On the 13th of December 2007, 46 students from Northampton Academy travelled to the German Christmas market in Birmingham.
This market is the biggest German Christmas market outside of Germany itself
Trip to the German Christmas Market in Birmingham
Local Author, Rosie Rushton visits Northampton Academy
Rosie Rushton, author of the new novel Secret Schemes, Daring Dreams recently paid a visit to Northampton Academy’s library. During the day she ran small writing workshops with some Academy Students, and was kind enough to take time out of her busy day to speak to us and answer some questions.
Rosie Rushton used to write for a newspaper, but her interest in writing continued to grow until she finally published her own book. She has been writing books for 16 years now, and to date has had 39 of her novels published; her favourites being Last Seen Wearing Trainers and Summer of Secrets. She says that it takes her about 3 months to write each of her novels, as it is time consuming to fully develop each of her characters. If you would like to know more about Rosie Rushton, please visit her website.
Hip Hop is History
The Academy Eye Team recently interviewed Mr Lister about his eye-catching window display:
Whats it all about/why did you start it? What gave you the idea?
It’s a way of getting people interested in history. When I was a kid I thought history was all about old dead kings and queens!!Boring and completely irrelevant to me! History is all around us, you’d be surprised once you start looking, the types of things that have historical value; Music, fashions, magazines, tv programmes. Everyday things we’d never realise!Hip-hop, like all music is oral history. It’s a great source for finding out about the attitudes, beliefs and values of certain groups of the population. If you wanted to find out about youth culture and attitudes in the Victorian period then you’d study newspapers, school/factory records, diaries and personal accounts, look at the lyrics to songs etc. If in a hundred years times people wanted to examine youth culture at the turn of the millennium then hip-hop music would be a fantastic source in terms of what many young people enjoy, believe in and value.
Is it an interesting subject to learn about?
Man it’s fascinating! It’s so diverse and varied. Not only is it massive all over the world but there’s so many different types of hip-hop; party stuff, romantic stuff, straight up fun and jokey stuff and loads of political stuff. I actually read the lyrics of a hip-hop song to a class of mine the other day, we were studying the war on terror and the song is all about September 11th, what has happened to the world since the twin towers fell and who is responsible. It’s called Bin Laden and is by Immortal Technique. Unfortunately hip-hop does contains a lot of negative aspects (violence, sexism, bad language etc.) but there is soooooooo much positive hip-hop out there. People worth checking out are KRS 1, Mos Def, Talib Quely, Immortal Technique, these guys are revolutionary, really intelligent and innovative. These are all Americans but in terms of Brits people like Doc Brown, Low Key and Yung Gun (who’s actually a solicitor by day!!) etc.
How long have you been listening to hip hop?
Since day one! That’s all I listen to. My friends and family are always telling me I should expand my music horizons but I just love it.I’m not really interested in any other types of music! It’s very narrow minded I know!
Who is your favourite Hip Hop artist?
I like UK hip-hop, US hip-hop, I even listen to Chinese hip-hop. Actually I have a friend in Beijing who is blowing up right now, he’s on the verge of making it big. He’s about to be the first real hip-hop artist to hit the main stream in China!! His name is Young Kin! You laugh but if Eminem can do it . . .
Mr Lister’s “Hip Hop is History” display
Interview with Mark Robson, author of ‘Imperial Spy’
Back in the Autumn Term, The AE team were very fortunate to land an interview with Mark Robson, author of ‘Imperial Spy’, when he visited the Northampton Academy library. Here is what he had to say.
What was your proudest moment?
My proudest moment was holding my daughter for the first time.
Do you aspire to be like anyone?
Yes-JK Rowling. Just for sheer fact of how nice she is to her fans, how long she spends at book signings actually talking to her fans and not thinking she is better than them . . . actually respecting them and just being a genuine person.
When you were writing your first story, Due to a Throwaway Line, did you think it would be that successful?
No, I had no idea that they would be this successful or that I was even going to publish them. It was just because I was bored and also I asked my boss what he could do to kill some time, and he said to write a book. I love a challenge, so I took it and it just carried on from there. I took it to my boss and he said that it was very good and I should think about publishing it . . . so I did.
Does being a writer help you financially? Yes, but it is a very unreliable job because you can have one story that is great and sells really well, but then your next story could be a total burn out and you have no money and lots of bills to pay.
Do you write your stories on influence of JK Rowling and Harry Potter? No, actually I didn’t. I did it from imagination because I know I could never be as successful as her, and I’m not trying to be as successful as her, even though she is a great author.
Click here for more on Mark Robson.
