The BBC School News Report Team from Northfield Academy went to North East Scotland College in Aberdeen to interview students about Sleep and Gender Equality. We also did the Weather and we even interviewed Alex Salmond, Christopher Blanchett and Jenny Laing!

It has been a great day. We went to a Radio Studio it was really fun and it was a bit embarrassing to interview people we didn’t know! We did a television interview with some people we know and some people we don’t know such as Jenny Laing. In the studio it was filled with great equipment for us to use. So overall all the studios were great fun to use and we hope to use them  again!

After that we started writing articles these are some of the articles:

Rio 2016 Olympics, Interview with Jenny Laing, Sleep Deprivation for Teens and upcoming movies.

A big thank you from all of us to NESCOL for the use of their media labs and support from their students. Fiona Stalker from the BBC and everyone else who helped an supported us today.

As part of the BBC School News Report I took the opportunity to interview Jordan Rait, a 3rd year pupil at Northfield Academy, who has recently been elected to the MSYP for Aberdeen North position.

Please look below to see the interview.

Jordan MSYP from Northfield Academy on Vimeo.

Gender equalities what is it?, well it is when both men and women should be treated the same, however if one favored this is gender inequality.

The  proportion of university graduates who are women is 57%. In the UK for every £100 a man earns a women earns £83. The proportion of men and women at, or looking for work a women is  70% and a man is  82%. About 2 in 5 senior official managers and legislators are female (35% female, 65%male). The share of government ministers who are women is 23%.Out of 145 countries we are the 18th most equal.

We asked college students to find their opinion on  gender equality.  You can hear what they had to say below.

The Olympics run  from the 5th-21st August in Rio, Brazil, South America.

There will be 306 medal events during 17 days.

There are 136 medal events for women, 161 medal events for men and  9 mixed events.

42 sports will be contested including 2 new events Golf and Rugby.

32 competition venues will be used, spread across 4 regions of the city Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracana.

The workforce needed to do all this is: 45 thousand volunteers, 85 thousand outsourced staff and 6,500 employees.

As it is the BBC School News Report today we have been busy interviewing several different people. Diogo and I had the opportunity to interview Jenny Laing, leader of Aberdeen City Council, who provided us with wonderful answers to our questions.

We thank her again for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer our questions.

Research shows that teenagers need more sleep than adults. The amount of sleep that is recommended for teenagers is 9-9.5 hours per night but the average teen only sleeps for 7-7.5 hours. Myself, Shea and Diogo carried out research in order to find out how sleep deprivation can have an affect on the lives of teens today.

We looked at various websites that provided us with information regarding sleep. One of the main factors of sleep deprivation is technology. It was found that 9/10 teenagers in the UK own a mobile phone and 71% use more than one social media site. Before going to sleep the most popular activity is to watch TV. 76% of teenagers do this. Another 44% will partake in sending messages and browsing the internet on their mobile device before going to sleep.

This issue does not only affect teenagers, but adults alike who also admitted to using their phones when they should be asleep.

We interviewed a few of the students at North East Scotland College regarding their sleeping patterns. We found that some students find it difficult to balance study and a regular sleeping pattern effectively. You can hear what they had to say below.

Earlier this year Northfield Academy got a laser cutter for the Design and Technology department, this technology will contribute the way pupils will be able to produce high quality products as it can cut materials like wood and plastic. This has already been successful for teachers and pupils as they are now able to trained to use it in classes.

A successful project with the laser cutter was the Young Enterprise group Fields of Favour used the machine to personalise wooden hearts for valentines day which was a big hit selling over 50 hearts in 4 days.

We are going to use this technology for many projects and classes such as woodwork and metal work in the future.

Thursday 24th March will see a major event being organised by the school’s Charities Committee. We are putting on an exciting evening with a lip sync battle to raise money for one of our chosen charities, STV Appeal.

It will be a ticketed event and all money raised will be put to the charity. The evening will see a number of pre-recorded videos of both pupils and staff lip syncing to some of their favourite songs. There will then be an opportunity for the audience to vote for their favourite video and, during this, there will be live performances from various young people from the school.

Overall, this will be a great opportunity for the Charities Committee to raise money for a great cause.

There are a lot of UK schools doing Rocket Science.  Rocket seeds were sent to the Space Station in September and came back to Earth in March. This experiment is to see if being in Space can affect the growth of a plant. In a packet you get some of the seeds that were sent to Space and some that weren’t, but you won’t know which is which. We will get 2 different coloured packets with 100 seeds in each packet. We won’t know until we are done with the experiment if Space affects the growth of a plant. The dates that they have to be planted are 18th/19th or the 25th/26th April. If we don’t stick to these dates our data won’t count.

