the

wo o d l e i g h a n
Issue 4 - Summer 2008
YEAR TWO A group mural aimed at developing our printing and co-operative working skills, based
TOWNSCAPE (above) upon our investigation of 2-D shapes and composition.
printing, 90 x 60 cm 2008

2 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term

{CONTENTS}
{NEWS} 4 VICTORIAN WEEK
Woodleigh travels back in time
BY TOM SAUNDERS

{ F E AT U R E S } 12 VISITE AMICALE
Pupils visit Rouen
B Y S TA F F W R I T E R S

{ARTS} 16 MONKEY’S PAW

Be careful what you wish for!
BY E D WA R D M E G G I N S O N

{FOLIO} 22 THE BIG BANG

Fireworks at Woodleigh
BY ALEX MACHEN

{MUSIC} 24 IT’S MUSIC - DUDE

Woodleigh’s explosive rock band
B Y A N T O N I A S E LV E Y

{WOODLEIGH} 24 UNDER FIRE

War games at Woodleigh
B Y PAT R I C K L I T T E N

{SPORT} 26-33 CHAMPIONS!

Features on sport this year
B Y S TA F F W R I T E R S

{GALLERY } 34 HAVING A BALL

With years three, four and five
B Y S TA F F P H O T O G R A P H E R S

Summer term | No. 4| the woodleighan | 3

LIVING HISTORY
woodleigh travels back in time for a
VICTORIan themed cross curricular week
By TOM SAUNDERS YEAR EIGHT
AT THE end of the Summer term,
Woodleigh School went back in time to
the Victorian era.
Victorian Schools Week is a week spent
in study of Victorian people, schools, and
everyday life. The period is considered
worthy of study as a period in its own
right because it lasted so long – well over
60 years – and was a period of invention
and change – both the telegraph and,
4 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
later, the telephone, were invented in this
period, drastically changing communica-
tions. Many schools have such a week, al-
though there is no set nationwide period
as for World Book Day
On Monday, the pre-prep went to
Castle Museum in York. The class took it
in turns to experience a Victorian class-
room, play with Victorian toys such as
marbles, and look at Victorian household
items such as heavy solid iron irons.
On Wednesday all the children dressed
up as Victorian children. Some of the
teachers dressed as Victorian school-mas-
ters and –mistresses. Some of the pupils
didn’t seem to notice much difference!
Year 8 created sepia photos using pho-
toshop and mimicking the style of Vic-
torian photographers such as Whitby’s
Frank Meadow Sutcliffe.
 On Thursday Years 3, 4, and 5 went
to Beamish Open Air Museum while the
other children had normal lessons. Beam-
ish is a mock-up Victorian town complete
with tram, village square and – best of all
– a sweet shop! Harry Connell, Year 5,
said of the trip, “Going down the mines
and looking at the equipment was really
cool.”
Finally, on Friday Years 7 and 8 went
to Armley Mill, an industrial mill in Leeds
used in Victorian times. Dean Jackson, a
year eight said: “It was really interesting
hearing how the place had worked in Vic-
torian times. I really enjoyed myself.”

Summer term | No. 4| the woodleighan | 5

Cat in the Hat helps team to third place
By ANTONIA SELVEY YEAR EIGHT
ON THE 5th November, 2007, four
Woodleighans,: Thomas Saunders, Nao-
mi Richardson, Antonia Selvey and Mil-
lie-Jo Castleton, travelled to North Light
Gallery in Huddersfield for the Kid’s Lit-
erature Quiz. The winner of this compe-
tition would go on to Newcastle, the na-
tional competition, and then the winner
of that would be representing the UK in
the world competition, in New Zealand.
We arrived with great anticipation and
arrived in the hall, sat down and prepared
for the competition. We came early, so we
waited for the other teams to arrive.
Finally they arrived, and the game be-
gan. We chose a round for double points,
which was ‘Magic’.
There were many different rounds,
including Kings & Queens, Magic, Heroes
& Heroines, Fantasy, etc. Fortunately one
of our best rounds was the Magic round,
which boosted our points.
We thought we did well in most of
the rounds, scoring an average of about
6 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
7-10 out of 10. In the round called ‘Car- Woodleigh School!’ Still in a daze, we
toons’, we came joint first, and played a walked up and shook hands with Wayne
sudden death question, as the winner of Mills and sat back down. The best result
each round won a book for each person in a Woodleighan team has ever had!
the team. This question was ‘How many In conclusion, we enjoyed every sec-
stripes are on the Cat in the Hat’s hat?’ ond of it, and since the two teams before
The opposition put their hand up first us were secondary schools with a massive
and answered ‘three’. However that was choice of pupils, we were very pleased
wrong and Millie-Jo answered ‘5’, which with our result.
was correct. Millie has sat next to the Cat
in the Hat in the English room for two
years.
After every round there was a Teach-
er’s question, which Mr. Tolkien has won
KIDs LIT QUIZ
one every year so far. After a few tries in
vain, he finally answered one correctly,
YORKSHIRE HEAT
which won him a £5 book voucher.
Finally we finished the rounds, but al- l 1st place - Beckfoot School
though we thought we did quite well, we
had never come in the top three, which
were displayed on the projector. We lis-
l 2nd place - Dixons City Academy
tened to the presenter, Wayne Mills, an- l 3rd place - Woodleigh School
nounce the top three overall, and were
amazed when he said ‘In third place,
Entrepreneurial pupils get on their bikes
By TOM HORSLEY YEAR EIGHT

