WELCOME TO THE UGS STUDENT VOICE WEBLOG
1 02 2008Congratulations, you have found the Urmston Grammar School blog site. This is your opportunity to have your say on any matters affecting you at Urmston Grammar School.
Yes, you have the school council, but this blog site allows you to voice your concerns or opinions immediately. Other students will be able to add their comments and the Schools Senior Management Team will follow the progress and perhaps respond when appropriate.
So, it’s your voice, use it! Just click on “comments” below and start writing!
Interform football has been absent for a while, please can it be introduced for year 8 and above?
Over the holidays teachers give us Loads and long homework not thinking that we have other subjects that give us homework so over the holidays we have so much homework to do giving us hardly free time to enjoy wasting are holidays.
I’ve asked the school counsillor for interform rugby, maybe even a scholl team or club but unfortunately there isn’t enough people in my form toput it forward. They just go on about basketball. it’s a good sport and we don’t do it that often.
how come we never have own clothes days any more ?
Every year, the sports day that we have lasts just two lessons and people arent even guaranteed to be in sports day. At other schools, sports days last for almost a whole day, can`t ours last for more than just an hour, it`s not a sports day if it only lasts for an hour.
The astro should be better because it’s well to crowded and the field should be opened. Also, we get well to much homework etc..
I am goin to the uefa cup fixture between Bolton Wanderers and athletico madrid.all i can say is to any bolton fans is(especially mr slater)come on you trotters
can there be more own clothes days in school
I think we should have less student teachers as they aren’t as experienced and we learn less from them. They do have a negative effect on our education.
I back danny up on the rugby thing coz I like crushing people
There should be more sports clubs for girls ( ben says yes in agreement) (H)
Peace out.
i agree with gemma there should be more Girls sports clubs
I’m particularly interested in James Heywood’s comment. I’d like to hear more if you’ll come to talk to me James!
Would any of you like to tell me about some of the many positive advantages to having trainee teachers in school. ?
Years 7-9 should be allowed in their form rooms at lunch when the field isn’t open cause everywhere is always packed
I’m interested in getting your opinion on the range of foreign languages we deliver at UGS. Would you like to see more? If so, which languages woould you like to be taught?
Due to many people worried about people wasting energy I think the school should produce are own energy with wind turbins or solar panels not to provide the whole school energy just to save some energy. Then we can be saving money for not wasting energy and also helping the plant. This would be a great advantage to our school as we do us a lot of energy and we have a lot of areas for wind turbins or solir panels. We dont have to build them all at once but we could build 1 by 1 in a slow process not using a vast amount of money at once.
I think your idea is great Owen. the school has looked at possible ways we could be more eco-friendly. There are some problems with putting up wind turbines close to residential properties. Come and speak to me about how we can investigate further.
Daniel/Kieran/ alot of other people
I would be happy to join or hep with a rugby team and so would a few in my year
Owen, how about first saving energy in a big way by turning classroom lights off, switching equipment off that is left on standby and keeping heat in by closing doors and windows. I would bet the money we would save and the energy saving would be greater than that saved by using wind turbines and solar panels. In fact, I would bet that we could save enough to buy a wind turbine and a solar panel as our annual energy bill is in excess of £40,000. Come up with a scheme to save energy the easy way first and I will give you the saving to spend on a turbine and solar panels!
Why did I not know about this place?!
In response to James Heywood, I find your comment rather unjustified: the education system is not restricted to our little school up until the age of eighteen. There are people in the big, wide world still learning – and as a school, you would hope to find that we are a little more sympathetic to those still trying to push their way through the system. If we are not willing to accomodate student teachers, then who is? Just a thought.
I think that year 7-9 should be able to go in their form room because it always get packed and there is nowhere that you can chill-even the cloisters are packed.
I think the teachers set too much homework. They say it should only take half an hour but some homeworks take two hours! I think that when you get set an essay it should be spread over two different homeworks, instead of getting a big homework one week and a essay the next! You are supposed to relax when you get home from school, not sit and do homework for hours!
i think that lower school shud be alowed in their form rooms at lunch, WHY SHOULDN’T WE, it isn’t fair!!!!!
i think that lower scool should hav more own clothes days so they feel more comfortable in scool.:)
I agree with Vanessa, lower school should be able to go in the form rooms but we always get kicked out, the cloister is always really crowded!!!!
MAKE US HAVE LESS HOMEWORK SOME PEOPLE NO EVERYONE HAS MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIKE SEE FRIENDS AND ACTUALLY ENJOY WEEKENDS
WE NEED MORE OWN CLOTHES DAYS!! Our uniform is really boring to wear 5 days a week for 6 hours a day.
WE GET TOO MUCH HOMEWORK!!!!! I think we should be able to enjoy our weekends!
how come year 7+8(maybe 9 i dont know)
arnt allowed in their form room at lunch, when upper school can?
Why are the prefects allowed to be tight to us and report us to mr corrigan?
