Final Edition - Y Pant School

PuzzlesCrazyCROSSWORD CRAZY!1 2 3CAPTION COMPETITION!Y Pant Magazine Summer 20083 4 45 5667It shouldn’t be difficult to think of anamusing caption for this piture...GeorgeyB. seems to be having a hard time though!Submit your funny caption to any English teacher and youmay win a somewhat tasty prize!DOWN1 “_________ my dearWatson” Sherlock Holmesphrase (10)2 Half of the 70s comedyduo - Partner of Wise (8)3 Americanised sportyfellow (4)4 A short paediatrician (3)5 Break through (6)6 Technological subject (3)Next IssueACROSS2 Pinstripe clad English teacherat Y Pant (3,5)3 i_____, company who ran theWater, Water Everywhereproject (4)4 Popular fish, generally coatedin an unhealthy mask (3)5 Common vehicular form oftransportation (3)6 Unpaid drinking bill (3)7 Stretchy, generally seen inbands (7)Columns We bring a new part to themag! Keep an eye out on this space!Reviews Super Smash Bros. Brawl andIndiana Jones 4, two top titles exclusivelyreviewed by us.Redesign Stage two of our visualchange only in Issue 7!Big News More of the classic Y Pantinfo.SINISTER SUDOKU!A Special ThanksA Special thanks from Mr Hutt to anybody whohelped the fund raising for the EAI (Education ActionInternational)L’Oreal, Tesco Stores Ltd, Lloyds Pharmacy,Miskin Manor Country Hotel & Health Club,Maxibrile Limited, Mainline Watch Operates,Crabtree & Evelyn, Puralite International Ltd,The Rotary club of Llantrisant, Sigma ThreeThe School Of BloodTheatrical genius on-stageY Pant On FashionCool clothes and jaw-dropping bootsReviews!Over 4 pages of the best games and booksTrips AbroadWhat we got up to on the continentY Pant’s magazine made by Y Pant’s students!

CONTENTSFEATURESThe School Of Blood...Have the never-ending, coffee-sustained hours ofrehearsal paid off in, what’s promised to be, the greatestY Pant production ever? It’s an extremely close call...HomelessnessWould you buy a Big Issue? Find out why Sarah Ellis wouldY Pant On FashionBethan Holley shows us what’s HOT for 2008Kelly Holmes: Going For GoldProfile on the brilliant runner who brought Britain back a goldfrom the Summer OlympicsFarewell Year 13!A look back over a good year as we say a sadgoodbye to our current year 13Drogba: Footballer ExtraordinaireProfile on the legendary Chelsea football player - Didier Drogba.Also, our Paul’s views on the Champion’s LeagueSCHOOL NEWSNew York, New YorkExclusive info on this year’s RE trip to the Big AppleViva la España!Read how this year’s Yr 8 and Yr 9 got on in the home of sun,sea and sandSaalbach 2008Discover the wonderful slopes of Austria with one of 2008’sskiers: Martha ReedBusiness Studies SuccessFind out how the Pink Elephants and Spirit Dance Squad got onat the Area Board FinalsBlood BrothersWhat Yr 10 and Yr 11 thought about the touching play “BloodBrothers” by Willy RussellWater, Water Everywhere?The low-down on the iEarn projectKing LearAS trip to The Globe in LondonKa-Pow!Tae Kwon-Do genius, Shannon Holley, from Yr 7REVIEWSMad DogsPaul Karamura shares his views on the brand new teen novelDestroy All HumansMatthew Lewis tells us about his fave gameSuper Mario GalaxyAre you a game player? If so, you’ll want to check out this Wii gameTrip To Paris NEWSInterviewMrs Davies and Mrs Rose planned the whole trip and so farthey have hardly been mentioned. So we decided we wouldinterview them and ask their opinion on the trip.What was the best part of the trip?Mrs Davies: I think the behaviour of the pupils who went wasexcellent and their reaction to things like the Eiffel Tower.Mrs Rose: I have to say Euro Disney and the food was delicious.What would you think the pupils enjoyed most?Mrs Rose: Disney Land and they enjoyed visiting the EiffelTower.What did the students think of the food in France?Mrs Rose: They loved it and weren’t shy when it came to tryingsomething new.Mrs Davies: We ate out a lot so they had their own choice.What was the weather like?Mrs Davies: It was cold, sunny but very cold.Mrs Rose: Yes everyone had to wear hats and scarves.Did everyone behave themselves?Mrs Rose: Yes behaviour was excellent, it was a great pleasureto take them.What was the funniest moment on the trip?Mrs Davies: I don't know, one of the highlights of the trip waswhen Wales won the rugby but that’s not really funny is it…?Mrs Rose: Hmmm...Well it was quite funny when everyone waschasing Captain Hook.Describe the hotel you stayed in.Mrs Davies: Small, yes the rooms were very small.Mrs Rose: But to make up for it you could see the Eiffel Tower.Did the pupils learn any new French on the trip?Mrs Rose: Yes because they had to order their own food and thewaiters could only speak French.Would you run another trip given the chance?Mrs Rose: Yes, I definitely would.Mrs Davies: Yes, it was great fun.Thank you for your time!2

