Shells News 2010-2011 Page 1

A year full of celebration

From talented sportspeople, musicians, cadets, readers and poets to successful gymnasts, swimmers and artists. The Shell students have grasped the wealth of opportunities offered to them this year at King’s and I am delighted to help the Shells produce this ‘end of year magazine’. The articles in this magazine have been written by Shell students, produced by the year group committee (below) and edited by Emily Guest and Kate Coppack in the Lower Sixth. The front cover was designed by Charlotte Knight in SHRA. I hope you enjoy reading the achievements and experiences of some of the students in Shells this year, both in and out of school. I would also like to take this opportunity to say a big ‘good luck’ for the shells as they grow into ‘Third Years’.

Mrs Sumner Head of Year

Mrs Sumner Emily Guest L6SB Kate Coppack L6KL

Holly Ward J Isabel Dawson JJ Stanley Parker RA Abigail Wiseman RA Alistair Andrady TK

Emily Jones HL Jack Watson LP

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A year full of challenges

It started off with the shells challenging me to read different genre books. I told them that my favourite Author was Jodi Picoult and I tended to read her books as I enjoy the way she forces the reader to consider both sides of complex topics with her trademark impeccable research, family dynamics, and courtroom drama. Firstly Emily Cuffin- Munday (SHHL) challenged me to read Holes by Louis Sacher and then Ben Stratton (SHHL) challenged me to read Henry Tumour by Anthony McGowan. My favourite of the two was Holes as recommended by Emily. At the beginning of the story, Stanley Yelnats, a timid boy who is very unlucky supposedly due to a family curse, has been wrongly accused of stealing the baseball player Clyde Livingston’s shoes from a charity auction to benefit a homeless shelter. The judge sentenced Stanley to 18- months at Camp Green Lake juvenile detention facility. At Camp Green Lake, Stanley and his fellow campers, all delinquents, are forced to dig holes to “build their character”. Stanley later learns the Warden of Camp Green Lake is not interested in building the boys' character, but instead is searching for a buried treasure, which she has not found. After some time, Stanley finds a lipstick tube inscribed with "KB", the initials of the Wild West outlaw, Kissin’ Kate Barlow. The story unfolds to look back at the origination of the family curse and the story of the outlaw Kate Barlow and the missing treasure. The story then switches to the present day and the friendship of Stanley and his friend Zero and how Stanley is released from Camp Green Lake.

I enjoyed my challenges and will make a point to take a non-Picoult book on my summer holiday with me...although I hear that Picoult has just released a new book for the summer...so, thank you Shells!

The Shells Inter Form Challenge

The Book Quiz Teams

So what was my return challenge to the Shells? A series of inter-form challenges set across the year to determine who the Shells Form Champions of 2011 are. Shells accepted the challenge and it was great to see the Shells perform in and out of their comfort zones, helping each other out along the way. The competitions were Football, Dance, Team Swimming Challenge, The Spelling Bee, An 100 word essay, Book Quiz, First Aid posters, grades and the finale...The talent contest!

Pointes were awarded for placings in the competition and there was no clear winner along the way. Each form were successful in an event; SHTK won the football, SHJJ won the dance (with some fantastic dance moves from Adam Sawney), SHRA won the first aid posters, SHLP won the swimming challenge and came joint first in the book quiz. SHHL won the 100 word essay competition, were joint first in the book quiz and won both of the grades challenges.

The talent contest was judged by myself, Mrs Crewe-Read, Mr Hughes, Mrs Titmuss and L6 students Lara Goodwin & Edward Peel. The forms took part in great spirit, held their own auditions and rehearsed (some more than others). Hansaj Sing, Tom Cuffin-Munday, Alice Cousins, Niamh Massey and Emily Cuffin-Munday shared their musical and dancing talents with us on behalf of ShHL. Harriet Fisher sang with her backing singers for ShLP and then Adam Fryar, George Neal and Nishchit Adke joined in with a bit of rapping with Marion Vickers adding a well choreographed gymnastics routine. For ShTK Rory Crowe was very entertaining as ‘David Hasslehoff’ in their clever ‘Britain’s got Talent’ sketch, George Tomlinson added some great entertainment and Christian Palmer danced for the judges. To top it off Matthew Traynor and Alex Jacquiss performed well as ‘Ant and Dec’.

