We look at the ‘must see’ films

The Times Spelling Bee

Last summer, four girls from year seven took

part in the Times Spelling Bee: Katie Marrow,

Wendy Elwood, Rebecca Marrow and I,

joined eight other schools at the Cineworld in

Didsbury to compete for a place in the finals.

On the day of the Bee, the team were driven

to the Cineworld by Mrs Clifford. On the way

we stopped at a park and practised spellings.

We were all really excited and really nervous.

Then we went to the Bee.

When we got there we chose Wendy as the

reserve and tried to come up with a team

name. I had brought a toy penguin and Re-

becca had brought a cat, but instead of call-

ing ourselves ‘The Cat and the Penguin’, we

opted for ‘Jack the Cat’. After eating our

lunch it was time for the competition to start.

The competition itself took place in a room

that would usually be used to watch films in.

After watching the introduction, 3 members

from each team went to their allocated podi-

ums while the reserves and teachers cheered

them on from the seats. The first round was

the easier one. You had as much time as you

liked to spell a word, but if you got it wrong,

you were out. Luckily for’ Jack the Cat’, Katie

was one of the last standing.

During the interval we were given drinks and

free popcorn. We had chosen hard words for

the second round in an attempt to get more

points. When our turn came in the second

round we had to spell as many words as we

could in two minutes, and we didn’t do as

well as we had in round one.

We ended up fourth out of nine teams. De-

spite returning to school having just missed

out on a place in the final, it was a really en-

joyable experience, and we got free goodie

bags with a notebook and pen in each of

them. I would definitely recommend that any

good spellers in year seven should try it.

Spelling Test Puzzle

Some of these words have been spelled cor-

rectly but some haven’t. Can you work out

which and put in the correct spellings?

Inexplikable Grandiose

Ayesthetic Carbohidrate

Onomatopia Obdurate

Satisfactory Aorta

Circumference Odessy

Aracknid

We learn more about Francis

House Children’s Hospice

Charlotte has a chat with

Mr Rimmer

Issue

4

Francis House

Francis House is a hospice that helps young

people with special needs. Francis House

helps a huge amount of people. Amy Plimmer

and Charles Denton from magazine club inter-

viewed Kieran Leach in 10F because he

spends time there with his disabled brother

Josh.

Q: What is Francis House?

A: It’s a children’s hospice in Didsbury that

looks after children with special needs.

Q: What does Francis House do?

A: It’s a place where, if you have a sibling who

is disabled, you can go!

Q: How does Francis House help you?

A: It’s a place where you can relax.

Q: How long have you been going to Francis

House?

A: I was about three when I went to Francis

House for the first time.

Q: Why do you go to Francis House?

A: It gives you time to relax and have family

time.

Q: Where is Francis House?

A: In Didsbury, Manchester.

Q: Does Francis House help many families?

A: Yes, it helps many families like mine when

we need a break and time to relax.

Francis House receive many generous dona-

tions every year, but they need more if they

are to keep running. The hospice has become

a vital part of life for many people, who de-

serve a place like the hospice. 10F support

Francis House by holding a chocolate tombola

before Easter every year.

Alice Lowden interviews Kieran Leach

See room 105 for

The Kids’ Lit Quiz

The Kids' Lit Quiz is an annual quiz for

students aged 10 - 13 years. Schools can

submit up to two teams of four students

from Year 6, 7 and 8 into one of the six-

teen regional heats in the UK. The New

Zealand Quizmaster Wayne Mills com-

plies ten categories with ten questions in

each based on children’s literature. The

team members work together to win the

heat, get through to the national final,

and be in with a chance to win a trip to

the world final.

The team consisting of Olivia Maddocks,

Katie Marrow, Rebecca Marrow and I did

brilliantly, coming first overall and achiev-

ing a place in the national final. Lady

Manners, a school in Bakewell, came

fourth. After the teams had selected

their ‘Joker’ rounds (which scored you

double points) the quizmaster Wayne

Mills, began the quiz. We did pretty well

throughout the competition, gaining con-

sistently high scores and rarely coming

below third in any round. We were still

surprised when we discovered we had

won the heat, beating 24 schools across

Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire!