NEWS Trip To ParisFrench Trip 2008Ellie Havard reports on Y Pant’s happenings in the city of loveOn the 30th of January a groupof students set out to Paris onthe 2008 trip to France,organised by Mrs Davies andMrs Rose.They travelled by coach and EuroTunnel — the journey took ages,but it was all worth it as when theyarrived they had a fantastic trip.During their time in France theystayed in the hotel Ibis whereeveryone was scattered over threeof 15 floors. The rooms had TVsand anen suite included but the view wasthe most impressive — they couldsee the Eiffel Tower!One of the highlights of the tripwas Euro Disney, but the studentsran into a bit of trouble when theyhad to order their food in French!On their third day, the studentsattended a French conference(yes it was all in French and itimproved their listening skillsimmensely). The conference wasall about tourism in France andwas very interesting.During their trip they saw most ofthe landmarks in Paris. The Y Pantstudents went on a cruse down theSeine river and saw famouslandmarks such as Notre Dameand the Eiffel Tower. They learneda lot about the landmarks and itwas great fun.They attended a secondconference (this time in English —PHEW!) There were three differentspeakers who each covered adifferent topic. The first was aspeech about the First World Warand the second speech was aboutglobal warming, but the students’favourite by far was a man whocame to talk about Innocentsmoothies. He gave an excellentpresentation of his business andtalked about how little things canmake a big difference.The food they ate while they werethere was very different to whatthey would normally eat at home.During the first few days theymostly ate pizza, burgers andsteak and chips but after thateveryone started beingadventurous — they tried snails,onion soup and goat’s cheesesalad. The best restaurants theyvisited were small but the foodwas great and the desserts wereeven better! They even hadentertainment from a singingguitarist who made everyone join inwith “Sweet Chariot”. The staff whowent along were very nice evenwhen one of the girls (HeatherChick) set a napkin on fire byaccident. Although they weren't sounderstanding when a lady set atowel on fire and threw it into thekitchen!When it was finally time to comeback to Wales, the teachers whotook the lucky pupils on thisamazing trip, had to drag them backon to the coach because, as youcan imagine, no one wanted toleave.The majority of students who wenton the trip said that their day atEuro Disney was their favouritebut they also found the twoconferences fun.Everyone who went on this tripdefinitely wants to go back againnext time and would recommend itto anyone who had the opportunityto go! Ellie HavardThe dedicated, hard-working mag teamMANAGINGEDITORSMr Gareth Howells,Miss Eleanor YearsleyMrs Gail GriffithsWRITERSArran Watt (Y7)Paul Karamura (Y7)Ellie Havard (Y7)Matthew Lewis (Y7)Rebecca Evans (Y7)Rebecca Davies (Y7)Elizah Appiah (Y7)Emily Ady (Y9)Luke Dunscombe (Y7)Gemma Morgan (Y9)Sarah Ellis (Y13)EDITORCatrin Greaves (Y12)Catrin is studying five subjects but stillmakes time for her favourite ’sport’ —competitive cake decorating.EDITORJames Watt (Y9)James has chosen his subjects forYear 10 but is disappointed shoelacetying is still not available as a GCSE.SUB-EDITORMartha Reed (Y8)Newbie to the team, Martha’s hardwork and proof-reading efforts earnedher a place on The Hollow mast-head.FASHION EDITORBethan Holley (Y9)Without Bethan and her fashionknow-how, we’d look absolutelyridiculous! Well, we do anyway but...Want to write? Expand your repertoire?The Hollow is an open magazine, wewelcome all ages to join our fold. Justspeak to a member of the editorial team.Welcome, the Summer 2008 Issue has arrived!Blood-splattered cover, horrifically amazingcover story—it can only be one thing. Yes,we’ve compiled a whopping four pages ofgory goodness in honour of Y Pant’slatest theatrical extravaganza, The School ofBlood. As usual, the last two terms have beenvery eventful at Y Pant, with the resurrectionof our School Eisteddfod, numerous trips andDuke of Edinburgh award training, amongother things. For this issue, we’ve welcomednew members to our tenacious team whohave jam-packed the pages of this heremagazine with all the things you love best—puzzles, news and reviews…enjoy!James & Catrin Editors, The HollowWe get workingon the Summerissue......and realise wehave extremely littletime to complete it!EMBARASSING PIXYou’ll see that we’vecommented on Mr Tucker’simpeccably fashionableheadgear later in the mag butMr Howells...surely youcould’ve gone with somethingmore creative. A sombrero?Fedora? Iron helmet?SPRING/SUMMER 2008The creation of the mag in graph form, inclusive ofall the highs and lows that is journalismJames watchesThe School Of Bloodfor our cover featureWe relax over theEaster hols!Stress kicks in as we approachdeadline, editors all havenervous breakdowns...maybe3