AT THIS year’s Lion’s Lair, the first school

to present out of the three schools was
Woodleigh, with their product the Bikes-
Lot. Naomi Richardson talked about the
introduction and summary, Alex Machen
explained the Ergonomics (how it does its
job), Ellenya Smith revealed the Aesthet-
ics (how it looks) and Stephen Johnstone
revealed the Economics (costs). They
were asked questions. Then it was time
for the next demonstration.
The BikesLot is a bike rack made from
a log. For six slots it costs £250. Slots are
cut diagonally, so water runs off it, so it
doesn’t rot.
It is made from hard wood and is cut
by Mr England. Delivery is included.
Tom Horsley said: “I think that the
product BikesLot has evolved immensely,
and is now a lot more efficient than the
original, as well as economical and aes-
thetic.
I hope that the BikesLot teams sell this
product well.”
Summer term | No. 4| the woodleighan | 7
Knockout garden party TOp STALLS
l Tom’s amazing car wash. Was your
car any cleaner?
By WILL BENNETT-BAGGS YEAR SEVEN
George’s golf challenge. Did
OVER the past years the Garden Fete has ever to be held at Woodleigh’. Naomi Ri- l anyone manage to chip into the
been a great success. The work the school chardson said ‘I hope all Garden Fetes bucket?
put into the stalls has certainly paid off could be this good’. Edward Megginson
for this year. The organisation of the fete said ‘it’s a knockout was the best chal- Charlotte’s makeover salon. Alex
was up to a very high standard. Also the lenge ever and I hope we could have this l certainly had a new look.
friends of Woodleigh helped a massive every year’.
amount. This year the Garden Fete raised up to Fred & Millie’s exotic smoothies.
All the school and parents have a great £1250. All this money will be put towards l One lump or two?
time at the Fete buying and selling goods. facilities for the school.
There were lots of different types of stalls
some games others shops and some com-
petitions.
This year’s Garden Fete had games for
the children to have lots of fun called ‘it’s
a knockout,’ all competing against each
other in houses. There were eight games
altogether all of different types. They
were all great challenge from pool vault-
ing to a Chariot race.
Freddie Weeks said that ‘this year’s
garden Fete was the most thrilling Fete

