Best Wishes for

Christmas to all our

reader from everyone at

Sixth Sense

A big thanks to all students and staff for their huge

contribution to all aspects of 6th Form this term.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your

families

An inclusive learning community living out Gospel values

Nic Smith

Head of Sixth Form

Trinity Catholic College

Christmas Card

Sixth Sense

In this Issue

Books to Read p.2

The Presidents p.3

Christmas Trees p.4

Community Christmas Lunch p.8

A Christmas Carol p.10

CAUSE Hampers p.12

Top Ten Christmas Songs p.14

It’s a Cracker! P.16

2

Holiday Reading

Before disappearing into the holiday mince pies and sherry,

why not call into the Sixth Form Library where you’ll find

many new titles including Booker Prize winner Richard

Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

3

The Presidents

“Drinking is its own reward”(Gad Gruves).

Drinking coffee that is! The Costa Coffee machine was

a huge draw in our manifesto and we haven’t for-

gotten about it; in fact we have contacted Costa and

enquired about installing a Costa Express machine in

the college and now it is a waiting game. They are the

people who decide whether we can have it or not, it

isn’t just a case of we want one so we’ll get it.

Katie and I took into consideration your issues with the

lunch arrangements, such as the chips, and we re-

solved this issue by putting roasties as a different op-

tion but they weren’t received as well as expected and

it turns out you all really did love chips after all!

Pizza Fridays is still happening (contrary to popular

belief). We have contacted Dominos and have worked

out a discount for bulk purchases, so anyone who

wants a pizza slice can give in £1 to either me or Billy

and you will receive a ticket (no cheaters) and we will

set up in the directed study room where you can col-

lect your pizza. The more who buy, the more pizza

there will be; it is a group effort!

Remember if you have any problems you need to tell

us so that we can try and find a solution. There will, eventually, be a suggestion box placed in the refectory for

all those too shy to actually come up to us to voice any

concerns or ideas.

Thanks to everyone who attended the Christmas

party. Overall it turned out to be a very successful

night and, hopefully, all who went had a good time.

Merry Christmas everyone.

“Let's just say that on this day, a million years ago, a

dude was born who most of us think was magic. But

others don't, and that's cool. But we're probably

right. Amen.” - Homer Simpson

4

This Pac-Man styled tree was on display in downtown Madrid back

in 2007 and attracted hundreds of videos on YouTube of the fully

functional video game tree. The tree was complete with LED Christ-

mas trees chasing Pac Man around this 2 storey tree.

If you want something wonderful and weird, go to the Japanese.

This time, they produced a giant Godzilla shaped tree, filled with

LED lights and a smoke machine hidden in it’s mouth. It’s safe to

say this decoration definitely spruced up this Tokyo mall and also

made its way onto the best trees of all time.

5

France exhibited a huge chocolate Christmas tree created by the

chocolatier Patrick Rogers back in 2012 (pictured centre) to raise

money for charity. The tree was solid chocolate and people donated

an amount of money in turn for a part of the tree - which weighed

over 4 tons.

This tree was made twice. Once for an American branch of Lego-

land and once for a Malaysian branch. The tree was built with over

400,000 bricks of Lego and contained over another 240 Lego orna-

ments. The tree was on display up until January 2013.

6

If you’re looking for that quirky, cringy comedy, The

Office is perfect for you. Based on the British

mockumentary series of the same name, this version

starring Steve Carell, was given 9 seasons rather

than the UK’s 2, giving it much more scope, charac-

ters and creativity.

Steve Carell stars as Michael Scott, the most cringy

boss in the typical American office. He goes out of his

way to let people know that he’s the best boss and

that he’s always there for everyone, whereas most of

the time he screws up people’s plans and accidental-

ly lets high class secrets slip, such as which mem-

bers of the firm are being fired.

Supporting Carell is the hilarious Rainn Wilson as

Dwight Scrute; the dumbest office worker of all time.

He’s always trying to make people work their hardest

and to impress Michael at all costs. Dwight is ex-

tremely gullible and always at the heel of pranks

pulled off by Pam and Jim (Jenna Fischer & John

Krasinski) who appear to be the only normal people

in the office.

Other members of the office include Kevin, the so-

cially awkward overweight finance manager, Ange-

la the extremely pessimistic finance assistance and

Kelly, the attention seeking feedback officer. These

characters all work amazingly well as they are

played perfectly and all have great on-screen

chemistry.

With over 22 episodes a season, you won’t feel like

it’s over very quickly. I’ve been watching this non-

stop and am buried deep into season 6 as we

speak. 8 Seasons worth are on Netflix for your

viewing, and the last season is scheduled to be up-

loaded anytime soon. The show is over for now but

the episodes are still fresh as ever, definitely worth

a watch.

I’m going to leave you with my favourite quote from

Dwight Schrute after the company had hired some

new staff: “Why are all these people here? There

are too many people on this earth. We need a

new plague.”

