.

But why is Pride so important?

During June, companies and

celebrities allow themselves to

acknowledge the existence of

the LGBT community, and show

their support for it, allowing

young members of the community to know that they are

welcome and accepted.

It lets people in the community

know that it is normal to have a

sexual orientation other than

straight, and schools often

do a presentation about

the LGBTQ+ community,

teaching students about

what it is and why we

have a Pride Month.

Teaching about

the community in

schools is important.

A survey found that

nine in ten students

say that they hear

homophobic language at school,

and one in three

say that they hear

it almost every

day. The normalisation of

LGBT+ youths

is important as

it lessens the

bullying they

may receive and

allows schools

to create support groups for

them.

I believe that

Pride Month

is vital, as

there is still

somewhat of

a stigma around being gay

- it was thought of as a mental

illness until 1973, and same-sex

marriage was only legalised in

the UK in 2014!

It is important that the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community

are recognised, so that we can

continue to move forward and

improve everybody’s lives and

well-being.

We are people too

As Pride Month comes to an end, Annabelle Hughes explores the history of

Pride and the LGTB+ community - its struggles, heartbreaks, and triumphs...

20 July 2022

As the world reels in the wake of a landmark

US Supreme Court decision, Anabelle Hughes

considers the implications and says...

My body

My choice

July 2022 21

There are around 166.24 million

females in America and probably as many different nuanced

opinions on abortion and its

surrounding laws. But the overturning of Roe v Wade will not

help settle the arguments, it

will only inflate them.

The USA supreme court’s decision to overturn this law,

thereby allowing states to ban

abortion (the procedure to end

a pregnancy which is often used

when a person is not in a fit

state to look after a baby) has

caused much controversy, provoking debate around issues of

women’s rights, the influence of

church on state and the patriarchy.

One practical consideration is

the economic effect of this. With

the sky-rocketing price of living

in not just America, but the

entire world, now seems like a

worse time than ever for abortions to be banned: many people who would want to have an

abortion cannot afford the price

of having and raising a child:

the cost of simply giving birth in

America, without complications,

is an average of $10,080, which

many people cannot afford to

pay. There is no obligation for

employers in America to give

paid parental leave, and many

employees are not granted it.

Many babies will be born into

poverty.

Since June 24, 2022, some

states have instated criminal

charges for people performing

abortions. For example, Texas

enacted a ‘Heartbeat’ abortion

ban, so that women cannot have

an abortion after a heartbeat is

detected (this often happens at

six weeks, which is long before

most women are aware that

they are pregnant). As well as

this, Texas has made having or

providing an abortion chargeable as a first- or second-degree

felony, and there is a $100,000

civil penalty for each violation.

Likewise, Alabama has made

abortion a Class A felony with

up to 99 years in prison. Most

states that are punishing abortion are not making exceptions

for rape or incest. There is an

argument that these punishments are far too severe, especially if the person wanting an

abortion is pregnant because

of rape, and this is because the

punishments for rape in the USA

are, most of the time, lesser.

The average sentence for a rapist is 15 years in prison, though

this can go all the way up to life.

Many women in America have

been outraged by the decision

of the Supreme Court, as the

verdict was made by a jury of

mostly men, while the issue

deals with women’s bodies.

Furthermore, numerous women believe that they have lost a

fundamental constitution protection and are scared for the

future of themselves and their

daughter’s rights.

Roe v Wade was originally

created as the result of a court

decision that to cease a pregnancy during the first trimester

should be a women’s choice on

the basis that it constituted a

women’s ‘right to privacy.’ This

meant that no individual state

could ban abortion. But now

that this is overturned, this does

not mean all abortions will stop.

While some women in some

states still have access to safe

abortions, the amount of people

getting unsafe abortions will

increase, putting women’s lives

and wellbeing at risk.

What will happen now to the

fifteen-year-old who accidentally got pregnant, and is in a state

where abortion is illegal? What

will happen to the single mother of three who cannot afford

another child?

It is easy to see why so many

women are afraid for their futures, and for their right to bodily autonomy, and it is clear to

see why they feel like they have

lost more than just a right. The

decision to have an abortion is

up to the carrier of the pregnancy, and just them, and if you do

not like abortion you can simply

choose not to have one. Let us

hope that this attack on libertarianism and women’s rights

does not spread from America.

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas

was among the justices who voted to overturn the landmark decision

22 July 2022

LIKE many,

I have been

following the

Johnny Depp

trial which

began in April

2022, and I believed that he was

innocent of the charges brought

against him by his ex-wife Amber Heard.

However, being accused of such

things has affected his career

massively. Companies like Disney and Warner Brothers that

had worked closely with him

in his role in the Pirates of the

Caribbean and Harry Potter

Fantastic Beasts series faced a

difficult decision. They didn’t

want to be seen as studios that

stuck by someone who could do

such a thing.

Though doing so would save

his career, Mr Depp wanted to

prove his innocence for a different reason: for his children.

He refused to believe that

they would have to grow up

in a world where their father

was known for such a crime.