The week beginning 29th February saw the S1 pupils head out to Loch Eil. The first trip to Loch Eil was 1W1 and 1W2 with some S3 pupils who were doing an expedition and some S2 pupils to help us. They did lots of exciting activities such as – the Jog and dip, climbing the side of Ben Nevis and crate stack.

From Wednesday 2nd March 1S1, 1S2 and 1M1 went to Loch Eil when 1W1 and 1W2 came back to Aberdeen. When they were there they did canoeing, jog and dip and the “wee wall.”

Before the groups went back on the bus to go home they did a clan challenge and a presentation on what we enjoyed and what we learned at Loch Eil.

In the next week the first set of Career Ready participants from Northfield Academy will be graduating from the program which will take place in Peterhead. This is a program that includes a senior pupil having a chosen mentor from a business which they will have occasionally meetings with talking about what is in the Career Ready booklet and go to various masterclasses, this will build up the pupils skills, knowledge and confidence  to go work at the mentors business for a five week internship. This is a brilliant opportunity to take as it is a two year program that helps develop skills such as communication and build up their confidence to go into the world of work. The internship is a worthwhile experience as I had no experience of working in an office and no knowledge of what it would be like. This showed me the type of workload you can be given, that you are treated as an actually employee which makes you responsible for the work you produce which helps skills develop and have the confidence to get up in front of a group of people to tell the experience I had at my chosen business.

The current Career Ready participants will be getting ready to go on their internships at the end of June which will be an exciting experience for the group and will succeed with the next year of Career Ready.

If you would like anymore information on how to get involved in the next Career Ready group talk to Miss Dean for details.

There are many  movies coming to cinemas in 2016 here is some of them:

• Ice Age 5: Collision Course, July 22, 2016
• Scrat’s epic pursuit of the elusive acorn catapults him into the Universe where he accidentally sets of a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age World. To save themselves, Sid, Manny, Diego and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest full of comedy and adventure, travelling to exotic new lands and encountering a host of colorful new characters!

• Finding Dory, June 17, 2016
• With help from Nemo and Marlin, Dory the forgetful fish embarks on a quest to reunite with her mother and father!

• Zootopia, March 25, 2016
• From the largest elephant to the smallest shrew, the city of Zootopia is a mammal metropolis where various animals live and thrive. When Judy Hopps becomes the first rabbit to join the police force, she quickly learns how tough it is to enforce the law. Determined to prove herself, Judy jumps at the opportunity to solve a mysterious case. Unfortunately, that means working with Nick Wilde, a wily fox who makes her job even harder!

• Moana, November 23, 2016
• A young woman uses her navigational talents to set sail for a Fabled Island. Joining her on the Adventure is her hero, The Legendary Demi-God Maui!

• The Angry Birds Movie, May 3, 2016
• Three Birds investigate the mysterious arrival of  Pigs to their Island!

• Kung Fu Panda 3, March 11, 2016
• Living large and loving life, Po realizes that he has a lot to learn if he’s going to fulfill the next challenge from his beloved instructor. After reuniting with his long-lost father, Po must transition from student to teacher and train a group of fun-loving, clumsy pandas to become martial-arts fighters. Together, the kung-fu brethren unite to take on the evil Kai, a supernatural warrior who becomes stronger with each battle!

• Ratchet & Clank, April 20, 2016
• Ratchet is the last of his kind, a foolhardy Lombax who grew up without a family. Clank is a pint-sized Robot with more brains than brawn. After stumbling upon a weapon that can destroy entire planets, they join forces with a team of do-gooders known as the Galactic Rangers. Together, they must stop the evil alien Chairman Drek from utilizing this dangerous technology. Along the way, Ratchet and Clank learn valuable lessons about heroism, friendship and discovering one’s own identity.

• Norm of The North, March 18, 2016
• Norm the polar bear doesn’t know how to hunt, but he does possess the unique ability to talk to humans. When the wealthy Mr. Greene unveils his idea to build luxury condos in the Arctic, Norm realizes that his beloved home is in jeopardy. Accompanied by three mischievous lemmings, Norm stows away on a ship to New York. Once there, he meets a surprising ally who helps him hatch a scheme to sabotage the shady developer’s plans!

• Kubo and the Two Strings, August 19, 2016
• On the run from Gods and Monsters, Kubo must find a Magical Suit of Armor once worn by his Father, the Greatest Samurai Warrior the World has ever know!

• Trolls, October 21, 2016
• A troll leader and her polar opposite embark on an adventure that takes them far beyond the only world they’ve ever known.

• Storks, September 23, 2016
• A stork who delivers packages for a giant corporation lands in big trouble when he accidentally activates a machine, which produces an adorable baby girl.

• Sing, December 21, 2016
• A pig, a mouse, an elephant, a gorilla, a porcupine and other animals gather at a theater for a singing competition.

• Bad Cat, 2016
• The story opens as Shero the Bad Cat, Riza the Rat and Rifki the Seagull are getting ready for a Barbecue Night.