FEATURE Tackling HomelessnessHomelessnessIsA BigWalking through Cardiff the otherday, we were horrified when wewitnessed a Big Issue sellerbeing verbally assaulted by agang of youths. Homelessness isa huge problem in the UK witharound 230,000 people living on thestreets. It is inexcusable that the UKhas one of the highest levels ofhomelessness in Europe,considering it is one of the mosteconomically developed countriesin the world. People need tounderstand the problem beforeanything can be done. If peoplewere aware of the Big Issuescheme and how it’s benefitingpeople who really need help then itwould be a step forward. The firstproblem that needs to be tackled isthe misconception of homelesspeople that most of us have.Research shows that homelesspeople actually have very positiveattitudes to work. 77% said theywanted to work, which challengescommonly held assumptions thathomeless people don't want towork. To get a job you need to senda CV stating your contact details toan employer — obviously ashomeless people do not havehomes this is quite impossible.Their self esteem is crushed asthey feel there is no way out — thisis where the Big Issue comes in.After speaking to some members ofthe sixth form it came apparent thatnot many people are aware of whatthey do. The Big Issue magazine isa combination of hard-hittingcurrent affairs journalism andcritical, incisive writing about theworld of arts and entertainment,featuring celebrities such as U2 andTake That. The inspiration for themagazine came from StreetNews, a newspaper sold byhomeless people in New York,now it is a huge success inthe UK and has won manyhigh-profile media awards.The Big Issue tries to givehomeless people a hand uprather than a hand out as theymust buy the magazines for 75pand sell them for £1.50. They aremaking 75p profit (not that much).The scheme tries to providehomeless people with the chanceto earn their own income, helpthem write a CV, offer careersadvice, and support for thatdaunting interview. They alsohelp them pursue their educationand build basic skills like surfingthe web and specific coursesdesigned to build confidence andlife skills.So next time you’re walkingthrough Cardiff please try andspare just £1.50, it is amazinghow much that can helpsomeone. If you want to do moreyou can also visit the website atwww.bigissue.co.uk .HelpSarah Ellisimprove someone’s life!IssueWhy spare £1.50 for a Big Issue? It will help people like him get back to lifeBlood BrothersBloodLiverpudlian tragedy delights Year 10On the 23 rd April, the Englishdepartment at Y Pant schooltook pupils in Years 10 and11 to see Willy Russell’sfamous Blood Brothers at theNew Theatre in Cardiff. TheLiverpool-based musical wasintroduced by an enthusiasticCraig Price who acted as anarrator in the play andalthough somewhat loud anddifficult to understand whilstsinging, his presence and rolereinforced one of the seriousthemes in the play . The twomain female characters of themusical (Mrs Johnstone andMrs Lyons) played theircontrasting roles superbly andnot only did act they perfectly,but sang fantastically. All of theactors’ and actresses’ versatilityleft most of the girls (andEnglish teachers) in tears bythe end of the play! Mickey andEddie (the Blood Brothers in theplay) were firm favourites withpupils from our school. Whentalking to a few pupils after theperformance, I got the impressionthat Mickey was by far thefavourite character of the show. “Iliked Mickey, as he gave the playsome comedy and he was a goodactor” was just one of the positiveopinions expressed by a numberof pupils.Despite the play being almostthree hours long, the differentatmospheres created in the playmade the show motivatingthroughout. All in all, everyone hada fabulous time and everything ransmoothly. It was well worth themoney and helped a lot towardsour studies.ExhibitionArt ExhibitionThe Art Department exhibited thefantastic work of their GCSE and Alevel students in the summer term,and impressed all who visited withthe originality and quality of thepieces produced by the Yr 11, 12and 13 students.At GCSE the examination themethis year was ‘Barriers,’ and thestudents had an eight weekpreparation period to researchother artists in order to inform anddevelop their own style and toexperiment with painting anddrawing techniques, differentmaterials and styles. In order toprepare their students fully forassessment, the staff took them onvisits to Tate Modern, the BritishMuseum, Victoria & Albert Museumand National Portrait Gallery andthe Pit Rivers and AshmoleanMuseum in Oxford. With suchthorough preparation it’s no wonderthat last year’s GCSE class of 48students all achieved A* to Cgrades. Mrs Jo Gold, Head of Art,explained that although 60% of thesubject is assessed throughcoursework, the students have todemonstrate 100% commitment tothe course and spend monthsbrainstorming, experimenting andsketching before finally producingthe end piece. ‘It’s reallyencouraging to see their level ofenthusiasm and as you can see, theend product justifies their efforts.’At AS and A level, the students’work becomes far more personal asthey develop into budding artists,experimenting with their ownEnglish Theatre Trip / Art Exhibition NEWSAfter the play, a few pupilsmanaged to get autographs andpictures with the cast, and spokevery highly of them. The castincluded Linda Nolan of the 70s popgroup The Nolan Sisters.All of the pupils who went on thetrip would like to say thank you verymuch to the English department fortaking us.