| 5W Passion Presentations |
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5W Autumn Term Passion Presentations (2008-2009)
Because every child matters!
Autumn Term Passion Gift Presentations
PASSION 1 - Megan (Fishing)
(26.9.08) Megan's passion presentation was superb. Mr. Whiting loved her enthusiasm for something she is obviously very passionate and knowledgeable about. Special thanks goes to Megan's daddy who brought an amazing array of fishing equipment for Megan to present. The rest of the children were given the opportunity to practise casting. Time was also allowed for Megan to show us some amazing photos of some of her catches (and her daddy's!!). The children also shared their views and experiences of fishing, both positive and negative. Thank you Megan for a wonderful experience for all. Mr Whiting is certainly 'hooked' on fishing and you might see him testing the waters at a river near you soon! Thanks also to Mali for helping Megan. More photos soon on the 'Passions' page.
More photos to follow soon.
PASSION 2 - Lucian (Art)
The class has some great artists!
Tank by Stefanos
This is fun!
That's all folks!
PASSION 3 - Eleanor L (Tortoises)
Eleanor L's passion presentation certainly caught the imagination of 5W, especially when she brought in a tortoise from home.
Eleanor also showed several photos of the different types of tortoises. The class also had a go at making an origami tortoise.
The Hair and the Tortoise!
Some tortoises making some origami children!
PASSION 4 - Stefanos (The Violin)
Stefanos' hero is Yehudi Menuhin (see painting above left). To find out more about this amazing violinist, click here.
PASSION 5 - Mali (Dogs)
Mali brought her ever-so-charming Yorkshire Terrier to introduce her passion for dogs. Later she presented all the important equipment and information for looking after a dog. She surely is very well equipped! The class enjoyed Mali's intelligent crossword puzzle which had a mixture of easy and tricky clues. Well done Mali! A truly inspirational presentation that everyone enjoyed immensely. Now what was the name of you dog again? MW
I think she saw a bone!
PASSION 6 - Matthew (Bodysurfing)
Matthew began his presentation with a fascinating Powerpoint presentation on bodysurfing, including some great photos of himself surfing in Wales and other cold waters! He show the class his 'bodyboard' and suggested that plain boards were boring. So 5W had a go at designing their own pictures for a board. Thank you Matthew for a brilliant presentation which would have got us all heading off to the seaside if it hadn't been so ridiculously wet and miserable.
Matthew and friend looking 'board' despite the class' enthusiasm in designing their own boards. See some in the making below.
Thanks to Matthew and his parents for providing the resources, from all in 5W.
Sun, sea, sand and a wet Highgate morning!
PASSION 7 - Callum (Cats)
Callum brought in his cat to begin his passion presentation and told us a wonderful story.
The class all made cats out of pieces of a card to make a simple montage in class. Thanks for a fun activity Callum. You were purr-fect!!
PASSION 8 - Melisa (Ice-skating)
Melisa showed the class her fancy ice-skates. They're a few sizes too big as she needs to grow into them. Skates don't come cheap! Melisa showed the class a few of the moves she has learnt, including spinning and jumping. We hope to have a go at these moves in a gymnastics lesson soon.
Get your skates on you lot!!
The best of skates!
PASSION 9 - Alex (Warhammer 40000)
Alex presented an original presentation on the Warhammer 40000 game. The boys were particularly gripped by this action packed model game set in the future. Alex presented a Powerpoint presentation and then invited some of the class to have a game, whilst others drew pictures of the models. The detail of the drawings produced was excellent. See an example below.
Just one of the spendid drawings.
PASSION 10 - Sorcha (Doctor Who)
Info regarding Sorcha's passion presentation will follow soon.
Passions outside of school
You can see a photo of Max collecting his award by clicking here. My 1st Dan Grading
My karate association is the Karate Union of Great Britain (KUGB), and for black belt gradings the examiner is always the chief instruction, Andy Sherry, 8th Dan who is supported by one of the six senior instructors, for this grading, the senior instructor was sensei Frank Brennan, 7th Dan who was also my clubs kyu grading examiner.
I arrived early at the grading thinking that everything was going to be aright but when we sat down I started to get a bit nervous. I started talking to my friends who were also taking their black belt for the first time when sensei Brennan started to call out the first names … Tomah Jones, Michael Lyrics, Max Frost, Mark Walsh, Jack Walker, Robert Clinch, Paul Pears and Martin Ellis.
My friend, Tomah and I stood up, bowed, responded “Oss” and ran to line up. Sensei Sherry changed our order and I was moved to the front – right under his nose!
We started with the triple punch, then all the basic single kicks with hand strikes, then the quadruple kick combination ending with hand strikes – I did each kick fast, but paused between each kick for dramatic effect – I was worried that sensei Sherry may have thought I was slow. I was really focused and my kamae was sharp. I showed lots of spirit and aggression. The black belt combination consisting of mae geri, oi tsuki, gyaku tsuki, step back gedan barai, gyaku tsuki, yoko geri, uraken, oi tsuki was next. The combination is performed three times in each direction. After the first one, sensei Sherry told me to snap my punches on the last move; I put extra effort for the rest and glanced over at sensei Sherry who gave me an approving nod, as did sensei Brennan which made me feel good and increased my confidence.
Then we moved to face sensei Sherry and Brennan for our kata, which was Bassai Dai. I felt that I performed it perfectly, taking on board what sensei Frank Brennan mentioned in the morning lesson.