• Boss Baby, March 10, 2017
• A suit-wearing briefcase-carrying baby pairs up with his seven-year old brother to stop the dastardly plot of the CEO of Puppy Co!

• Wonder Woman, June 23, 2017
• An Amazon Princess becomes the Legendary SuperHero Wonder Woman!

• Monster Trucks, January 13, 2017
• An Original film based on the popularity of Monster Trucks. Revolves around Vehicles typically styled after pickup trucks’ bodies, modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension.

• The Croods 2, December 22, 2017
• Prehistoric family The Croods are back to their old shenanigans in a dangerous, strange new world!

• Toy Story 4, June 15, 2018
• Woody reunites with Bo Beep!

• How to Train Your Dragon 3, June 29, 2017
• Continues the adventure of Hiccup and his Dragon Toothless.

The top 3 I would love to watch would be:

1. Ice Age 5: Collision Course

2. Finding Dory

3.Ratchet & Clank

On the 29th of February, a group of third years from Northfield Academy made a trip down to Edinburgh where they visited the Edinburgh University and the Edinburgh Mosque. Miss Dolan arranged for a Professor from the University named Tom Lea to do the first half of the presentation.. The professor explained to us that there is more to Islam than we had learned in our R.M.P.S class such as Muslims in Scotland do not have to wear the Niqab if they do not want to because it is not a Sharia Law. ‎The Professor had organised for a Muslim woman, also a teacher Dr Khadijah Elshayyal to come and talk to us about her views on certain subjects including:

-Her practices

-Beliefs

-Views

My experience when I went to the Edinburgh Mosque was that it was really good and fun. We started off by leaving Aberdeen at 8 o’clock in the morning and started to head down to Edinburgh. It was a three hour journey and arrived there around 11 o’clock where the Professor was waiting for us outside the Business building where he gave us a lecture. We went into the lecture room where it went on for about 1 and half to 2 hours. After we had finished having our lecture we headed over to the mosque where we took off our shoes and entered the prayer room quietly where a prayer was about to start. Before it actually started the Professor asked us a couple of questions about the mosque such as, why was it built diagonally? The answer was so that when you pray you prayed pointing towards Mecca. We watched the prayer and after it had finished we headed to the curry kitchen where we would get our dinner. At the curry kitchen there was a selection of curries for us to choose from. After our dinner we headed back to the bus where we were getting ready to leave to go back to Aberdeen.

Furthermore, the trip to Edinburgh overall was educational, amazing and fun. All that I can say is if you’re going into S3 I strongly recommend that you go on the trip. It’s a good opportunity for you to experience and learn more about an interesting and misunderstood religion.

Northfield Secondary School opened on 27 August 1956 with a roll of 479 students in the first two years of a Secondary course and 34 members of staff under the leadership of its first Headmaster, James S M Eddison, who served in this position till June 1962. With Seven headmasters we have conducted an interview with the present Head Teacher Mr Hendry about the schools 60th anniversary to see what he thinks about it and what he has planned. In 2006 the school celebrated its 50th anniversary, activities happened throughout the year including a production of Oliver and a Pop Idol Concert.  The librarian Mrs Wilson had also produced a 50th anniversary commemorative book  in 2006 about Northfield Academy.

From the interview conducted with Mr Hendry we were able to find out that the current badge is being branded with the 60th anniversary which will be able to be bought soon, we also found out that Northfield Academy will have their own tartan which when properly finished will be available to buy as merchandise such as scarfs.

Finally we asked some seniors what they thought about the 60th anniversary they said they were very excited about and it would bring the school closer and give the seniors a big exciting good bye from their school.

Check back later to find out what Mr Hendry said.

For more information about the 60th anniversary keep checking the Northfield Academy website.

Christmas saw a number of packages arriving in the music department at Northfield Academy. The school ordered 20 brand new – red – ukuleles for the music department to start up our very own ukulele club!

Ukuleles have always been a relatively popular instrument but, over the last few years, the sales for the ‘tiny guitars’ has risen by a staggering 70%! This rise is mainly down to the number of popular YouTube videos of people singing and playing the ukulele. One of the main factors could also be due to Tyler Joseph of the rising band, 21 Pilots, and his cover of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ by the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.

Northfield Ukulele Club is run every Thursday lunch-time in the music department. It is a great hit with around 20 people attending every week! The group is made up of teachers and pupils from all year groups providing a great mix of people from throughout the school. We focus on songs that people from the group have requested making it enjoyable for everyone.

The Northern Lights is a joint project between Northfield Academy and RGU. At the first meeting, Geraldine and Charlie from RGU introduced themselves. We played games and were told what we will do when we are there.