8 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term

Year one invaded by Aliens!
By MRS HAYES YEAR ONE
WE STARTED the year with the first of
our monthly visits to “Our Tree’ in Lang-
ton.
Each month we observe and photo-
graph the sycamore tree to record the
changes it goes through during a school
year.
Following on from this we looked at
the seasons and harvest time. Mr Paley
gave us an excellent tour of his fruit and
vegetable shop in Malton and we used
some of the fruit in our art work.
Later in the term we investigated
weaving and made some place mats to eat
our fruit on at snack time. During Sus-
tainable Schools’ Week we learnt about
composting the fruit and helped to plant
our school garden.
After a the usual busy end of Christ-
mas term activities including our play
School council leads the way
PUPIL in classes from year 1 and above
elected class representatives for the new
school council this year. The representa-
tives were Hattie Gillingham, Joe Brown,
Charlie Procter, Zac Woolley, Ted Weeks,
Fred Austin, Edward Megginson, Anto-
nia Selvey and Dean Jackson.
The school council meets up every two
weeks with Mrs Hayes. In the meetings
we go through how to keep our school
environmentally friendly. All the repre-
sentatives get ideas for school from their
class.
“Tattybogle” and a visit from the seasonal
man in red we enjoyed a trip to the thea-
tre in Scarborough to see a production of
Babes in the Wood.
2008 began with a detailed look at
self-portraits. We used a wide variety
of techniques to produce some excellent
work.
We also searched the school for exam-
ples of pushes and pulls.
Our topic on Plants and Growth cul-
minated in the children producing some
very impressive Power Point presenta-
tions on ‘How seeds grow’.
Aliens invaded Year 1 in early sum-
mer. The children looked closely at how
a story is organised and turned their own
stories into books.
A busy year is finished with a trip to
Sewerby Hall.
The council have already come up
with an idea about having a Burns night
party, it went really well. At Burns night
we had haggis and Scottish poems. We are
doing events so we can get an award for
looking after our school.
The council need to come up with an
environmental code about how to look af-
ter their school.
We have been thinking about putting
recycle boxes in each classroom. The
kitchen has already been recycling plastic
bottle lids.
Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 9
Decorating makeover for dorms
By FRED AUSTIN YEAR SIX
THIS YEAR the friends of Woodleigh
raised money to refurbish the old dorms
and with the help of volunteers turn them
in to better and good looking dorms.
Thanks to the volunteers the dorms
are a lot better to sleep in it for anyone
who boards.
The parents helped to paint the walls
in the holiday as well as the pupils. Each
dorm had a £150 each to decide what they
wanted in their dorms.
Each dorm has been decorated. The
senior girls’ dorm has turquoise paint and
red check curtains, while the younger
girls’ dorm is purple with lights and pink
curtains.
All the boys’ dorms are light and airy,
with toning curtains and carpets.
In year three and four they have play-
station that they can all use, while in the
10 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
youngest dorm there is a sofa and TV.
New computers were installed dur-
ing the Easter holidays, in addition to the
new ones in the IT room.
They are much quicker and I like them
a lot more than the old ones. Each com-
puter has the name of an animal - whale,
wolf, gorilla - and has a screensaver to
match.
There is also a new suite of computers
in the gym balcony which boarders can
use at the weekend and during evenings.
These computers are really cool.
Finally, there is a new interactive
white board in year 7’s classroom. There
is a special pen that you can use to move
the mouse around.
It is used in lots of lessons, especially
Maths, Art and Geography. It makes les-
sons much more fun.
Do the locomotion Woodleigh!
By MRS DOWNEY VICTORIAN WEEK TRIP
DURING our Victorian Week, pupils in
Year 6 travelled to Shildon to spend the
day at Locomotion, the National Railway
Museum’s outpost in County Durham.
The aim was to look at the develop-
ment of the railways and the heritage left
behind in what once was the biggest rail-
way repair yard in the world.
The pupils had the opportunity to ex-
amine a wide range of rail transport from
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
including Sans Pareil, which ran in the
celebrated 1829 Rainhill Trials, and a
very uncomfortable-looking Third Class
carriage.
They also visited the original Victo-
rian buildings, which had been the home
of Timothy Hackworth, pioneer of the
early railways, admiring his sitting room
and even his multi-seat ‘netty’ in the back
yard!
Pupils were taken on a guided tour
of the main museum building which has
been built in an environmentally friendly
manner, incorporating solar power, wind
power, an eco-wall for insulation and a
method for recycling rainwater.
After lunch everyone attended a
workshop in which they explored a range
of renewable and non-renewable energy
sources, and made wind-powered land
yachts, which they tested on a slope of the
floor in the museum building.
Gradually they were encouraged to
refine their models so that eventually
most made successful journeys across the
floor.
The day at Shildon provided many
good learning opportunities and much
enjoyment.
Summer term | No. 4| the woodleighan | 11

Mind boggling science trip
By MATTHEW PROCTER YEAR FIVE
YEAR five went to Boggle Hole in science
to see how animals adapt to different con-
ditions on the beach. To do this we used a
quadrat which looks like a picture frame.
We had to cover the whole beach tak-
ing ten steps at a time then putting down
12 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
Crucial crew teaches
By PATRICK LITTEN YEAR SIX
IN June year six went to Crucial crew
in Scarborough and learned about all as-
pects of safety, theft, drugs, electricity, fire
safety, drink and alcohol, road safety and
prison life. It was extremely informative.
In group one were Oliver Hudson,
Mikey Curtis, Patrick Litten, Charlie
Goodlass, Rachel Robson, Beau Wyatt,
and Mr. Mills.
In group 2 there was Cameron Castle-
ton, John Soanes, Charles Saunders,
Charlotte Horsley, Charlotte Carr, Jessica
Cheung, Jay Mitchinson-Singh and Sam-
son Chan.
the quadrat down. There was someone
writing and he put down how many steps
are done and what in the quadrat. We saw
swimming crabs, dog whelks,
Red eyed crabs, edible crabs, periwin-
kles, limpets and butterfish. We found a
In the farm safety section, we watched
a DVD, showing people acting dangerous-
ly. One was hiding in a grain store, and
another fell from a tractor.
Another showed children playing in
dangerous places. A game of cops and
robbers ended with a metal gate collaps-
ing and a boy dying from a broken neck.
The next scenario involved a man
dropping litter, breaking a window, spray-
ing graffiti and kicking a football against a
shop wall.
The shopkeeper came out and shout-
ed at the man (and us!) for littering. We
lot of crabs and something called a rock-
fish. We had to go because the tide was
coming in quickly. It was a really good
day.
We learned which animals will adapt
to different conditions.
class
were then invited into the shop - followed
by the litter.
As we looked round the shop, he be-
gan shoplifting. He took a DVD, CD,
Xbox and a phone.
We rang the police, and in two seconds
he had been arrested!
The final scenario was about the ef-
fects of alcohol. We put on “beer goggles”
which made you feel drunk. Everyone
had to walk down an orange line, and try
to pin a tail on a donkey.
Mr. Mills the History teacher gave it
a go and missed the line by half a meter,
and put the tail on the donkey’s head!
It was an extremely useful and in-
formative trip.