Also, people over the years had

sought his advice and he had

helped those that mattered to

him as best he could, and after

all those years of friendship, he

didn’t want them to see him as

a fraud.

Johnny Depp is a famous actor

and is well known for all the

spectacular roles he has played,

and many may think that all

celebrities live a life of luxury,

but Mr Depp’s life as he knew it

changed in a split second.

He said: “One day you are a

Cinderella and the next you’re

Quasimodo.”

During the trial, both Depp and

Heard were tested to the limit,

and there were many moments

when it was unclear what the

outcome would be.

However, the evidence against

Ms Heard was laid out plainly

for everyone to see, leaving it

up to Mr Depp to play his cards

correctly so he could ensure his

victory.

One clear piece of evidence near

the end of the trial showed that

Amber Heard was lying about

some of the things she claimed

to be true, including an accusation that Depp’s ex, Kate Moss,

had claimed Depp had pushed

Miss Moss down the stairs.

However, much to the surprise

of Miss Heard, Kate Moss testified that she had fallen down

some wet stairs and Johnny

Depp had picked her up and

carried her to her room before

phoning for help, leaving Heard

lost for words.

The verdict found Depp was innocent and did not commit these

crimes.

Depp reached out to his supporters, thanking them for never

giving up on him.

His desire to prove himself has

been inspirational for many,

proving that anyone can be a

victim and we should all fight

for our right to be heard.

As Johnny Depp said: “Truth

never perishes...”

Johnny Depp is Heard

by Megan Holmes

July 2022 23

CULTURE

UK finally perform well

THE Eurovision Song Contest

takes place every year.

And without fail every year,

United Kingdom seems to perform terribly. In fact, the last

time United Kingdom won Eurovision was in 1997 with Katrina

and the Waves’ Love Shine a

Light.

But ever since then, we have

never regained the prized

first-place spot on the precious

podium.

Some call it politics, some call it

bad songs, but after the abysmal ‘nil points’ performance

of James Newman’s Embers in

2021, it was looking to many

like the United Kingdom may

never win Eurovision Song Contest again.

Until this year.

Sam Ryder is a social media sensation, rising to fame by posting singing videos to TikTok.

He was announced as the UK’s

entry with his song Space Man,

and while many were hopeful,

others were still sceptical.

Would we do well? Would we

get any points at all?

On the day of Eurovision Song

Contest, people eagerly crowded around their TV screens to

enjoy the exciting performances. There were many highlights,

and a few lowlights as well.

Amazingly, the two countries

that were predicted to win by

the general public were Ukraine

and United Kingdom, Ukraine

with Kalush Orchestras’ Stefania.

Both performances were spectacular in their own rights, and

many people believed that the

UK actually had a shot.

When the jury points started

rolling in, United Kingdom appeared to be on top.

However, when the general publics’ votes were revealed, it was

clear that Ukraine had won the

contest.

The UK has never been in the

top 10 since 2009, nor the top

half of the leader board since

2011, but this year, it came second; an undeniable victory in its

own right.

by Jonathan Simpson

24 July 2022

Get your groove on at

College music festival

GET ready for the time of your

life on Thursday, July 21, when

the school’s colleges will be

performing some of the most beloved songs of all time.

Many of the colleges will be

editing their music and making

the popular gigs unique to their

colleges.

All the different colleges will

have been preparing their own

choir and band to pump up college spirits and support families within the Hummersknott

community.

The songs the houses will be

performing are:

Wyvern Choir: Walk of Life by

Dire Straits, The Promise by

Girls Aloud.

Wyvern Ensemble: Thunderstruck by AC/DC

Quaker Choir: Here I Go Again

by Whitesnake.

Quaker Ensemble: Back in

Black and Highway to Hell by

AC/DC, or Message in a Bottle by The Police.

Stephenson Choir: Say You

Won’t Let Go by James Arthur,

Crazy Stupid Love by Cheryl,

Tainted Love by Soft Cell.

Stephenson Ensemble: Spice

and Poundshop by the Kardashians

Cuthbert Choir: Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender

Cuthbert Ensemble: Walk of

Life by Dire Straits.

Ketton Choir: Let’s Get Ready to

Rumble by P.J and Duncan.

Ketton Ensemble: Sweet

Dreams by Eurythmics, Sound of

the Ground by Girls Aloud.

by Ava Scott

Dancer Lucy

cuts a rug at

nationals

YEAR 9 student Lucy Harrison

gained national recognition when

she took part in the National Dance

Competition.

After training for several months,

Lucy travelled to the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Manchester.

There, she danced her way into

third and sixth place in the Age 13

Ballroom section, and into third

place in the Age 13 Latin section.

She said: “I really enjoyed it because it was a new experience and

I learned that it’s not always about

the winning that counts.

“It’s definitely more about the experience that you gain.”

Everyone is so proud of Lucy and

her achievements in Manchester.

This contest represents a significant step in Lucy’s dancing journey,

and her will hopefully allow her the

chance to take advantage of many

more future opportunities in the

world of competitive dance.

by Inga Leonard

July 2022 25

Hummersknott musicians

delight audience at Forum

THE Friends of the Forum

Music Centre took part in a

global live-stream for Make

Music Day.

