At Newcastle School for Boys, we are working hard to get used to life in school in a different way. Some of the boys in Years 5&6 wanted to join blog club, to write about their experiences in school, at home and in the wider world. Here we will think about school in “the new normal” (a phrase we don’t like), we’ll let you know the highlights of our week, we’ll even review and recommend films, books and more. We hope you enjoy what we have to say!
The Sun
by Junhong Kwa in Year 5.
The sun gives heat, light and food for the plants. Sometimes the sun is out but sometimes it is not. When it is out it could be hot, and it could be cool. The sun is very important for the Earth by providing heat, and without it will be dark, cold and nobody would be able see and the trees will die. Farmers cannot grow crops without the sun, trees in the jungle cannot grow which means we won’t have any cocoa beans and the animals that eat leaves such as ants wouldn’t be able to.
Without the sun we couldn’t have the food we need to survive, so the sun is very important to your daily life. The sun is very important to have and, did you know that the sun is 151.49 million km away from the Earth. Also, the sun is 4.603 billion years old and the surface temperature is 5,778 degrees kelvin.
South Northumberland Cricket Camp
by Toby in Year 6.
In the Easter Holidays, I went to South Northumberland Cricket Club’s cricket camp. I am at the age where I play hardball cricket which is what the professional players play with. For hardball cricket, you have to put on a box, leg pads, helmet and gloves and of course your bat. We focused on our driving and getting over the top of the ball with our entire body.
On the second day, we focused on our pull shots which are great for leg spinners, and you pull the ball past your shoulder. There was lots of really kind people there too. I made lots of new friends and the coaches were really nice too.
On the third day we focused on balance and strength in our bowling by going on a wobbly pad. On the fourth day, we really focused on catching and run outs, and about deciding which end to throw it at and why.
On the last day, we did a huge game and focused on calling to run or not in batting. I really loved it and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to become a better cricketer.
Why I love… Toronto!
by Harrison L in Year 6.
Toronto
Toronto is where my family went on my Easter Holidays, Toronto is a place in Canada, which is near the US border. I am going to tell you some facts about the spectacular Toronto.
- Did you know that there is a tower called the CN tower, which stands for ‘Canadian National tower’?
- Did you know that the Rogers Centre is the place where the Blue Jays play when they have a baseball match?
- Did you know that the CN Tower is 553 Metres high?
- Did you know that the mayor of Toronto is John Tory?
- Did you know that there are over 100 million trees in Toronto?
- Did you know that the Niagara Falls consists of 3 waterfalls?
- Did you know that the Niagara Falls is a hydroelectric source of power?
- Did you know that the Niagara Falls is the oldest state park in the USA?
- Did you know that the Niagara Falls flows over 3,160 tons of water every second?
- Did you know that there are 5 tightropes that you can go on in Niagara Falls?
I would recommend this wonderful city to any of you travellers
If you have been to Toronto, please tell me all about it.
Thank you for reading this blog, hope you will like Toronto if you ever get to visit!
Film review: Spiderman (2002)
by William A in Year 6.
The Spider-man 2002 movie is a 12A so be careful and know that there are some rude words and violence in this film. I am sure most people have watched this film because it is a classic, one of the first live action Spider-man films released. The villain of this film was Green Goblin who was played by actor Willem Defoe. The casting of Spider-man himself was a difficult decision to make as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire were the two choices, but I think Tobey Maguire was a great choice because he played the role so well.
I think that he was the best actor out of the three actors who are playing him today but here is what I think Andrew Garfield was the best Spider-man, Tobey Maguire is the best Peter Parker and Tom Holland is the best at both. I would definitely recommend this movie for any age, but make sure to watch it with a parent.
Movie review: Sonic the Hedgehog
by Harrison L in Year 6.
Sonic the hedgehog is a blue hedgehog, who can run as fast as light. Sonic had no parents when he was young, so he had a guardian, who was an owl. On the island where Sonic lives on there are lots of people who wanted to hunt him down because Sonic was as fast as light. So the owl gave Sonic these magical rings that allow him to go to different places around the world like Earth, the mushroom planet and so much more. When Sonic arrived at Earth, there was a man who wanted to hunt Sonic down for his own gains.
Sonic had no friends, so he found a family to look after him, and they only discovered him when Sonic watched a movie behind the family’s sofa. When Sonic went to a baseball pitch with the family and became sad, he turned all of the lights off by running as fast and being as sad as possible. Everyone thought it was just a power outage, but it had to be an investigation for the army and the police to do, which brought the spotlight back on to Sonic.
I don’t want to spoil the ending because I want you to watch the film by going on Netflix.
Thank you for reading my review, and look out for the sequel film coming out very soon!
Easter Service
by Toby in Year 6.
This week we are having our Easter Service, but this year it has been a bit crazy! Here’s why. Our normal teacher Mr Gray has been off for a little while, so we had to get the school’s previous music teacher, called Mrs Gilbert, and she has been really good.
Here’s what we are doing: The Head Boy (me) is opening with a welcome speech to the congregation. Then we are going to do lots of songs and readings from boys in every year. Reverend Shipton is going to say a prayer and at the end we will have a section where you can donate to the Ukraine Crisis. Then after that we are just going to have a normal school day.
