Mayville’s School of Hard Rock

Jack Black’s School of Rock had nothing on Mayville High School’s exercise in  writing song lyrics.

Picture the scene a heavy metal band made up of teachers and pupils are on a secret gig at Mayville before embarking on their world tour. The whole Junior school erupts with excitement as the fictitious band called “Broken Ankle” are about to perform. Suddenly front man Huggy Holmes, year 6 teacher Marcus Holmes is struck down with a bout of tonsillitis. Armed only with the top line, “Keep on rocking”, the juniors are given a mission to complete the song lyrics and save the day, so that Broken Ankle have a rock song to sing on their world tour.

Teaching Assistant and musician James Dyer, who came up with the idea says, “ It was a writing exercise involving the whole Junior school, and staff. Pupils had the afternoon to think about lyrics, how many syllables were needed in each line, and the challenge was to follow the guitar line.”

Deputy Head of the Junior School Daren King says, “It was great fun and also  children gained an understanding that writing isn’t just confined to the classroom.”

9 year old Tabitha John in Year 4 was in a group who came up with the line, “flying like a black crow.” She says it was both educational and fun at the same time.

Safia Mactoom who’s also 9 says, “At first I thought it was boring but when we started rocking it was great.”

All the juniors work is being studied and the best lyrics put together to make a song that will be put on disc.

With lyrics like “jumping swinging, move to the spikey beat, cutting gelling, you become a freak,” it is definitely worth waiting for.

There’s more to Action Stations than you think…

Action Stations at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is now offering special interest tours focusing on the fascinating history of the historic building, Boathouse No. 6.

Lasting approximately two hours, the tours focus on the history of Boathouse No.6, from construction in 1848 until the installation of the present Action Stations attraction in 2001.

Boathouse 6 was designed by Lieutenant Roger Beatson, Royal Engineers, Portsmouth Dockyard’s Superintendent of Civil Engineering Work, and built between 1845 and 1848. It was used for the building, repair and storage of small ships’ boats. These were pulled up one of the three slipways outside the front of the building from the Mast Pond by hand using block and tackle, and then brought into the building through large wooden doors. Some of the rings used still survive along the front of the building and set into the ground floor. The building was in use as a boathouse until the Portsmouth Blitz in March 1941, when a bomb destroyed much of the rear part. A temporary patch was added to make the building serviceable and was not replaced until the conversion into Action Stations in the late 1990s.

All this history and more can be seen throughout the building and this specialist tour will encourage visitors to view Action Stations in a way they have never done before. They may also discover that walls really can talk and tell their own unique story…

Tours will begin in either Boathouse No.7 or the Mezzanine Café with a complimentary tea or coffee upon arrival before a guided tour of the building.

Special interest tours are priced at £7.50 per person (4-10 people) and £5.50 per person (11+ people). Alternatively, if looking for something a little more special, then Action Stations can provide exclusive evening tours at £10.50 per person, giving private access to the building after normal opening hours. All tours are a minimum of 4 people per tour and include entry to the Action Stations attraction.

Please note all tours must be booked a minimum of 72 hours in advance.

Some areas within the tour are not accessible by a lift.

For further details on the specialist tours or to book please contact the Action Stations Operations Manager on: (023) 9289 3318 or email: enquiries@actionstations.org

Also available at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is the world famous HMS Victory, one of the UK’s leading maritime museums – the National Museum of the Royal Navy, HMS Warrior 1860 – the first iron-hulled ship powered by steam and sail, the Mary Rose Museum[i] and a Harbour Tour. For further details, please contact 023 9283 9766 or visit the website www.historicdockyard.co.uk.

Pamela’s Swimming School is a friendly, well established swimming school with an excellent reputation for delivering high quality lessons that see children gain in confidence and ability. Class sizes are small, typically between 4 and 6 children, and lessons run for half an hour. All teachers are experienced and fully qualified to ASA Level 2. One to one lessons for children and adults are also available – please enquire. All swimmers progress by ability rather than age and the approach is one that mixes teaching with fun activities, particularly among the younger pupils. We are an Amateur Swimming Association school and pupils are encouraged by gaining the Amateur Swimming Association’s National Plan awards.

We teach all four strokes, personal survival and a wide range of water skills from non-swimmer to advanced.We offer lessons after school on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the UKSA pool in Cowes. Please enquire about session times.For more information and to talk through your child’s swimming needs, please contact Pamela Ainslie on 01983 294014 or 07732 641125.

References and testimonials are available on request.

“Priory School is delighted to be able to confirm it will move to Whippingham at Easter 2012 to occupy the school there which was founded by Queen Victoria in 1864, to the designs of Prince Albert, who wished to build a school to educate the children of those who worked on the Osborne Estate.

This move will allow Priory School to enhance significantly the education it offers, with the much greater facilities, purpose-built classrooms, playing fields in the grounds, and central accessibility this new site offers.

Priory School’s ethos of addressing the needs of each child with a combination of academic rigour (as shown by its GCSE results this year with 100% of Year 11 gaining 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C) and pastoral care matches that original concern that led to the founding of Whippingham School, where the welfare and education of the pupils is paramount.