On the 3rd December 2015 the S1 Northern Lights group went to the RGU (Robert Gordon University) campus. When we were there we visited the architecture building. First we had lunch then we got split into three groups. When we were split into three groups we did  different activities . We extracted DNA from a strawberry by squishing it in a bag then added two chemicals. We strained it, then caught the DNA and put it in a test tube. We built a stable platform with cards but you could only have scissors or tape. We had to be able to support cans of juice in a set time. We enjoyed the activities. The last activity was to do with stop motion animation. Once we had done two activities we got a tour around the architecture building. After the tour there was a presentation. Once the presentation was over we got a wood cut out of our name. It was cut out with a laser cutter.

On the 21st of April Geraldine and Charlie will be coming back and talking to us about careers.

On Thursday 18th February 2016, all young people from Aberdeen, who completed Duke of Edinburgh Awards were invited by the Lord Provost to a Civic reception at the Beach Ballroom. Three award winners from Northfield Academy attended the awards night, after completing their Bronze awards. All pupils received their awards successfully, until the Principal Teacher of Achievement went to collect the school’s award which was no where to be seen #aspiretofindit

However we did eventually get receive the award.

Pupils from around the Northfield area celebrated when they broke the world record for the most christmas crackers pulled at one time. This was in celebration of the new Astroturf pitch opening. The pitch is named after a man called William Burr because William Burr paid  the school to help build the Astroturf pitch.

The Go4SET competition is for a team of S2 pupils. In November the team attended a launch event where they participated in some team building activities and selected the challenge they would tackle. From November until February the team worked with Balfour Beatty to research the building materials, heating and energy supply for an eco classroom that they would like to see built at Northfield Academy. They also designed the classroom, built a model to represent their ideas, created posters to tell their story and wrote a report of their findings.

During the final on the 18th February the team presented to two judges as well as discussing their classroom with other pupils, teachers and visitors. The judging was very close this year but Northfield Academy were awarded the Teamwork Award as they had demonstrated an excellent team spirit.

Each of the pupils received an individual silver crest award. Today I asked Miss Dean what it takes to get your to get your silver crest award when you’er in second year and she said this: “Silver crest awards are awarded for at least 30 hours of scientific research. You can do this as part of Go4Set. In Go4Set you can earn the silver crest award by showing your scientific research in the report and reflecting on your learning”. Silver crest awards are important for later on in life because they can give you really good job opportunities. Apart from Go4Set you can earn this in 6th year for advanced higher projects.

Myself and a group of fellow pupils went down to Glasgow on 5th March for an Exchange event brought to us by a charity; Music For Youth. The 4 of us were accompanied by Colin Lemmon and Jenni Snell – 2 of the brilliant youth workers in school – who were able to get the funding we needed to attend this amazing event.

During the event we attended a few panels based around the music industry and jobs there are available in the industry. One of the panels I found most interesting and useful was called; ‘BE SEEN! Get yourself out there’. This involved 3 people who work in the music industry answering questions about how to get your music heard by professionals to promote a career in music. I found this was helpful as performing would be my dream job and aspiration.

The event saw a number of performers from Glasgow and the surrounding areas perform to music professionals who provided feedback on what they could improve on and what they are doing right. We found this an inspiration as they were all around our age which proved that we too can achieve great things.

Following up from the event, I interviewed one of the team at MFY and asked a few questions. Dan Morrell kindly took the time to answer some questions about the event. The questions were as follows;

1.      Was there an inspiration behind setting up this event?

As a charity, Music for Youth provides music performance opportunities for young people across the UK and Exchange is all about young people from Scotland coming together to share their talent, meet their peers and hear from industry professionals.

2.      How many different locations is the event being held in?

Exchange was held at Platform, Glasgow across multiple spaces. Exchange is one of a huge number of events that Music for Youth produces across the year and across the UK.

3.      Do you know roughly how many people attended on the 2 days in Glasgow?

We had around 400 young people attend the event over the two days.

4.      Myself and a group of school peers travelled down from Aberdeen for the event; were there many people that travelled far to attend?

Yes, we were really pleased to have groups travelling from 22 of Scotland’s 33 counties for the event. Over the last two years of Exchange we have seen groups from all counties across Scotland apart from one!

5.      What were the main aims of the event?

The main aim for the event was to provide opportunities for young musicians to perform and receive professional feedback. Additionally we wanted young people who attended the event to gain advice on all aspects of the music industry including performing and getting their music heard but also professional advice on what makes up the music industry and tips on how to make it as a career choice.

6.      Do you feel that it lived up to it’s aims?

We do! Depending on what each young person was looking to get out of the event we are confident that there was something for everyone. We’re going through feedback at the moment which is all very positive.

7.      Will there be another Exchange to look forward to next year?

Our events in Scotland are dependent on public funding we receive. We are hopeful that we are successful in receiving further funding to continue our work in Scotland.

 Overall, myself and the other 3 pupils found it to be a very positive trip that provided us with the knowledge we may need in order to pursue a job in music.