The National Finals were quite a lot hard-

er with schools competing from all over

the UK. It wasn’t just accuracy that was

important. Now, to gain the points, you

had to get to the buzzer first. And every

time you got a question wrong, your team

lost a point.

We still did quite well though, and our

team name was shown at the top of the

leader board more than once. Sadly, we

were completely thrown by the last

round, and ended up 2 points behind the

winners. After a tie-breaker question we

were awarded the prize for third place,

which included a book, a magazine and

several bookmarks

and postcards.

There were lots of authors there, includ-

ing Gillian Cross, Helen Pielchaty, and

Malorie Blackman, among many others.

One of the authors there was the one

who had written ‘Mortal Chaos’, the book

we received as a prize.

Despite nearly being stranded by snow on

the way home, it was a brilliant day out

and we were really pleased to have

achieved the second highest score in the

country. Not bad, considering it was the

first time we had taken part in the com-

pletion. Alice

Lowdon, 8B

Could you be the next Kids’

lit quiz champion??! Have a go with the following 5 questions. Have

you got what it takes to be a champion too?

1. What part of the world did Hades rule?

2.Who was Ron Weasley’s only sister?

3.What was the name of the island on which

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third

lived?

4.In Spike Milligan’s poem, Silly

Old Baboon, what did the Baboon

decide to do?

5. Who wrote twisted fairy tales and called

The 2012 Lit Quiz Team

See room 105 for

Back to the 80’s

Released in 1985 by Nintendo for the

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES),

Super Mario Bros. has become a timeless

classic and literally a pop-culture icon

that an entire generation of kids grew-up

on (similar to how Pokémon will be in 20

years no doubt). Super Mario Bros. is the

one game, that nearly everyone knows

about, gamer or not.

In my opinion this is a classic example of

early gaming engineering at its best, and

I think that it is one of the best games in

gaming history.

By Ben Critchlow Y9

Blood Brothers

Here is a review of a performance of Blood

Brothers, year ten students went to see, at the

Palace Theatre in Manchester last year:

Blood Brothers is a heart-warming story of

Mickey and Edward, two twin brothers separat-

ed at birth, because their mother couldn’t

afford to look after them both. They become

friends not knowing that they are twins and

they both cut their thumbs and place them

together so that their blood mixes together.

Despite one of the families relocating, their

lives continue to intertwine. Edward belongs to

a rich family and he goes on to study at Oxford

whilst Mickey, who stays with his birth mother

in a poor family, is forced into a life of crime

through unemployment. As adults, they are

caught up in a vicious love triangle with Mick-

ey’s childhood sweetheart Linda. Mickey takes

drastic action against his fraternal twin which

will ultimately expose their true identities. I will

say no more as I would not want to spoil the

story for you if you decide to go and see it for

yourselves.

Blood Brothers was written by William Russell

based loosely on the 1844 novella The Corsican

Brothers by Alexandra Dumas and it was first

performed at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983.

By Charlotte Musgrove

Theatre trips

The Woman in Black

Drama students have to watch theatre perfor-

mances and write reviews about them for part

of their GCSE course. On May 7th a much antici-

pated trip to the Lowry theatre in Salford has

been planned, for year ten drama students and

Mrs Clifford’s year nine English group to see

‘The Woman in Black’ which is reported to be

very scary!!

The original story, written by Susan Hill has

been adapted for the stage by Stephen

Malatratt in collaboration with the writer her-

self.

Most students who have seen the recent film

adaptation are expecting to be sat on the edge

of their seats!

Blood Brothers’ author, Willy Russell

Travel Writing

In year nine all students follow a unit of

work on travel writing. After studying a

range of travel writers including Bryson,

Ellena Taylor in 9F managed to develop

her own style:

Feeling restless and hyperactive I fell out

of bed at the ungodly hour of 5am. Pack-

ing last minute essentials (more clothes!),

I glanced around, paranoid that I would

leave something behind. We gulped down

a quick breakfast and then packed up the

car. After a quick check of the clock I

started to panic. We were already late.