Priory School is committed to this ethic of “the good of each child” and looks forward to continuing and contributing to the long heritage of education that has been sustained on this historic site, and of playing its full part in the life of the community in the area.  ”To contact the school please call 01983 86122 or website www.prioryschool.org.uk

AFC Bournemouth Community Sports Trust Program manager Paul Topping has been successfully running his soccer schools and camps on the Island for the past year.  In this time he and his group of qualified coaches have, and continue to work with hundreds of Island children, improving football skills and increasing enjoyment of the game.  With sessions running Island wide on every day of the week Paul offers a wide range of opportunities for children to get involved.  If your son or daughter would like to be a part of this fun football community then please contact Paul on 07514801968/paul.topping@afcb-iow.co.uk or visit www.afcb-iow.co.uk for further info

BONKERS FOR CONKERS, SOUTHSEA SCHOOL EMBRACES TRADITION. A small Southsea school has brought back the tradition of playing conkers in the playground. Tired of living in a world where the seeds of the horse chestnut conjure up health and safety problems, instead of images of autumn, and childhood games, Mayville High School has taken a stand. On Monday 2nd Oct, juniors spent their break time embroiled in the biggest battle to be the best conker player in the junior school. Deputy Head of Mayville Daren King says, “When we were children autumn meant finding conkers and ways to have the best conker to win the competition, even if that meant baking it in the oven.” Head of Mayville Martin Castle says, “It’s about embracing traditions, we won’t be asking pupils to wear high visibility jackets, hard hats and goggles, but teachers will be watching them.” Alfie Macdonald who is ten years old says, “I have kept my conker in vinegar for two days before sticking it in salt and baking it in the oven.” The conker playing is part of a week long competition organised by year 6 boys. Any pupil in the juniors has the opportunity to vanquish and destroy the conker of their opponent. Welcome back autumn. For more information on the school call 023 92734847 or go to www.mayvillehighschool.com

Open Day At Priory School 15th October 10am – 1pm. Priory School is an Independent Co-educational Day School for boys and girls aged 5-18 years. It is a non-denominational school, run with a Christian ethos. The aim of Priory School is to offer a first-class education at an affordable cost in a well-structured and clearly-run environment in order to become the school of choice for parents and pupils on the Isle of Wight. Priory School’s twin pillars are academic rigour and pastoral care. It offers Scholarships & Bursaries for pupils who qualify, PE & team sports, music with its newly formed choir that won the cup at the 2011 Isle of Wight Music Festival, and drama and art. After school clubs will also be offered across a range of activities, including a highly successful Duke of Edinburgh Awards programme..www.prioryschool.org.uk

Kumon Maths and English Free Trial: 1 September – 31 October Begin your Kumon journey As the new school year gets underway, what better time to support your child’s learning? As the UK and Ireland’s leading supplementary education provider, Kumon is committed to helping your child excel in maths and English. The Kumon method aims to nurture confident, independent learners through programmes that are tailored to the individual student. By working at their own pace with support and guidance, children gain not only a strong grounding in maths and English, they also develop learning skills such as accuracy, time management, concentration and independence in study. Over time, the seeds of self-confidence are sown and the process of self-learning is established. Melanie Hersey, mother of Kumon students Alanah, Atalanta and Miranda, says: “All three of our children have been studying Kumon maths for the last 3-4 years. Kumon has given them a real confidence in numeracy and a very noticeable improvement in their school grades. This has resulted in them feeling positive about maths – one is even planning to study for her maths A level! I rate Kumon as one of the most beneficial extracurricular activities my children have ever undertaken.” Enrol at the Sandown or Cowes Kumon Study Centre between 1 September and 31 October 2011 to take advantage of the Free Trial and see how Kumon can benefit your child. For further information and to enrol, call Harry Vernon on 01983 853643 or email cowes@kumoncentre.co.uk or visitwww.kumon.co.uk/cowes

BONKERS FOR CONKERS, SOUTHSEA SCHOOL EMBRACES TRADITION.

A small Southsea school has brought back the tradition of playing conkers in the playground. Tired of living in a world where the seeds of the horse chestnut conjure up health and safety problems, instead of images of autumn, and childhood games, Mayville High School has taken a stand. On Monday 2nd Oct, juniors spent their break time embroiled in the biggest battle to be the best conker player in the junior school. Deputy Head of Mayville Daren King says, “When we were children autumn meant finding conkers and ways to have the best conker to win the competition, even if that meant baking it in the oven.” Head of Mayville Martin Castle says, “It’s about embracing traditions, we won’t be asking pupils to wear high visibility jackets, hard hats and goggles, but teachers will be watching them.” Alfie Macdonald who is ten years old says, “I have kept my conker in vinegar for two days before sticking it in salt and baking it in the oven.” The conker playing is part of a week long competition organised by year 6 boys. Any pupil in the juniors has the opportunity to vanquish and destroy the conker of their opponent. Welcome back autumn. To find out more about the school go towww.mayvillehighschool.com