Summer term | No. 4| the woodleighan | 13

Kayaking
adventure in
Lake District
By PATRICK LITTEN YEAR SIX

WE set off at two o’clockish to the Lake District, in two buses,

one driven by Mr. Pearsall and the other by Mrs. Murkett. When
we arrived there we pitched the tents and had a barbeque of
sausages and burgers, then we all played in the woods till about
ten o’clockish.
The next day we went to a place called tower wood, where
we split into two groups of ten. Group A went climbing and
group B went kayaking.
In the kayaking we went about a mile down the lake and
round an island, we couldn’t land because it was very rocky.
Then we went back, on the way we played stuck-in-the-water,
in our boats, you had to touch the front of the boat with the pad-
dle.
Then we went on a bit, and our teacher told us to raft to-
gether. Then he numbered us 1-10 and said we had to switch
canoes. It ended in havoc!
Tom Hoggard and Fred Weeks were switching, Tom was
already there and Fred had just got out of his canoe when he
capsized and Tom ran back but Charlotte capsized too! Tom cap-
sized when he got back, then I capsized when I was leaning to
get a paddle and went over too. Then we went rock climbing
after lunch. We put on a harness and a helmet to climb a pole.
We were tied with a rope through a winch which was held on the
end by everyone, the rope went through a concrete block.
We had to climb a pole and stand on the top and jump to a
bar hanging in the air and do a chin up. Then we went on rock
climbing trees. They were like playground walls just taller and
trees. We then did an assault course. After that we went to camp
to have tea.
The next day we did a cycle ride to the ferry then we cycled
to the fresh water aquarium. We had a guide and saw a caiman
from Blackpool zoo, a scorpion, and a load of fish. We then took
the ferry back to camp and had dinner.
The last day we went Canadian canoeing which wasn’t that
good. We then went home.
14 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
 French

Visite amicale,
culturelle et
historique à Rouen
et à Paris
By MRS DOWNEY FRENCH

AT ONE o’clock in the morning on 23rd June, twenty-five ex-

cited children and three nervous adults set off for five days in
France, to enlarge their knowledge of the culture and the lan-
guage.
Complete with luxury coach, we made excellent time, arriv-
ing in Dover in time to board the ferry and have our breakfast of
croissant and chocolat chaud. On arriving in Rouen we met our
host families and set off with them for the first of four nights of
eating and sleeping French-style.
As hoped, the families all gave us a warm welcome and the
children had a wonderful time exploring their new temporary
homes, from apartment to manor house, from bungalow to farm.
Each morning we met up again at 0830 for some cultural and
historical visits and excursions, which included the Tapestry,
the D-Day Museum and the British Cemetery at Bayeux, the
Mulberry Harbour and a film at Arromanches, a historical tour
of the old centre of Rouen, a visit to a haunted abbey and a won-
derful viewpoint over the River Seine at Chateau Gaillard, and
finally a day in Paris, including the ascent to the top of the Tour
Eiffel, a guided tour of some of the major sights and a boat trip
on the Seine.
The shopping time, which was built into the schedule, was
greatly appreciated especially as it was the start of the summer
sales. In fact I am convinced some of the group would have spent
the whole time shopping given the chance!
The pupils were regularly complemented on their good be-
haviour and attempts at speaking French, and the weather was
in our favour all week with warm sunshine every day. It was all
in all a most successful venture. A la prochaine!

Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 15
16 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
Be careful what you wish for!
By EDWARD MEGGINSON & TOM MILNES YEAR SEVEN
THE Monkey’s paw is a horror play which
all four houses did for house plays. The
houses all gave great performances but
in the end South won. All through the
Easter term everyone in Years 7 & 8 have
been putting all the their games time into
rehearsing. There were seven parts for
the play. There was also lighting, sound,
Mr. White, Mrs. White, Herbert, Sargeant
Major Morris, and an official.
All the years sevens used podproducer
Christmas plays a great success
By SOPHIE LEAR YEAR SEVEN
THE Christmas plays this year were per-
formed by the year threes, fours and fives.
The year three were as the main charac-
ters and the year fives provided the choir
singing. Some of the year seven boys got
involved by playing the roles and dressing
up in animal costumes: they played the
ox, two donkeys and the two camels.
The teachers worked hard and well to
make the plays such a success for every-
to find sound effects for the plays. The
story is about a monkeys paw. Whoever
owned the paw had three wishes. The
wishes turned out completely wrong
- someone even dies! All year eights in
CDT created props for their houses. It
was up to all the house captains where
to put the props and the stage. The win-
ning team had to peform on the last day
off term. North did well in the acting but
more props were needed. South did well
one to watch and enjoy.
The plays were followed by some
food and drinks and some children who
performed in the plays played music and
some more entertained.
The play was about an innkeeper and
his wife, played by Charlie Procter and
Charlotte Austin, they had Mary and
Joseph come visit their inn and slept in
their stable. Mary and Joseph were played
both props and acting. West did well but
one of their actors was missing on the day.
East did well in acting but on the stage
they forgot the main prop - the paw!
The plays were judged fairly by the
teachers. Unfortunately Mr. England
was not there to judge. South with a good
score went in to the end of term play. All
of year six and below really enjoyed the
house plays and cannot wait until next
year.
two more year threes, Molly Lear and Ben
Hudson. The Christmas plays were so en-
tertaining for everybody to watch.
Will Bennett-Baggs said’ It was funny
and probably fun for the little ones to do.’
Naomi Richardson said’ It was really fun-
ny and the little ones did really well.’
The little ones were really excited
about the plays and the enjoyed perform-
ing them so much.
Summer term | No. 4| the woodleighan | 17
YEAR ONE Interesting Isabel imagines impossible Happy Hattie is as hungry as a horse and
AWESOME ALLITERATION (right) ideas of invisible islands with ice cream in- has high huts with heavy hens.
summer term 2008 sects.
Isabel Richardson Hattie Gillingham