7

After reading a number of urban legends and in-

stantly becoming hooked, I stumbled across the

story of “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs” -

the story of a teenage girl who is babysitting two

young children and receives a number of tele-

phone calls threatening her and saying that she

should check on the boys sleeping upstairs. She

later discovers that the call is coming from inside

the house.. The whole story seemed a great con-

cept and I found out that many films had attempted

to capture it, but certain films had twisted this tale

slightly and one was Amusement.

This film is told in 5 parts, with the plot being con-

fusing and unbelievably pointless, all except for the

second part which tells this urban legend quite well

and with a great twist. The teenage girl discovers

that the family she is babysitting has spare room in

which she is to stay, which is filled with hundreds

of clown dolls. There is one giant clown doll sitting

in a rocking chair holding an accordion which es-

pecially scares her. She sleeps in the room none-

theless and eventually receives a call from the

parent of the children. She mentions that the clown

doll scares her to which the parent mentions that

they own no such doll. The girl looks back to the

chair to discover it missing.

This scene is 100% the best in the movie. The

whole time, the clown is there you do not see it

move even slightly but as she sleeps, it turns its

head slightly and only you, the viewer, are aware it

is alive... The clown is not even the main focus of

the story which is a very messy plot concerning

three high school students who live very different

lives but are connected by a very thin link to a dis-

turbed boy. This boy then terrorises their lives in

separate ways. Whilst this seems to be a interest-

ing idea, and gets exciting at parts, the ending falls

flat. After building up, the plot seems to leave gap-

ing holes and a quite a disappointing finale.

I’d say this movie is worth a shot for the clown sce-

ne, but skip the rest. 3/5 Stars

8

Community Christmas Lunch

9

10

Written in 1849, A Christmas Carol is

often hailed as one of Charles Dickens’

greatest stories as well as one of the

greatest Christmas stories of all time.

Hailing the moral of not being a

“Scrooge” in the festive time of year, this

story was immediately thrown onto the

big screen as the advent of film dawned

- spawning silent films through the 1910s

and 20s. But which of the twenty or so

adaptations that have been made is the

best?

In 1935, the first sound version of the

film was made, famous for not showing

even one of the ghosts. Three years lat-

er a movie was made starring Reginald

Owen, which became the first sound

American film to show the book on

screen.

In 1951, Scrooge became the staple of

Christmas Carols to come. directly

adapting the book, as well as keeping

certain parts frightening. Films to come,

especially the 2009 Disney animated film

with Jim Carrey which is almost the

same movie, had slightly updated spe-

cial effects. Patrick Stewart later took the

role as Scrooge in 1988 in another very

similar style movie, sticking close to the

book.

1992 saw The Muppets’ Christmas Car-

ol, which whilst being a Muppet movie,

was a well-done adaptation of the book.

Michael Caine starred as Ebenezer

Scrooge and was of course accompa-

nied by Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit.

But, for me at least, the best film version

of A Christmas Carol is the 1970 musical

starring Albert Finney. This version was

able to keep to the book whilst adding in

a few scenes that were not originally

there, making the film unique and in-

ventive. It also gave us several light-

hearted and memorable songs such as

“Thank you very much”, which won an

Academy Award for best original song.

This version stands out from the rest for

all these reasons as well as an outstand-

ing performance from Albert Finney who

plays the role as a bitter old man, whilst

only being 34 years old at the time of

filming. If you haven’t seen it already, try

to catch it over the holiday season. I first

saw it on Christmas Day last year and if

you’re lucky enough, you will too.

11

A Quirky treasure cove hidden in the heart of Middlesbrough

t’s always a great day when you come across a new shop on the highstreet, but it doesn't compare to a find such as Pretty Twisted in Middlesbrough. I was amazed when I first

walked in, not simply at the products but also the amazing pastel decor. The entire store is like being inside a dollhouse: it’s beauti-ful! But less about the wallpaper, the shop has amazing stock for every occasion and are all at an affordable and fair price. You can pick up all manner of Accessories and

gifts for the home including cute photo frames and kitchen accessories. Pretty Twisted not only sells their own products but also sells the unique items from

I other vendors featuring floral pieces by Silver Lining Creations, an up and coming online designer. The shop also holds a large range of ‘Bomb Cosmetics’ with a multitude of bath bombs, soaps and even wax melts on offer. I bought a box of

these wax melts or ‘hotties’ and got ten for four pounds last Christmas and still have around six after a lot of use. I highly recommend them if you ever go in! Pretty Twisted is a part of a culmina-tion of hidden gems in Middlesbrough's town centre and I have to say that its high quality stock make it more than definitely worth a visit. From

its lovely staff ,to amazing decor and products, the Kitsch boutique behind House of Fraser in Middlesbrough town centre is most definitely a shopping trip to remember.