The event took place at The

Forum, in Darlington, on June

21, when several Hummersknott students demonstrated

their musical ability.

Students who took part included Owen Ovens on the

guitar, Jack Machin and Saira

Choudbury on vocals, and

Elliot Kelso on bass guitar.

Ruby Watkins and Harvey

Sugden, ex Hummersknott

students, also took part.

The event accumulated a

large audience which came to

watch the performance live

in the Forum, including not

only family and friends of the

musicians, but also significant numbers of the general

public.

The Hummersknott students

performed a number of popular hits, including ‘Smells

Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana and ‘Johnny B Goode’ by

Chuck Berry.

Artist Jack Machin said: “It

was probably one of the most

fun nights I’ve experienced in

a long time!

“There was a crowd of about

200 people, including Mr and

Mrs Merifield, and they were

very supportive and we all

had a great time.

“Even though I was very

nervous, it ended up being

an amazing experience and

I’m excited to do it again in

October!”

• The Friends of the Forum

is a community group

dedicated to supporting

grassroots music in Darlington. For more information, visit www.theforumonline.co.uk

by Olivia Smith

26 July 2022

Reading skills

pay off for pupils

YEAR 7 and Year 8 students

across the nation have participated in the ‘Big Book Quiz’.

This challenge was organised

by a teacher in Cumbria to encourage students to read three

different books and answer

questions about them.

To take part, students were encouraged to assemble a team of

three and work strategically to

read the three books: The Way

Past Winter, Cosmic and Letters

from the Lighthouse.

Although other schools were

involved by reading the same

books and were also part of a

Zoom call on June 16 to take

part in the quiz, the competition

was against other Hummersknott students to compete for the

grand prize of an Amazon Kindle

e-reader for each member of the

winning team.

Miss Schweizer said: “We’re

really looking at trying to put

on a calendar as many events as

possible because we know people enjoy different things.

“It’s a national event so those

who are very competitive tend

to like it. I loved the reading

list. I think ‘The Way Past Winter’ is one of my new favourite

books!”

The three winners were Lily McDermott, Layla Wilson and Kate

Etherson, who completed the

quiz with a total of 14.5 points.

by Olivia Smith

Spanish

pen pals

A SPECIAL languages club has

been set up to help students develop their skills in a real-world

setting.

As Year 9 GCSE Spanish students move towards Year 10,

Mrs. Fuentes has set up a club

to allow students to connect

with Spanish students in Priego

de Córdoba.

Priego de Córdoba is a town

in Spain, famous as one of the

most beautiful towns in Spain’s

Andalusia region.

Compared to Darlington, it’s

really quite small, with only

around 30,000 people, whereas

our town is now home to more

than 100,000.

The goal of the club is for students in both countries to improve their speaking, reading,

and writing skills and overall

knowledge of each others’ languages by exchanging letters.

Many students from Mrs.

Fuentes’ class, plus many

from other classes, joined the

club, eager to strengthen their

knowledge and gain a greater

understanding for the language

and the Spanish culture.

The students sent their first

letter early in the school year,

writing their letters in Spanish

whilst the students in Cordoba

responded in English.

It was hoped that a cultural

exchange trip to Spain could

happen the following year, but

due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19

pandemic, like most other residential trips this is unlikely to

happen just yet.

While this is disappointing for

the students, the club will carry

on, and hopefully students will

continue exchanging letters

with their Spanish pen-pal

friends, and say “Saludos cordiales, amigos!”

by Inga Leonard

July 2022 27

COMMUNITY

Badge of Honour 

HUMMERSKNOTT Academy

has recently raised £100 for

Ukraine and massive credit goes

to Aimee DaBell for organising

the fundraiser.

Aimee made many badges of

the Ukrainian flag and, with

the help of her form 8C-HJN,

sold them around the school.

She said: “I was incredibly

happy to support Ukraine and

the refugees with the challenge

they are facing.”

by Holly Ashford

Designing

a logo to

honour

inspiring

student

STUDENTS have been challenged to create a new logo for

the Kieran Maxwell Memorial

Open for Track and Field 2022.

The event commemorates Kieran Maxwell, a Hummersknott

and Wyvern College student

who, in 2010, was sadly discovered to have cancer in his leg.

Unfortunately, a year later doctors were forced to amputate

Keiran’s leg.

This meant that he was prevented from walking for over a year

and had to endure intense rehabilitation to relearn basic skills.

By practicing gymnastics,

Kieran helped to build up his

strength, and he was deservedly

selected to carry the Olympic

torch through Darlington.

Kieran represented his country at the Brazilian Paralympic

School Games in 2015, winning

gold.

Tragically, Kieran died in 2017.

As an incredible inspiration to

the school, this event raises

funds and awareness for The Kieran Maxwell Legacy, a special

fund that supports the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia

Group.

The new logo will be used at

future events to acknowledge

Kieran’s perseverance and determination under impossible

circumstances.