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 3

It came down to the two acts of ShJJ and ShRA to determine the winners of the talent contest. Matthew Rutherford and Daniel Swinnock shared their musical talent with us and blew the judges away with their solo performances on the piano and drums. ShJJ were worthy second place as ShRA entertained us with a rendition of ‘The Lazy Song’ to win the contest. Every single form member contributed to the performance and did Mrs Aldridge very proud. It was well rehearsed, well choreographed and showed a mixture of acting, dancing and musical talent. Ben Cliff and Harry Strudwick delighted us with guitar introductions and Frances Alcock played her saxophone. The rest danced and acted out and were very amusing.

The talent contest was more of a success than I hoped; forms bonded and students competed in great numbers. Each form won an event which made the contest nail biting right until the bitter end. I for one enjoyed learning more about the students in Shells and will never forget the talents I witnessed.

So...the results. ShTK and ShRA came joint 4th with 30 points, in 3rd place were ShJJ with 32 points. ShLP and ShHL finished on equal points of 35, so a tug of war contest had to decide the first ever Shell Inter-form Challenge Champions. The winners were.....ShHL!!

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 4

Comic Relief 2011

The Comic Relief 2011 events began on Thursday 10th March. Pupils raised money to see Sixth Former, Charlie Colicutt (L6KL), dress-up for Monday's Dr Who Quiz. Charlie volunteered to be waxed if sufficient money was raised! Brave Charlie, dressed as a woman, had his legs waxed the following day!

The Dr Who quiz on Monday 14th involved teachers (and self-confessed Dr Who fanatics) Mr Hughes, Mr Shepherd and Mr Andrews. Mr Shepherd claimed the title of supreme Dr Who champion in front of a crowd of spectators. A Beat the Goalie and Soak the Teacher competition took place on Thursday 17th, where brave teachers were pelted by pupils with wet sponges! Red noses were sold all week with some lucky pupils finding winning silver and gold tickets. The finale of Comic Relief events took place on Friday, as pupils and teachers dressed up in fancy dress. The standard of costumes was outstanding!

On Friday 19th March, The King’s School Chester held a fancy dress day to raise money for comic relief. People came in all different sorts of costumes, from morph suits to historical men and women. Each year and form chose a winner for the best costume. Isabel Dawson won the form and year best costume for shells for dressing up As a bunch of grapes. At lunchtime there was a parade of everybody who had won their form costume competition. It was amazing. There were thousands of people in morph suits, people dressed as the tallest doctor and three 6th formers dressed as cards. The money that was raised from selling red noses and the entrance fee to the parade and coming to school in costume was an enormous amount. Also Catriona Hogg (SHJJ) and Alice Cousins (SHHL) performed a sponsored silence the day before which raised quite a sum of money. We thank those who took part that day and we hope that everyone enjoyed it.

By Catriona Hogg (SHJJ)

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Shells Fencing at King’s

Fencing is a frequently underappreciated sport in the UK. However, every Thursday morning in the Constadine hall there is a fencing practice, open to anyone that’s interested. We all believe that it’s a very appropriate sport for school because it touches on vital skills such as; quick thinking, speed, agility and sportsmanship. Three of us have been attending the club for two years, (Patrick Hudson, Bede Timpson, Joshua Roberts and Tom Cuffin Munday –all SHHL) and it has really changed us for the better, for myself I was never any good at any sport and I was considered to be the unsporty one, but now I have confidence in myself.

The King’s School, although very new to the fencing world, is already 2nd best in The North of England. This is amazing considering some people are playing in older age categories. However we still need more support and we need more players! So if you’re interested please come along for a free taster session! Fencing report by Bede Timpson (SHHL)

Shells in the New Theatre Several shell students performed in the school’s production of ‘King’s Revisited’. Kings Revisited is a comical farce written by Emma Lucia which was based on John Dighton’s play “The Happiest Days of Your Life”. It is set during World War II where a school of London girls from St. Frederique’s get evacuated to the King’s School by mistake. A conflict commences between the girls and the boys while the teachers struggle to keep control. All the while the local Priest Mr Windrush is trying to uncover the mysterious disappearance of Bishop Goodall’s bust. Some of the best actors in the school took part including Luke Howarth playing the role of Dr Toppingham, the headmaster of Kings and Hattie Webb playing the role of Ms Merriweather, the head mistress of St Frederique’s .The play is great fun and has several members of shells taking part. Well done to Lucy Peel (SHJJ), Ben Maudslay (SHRA), Joe Wibberley (SHRA), Natasha Tudor(SHJJ), Fergus Davidson (SHRA), Eloise Bland (SHJJ), Catriona Hogg (SHJJ) and Tom Cuffin-Munday (SHHL).

