Monday 25th January 2021 Name: Here is your work for today. Activities are colour coded, so if your colour appears next to an activity then you should complete this activity. If there is no colour code then you should all have a go. All activities can be completed using just a pen and a sheet of paper. Don’t worry if you can’t complete everything, just have a go! No coloured dot: Everyone have a go. Year 11 Year 10 Year 9 Year 8 Today: Mathematics: Problem solving activity and mymaths. Literacy / History: Detectives, Ronnie Biggs. Music / Art: Narrative songs. Mathematics: Here’s a starter to get your brain going… Place the digits from 1-9 in the triangle so that each side adds up to 17. There is more than one way to do this. You should practice this on scrap paper first – it is unlikely that you will get it right on the first attempt. Once you have completed this, log in to mymaths and complete some of your tasks on there. LO: I can complete a timeline on the life of Ronnie Biggs. Ronnie Biggs Involved in the "Great Train Robbery" of 1963, Ronnie Biggs became one of the world's most famous fugitives. He avoided capture for more than 30 years, living as a fugitive in Brazil and Australia. QUOTES “My last wish is to walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter.” —Ronnie Biggs Synopsis Born in London, England, in 1929, Ronnie Biggs spent time in jail for theft before joining the gang behind the 1963 Great Train Robbery, in which he and his cohorts stole roughly £2.5 million from an English mail train. He was sentenced to jail, but he escaped 15 months later. Biggs lived as a fugitive in Australia and Brazil before turning himself in to British authorities in 2001. He died in England on December 18, 2013 at the age of 84. Background After spending 30 years on the run, Ronnie Biggs became one of the world's most famous fugitives. Born Ronald Arthur Biggs on August 8, 1929, in London, England, Biggs was a member of the gang that stole roughly £2.5 million from an English mail train in 1963—an incident later nicknamed the "Great Train Robbery." Biggs played only a small role in the heist, but his flight from justice made him a legendary criminal. As a child, Biggs suffered a great loss when his mother died of an ulcer when he was thirteen. Biggs then started getting into trouble, having several run-ins with the law for petty theft. In 1949 in the Air Force, he got into trouble with police and the military authorities and was thrown out. Biggs then received a short prison sentence for stealing a car. More criminal exploits followed, with Biggs ending up sentenced to more than three years in prison for robbery. In the 1950s, Biggs had numerous theft-related charges. He made friends with Bruce Reynolds, the future mastermind behind the Great Train Robbery. In 1960, Biggs reportedly pledged to go straight after marrying his girlfriend, Charmian Powell. He started a construction business with a friend, but he couldn't make ends meet. Biggs turned to Reynolds for a loan, but Reynolds invited him to join in a robbery instead. 'Heist of the Century' On August 8, 1963, a gang of 15 men, including Reynolds and Biggs, committed what has been called "the heist of the century." They robbed a Glasgow-to-London mail train of £2.5 million in untraceable banknotes. The gang stopped the train in a remote area and trucked out their spoils. A member of the train crew was badly injured in the robbery and died later. Like most of the robbers, Biggs was eventually arrested. Sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1964, Biggs spent only 15 months behind bars. He escaped from Wandsworth Prison by scaling a 25-30 foot wall. On the run, Biggs made his way to France, where he had plastic surgery to hide his identity, and later travelled to Australia under a false name. There he reunited with his wife and their two sons. They even welcomed a third son during their time in exile. By October 1969, however, the British police were closing in on Biggs. He was one step ahead of the authorities and that year found his way to Brazil. In 1974, Scotland Yard investigator Jack Slipper travelled to Rio de Janeiro to apprehend Biggs, but he had to leave empty-handed. Brazilian authorities refused to extradite Biggs because his girlfriend had become pregnant. They had no interest in expelling the father of a future Brazilian. Capitalising on His Notoriety Seemingly free, Biggs started to capitalise on his notoriety. He gave interviews and appeared in advertising campaigns. In 1978, Biggs even recorded a song, "No One Is Innocent," with legendary punk rockers the Sex Pistols. He later held special barbecues where he charged tourists a fee to eat with him and have their photo taken with this infamous fugitive. Biggs also sold a T-shirt that read: "I went to Rio and met Ronnie Biggs ... honest." In 1994, he released his best- selling autobiography, Odd Man Out. Biggs survived two more attempts to bring him back to face justice before deciding to return voluntarily. In 2001, he flew back to England, where he was taken into custody. By this time, he had suffered a series of strokes and his health was in decline. Biggs told the press that he came back because his last wish was "to walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter." Others speculated that he had come home for free health care. Imprisonment & Death In all, Biggs had spent 13,068 days on the run. The authorities soon made sure that he wasn't going anywhere. Biggs went to prison until 2009. At the time, he was given a compassionate release because he was in poor health, unable to walk or talk. Biggs gave a press conference two years later to promote his new book, Odd Man Out: The Last Straw. He communicated by writing on a small chalkboard, telling the press that he expected to be remembered as a "lovable rogue." Ronald Biggs died on December 18, 2013 at the age of 84 in a nursing home in London. Extra Information: Interview with Biggs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WnwwPZeZ- g&feature=youtu.be Tasks: Part 1: Having read the text, highlight all of the dates (this will help in the next part). Part 2: Complete the timeline below (Use capital letters and full stops). Complete the timeline below (Use full sentences, capital letters and a range of punctuation). 1929 1942 1949 1950’s 1960 1963 1964 1966 1969 1974 1978 1994 2001 2009 2013 Music: LO: I can find a narrative song and find out about the story behind it. Your task for today is to find a narrative song and write about it. A narrative song is a song that tells a story. There are some examples you will know of already without realizing it (the Blaydon Races, the Lambton Worm). I would like you to find one that is more modern (the last 50 years or so). Here is an example. The first link is for the original song, the second is from a cover version done more recently. Listen to the first one and try to write down what the song is about. If you are struggling, listen to the second link (this one has a video that will help a lot). Link 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh7BZf7D5Bw (The Charlie Daniels Band) Link 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9uk9IcoQ0w (Primus) I think this song is about… Here are a couple of other examples (you can use these if you cannot think of your own)… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lCcdDwDdd4 (Thin Lizzy – Whiskey in the Jar) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJnwpEirhiA (Stan Ridgeway – Camouflage) I chose this song: By: It is about: Here is a picture about it: .