Why are assemblies soooooo long
( no offence teachers who organise them…)
we shud get in form rooms coz we need some where to talk without being listened to by other years
we shouldnt be forced not to go into other form rooms because they could be our frends.
GIVE US LESS HOMEWORK!!!!! we always get set homework, when we get home we are meant to relax, we go to school to do work not to come home and do even more, your brain gets tired out. we are at school for 49 hours a week and we get set at least 15 homeworks a week. NOW YOU SEE WHY WE ARE SO TIRED DURING THE DAY!!!!!
I agree with abi and vanessa! We can’t go near our form room without being told off by prefects! Also, I don’t agree with being split into sets for tech without having a few people you want to go with because if all of your friends are in one group and youre in another then you can feel left out when they talk about what a good time theyve had talking to each other.
make that 35 hours a week.
we have to many responsibilities! Teachers give you a det. when youve forgot one piece of homework! Most of the time its just a mistake that people have made that wont happen again, yet you STILL get a det! some people are juts disorganised, and you cant help that much!
I agree with the the las…15 comments!!! we should just be allowed to relax when its our lunch, and at home!!!! we can just have at least a third of the day to relax then we can concentrate on studies more!!
i agree wif apoorva besides the studyin part
I agree with abi, vanessa, and amy. Teachers are always complaining because we don’t try hard enough in lessons … thats because we get TOO much homework which we have to every night. Oh and I also agree with amy about the tech groups!
PLEASE SOMEONE MAKE POST ON THE HOMEPAGE ABOUT TOO MUCH HOMEWORD!!!!!!!!
can we have an own clothes day please???
Today, me and my friend were going to go in the office to get a holiday form, but a teacher stopped us when we were going through the first double doors near the canteen. She said we couldn’t go into the office because some exams were on , Me and my friend were quiet anyway, but then this boy walked striaght past her , and she didn,t even take any notice of him. This caused me and my friend to then have to go at lunch which is meant to be OUR break. I didn’t know why we couldn’t just go the first time. I think students should have a right to go to the office that way rather than walking all the way down to the maths corridor!
I think school should start later in the morning because some people have to get up at 6 in the morning so they can get the bus or whatever. So then were really tired and can’t concentrate because we want to get to bed, not sit in lessons in silence. Also I think its a bit harsh when teachers take your phone off you because you forgot to turn it off because your’e in a hurry to get to school on time.
No matter how much you want it to, asking for more own clothes days and less homework is never going to happen. Yes, it would be pretty cool just to be able to come home from school and do what ever you want, without the thought of homework in the back (very back), of your mind. So sorry kids, not happening. Just think, when you start your GCSE’s, things get ten times worse. Good luck.
Year 7’s aren’t allowed in their Form Rooms at Lunch because the place would get trashed instantly. We have all been giddy little 12 year olds once, and things get broken and damaged when you get left alone. Also, aslong as you aren’t rude to the prefects, or give them a reason to report you, then you won’t get reported.
daves comment makes me cry waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (espescially the GCSE part that scares me) and it will make all the yr 7’s cry waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa but why cant we hav the sensible people who DONT (and i mean DONT) trash the place are allowed in? if someone gets caught, they could be banned for a certain time, so this way it would be fair. if they keep repeating it, they could get permenantly banned. and whats the reason and justifcsioojoion thingy for not having own clothes days? dave is mean man D:<
Agree with all who say there should be more own clothes days. We hardly had any in year 7 and there seems to be less and less each year. Increase?
This term we haven’t see to have gotten lots of homework, not complaining
Sports day, longer, please?
Lastly, I also agree with Woody, (James Heywood
Rant over.
hm, i think we should have more own clothes day, because it helps break the weeks up, and give us something to look forward too. its easier to work having something a bit different to regular routine happening.
also, i would say we get too much homework, but thats never really going to change. but there definatly is too much pressure on us. and too many things to be organised for.
but i totally agree with the ecofriendly thing. the polar bears dying and global warming thing is kind of scary.
for eco friendly things… solar panels are very good ideas. and even though theyr expensive…doesnt the thought of us contributing to global warming outweigh the problems of cost ?
I agree with apoorva and who is dave?????????????????????
Re: Owen
I think we should have less student teachers as they aren’t as experienced and we learn less from them. They do have a negative effect on our education.
How do you expect less experienced student teachers to get experienced without experience, Eh?
Re: Mr Parker
I’m interested in getting your opinion on the range of foreign languages we deliver at UGS. Would you like to see more? If so, which languages woould you like to be taught?
Türkçe ıstıyorum! …Quizás espanol. ¡Espanol es uno de las linguas más obvias – para algo un poco diferente!
… Hopefully you understood that
Also, can the admin make a topic about the “New” Jaffacakes being “Now even more orangey”, and cheese strings “Now with more calcium!”. Don’t fall for it. Jaffacakes still taste like advent calander chocolate with hand soap, and cheese strings are still 99.9% rubber.