A report about ‘King’s Revisited’ by Joe Wibberley (SHRA)

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Charlotte & Evie at Crufts 2011 A report by Charlotte Knight SHRA

Before I talk about mine and Evie’s experiences at Crufts I’d like to explain how dog showing works. Before you can even think about showing your Otterhound you have to make sure your Otterhound has the right build for the breed. Your Otterhound has to have long ears, a good head shape with the eyes set perfectly, a flat back, broad shoulders, good hips, a good tail, webbed feet and most importantly a good nose as that is what they were bred to use. Your dog has to be smart and clean which is a job in itself but with Otterhounds it’s more picky, so there can’t be any sleep in their eyes, no tangles in their fur, brushed but not too brushed as they have to have a ‘broken coat’, not too clean but not too dirty as they are Otterhounds and were bred to swim about in rivers catching otters all day, the teeth and ears have to be clean. Then there is you; you have to look smart but not so smart that you take the attention off the dog. Dog showing is done in classes with the dogs (male dogs) going first, then the puppy classes followed by the bitches (female dogs). When you enter the ring, which has to be done with the dog completely under control, stand in a line with the other dogs in the class and stand the dog. For the Otterhound the front legs have to go straight down from the shoulders and the back legs go backward but from ‘elbows’ down they have to go straight. The head has to be level to make the back straight. The ears have to hang naturally. While staying in the line everyone runs with their dog, slowly, around the ring to show how the dog moves. The dog is not allowed to pace but has to make a V shape with their legs, which is the hardest thing of all. Then one by one everyone stands their dog in front of the judge so that the judge can run her hands over the dog to inspect it. You then do another run on your own and rejoin the back of the line. You then stand your dog again so that the judge can choose the winners and write the write-up for the newspaper. In 2010 on the 12th March I and my Otterhound Keepcott Eavesdrop, also known as Evie, went to Crufts, the biggest dog show in the world, to show for the first time. I have been many times before but my previous dog had no chance of being a show dog as the only command he would follow was sit and he was thrown out of every training class! I was terrified last year but had to bury it so that it wouldn’t travel down the lead to Evie, but it turned out to be very hard! We had to wait a long time for our class to come and eventually it arrived and we entered the ring. I was absolutely terrified and Evie was over excited, something that you don’t want in a dog that’s bigger than you. At first she was hard to handle but after a while we both got used to it and all the training from Sarah, our dog trainer, and going to all of the shows out there came back to us. In our first class, Post Graduate Bitch, we amazingly got a first against four other people! When the rosettes had been given out I stood Evie for the judge to do their write up and for pictures to be taken. Evie who does anything to be in the spotlight lapped up the attention and applause like she was a movie star, something that I must say isn’t normal in hounds! In our second class we came second losing to a breeder and at one point during our run Evie smelt a sandwich which caught her interest more than the show! Overall we did fantastically well for an 11 year old girl with a dog that’s bigger than her showing for the first time and the biggest dog show in the world. This year once again on the 12th March Evie and I returned to Crufts. After Crufts last year we had only done one or two fun shows and lots of training in the back garden with Sarah. This year we only entered one class so that we could get through to Best Bitch if we got a first. We went through the same preparation as last time with the exception that Evie had grown up a bit more and therefore become a less excitable dog. After last year I wasn’t as scared and had every confidence in Evie. As the class before ours went in Evie and I went into a little corner to practice. After the practice I looked up and saw we had our own little ring of spectators who all wished us luck which seemed to give both me and Evie more confidence. When our class arrived we entered and went through the normal procedure; stand your dog in line, do a run in line, stand your dog in front of the judge for inspection, do a separate run and rejoin the line. Evie was the best behaved she had ever been and she thoroughly deserved to win. Unfortunately another person in our class was a breeder and of course they got the first. We did however get the second and the last person getting third. I was disappointed that we didn’t win and so were many of the spectators who came up to us and said we should have won. I was so proud to have Evie as my dog as she had been the most well behaved Otterhound there that day, which is an achievement in itself! I therefore bought her a special treat from one of the stands. Our aim for next year at Crufts is to get another first and go through to Best Bitch! None of this would’ve been possible without my parents who were mine and Evie’s taxi service and Sarah who was in a way our trainer and manager. Evie now has a fan club which consists of me, my mum and dad, Sarah, Julie, Hogan(Evie’s boyfriend!) , Jo, Sue, Trevor and of course Evie’s breeder Rae Ganna.