Parents are also allowed to come. What’s really cool also is that we are going to be able to do our Easter Service in person with all of our parents watching us which will be brilliant, and much better than the recorded Easter service from last year!
Charity Sleepover
by Toby in Year 6.
Last week we had a sleepover at school on Thursday night, which was in support of Comic Relief. If you are struggling with understanding what this is, they are the charity associated with Red Nose Day. We went into school at normal time, and we would have a normal school day and we would do all of our clubs as usual. But, when the school day finished, it was very different.
First, lots of boys got changed into their NUFC strips or tops. We would then watch Encanto and eat some pizza from Papa Johns and then at 7:45pm we watched the Newcastle game, and it was wild! Although we did lose 1-0 because of a stoppage time goal from Everton. We all went to bed at around 10:00pm and had an alright night of sleep.
In the morning we woke up and had a charity breakfast where you could get either sausage, egg or bacon in a muffin. It was delicious!!! Our parents were also allower to come in and spend some time with us. Then we had a bit of money to buy some lovely cakes and doughnuts which was very nice. Then finally, we had a non-uniform day at school and played a football match for the school, all in support of a fantastic charity!
Why I love… Cool Runnings.
by Harrison L in Year 6.
Cool Runnings is a 1993 movie, where 4 Jamaican runners embarked on a bobsledding team for the first time in 50 years, the 4 runners were living in the capital of Jamacia, Kingston – their country is full of sunshine and the winter Olympics is in 3 months.
Derice, the main driver in the bobsled, showed resilience, courage and community to never give up and to be brave, but also showing good community by taking part in the 1988 winter Olympics.
Junior Bevil is a rich man in the movie, his father wants him to work in this store in Miami, Florida. Junior takes part in the Jamaican bobsled team, he will be the 1st middleman. He gives lots of money (about $40,000) to the team to get them to the 1988 winter Olympics, which is in Calgary, Canada. He sold his Classic 1956 Jaguar.
Yul Brenner is like the same people as the runners, but he was very angry when Junior tripped him over with Derice. He was the 2nd middleman in the bobsled, when the team were trying to get money to go to the Olympics, everyone tried their hardest like Yul tried to arm-wrestling, but he only got $16.98 cents, Derice tries to kiss random strangers, but only made $102.00.
Sanka was the weirdest of them all because he sings and he is funny in the movie, he was the back of the bobsled and he tried to get lots of money by singing to the people of Jamaica and getting $1.62 cents. When the team arrived in Calgary, they didn’t realise that Calgary was very cold in the winter times because Canada was near the Arctic circle.
I am not going to spoil this ending for you but it is a fantastic film!
Thank you for reading this blog about the movie ‘Cool Runnings’.
Just saying, but this movie is a PG and you must ask your parents to watch this film, you can watch this movie on Disney+.
Robinwood Trip
by Toby in Year 6 and Junhong in Year 5.
Last week, Years four, five and six all went on a two night stay to Robinwood. We did lots of activities including Giant Swing, Knight’s Quest, Night Line, Canoeing, Caving, Zipline, Piranha Pool, Dungeon, Crate Challenge, Challenge Course, Archery, Climbing, Trapeze and Team Challenge every night. We were split into four groups called Forest, Ridge, Mountain and Crag.
The drive was really good with lots of nice views and mountains, although there was some pretty scary bits and a bit of vomiting! Then when we arrived at the coach park, we met our team leaders and walked 2 miles to get to Robin Wood. The lunch was delicious, and every other meal was very good. We were separated into different dormitories, and everybody got to sleep in rooms with their friends. We were so sad to go and we highly recommend it!
Why I love… Race across the world
by Harrison L in Year 6.
Race across the world is a documentary where 5 ordinary Brits take part in an extraordinary trip racing across the world.
There are 2 seasons where the contestants must get to one place and an another. Season 1 started at the Old Royal Naval college in London and they must get a checkpoint before they can leave on their next journey. The contestants are: Josh and Felix, business partners from Tottenham who own an art venue; Darron and Alex, father and son from Bradford; Jinda and Bindu, owners of a small retail chain in Nottingham, but had to leave on the first leg from a family illness; Natalie and Shameema, life-long friends for 30 years and Sue and Clare, life-long friends for 46 years. The contestants are trying to get to Marina Bay sands in Singapore. They have a limited budget of £1,329 pounds each and they must work if they don’t have enough money for a bus, train, boat and any other transport except for an airplane.
Season 2 starts at the Chapoley Castle in Mexico City and there are 5 contestants in this season . The contestants are: Dom and Lizzie, siblings for over 20 years; Jen and Rob, married for over 5 years; Emon and Jamiul, Uncle and nephew, but just reunited from a family of estrangement; Michael and Shuntelle, Dating for over 3 years and finally, Jo and Sam, mother and son. They have £1,453 pounds and the race said that they had to spend £26 pound a day. This season the contestats had to get to Ushuaia, the most southern city in the world, it is in Argentina, but it is a different place because it is in Tiera del Fuego. They can use any transport, but they can’t take a flight to Ushuaia.
Thank you for reading this blog about Race across the world, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer or if you have Sky, that means you can download Race across the world, there are 15 episodes altogether in the 2 seasons and I totally recommend it!
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