Failing that request. Does anyone know how to fix those USB lighty-uppy pen thingy? I’ve taken it apart, and the soldering is still immaculate, and the light sometimes comes on when you push it *right* into the USB port, but not long enough for me to make copies of the files on it. Me thinks it’s the silver plug bit that goes into the USB port is what’s dodgey, but I’m not going to chance taking that apart too ’cause that’s sorta how my ipod got knackered.
One Last Thing.
“Re: Dave
Year 7’s aren’t allowed in their Form Rooms at Lunch because the place would get trashed instantly. We have all been giddy little 12 year olds once, and things get broken and damaged when you get left alone. Also, aslong as you aren’t rude to the prefects, or give them a reason to report you, then you won’t get reported.”
STEREOTYPING! D: It’s people like you stereotyping lower school that keep them out of their form rooms. I’m sure there are many perfectly sensible people. I’m sure there are many people lacking in mental alertness and activity too, in *every* class, including upper school (Let’s face it. There’s always one. You know who you are). A lot of lower school go on the astro because they’re not allowed in their form rooms, then the other lot of people start moaning that there isn’t enough room on the astro. You can’t win.
OK…here goes…
I know lots of people, including myself, have been asking for a reduction in homework. Personally, I don’t think we have gathered enough evidence. All we seem to have said is that we think we get too much and please can we have a decrease. However teachers aren’t THAT aware that we get lots.
Year 7- 3 pieces of homework a night, am i right? That makes it 20×3=60…1 hour a night. But how big are these pieces of homework? (Any year 7’s want to reply? Thanks)
Year 8- 3 pieces of homework a night, 2 nights with 4 pieces, correct? So that’s 3×20=1 hour a night…But on some nights 4×20=80 minutes a night. not forgetting homework that you might not have done as soon as you’ve got it. So that might over lap into your precious two days of relaxation. (Any year 8’s want to correct me? Point out how large some pieces of homework are?)
Year 9- 4 pieces a night except for the two days of 3 pieces? 4×20=80 minutes a night with 3×20= 2 nights of 1 hour. That’s still a lot when it all piles up after having one massive piece of homework which takes up an hour and exhausts you anyway. (Any year 9’s like to add to that?)
Admittedly, I have only spoken for lower school, anyone in upper school fancy adding a comment? However coursework etc. has to be taken into consideration.
I think we have too much pressure put on us because you rarely get one day in a week, in term time, when you actually get to relax. Monday-Friday you are at school, then go home and do some homework then before bed you are still mentally going over whether you have forgotten anything for the next day. Saturday or sunday dependent on which you fret about homework and not forgetting anything the most. School is still constantly on your mind. Did I do that piece of homework? My planner says it’s in for then, is it? These things just keep running through your mind. It’s too much pressure for some people.
And I know we are a grammar school and we are supposed ot be able to cope with harder work than comprehensives, but surely this is a bit over the top?
I think a decrease is definately in order before we all crack under the pressure.
If anyone would like to help me out in this then thanks
*sighs*
The end.
hi every1 wat does every1 thing of the blog? i think its ok
how come no one out of 9u has left a message?
Above it was said that student teachers affect our education and this is SO true. I know teachers need training and experience and the best experience is in a school its self but this is a very important time for some people with exams. Year 11, 12 and 13 definately shouldn’t have student teachers in the subjects they are taking for exams and preferably not for the year 10’s either especially in science. I don’t believe training teachers should affect the education of the students.
Hi. I agree with all of the people who are saying that there should be more own clothes days. It gives people something to look forward to every so often.
I agree with Owen on the solar panel thing because it will save a lot of energy.
School sports days are way too short. They only last for about an hour, that’s not really a day.
It is annoying how we don’t get that much homework and then as soon as it gets to the holidays we get tonnes.
Just a random suggestion but i think we should have a wacky hair day for charity, we did it at my old school and we raise quite a lot of money!!
I also think that we should start some different sports like Trampolining or Swimming. It gives people a lot more of a range of things to do. I like Hockey and Tennis and Badminton but it would be good to have some more options for a change.
Hi. i totally agree with Jess(Buckley) about the homework. Teachers give us big homeworks not realising that we have already got a huge amount anyway. It is too much pressure to put on us especially as we have SATs to think about this year as well. It’s really hard to relax when you are wondering what homework you might have forgotten or that is in for the next day. Also sometimes we get big pieces of homework that have to be in for the next day, i.e posters, graphs, charts…etc… It really isn’t fair.