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 7

U13 Boys have had a fantastic Football season 2010/2011 was a successful season for the u13 ‘a’ football team seeing them go far in the Independent national schools cup and the Cheshire cup. The year started off poorly with them losing the first game at home to Bishop’s bluecoat 2-1 in the first round of the Chester and district cup. The team then picked themselves up and went on a 6 match winning streak beating teams like Manchester GS in the national cup and Helsby in the Cheshire cup. The team then lost 2 games on the trot to Chrisleton and Manchester GS. Going into the second round of the Independent schools cup they beat Wolverhampton GS 2-0. They then went on a 12 match winning streak beating Ellesmere Port Catholic high 3-2 in the second round of the Cheshire cup and then St. Gregory’s in the third round of the Cheshire cup 4-0. They then faced a very strong Bolton side in the third round of the Independent schools cup and beat them 3-0 with a wonderful last minute flick-on header from Matt Traynor to send them through to the 4th round. They then beat Macclesfield high 2-1 in the Cheshire cup quarter final. The boys then beat St. Bede’s by 4-2 in the quarter final of the Independent schools cup. The team came up against a very strong Hampton side from London with some very talented young individuals playing for academies out of school and some even reaching the Independent schools national side. They lost 3-0 and were unfortunately knocked out. They went on a 5 game winning streak beating Knutsford high school 1-0 in the semi final of the Cheshire cup. They reached the final of the Cheshire cup and were beaten by a very physical Neston team. They won 2 of their 4 remaining games including the final game where they thrashed Cheadle Hulme 9-0. Overall a very successful season for them filled with great achievements and some disappointment not winning any silver ware but reaching the later stages of some big competitions. George Back got the golden boot picking up 31 goals, Tommy Speed was crowned manager’s player of the season and Will Smith picked up goal of the season. Many thanks to Mr. Warne for being a great coach and supporting the team and also many thanks to Mr. Horne for coaching and inspiring the team towards a great season and some great results.

By Will Smith SHTK

And a Fair Play Award to be proud of…

Not only have the team had a great season with respect to their ability, but to complement this the U13 squad were awarded the ISFA Fair Play Award. After every game in the competition the referees mark the teams in terms of sportsmanship, respectfulness, and behaviour. Comments from opposition members of staff are also taken into account and The King’s School were deemed to be the best this year.

Well done to all involved!

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 8

The Cheshire Hike At 7.45am on the 9th April this year, I committed myself to the Cheshire Hike for a second year running. It is organised by the Scouting and Guiding Association and this year it was the 45th anniversary. I was entered in the intermediate section with my hiking partner, Lizzy Higgins. The hike is over two days consisting of 16 miles on the first day and 12 miles on the second. Each of us had to carry 12.5kg in our rucksacks including; a tent, trangia (cooker), food and drink, clothing and first aid kits. As we had arrived at the finish we received a Necker and certificate for finishing the hike. Last year we not only received but a trophy as well for coming 1st in our County and 2nd overall. I definitely enjoyed my time doing it and it pushed me to the limit. The weather was beautiful and there were some gorgeous views of Cheshire. For the two years I have done it I have made lots of new friends. It is an adventure worthwhile. I will with no doubt do it again.