Truth be told we broke the speed limit

rushing to Manchester Airport desperate

to get there on time when abruptly we

came to an unexpected halt. We had end-

ed up in the middle of a gigantic traffic

jam. Ooops. The holiday rush outside of

the airport increased and the cars started

building up making the apprehensive wait

seem to go on forever.

Finally we managed to break free of

the jam and get to the car park. Grabbing

a trolley as we ran, we raced into the

glamorous building. We went through

checkout and searched for our flight on

the towering arrival/departure board

above our heads. It wasn’t there. Wor-

riedly we hurried to the checkout only to

find that we had missed the call and the

flight doors were closed. I felt like a 10

year old child who has just been told they

couldn’t go on their exotic holiday that

they had been looking forward to all year.

Oh wait. I was. Dejectedly I slumped

down in one of the little plastic chairs

attached to the bland walls and my lower

lip started to wobble. I sat observing jeal-

ously all the other excited people laugh-

ing and talking without a care in the

world all hyped up to go on their holidays

like I had been about ten minutes ago. My

big sister appeared at my side full of com-

forting words and empty promises that

didn’t have the effect they were meant to

because I could tell she felt just the same

way.

Luckily there was some good news. We

had been able to book a flight for three

days later and my parents apologetically

called the campsite and gave them the

news that we would be later than

planned. Silently all five of us trooped

back into the car and went home. But

looking back we got to go to Morrisons

for brunch so I guess every cloud has a

silver lining.

3 Days later

I was up at 4am this time. Nothing was

going to get in my way of going to Italy. It

was one experience I wasn’t going to miss

for the world. After all I had been telling

EVERYONE all year!! We repeated the

performance of loading up the car and

once again we were on our way to Man-

chester Airport for the second time that

week. The lack of traffic raised my spirits.

Happily I bobbed along in the car bouncy

and talkative because life was looking up

again. We glided into the airport as easily

as a carving knife slides into soft butter

and got through checkout with time to

spare! I pirouetted down the long glass

tunnel and hopped up the plane steps

one by one. Heaving the hand luggage

into the compartments over our heads I

collapsed next to my brother in a prime

window seat right next to a wing. This

adventure was really going to happen.

Eventually the plane started cautiously

rolling down the runway and gathering up

speed it lifted into the air. We were on

the way to Paradise. About two hours

later we were flying smoothly and me

George were marvelling at the cloud for-

mations when I saw a jagged mountain

tip. Caught off guard I did a double take

and peered out of the small box window.

Yes that was definitely a mountain. And

another. And another! We were floating

over the glorious forms of nature known

as the Alps! They were really astonishing

and each one was snow tipped decora-

tively like icing on a cake. Standing trium-

phant, they watched over us liked gods

observing their empires.

Soon after the Alps we were asked to

take our seats and do up our belts. Ab-

ruptly the plane started swooping down-

wards and miniscule buildings started

looking more like constructions instead of

ants. We got further down and our ears

popped which made the whole plane

groan unanimously and then giggle at

everyone else’s faces. The runway came

into sight and with a discreet bump, we

slapped onto the tarmac.

Excitedly there was a huge rush of

people; either tourists ready to start their

holidaying as soon as possible or native

Italians who just wanted to go home. We

grasped our luggage tightly and fought to

exit the maelstrom of groping hands

which were desperate to find familiar

material and pull.

Stepping off the plane, a blast of exotic

heat hit me full on. I felt a surge of exhila-

ration as I tried to take in the picturesque

scenery with the Mediterranean ocean

nought but a single sparkling outline

stretching across the horizon. Yes, we

were definitely in Italy!

By Ellena Taylor

Where are they now?