▪ Jessica Nelson (Y10)signature style. They have toexplore different forms of mediafocusing on the theme of‘Contrasts’ for their finalexhibition and this themeproduced some very originaland fascinating displays.We at the magazine would liketo congratulate the GCSE andA Level Art students on abrilliant job and wish them thebest of luck as they move onto bigger and better artendeavours.20

FEATURE School Drama ProductionThe Globe Trip NEWS6Okay, we admit it. We werequite dubious about TheSchool Of Blood. We weredubious when the scripts werereleased, we were dubiouswhen the cast list was unveiled,heck, we were even dubiousduring the final rehearsals!Were our pre-emptive fears ofthe play not living up to itspredecessor worth it? Not achance. The School Of Blood isone of the most entertaining,charming and captivating theatreproductions to have beenspawned from the local area inyears.Take note that we didn’t call it aschool play. That’s because,whilst the actors and directingTheSchool OfBloodOur James Watt gives The Hollow’s critique onY Pant’s latest drama extravaganzateam are all either teachers orpupils here at Y Pant, the Muni ArtsCentre in Pontypridd played host tothis year’s dramatic performance,and boy did it make a difference!The entire play, from theunbelievably clever script to thesky-high standards of performance,has been coated with a layer ofprofessional polish so shiny itmakes Mr Sheen look like a spraycanfull of dirt.You may have read our midproductionreport (if you have, justskip a few lines ahead) thatexplained the general outline of theplot, but we sent TH editor JamesWatt to actually watch the play(TWICE! he is a lucky guy). Thecrux of the tale revolves around twocharacters – pupil Holly Brownand Miss Rachel McGeddon theschool’s psychotic headmistress.Played by Emily Ady (Y9) andAmie John (Y13) respectively,they both performed excellentlyon stage with each persona beingbrought to life through the cleverwords of Mr Owen Thomas,subtle music of Mr ThomasBreeze and larger-than-life actingof each member of the cast.Holly Brown is a new girl at StHemmingways, a school for ‘theable and good’, after cheatingthrough her exams and gainingflawlessly straight A grades.Upon arrival, she is met by aplethora of zany charactersincluding pupils and teachersdancing joyfully because it’s aKing LearAS students went on a trip to The Globe,London, to gain a better insight intoShakespeare’s classic play — King LearAs part of the AS level Englishcourse this year, students havebeen on two trips to the GlobeTheatre in London. The first trippromised to be beneficial inunderstanding the contexts ofthe play that we are studying:Shakespeare’s King Lear, so wedragged ourselves out of bed atsome ungodly hour and traipsedup to London, hoping that the tripwould be worth the unusuallyearly wake-up call.As it turns out, the trip wasamazing, giving us a real feel forShakespeare’s theatre. We wereshown around the Globe, to theaccompaniment of commentaryabout the famous playwright’soriginal theatre – did you knowthat the actors had only a matterof hours to rehearse their playstogether? Or that during times ofplague they were paid not toenter neighbouring villages forfear of spreading the disease?The actual theatre was muchsmaller than we expected, withthe garrulous groundlingspacked closely into a yard areain front of the stage whilst thegentry sat in behind the stage soeveryone could marvel at theirgrand attire. The new Globetheatre is very similar in spirit tothe original one. Even the plasterused is identical to that of theoriginal theatre, the onlydifference being some rathernecessary fire safetyprecautions, which the originaltheatre could have made use of– it burnt down in 1613 when acannon was fired into the roof ina performance of Henry V.Fathersup for three hours, it was actuallyamazing to be so close to the stage– it really made us feel part of thestory. The production was verytraditional, with an Elizabethanband, but nonetheless provided afew laughs along the way. Somescenes made us literally gasp withterror and horror – from theominous, mud-smeared beggarsrising eerily from ‘hell’ to the horrificscene where Gloucester’s eyes areplucked out by the evil Cornwalland Regan. The productiondefinitely gave us anotherperspective on the play, helping usto see characters in a different lightand making