SOLAR ECLIPSE
By Isobel
The Moon orbits the Earth once every 28 days. Once a month it moves between the Earth and the Sun. Usually the Moon passes above or below the Sun as we see it in the sky. Occasionally however, the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun, blocking its light. This is an eclipse.
Although the Moon is nearly 400 times smaller than the Sun, it is also roughly 400 times closer. So, coincidentally, they appear as a similar size in the sky. This means that when they line up exactly, the Moon can perfectly block the Sun causing a total solar eclipse.
The next eclipse is going to be on Friday 20th March 2015. It will be visible all over the UK. During an eclipse, the shadow of the Moon is cast on to the Earth. If you're standing in the path of the shadow then you will see a total eclipse.
The Wet Wipes Crisis
By Dominika
Recently, the number of wet wipes deposited on our beaches has increased critically, by approximately 50% since last year’s measurements. This is due to the rising number of our population flushing these wipes down the toilets, instead of bins, that were purposefully set up in order to prevent this environmental pollution.
Wet wipes often include synthetic fibres to increase softness or durability and consist mostly of paper. Nonetheless, research has proven that they will not decompose, but rather break up instead of breaking down. Therefore, the disabled function of breaking wet wipes down can have fatal effects on our wildlife, as well as the atmosphere, leading to us, humans.
Would you like to live in a world that was trashed by our artificial creations? Would you be able to replace the creatures that have evolved from the tiniest micro-organisms with these harmful substances? Well this is the time to act. Unless this action is broken, we will endanger everything around us, and potentially even our future generations.
If you value the purity of this planet, then think…
Let’s recycle and respect the gift of living!
ALL NEWS
General Election 2015
The 7th May 2015 is the set date for the General Election. The public has the power to change the PM to either Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband or keep our current PM David Cameron in charge. However, there are also some smaller parties looking for the spot of Prime Minister. There is DUP, SNP, The Independent party, Sinn Féin, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, UKIP, Alliance, Green and many others.
Labour and the Conservatives have been the biggest parties since 1922 and there have been many fierce battles between the two and in the 2010 election, the Conservatives joined forces with The Liberal Democrats to get a majority vote and David Cameron became Prime Minister of Great Britain
Who are you siding with?
Pick wisely Year 8s!
The end of March is nearing and the tension in Year 8 is definitely at its peak. This month will be the time where the Year 8s in Bluecoat will have to choose their options for their GCSEs. Choosing these options will be the first stepping stone for getting into a good career, and living a good life. No pressure!
Mrs Begum, the Bluecoat Academy Careers advisor, gave all of the Year 8s some helpful advice.
“I would advise the Year 8s to stay calm and relaxed. It is best not to get stressed otherwise you’ll start to overthink about your future. Pick the subjects you enjoy, but also some which would lead you onto your preferred career. Have a wide range of options to broaden your perspective and don’t fret! We are all here supporting you.”
We interviewed a couple of students on what they felt about the upcoming options evening.
‘Have you thought about your GCSE options in detail?’
Cameron (Yr8) said: “Yes. I’d like to do computing and drama as these are the subjects I like and would be valuable towards my career.”
‘Do you think we are choosing our options too early?’
Kinga (Yr8) told us: “Sort of- I mean, it does feel slightly early because we are only in Year 8 but this will prepare us quicker and we will be introduced to the scheme quicker. This will help us get used to atmosphere and get involved in our subjects.”
‘What impact do you think will choosing your options have on the rest of your life?’
Reiss (Yr8) said “Well, we’ve got to choose the options we like and will be useful to us because this will make us get into a good job and live a good life.”
‘The option evening is tonight. How do you feel, knowing this will impact the rest of your life?’
Samantha (Yr8) said “I feel kind of nervous because I don’t want to make the wrong choices but also I feel confident because it makes us more independent and I know what career I want to go into.”
GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education which basically means an exam. The GCSEs prepare you for your A levels which can determine what University you get into. During 2014, around 69% of the pupils who took their GCSEs got a C grade or higher, but the era of the grading letters are ending. The grading system for GCSEs are changing and the pupils currently in Year 8 will experience Grades in numbers, 9 being the highest grade achievable (equivalent to an A*).
I wonder if the change in system will have a positive and negative impact.
Additionally, the current Year 8s will not have to complete any controlled assessments during their GCSE course. But teachers and parents wonder, if this lack of assessments will be beneficial, or will this be another glitch in the system?
Mr Williams (Year Leader) has given all of the students in Year 8 some advice:
“You should be brave with your choices and pick something you are interested in. Have a wide spectrum and don’t just pick something because your friends are choosing it.”
To conclude, picking your options for your GCSEs will have a huge impact on your life. It might make or break your career, so choose wisely Year 8s!
Good luck to all of those who are studying their GCSEs. And once again - no pressure!
The Impact of Technology on Learning
It’s amazing what we can do with technology these days. It can do almost anything from allowing this report to be viewed by you, to even replacing a heart! But what about schools? What can technology do to help with the learning process?
This website is already a great example of this. After reading this report, try clicking on the ‘Quiz’ tab at the top of the page. It will take you to a page with two games on it. One is a hangman puzzle based on Computing whereas another is a wordsearch to find words related to mathematics. These games are just a small part of what technology can do for the future of learning.
But what comes next? We could be using holographic screens to teach people about mechanics. We could be using large touch screen tables to encourage multi-user learning. We could be using robots to teach people without the need for textbooks. However, the most amazing thing is that a lot of this technology already exists and is either being used or being developed for use in schools right now. It’s almost impossible to think how our technology could get any better, but there is always a way we could improve. Maybe you could develop the next advancement in technology…
World Book Day
On the 5th of March 2015, the 18th year consecutive national World Book Day was held. This event led to teachers and pupils across all ages dressed up as characters from their favourite books. World Book Day was designed by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books. Its main aim was to encourage young pupils to read and enjoy books. Here are some teachers from our school, Bluecoat Academy, as characters from some of their favourite books.
Click here to download the full report
The Spring Equinox
Each year, our human race experiences two equinoxes. These occur when the night is as long as the day due to the sun facing the equator exactly. Usually, the earth is tilted slightly, causing the variety between our seasons. When the planet is tilted inwards, towards the sun, the atmosphere is warmer, whereas, if it’s tilted outwards, the temperature will drop, as the earth will become a longer distance away from the incoming heat. However no matter which way the planet is tilted, the tilt will never go beyond 23.5 degrees.
The feature that makes an equinox unique is the lack of the usual tilt. During the occurrence, the planet’s axial tilt is vertical and both the hemispheres are at the same distance from the sun, taking turns at each orbit.
As we have observed throughout the centuries, the time length differs between day and night, depending on the seasons. For instance, in winter, nights are longer than days, whereas in summer, the days are longer than nights. Meanwhile, the equinox equals these varieties and provokes the breakthrough between the seasons.
This equinox, taking place throughout the 19th, 20th and the 21st of March, symbolises our freeing from winter, as we enter the warm embrace of spring!