Some of you may have been familiar with

St Thomas More School’s class of 2012 or

they may have just been a passing face

but either way as we’ve been settling into

life back at school they’ve been making

the first steps towards their future. As

you probably know, there are several

different paths which these young people

can choose to take. Whether it is further

education such as A levels and B-Tecs and

apprenticeships or starting work. Like in

past years, the most popular place for our

students is Aquinas College in Stockport

although many students this year have

chosen to go their separate ways and

have chosen other colleges and schools

such as Lady Manners and Marple sixth

form. Earlier this year, we caught up

some of the students who went to Aqui-

nas, they told us;

‘I took Maths, Biology, Archaeology and

Business studies: I really like it here, there

is a lot more work than at GCSE level but I

think I’m coping okay’; ‘There is so much

more freedom at college which was weird

at first but now it almost feels second

nature.’ A student who went to Lady

Manners said ‘I definitely made the right

decision. I was worried that I would lose

contact with my friends who were at

different schools but it’s been great and

I’ve made loads of new friends’. But it’s

not all fun and games as January brought

their first AS level exams, a scary prospect

to our current year elevens who will be

doing the same thing next year!

From everybody at St Thomas More we

wish the class of 2012 all the best for the

future in whatever path they choose.

Annie Guthrie

Shortbread Shapes

This is a really simple recipe with a really tasty

result.

Ingredients:

150g Flour

100g Butter

50g Sugar

25g Chocolate chips or dried fruit (optional)

Equipment:

Bowl

Spoon

Board (or kitchen table)

Rolling pin

Star shaped cutter (or knife)

Baking tray

Oven

Wire rack (or plate)

Method:

1. Mix the butter, sugar and flour in a bowl.

2. Add the chocolate chips or dried fruit and

stir so they are evenly spaced.

3. Roll the mixture into a ball and place on a

board

4. Roll it out with a rolling pin and use the

cutter to cut into circles, stars, or any shape

you like. If you do not have a cutter, use a

butter knife.

5. Carefully lift the shapes up and place on a

baking tray.

6. Roll the remaining mixture into a ball and

repeat steps 4-6 until you run out of mixture.

You may need another baking tray.

7. Cook at 180 degrees for about 15

minutes until the biscuits are firm.

Place the biscuits on a wire rack or plate until

cool.

Tip: To make spring themed biscuits, divide

the mixture between two bowls. Add green

food colouring to one, to make leaf shapes,

and for the other, use pink, blue, yellow or

any colour you like to make flowers.

Alice Lowdon 8B

Interview with 2012 school

leaver Tess Doig

As the summer term approaches and the end

of the school term looms ahead for our cur-

rent year 11, I caught up with a leaver from

last year, Tess Doig, to reflect on her experi-

ences whilst she was a student here. You

probably will have seen her 8ft horse painting

at the back of the hall, I had a quick chat with

her about the painting and how she had found

the art course at St Thomas More School:

How did you find the GCSE art course?

Very difficult, it was a whirlwind of sheets,

annotations and paint.

What would you say to anyone choosing art

next year?

Work hard in year 10, no one ever does

enough, then you suffer in year 11. It is possi-

ble to do all your sheets in three days (as

proved by Oliver Toseland) but it’s much easi-

er to do it before the rest of your exams.

What has been your favourite part of the

course?

It was when I finally managed to finish my 8ft

horse painting.

What has been most challenging aspect of

your work?

The scale of my horse was hard but it made

me face my fear of painting. It was very re-

warding though because I never thought I’d

achieve anything like it.

Most of your assignments focus on horses,

did you choose a topic that you were inter-

ested in and enjoy?

Yes, working in a livery yard it meant that I

had lots of photo opportunities to get the best

pictures possible. I have been through hun-

dreds of photos to get my final images.

What inspired your colour choices of painting

the horse in purple tones?

Well you might not have realised this but you

can’t paint a white horse, on a white canvas in

white paint so I had to experiment with cold

purples in the background and warm purples

in the foreground to create the effect.

What is going to happen to this painting?