One more thing, I know I have already mentoned this but some people agree with me that we should have a Wacky Hair Day!! lol, please back me up on this
i think the year 7s should not run off with the chess pieces this causes disruption for all us chess players.
i think we should have more chess facilities there are so many chess players around the school
Sorry it’s me again, I just remembered, this year is the last year that we have disco’s isn’t it? I think that Upper school should have disco’s too because they need to let their hair down because they are under 10 times more pressure than we are now with GCSE’s and other things. If anyone would like to back me up on tis please do
Our sports days should be longer than just one hour, the whole point off a sports DAY is for it to last for a DAY!
i love the library
I agree with bradley smit the astro does get very crowded and unless the weather is pouring it down i think the field should be open more regularly, with the choice whether to go onto the field or astroturf this would reduce the numbers i think =S
Re: “Everyone complaining about student teachers”
I personally reckon that half of the trainee teachers at the moment need permanant contracts
Re: Brad Smith
“i think the year 7s should not run off with the chess pieces this causes disruption for all us chess players.”
Agreed. On more than one occasion I’ve had to point out that chess pieces aren’t supposed to be aerodynamic, nor is it wizard chess where the chess pieces slaughter each other.
Re: Imogen
“One more thing, I know I have already mentoned this but some people agree with me that we should have a Wacky Hair Day!! lol, please back me up on this”
I don’t know… I don’t really want to mess with my hair…
Raffle Tickets:
Does anyone find the new system of handing out raffle tickets to those with tidy uniforms a little… patronising? I disagree with rewarding people for things that they should already be doing. Rewards are usually kept for rare occasions when someone excels above what is expected – in other words, if a pupil from another school were to come to UGS they would think something along the lines of “They get rewarded for having tidy uniforms here. Perhaps they’re a real untidy school, and have had to resort to some sort of method in a desperate attempt to stop the students rebelling, Etc, Ect”. Above all that, since when have the uniforms gotten so bad that staff have had to consider alternative methods?! Maybe it was just that the “Untidy uniform = Detention” rule was too slack as a lot of the teachers gave out “3rd chances”.
- Esther Kerrs-Farmer 9R
Hey, to whoever looks after the admin on this blog, the clock appears to be about 7-9 hours slow on here, so a bunch of posts say they were done at 4am (if that was the case I think we need mandatory Relate sessions for a few people on here
), and one I did at about 8pm said I did it at 11:37am.
Seems a bit trivial but I don’t want people assuming I skive in order to whinge on here
Re: Aimee
I am Dave. The only Dave
Re: establishment
I agree, some year 7s and other pupils lower down the school are sensible and mature. I was one of them, as were several other people in my form. And yes, it is completely unfair that sensible people aren’t allowed in their form rooms at lunch. BUT, you can’t have one rule for half the form, and another rule for the other half. It would be impossible to do, and there would be far too many complaints. Life just isn’t fair like that.
I wish people would stop moaning about own clothes days and homeworks…
Re: Mr Dave
“I agree, some year 7s and other pupils lower down the school are sensible and mature. I was one of them, as were several other people in my form. And yes, it is completely unfair that sensible people aren’t allowed in their form rooms at lunch. BUT, you can’t have one rule for half the form, and another rule for the other half. It would be impossible to do, and there would be far too many complaints. Life just isn’t fair like that.”
Dont be sillyyy, Mr Davey! You *can* have one rule for half the form and another rule for the other. Maybe give them like.. signed bits of paper thingys which are permission from the teachers saying that they can stay in for one reason or another. There. That works, the raw makings of a solution of some description.
Nyeeehh!
Re: establishment
Unfortunately, it won’t happen. We all wish it would, but it won’t. Look at how much moaning the annoying and mis-behaving children do at the moment, imagine what they will do when they aren’t allowed in their form rooms when other children are? Their parents would come in and complain, which is a real shame, as you have shown far more maturity than 75% of upper school and you more than deserve to stay in your form room at lunch.
And yes, the Raffle Tickets are very patronising. It’s like saying to all motorists “You drive at 30mph, have a cookie”. You shouldn’t be rewarded for doing something that you should already be doing.
Shut up moaning about homework you whiny kids otherwise you shall never get good grades and we will issue prefects with flowers if you continue to complain about the form rooms. One day you will be grown up and have the right to yell at all small people.
Raffle tickets are patronising, and make me want to turn up with *shock horror* trainers on and chewing gum in my gob. Or a leather catsuit.
I think to save energy we should make hamster wheels for all year 7’s and make the little ones run like their sweets depend on it. Seriously though, we need more recycling boxes around school. And make people wear jumpers instead of turning heating up. Actually heres an idea, make it compulsory for some of those scantily clad 6 formers to wear a jumper if they’re showing more than anyone wants to see.
On student teachers: They rock! All our teachers were students once.
And languages. I think Polish is appropiate, however perhaps chinese would be more took up.
Peace out and keep rocking dudes!
PS DR McPartland is joint best teacher in the school, sharing with Dr Howe. You rock we love you! We only like people with pHd’s.
