Maths Puzzles
I decide to lay a telephone line around the middle of the earth.
Unfortunately people keep on tripping over it!
I realise I have to raise the line up in the air by 10 metres.
How much extra telephone line will I need?
Christmas is coming!
In the song The Twelve
Days of Christmas my true
love sent to me a number
of presents.
On the first day, a
partridge in a pear tree; on
the second day two turtle
doves and so on.
Just prior to the gifts being
returned, how many items
had been sent in total?
Answers from Mr Harvey!
Page 6
Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 –
21 April 2013) was an Indian writer and
mental calculator, popularly known as
the 'human computer'.
A child prodigy, her talents eventually
earned her a place in the 1982 edition of
The Guinness Book of World Records
.
Maths
The Mathematics Department
King Edward VI Community College
Page 7
English
Around 60 students from Years 7, 8 and 9 were lucky enough
to enhance their writing skills with renowned author Tim
Bowler earlier this year. Over two hours, Tim dispensed advice
on writing all about a kidnap situation; fuelling the students’
imagination and creativity, starting with some terrible writing
of his own creation, Tim asked the students why it was terrible,
and some of them were brave enough to tell him!
Then, after being given a starting point, the students created
their own beginnings, and couldn’t stop! When their stories
finally allowed them to stop writing, students shared their
writing with Tim and their peers, receiving specific praise and
advice from the author. Students also had the opportunity to
ask Tim questions about his novels and writing in general.
Year 7 student Elliot Burrows said:
The workshop was really
inspiring. It’smademewant to continue reading TimBowler
books. It’s also really helped with story planning and how to
form a good story.
Jasmine Scott-Taylor, also in Year 7, added:
It was really good
to encourage us to keep on writing even if you can’t find
anything to write about. It’s helped me with my writing to
make sure I won’t give up and it'll make me more resilient.
Organiser and English teacher Carrie Groves said:
We have
thoroughly enjoyed having Tim in today. He has come to
us as a speaker before but we’ve never had him working so
closely with the students, some of whom are studying Tim's
novel Storm Catchers in their English lessons. The students
got a huge amount out of it and were really able to develop
their enthusiasm for writing and their writing skills.
Tim said:
Yet another fantastic day with KEVICC pupils.
There are so many gifted writers here. I just love coming to
this school. I hope they never stop inviting me
.
Author visit and workshop
Cambridge University Press / AQA filming
Jamaica Inn
Discussion
In October, sixteen students spent most of the day being
filmed by a professional camera crew for an AQA (exam
board) teacher and student training video! The sixteen
students had been chosen by their English teachers
because they were articulate, good at working with others
and great ambassadors for the College.
The day began with students discussing the language in the
opening paragraph of Daphne de Maurier’s
Jamaica Inn
–
one of the pre-19 century literature texts used as an example
in the new strengthened English Language GCSE. Students
then had to work in pairs to come up with the next four
sentences of the opening. Some of the ideas – obviously a
very impressive culmination of the department’s five weeks
of work on creative writing – really impressed the camera
crew and the director, Martin Phillips. The foggy, gothic
setting was continued with effective one-word sentences;
ellipsis; simile and pathetic fallacy!
Students were then filmed explaining their ideas;
storyboarding the real opening; sequencing the first eight
paragraphs of the novel and jigsaw-grouping to share their
ideas and justifications with a mixture of students from
the other three groups. All of this was filmed… and filmed
again… until we were all rather warm and tired!
I was extremely proud of our students – always so impressive
and mature – and can’t wait for the video to be uploaded…
and used in my next teacher training INSET in London…
Paris… Milan… Caen!
Martin Phillips, Director said:
Thanks for all the huge effort
you put intomaking yesterday so successful. AQA will have
twice as much as they could reasonably have hoped for.
Please pass on CUP/AQAs thanks to your great bunch of
students too. We thoroughly enjoyed working with them.
Student comment:
I loved taking part in this!! It was such
an interesting day, and the filming made it seem very
important.
Sophie Killock
Director of English