us appreciate thetragedy and pain of King Lear atthe hands of his ungratefuldaughters. By far the most powerfulscene was the storm scene whenLear was cast out onto the heathduring a raging tempest — eventhe rain was on cue, and the actionevoked sympathy, horror and fearall at once. On the other hand, itwas definitely heart-warming to seeLear’s reconciliation with hisbanished daughter, Cordelia, butthe ending of the play was so tragic,there were admittedly a few tears.We would like to thank the Englishteachers, in particular Mr Dunn forarranging this trip – evidently it wasa great success. This is what onestudent said in reaction to theproduction: “The authenticity of theentire production, including themusicians and the set reallybrought the play to life. I found theperformance to be a lot lighterthan I'd anticipated, after studyingso much of the tragedy in Lear, itwas quite refreshing to see a morehumorous approach to certainparts was.We then had the opportunity toexperience life as an Elizabethanactor, rehearsing lines fromRomeo & Juliet in the same wayas the actors did – using cuesonly, and only being given our ownlines lest a rival company shouldsteal our play – this was in thedays before copyright. SteffanDavies gave a movingperformance as Romeo, even if henever stood up at the right time.We then visited an exhibition onthe history of the theatre beforetaking part in various workshopswhich involved exploring keyscenes and themes in the playand, bizarrely, a game entitled‘rubber chicken’.The second trip was to see anactual performance of the play,King Lear, the tale of the elderlyking who bestows his kingdomupon his three daughters throughmaking them take part in a ’lovetest', with disastrous and tragicresults. Although some peoplegrumbled that we’d have to stand19

OVER STORY | COVER STORY | COVER STORY | COVNEWS iEarn Water ProjectSchool Drama Production FEATUREWaterWaterEverywhere?We give you the low-down on the iEarn project regarding the lack of cleandrinking water in third world countriesOver the past year, nine Y Pantstudents have been involved in aproject run by iEARN called“Water, Water Everywhere” whichis a project to raise awareness onissues of water all over the world,such as drought, flood and manymore. Y Pant’s topic was “Lack ofClean Drinking Water” and theirtask was to design and researchinformation on lack of cleandrinking water in different countriesaround the world. The team(Matthew Knight Y9, Amy JonesY9, Rhys Morgan Y9, MichaelGilheaney Y9, Helen Needs Y8,Martha Reed Y8, Matthew IngramY8, Harry Flint Y7, Paul KaramuraY7 and Molly Utton Y7) decided tomake a website on lack of cleandrinking water which includedposters, pictures, leaflets andgeneral information on the topic.The students had access to a sitewhere they could talk to peoplefrom all over the world about thesubject of lack of clean drinkingwater to get a personal point ofview from those who suffer fromthe issue. The pupils thoroughlyenjoyed the experience, but saidthat the Log Books that they hadto fill in were a bit long and tookup quite a lot of time, but theywould love to be involved with thelearning circle again next year.The finished website is nowaccessible on a link off the schoolwebsite. ▪ Martha Reed187

FEATURE School Drama ProductionSuper Mario Galaxy REVIEWBethan Holley talks ‘hot’ for this summer’s fashion line-upGo Green ThisSummer!Cotton is the world’s mostpopular fabric but is alsothe most pesticidedependantcrop on theplanet. Every T-shirt madeof conventional cottonrequires 1/4 pound ofharmful chemicals. Whynot give something backto your local environment?Buy organically raisedcotton! Organic cotton isbecoming ever morepopular in the fashionindustry and is graduallywinning over more groundboth on the farm and theglobal market. Organiccotton is produced withoutthe use of harshchemicals, bleaches ordyes and is also allergyfree. Organic cotton,unheard of a few yearsago, is now available inmany stores and onlinebusinesses.▪ Bethan HolleyYes, they’re back!Australia's Uggboots havebecome apermanent partof the fashionscene in terms ofavailable looks and styles. They are oneof the standard options for all-seasonfootwear and are destined to become aclassic. Whether out partying orsnuggling up in PJs, the Ugg boot is mostdefinitely this year’s must have item.Prepare for a hot summerfashion parade in RCTTeam up your Summer dresses with a belt thatcinches at the waist to accentuate your curvy figureMonday morning and school hasstarted again (not a sight to beexpected in Y Pant). Holly soondiscovers that danger is afoot andsnoops around, hoping to uncoversomething that could shed lightinto the weird happenings in theschool and the notorious ‘ScienceClub’ that wacky Miss McGeddonkeeps hinting at. We’re going tostop there but let’s just say thatthere’s a stunning finale scenethat draws the entirely far-out plottogether in a