William Brookes School Blog

Last week we posted a blog about students who want to go into University Education straight from Sixth Form. This week we are discussing other options such as doing a Year in Industry or taking a Gap Year.

We have taken two Sixth Form students - one very much pro-gap years and one who thinks they are a retched idea!

Student  1: “Gap years aren’t for everyone, some people just want to go on a permanent rave and will get out of the habit of studying.”

Student 2: “But, for others it is the perfect bridge between leaving college and entering University education. Some of the benefits of doing a year in Industry are that you get training on the job, it is paid, you gain experience and a taste of what full-time employment is like. It is also something to put on the CV and when you come to graduate, you will be ahead of others, in terms of experience. Also certain organisation contribute to your university fees.  However, with some companies they require you to work for them after graduating.”

Student 1: “However, if you still what to gain experience but don’t want to do a year in industry then you can work part-time and do work experience during your extended holidays e.g. three months in the summer – wahey.”

Student 2:  “I am also interested in taking a gap year, however it has to be a structured one. No raves.  Well, perhaps one. However, one of my concerns is how to raise the money to go travelling.  One of the options is to work up until the spring, save money and then go. Alternatively, I could arrange it through a charity organisation and raise the money to go.”

Whatever route you prefer there is a variety of information available to you at school and online. Our advice is to research all your options thoroughly and realistically, so that you are making the right choice for yourself.

 You can do Year in Industries locally; they even have some opportunities in Much Wenlock. For more information about year in industry you can visit: www.yini.org.uk  

To gain more information about volunteering visit http://www.gapyear.com/ or for one of the most reputable organisations visit http://www.gap.org.uk/  

Year 7 student, Oliver recommends War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.

“The book appealed to me because it deals with the First World War and military history, which I am interested in.  The novel describes a time when horses were used as weapons. It is an action and adventure story. I would say it is aimed at anyone 11 years or above, it is a relatively short book, with some tricky vocabulary.  I think both boys and girls would enjoy this book.”

James, a year 8 student thinks that everyone should read Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman.

“I first read this book in December.  I saw a lot of people were taking it out of the library, so I thought I might read it too. It is a really good book, it is definitely a page-turner. It tackles the major issue of racism, but does it in such a clever way, in that it makes you look at things from a different perspective. I would recommend it to ages 12+ and think everyone would enjoy this book and get a lot from it.”

In year 8 again, Joanna would like to share with you the book she’s reading at the moment.

When we ask her what book she’d like to recommend, straight away she says, “Ragwitch, by Garth Nix.” She hasn’t even finished it yet, but it’s so good it has already become one of her favourites! She tells us, “It is about a boy and his sister, they go to a beach where they find a doll which takes over the girl, and they end up in a different dimension.” Quite a story then, we can see why she’s recommending it before she’s got to the end.  

If any other students or staff would like to recommend or suggest any books, then feel free to post a comment with your recommendations or  see Miss Steward.

Yesterday afternoon the Shropshire Youth Parliament bus came to William Brookes School so that students could vote for the two candidates they want to represent them and also the top three issues they want the Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) to action.  Voting took place from lunchtime until period four and was open to all students. Within half an hour of the bus opening its doors at one o’clock, over 120 students had come to vote, voluntarily, in their own time. A further 78 students, mainly from year 11 (as they had recently been studying democracy as part of Citizenship) came to cast their votes during period four. Over the two-hour period that the bus was here, over 200 students voted, roughly 22% of the student population, which is not bad for an afternoons work. Two of William Brookes own students, Connor (pictured) and Rosie have both expressed a keen interest in becoming candidates in the future and so took advantage of learning as much as possible about the process this week. For more information go to: www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk

With thanks to year 10 student, Ben for the photographs below .

There is little chance of getting any librarian to choose just one book as their favourite. Therefore, when we asked Mrs Herdson to tell us about her favourite it turnerd from one, to her four favourites.

The first: Ridyard Kiplings’ Just So Stories, she read as a child. Then when she had her own children, she read them the same stories that she had been brought up on, which she tell us, “they loved, even before they could fully understand them as the language is so poetical and dramatic.”

When she was twelve, she fell in love with Mr Rochester from Charlotte Brontes’ Jane Eyre and he and the book have stayed in her heart ever since, making the book one of those dog-eared copies, like a pair of well-worn trainers.

The English Passengers by Matthew Kneale also made it into her Top 4. The novel tells the sad story of the first white people colonising Tasmania, and the gradual decline of the aboriginal people due to westerners doing things like herding them off cliffs or bringing diseases with them such as the Measles, which Tasmanians had little or no immunity to.  This element  is the one strand of the novel, but there are many more, and despite the terrible sadness there is great hilarity throughout the book. For instance, the ship which the English passengers travel on is run by vagabonds and pirates, who hide a ship within the main ship to stow secret items.

Finally, Mrs Herdson’s current favourite (a recent Christmas present) is Alan Bennett’s Uncommon Reader. “It is story about the Queen discovering a mobile library outside the kitchen entrance of Buckingham. This leads her to read everything from Proust to Trollope, with hilarious consequences that make the wheels of diplomacy run off the rails, with her accosting everyone about the current books she’s reading.”

