Chantry Middle School

Hello. Last year, the Chantry Middle School football team got to visit Sheffield. They were runners up at Ashington but still made it through to the County tournament. They beat Meadowdale on penalties in the final to progress to Sheffield where they got knocked out in the semi-finals.

It was a great achievement for everybody involved, for they were the first Chantry pupils to make it all that way. They travelled south on a bus full of laughter and joy.

Click ‘continue reading’ for an interview with the Captain of the team, Will.

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On 13th March 2017, Boaty McBoatface set sail. Boaty is an unmanned robot submarine, Boaty is “Basically a yellow submarine that doesn’t have a person in it, that goes and romes around the ocean” (Professor Russell Wynn, of the national oceanography centre told a BBC reporter). Boaty has lots of sensors that help it navigate it through the ocean. Boaty has many uses such as looking under ice caps, which boats can’t do.

Not many people know that there is more than one Boaty! Boaty is in fact a trio of vehicles in the new autosub long range class of underwater robots. One of the trio has been dropped into the Orkney passage: a narrow 3500m deep gap in the underwater ridge which is north-east of the arctic peninsula. Boaty has since been sent down to monitor conditions as scientists theorise that water at the bottom of the ocean is warming. This means that underwater life could be affected by the warmer water and underwater ice floes could melt, causing sea levels to rise.

Find out more about Boaty by clicking ‘continue reading’.

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Bounty and Rocko

Chantry Middle School, is sponsoring three guide dogs and we wanted to find out more so we went to speak to Miss Mackenzie (who organised the sponsorship).

What are their names?

Una, Zac and Lexi.

When did we start sponsoring them?

During October and November.

How did we raise the money?

Year 7 did six bake sales.

How much money did we raise?

£300!

Why did the school sponsor them?

Because we had a visit from a guide dog called Ellie and her owner Mrs Wilson and we wanted to support them. Also, it linked with Year 7 English topic: Animals and Man.

Have you got a favourite puppy?

Probably Lexi because she has changed a lot and she has a secret claim to fame: Her sister, Luna, is a star on ITV’s ‘This Morning’

Click ‘continue reading’ to find out more about our puppies.
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On Sunday 5th February, several groups of  pupils from schools in the North East and Birmingham started their journey to Ypres, Belgium to take part in a World War One Battlefields trip to commemorate World War One.

When we got to Kent, our first stop, we took part in team building exercises to break the ice and make new friends. We were also given a WW1 soldier to research; they gave us each a soldier from where we lived or had some kind of connection to us.

For the full news story click ‘continue reading’.

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Overview:

– From December 2016 to January 2017, RMT and ASLEF (two rail workers’ unions) led several rail strikes in the south of England, which disrupted several services operated by Southern Rail.

– Two months later, on the 13 March 2017, RMT once again led conductor strikes.

Here is a table showing the value of Go-Ahead as of the 15 March

Impact:

Widespread disruption occurred across Surrey, Sussex and Kent due to the strikes. Go-Ahead (which owns 65% of Southern Rail) has plummeted in value by 15%.

Alex, Year 7

The average new tenancy in England, Wales and Scotland fell by 0.6% in the year to February, to £921 a month.The latest figures for the year 2017 showed that rents for private tenants across the UK had risen by 2.2%.

On the other side of the coin, Countrywide said that in February this year there were 10% more homes available to rent then a year ago. But the agency expects this apparent over-supply of rental properties to disappear in the coming year, with average national rents starting to grow again after that.

“Rents are growing in most of the country but falls in London and the South East are dragging down the national growth rate,” said Countrywide research Director, Jonny Morris.(BBC news)

Josh and Josh, Year 7

Click ‘continue reading’ for the video report.

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Arsene Wenger could be facing the sack after a humiliating 10-2 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. He has been at Arsenal for over 20 years and has won 9 major trophies.

However, after exiting the last 16 of the Champions League for a 5th time in a row, he could face the sack.

I asked an Arsenal fan for his opinion on Wenger. He said, “Wenger is a good manager but he isn’t good enough for our club.” I also asked him if Wenger should go. He said, “He should stay because for all he’s done good for the club and his tactics I really like.”

Of course the fans want him out. They hold banners that say ‘Wenger out’ or ‘It’s time for change, Wenger out’. Is Wenger’s time up? And if so, who will take his place as manager?

By Will, Year 7

Mr Morton used to be a teacher here at Chantry Middle School, but sadly passed away on 1st March 2016. In memory of him, Mrs Skinner and the Gardening Club planted a flowering cherry tree, two weeks ago. They are still awaiting a plaque for the tree.

At the moment 12 students from different year groups attend Gardening Club on a Tuesday lunchtime. After Easter, it will be on an extra day as there will be more work to do around the school.

At the moment, the Gardening Club is busy at the front of the school making it look nicer by planting flowers that are good for the wildlife. The garden round the back of Chantry is home to many creatures such as minibeasts and butterflies. Also, in the garden they grow vegetables (which they donate to the kitchen).

At the end of the year, there is an awards ceremony where Mrs Skinner gives out a ‘Gardener of the Year’ award. The award was donated by our old deputy head Mrs Alcock and is a wooden plaque with a metal trowel and gardening fork attached.

By Amber and Abigail, Year 7

Click ‘continue reading’ for the video report.

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