The topic i would like to adress is the school toilets, they are pritty horrible, personally i have only been in the girls toilets but the experiance is not a nice one, half of the toilets dont work all the time, by that i mean they dont flush or they dont have any toilet roll in them. The floor tiles in the toilets by the staff room are peeling up and on some occasions you can see ants on the toilet floors. I know many people who choose not to go to the toilet at school and wiat till they get home to go which is not a healthy thing to be doing. I personally think this situation can be changed by spending some of the schools money on updating the facilities, ripping out all the old toilets and sinks, replacing them with new ones which actually work and re decorating the toilets to make them a more attractive place to be, i know this may be quite expensive but i personally think matters such as this should be adressed as a priority over things such as buuilding new extentions or new equipmet for different faculties. I know there is the argument that if we re decorate and re furbish the toilets they will just get destroyed again or broke but personally i think that if the facilites were nicer people would be more careful and look after them as they would appreciate the improvments. I hope something gets done about this issue as i feel it is a very imporatnt issue as public palces such as the trafford centre manage to have high quality toilets yet they have thousands of visitors a day yet our school ones have less visitors and are in worse condition.
i agree with james haywood student teachers are swarming around the school they’re taking over!!!! In y7 we’ve had about 15 and the year isn’t even over! Also we need more non uniform days! And i think at the end of the year we should all get to go on a trip for the last day!!!!
people what happened to are pet room we want it back! A nd how about more COOL clubs at lunchtime?!
I got censored! (No wonder!)
Can I have large sticks instead of flowers?
Re: Voice of Reason
” ……………
PS DR McPartland is joint best teacher in the school, sharing with Dr Howe. You rock we love you! We only like people with pHD’s!
Mr Bird you are a chav.”
Lol @ your hamster wheel comment but… BANG OUT OF ORDER calling Mr Bird a chav. No one deserves that.
Re: Dave
“And yes, the Raffle Tickets are very patronising. It’s like saying to all motorists “You drive at 30mph, have a cookie”. You shouldn’t be rewarded for doing something that you should already be doing.”
I wrote a letter of complaint about the raffle tickets; I got Mr Pyne to proof read it for me, and it came back to me covered in black ink (he must have spent some time doing it though!). I haven’t got around to sending it yet, really. I’ll probably post a copy of it on here.
Also: Dear whoever manages the coding of the school website.
It looks like utter chaos at the moment (unless that’s because it’s undergoing some changes?). Sorry, it had to be said. I realise that a long time has probably been spent on it, but some of it seems just thown together and bits of html used because “oooh that’s interesting, and look it moves!”.
Can I suggest that there is a verticle sidebar on the left of the page with links such as the calendars, the outlook web access, and ‘Home’ button, which stays constantly on the left hand side to enable quick navigation to the home page, etc. Here’s an example of a good layout: http://www .whitegyr. com/ It’s good because everything feels ordered, and like it has a set place, rather than <Img src’s being pasted all over. Maybe tone the navy blue down a little, and get rid of some of the white spaces. (Maybe open the two websites up in two separate tabs, and compare them both).
Picky points: Some of the teacher’s names needs editing, e.g. of those who do not teach their anymore perhaps need modifying. The “Newsletter” banner seems a little.. pixelated. (Though, I’m liking the green and red fonts used on that Newsletter page.) The ”APPLICANTS FOR ALL TEACHING POSTS” page needs a new look – small things make it look messy like the images all being different sizes, the Eiffel tower being a .GIF, and the fonts clashing! Gah!
‘Student Voice’ is unneccesarily linked to twice on the home page, in the “News/Views” section and the “Student Area”.
Maybe you should create a forum-type page where *all* of the blogs are collaborated, i.e. student voice, costa rica, chamonix. Create a primary page with links to the blogs, then the secondary page lists all of the ‘topics’ posted in those blogs. It would be easier to admin and easier to access.
Yeaaah. Anyway. I think that’s enough for now. I’d be happy to help code anything that needs changing =]
Tot Ziens Tot Ziens.
OMG!! No Teachers have written any comments for ages!!
To all those complaining at peoples complaints. I would just like to point out that if you have a blog site open to comments or critisism then you are bound to geta bundle of complaints. I mean, come one, do you think someone is going to write about how good they think our school is. No. And I’m not saying that because it’s a bad school, I mean they aren’t going to compliment they are going to critisise.
It’s the way us people work.
Maybeee, if people make enough changes to the school then we’ll stop complaining.
Peace Out (Y)
Re: Jess Buckley
Stop complaining about people complaining about complaints.
Your complants aren’t going to stop anyone else complaining about complaints because as long as the human race is existant people are going to find things to complain about, which will further cause people to complain about those complaints.
Kthxbi
-Esther Kerrs-Farmer 9R
Re: establishment
You created the interwebz didn’t you? I agree with you about the changes to this page, it takes forever to navigate around and find stuff. As a first try though, I have to say it’s pretty decent. I’ve been on Forums that are a lot worse than this. 10/10 for effort Mr Slater.
You [b]wrote[/b] a letter? What is this word, [i]wrote[/i]? Is it like typing? But takes a lot more time and effort?
Only joking, who are you going to send it too? Mr Spinks? We should get Mr Weems’ backing, as I don’t think he agrees with the scheme either. Like I said, we shouldn’t be rewarded for doing something that we should already be doing.