I’m Kate, a former student at Trinity (then, St. Mary’s), return-ing now to gain teaching experi-ence in the English department. On return, I can see that much has changed, but one thing that I’m glad hasn’t is the enjoyment of the English classes. As a Trini-ty student, I loved the classes, so

much so that I chose to study English further at Northumbria University; graduating this year with a 2:1. During my time at university, I studied a semester abroad on an ERASMUS exchange in Nice, France. I improved my spoken French, met lots of new, interest-ing people and had the chance to travel around the Mediterranean. Northumbria has so much to offer in terms of extracurricular activi-ties. Alongside my studies, I led a Story Time Project in Jesmond to support children of all ages with their literacy, mentored an inter-national student from China, and

collaborated with other writers to produce a creative writing maga-zine. One of my greatest experienc-es was volunteering to teach Eng-lish in Thailand. I applied through Northumbria, and spent two months at Wat Paphruk School in Suphan Buri. I gained valuable teaching experience, learnt basic Thai, and rode an elephant. If you choose Northumbria I hope your experience is as great as mine, and I wish you all every success in the future. Good luck,

Kate

12

CA

US

E H

am

per

s

13

S ixth Sense is looking for people to

form a new editorial team in September.

We are also looking for:

Journalists

Writers

Photographers

Artists

Cartoonists

Puzzlemakers & crossword compilers

For further information see Ged or email:

newsletter@trinitycatholiccollege.org.uk

14

When a Child is Born - Johnny Mathis 1976

This was Mathis’s most successful song as his sole num-

ber one hit, which spent three whole weeks in the top

ten of the UK charts in December 1976. It sold 885,000

copies and eventually reached 185 in the Record

World Survey in the Christmas season of 1980.

The Millenium Prayer - Cliff Richard 1999

As a charity single, it reached number one on the UK

singles’ charts, but was only ever intended to be part

of the Share Jesus International production “Hopes

and Dreams”. It was Richard’s 14th UK number one

and 112th hit overall.

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues 1987

Although this is my personal favourite, it only ever reached

number two in the UK charts. However, it is officially the most-

played Christmas song of the 21st Century. There was some

controversy surrounding the language included in the sec-

ond verse and some words were censored (you probably

know which words I am referring to). This decision was re-

viewed and the original track was finally allowed to be

played.

White Christmas - Bing Crosby 1942

Even though this song sold over 50 million copies, it still

only made it to number five in the British charts. Despite

this low ranking in the UK charts, it is statistically the best

-selling single of all time. The song has been recorded

over 500 times by different people in different lan-

guages.

Everyone has their favourite Christmas song, whether it is a classic carol or a

modern pop song, but here are the official best sell-

Written and edited by Lauren Aspery

Bestselling

Christmas Songs

in the UK

15

Do they know it’s Christmas? - Band Aid 20 2004

This song was Christmas number one in 2004 and went on to

become the best-selling UK single of that year. The group

was made up of stars including Bono, Dizzee Rascal, Busted,

Estelle, Lemar, Snow Patrol, Robbie Williams and many more.

Mary’s Boy Child - Harry Belafonte 1957

This song was originally recorded in 1956 for Belafonte’s al-

bum An Evening With Belafonte, but was released as a sin-

gle in 1957 and reached number one in November that

year. It was the first ever single to sell one million copies to

the UK alone and has sold 1.8 million copies in total.

Merry Xmas Everybody - Slade 1973

Written by lead single Noddy Holder, this song was the band’s

sixth number one single in the UK. It beat Wizzard to the Christ-

mas number one spot in 1973 and remained at the top spot

until late February. By December 1980, the song was labelled

Platinum and became Slade’s biggest-selling hit.

Last Christmas - Wham! 1984

Surprisingly, this song only reached number two in the UK charts,

coming second to the Band Aid single of that year. Nevertheless,

it reached number one in multiple other countries and was de-

clared the biggest-selling single in UK chart history that did not

reach number one. Oddly, the song has appeared in the Ger-

Mary’s Boy Child - Boney M 1978

No, I’m not repeating myself. The Boney M version of this song

(combined with new song of the time “Oh My Lord”) actually did

better than the original. It topped the UK charts for over four

weeks, becoming the Christmas number one of that year and

spending eight weeks in total in the charts. It was the group’s

second single in the UK’s All Time Best-Selling Singles list and was

later part of their Christmas album.

Do they know it’s Christmas? - Band Aid 1984

Written to raise money for the Ethiopian famine, the original

Band Aid single soared into the number one spot in the UK

charts for five weeks. It became officially the best-selling single

in UK chart history, selling over 3.7 million copies domestically.

Worldwide, the song made 11.8 million sales by 1989. The song

later lost the best-selling title to Elton John in 1997 with his trib-

ute song for Princess Diana “Candle in the Wind”.

16

It’s a Cracker!

Top Three Festive

Chat-up lines

What do you call Santa's little helpers? Subordinate clauses

Why was Santa's little helper feeling depressed? He had low elf-esteem.