The winner will be chosen by

Kieran’s mum as the best representation of the event and of

Kieran’s life and spirit..

by Inga Leonard

Mr Birkett crowned

fantasy champion

THE fiercely-contested Hummersknott Fantasy Premier

League has a new champion.

With the Premier League football season finally over after a

very exciting year, the Hummersknott Fantasy Premier League

has been no less entertaining.

Mr Birkett was crowned champion after accumulating a total of

2430 points - twenty more than

student Kai Allen, who finished

in second place.

Mr Birkett said: “This is the

pay-off for everything I’ve been

working so hard on all these

months.

“Checking fixtures, checking

form, and come to think of it,

checking on what Mr. Thompson was doing primarily, as he

was my biggest rival! Or so I

thought!”

League Commissioner Mr Webber said: “Mr Birkett ran a tight,

well-informed season. It’s clear

he put the time and effort into

making effective choices, and

that attention to detail has really paid off for him.”

• The Hummersknott Fantasy

Premier League will return

when the new season and

the new school year begin.

For more information about

registering a team, contact

Mr Webber via email at

[email protected]

by Olivia Smith

28 July 2022

Moon Knight Season 1

This series is made up of six

episodes that are around 40

minutes long each including

mainstream actors like Star

Wars star Oscar Isaac and

award-winning Ethan Hawke.

Moon Knight was the 6th series

that Marvel has released on

Disney+, following the character Steven Grant and his

perspective of living with DID.

Director Mohamed Diab, who

is native Egyptian, successfully brought light to his culture

during the show, bringing in

themes of the Egyptian Gods,

mythology and mental illness.

These themes have not been

discussed in the MCU (Marvel

Cinematic Universe) before. One

downfall of this show’s writing is the British dialogue from

Steven Grant, and the show’s

attempts at British slang. Oscar

Isaac’s accent in the show is

exceptionally good, it is only a

select few of his lines that are

untrue to British language. The

show worked very well bringing

light to DID and Marc Specter’s

Jewish identity. I can highly

recommend watching this show

as I really enjoyed watching

this show and the representation of different communities.

Lizzie Taylor

REVIEWS

We Will Rock You

This year’s school play was

Hummersknott’s adaptation of

We Will Rock You, a jukebox

musical created around some

Queen songs. This year’s cast

was very strong: vocals were

phenomenal, and the band was

superb. I really enjoyed the

show and thought that the jokes

were very witty and enjoyed

the plot-line. It is one of my

favourite musicals that I have

watched; it looked incredibly

fun to be a part of.

Annabelle Hughes

The Lost City

The Lost City is an action comedy where an author writes

about exotic places in her

popular adventure novels that

feature a cover model named

Alan. While on tour promoting

her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she

can lead him to an ancient city’s

lost treasure from her latest

story. Determined to prove he

can be a hero in real life and

Alan goes to save her. Throughout the film there are humorous

scenes, however many felt very

cringe-worthy and over the top.

I would recommend this film

to anybody who enjoys cringy

humour and adventure films.

Owen Ovens

July 2022 29

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog is a sequel full of heart, action, and

comedy. In the film, Sonic the

Hedgehog teams up with his

new friend Tails to battle his

arch nemesis Doctor Robotnik

and his new accomplice Knuckles. Along the way, Sonic comes

across many maniacal mishaps

and interesting interventions

along the road to success.

Packed with references to the

Sonic the Hedgehog video game

franchise, it is sure to entertain

the whole family. And although

some fans of the video game

franchise may have issue with

the slight lack of similarity

to the video games, Sonic the

Hedgehog 2 is overall a very

good movie.

Jonathan Simpson

Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel

to Top Gun (1986) and the second instalment in the Top Gun

film series.

It is an action-adventure film

following the life of Captain

Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom

Cruise) and the Top Gun flight

school.

In this new film he has become

a teacher and is teaching a new

set of students how to pull off a

daring mission. Throughout the

film there is a range of scenes –

funny, exciting, sad and exhilarating. It was a great way to

continue the Top Gun legacy

and I recommend the film to

anyone who watched and enjoyed the first film.

Holly Ashford

Minions: Rise of Gru

Minions rise of Gru exceeded

expectations. Best film I’ve seen

all year. No important aspects

of the Despicable Me universe

were excluded, and the storyline was captivatingly wonderful, especially for children,

though most of its audience

consisted of teenagers, but that

proves its brilliance. This film

created such an overwhelming

outburst of popularity amongst

children of all ages everywhere,

and rightly so, a truly thrilling

and show-stopping movie that’s

graced our generation. I would

recommend it with a full heart.

Eva Gatenby

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

Finally, a Marvel movie which

is darker, more serious and

with much more gore. The man

behind the original Spider-Man

films has done it again, and I’m

so happy that he was the man

behind this film. He has opened

so many new doors for Marvel,

with infinite universes to play

with, the new possibilities are

literally endless, I’m so excited to see what Marvel does

next. Along with this, Benedict

Cumberbatch and Elizabeth

Olsen’s acting performances are incredible in this film,

this is Elizabeth Olsen’s best

portrayal of the Scarlet Witch.