By Emily Cuffin-Munday SHHL

The CCF at King’s

By Fergus Davidson ShRA and Ben Cliff ShRA

The King’s CCF is very fun. The teachers are really nice, as are the high-ranking sixth-formers. There is a lot of discipline and some marching involved, but we also do a lot of fun activities, like weapons training, assault courses and radio operation. Every now and then there are range days, where we go out to a firing range to use weapons, and we also often go into the woods in Duke’s Drive on exercises. There are two yearly camps open to all cadets above the age limit of 13, at Easter and the beginning of the summer holidays. There is also a yearly overnight camp in the woods for new recruits, as well as occasional other camps abroad. There are two sections of the King’s CCF – the Army section and the RAF section. There is quite a lot of friendly rivalry between the Army and the RAF. When you are old enough, if you are in the RAF, you can fly planes or powered gliders. However, there are just as many benefits to the Army section, and the Army section is more popular. Although some people quit in the hard induction period when you are a recruit, if you stick with it, it pays off, you can become a high-ranking officer, and it looks good when you are applying for universities. If anyone is interested in joining, CCF meets at 4:00 pm on Friday, in the Junior School playground.

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CCF Exercise First Steps 2011

On Friday night 18th March 41 cadets from the CCF deployed on Exercise First Steps. The cadets consisted of 26 new cadets, largely from the Shells and 15 cadets from years 10-13 who took command appointments on the exercise. Friday night started with the usual confusion of trying to register 41 children and issue them with all the kit appropriate for an overnight trip. By 1700 we were ready for the short walk to Duke’s Drive although many of the cadets, particularly the smaller ones (some so small that they don’t make combat trousers small enough for them!) found the walk tough. On arrival we quickly set up shelters (bashas) before the cadets spending an hour on a lesson on patrolling. After that the cadets cooked their supper, sampling delights such as lamb stew, lamb curry and chicken pasta.

Morale significantly boosted by a hot meal and drink the cadets took part in 4 evening activities including a patrol practise, sniper stalk, duties of a sentry and the most popular event of the evening nightline. By 2315 activities ended and cadets were pleasantly surprised by the delivery of around 80 hotdogs and seemingly endless supplies of hot chocolate (thanks to Mr Beasely). The cadets settled quickly but it was 0030 before the last problems were sorted out (including what do I do if I’m cold? answer get inside your sleeping bag!)

A very cold night was made bearable by the lack of rain and the following morning we enjoyed a lie-in until 0625 when the reveille was sounded and cadets were encouraged (occasionally dragged!) out of their sleeping bags by their NCOs. Camp was packed away and breakfast cooked within the hour and cadets were then put through some morning lessons on personal administration before starting the walk back to King’s at around 0830. On return the cadets were split between Capt Joseph (for dekitting and degunging) and Lt Barnes for section attacks practise. By 1030 cadets were formed up and being prepared for their passing out parade. After some intense drill lessons from UO Bates the cadets were for the final parade in front of parents, at which they received their half star Army Proficiency badge.

I was extremely proud of the new cadets who attended the exercise who demonstrated many of the qualities we seek to develop in our cadets such as leadership, initiative, resourcefulness and resilience. It was for all of them their first time ever doing this in the context of CCF and I doubt that any had ever spent a night under the stars in Spring before. Well done to all those that took part.

Mr Lee

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Shells 100 word essay competition

Pick a topic, get a pen, a piece of paper, and write 100 words...every student in shells were invited to enter this competition. Mrs Sumner, Mrs Lydon, Mrs Aldridge, Mr Parkes and Mr Harle then had the pleasure of reading them all and picking the overall winners. Enjoy reading the 100 word essays winners through the magazine...it’s not as easy as it looks!

Dun-dun, dun-dun. Nerves were rising. Pressure was building. The crowd was deafening. ‘Take your marks!’ His country was counting on him. His fans were counting on him. ‘Get set!’ The world was counting on him. BANG! They were off. The Olympic 100 metre final was underway. His start was good. A great push off the blocks brought him level with a Jamaican athlete. He was getting into his stride. The lead was his now. 20 metres, 30 metres, 40 metres, 50 metres, 60 metres. He was nearing the end. He was only strides away. So very close. And he fell.

Luke Sawney SHTK

As soon as she was born she knew he was the one. Her heart melted every time she saw him. Her jaw dropped every time she looked into those dark, mysterious eyes. But she was too shy and embarrassed to tell him of her love because her nose was ever so slightly crooked.