Pretty Polly plants poppies on the platform, Jammy Jack is juggling juice jugs and jump-
her pink pet pig Percy has a plaster. ing over a jet telling jokes.
Polly Mumford Jack Machen

18 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term

 YEAR TWO
NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM
summer term 2008

Dear Jess,

I hear you are going to the National Railway Museum, so I thought I would and tell you about it.

If you find the Learning Centre you will find some good activities like the bridge building. You had to put some blocks in a certain place.
It was great fun and you can stand on it. The Brass rubbing was quite fun too. You had to get a piece of paper and put it over a metal
plate and shade over it.

The Royal carriages were very good. The carriages were very pretty and they look like houses. The Chinese locomotive was massive
and so was the Mallard. I wish we had trains now, like in the olden days. The Schools’ lunch coach was quite good. We had to sit on the
train to eat our lunch. You can find out about a lot of things. It is so big it is easy to get lost.

I hope you really enjoy your visit. I’m sure you will have a great time. I look forward to hearing all about it.

Love from Esme.

Summer term| |No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 19
 OUR FIRST themed week at Woodleigh certainly went off with a
bang (smoke-free of course). To launch the week we were lucky
enough to have Dr Jonathon Shanklin from British Antarctic Sur-
vey who was one of the small group who first discovered the
hole in the ozone layer. He entertained us with his tales of re-
search life in the Polar Region and fended off the parry of ques-
tions admirably.
The week was jammed packed with events and activities for
all ages with as many lessons as possible having a sustainability
theme. A School Council was democratically elected and had
its inaugural meeting during which work on gaining the Eco
Schools’ Bronze Award began.
Year 8 went to a screening of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth
followed by a discussion group at City Screen in York. Food for
thought. Later in the week, accompanied by Year 7, they also
visited the St Nicholas Fields Environmental Site in York to hear
about sustainable energy and ways of saving energy.
Everyone agreed that the contents of their bins needed re-
viewing after a visit from the Ryedale Recycling Officer. Nursery,
Reception, Years 1 & 2 now keenly scrutinise all the waste they
produce and are quick to comment on which bits should be put
in our recycling bins.
Fairtrade came as quite a shock to some of the children after
our visitor showed them how bananas, chocolate and even foot-
ball production can have an impact on communities around the
world. Are they still asking for Fairtrade products at home?
During the week every class helped to build our garden us-
ing donated plants and recycled tractor tyres as planters. The
area is blooming nicely and can be used by everyone to relax or
as an outdoor teaching area.
The week culminated in a Fashion Show like no other ever
seen! Clothes donated for the Air Ambulance Collection were
carefully sorted, styled and strutted on our catwalk. From street
to evening wear; Yorkshire farmer to WAGG, accompanied by
appropriate music, even the most unassuming took up the chal-
lenge to look good for less. Not sure what the Air Ambulance
representative thought but he was very grateful for the dona-
tions.
All in all the week was a resounding success which we hope
the children and adults involved will remember for a long time.
More importantly let’s hope they can incorporate some of what
they have learnt and change their lifestyles in some small way to
help the World.
Better get planning our next themed week, it’s going to be
hard to match this one.

WHOLE SCHOOL
SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS WEEK (right)
autumn term 2007
PHSE
by Mrs Hayes

20 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | SSummer

ummerterm
term
YEARS SIX, SEVEN & EIGHT
ECO - GARDEN (above)
autumn term 2007
CDT
photo

Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 21
YEAR SEVEN
BONFIRE NIGHT (below)
autumn term
by Alex Machen

BONFIRE night was a night to remember.

