The Silverdale Signal

October, 2015.

Did YOU Know?

No word in the English language rhymes

with month, orange, silver and purple.

The only two nations whose name begins

with an ‘A’ but don’t end in an ‘A’, are Af-

ghanistan and Azerbaijan.

The letters ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ and ‘d’ do not appear

if you spell any of the numbers between 1

and 99.

Charlie Chaplin once won only third prize in

a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.

It happened in October.

1st October, 1938—Hitler’s troops occupied the

Sudeten portion of Czechoslovakia.

12th October, 1492— After a 33 day voyage

Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in

the New World in the Bahamas.

14th October, 1066— The Norman Conquest

began with the Battle of Hastings.

16th October, 1793— Queen Marie Antoinette

was beheaded during the Reign of Terror follow-

ing the French Revolution.

18th October, 1945— The Nuremberg War

Crimes Trial began with the indictments against

24 former Nazi leaders including Hermann Gor-

ing and Albert Speer.

1066 and All That.

The Battle of Hastings took place on 14th October 1066. Most historians believe that the battle was fought about 6 miles north-west of Hastings, near Battle. Historians have pinpointed Senlac Hill as the likely location of the battle-field, although some are convinced that the battle took place on Caldbec Hill. The army of King Harold took up a position of strength at the top of Senlac Hill. His army consisted mainly of infan-try (foot soldiers). The Norman army, led by William the Conqueror, positioned themselves near to the base of the hill. His army was made up of infantry, cavalry (soldiers mounted on horseback) and archers. The battle was fiercely fought. The Normans attacked with cavalry and archers, but Harold’s shield wall and his defensive posi-tion were hard to break down. The fighting started in the morning and continued all day. In the end the Norman army, with its greater range of different types of troops, started to gain the upper-hand. If the legends can be believed, King Harold was killed when he was shot through the eye with a Norman arrow. William went on to win the Battle of Hastings and he was crowned King having successfully invaded England. The Battle of Hastings and the events leading up to the conflict are depicted (from a Norman perspective) in the Bayeux Tapestry. Although exact figures are almost im-possible to come by, it is estimated that Harold’s army was made up of about 6000 soldiers, and the Norman ar-my numbered about 7000. The number of soldiers killed is unknown.

The Silverdale Signal

October, 2015.

Book Review

By Sadie Paula Hunt.

Hetty Feather is one of my favourite books written by Jaqueline

Wilson. She is such a talented writer and I love all of her books;

they are extremely well written and make me picture her books in

my head.

Hetty Feather starts off as any normal child would; however, she

gets detached from her mother’s smooth silky skin and shoved

into a foundling hospital where she isn’t wanted. However, Hetty

is a very determined girl who wants to find her mother and she

will not give up without a fight! She is just hours old and already she

has been forced into an itchy shawl and into a dull, white cot. As ex-

pected, she goes into foster care. Her foster mother( who she thinks is

her mother), loves her deeply and her other 8 kids: Saul, Martha, Gide-

on (her special brother she was put in the foundling hospital with), Jem her favourite, Nat, Baby Eliza, Eli-

za and Rosie. She earns 18 pence a week for each child (that was a lot in those days).

When she is five years old Hetty has to go back to the foundling hospital; even though she doesn’t want

to, her foster mother has to let her go. Hetty’s foster mother is forced to give Hetty and Gideon back.

Before Hetty goes back she and Jem travel to the circus. They sneak in from the bottom of the tent and

watch the show. Hetty’s favourite act is a lady rider in a pink outfit.

She invites Hetty to come and ride on her pirate horse (he has a

patch of black around one eye like an eyepatch so she calls him

that). She and Hetty gallop around the circus ring together and

Hetty is positive that the lady rider is her mother. She has red hair

and blue eyes just like Hetty, also she has no fear like Hetty. When

they were standing up on a horse whilst cantering and galloping

she realises that this is her mother. But is she…?

When Hetty goes to the circus again after running away from a

school trip and realizes that the lady rider’s hair is a wig and the

eyes are contact lenses she is heartbroken. But so is her dear friend

Ida. Hetty is so horrid to her when Polly leaves because she doesn’t realize the secret. Hetty’s return is

wonderful and she and Ida find out the truth. She reveals that her name is not Hetty Feather but Sapphire

Battersea. Hetty is so delighted that her mother called her a beautiful name; not a horrible ugly name like

Hetty Feather.

The story then continues with Sapphire Battersea and then Emerald

Star!

The S

The Silverdale Signal

October, 2015.

My Running Club, by Adam Morrissy. My running club outside of school is called Has-tings Amateur Athletics Club. We train a lot; we push ourselves to the limit so we can get better at our running. We run on track, fields concrete, parks and even on beaches. We like our running and we do our best at running. We run on Tuesdays and Thursdays and if you are in a certain group you run on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays if we don’t do it on Sat-urdays. We run up loads of hills, down hills, through woods and at schools. I reckon if you could come you could get faster in a few months. I have 14 medals, I have them because I had

training from Hastings Amateur Athletics club. I

had to work hard to get these medals and I

have a lot of fun running.

Sports Reports.

School Sport, by Johnny Walker.

One of my favourite school sports is rugby.

Rugby is a great sport and I find it fun and ex-

citing. In school we play tag-rugby which is

fun and exciting. It is for Years 5 and 6 if you

would like to join. We play on the field on a

Friday lunchtime. I am the captain of the

team and last year we did very well coming

third to St.Mary Star of the Sea who became

the county champions.

I am also very keen on football which is my

favourite school sport. I also play for a foot-

ball team called the All Star Soccer Academy

in Eastbourne. I play in defence, centre back

and enjoy playing very much.

Running outside School,

by Harry Brown.

I do athletics outside school. I start-

ed recently and it is really fun and I

recommend it. I train at William Par-

ker Academy track at the Hastings

Athletics Club. We run on many dif-

ferent surfaces including concrete

and grass. There are also several

age groups. I go to the athletics club

with my friend Adam who is a very

good runner. He has one 14 differ-

ent medals but I have won my first

medal and a trophy.

Apple Crumble

By Sophie Link-Westley.

Ingredients

3-4 Bramley cooking apples

100g granulated sugar

150g plain flour ( also works well with gluten-

free flour)

75g salted butter, softened.

Method

1. If you’re planning to cook it straight away

after preparation, preheat the oven to

180C/350F/Gas 4. If you wish, however,

you can make the crumble beforehand and

cook it later.

2. First, you need to prepare the apples. Half

fill a large saucepan with water, and peel,

core and chop the apples into 1-2 cm

pieces. Place them in the saucepan to stop

them from going brown.

3. Drain all of the water from the saucepan,

add another 2 tbsp of water and 50g of

the sugar, and place on a medium heat on

the hob. Cook until the apples become soft.

Once soft, put the apples into an

ovenproof dish.

4. Place the flour and the remaining sugar in

a mixing bowl. Add the butter and use your

hands to mix everything together until the

mixture resembles large breadcrumbs. Put

this evenly on top of the stewed apple.

5. If you are making the crumble in advance,

cover it with cling film and allow to cool to

room temperature before placing in the

fridge. When ready to cook, place the

crumble in the preheated oven and bake for

30 minutes. Don’t worry if the crumble

doesn’t look cooked properly: it most likely

is! Eat hot from the oven.