The supporting cast, including

Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor

and Christine Palmer, were also

very enjoyable to watch. Overall, a great film, but maybe not

for the family.

Inga Leonard

Part of the Band

Matty Healy and his amazing

band of musicians have yet

again created another spectacular song. ‘Part of the Band’ is a

new chapter, helping the buildup to the release of band’s fifth

and shortest album, ‘Being funny in a foreign language’. The

1975’s new release has major

influences from Coldplay’s ‘Viva

La Vida’, whilst also including

their own personal muse and

carving their path forward.

Matty uses emotive and perpetual language to show his old

relationships with a new-found

precision before turning the

focus on himself.

The new album will be released

on October 14.

Jessica Morgan

The Batman

The long-awaited Batman film

did not fulfil the crowd’s expectations. It was not a mark

compared to the genius of The

Dark Knight.

Although I enjoyed how it

conveyed vengeance compared

to other superhero films and I

thought Robert Paterson played

Batman excellently. Overall, the

film had created too much hype

around itself and did not live

up to it. I would recommend it

to any fan of gritty superhero

films and isolated from The

Dark Knight’s shadow it was a

great watch.

Will Murray

30 July 2022

Operation Mincemeat

The war film, Operation Mincemeat, is based on espionage

committed by British Intelligence during World War Two

against The Nazis. Operation

Mincemeat was an act espionage to foul The Germans into

moving their forces from Sicily so The Allied Forces could

mount an amphibious attack on

it.

Overall, the film tells this true

story in an uninteresting manner compared to what they

could have done; this is because

they prolonged scenes to the

point of it being uninteresting

and anticlimactic. Instead of

this they could have made the

tension more obvious by shorting scenes and they should have

extended the battles scene at

the end more so you can see the

effect that the operation had on

the Battle of Sicily. Personally,

I would recommend this if you

wanted to learn more of a historic perspective.

Sam Crowther

Stranger Things Season 4

The penultimate series in this

five-part blockbuster premiered

on Friday 1st July. Fans across

the globe were aghast by the international phenomenon, broadcast to our screens, lasting a

shocking 778 minutes. Fit for

a wide range of audiences, the

series set a record breaking 1.15

billion views within 28 days,

holding the title of the first and

only, English-language series to

top the billion-hour threshold.

Unlike any we’ve seen in the

previous trilogy, this season

was split into two parts, part

1 showcasing episodes 1-7 and

part 2 ending with 8 and 9.

This was a great move on Netflix’s behalf, allowing them to

captivate millions into eagerly

awaiting the arrival of the second part, breaking the platform

as they did so. Throughout the

entirety of season 4, we are

introduced to several new characters, each bringing exciting

new concepts to the show, while

still fitting within theme so

many know and love. I can say

with confidence that this series

exceeded its expectations with

ease, effortlessly beating its

prior seasons, whilst still playing tribute to those before.

Molly Turnbull

Jurassic World: Dominion

I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

I loved the story line and the

adventure it took you on as a

viewer.

It was filled with many great

plot twists and moments when

your heart was in your mouth.

The characters were so likeable,

and the dinosaurs were well animated and looked very real.

One thing I did find is that the

film felt exceedingly long. Overall it is an exceptionally good

film, and it is worth watching.

Noah Baker

July 2022 31

B A L M O R A L L F I R Q T

C O M M O N W E A L T H U O

N C C O R O N A T I O N E E

S A N D R I N G H A M T E A

C R O W N J E W E L S Q N C

N S B R M A R R I A G E E O

A P E A O R N R I O E E L R

E E E I A S R R A M A L I G

N E F N L S D N E S E S Z I

O C E T R M P N O D C T A R

R H A M R R A N I M T A B O

N E T O D S N H N W N M E N

I S E N I O C O R A M P T E

O S R C B W O R M E G M H O

CORONATION

BEEFEATER

QUEENELIZABETH

WINDSOR

SANDRINGHAM

CROWNJEWELS

STAMP

BALMORAL

MARRIAGE

CORGI

COMMONWEALTH

COIN

SPEECHES

PUZZLES

32 July 2022

Athletics Crossword

July 2022 33

Fill in the grid with numbers so that each

column, each row and each 3x3 box all

contain the digits 1 to 9.

Futoshiki is a board-based puzzle game, also

known under the name Unequal. It is playable

on a square board.

The goal is to discover the digits hidden inside

the board’s cells; each cell is filled with a digit

between 1 and the board’s size.

On each row and column, each digit appears

exactly once; therefore, when revealed, the

digits of the board form a so-called Latin square.

The board might also contain some inequalities

between the board cells; these inequalities must

be respected and can be used as clues in order

to discover the remaining digits.

Horoscopes

CAPRICORN

You may be busy and hard-working, but remember to take a break

now and then. Stay away from white meats for a while. You are perfect as you are. If you are looking for love, aim at another earth sign.

Try and look on the bright side of life! Stick to your new year’s resolutions. 