Also, YOUR DOING IT WRONG. IT’S KTHXBBAI. YOU FORGOT TEH A!
Sorry…I spend too much time on the internet.
HEY EVERYONE!! we’re ok!! mock if you will, but we’ve actually been having a great time. 5 stars hotels and everything!! everythings free! got to go now though, at airport.
Love Talia xx
RE to the voice of reason
McPartland is the best full stop – closely followed by Cleary!
RE to Dave
I dont think that spending too much time on the internet is something you should be bragging about mate.
RE to Establishment
stop being so picky, its getting boring. oh and if you want to put every new year seven through a rigorous selection process to see who is elegible to stay in a lunchtime then you run that past mrs ball and see what she says yeah?
Another thing, everybody sounds so ungrateful, petty and spoilt on here. i realise everythings not perfect about the school but, really people, get a grip!! We go to an amazing school with amazing teachers and lots of great oppertunities! you lot DO MY HEAD IN to say the least. I love my teachers and my school – im so grateful for everything UGS has given me, you brats that havnt stopped complaining dont know how lucky you are! Our teachers work so hard and longer hours than you think. So yeah, actually, Jess Buckley, I’m writing about how good the school is!!! IS A BRILLIANT SCHOOL AND I FOR ONE HAVE A BIT OF LOYALTY AND PRIDE IN THE THING THAT HAS INFLUENCED US ALL MOST IN OUR ADOLENSCENCE!!!! there are some losers who write on this thing. a bit of gratitude doesnt go a miss you know, theres no harm in it. not every teacher in the school is going to get it right every time. Some of you need to grow up, get out of that little bubble mummy and daddy have wrapped you in and realise that theres worse things in life than a couple of ants in the toilet and having to walk ALLLL THHHEEEE WAAAAY down the maths corridor to get a holiday form – that really is pathetic!! you people concerntrate too hard on the little things that irritated you when so many people waste their time at school and dont go and find all the things they can benefit from!
I would like to say that I feel extremely fortunate to be at UGS even if some dont. I love my form, 12T Mr Cleary – it’s so much fun!! and I love my form room, the History room with Mr McPartland, Bird and Corrigan in and out who just make it so funny! The trips iv been on to Iceland, Barcelona and Costa Rica were awesome too! I love doing plays and performing, I love Drama. I love being in the common room and I feel so lucky to be able to go somewhere I love everyday!!
Talia xxx
theres posts opening up in physics, biology, english/drama – who is it thats going?! really worried about english/drama one
xx
RE: Talia.
I don’t recall ever saying our school wasn’t good. I think it’s an amazing school and some people do take it for granted, however you are bound to get people complaining as nothing is perfect. And you are probably going to moan at me even more for my next comment but I think our uniform doesn’t give us a sense of individuality. maybe someone could come up with an idea to make it more personal, like..um…our own choice of socks or something? Anyone else anymore ideas.
Talia, I would like to speak to you, ask Han to give you my email address. I think you’re taking things a bit over the top.
-Esther Kerrs-Farmer 9R
Talia, this Forum was made so we can have our say on the school. Nothing is perfect, so if you expect us all to say how wonderful and perfect the school is, then you are sadly mistaken. Yes, the school is brilliant, one of the best in this part of the country, and I am extremely privileged and lucky to come here, as is every other pupil. But there is ALWAYS, room for improvement.
I was just wondering, but I read the other day that there is a teachers strike on April 24th of teachers in England and Wales? Are any of our teachers taking part?
Here is a link to an article about it if anybody wants more information.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3661529.ece
I’m really pleased that us students have been given the opportunity to voice our opinions and concerns but I’m not too sure that it is really intended as another place to argue. Come on guys!
I’m sure that even though the people on here may sound ungrateful for our school, I’m sure that if you asked any one of them they wouldn’t hesistate to say how great it is.
RE: Talia
I never said that I was ungratful to be at this school because actually I am VERY gratful that I am here considering I was the ONLY one from my primary school to get here. This is a GREAT school with BRILLIANT teachers and even if I don’t like getting homework and I would prefer to have more own clothes days at the end of the day school is school and I am enjoying it!:)
RE: Jess Buckley
I do agree with you about the uniforms, maybe as well as our own choice of socks we could be allowed to wear our own badges/stickers on our ties or blazers or something like that.
Ya, Mr Morris – not posted in a week and the withdraw symptoms are finally kicking in. Not majorly though, ‘cos I’m not allowed to spam anymores.
Re: Mr Dave
Aye, ‘Parrently there be a few teachers takin’ part, but nae nearly enough to close t’school down. Interestin’ tae see who aint in on teh 24th.
Re: Jess
“…but I think our uniform doesn’t give us a sense of individuality”
Apparently – according [[Apparently/According... my two favourite words]] to Mrs Yarker(Sp?) – when the boys school and girls school combined, there was a contest to see who could come up with a school uniform… and the outcome is what we are wearing today (Minus the nifty logos on the ties). Anyone feel free to correct me.