Days passed and finally she told him of her feelings and to her surprise he felt the same way. Alas, their love could not last, for when the sun rose they melted. Only some coal and carrots to symbol the love that had been on the field.

Alice Cousins & Emily Cuffin-Munday SHHL

Writing a 100 word story is just amazing. It is not hard thinking of a good idea, and it only takes you a few minutes or so. All you do is think of a bunch of characters, a decent plot, a beginning, and an ending, and perhaps even a twist...

Just put all of them in order, and hey presto! You have your very own story. It seems pretty easy and it won’t take a couple of hundred pieces of paper. But do you know what the super annoying bit is? It always catches people out. Having no more than... Haran Makwana SHRA

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 11

The distance is white, the mind is white, all is blank. As she looks out of her ice-capped window, her next door neighbour and her daughter jump from their car. With desire, she watches the delight in their eyes as they play together in the snow, mother and daughter. The mother’s eye catches her, peering through her window, and signals her to come outside, but she is hesitant. As the thoughts run through her mind, what if mother comes home? However something, she did not know what, but something possesses her to run, to grab her wispy cardigan and run.

Isabel Dawson SHJJ

Shells shortlisted for ‘Free Spirit Verse’ Prizes

The following Shells were shortlisted to read the poems they wrote themselves in the Library during the final week of term. Well done to the following:  Daniel Ardron ShJJ – The Boat  Thomas Cuffin-Munday ShHL– Llanddwyn Sands  Hansaj Singh ShHL– My Ethnic Home  Edward Everett ShHL– Old Tree  Holly Johnston ShTK– Water of Love  Zoe Rigby ShRA – A War within Nature

Orks and Space Elves...only at Games Club

As the guns blaze, a human may come to question why he is here. But not when he is fighting a hoard of orks coming straight at him and he knows that if he doesn’t fight he will be cut up by their choppas and blown to bits by their shootas. This: and the fact that there is a massive hand reaching from the sky continually and pushing him on. This is just the everyday life of a model in games club. Here we torture innocent models and other inanimate objects by forcing them to fight against each other, and depict the outcome by rolling dice. But what’s more, we laugh and make jokes while doing it. We enjoy watching great heroes kill each other in strange and unusual ways or just smashing each other in with their fists. But don’t get me wrong, we aren’t all sadistic killers. We bring them back to life and allow them to develop cultures amongst themselves. Some of them even enjoy this life. Take the orks for example. They have terrible intelligence, counting 1,2,3,4, lotz, brain busta!!!! However they love to fight and scream into battle on trukks to the call of WWAAAAAGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! If an ork believes that the dustbin he just picked up is a rokkit lawncher, it will shoot rokkits. The orks also have a pecking system, at the bottom ar da grots, den come da boys, den da warbosses. Other races include Eldar, the most graceful of the races, otherwise known as space elves, but they are dying out. They were almost killed by a chaos god, (not one of us...... probably). Then there are Tyrannids, planet leaching monsters who have come from another galaxy and without resistance, can wipe a planet clean of life in under ten minutes. The other race I will mention is the humans. These include the imperial guard and the Space Marines. This is just one game but the most popular. Others include D&D. Picture a video game where you can do anything. Also any other game you can convince people to play.

By Andrew Darby (SHJJ) Shells News 2010-2011 Page 12

Shells Musical Achievements

Thomas Cuffin-Munday- Grade 6 saxophone Emily Cuffin-Munday- Grade 4 flute Mathew Rutherford- Grade 6 Piano Niamh Massey- Flute Grade 1 and piano grade 2 Catriona Hogg- Grade 3 keyboard Anna Willis- Grade 3 flute and Grade 2 piano Erin Hollingworth – Grade 3 cello Natasha Tudor- Grade 2 Voice Sam Edwardson- Grade 7 trumpet Alex Tan- Grade 7 piano Aiden Kiely- Grade 2 trumpet Fergus Davidson- Grade 4 and Grade 1 Piano Haran Makwana –Grade 2 Piano Rebeckah Hagan- Grade 4 saxophoneand Piano grade 4 Edward Everett- Grade 5 saxophone and grade 5 piano Harry Mulliner- Grade 3 violin Sam Pode – Grade 5 trumpet Adam Fryer- No grade Guitar Helen Ramsbottom- Grade 3 flute Frances Alcock- Grade 4 flute, Grade 5 saxaphone, Grade 6 violin and piano Eloise Bland- Grade 0 piano and grade 5 singing Emily Scott- Grade 3 Flute Lucy Peel- Grade 6 flute Harry Higginbottom- Grade 3 piano Daniel Ardron – Doesn’t do grades, guitar Daniel Swinnock- Grade 8 drums Robert Fayle- Grade 3 piano and clarinet