Well, I haven’t a clue. Mr. Hickey has assured

me if nowhere else will have it would fit nicely

in the hall. I might take it home, or Phil the

caretaker thinks it should go to Chatsworth

(where the picture was taken).

What was your favourite piece of art pro-

duced by other students on the course?

I’m a huge fan of Jenni’s underwater piece,

and the splashes of water in Chloe’s painting.

I’m a fan of Izzy Guthrie’s colourful work too!

Interview by Annie Guthrie 10F

School Council

Every year, two students are selected from

each form to be members of the school coun-

cil. At the start of every month a meeting is

hosted by Miss Thompson, where issues

around the school and perhaps out of school,

are discussed. The school council plays an

important role in deciding what is best for the

school. The students on the council have also

been involved in the recent interviewing pro-

cess for the appointment of the new Head of

MFL and teacher of science.

School Council reps

THIS IS WHERE IT CAN ALL LEAD……….

Danielle Hutton has been a key member of

the High Peak Forum, Derbyshire Youth

Council & our own School Council whilst at

STM. I spoke to her about what she had

gained from being a part of so many com-

mittees.

We all know you played a big part in our

community, but what is it that you actually

did?

I was a member of the Student Council since

year 7 and I finished being chair of it in year

11. Since year 9, I worked with Derbyshire

Youth Council where I was the cabinet mem-

ber for the High Peak working on the portfo-

lio for equality. And I also joined the High

Peak Youth Forum – which is like a smaller

version of the Derbyshire Youth Council.

What were your duties?

Organisations put in bids for more money for

materials or facilities & we decided whether

they could have it or not, we dealt with up to

50,000 altogether. We basically decided how

to spend money across Derbyshire for young

people. We also had an incredible trip to

Brussels to look at the European Parliament.

What was your favourite part of being in-

volved?

Everything really, you meet a lot of new peo-

ple & can make a lot of new friends. You have

so many fantastic experiences and gain a lot

from it. You gain confidence and knowledge,

now I’m more worldly aware.

Why did you have to stop?

I had to stop being on the council as I’m too

old and I now attend a college outside of

Derbyshire so I couldn’t stand for election.

Are you sad that you’ve had to leave every-

thing or do you think you’ll find something

new to fill your time?

I think I’ll always want to be a part of some-

thing. I’m not the type to sit back and watch

things get done and not say anything.

Do you think in the future all this experience

will help you in any way?

Yeah, definitely, I’m a lot more confident so

I’m at a better advantage with things like

public speaking or meeting new people.

What would you say to anyone who wants

to get involved like you did?

Go for it! You won’t regret it! It’s full of great

experiences so you can just get stuck in and

never miss an opportunity. I’ve done so much

and I’m so thankful for all of it. Just be your-

self, everyone fits in. You just need opinions

and to be able to share them! Know what you

want to say and don’t be afraid to speak out.

Everyone finds their place and fits in, in their

own little weird way.

Annie Guthrie and Lauren Granger 10F

Silver Surfers

At the end of year nine all students get

the opportunity to apply for the Duke of

Edinburgh scheme. Out of this year’s

applicants 15 students were chosen to

work towards completing the award. In

the first year of D of E, you work towards

the bronze award which entails two days

walking and one night camping. The aim

is to improve team working skills and to

get involved in helping the community.

As part of the challenge all participants

have to complete three sections: volun-

teering, a skill and a physical activity. The

choices available are almost never end-

ing and often unusual. From extreme

ironing to biscuit pimping there really is

no limit to the new hobbies and skills

you can attempt.

For the volunteering section, a group of

year ten and eleven students have

offered to help out at the Silver Surfers

club held in the school library every

Tuesday at 3.15pm. Inexperienced com-

puter users are guided in basic computer

skills. The club has been very successful

especially with some of the older

attendees joining Facebook with the help

of their younger D of E helpers. For many

of the members, the club is also a socia-

ble event and always ends with a warm

cup of tea and a cheeky biscuit! The vol-

unteers also benefit from the lessons as

it has developed their people skills and

improved their patience. If you are think-

ing of taking part in the Duke of Edin-

burgh award scheme, it is a great way to

accomplish something worthwhile,

whilst enjoying yourself at the same

time.