“Way better than Auckland”
A small group of children and young adults from
Gareth Nichol
Mathematics, Chocolate and the Electric Guitar
Northampton Academy A-Level Mathematics students attended the Open University Christmas Lecture at Berrill Hall on the OU Campus on 4th December 2007. This was the third time that the mathematics department have attended this annual event. Sixth formers from Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and beyond experienced an afternoon of popular mathematical puzzles and phenomena, given this year by David Acheson.
Year 7 Disco
On November 1st, a Year 7 disco was held in the Assembly Hall from 5-7 PM. The event was organised by Amy Howell, Francesca Quinn and Shanice Brown as part of their Year 11 Global Citizenship coursework. The girls were successful in running the event according to Mr. Lister, who chaperoned the disco alongside of fellow teachers Mr. Chan, Mr. Fisher, Miss Taylor and Mrs. Hudson. The Year 7s had a fantastic time dancing to the latest pop music, enjoying the refreshments, and even taking part in some friendly competition, which saw Bethany Saville and James Usmar named the best girl and boy dancers. Mr. Lister thought that it was nice to spend time with the students while they wearing their own choice of clothes, and not in uniform. He also believes that everyone who attended the disco enjoyed the evening tremendously. Well done to the Year 11 girls for putting of such a successful event! Interviewers of Mr. Lister were Luke Wayne, Ryan Goodman and Connor Goodman.
Funmaths Roadshow 10th November 2007
Every term, the Mathematics Department runs a Saturday morning Funmaths session. Students in Years 7, 8 & 9 are invited to attend, to solve puzzles and maths tricks. The session lasts 2 hours.This time we did Orienteering on the new course at the back of the school. There were 15 students and 4 maths teachers, Mr Hardy, Mrs Grant, Mrs Eastaff and Miss Bell.We had a map to look for red labels stuck on to the trees.We had to solve directed number problems to find the next number.The letters we found were an anagram we had to work out. The weather stayed dry and everyone had fun.
Take a look at the pictures from the day in our gallery.
Article by Connor Goodman, Ryan Goodman & Luke Wayne (Y9)
World Class
On Friday 19 October 2007 young people made history when they debated the abolition of the Slave Trade Act and its modern-day legacies with parliamentarians in the British House of Commons during Black History Month in October.
At the invitation of East Hull MP John Prescott, more than fifty young people between the ages of 15-18 from the UK, 9 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States of America explored the shared legacies of the slave trade and its contemporary manifestations.
As part of the British Council’s flagship Africa 2007 programme, the British Council Slavery Youth Debate in Westminster examined the impact of the slave trade in the 21st century, two hundred years after the Slave Trade Act.
The debate considered how a greater understanding of the issue can contribute to the eradication of modern-day forms of slavery such as human trafficking, sex slave trade and the recruitment of child soldiers.
The theme of the debate was the transatlantic slave trade and its legacy as seen through the eyes of young people from Africa, the Caribbean and the UK. The debate was attended by the Rt. Hon. John Prescott MP, Lord Kinnock, British Council Chair, the Paramount Chief of Elmina, Ghana, the Speaker of the House of Commons and other Members of the UK Parliament.
The young people, including Ryan Percival and Aaron Donoghue (Year 12), had an opportunity to examine, discuss, explore and share, the contemporary issues linked to the legacies of the slave trade and learnt how a greater understanding of the issues can address its modern-day manifestations. Participants examined the mechanisms young people have today, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to protect against contemporary forms of exploitation and inequality particularly in relation to children and young people. The objective was to give a voice to young people on this important issue and to create stronger links and better mutual understanding between people of the participating countries.
Click here to see further reports of the day.
Article by Mr. Lister
Staff Football
On Friday 28th September, Northampton Academy hosted a football challenge between Academy staff and National Grid staff from their Northampton Administrative Headquarters. The players were divided into 4 teams of 6-a-side who played each other to determine who the overall winner would be.
All teams struggled to score, as the quality of defence was strong on all sides but in the end an excellent goal by Academy staff meant the overall winners were Northampton Academy who were awarded a winners plaque which they will retain until the next meet when it will be up for grabs. Man of the match was voted in as Mr Fuller – check out the photos and you’ll see why!!
Alongside this, students were playing a similar competition.
The winner of the student teams won an impressive team cup and individual Gold medals, with runners up receiving silver and bronze medals.
The silverware was donated by National Grid who very generously also brought along drinks and snacks for all involved.
Director of Business & Enterprise, Mr Moore arranged the event and commented,
We have already worked with National Grid on a year 10 project with our DT Dept and will be working with them again during October on an exciting Ready4Business initiative. This was a fun and engaging way to cement our relationship with National Grid who we are excited about working with over the coming year and beyond.
Take a look at the pictures from the day in our gallery.