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And a little Comic Fun from SHRA

What do you give a sick lemon?

Lemon-aid What do you call a one-eyed dinosaur?

Do-you-think-he-saw-us

Why did the banana go to the doctors?

Because he wasn’t peeling very well. What do you call a donkey with 3 legs?

A wonky What do witches have on their computers?

A spell checker.

What cheese is made backwards?

Edam. (This joke is over-grated) OK, time for better jokes.

Three men are climbing up a hill, an Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman when they see a sign next to a cliff. The sign reads, “Jump off here and name any bird you want, and you’ll become it.” So, the Englishman jumps off and shouts, “hawk!” The Scotsman jumps off and shouts, “Eagle!”, the Irishman jumps off and yells, “PENGUIN!!” (Splat.)

Q: What’s flat, yellow, and flies around the kitchen? A: An unidentified flying omelette.

Q: What’s bright, orange and sounds like a parrot? A: A carrot.

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More Success in Shells Sport

Hockey Tennis The Shell Hockey team for 2011 played well throughout the Tennis in 2011 has reached its best in 2011 for Shells. We year. We had a good season this year which included many have 8 hard courts that are ready for lots of tennis. There are wins. The team had good spirit and worked well together. practices every single morning so no one will be short of We scored good goals and learnt new skills. Everyone who practice. If someone can’t make it then shells have two played in goal this year was very good and Lucy Peel played lunchtime practices and one after school practice a week. To lots of matches in goal and was very successful. Everyone summarize this is all set up for a great season. enjoyed the hockey season and played their best. Thank you The U13 Girls won the Chester and District Tournament After to all our hockey teachers for supporting us this year. losing only four games in total throughout the whole of the tournament. Harriet and Sophie had gained 18 points in total By Emily Boothroyd SHRA to be added to scores from Catriona Hogg and Emily Boothroyd. 18 points was the most scored by any couple in the whole tournament and very well deserved by Harriet and Sophie.

By Rory Crowe SHTK

Girls’ Athletics

In shells we do lots of athletics; we have athletics in games

every Tuesday and a weekly club on a Thursday. Through the term King's enters many inter-school competitions and at the end of the year we have sports day. In shells the sports in athletics varies greatly, discus, shot, javelin, long jump, high jump and 800m, 1500m, 100m, 200m and hurdles. The girls write down their PBs and see if they can beat them next year. In sports day this year records were broken and The new King’s School record holders are Emily Boothroyd in the 100m, Natasha Tudor in the 800m and Shepherds House Relay Team. Netball By Anna Willis SHTK The netball teams did very well this year, we won a lot of games and we have learnt new ways and moves for next year. Our players are excellent and shells couldn't have had a better team. Over all won 14 and lost 20, only a marginal difference. This year was great.