mind-rippingconclusion. Oh, and there’s blood,a whole pile of blood that’s flungover the entire cast!We have to come clean, TheSchool Of Blood surpasses all ofthe standards set by previous YPant-led productions. It now holdsthe accolade of the greatestschool production ever, a trulycoveted title.The musical aspect of the playalso impresses. Mr Breeze’soriginal score sets the scenebeautifully, enhancing everyaspect of the performance. It’sjust amazing to see how muchwork (and even more coffee) hasgone into the composition. Nearlyevery genre has beenrepresented: classic, horror,ballad-esque. Each tune iscatchier than Velcro, specificallythe blues duet: performed byRhiannan Falshaw-Skelly andEmily Ady. The whole of TheTie It Together Sir!Mr Tucker, head of our beloved school and...Welsh fashionicon? So it seems — for in the picture adjacent he is not justshowing off his Welsh-themed, cowboy-esque headwear buthis purple and blue stylish stripy tie.FASHION ADVICE: Mr Tucker, your pride for our country i—however much shown in your glittery headwear — could becarried throughout your tie rack. For instance, a red tie? Or evengo the whole 10 yards and purchase a tie with imagery of ourmany Welsh emblems or high flying flag.Aside from this, Mr Tucker, we salute you for your patriotism.817

FEATURE Sporting Profile/Champions League SummarySchool Drama Production FEATUREDidier DrogbaFootballer ExtraordinaireDidier Drogba, Chelsea and Ivory Coast player is, arguably, the greatestfootballer of his time. TH’s Paul outlines his football mega-careerThere is no disputing thatDidier Drogba is a legendaryfootballer, we’re not going tosay he’s the best, but he hisamong the greatest in hisprofession. His renownedcelebration, the bird flap, isknown all over the world. Thisyear the only game he lost wasthe Champions League againstManchester United (a very unfairgame our Paul thinks!). Hisprowess is not just known in thePremiership. In 2006, he led theIvory Coast to their first WorldCup, and after battling in thegroup of death, they wereknocked out of the World Cup. Inhis career he has played for LeMans, Guingamp, Olympique deMarseille and Chelsea. When hewas signed by Chelsea, theybroke their transfer record with£23.8 million. Drogba has so farbeen on fire for Chelsea. In hisfirst season there he netted 16goals (10 in the Premiership, five inthe Champions League and one inthe Carling Cup Final) but wascriticised for being a diver. In hisnext year, he scored 16 goalsagain. But 2006-07 was when hereally shone. In this season hescored 33 goals, more than hisprevious two seasons put together.He scored: 20 in the Premiership,five in the UEFA Cup, three in theFA Cup and four in the Carling Cup.This season he has continued withhis excellent form and we can onlyhope he remains at Chelsea in thefuture.Dress To ImpressAll the pupils (and teachers!) involved inthe school show would like to say ahuge THANK YOU to Jac Button forall her hard work on the costumes forThe School Of Blood.Jac single-handedly made over 30fantastic costumes for our cast andsucceeded in making every one in thecast look fabulous. She drew out aspectsof the “teachers’” subjects and made theircostumes perfect for their characters.Jac Button, you are brilliant and everyoneinvolved says a massiveTHANK YOU VERY MUCH!The School OfBlood now holdsthe accolade of‘The GreatestY Pant ProductionEver’ — surely acoveted title’Champions LeagueIn the ChampionsLeague final in May,Chelsea played againstManchester United in abid to win the cup.Manchester Unitedwere on top in the firsthalf but Chelsea camecrashing down like asledgehammerafterwards, forcingchance after chance,with only the brillianceof Edwin Van de Sarand Nemandja Vidicsaving ManchesterUnited. Then, extratime could notseparate the twoteams so they went topenalties. After JohnTerry missed hispenalty, the eyes of theworld were uponNicholas Anelka. Heshot, and then it wassaved by Van de Sar.Manchester Unitedbroke out the bubblyand celebrated throughthe night.▪ Paul KaramuraHollow were whistling incessantlyfor days.In the scenery department,everything was also coated withthe same layer of professionalism.Ditching the hand-createdbackgrounds of older productions,The School Of Blood went fullydigital with projected backdropsand synthesised sound effects.That’s not to say that everythingwas digitised. A particularlyimpressive rocky-textured freestandingwall in the mine sceneworked fabulously, all helping tocreate one of the more visuallypleasing set pieces in the play.Humour played a more prominentrole in The School Of Blood,despite the darker tones of theplot. Mr Thomas’ comedy wentdown a treat with the audienceson both nights. Screams oflaughter echoed around TheMuni. Amie John was clearly thestar as far as the witty script goes,but Lawrence Ady’s role wascarried out impeccably. We justcan’t seem to find fault in TSOB,it’s perfect. It worries us to thinkhow it can be topped. Then again,our worrying has been proven tobe without reason. Y Pant willbetter this year’s performance, wedon’t know how but we just know.Trust us on this one - and watchout in future issues for furtherdevelopments.▪ James Watt169