And down to the main point: School Council would like to know what ya’ll think of this blog. General things like, how well advertised is it.
Well I would say forums are needed where we can start our own topics and show our own skills (Artwork, Music etc) as long is new forum posts are moderated. We could then talk about other topics. An off topic forum may be a way to clear out the cloisters a bit aswell.
Forums FTW!
hold on people! How come everyones arguing with everybody else? I thought this was a forum to help improve our school not argue with anybody who comes on. You should be ashamed!
That is all…
This blog was not well advertised at all. I came across by complete chance, when I was logging into my school account looking for some homework. I had a quick browse through the website and found this. I’d never even heard of it before. And the I think I’ve only heard it mentioned in assembly twice, and that was just a quick notice.
Re: Daniel M
I’m not sure why we need Forums? This blog was put up so we could provide input on any subject/topic that the school wished us too. If we had the ability to make our own topics, then the aim of this blog would quickly diminish. This blog should be kept to what it is at the moment: If teachers need our opinions, we’ll give it to them.
Ok /children/. Calm down. Talia’s opinion is more valid than anyone elses.
You’re all like the media. You focus on the bad points and give no thanks or show any gratitude towards what the school has and does for us.
RE: Dave
well advertise it yourself then. We appoint you head of advertisement for the school blog – there you go, theres a nice job for you. You fund it and we’ll be waiting to hear about that.
and its quite funny the way you all get really annoyed over nothing
Re: Talia and Packageman
Who said I was annoyed?
And also, who said I was complaining about it not being advertised? I was asked a question, I answered. I didn’t give my opinion on my answer.
What would I need funding for? Unless there is a slot on the top of Mr. Spinks’ head in which you insert money when you want him to say something in assembly.
Have you ever watched Prime Minister’s Questions, when the MPs from the leading party ask ‘questions’ to the leader, which are basically compliments and oppurtunities for the PM to sound good? It’s just nauseating to watch, and therefore that’s why I don’t think constant praise for the school would be that helpful. Yes, it’s an awesome school, and yes, if they do something new and it’s good, then we should be telling them.
But from a theoretical standpoint, what use is a voice if we can’t use it to suggest improvements? Don’t get me wrong, the implementation of that hasn’t been great from everyone – so I guess what I’m trying to say is we shouldn’t discourage complaining, as long as it’s a valid point and you either suggest an alternative or one is very obvious from your post.
I must say, I have to agree with Talia and Packageman.
And for all of you who are complaining about homework and you are in lower school. You are going to have a shock once you start your GCSE’s and eventually A-levels, if you have the commitment and brains, I’m sure Talia and Pacakgeman will agree with me on that one.
Has anyone managed to find out what teachers are leaving in the Drama/English, Physics and Biology departments. It better not be Mr Campbell leaving from the Physics, he is getting me through my AS Physics.
P.S. May I ask who are you Dave?
Anybody know how to get to the school podcast?./x
./x♥
C.b
Why is it we can take a calculator, protractor, compass, rubber, pen, pencil and ruler into the exam – but we can’t take our phones. When in a real life situation, we’re more likely to have our phones with us than any of that equipment.
Luke’s point (Er… The Luke in Mr Corrigan’s Form.)
lul{e says:
and besides in real life no one is going to say to you: Please can you just calculate our monthly expenses BUT YOUR NOT ALLOWED TO USE A CALCULATOR
:[ToryGirl;; says:
… And You’ve Got To Do It All In Under An Hour. Now. Or You Fail. At Life. Epic Fail.
Thank you Esther for posting my comment.
I’d like to say I totally agree with Hag, after watching one session of PM’s question’s I really understand why Esther wants the tories in power (although that said I’m sure David Cameron like to get praised as well…..)
I am in agreement with almost everyone here in the fact that UGS is an excellent school, but as was said there is always room for improvement.
Another thing that is annoying is all the sixth formers thinking we’re just whinging brats because firstly It is a small minority, not all of lower school, and secondly everyone knows you were twice as bad when you were in lower school.
P.S the lack of teacher comments really made me laugh, you can almost see the enthusiasm level dropping as the blog decends from ’serious debate’ to ‘petty argument’ classic!
sorry to double post but…
Josh at one point you said “hi every1 wat does every1 thing of the blog? i think its ok
how come no one out of 9u has left a message?”
Not only is this an example of the insufferable ‘cool’ abbreviations (e.g every1, 4eva, l8, etc etc.) but THE VERY FIRST COMMENT SAID 9U, honestly, I wish you could get the rolling eyes emoticon
Could have been a different Josh ^^
At any rate, I’d like to add a disclaimer to my PM’s questions comment – under no circumstances do I endorse the Conservative party!
What I meant by the comment was basically that we shouldn’t just use the student voice going ‘hey, this is great – go spinksy!’. If we have a voice we might as well use it to point out problems.