Annie Guthrie 10F

Editorial

We hope you enjoy reading this fourth

edition of the school’s magazine, Atomic.

The editorial group have compiled a wide

variety of articles for this issue. We hope

you enjoy it.

Our school editorial team meet in Mrs

Clifford’s room (room 105) during Tuesday

lunchtime each week. If anyone wishes to

contribute to the next edition of Atomic,

then they are welcome to join in at the

next meeting. If you would like to let us

know about your views and ideas, our

email address is:

atomic@st-

thomasmore.derbyshire.sch.uk.

The Editorial team: Charles Denton, Re-

becca Fowler, Lauren Granger, Annie

Guthire, Alice Lowdon, Charlotte

Musgrove, Amy Plimmer and Mrs Clifford.

The Science Department

When we think of the science depart-

ment, what comes to mind?

Three kind loyal teachers and one techni-

cian: Mr Rimmer, Mrs Eades, Mr Bowler

and Mrs Musgrove. When we walk in to

the science labs we can smell smoke bub-

bling up our noses, the excitement of

doing experiments hits you like a rocket

blasting up in to space. We might be stud-

ying acids and alkalis or even the periodic

table. Even the textbooks fill your mind

with extraordinary facts and information

or even mind blowing descriptions.

An Interview with Mr Rimmer:

When did you want to become a science

teacher?

I wanted to become a science teacher

when they wouldn’t have me as a technol-

ogy teacher. Well, I was looking for a sky-

high paid job, four days a week two hour

day, but my wife says I’m not fit to associ-

ate with adults!

What job did you do before becoming a

science teacher?

Well, I worked in oil rigs, super tankers

and a nappy factory. I’ve also been a

builder, a roofer, a sheet metal worker, a

design engineer but I’ve had other jobs

too.

What’s the most embarrassing thing

that’s happened to you?

It was when I had to give my undies to my

brother when he had just been rescued

from drowning outside a Labour confer-

ence in London at the age of four/five.

Does teaching make you happy?

Yes, I love teaching.

Have you had a scary moment?

It was when a pupil decided to electro-

cute himself in my classroom.

If you could do any other job, what

would it be?

I would be a builder and build eco homes

or I would be a campsite owner.

Thank you Mr Rimmer

By Charlotte Musgrove 8F

What To Watch

Over the holidays (when the weather lets

us down), we all like to get out and about

with our friends. Well, if you find yourself

stuck inside wondering what to do, why

not buy/rent one of these films?

The Hunger Games is a heart-stopping

film, based on the successful trilogy

written by Suzanne Collins. The film is

focused on the first book in which a girl,

whose name is Katniss Everdeen, is cho-

sen to take part in a challenge along with

a boy from the same district, named Peeta

Mellark. The Hunger Games is an event

that occurs every year without fail. In the

challenge, 24 participants under the age

of 18 must fight to the death, there can

only be one winner. Little did they know

that this year Katniss Everdeen, a keen

competitor will not give up without a

fight. The film is now on DVD but you can

also read the book trilogy….see Mrs Pitts

in the library.

Rebecca Fowler 10F

‘The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scien-

tists!’ is an animation film about a pirate

captain. He and his crew set out on a mis-

sion to defeat their old rivals- Black Bella-

my and Cutlass Liz- in their quest for the

Pirate of the Year Award. Accompanied

by their loyal parrot, the pirates cast off

from Blood Island and end up befriending

Charles Darwin in Victorian London. It isn’t

long before Darwin works out that the

parrot, called Polly, is the last dodo in ex-

istence!

Desperate to please his old love, Queen

Victoria, the scientist steals the parrot,

intending to present it as a gift. However,

Victoria wants the dodo… so that she can

eat it!

A brilliant and funny film, it is perfect for

all the family.

(By the way, can you spot the pirate with

a Blue Peter badge on his hat?)

Charles

Denton

10F