A Sixth Form student shares advice and his experiences of applying for university:

“Firstly, I think it is very important to visit as many university open days as possible, but don’t go mad, because if you only want to go to universities nearby, then you shouldn’t consider ones in say Aberdeen, for example.

Here at Sixth Form, the next stage for us, is to decide our preferences. For this I would advise students to do a list of pros and cons. Workout which universities you like and then fill out your UCAS form, which takes longer than you expect, so start early.

Once you are happy that your list of Universities is suitable, then you can add them into UCAS form.  Bear in mind that some Universities will not consider you if they’re not your first choice, but more on that later.  Make good use of all the prospectuses available to you in the Library. If they don’t have a copy in the Library, you should be able to download one from their website or order a copy. Also, if you know of anyone at the universities that you’re interest in, then talk to them about what it is like.  There is a processing fee of £15 so make sure everything you’ve put in is correct, up to date and legible.  

Within a few weeks of sending the application off you should have heard back from the universities. There will be a choice of four: an unconditional offer, a conditional offer (conditional in the sense that you have to get the required grades) and interview or a refusal. If possible, find some kind person to do a mock interview with you if necessary.

After hearing back you have to choose two of the universities, one is your definite choice and the other is an insurance (back-up choice). Bare in mind that some universities will not accept you with grades that are lower than their boundaries, unless they are your first choice. After you’ve done the paperwork, all you have to do is work incredibly hard, get the  right grades and wait nervously until  the 14^th of August when you receive your exam results .

I think that going to University will be really good, for me, it will allow me to get some independence. I am looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends BUT I will proper miss my friends from 6^th form.”

For more information about UCAS visit: www.ucas.com

Film Education has an exciting new competition. We would encourage and support any students wishing to enter. You have to create your very own marketing campaign for the chance of winning some fantastic equipment for yourself and the School:

For the school: Four brand new Apple G5s; a range of creative software; a high quality Canon digital stills camera; a Canon digital video camera. For the student: A brand new Apple laptop.

The aim of the competition is to combat the negative effects of piracy, by actively promoting creativity. The task is simple: create a campaign to raise awareness about intellectual property theft, highlighting potential consequences for individuals and the creative industries.

This can take the form of either: a 30 second advertisement; a short radio commercial; a website; or a poster campaign featuring 2-3 designs. The closing date is 31st of January so we’d have to get cracking! See Miss Steward for further details.

An exciting competition has come up which current students have the chance to take part in. If anyone would like to have a go at entering this competition then please see Miss Steward. There are four categories for the awards:
· Short animation (maximum 1 minute)
· Short video (maximum 1 minute)
· Interactive story (KS 1/2) or Computer Game Design (KS 3/4)
· Artistic interpretation (e.g. storyboards, character design, set
design etc)

There will be separate awards for KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4+ in each category. For each award, there will be a prize of a £50 Amazon voucher for the pupils, and a certificate for the school.  

The closing date for entries is February 29^th so we have to get started soon! Winning entries will be notified by March 17th 2008 and pupils, school representatives and parents will be invited to an evening celebration/awards ceremony at the Albrighton Hall on April 14th 2008.

Jealousy, a short animation by year 12 student, Tom Foster. Click on the link below to check it out, then tell us what you think by posting a comment on our blog.

http://blip.tv/file/606872

Form:   Edwards 

Edward Bagnall left school with a camera and a plan. After finishing his GCSE’s in the summer of 1998, he headed to Sandwell College in West Bromwich to begin a two-year course studying a BTEC National Diploma in Media. However, before he’d even finished the course he was head-hunted by Midlands News Association (MNA). The MNA moguls rule the media of the West Midlands, producing nine newspapers and boasting over one million readers each week. In short: he’d done well.  After working for the MNA for 18 months he left with a passport, a camera and a new plan.  He was going to leave the midlands, the most land-locked county and test his sea legs. After going on the recommendations of a friend, he researched the prospect of working on a cruise ship as a photographer.  He flew out to New York in September of 2001 to join the Regal Empress, just two days before 9/11. He then spent the next 13 months docking in Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Columbia, Panama and Honduras.  Now Edward has returned to the West Midlands and has been working for the Shropshire Star for five years. So what next? He’s seen the world; he’s met half the people of Shropshire and got the photograph to prove it. Well, Edward’s next step will be freelance photography. 

This year’s musical will be The Boy Friend, by Sandy Wilson. Auditions began last week and took place over three days, with every audition packed. Applicants had to sing a song  which showed their vocal ability range.   Those who wanted to do solos stayed behind and did two lines, after the two-line solo anyone who was considered to have an outstanding voice was asked to sing a few more harmonies.

The main teachers that were involved in the auditions were Mr Petty, Mrs Jaeger and Miss Bartlett.  Mr Petty and Miss Bartlett had the tough decision of deciding final roles. With only 43% of students who auditioned gaining a part, competition was fierce.

Scripts have already been given out for the musical and the final performances will take place in April.  Well done to all the students who auditioned, commiserations to those who didn’t get a part. Also, if anyone wants to assist with the set, then please go to see Mr Petty, ASAP.  

(Text written by a year 13 student)