NEWS Ski Trip 2008Sporting Profile/Year 7 Pupil Achievements FEATURE10Saalbach 2008Martha Reed’s diary of the 2008 school ski trip to Saalbach, AustriaDAY 1DAY 3I am so tired! Twenty six hours on a bus is no funat all! No skiing for me today, only checking in andsorting out rooms (fantastic view from our room), andski equipment.Second day of skiing today, and this time,I’ve actually been up an Austrian Alp which is 2000mhigh! We only skied halfway down (and on blueslopes, the easiest after the beginner), but that wasscary and difficult enough, but the second time wedid the run, I really had it.DAY 2I hate getting up early, but it was worth it. Wehad to eat breakfast and collect our ski boots, and thenit was on the bus. Mr Duggan made us sing a funnysong called “Sunshine Mountain.” It was quiteembarrassing, but fun really. I can’t believe that I’veactually skied on real snow! It was so much fun and myski instructor is lovely. I’ve been on a nursery slopewhich was pretty scary, but really great once you’vegot the hang of it. Then, it was back to the hotel and tobed—skiing is hard work!DAY 4Not much of a change today—we did the same runon a different slope, but it was still exciting. Tonightwas karaoke night at the hotel, starring… Mr. Dugganand Mr. Evans! We all had a go, but they weredefinitely the star turns!Kelly HolmesGoing For Gold!Athens 2004, 800m race,Kelly Holmes is on thestart line. The moment ofanticipation as the gungoes and the athletes teardown the track — theymake it look so easy. Kellyis at the back of the packthen she starts closingdown on them, she’sovertaken the one in frontand the next and the nextshe keeps on going. She’sway ahead now, no-onecan stop her now, herecomes the finishingstraight, is there a sprintfinish? Yes! She peltstowards the line, crosses itand has won an Olympicgold medal!Interesting Facts aboutDame Kelly Holmes:She started running whenshe was 12 years old afterbeing encouraged by herschool PE teacher (comeon Y Pant PE dept, give ussome encouragement!)She has threebrothers — Kevin, Stuart,Danny — and two sisters— Lisa and PennyHer other interestsare mainly sport-related butshe also enjoys interiordesign and new excitingKa-pow!On the subject of sportingsuccess, we turn to an Y PantTae Kwon-Do champion. Year 7Pupil Shannon Holly beganlearning Tae Kwon-Do a year anda half ago, when her friendsstarted Tae Kwon-Do. Since thenshe has been training for roughlyfive hours a week in Hengoed,Nelson and Tonteg. Her specialityis sparring (where contestantsperform routines including certainchallenges. She wontwo Gold medals in2004’s Olympickicks and punches), and she haswon many a prize in thesecontests.On March 1st Shannon went toCardiff and entered a competitionto be Wales’ Tae Kwon-Dochampion. Fortunately she won.Shannon competed in differentheats and won each one.Well done Shannon!■ Rebecca DaviesGames in Athens.▪Rebecca EvansTae Kwon-Do FactsTae Kwon Do is a martialart developed over20 centuries agoIts country of origin is KoreaIt is regarded as the world'smost popular martial art interms of numbers ofpractitioners15

FEATURE Upper Sixth LeaversSki Trip 2008 NEWS14Year13!Farewell Year 13!We say goodbye to our current year 13 and wish themwell in their future endeavoursQuiz NightThis fundraiser took place in April thisyear in the lesser hall. Seven teams ofthree or four people took part and thewinning teams were:1st Norfolk & Chance2nd Clever Cloggs3rd Phil’s TeamQuestions included Geography, Science,TV & History and all teams didvery well.Great fun was had by all and the eventraised £42 for our prom. Well done toeveryone who took part!Who would be most likely to...They all have ambitions for what they want to do when they leave school this year, butcan any of them actually predict where they’ll be in 10 years’ time? Here are someguesses as to who will become famous, successful or infamous from year 13!....become Prime Minister...be in an episode of Jeremy Kyle...write a famous one-hit wonder...win Britain’s Got Talent...find life on another planet...write a best selling novel...win a reality TV show...invent a time machine...take over the world...join MENSA...star in a Hollywood blockbuster...be in a televised police chase...make a million...win The Apprentice...marry a footballer...travel the world...start a worldwide dance craze...find a cure for cancer...win Mr Universe...come back to teach at Y PantLaura HayesBethan SnookLee HopkinsAmie JohnHuw PadfieldSheatha LatifThe ‘Lauras’Kirsty McGradyEmma BradleyJames RamskillLauren HarrisBen WooldridgeSean WilliamsEmily MunroeCheyenne MorrisPatrick GouldLloyd PritchardSarah