By Eloise Bland SHJJ

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 15

U13 Boys Cricket

With the 2010/2011 cricket season getting off to a good start against Nantwich, with a win, the u13 have had a reasonably successful season so far. With good wins against Stockport Grammar, QEGS Blackburn and Bishop Heber, the team has not failed to deliver. We have had some good 50's throughout the season, by Rimmer, Adke and Andrady. There have also been some good notable bowling performances by, Luke Sawney, Sam Rogers, Sam Pode, Hansaj Singh and Angus Menzies. Will Smith and Adam Sawney have also been brilliant behind the stumps. The team have had their fair share of poor performances against MGS and Merchant Taylors (weather greatly affected this game). There have also been some handy fielding and batting performances by Jaquiss, Pode, Rogers, Smith and Back. Watson, Macloskey and Ellershaw, three strong ‘B’ team players, have also relished the challenge of ‘A’ team cricket with great performances when called upon. With Kings in the semi final of the Cheshire cup against either Wilmslow or Birkenhead, they have a good chance of getting to the Nationals for the second season in a row. The team’s fielding has been generally very good, with outstanding performances by Will Smith, Sam Rogers, Steve Rimmer Ali Andrady and Charlie Macloskey. The catch of the season goes to Sam Rogers’ diving catch to his left, at Mid Off, against Stockport Grammar. Mr Egerton has coached and managed the side very well, knowing when to chop and change the order for the ‘weaker’ teams and keeping our best side out for the so called ‘stronger’ sides. King's U13's have strong team morale and the batting, bowling and fielding have worked hand in hand. Alastair and I have really enjoyed captaining this side who will listen to any advice given by Mr Egerton and Mr Walker. The highlight of the season was a narrow defeat at the hands of Cheshire, with brilliant batting, fielding and bowling on the day. This is a result that the school and the boys should be very proud of.

By Steve Rimmer and Alastair Andrady

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What the Shells wanted to know about the next few years ahead...

With the timetable changing and the opportunity to study Enrichment George Neal spoke to Mr Millard on behalf of the Shells.

Why is King’s turning into an IGCSE school and had the school been pressured into it as a result of surrounding schools adopting them? I’ll answer that very simply, no, we haven’t adopted them because of pressure from others but because we believe they are better for our pupils. We do look at other schools, however, and we also try to be the marcher instead of the follower as a school. Some schools have moved exclusively to IGCSE but we have looked at them on a subject by subject basis, as we feel that IGCSE’s are better in some subjects than others, based on content. The easiest way to look at it is that other schools have had success, and we believe we will too.

Why are we choosing subjects this year rather than next year? The reason we are doing that is that the third year curriculum has always been a bit crowded. We’re trying to make it easier for third years to have more time to specialise in subjects that they are good at, whilst not continuing with subjects that they are not so strong in. For example, most 14 year olds know whether they are going to do music in the future, art similarly. We do two languages in removes and shells, and after that most people know if they are a good linguist or not. We are giving you the opportunity to start specialising in subjects a bit earlier.

Will we get any career advice relevant to the subjects we have chosen in the third year? You will get advice when you choose your IGCSE’s and then full careers advice with Mr Wheeler will start in the 4th year. I hope we have made it clear that if you drop some subjects in the third year, you can’t always take them up again in the fourth year, as in most subjects what you learnt the year before is important.

Do double periods mean double the 55 minute lessons? There will be no double periods for Removes to 5th years, all lessons will be single.

Do less periods mean a less boring day? I hope that no day is boring. The idea of having longer lessons is that we can have more variety in each lesson, with a range of activities. It also means less walking around the school, so that saves time.

Do enrichment activities act as a reward for working harder every day? No, they are aimed as a chance for you to take part in other academic opportunities, and give pupils a chance to broaden their range. For example, we don’t do geology gcse, we do geography, but enrichment gives people a chance to do it.

Do longer lessons mean shorter homework? The homework timetable isn’t going to change much. At the moment you get two homeworks per week for each language: next year that will change to 3 homeworks a fortnight. However, this year you get 1 history homework a week: next year you will also get 1 homework a week. All homework will be set according to a two-week timetable.

If people need to leave for a sporting activity during a lesson, does this mean more writing up of work? Not necessarily: previously if pupils left school at 2:50 pm, for example, they would miss most of period 7 and all of period 8. With the new system, pupils will only miss one lesson, which means less work trying to chase up your teachers about homework or worksheets.

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 17

We’re all going to the Zoo tomorrow...

A great day out was had by all on the Biology School Trip to Chester Zoo. Thoughts from our Shells School Committee Members:

C children happily exit school to enter the Zoo

H how do the bats see in the dark? E elephants, the first and best sight of the trip S shells super day out T Toads, Tapirs, Tigers and The Painted Dogs

E everyone excited about being out of school R Rhinos, Reptiles & Ringtailed Lemurs

Z Zebras, hard to spot among them all, the illusion mesmerising O Otters, Okapis, ostriches and Orang-utans O on the bus home, everyone making a racket!

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 18

...and we’re going to stay all day.

Shells News 2010-2011 Page 19