What’s going On at Hornsea School? By Amy Balfour Year 12
Editor
Hadrian’s Wall
On Monday the 2nd of May a group of year 12 and 13 students along with 3 teachers spent a long day visiting key sites in Northumbria which they study in their Roman Britain course in preparation for the upcoming AS exams. The students who went on this day visit were those from the sixth form who study either AS or A-Level classics, they travelled along with their teachers, Mr Jenkins, Mrs Salisbury and Mr Brocklehurst. Along the way they visited Stanwick, which is believed to be where the Brigantes made their last stand against the Romans; the world famous fort of Vindolanda. The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The fort of Vindolanda lies just to the south of the curtain of Hadrian’s Wall and has a very different ‘feel’ to other sites along the wall. It lies upon the first Roman frontier in the north. They students also visited the Roman Army museum and parts of Hadrian’s Wall; where they discussed what they can learn about the purpose and role of the wall from the archaeological remains. Hadrian’s Wall, also called the Roman wall, Picts’ wall or Vallum Hadriani in Latin was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 AD in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire.
Math’s genius’
The intermediate maths challenge celebration lunch took place at the end of April, with the best in school going to Imogen Prescott, best in year going to James Wilkinson (Y10) and Isaac Singleton (Y9). Well done guys! The junior maths challenge has also just taken place and the school are still awaiting results.
Art
An art competition called the ‘Cherry Cup’ has been opened up to students from our school. It is a competition that is held in collaboration with Hornsea Art Society to which students from years 7-10 can enter. Many students have been completing entries and the judging of them will take place on Monday 27th May. The 1st prize that will go to the winner of the competition is their names engraved on the John Cherry Cup. All four winners of the competition will have their work displayed at the Art Society’s annual exhibition which is held in the Masonic Hall, Alexandra road Hornsea July 26th– August 6th 2016.
Mary Beard
During the first week of the Easter Holidays on the 30th of March Classics students in year 12 at Hornsea School and Language College had the amazing opportunity to travel to Cambridge and meet Mary Beard. Mary Beard is a professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and Royal Academy of Arts Professor of ancient literature. From 1979 to 1983 she lectured in Classics at King’s College London. She then returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a Fellow of Newnham College being the only woman lecturer in the Classics faculty. Our students study one of Mary Beard’s many published books as part of their A Level Classics studies, therefore the trip was incredibly useful and worthwhile. The book in question was one about Pompeii and what it was like to live there before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD.
The trip came about when one of the Year 12 students from Hornsea School and Language College, Harry Townend tweeted Mary Beard directly. The trip was then arranged for all the students to travel to Cambridge to meet her. The students were able to ask any questions they had about Pompeii. Mary Beard had to arrange to see the students around her busy schedule including the filming of a new series on the BBC. As part of the trip the students were able to have a tour of the Classics faculty at Cambridge University. This proved very useful to the students who were considering studying at the university or specialising in Classics. A surprise for the students on their leaving of the university was that Mary signed copies of her book that they are using for their course. Every student that attended this trip found it incredibly beneficial and had an amazing time; they all appreciated this once in a life time opportunity.
King’s College
Also in the Easter holidays a separate trip to Cambridge was arranged for high achieving students who were thinking about going to university at either Cambridge or Oxford. Eleven lucky students travelled down to Cambridge on the 22nd of March for a residential trip staying at King’s College. Also attending the visit were students from Driffield High School and Headlands School. During the visit students had the ability to talk to current students at the University about life in Cambridge and how their college system works. A tour of King’s College was also given to the students as well as a guided tour of Cambridge itself enabling the students to get a real feel for the city and other college. The students were then able to socialise in the King’s College bar on the evening of the visit. An amazing and rare opportunity for most college students was then given to the students, allowing them to stay in plush student accommodation at the university. The following day sessions were given to the students about the application process for university, personal statements, course etc. This knowledge will be useful not only for applying to Cambridge University but to any Russell group University. Then finally the morning culminated in a talk on Computing Science from Dr Tim Griffin. Overall the trip was very inspiring and helped the students to focus their minds on what the demands are for applying to top universities.