AQUARIUS

You are amazing as you are, and you should remember to lean on

someone else when your problems get too much for you. Whether

in friendship or in love, you should talk to an air sign. Remember to

smile, or you will appear cold. 

PISCES

You might strive for the happiness of other people, but make sure

you are happy once in a while. If you don’t take a rest, then you’ll get

burnout. If you like doing something, do it! Treat yourself. You

should talk to a Scorpio; they might understand how you feel.

ARIES

Other people might not be as motivated as you are, so chill out for

a bit. Watch Netflix, go on TikTok, put on some comfy socks and

maybe a blanket or 2, and stop stressing about the small details.

No one will notice them in the big picture, and it was all meant to

happen this way. If you want love, go for a Libra, or another fire sign. 

TAURUS

You are strong, determined, and you should stand on your own feet,

and live life like it’s your last day. Try not to get angry at unimportant

things, channel your rage into something like writing or painting or

sculpting. You are your own perfect match. Take the stairs. Live

laugh love. 

GEMINI

Try to live in the moment more, and eat a sandwich, you will (probably) enjoy it. You may feel like a caterpillar now but soon you will

hatch into a beautiful butterfly. Live life on the edge.  

CANCER

You should go into acting. Break a leg. Let go of your loved ones so

they can breathe. Go at your problem with logic and reason, and be

open about your feelings. If you want friendship, go for an Aries, or

Sagittarius.  

LEO

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, if anything good comes your

way, accept it, and pass on a good deed. If you want love aim for

a Taurus, Scorpio, or Capricorn, you will have a dynamic that is

unique.

VIRGO

Stay away from pomegranate seeds and the letter H. Libra, Aquarius, and Leo are perfect matches for you. Check the temperature of

your drink before sipping. Stay away from Taurus and Capricorn, as

you might clash and fight.

LIBRA

You may have problems with communication and English, but

don’t let that get in the way of having a happy and fulfilled life! To

ensure good fortune, do a good deed and make a colleague a cup of

tea. Look at the floor before you walk there.

SCORPIO

No.

SAGITTARIUS

Look forwards and upwards. Your life may take a turn for the better

or worse soon. Talk to the ones you love and say what you need to

say to them. Maybe you should go into professional sports.

divined by Lucas Jackson-Ayre

34 July 2022

SPORT

Year 9 footballers defeat

Carmel in Town Cup final

SPORTING success continued for

the Year 9 Boys Football team as

they claimed victory over Carmel in the Town Cup final with

a 2-1 victory.

Carmel took the lead halfway

through the first half, but Hummersknott persevered throughout and fought back against

Carmel’s defences, scoring two

well-deserved goals in the second half. Oli Beacom levelled

things with a left-footed volley from 30 yards into the top

corner and after a long-fought

battle to stay level, Zak Davies

scored from what seemed like

an impossible angle in the dying

minutes of the game to start triumphant scenes from the crowd

watching.

Our congratulations go to everyone who took part and fought

for the win, well done all!

by Inga Leonard

Masses of

medals for

athletes

THE North East Track and Field

Championship recently took

place, and several students from

Hummersknott Academy took

part in the event, and we have

very good reason to be proud of

them all.

Each of the students were competing in their own age categories, and some even managed to

strike a podium finish. Some of

the highlighted podium-finishes

were Chloe Graham (Y7) managing to finish third in the 100m.

Rowan Steel (Y7) finished first

in the 800m.

Furthermore, he also managed

to grab a second-place spot in

the 200m.

Hugo D Reeves (Y8) came home

with a long list of top-three finishes: first in the Javelin, second

in the Shot-put and third in the

Long Jump, High Jump and 80m

Hurdles.

by Jonathan Simpson

July 2022 35

THE first Sports Day in three

years has taken place at Hummersknott Academy.

In the last two years it has been

hard to hold a large public event

due to Covid restrictions, so

everybody was thrilled to participate in this year’s events.

The sports captains had fun

organizing the occasion and the

athletes enjoyed all the competitions.

Throughout the day, Wyvern and

Ketton planned to sell ice lollies,

which turned out to be an immense success, causing them all

to be sold out before everyone

could buy one.

At least one teacher regretted

not applying enough sun cream.

Pictured below, we can see Ms

Hill has the word Wyvern burned

into her arm, unintentionally

showing more commitment than

she intended.

Overall, it was very close, but

Stephenson had a smashing victory with 374.5 points. Second

place was Quaker with 359.5

points, followed by Ketton who

had 356 points. In fourth place

was Wyvern with 354 and in final place was Cuthbert with 329

points.

by Noah Baker and Annabelle Hughes

Sports Day 2022

36 July 2022

How will the Lionesses

perform at the Euros?

AS the 2022 Women’s Euros kick

off at old Trafford, Sarina Weigman is looking for a victory in

her first major competition with

the Lionesses.

Ten months into managing, her

side are unbeaten in fourteen

games going into the tournament hosted on home soil, and

in Weigman’s latest victories,

they smashed Switzerland 4-0,

and nullified Netherlands 5-1,

the European champions.