The fireworks came big and small and
there were lots of fireworks donated by
people to the school. The fireworks lasted
for over an hour and went high and long.
They finally finished at 9:30.
The bonfire went really well and stood
high until the end when it finally collapsed
and went on to burn for the rest of the night.
It was a night to remember for Woodleigh.
The cooks worked long and hard in the
kitchen, and the food came out as a great
success. They sold ice lollies, toffee apples
and curry with hotdogs. Lots of money was
made from Bonfire night and it was the
best bonfire night so far.
The Guys this year were made by Year
three and were placed on the bonfire less
than five minutes before the fire was lit.
The Guys lasted for a long time until they
burned.
It was a great success and will be held
again next year.
22 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
WHOLE SCHOOL
BONFIRE NIGHT (photo)
autumn term

Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 23
Enemy artillery closes in on Woodleigh
By PATRICK LITTEN & FRED AUSTIN YEAR SIX shower of shots. It is working to perfec-
tion! With a load of sixes from the dice, I
made them die! The union won.
AS I mustered my forces around the bat- cavalry. Drawing, for now! Then his mus- If you haven’t seen or guessed already
tle field three units of six horsemen, two keteers shot at my cavalry but missed and this is about the war games, taken by Mr.
units of two artillery and forty units of shot his own musketeers. Mills at the end of term in history lessons.
five infantry, I saw my enemy had the NOW I’m winning, I just have to fire It is also on in activities after school on
same amount as me. Up with the Union! my artillery with a cavalry charge, and a Tuesday and Thursday.
Baron Fred surveyed the battlefield. It
had a river and three bridges. There was
a hill on his and a few woods and two
barns. He was with the Confederacy!
I moved first. My army in the centre
marched, cavalry charged and moved
three hexes; they need to be close to kill.
The artillery fired and kill two cavalry-
men, and they retreated.
Baron Fred’s musketeers walked for-
ward one hex and killed four cavalrymen.
The artillery fired but unfortunately the
shot was lost in the woods. His cavalry
galloped to meet mine at one of the bridg-
es but it was an even match and he with-
drew. The artillery fired again and left a
toll of three units dead. Then took the last
remaining musketeer. ‘One down four to
go.’
Baron Fred’s artillery massacred my
24 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
Here we go - we’re rocking all over the Wolds
The band’s
playlist
l The Lion Sleeps tonight
l Wuthering Heights
l Frosty the snowman
l Little Shop of Horrors
l Rule the World
l I can see clearly now
l Ruby
l Patience
l Another one bites the dust
l The scientist
By GRACE MURKETT YEAR SEVEN
THERE has always been a school Brass
band, playing in prayers and plays. How-
ever, Mr Tolkien brought in the idea for a
second band, a rock band. He asked year
7 & 8 musicians if they wanted to join.
After asking pupils from both years 7 and
8, the band was singled down to 5 peo-
ple- Kyden on Drums, Ada on keyboard,
Antonia and Georgina as singers and Mr
Tolkien filling in on guitar.
The band practices commenced on
Friday nights, after tea, and soon the
band sounded like a proper band. So for
Christmas, we decided to perform a Rock
version of Frosty the Snowman. It was an
amazingly exciting song, and we really
enjoyed performing it in front of an audi-
ence at Christmas.
The band also played live during Cab-
aret in a Day, with Mrs Naylor playing
the piano. They performed Wuthering
Heights by Kate Bush and Ruby by the
Kaiser Chiefs, amongst others. As we
continued with the band, we looked at
different songs, like Rule The World by
TakeThat, and The Lion Sleeps Tonight
by Tight Fit. When the summer term
started, the band has worked on the score
for Little Shop of Horrors for the Year 8
leavers’ play.
The band was a really good experience
for all of us. It gave us a taster of what it
would be like to be in a professional band,
and makes us appreciate how hard they
must have worked to get it to that perfec-
tion, as we did to get it to about as half of
that perfection. It will be one of our many
memories of Woodleigh.
Georgina said what she thought of the
band. ‘It was really fun to have a differ-
ent band to the usual one, where we could
do other music than classical.’ Kyden also
commented on what he thought of it. ‘I
wanted to start the band because I can
play the drum kit more, as I weekly board
and don’t get play much at home.
I’m glad Mr Tolkien started the band
because we do lots of different types of
music, like a little bit of Green Day, Phil
Collins, Kate Bush and other stuff.’
Summer term | No. 4| the woodleighan | 25
 Judo a big hit at
Woodleigh
By CHARLES SAUNDERS YEAR SIX
JUDO is a martial art used for self-defence. Here you can do it
as an after school activity with a judo instructor called Steve
Atkinson. He is a fun, exciting teacher and very good. His grade
is a 2nd Dan Black belt.
Judo suits are provided if you do not have your own. The first
lesson is free and, if you like it, you can continue. After chang-
ing, the class bows on and then they do games such as British
bulldogs, bananas and murder ball to warm up.
Following this we start the Judo part doing stuff such as
ground work, grading syllabus, throws and defence. We do some-
thing different each lesson but now we are doing a lot of grading
syllabus because we are doing a grading on the 14th of June.
At the end we normally do some proper fights. We get into
groups and then the senior grade will give you a numbers each.
Steve will then call out a number and the corresponding number
26 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
from each group will fight each other.
We asked Tom Saunders, a yellow belt with two stripes, who
has been doing Judo for five years, “Did you want to continue
Judo after your first lesson and why?” He answered – “Yes I like
the technical aspects.”
Then we interviewed Dean, a year eight, who has been do-
ing Judo for almost two years but still hasn’t graded. We asked
him – “What first made you want to do Judo?” He replied – “I
like grappling with Tom Saunders.”
The last person we asked was George Crawford, a boy in
year four who has been doing Judo now for two years but also
hasn’t graded yet.
We asked him – “What grade are you hoping to get to in the
next grading and why?” He answered – “I hope to be a black
belt.”