After the Kata we moved back to our original line (I was once again right under sensei Sherry’s nose!) for kumite. First was ju ipon kumite (one attack semi free sparring (fighting)). I was against Mark Walsh, a somewhat unknown opponent. I was attacking first, I stepped back with aggression, announced the first attack – “Jodan” – and feinted enough to keep him on his toes before launching my attack. I did the same for the next 4 attacks, but for my last attack I went straight in and he wasn’t prepared because he was expecting a feint and his block was off target – yes, what a result. Although he also feinted many of his attacks, I was right on target with my blocks and each counter attack.
Finally we had to do ju kumite (free form fighting). Again I was paired against Mark Walsh, and we were first up. We had to get our gum shields and mitts on very quickly and then face each other. Although Mark was somewhat unknown, I did recognise him from a competition in Birmingham where he beat me in kumite to get 3rd place. I knew he was going to be good, but I wanted to beat him so badly. The referee, another instructor, said “Hajime” which means begin, and we both started to fight. In the first round, although he was pushing me back, I was delivering most of the strikes. In the second round, I held my ground and at just the right moment I paused momentarily, he launched with a strike, I deflected it and my undefended counter scored with chudan tsuki – victory!
After all the fights were over we all bowed and went to the back of the hall where we had to sit and wait and wait and wait and wait some more – all in all we had to wait for 3 hours (without speaking or moving). It was a long wait, but all I could think about was how I had done – was I good enough?
I wasn’t done yet, there was still a heian kata waiting for me if I had passed my basics and first kata. I lent against someone’s bag, I couldn’t think, my mind was a blur, I imagined myself in a warm room with a log fire, but even that didn’t help, I wanted to sleep but I knew if sensei Sherry saw me I was dead meat. There was a woman sitting next to me, same grade, we ignored each other and after a couple more students had graded she was called. I felt completely alone.
After resting for a while, I started to feel board so I edged myself to sit between Tomah and Geffen (another club member who was grading first time). Tomah and I very quietly chatted about our grading and how well we thought we had done, and if we had to retake a part, what would it be, kata or kumite? I thought it would be kimute, because I had backed away in the first round. While we were chatting, Geffen was called up for his grading. I watched Geffen because, apart from Tomah and I, he was the only other person from our club taking their first grading.
After Geffen returned from his grading I moved back and was now next to a man who already had a black belt. I asked him if he was taking his 2nd Dan, but he told me that his black belt was from a different association, and that he was cross-grading for his 1st Dan in KUGB. Then he was called. When he returned, I noticed he had injured his toe and asked him how it had happened. He hadn’t noticed, I guess this was because he was so focused on the grading.
For the next hour there was not much happening, except I remember my Dad whispering to me that I was very good and my Mom caught my attention by blowing on my head and gave me a thumbs up. Another 10-15 minutes must have passed and then my Dad asked me if I was cold, I said yes and he gave me his fleece, but I didn’t want to wear it in case sensei Sherry saw me and didn’t approve. I placed the fleece on my feet because if my feet were warm, then the rest of body should be warm.
I was feeling very down, distant, almost tearful, and then sensei Brennan called me up. I then realised he had called me to face a partner-less black belt grading for his 2nd Dan. Just before I reached the examiners table, when sensei Brennan said, “No Max, you can sit down”; I didn’t know how to think or feel, why was I being sent back, was it because I wasn’t good enough, or was I too small to face this opponent? I dwelled on the thought that I was not good enough and started to believe that I was not going to pass.
All the 1st and 2nd Dan gradings were now complete, and for those who had done well enough, a second kata would be required. Sensei Brennan called up the first 4, Mark Walsh was one of them, but not me. I was certain I had failed. Then another 4, this time Tomah was one of them, but still not me. The next group was called, James Baker, Robin Pryor, Bert Sutton and Max Frost. What a relief, I had passed my basics and first kata. Now had had to give it my best to get through at least two of the three exam areas.
The examiners choice kata was heian godan – one of my favourites, it was my lucky day. I though I had done a good job, but at the end of the kata myself and one other were told we could sit down. I wasn’t sure if this was a good sign? Had I done well enough? Was that why I could sit down, or, was I so bad that he didn’t want to waste anymore time? But when the two who had to stay up had to repeat the same kata, I knew I had done well enough. In fact I had given an outstanding performance (or so I was told by so many people).
It wasn’t much longer before we were all called to gather around the examiners table for our results. A name would be called, they would respond and sensei Sherry would give them their result. He went through many names, each being told they needed to return to retake an element of their grading, then there was a batch of about 5 who were told they had passed before again he read out people who would need to retake the grading; then my name. It was a black moment, the person before me had to retake kata, was this my fate too?
Tomah also passed his 1st Dan black belt, but Geffen unfortunately failed, and will need to retake his grading. It took me at least another two hours before it sunk in that I had actually got my black belt – even know I still need to pinch myself.
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Lucian presented his passion for art on Friday 3rd October. The class were amazed by the quality of his sketches. Art has been close to his heart from a very young age. This was evident in the photographs he showed the class of him drawing when he about 4 or 5 years old (see below). It is obvious that 5W are blessed with a very talented artist. Many of his sketches were outstanding! Mr. Whiting also brought some sketches that he drew when he was a teenager. The class were impressed! Lucian asked every child to bring in a favourite toy to sketch. See some at work below.
Photos from yesteryear!
Alien Vs Predator sketch by Lucian!
Stefanos' passion for the violin was clear for everyone to see. He is a very accomplished player himself, performing a beautiful piece of music for the class. He also entertained us with an amazing interactive Powerpoint presentation on violins and other classical instruments. The children really enjoyed the quiz which asked them to listen to the sounds of instruments and to guess which ones they were. 
Max F will be carrying out his passion presentation on Karate in the Spring Term. For now take a look below at Max's recount of a very special weekend recently when he achieved the ultimate goal of black belt in his passion! Well done Max!!