In an interview with BBC Sport,

Weigman said that her side are

in an “incredibly good place”

going into the Euros. But does

the public believe this?

Yes, their results are showing

clear victories, but in the latest team news it is reported

that many big players have

been dropped from the squad of

v-three. Could this prove costly

for the teams’ Euro’s hopes?

As the squad has been released,

there is disappointment for five

of England’s players: goalkeeper

Sandy MacIver, Chelsea fullback

Niamh Charles, Manchester

United’s Katie Zelem, and Lucy

Staniforth and, most surprisingly of all, Steph Haughton

The former England captain has

suffered injuries all year, only

playing seven games throughout

the whole 21/22 season, including picking up an ankle injury

during Wiegman’s first camp

last September.

Haughton has picked up 121

caps for England, reflecting her

importance she is held in for

England, in and out of the dressing room.

“It was a hard decision,” the

manager said. “She is in an

exceptionally good place but

just not ready to compete. It

was just a matter of time, and

we just do not have that time.”

Wiegman confirmed the thirtyfour-year-old would not take on

a non-playing role, explaining

that: “She has a lot of experience but in this squad, we have

other players who can share

experiences with the team, so

it’s just the 23.” This decision,

a bold one, has shocked many

people, though could be the key

to unlock a Euro victory for the

Lionesses.

In all three of the warm-up

games, the match has been

decided by second-half substitutes who have transformed the

match, leading to a victory. This

clearly hints at the sheer depth

of the England squad, and the

strength that it holds. Statistically, England look in for an

extremely good tournament run:

a six-match winning streak and

unbeaten in fourteen games.

Could Weigman’s adventurous

decisions be the make or break

for England?

It’s competition time for the Lionesses, and they need to come

out fighting.

by Lizzie Taylor

Regional and national triumphs for

Hummersknott Academy athletes

HUMMERSKNOTT students

have been competing in the

regional finals of an athletics

competition.

The students competing in the

competition came out of the

event with improved scores

from the last round by 50 points

to end with an overall finish of

3rd place.

In fact, they were only four

points off second place, which is

an excellent achievement for the

team in a regional competition.

St John’s Catholic School in Harrogate ended up with the coveted first place spot, and Royal

Grammar School in Newcastle

ended up in second place.

Hummersknott athletes also

recently took part in the Darlington athletics competition at

Eastbourne Stadium.

As always, the town athletics

competition was incredibly competitive.

Throughout the day, dozens of

Hummersknott athletes had

their chance to compete for the

school, with many competitors

placing in the top three throughout the day.

There were many individual

successes that were not going

unnoticed as: Hugo Douglas

Reeves broke the 75m hurdles

town record; Rowan Steel ran

faster than the town record

by one second, alongside Alice

Gooding who beat the school

Javelin record by an astounding

twenty metres.

Hummersknott’s Jamie Clack

won the Hunter Cup for his

100m, and Louis Brett won the

1500m cup while also achieving

a 1500m personal best of 4:54.

Hummersknott placed first in

the following categories: Year 7

Boys, Year 8 Boys, Year 10 Boys,

Year 10 Girls, and Overall Year

10s.

In every other category Hummersknott placed second by the

athletics team’s strength and

determination to win.

Overall, Hummersknott placed

second by twenty-six points behind the winners.

by Jonathan Simpson and Owen Ovens

July 2022 37

Racing rackets

A REMARKABLE victory swept

the staff off their feet at The

National Schools’ Key Stage Four

Badminton competition.

The Girls’ team consisted of Lily

Thompson, Sara de Silva, Kate

Neasham and Harriet Bage, who

bested the three other school

teams: 5:0, 5:0, 5:0, meaning

that they won the County Round

by a landslide.

They were not the only successful team, however. The

day started off less than promisingly for the Boys’ team, as

illness meant a last-minute

team change, but luckily Year

10s James Meychell and George

Liddle stepped in to support

Cameron Park and Joseph.

Four other town winners were

invited, and with the score 2-2

the atmosphere was tense as to

whether the boys would come

out on top.

Luckily, the Boys’ team held off

the competition from English

Martyr’s Hartlepool to win 21-15

and thereby win the tournament.

Unfortunately, this is where

the badminton season ends, but

at least it has ended on a high

note for both teams, with what

Hummersknott Badminton Club

coach Philip Boyle called: “a

remarkable result.”

Furthermore, earlier in the

term a team of eight Key Stage

3 students played at the County

Badminton tournament.

During the afternoon, the girls

learnt and benefited from the

experience, while showing great

sportsmanship.

Even though they lost to two

teams, they beat North Shore

School by a staggering score.

The Girls’ team did incredibly

well consider they had two girls

who were two years younger.

Overall, the girls exceeded Mr

Boyle’s expectation and made

him extremely proud of their

achievements, especially considering none of the plays for a

badminton club.

The Boys’ team could not stop

winning as they continued their

fine run of winning in this season of school badminton competitions.

Aiming high, the Boys’ won all

their three matches by 3-2 and

remain undefeated in school

competitions for this season, as

Badminton England decided not

to run the next round this year.