Re: DG
I agree, Mr. Campbell is a great teacher. If it wasn’t for him, I can almost guarantee that I would of failed GCSE Physics a lot earlier than I am about too.
You won’t know me.
RE: Lucozade
“everyone knows you were twice as bad when you were in lower school.”
You’d know this how? Our year was pretty good.
RE: establishment
Testing is in place to see how much you know/memorised.
I don’t agree with it, personally I think we should have a 4-year diploma instead of GCSE & A-levels, but hey, whatcha gonna do?
Not allowed to take phones in so people can’t give you answers. I thought that was pretty obvious, to be honest.
RE: Hag
Ah, see Hag. Everyone comes around to the Conservative way of thinking. Like I said, morals are over-rated.
Re: Lucozade
“I’d like to say I totally agree with Hag, after watching one session of PM’s question’s I really understand why Esther wants the tories in power (although that said I’m sure David Cameron like to get praised as well…..)”
I’ve never actually said that I want the Tories in power. Gordon Brown is way more easier to make fun of.
If you’re refering to my username being ‘ToryGirl’, then youtube ‘Harry Enfield Tory Boy’ and see what comes up. Genius, that man is.(Quote from Yoda?)
Who added ‘(Quote from Yoda?)’ To my post? Rofl. I’d've thought that Yoda would’ve said “A Genius, that man is.” rather than usuing ‘Genius’ as a noun.
Anyway. Where’s the link to the school map/ground plan thing been moved to from the UGS home page? (You know the one that’s usually printed off and given to the new Year 7s).
woooooaaaaah ester you have done looooaddss of comments. I rekon that student voice is great – because you kan exchange veiws from people around the school – any you dont have to feel shy about going up to them in the middle of the clioster or the canteen and such like….
To be honest exams are ridicualous. All you get from half of them is monas from teachers and parents aboutunderachieving and waste your social life away by revising (I obviously revise
)
I think having an odd test is ok but end of year exams are pointless. Nearly nobody revises, why? because there is no point in them.
___________________________________________________________
All hail the prefects, we rock
Headache from reading your comments! New website design in response to criticism – any help with improving it please come and talk #72 your help would be appreciated.
All of your comments are valued, homework being reviewed, uniform badge up for grabs as well as amazing ideas for uniform… remembering we are a Grammar and being a class act is important.
Many serious discussions have taken place on exams, qualifications, pressure etc. We still think we have it right so you have the best currency for your future. Diploma’s at national level are not working, 4% of yeargroup in a leading school!
Checked top of my head this holiday, sorry, no slot but if you do want something said in assembly let me know, people do talk to me, honestly!
Complainers… where would we be without you!
Keep up the blogs!
M G Spinks.
In answer to Mr. Parkers question – i know this was a long time ago!!
I would like to learn Mandarin and Latin and I also would be excited to learn Spanish. I think it is important to learn at least 1 or 2 language and you also feel proud when you have learnt it and you can put it into practise e.g on holiday.
! “The assessment number you have entered in incorrect. Please re-enter a valid assessment number. If ou do not know the correct number, please ask your teacher.”
The details for the practice assessment on the ICT summer exam letter we all were given are wrong.
(358-5404 / 937301i) I assume the second bit having a letter in it is just a typo on the letter, but either way, it doesn’t work. Can we haff the correct Assessment Nº Pls!
RE :-ICT Assessment number
The correct number is 358-5405 (not 5404) the rest is OK. On behalf of Mr M, Sorry!
My thoughts on the Urmston Grammar School website:
Positive:
The modern look to the website affects the visitor’s perception of our school and I think it stands up to our reputation well. The webmail feature is intuitive and easily allows students to send email from school to home and vice versa. Google calendar allows mobile use and is very useful if you already have a Google account.
Negative:
Some text cannot be seen very well on the website as the background is a bad choice of colour eg some text is black on very dark grey and is very hard to see. I ran I very simple check on the website to check links and a whole stream of errors came up see: and enter the UGS website address.
Suggestions:
I understand that you have only recently designed the site again, but I think that a Content Management System (CMS) such as “Joomla!” will greatly benefit the school. It allows you to set certain users to have write permission, therefore teachers can update their own pages, without the need for them to contact you before they update pages. I could say a lot more but have a look at and click on the “Portal (CMS)” link on the left hand side, there is demo feature which allows you to test many of the systems out and have a play , “Joomla!” is listed here.
Finally another system which I would like to point out to you, I am not sure whether you have considered it yet, is Ranger Outpost for our school network, allowing pupils to access their documents from home see: ( Some schools in the area I know already use it)
I am more than happy to get my hands dirty, so if you wish to contact me email me: william at 5thurmstonscouts dot com
After carefully watching Mr.Slater play tennis regularly over the last few weeks I am going to make the suggestion that he enters wimbledon.
Anybody agree?
x)
we should have more national geographic paphlets around the school. we should also learn about el cid his life story is phenomenal. Rugby should be availiable for girls and i for one would definately participate.