We are the champions
By TOM HOGGARD & SAM MEGGINSON YEAR SEVEN
WOODLEIGH hosted an under 13 foot-
ball tournament on the 15th of March.
Six schools took part including Cundall,
Fyling Hall, Bramcote, Read, Minster and
Woodleigh.
All the teams were all equally matched
with each other with the group stages
seeing four draws on the little pitch.
Woodleigh lost their first match to Fyling
Hall losing 1-0.
Then they made a great comeback by
beating Read 3-0 with goals from Tom
Hoggard and Dean Jackson.
Woodleigh went through to the semi-
final against Cundall beating them 1-0
due to Sam Megginson’s outstanding per-
formance in goal and a goal from Dean
Jackson.
Woodleigh fought a nail biting final
between Woodleigh and Fyling Hall with
the only goal scored by Tom Hoggard to
seal Woodleigh’s victory in extra time.
Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 27
By MR WOOLLEY PE
I AM delighted to be writing this article during the cricket sea-
son. Throughout my five years one of the biggest areas of im-
provement in sport at Woodleigh has been in cricket. I’m not
talking about winning, but more importantly being in a better
position to compete against the other prep schools.
Cricket is not my strongest sport but is easily my favourite.
It allows children the opportunity to learn some difficult skills,
think carefully about tactics, adjust to limited overs and work as
a team whilst at the same time being an individual.
I have to thank the support of Tom Tolkien who has ably
taken over the under 9s and of course Paul Mills whose under 11
teams build a suitable foundation for the children to move into
the 1st XI.
From there it is up to the dedication and enthusiasm of the
boys themselves – creating a culture of cricket has been a number
one priority.
Indeed, over the past two days I have watched William
Procter amass over 70 runs in two fine opening batsman’s in-
nings but also seen William Bennett-Baggs (not one of our strike
bowlers) take five wickets. I hope I will be invited to umpire 1st
XI matches next year – this team will just get better and better!
Memories and favourite moments from the past five years:
taking a 1st XI football team (who themselves would have admit-
ted being more rugby minded) to Belmont Grosvenor in 2004
- we played a very good BG side and battled our way to a 4-3 de-
28 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term
A winning run
for Woodleigh

feat – any one there would have agreed paying nothing to watch
the match was a bargain.
Beating a well organised St Martins Ampleforth side at Mer-
chiston 7s in 2004.
Whilst refereeing an under 11 team against Hurworth House
a player was injured in the second half – we were three tries
down – I stopped my stop watch. After we had scored three
tries and were winning the match I suddenly realised I had not
re-started my stop watch – we won the match in overtime!!
Practising batting against Rob Mewburn’s bowling all year
only to be bowled by him in the staff match – second ball!!
Refereeing rugby verses Lochinver House – their big, strong
and fast winger broke clear only to be stopped by a magnificent
covering tackle by George Harrison – breathtaking.
Refereeing the under 11 final between Woodleigh and Cun-
dall Manor at the last Hurworth House 7s – again although we
were narrowly pipped – it was a spectacular game.
Rhys Smith hitting the winning runs against Terrington last
year with Kyden Woodhead patiently holding up the other end –
magnificent.
Watching two former pupils – Joe Robinson and George Har-
rison – winning a cricket match for Thixendale – very mature
and patient batting – made me very proud!
Finally – I very much look forward to being involved with
fixtures at the weekend next year – I hope I will be invited to
referee and watch the further development of all of the children
at Woodleigh.
Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 29
Double dutch?
Bright future for Rugby team
By MR MILLS RUGBY
This year was a difficult season; we had a young small side and
everyone else seemed to have older, bigger and sometimes enor-
mous sides.
After a close win against Sedbergh’s 2nd XV, the team then
lost three in a row conceding over 150 points! However a couple
of wins boosted morale and although there were only defeats
for the rest of the season, at times there had been both excellent
individual performances and some quite exciting matches, los-
30 | the woodleighan | No. 2
4 | Summer term
ing to Cundall 9-0 after being beaten 43-0 earlier on, is a good
example.
The Sevens season also proved rather mixed. The school host-
ed the “Howham Sevens” at Woodleigh for the first time and the
team were unlucky to miss the semi-finals by one try on count
back. The day before had seen an outstanding performance by
the Under 12 Seven at St. Olaves, which hopefully points the
way to the future. Once again to our loyal supporters and also to
Pete Woolley who is leaving us many thanks for all your input.
You all seem convinced we will have a good season next year, I
trust the team and I can make it happen.
 No problem!
By CHARLOTTE CARR YEAR SIX

WOODLEIGH had a skipping tournament against Langton.