Mr Boyle said: “This team have

immense potential for two

years’ time at Key Stage 4.”

by Arabella Simpson and Owen Ovens

38 July 2022

Rounders round-up

THE Hummersknott Year 10

Girls Rounders team placed

joint-third in Darlington at a

rounders tournament in June.

After two years without a rounders competition, the girls played

incredibly well and were fantastic representatives of the school.

Another success on the rounders

front came for the Year 9 Girls

Rounders team, which competed

in the Town Rounders Tournament at Wyvern Academy.

The team placed fourth in Darlington after not only demonstrating rounders skills at a very

high standard, but also exceptional sportsmanship too.

Finally, the Year 8 girls rounders team competed in the Town

Rounders Tournament, also held

at Wyvern Academy

There the girls placed first,

despite some complications in

regards to the points system.

From here, they were invited to

the Tees Valley Regional Rounders Final, in Billingham, to compete against the best rounders

teams across the region.

The team placed joint first on

points, but based on the amount

of rounders scored, the girls just

missed out on the gold medal

and came away with silver.

by Olivia Smith

Cricketers compete

in town-wide event

A GROUP of talented Year 8

cricket players were invited to

the Darlington Cricket Tournament to compete against other

schools in the town.

The team played hard and

placed fourth out of eight

schools.

Jess McMain captained the

team, which also comprised

Holly Ashford, Ruby Strong,

Amelia Singh, Georgia Allinson,

Emily Bowerbank, Elly Walker,

Jasmine Ward, Evie Wilson, and

Emily Sinclair.

All of the girls were exceptional

representatives of Hummersknott Academy and they should

be very proud of what they

achieved.

by Olivia Smith

July 2022 39

Year 7 rugby players enjoy

undefeated winning streak

The YEAR 7 Boys Rugby team

found success in their recent

tournament against other

schools in Darlington.

Mr Souter coached the team,

with Matty Brown as captain,

and both fostered a competitive

team spirit which led the squad

to an undefeated victory.

Oliver Ward was also credited to

have shown fantastic leadership

skills throughout the tournament.

The boys involved were Matty

Brown, George O’Brien, Rohan

Elder, Theo Oldridge, Ryley

McDonald, Lucas Nicoll, Lucas

Parkinson, Alfie Stokell, Matthew Graham, Oliver Ward, and

Will Barker.

The whole squad played to the

best of their ability and were

fine representatives of Hummersknott. Well done boys!

by Inga Leonard

Hummersknott girls to represent Co Durham

TWO Year 11 students named

Macy Kelly and Lily Thompson

have been selected to represent

Durham in the English Schools

Athletics Championships.

Year 11 is often thought of as

the most important Year of a

secondary student’s life, and for

good reason, with GCSEs and

preparations for college.

However, these two students

have been able to balance an

athletics championship on top of

that.

Macy competed in the 1,500m,

and Lily competed in the Discus.

To get listed in the championship, both students had to

achieve entry standards for

which the targets were very

tough.

For example, Macy had to run

1500m in under 4:45 and Lily

had to throw the discus a distance of 25m.

After all of that, they had to be

in the top 48 athletes across all

age groups (Year 8–13).

Balancing the ups and downs of

Year 11 with a national championship can be a challenge, but

Mr Tatham said: “It is a testament to their dedication and

focus to their training”.

by Jonathan Simpson

40 July 2022

HUMMERSKNOTT student

Rizwan Gujjar took part in a

boxing competition in Carlisle,

London, on the May 14.

He took home the Tyne Tees and

Wear championship title and

overtook the current Scottish

and Yorkshire champions.

Sadly however, he did lose the

nationals but is looking forward

to trying again next time.

by Rosie Wytcherley

Boxer Rizwan takes

home North-East title

Student secures incredible

national table tennis title

BEN Wilshere struck gold in the

national table tennis championship after a grueling day.

The event was held in Wragby

Sports Centre, Lincolnshire,

where competitors played games

throughout the day against opponents from across all youth

age categories.

Darlington Table Tennis Academy’s young Year 9 player beat

every opponent in straight sets,

except in the final where he won

by three sets to one.

Throughout the championship,

he showed confidence and great

sportsmanship, while keeping

his composure and skill consistent across all matches.

Ben said: “I am proud of my

achievements on the day and

cannot wait to compete at this

level again.

“I enjoyed every second of it.”

All his challenging work payed

off as Ben is now the national champion for his age group,

after his undefeated run at the

national championship.

by Owen Ovens

SCIENCE teacher Mrs Johnson

has won the British Masters

Pentathlon for her age category

whilst competing for Darlington.

Mrs Johnson did amazingly well

in all her events. She managed

80m hurdles in an amazing

13.46 seconds, for her high

jump she got 1.38m, for her shot

put she got 8.27m, on her long

jump she got 4.22m which is

very good, and she ran 800m in

3.005 minutes. All very quick.

Everyone is very proud of her

achievements and hopefully she

can do the same next year.

Pentathlon success

for science teacher

by Noah Baker