NethercottRoss GriffithsRhys TownsendDAY 5We tried part of a red run today. It was really hard,but a good experience. It’s amazing-all these littlechildren are skiing past you at frightening speeds whenyou can barely go down a slope yourself! After our sixhours of skiing, we went bowling in Bobby’s Bar, it wasreally fun, my team came second.Today we actually skied all the way down themountain… using parachutes! It was the bestfun ever and I was really sad that we weregoing home soon.Ski test today and everyone was reallyworried but it turned out that most of us could do itwith our eyes closed. It was presentation nighttonight as well, we all received certificates for the skitest–it took me 22.5 seconds and I came 7th out of13 (not bad!) and there were lots of other funnyawards too—like most dangerous skier! It was great.“Day 4 played host to karaokenight...and a Mr Evans/Mr Dugganvocal duet. They were definitelythe star turns!”DAY 6DAY 7DAY 8Awww…. Last day skiing today, it’sgone really quickly. We had a fewhours on the snow and then off wewent! After a quick showerwe were all on the bus and it wastime to go home.11

NEWS Viva La España!New York Trip NEWSNew YorkNew YorkVivaFun, sun, sea and sand, yeahwe’re talking about Spain, one ofthe hottest holiday destinationsand where year eight spent sixwhole days lapping up theSpanish sun. During their trip theydid all sorts of exciting things likewatching Flamenco dancing,relaxing and many other fun things!But it wasn’t all fun and games, thepupils going on the trip actuallylearnt something (wow!) aboutSpain and about the Spanishlanguage. They all enjoyed the tripand said that they would all goagain. They went to Mijas, which isknown as the White Village ofAndalucía and many, many morewonderful places! Some of ourteachers were more than happy togive up their weekend to go withEspaña!La LaY Pant pupils take a dip into the Mediterraneanwith the 2008 Spanish trip to Andalucía!the children on the trip and SenorMunoz showed us his hiddentalent with some fabulousFlamenco dancing.Emily Ady looks back on awonderful memory:“I thoroughly enjoyed the time wespent in Spain on the schooltrip, and I am very surprised thatwe managed to fit everything inthat was on the timetable. As wellas having fun with new friendsthat I had made on this trip, I hadlots of fun with the activities thatwe did. My favourite part of thetrip was when we stayed at thehotel for one day and spentour time at the hotel’spool. So everyone jumped inthinking it was heated and cameout frostbitten with the icy water.Still having fun we spent ourday having competitions of whocould spend the longest time inthe water and sunbathing whilstlistening to our iPods in theboiling sunlight. The places wevisited were brilliant and I lovedit. The bull ring was amazing buta bit upsetting at the same time(poor bulls), the shoppingopportunities were fabulous and Ialso loved everywhere else wewent. Even though we had somedowns during the duration of astay, nothing could havedampened the absolute fun wehad over the couple of days.”▪ Luke Dunscombe &Rebbeca Evans (Y7)Y Pant visited New York city with21 Pupils and three adults. Theywent to Ellis Island, TimesSquare and also on a touraround Manhattan/Central Park,Broadway, China Town and lotsof shops. For RE our pupilsvisited a cathedral, Buddhisttemple and a mosque. The best bitwas when they had a meal in Jekylland Hyde — there were lots ofmonsters, very funny! The mostboring bit was when they weretravelling to the airport and flyingfor five hours. The weather wasfreezing and it even snowed oncebut everyone had a greattime. Mr Pearsall said it wasvery tiring but he had awonderful experience andwould love to re-visit the BigApple. Matthew LewisTotal out of 10: 9/10John TownsendJohnGruesome stories of ancienthospital methods — bloodsuckingleeches used to cleanblood! EEEUUUHHHH!You readers may not know but awell-published author came tothe Yr 7 English lessons just afterhalf-term of the Spring term, todiscuss his books. He brought inmany of his titles, including someof his ’documentaries’, such as’Amazing Arachnids’!It was John Townsend, who haswritten a host of books, most ofthem factual, describing manygruesome stories. There arebooks on mysterious sightingsand kidnappings, and he hasalso written a series about a boycalled Barney Jones. The seriesMissed Out?Want to visit the BigApple? Well now you can, fourdays from the 16-20th ofFebruary for just £655. You’llvisit the Empire State Building,Ground Zero, Ellis Island andmuch, much more! And notforgetting what most people goto New York for… shopping!The relevant teachers for infoare Mrs Codd Mrs Burnellconsists of Dead Line, whichhas been on sale for a while,and Fire Bomb, which has onlyrecently been released.Here at the magazine we’resurprised that he’s still alivebecause he was completelybombarded by questions!Arran Watt1213