This tournament was taking place at Woodleigh School’s gym.
The competitors for Woodleigh School were as following: Ben
Hudson, Molly Lear, Charlie Proctor, and William Bradley. For
the year fours there were Andy Choi, Billy Garritty, Louise Lit-
ten and Peggy Ullyott.
The competitors for year five were Katie Stellings, Harry
Connell, Mathew Procter and Edward Medforth. Year six: Char-
lotte Horsley, Charlotte Carr, Charles Saunders and Mikey Cur-
tis.
After the competition Langton did their demonstration to
Woodleigh. Their demonstration consisted of, Foot work, back-
wards skipping, speed skipping, various boxing skipping, criss-
cross skipping and big rope skipping.
Woodleigh’s demonstration consisted of the same things as
Langton but we also did some different things. We did Parachute
skipping, Helicopter skipping and slalom. Woodleigh’s demon-
stration was from year 3- year 8.
Langton school beat Woodleigh overall in the skip off. There
were prizes for the fastest skipper in each year group. For year 3
a boy from Langton won the prize. Year 4: Langton, year 5: Ka-
tie Stellings from Woodleigh and year 6: Charlotte Horsley from
Woodleigh.The prizes were certificates.
We asked the pupils from Woodleigh School from year three
to year six, what they thought of this skipping challenge. Here
are a few quotes: for year three we asked William Bradley: “Did
you enjoy participating in the skip-off?” “Yes I did, I thought it
was very challenging and fun.”
For year 4’s we asked Louise Litten: “Which part of the skip-
ping demonstration was most interesting to watch?” “I thought
the Slalom skip was the most fun to watch because I enjoy ski-
ing!”
For the year 5s we asked Lucy Mumford: “Which skip did
you find the most fun to do?” “I thought that one of the Boxing
skips was the most fun to do because the way you moved your
ropes from side to side and then jump over. It is really fun.”
For year six we asked Charles Saunders: “Did you feel sup-
ported by your school?” His answer: “I did, because they were
cheering me on all through the skipping and when I sat down
they were saying ‘well done’ which was encouraging.”

Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.24|| the woodleighan | 31
Good season
for girls’
teams

32 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term

By ADA LAW & ANTONIA SELVEY YEAR EIGHT
THIS season Woodleigh has done very well in their Rounders.
They have tried there best. The U13 team comprised: Charlotte
Carr as Bowler, Charlotte Firth as Backstop also Captain, Anto-
nia Selvey who plays as 1st Base, Ada Law as 2nd Base, Charlotte
Horsley which 3rd Base, Lottie Simpson who plays as 4th Base,
Hannah McConnon as 1st Deep, Grace Murkett is 2nd Deep,
Ellenya Smith is 3rd Deep, Charlotte Firth and Antonia Selvey
have done exceptionally well at getting the ball from backstop to
1st very fast and getting a lot of players out.
On Saturday 7th June the under 13 girls had a rounder’s
tournament and we did very well. There were over five teams
that were there, but we did not have the chance to play all of
them. We played Queen Margaret’s school and we drew with
them and also in that match Lottie Simpson caught someone out
with her eye and got a black eye.
When we played Terrington A team in the tournament we
unfortunately lost, When we played the Terrington B team we
won. When we played St Martins Ampleforth we lost.
Summer term||No.
Summerterm No.44|| the woodleighan | 33
Editors: Tom Saunders & Patrick Litten
Sub editors and writers: Year 6 & 7
Design and layout by Mr Tom Tolkien

Photo credits: Mr Tolkien: pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-10, 12, 13, 16,17, 18, 20-27, 29-34, 36
Mrs Downey, pages 10-11, 14-15
Mrs Hayes, page 9
Mrs Meggison, page 27
Mr Miles Murkett, pages 28-29
Patrick Litten: pages12-13

Many thanks to: All the staff and children at Woodleigh School
All text © Woodleigh School 2008. Woodleigh School - Langton - Malton - North Yorkshire. Y017 9QN
01653 658215 (tel), 01653 658423 (fax), www.woodleighschool.com, office@woodleighschool.com

34 | the woodleighan | No. 4 | Summer term

OLIVER HUDSON
THE MAGIC PORTCULLIS (above) To create his work Oliver sheared paper into surreal shapes and wove them with polyvinyl
paper weaving on paper, 150 x 85 cm 2008 acetate, juxtaposing alternate colours into a highly creative high contrast flash of colour
and tone